The banquet hall fell silent.
Even the endless rattling of plates seemed to stop.
All eyes turned toward Haruto.
Lady Chõko stood motionless across the golden tables, her smile still present, but smaller than before. The concern that had briefly appeared in her eyes had not gone unnoticed.
Kaizen immediately caught it.
That alone confirmed Haruto's words.
He had found something.
Something important.
Raizen rested his sword on his shoulder and frowned.
"Then stop acting mysterious and explain it."
Haruto slowly exhaled.
His gaze remained fixed on the feast.
"The mistake we made from the beginning..."
He pointed toward a nearby table.
"...was thinking this world consumes energy."
The others remained silent.
Haruto continued.
"It doesn't."
Ayame frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The energy disappearing from our bodies is only a result."
His eyes narrowed.
"The real ability is ownership."
Those words caused Kaizen's eyes to widen instantly.
Everything suddenly connected.
The attacks turning into food.
The healing.
The expanding banquet.
The strange feeling that the battlefield itself belonged to Chõko.
Everything.
Haruto continued.
"The moment something enters this world..."
He slowly clenched his fist.
"...it becomes part of her feast."
Silence.
Nobody interrupted him.
Because everyone could feel that he was right.
Raizen's slash became food.
Ayame's techniques became food.
Their spiritual energy became food.
Not because the feast absorbed them.
Because the feast claimed them.
Like property.
Like ingredients.
Like meals.
Everything inside Endless Feast eventually belonged to Lady Chõko.
And once something belonged to her...
She could consume it.
Kaizen finally understood.
"No wonder..."
His voice was low.
"That's why every attack fails."
Haruto nodded.
"The world isn't eating power."
"It's stealing ownership."
A chill spread through the battlefield.
Even Raizen stopped talking.
Because that concept was far more terrifying than simple absorption.
Absorption had limits.
Ownership didn't.
Lady Chõko suddenly laughed.
"YAYAYAYAYAYAYA!"
The banquet trembled again.
Golden lights danced across the sky.
Despite Haruto discovering the secret, she wasn't panicking.
She wasn't retreating.
She wasn't worried.
And that meant something else was happening.
Something they still hadn't figured out.
Ayame immediately noticed it.
"Why is she smiling?"
Nobody answered.
Because they were wondering the exact same thing.
Then Chõko raised her hand.
The feast responded instantly.
Thousands of plates floated into the air.
The banquet world came alive.
Tables shifted.
Chairs moved.
Golden energy surged through the endless hall.
The atmosphere became heavier.
More dangerous.
More hungry.
The pressure radiating from Chõko increased dramatically.
Her aura exploded across the battlefield.
The mountains in the distance cracked.
The sky darkened further.
And for the first time since activating Endless Feast...
She attacked first.
The floating plates shot toward the Dimensional Clan.
Not slowly.
Not casually.
Like bullets.
Like missiles.
Like an entire storm.
"Move!"
Kaizen shouted.
The battlefield exploded into motion.
Ayame vanished.
Haruto distorted space.
Hiroshi's chains surged outward.
Raizen rushed forward.
The golden plates smashed into the ground one after another.
Massive explosions erupted throughout the banquet hall.
Tables shattered.
The earth cracked.
The endless feast transformed into chaos.
Yet every destroyed plate immediately regenerated.
More appeared.
Then more.
Then more.
As if the world itself possessed infinite resources.
Ayame landed on top of a floating table and immediately kicked away several incoming plates.
"They're endless!"
"No."
Haruto appeared beside her.
His eyes remained focused.
"Everything here originates from the same source."
Kaizen heard those words.
And suddenly another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
Source.
Every world-type ability required one.
Every massive technique required an anchor.
Something sustaining it.
Something maintaining it.
A core.
His eyes widened.
"Haruto."
Haruto nodded.
He had reached the same conclusion.
The feast wasn't truly infinite.
Nothing was.
Somewhere within Endless Feast...
A source existed.
And if they found it—
The entire world might collapse.
Unfortunately...
Lady Chõko seemed to realize what they were thinking.
The smile on her face widened.
A dangerous smile.
A knowing smile.
"YAYAYAYAYAYA!"
The banquet shook violently.
Then something horrifying happened.
The endless tables began merging together.
Golden energy flooded the battlefield.
The feast was evolving again.
And this time...
Even Kaizen looked alarmed.
Because whatever Chõko was preparing...
It was much bigger than anything she had shown before.
The ground cracked.
The sky darkened.
The banquet hall roared like a living beast.
And at the center of it all stood Lady Chõko.
Laughing.
Hungry.
And growing stronger with every passing second.