The sound did not come from the front, nor from the back. A single step was enough to shatter the rhythm of the place.
Draven was standing there. Then he slowly turned his head. A deliberate movement, exaggerated in its calmness.
He opened one eye wider than the other, and looked at the scene before him. He spoke with a hint of mockery:
"Hmmm… all these Coins in this place, of all places?"
He paused for a moment, then his gaze shifted to Kagami.
"And you came for them all by yourself? Without inviting me?"
A short exhale escaped him, closer to a laugh without joy.
"You are truly greedy."
The air shifted. Not because any energy was released, nor because any magic was triggered. But because the words hit their mark.
Kagami did not respond. Yet his heart trembled as if it would explode.
Draven took another step forward. This time, his smile was not lazy. It was the smile of a beast that had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
He spoke in a low voice:
"Everything that happened here…"
He gestured with his hand to the ground, to the bodies, to the chaos that had struck the place.
"…happened because of your greed."
He lifted his gaze slightly, fixing his eyes on Kagami.
"The cracked Green Coin." His smile widened. "You thought it was an upgrade."
He stepped closer.
"As for me… I was luring you in."
A heavy silence fell. He tilted his head slightly.
"Without you even realizing it."
Then he said calmly:
"Well done."
Kagami did not respond. His body was stiff, his breathing uneven.
"Don't try to resist," Draven continued in an almost friendly tone,
"You no longer have enough control over Reformation."
Kagami took a step, then stopped. The particles around him… did not respond.
Draven smiled.
"Just as I expected."
He finally turned, and looked at Koroya, kneeling on one knee.
"Do you know," he said, "why I chose you?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"Chaos cannot be drawn out by force, nor provoked by hostility."
He extended his hand slightly, as if balancing something invisible.
"It needs… an anchor point."
He looked at Kagami.
"And Kagami is that point."
Koroya's eyes widened slightly.
"The Atomic Reformation ability,"
Draven continued,
"is not an offensive power. It is a system."
He stepped closer.
"Rearranging atoms… changing states… accelerating reactions…"
He gave a narrow smile.
"All of it assumes one thing: that reality… still obeys the laws."
He raised a finger.
"And the chaos within your chest? It is a fracture before it is energy."
A brief silence.
Then:
"That is why… I did not need to weaken you."
He looked at Kagami.
"I needed someone to force chaos to attempt order."
Koroya gritted his teeth.
"The moment you tried to unleash a chaotic Chaos Stone attack,"
Draven said in a deadly calm voice,
"the contradiction occurred."
His voice lowered.
"Chaos cannot be organized… and when it is forced..."
The air shifted suddenly. The Stone trembled violently.
"...it loses its balance."
Draven looked directly at Koroya.
"That is why it went beyond your control."
Then he turned to Kagami, his tone now completely cold.
"And you, were nothing more than a tool."
He fell silent.
"From the beginning."
The particles around Kagami began to unravel slowly, not with an explosion, but with a silent collapse.
Draven raised his hand.
"Your ability is the only one capable of weakening chaos… and for that very reason, it had to be consumed."
He smiled.
"Now, the path is clear."
He lifted his eyes toward the Stone.
"Chaos Stone… is no longer protected by will… nor by order."
He stepped forward.
"My turn begins here."
Koroya did not respond immediately. He was still on one knee, his breaths uneven. But his eyes… were not broken. He pressed his hand against the ground.
"No…"
he said, in a broken voice, not as refusal but as denial.
He rose. Not with a leap, but with an unsteady surge. The air around him rippled. He did not call upon an ability. He did not raise his level.
Chaos erupted from within him all at once. An invisible wave rushed toward Draven. It was not a directed attack, but an attempt to shatter everything.
But it stopped. Not because Draven blocked it. But because the wave… found nothing to collide with. The air split for a moment, then settled back into place as if nothing had happened.
Koroya's eyes widened.
"What…?"
He took another step, and tried again. This time, the chaos was stronger. But the rhythm was wrong.
The energy surged then died out. His knee slammed against the ground again. He coughed up blood. He lifted his head.
Draven did not move.He neither blocked nor dodged, He was simply… standing in the spot where chaos could no longer reach. He said calmly:
"I told you."
He raised a finger slightly.
"Chaos went beyond your control the moment you tried to force it into order."
