Silence.
Absolute silence.
No wind.
No sound.
No motion.
The entire world remained trapped inside Kronos's Absolute Time Dominion.
Yet...
Yura stood.
Her heart should not have been beating.
Her body should not have been moving.
Her existence should have been frozen like everything else.
And yet...
She took another step.
Tap.
The sound echoed across the motionless reality.
Kronos watched her carefully.
For the first time since arriving at Reikosha Academy...
He wasn't smiling.
He wasn't calm.
He was confused.
"...How?"
Yura slowly looked around.
Her eyes widened.
Everything was frozen.
Kairo remained frozen mid-breath.
Reji's chains hung motionless in the air.
Dracula's lightning remained suspended like a blue sculpture.
Shougo stood locked in place.
Even the dust and shattered stone no longer moved.
Yura swallowed.
"...What..."
"...happened?"
Kronos remained silent.
Yura slowly looked upward.
The clouds weren't moving.
The sunlight wasn't changing.
The world felt wrong.
Unnaturally wrong.
Then realization slowly reached her.
"...Time."
Her voice echoed alone.
"...You stopped time."
Kronos narrowed his eyes.
Most people panicked.
Most people begged.
Most people couldn't even comprehend what had happened.
Yet Yura understood immediately.
"...Correct."
The two stood alone in a silent universe.
For several moments...
Neither moved.
Then Kronos asked again.
"...How are you moving?"
Yura shook her head.
"...I don't know."
And she was telling the truth.
She had no answer.
No hidden technique.
No secret power.
She simply...
Could.
Kronos stared at her.
For centuries he had perfected Absolute Time Dominion.
Entire civilizations had fallen before it.
Powerful warriors.
Kings.
Monsters.
Legends.
None had moved.
Not even once.
Yet this girl...
Was standing before him.
Alive inside a dead moment.
"...Interesting."
His voice was quieter than before.
Yura suddenly noticed something.
Silver symbols floated across the battlefield.
They glowed faintly upon Shougo.
Upon Griffin.
Upon Judas.
Upon Kairo.
Upon everyone.
"...What's that?"
Kronos followed her gaze.
"...Marked Actions."
Yura frowned.
"...Marked what?"
Kronos calmly began walking.
Tap.
Tap.
His footsteps echoed through the frozen world.
"When time resumes..."
"...every mark will activate."
Yura's expression changed.
"...Activate?"
Kronos stopped beside Shougo.
A silver symbol rested upon the instructor's chest.
"...This mark."
"...Will become a strike."
He pointed toward Griffin.
"...That mark."
"...Another strike."
Judas.
Tyouro.
Kimimaru.
Reji.
Kairo.
One after another.
"...All at once."
Yura's eyes widened.
"...All of them?"
"...Yes."
A cold feeling spread through her chest.
The moment time resumed...
Everyone would be hit simultaneously.
Some would survive.
Many wouldn't.
The realization struck her harder than any attack.
Kronos calmly watched her reaction.
"...Now you understand."
Yura immediately moved.
Tap!
She sprinted toward Kairo.
Kronos didn't stop her.
He simply observed.
Yura reached Kairo and looked directly at the glowing symbol resting upon his shoulder.
"...Come on..."
She placed her hand against it.
Nothing happened.
For a moment.
Then—
The mark glowed.
A pulse of silver light spread outward.
Kronos's eyes widened.
For the second time.
"...What?"
The symbol trembled.
Not violently.
But enough.
Enough to make Kronos stare.
Enough to make the impossible happen again.
Yura stepped back.
"...Did it work?"
The mark remained.
Yet something had changed.
Kronos immediately appeared beside her.
His gaze remained fixed on Kairo's shoulder.
"...You touched it."
His voice was different now.
No longer calm.
No longer indifferent.
For the first time...
There was genuine surprise.
"...Nobody has ever interacted with a Marked Action."
Yura looked between Kronos and the symbol.
"...Then maybe they're not perfect."
Silence.
Kronos stared at her.
Then slowly...
Very slowly...
A smile appeared.
Not arrogance.
Not mockery.
Excitement.
The kind a warrior feels when discovering something new.
"...Interesting."
The silver symbols around the battlefield glowed brighter.
"...Very interesting."
For the first time in centuries...
Absolute Time Dominion contained something Kronos could not fully predict.
And for the first time...
The strongest master of time felt anticipation.
The game had changed.