CHAPTER 96 — THE EYE OF ORIENTATION
The infirmary corridor was still silent.
Behind one of the doors, Kira was still unconscious.
The doctors had not yet given a definitive answer.
Yet the Ashen Crown could not stop.
The giant screen lit up.
The result of the previous fight disappeared.
Then a new message appeared.
PLAY-IN MATCH — QUALIFICATION FOR THE QUARTERFINALS
RANMARU HARIHIHO VS BLANCHE
The crowd exploded.
Zayn immediately raised his head.
— Ranmaru…
Yojuro stood beside him.
His expression was serious.
— He's fighting already?
Cynthia looked at the screen.
— After what just happened to Kira…
Zayn clenched his fists.
— This tournament really doesn't let anyone breathe.
Kai remained silent.
His eyes were fixed on Ranmaru's name.
— He's going to have to use everything he's got.
The two arena doors opened simultaneously.
Ranmaru entered from the left.
His short white hair moved slightly with every step.
His green eyes were calm.
His usual smile was gone.
On the other side of the arena, Blanche appeared.
Ice slowly formed around her boots.
The temperature began to drop.
Ranmaru stopped in the center of the field.
Blanche looked at him.
— You already know how this is going to end.
Ranmaru tilted his head slightly.
— Oh, really?
— I've already beaten you.
Ranmaru smiled.
— And I've already lost.
He raised one hand.
— But that doesn't mean I'll lose again.
Blanche narrowed her eyes.
The referee raised his arm.
— PLAY-IN MATCH FOR QUALIFICATION TO THE QUARTERFINALS!
The crowd roared.
— BEGIN!
BOOOOOOM!
Blanche attacked immediately.
A gigantic wave of ice erupted beneath her feet and swept across the arena.
Ranmaru jumped.
The ice passed beneath his feet.
But Blanche had already anticipated his movement.
Three ice spears emerged from the wall behind him.
SHHK!
The first passed beside him.
Ranmaru twisted in midair.
The second grazed his shoulder.
The third came directly toward him.
His left eye changed.
A perfect white circle appeared in his eye.
No iris.
No pupil.
Only a luminous void.
Ranmaru had activated his Eye of Orientation.
He saw them.
Not a single future.
Several.
The spear piercing his chest.
The spear passing over him.
The spear being nothing more than a feint.
Blanche immediately creating another attack.
Ranmaru chose one possibility.
He moved.
The spear passed through empty air.
He landed.
Blanche was already there.
She swept her hand.
A wall of ice exploded between them.
Ranmaru jumped backward.
Blanche created another wall.
Then another.
Then another.
The entire arena became a labyrinth of ice.
Zayn leaned forward.
— She's trying to limit his movements.
Yojuro nodded.
— And she's forcing him to analyze even more possibilities.
Kai watched Ranmaru's eye.
— That's dangerous for him.
Zayn looked at him.
— Why?
— The more attacks she creates, the more futures he has to analyze.
Ranmaru pressed two fingers against his temple.
His Eye of Orientation became brighter.
Suddenly…
The world seemed to split apart.
Blanche advancing.
Blanche attacking from the left.
Blanche attacking from the right.
Blanche creating a spear.
Blanche creating a prison.
Blanche jumping.
Blanche waiting.
Hundreds of possibilities appeared in his mind.
His breathing became heavier.
A small drop of blood appeared beneath his nose.
He wiped it away.
— Too much…
Blanche suddenly appeared behind him.
— Found you.
SHHHK!
A massive blade of ice headed toward his back.
Ranmaru ducked.
The blade passed over his head.
He turned around.
— Not quite.
He raised his hand.
Green Fumetsu concentrated in his palm.
BOOM!
A gigantic hand appeared in the air and struck Blanche.
She crossed her arms.
An ice shield appeared.
CRAAASH!
She was pushed backward.
The crowd exploded.
Zayn smiled.
— That's Ranmaru!
Ranmaru didn't stop.
He imagined a wall.
A green wall appeared beneath Blanche.
She jumped.
Ranmaru imagined a spear.
A green spear appeared above her.
Blanche created ice wings and dodged.
Ranmaru smiled.
— You're becoming predictable.
Blanche's expression hardened.
— Don't underestimate me.
The temperature dropped even further.
The entire floor transformed into ice.
Then…
The ice began to rise.
Walls.
Pillars.
Spikes.
A gigantic frozen structure surrounded Ranmaru.
Zayn stood up.
— Ranmaru!
Yojuro narrowed his eyes.
— He's trapped.
The ice closed in.
BOOOOOOM!
Ranmaru disappeared inside.
