The banquet was alive.
Not metaphorically.
Not symbolically.
Alive.
The endless tables stretching across the horizon continued expanding with every passing second. Golden chandeliers floated through the darkened sky like miniature suns. Silver plates appeared from nowhere and arranged themselves neatly across countless tables.
Everything felt wrong.
The battlefield no longer resembled a battlefield.
It resembled the inside of a monster's stomach.
And at the center of it all sat Lady Chõko.
Eating.
"YAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"
She grabbed the silver fish created from Raizen's dimensional slash and took another enormous bite.
The moment she swallowed, a wave of golden energy erupted from her body.
The cracks across her stone armor disappeared.
The cuts on her arms healed.
Even her breathing became steadier.
Raizen watched the scene with visible irritation.
"Tch."
The veins on his forehead twitched.
"I've had enough of this."
Dimensional energy exploded around him once more.
The tables nearest to him shattered from the pressure alone.
Ayame immediately turned toward him.
"Raizen."
"Don't."
Kaizen's voice followed.
"You're feeding her."
The warning only made Raizen more annoyed.
"Then what?"
His eyes narrowed.
"You want me to sit here and do nothing?"
Nobody answered.
Because that was exactly the problem.
Attack.
She gets stronger.
Wait.
She gets stronger.
Every possible option benefited Chõko.
And she knew it.
The grin on her face widened.
"What's wrong?"
She leaned forward slightly.
The golden lights reflected in her eyes.
"You were all so confident earlier."
Another laugh escaped her.
"YAYAYAYAYAYA!"
Haruto silently observed the battlefield.
Unlike Raizen, he wasn't allowing frustration to cloud his judgment.
His eyes moved across the feast.
The tables.
The food.
The energy.
Everything.
Searching.
Analyzing.
Looking for a weakness.
Because every ability had one.
Even Forbidden Energy.
Especially Forbidden Energy.
The stronger the power...
The greater the price.
That was one of the oldest laws in existence.
Yet no matter how much he searched...
He couldn't find it.
The feast continued functioning perfectly.
As though the world itself existed solely to benefit Chõko.
Suddenly.
A loud crash echoed across the battlefield.
Everyone turned.
Ayame had launched herself forward.
Not with a technique.
Not with energy.
Just a simple kick.
Pure physical force.
Her foot connected with Chõko's shoulder.
BOOM!
The impact sent Chõko sliding backward several meters.
The banquet trembled.
Ayame immediately retreated.
Everyone stared.
Including Chõko.
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then Kaizen's eyes widened.
"Wait."
Ayame looked toward him.
"What?"
Kaizen pointed.
"That attack."
"It wasn't turned into food."
Silence.
The realization spread instantly.
Chõko slowly stood.
The grin on her face remained.
Yet she had noticed it too.
Ayame's kick had worked.
Not perfectly.
Not powerfully.
But it had worked.
Because unlike the dimensional slash.
Unlike spatial distortions.
Unlike energy techniques.
The attack contained almost no energy.
Only physical force.
The first crack in the mystery had appeared.
Kaizen's mind immediately accelerated.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Connecting information.
Then another realization struck him.
"Everybody."
His voice became serious.
"Don't use large-scale techniques."
Raizen frowned.
"What?"
"The feast prefers energy."
Kaizen pointed toward the countless plates.
"The more power an attack contains..."
His eyes shifted toward Chõko.
"...the more food it creates."
Haruto immediately understood.
Ayame understood.
Even Hiroshi began realizing the pattern.
Only Raizen still looked annoyed.
Lady Chõko suddenly laughed.
Louder than before.
"YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"
The banquet world shook violently.
Thousands of plates rattled simultaneously.
The tables stretched farther into the distance.
The feast was growing.
Expanding.
Hungry.
And despite Kaizen's discovery...
Something still felt wrong.
Because Chõko wasn't worried.
Not even slightly.
If they had truly discovered the weakness...
Why was she smiling?
Then they saw it.
A silver plate suddenly appeared beside Hiroshi.
Then another beside Ayame.
Then another beside Haruto.
The food resting on those plates looked strange.
Very strange.
Ayame slowly approached one.
Her eyes narrowed.
"...No way."
The food looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Kaizen immediately walked over.
The moment he saw it...
His expression darkened.
The food wasn't made from attacks.
It wasn't made from energy.
It wasn't made from techniques.
The feast had begun producing meals on its own.
Meals made from something else.
Something far worse.
A tiny piece of spiritual energy disappeared from Hiroshi.
Another vanished from Ayame.
Another vanished from Haruto.
The plates filled slightly more.
The realization hit everyone simultaneously.
The banquet wasn't waiting for attacks anymore.
It was feeding on them directly.
Slowly.
Constantly.
Relentlessly.
The longer they remained inside Endless Feast...
The more they would be consumed.
For the first time since entering the world...
Fear appeared on Ayame's face.
Haruto's expression became grim.
Even Kaizen looked unsettled.
Because the situation had become much worse.
The feast wasn't a battlefield ability.
It wasn't a combat technique.
It was an ecosystem.
And they had become prey.
---
Across the endless tables, Lady Chõko stood and stretched her arms.
Her wounds had completely vanished.
Her aura had become stronger than at any point during the battle.
The banquet lights illuminated her silhouette.
Making her appear less like a human...
And more like the ruler of a nightmare.
Her smile widened.
"Now."
The tables shook.
The plates rattled.
The entire feast seemed to stare at the six members.
"Who's hungry?"
The banquet erupted with golden light.
And for the first time since the fight began...
The Dimensional Clan realized they might actually lose.