Then he added, without cruelty:
"You are no longer the variable point."
He slowly turned toward Kagami.
Kagami was standing, his teeth clenched, his eyes focused to the point of pain.
He stretched out his hand.
"Coincraft - Atomic Reformation."
Nothing happened. The air… did not form. The particles around him hesitated. Then dispersed.As if they no longer recognized him. His eyes widened. He clenched his fist.
A second time. No response. A third time, a sharp pain struck his head. He took a step back. His breathing faltered.
"…No."
It escaped him like a broken word.
The Coins inside him had not disappeared. But they… were no longer connected to him. They were no longer an "order." Just remnants of a function.
He lifted his head slowly and looked at Draven. Understanding finally dawned.
"I… was..."
He paused. Then continued in a hollow voice:
"A tool."
Draven gave a small smile. Not mocking. Not triumphant. But the smile of someone who was certain the plan had gone as intended.
He said calmly:
"From the beginning."
A heavy silence fell. Koroya, on the ground. Kagami, without order. And the chaos… hung between them, masterless.
Draven extended his hand. He did not touch Koroya. And yet the Stone screamed. Not a sound that could be heard, but an internal tearing, as if something was being ripped from the very meaning of its existence.
Koroya pressed his chest violently. His teeth ground together. His back arched.
"Ah…"
The Chaos Stone began to move. Not as a solid object but as a possibility being drawn by force.
Draven's smile widened slightly.
"So it is,"
he said in a quietly sick tone.
"When chaos has no master… it comes to me on its own."
Just a single step, and the space between his hand and Koroya collapsed. And at that moment:
<< SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
[Forced Intervention Approved]
[Authority Override: Atsuro] >>
The air fractured. Not an explosion. But a deviation. Draven's hand slipped half a degree from its path. Half a degree only yet it was enough.
Draven raised an eyebrow.
"Hmmm?"
Atsuro appeared. He did not shout. He did not threaten. He stood between Draven and Koroya, his weapon lowered, as if he had not come to fight.
But his eyes… were unnervingly steady.
"Stone Art - Luck Stone,"
he said in a cold, calm voice. Then he lifted his head.
"Level 6 : Borrowed Fortune."
Nothing visible happened. No light. No wave. Only the world wavered. Behind Draven, the rhythm… faltered.
At the same moment, the Stone that had been pulling from Koroya stopped. Not because it returned, but because the path it had been following was no longer
"lucky."
Draven looked at his hand. Then he smiled.
"Stealing luck…" he muttered.
"Clever."
Then he took another step. And the moment he placed his foot the ground beneath him suddenly slipped. Not a fall. Just… a misstep. He stepped back half a pace. He laughed softly.
"Temporary," he said.
"But beautiful."
At that moment,
"…Draven?"
The voice came from behind. The air froze. Lilithia was standing there. Her eyes widened. Not in fear but in pure shock.
"You…"
Draven turned very slowly. The same old movement. The same gaze she knew so well.
He smiled.
"You haven't grown much," he said in a soft tone.
"You still look before you think."
Blood rushed to her head.
"You..!!!!!!"
She surged toward him unconsciously.
Just one step, Then she stopped. Her body stiffened in place. Her breath caught.
She was not restrained. She had not been touched. Yet something inside her shut down.
Draven had not even raised his hand. He only said:
"One Coin…"
The air pressed around her. Her knees trembled.
"…was always enough."
Her teeth clenched. Her eyes reddened.
She resisted. Not with her body but with her spirit. The Black Stone screamed within her. An internal crack formed. A small step she forced it forward. The ground split beneath her foot.
Draven looked at her with genuine interest this time.
"Hah…"
he said calmly. He clenched his fist.
Lilithia fell to one knee, but she did not bow.
"Never…" she said in a broken voice,
"I will return…"
Draven smiled. A narrow smile.
"I did not ask for that."
Then he lifted his head, and looked at Atsuro. The stolen luck began to return. The small cracks disappeared. The rhythm… regained its balance.
Draven said calmly:
"Your intervention was calculated." Then he added:
"But not enough to finish anything."
He looked at Koroya, who was barely standing. Then at Lilithia. Then at the two Stones: the Black and the Chaotic. He smiled.
"Only now…" he said.
"I am certain."
He stepped back. The air closed itself behind him as if it had never been there. Only the echo remained.