The crowd held its breath.
Blanche lowered her hand.
— It's over.
Silence.
Then…
A green light appeared inside the ice prison.
CRACK.
A crack appeared.
Then a second.
Then hundreds.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire prison exploded outward.
Ranmaru burst through the debris.
He landed on one knee.
His breathing was now heavier.
Blood was running from his nose.
Blanche stared at him.
— How?
Ranmaru stood up.
— I saw the exit.
— You couldn't have known which wall would break.
Ranmaru smiled.
— I didn't.
His left eye glowed.
— I saw hundreds of them.
Fumetsu was not magic.
It was not a physical energy that could simply be touched.
It was the will imposed upon reality.
A Fumetsu user did not simply throw a fireball.
They imposed upon reality that fire should exist at the location they had chosen.
They did not fly.
They imposed upon gravity that it should no longer apply to them.
They did not simply create a sword.
They imposed upon the air that it should take the shape of a sword.
But every miracle had a price.
The more powerful the miracle…
The higher the price.
Fumetsu consumed its user.
Their physical strength.
Their mental energy.
Their life force.
And sometimes…
Their memories.
The human body had limits.
Even if one's will seemed infinite…
The body was not.
That was why Fumetsu did not make anyone immortal.
It made its user powerful.
But also fragile.
There were three major categories.
The Survivor reinforced the body.
Superhuman strength.
Endurance.
Regeneration.
Temporary invulnerability.
Kai, Cynthia, and Oliver were examples.
The Hunter created, transformed, or manipulated matter.
Weapons.
Elements.
Explosions.
Creatures.
Rodrigue, Akamaru, and Maya were examples.
And finally…
The Tracker.
The rarest category.
The most dangerous.
The one that allowed the manipulation of concepts.
Destiny.
Space.
Time.
The soul.
Will.
Yojuro and Ranmaru were two examples.
Some miracles were also hereditary.
They passed through clans and bloodlines.
The Kairos Eyes belonged to the Harihiho clan.
The Soul Uprising of the Bane belonged to the Sylvaris clan.
But the origin of Ranmaru's miracle…
Remained a mystery.
The Eye of Orientation.
Ranmaru's left eye became completely white.
A perfect circle.
No iris.
No pupil.
A luminous void.
Its first function was the Vision of Possibilities.
Ranmaru did not see a single future.
He saw several.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
When an opponent raised their fist, Ranmaru could see the punch going left.
Right.
Being a feint.
Being canceled.
Being followed by a second attack.
Or even being replaced by an entirely different action.
But this ability had a price.
The more possibilities Ranmaru observed…
The more his mind was subjected to immense pressure.
Excessive use caused bleeding.
Prolonged use could make him lose consciousness.
And above all…
He could not see the impossible.
If someone accomplished something Ranmaru had never considered…
His eye could not predict it.
Its second function was the Materialization of Imagination.
Ranmaru could impose his imagination upon reality.
A hand.
A sword.
A shield.
A wall.
A creature.
His Fumetsu gave physical form to his thoughts.
But his concentration was essential.
If he was distracted…
The creation disappeared.
The larger the creation…
The more Fumetsu it consumed.
And the longer it remained…
The greater the cost.
Finally…
He possessed a third function.
His ultimate technique.
The Eye of Eternity.
A technique activated through his monocle.
Three seconds.
That was all.
For three seconds…
Time could be frozen.
Ranmaru could move.
Attack.
Dodge.
Run.
But he could only use this technique once per fight.
Afterward, his body was exhausted.
His nose would bleed.
And his vision would temporarily disappear.
The Eye of Eternity could not work on entities devoid of time.
It could not work on those who existed outside of time.
It could not freeze abstract concepts.
And Ranmaru could never exceed three seconds.
One additional second…
And his own body might not survive the technique.
That was what made Ranmaru unique.
He was not the strongest.
He was not the most durable.
A direct hit could be enough to take him out of the fight.
But he could force his opponent to fight against possibilities they could not even perceive.
He did not fight with strength.
He fought with vision and imagination.
Ranmaru wiped the blood beneath his nose.
Blanche looked at him.
— So that's your miracle.
Ranmaru smiled.
— You wanted to know?
— Yes.
— Very well.
His left eye lit up.
— It's called the Eye of Orientation.
Blanche raised her hand.
Ice formed around her fingers.
— And what does it do?
Ranmaru looked at her.
— It shows me where you're going.
Blanche smiled.
— Then I'll do something you can't predict.
She struck the ground.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire arena transformed.
Ice erupted everywhere.
But Ranmaru was already moving.
He saw the possibilities.