Koroya on his knee.
Lilithia resisting control. And Atsuro… staring at the void where Draven had disappeared.
_
Meanwhile, at the School of Sorcery,
the meeting had not been announced. And it was not meant to be. Deep within the school, the circular hall was lit by a single steady candle.
Kaguchi stood near the tall window, his back to the hall, gazing at a sky from which no stars could be seen.
Behind him,
Ryozen sat at the stone table, his fingers interlaced, his eyes half-closed.
Kaguchi spoke without turning:
"So… we've reached this stage."
Ryozen did not respond immediately. A moment passed. Then he said in a low voice:
"Yes.
The disruption occurred as we expected."
Kaguchi slowly turned his head.
"Koroya?"
Ryozen gave a faint smile, devoid of any satisfaction.
"He did not break… but he is out of the equation."
A silence heavier than stone fell.
"And Kagami?"
Kaguchi asked.
Ryozen replied:
"The system he represented has been consumed. He is no longer an anchor point."
Kaguchi stepped closer to the table.
"So chaos is now… masterless."
Ryozen nodded slowly.
"And that was one of the conditions."
The flame suddenly went out. Darkness did not fully take over, but ancient symbols appeared on the walls, glowing for a moment before settling.
Ryozen said in a grim, calm voice:
"Draven has moved."
Kaguchi was not surprised. He spoke as if he had been expecting the sentence:
"As planned."
He finally turned, his eyes reflecting the dim light.
"The Coins…
the Stones…
the interventions…
they are all just layers."
He paused for a moment,
then added:
"As for the true objective… it has not yet been born."
Ryozen lifted his gaze.
"And Lilithia?"
A short, joyless laugh escaped from Kaguchi.
"She was not summoned by chance. Nor was her file reopened in vain."
He approached the largest symbol on the wall, and reached out without touching it.
"Those who know control… do not possess freedom."
Silence returned.
Then Ryozen finally spoke, as if declaring the end of an unwritten meeting:
"So… the Black Dragon's turn approaches."
Kagutchi replied:
"And now… we must wait."
The symbols went out all at once.
The hall returned to how it had been, as if nothing had happened.
_________
_________
System: Stoneart RPG — Living Stone Users
(This character uses the Stone Arts System, based on Living Stones, Sync Rates and Stone Levels.)
______
Character Card - Kuroya
Name: Kuroya no Kōran
Rank: D
Race: Drakhaen (Unknown Origin)
Role Tag: Deputy of Iron Oath
Aura Type: Lord of Chaos
Energy Capacity: High (Unstable)
Base Ability (Pre-Stone): Exceptional Runner
Level: 28
Light Points (LP): 168 / 50000
Dark Points (DP): 11 / 50000
Sync Rate with Moon Wolf Stone: 57% (Unstable)
Special Traits: Serious
_____
Stone Card - Chaos Stone
Stone:Chaos Stone
Stone Rank: C
Element: Primordial Chaos (Non-Elemental)
Inner Spirit:Axiom — Fragment of the First Disorder
State: Dormant → Reactive → Unbound (depends on user control)
Stone Type: Conceptual / Entropy-Based
Stone Level: 6
Current Stone Skills :
Level 1 — Reality Tear
Level 2 — Anomaly Manifest
Level 3 — Fractured Step
Level 4 — Unstable Strike
Level 5 — Disarray Chain
Level 6 — Chaos Overdrive
Level 7 — Chaos Veil
Level 8 — Disorder Field
━━ Locked Progression ━━
[ Level X — True Chaos Sovereignty ]
–<< 🜂 SYSTEM ALERT >>--
Unauthorized Advancement Attempt Detected.
— Advancement Protocol Check —
Authority Stability: FAILED Conceptual Control: INSUFFICIENT User Synchronization: FRACTURED
⚠ Forbidden Disturbance Detected ⚠
Disturbance Type: Irregular Chaos Deviation
Classification: PROHIBITED MARK
Status: NON-CORRECTABLE
⛔ ADVANCEMENT DENIED
Reason: Progression under distorted chaos conditions is forbidden.
Consequences if Attempt Continues:
— Ability Lock
— Authority Collapse
— Permanent System Rejection
Recommendation: TERMINATE ATTEMPT IMMEDIATELY
>> END SYSTEM NOTICE
________________
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-To be continued...-