One hundred.
Two hundred.
Three hundred.
His body slipped between them.
A spear passed.
He ducked.
A wall appeared.
He jumped.
A wave came from behind him.
He turned around.
A blade came from above.
He materialized a shield.
CLANG!
The blade shattered.
Blanche appeared directly in front of him.
— Then predict this!
She struck.
Ranmaru leaned backward.
The fist passed within inches of his face.
He smiled.
— Already did.
He touched the ground.
A gigantic green hand burst out from beneath Blanche.
BAM!
She was launched into the air.
Ranmaru jumped after her.
He imagined a massive green sword.
It appeared in his hand.
Blanche created an ice blade.
The two weapons collided in midair.
KRAAAANG!
Ice and green Fumetsu exploded around them.
They landed on opposite sides of the arena.
Blanche was breathing heavily.
Ranmaru even more so.
His vision began to blur.
Yojuro noticed.
— His eye is reaching its limit.
Zayn looked at Ranmaru with concern.
— Then why does he keep going?
Yojuro replied:
— Because he knows he has to finish this now.
Blanche raised both hands.
The entire arena froze.
A gigantic storm formed above them.
The crowd fell silent.
Ranmaru looked up.
His eye showed him hundreds of futures.
In almost all of them…
Blanche won.
His expression changed.
For the first time…
He looked worried.
Zayn stood up.
— Ranmaru!
Ranmaru closed his eye.
The white circle disappeared.
His eye returned to normal.
Blanche was surprised.
— Why did you deactivate it?
Ranmaru smiled.
— Because I'm tired of watching the future.
He raised his hand.
Green Fumetsu concentrated around his body.
— I'll simply create my own.
The crowd exploded.
Blanche unleashed all her power.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
An icy storm descended.
Ranmaru ran straight toward it.
Zayn shouted:
— WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!
Yojuro's eyes widened.
— He's no longer predicting her attack.
Ranmaru jumped.
He created a green shield.
The ice crashed into it.
CRAAASH!
The shield shattered.
He created another.
It shattered.
Another.
Then another.
Each shield lasted only a few moments.
But those few moments were enough.
Ranmaru kept moving forward.
Blanche launched a massive spear.
Ranmaru couldn't see its trajectory.
He no longer had his Eye of Orientation.
The spear came almost directly at him.
Then…
Ranmaru smiled.
He had deliberately stopped predicting.
He was trusting his instincts.
He twisted his body.
The spear passed beside him.
He landed.
Blanche stared at him.
— Impossible…
Ranmaru charged.
— No.
He raised his fist.
— Just unexpected.
BAM!
The blow struck Blanche.
She was sent flying backward.
Ranmaru followed her.
He appeared above her.
A gigantic green hand appeared.
BOOM!
It slammed into Blanche and sent her crashing toward the ground.
Blanche created an ice cushion to soften her fall.
Ranmaru landed in front of her.
She tried to get back up.
He was already there.
One final blow.
BAAAAM!
Blanche collapsed.
Silence.
The referee ran toward her.
He looked at Blanche.
Then at Ranmaru.
— BLANCHE CAN NO LONGER CONTINUE!
He raised his arm.
— RANMARU WINS THE MATCH!
The arena exploded with cheers.
Zayn nearly jumped over the barrier.
— YES!
Kai finally smiled.
Yojuro silently looked at Ranmaru.
Then he smiled as well.
Cynthia applauded.
— He did it.
Ranmaru remained standing in the middle of the arena.
His breathing was heavy.
Blood was still flowing beneath his nose.
But he was smiling.
The giant screen changed.
RANMARU — WINNER
Then a second inscription appeared.
RANMARU HAS QUALIFIED FOR THE QUARTERFINALS.
Zayn shouted from the stands:
— RANMARU!
Ranmaru looked up at him.
Zayn raised his fist.
Ranmaru raised his own.
For a few seconds, the entire arena celebrated.
But Yojuro continued watching him.
Because he knew something the others did not understand yet.
Ranmaru's potential was immense.
One day…
If he completely mastered the Eye of Orientation…
If he learned to perfectly control the Eye of Eternity…
If his body could withstand the price…
He could reach a level that seemed impossible.
A level reserved for beings far beyond ordinary Paladins.
The Seraphim.
Ranmaru slowly closed his eyes.
The white circle disappeared.
And somewhere deep within his mind…
Hundreds of futures continued to unfold.
Some ended in victory.
Others in defeat.
And some…
Ended in something far worse.
But Ranmaru could not see the future that mattered most.
Not yet.
Because there was one thing his eye could never predict.
The moment when the impossible became real.