Range Shiftling: Zeroth Dimension.
The technique had been evolved by Krishna—rewritten into the undisputed apex of all sorcery.
Unlike conventional Range Shiftlings, it possessed no grand, violent offensive skills. Its fundamental mechanism operated on a far higher, far more intricate plane.
A breeze...
A soft, weightless draft swept through the ruins, brushing against everyone present.
What followed was a set of glowing rhombus-shaped glyphs expanding brightly directly beneath the feet of the Leaders.
Instantly perceiving the shift, Kae leapt backward, putting immense distance between himself and the Society Leaders.
[Kae]: Kara—fall back!
He barked the command with absolute authority.
At the same moment, the monstrous beasts that had been locked in toe-to-toe combat with the Leaders were abruptly obliterated—vaporized in a single microsecond by those very same Leaders, whose attacks now landed with unfettered, terrifying precision.
What was this phenomenon?
[Kae]: Truly... the pinnacle of sorcery.
His assessment was exact.
This Range Shiftling shattered conventional mathematical frameworks.
It existed solely because of an entirely separate branch of mathematics Krishna had pioneered during his teenage years—Conceptual Mathematics.
The remnants of the cavernous courtroom were completely erased from existence, stripping the battleground down to nothingness—leaving only the raw void beneath Kae and the Leaders.
The Society Leaders exchanged stunned, bewildered glances.
Through it all, Krishna stood completely unfazed.
He knew, with absolute certainty, that within this space, no one could lay a single finger on him.
Mark II existed in an entirely different league.
Krishna had perfected the singular, fatal flaw of his original domain: its collateral side effects.
Previously, activating Zeroth Dimension would nullify all supernatural techniques within its boundaries, but distinguishing between allies and enemies was nearly impossible.
Furthermore, it severely restricted Krishna's own ability to deploy secondary spells.
Mark II bypassed those limitations entirely.
It functioned on the concept of K-numbers—a mathematical abstraction heavily overlapping with Dual Numbers.
It was this exact breakthrough that had led Krishna to a startling realization years ago:
Three individuals—Arun, Pratik, and himself—possessed infinite Dark Energy reserves in one form or another.
They would never, under any circumstances, run out of magic fuel.
Just as Kae was dissecting the underlying mechanics of the domain, the secondary effects detonated.
THUD.
Kara dropped to his knees, violently coughing up blood.
Beside him, two streaks of crimson bled down Kae's face as blood welled from his eyes.
The secondary shockwaves of Mark II did not target the physical form; they assaulted the opponent's mind directly, overloading their neural pathways.
Though Kae possessed passive mental defenses capable of nullifying the assault entirely, he deliberately chose to suppress them.
Even as blood trickled past his cheekbones, his tranquil, unreadable smile never wavered.
The Society Leaders exchanged confused glances, completely unable to process how Kae was taking damage.
Suddenly, the ground fractured open.
A geyser of black blood from thousands of fallen demons erupted into the air.
Stepping out from the crimson mist were Nayaka and Shang—the respective Leaders of the Indian and Japanese Sorcery Societies.
[Krishna]: I had them deployed on an isolated investigation. No further questions.
Krishna muttered.
Arun merely nodded, accepting the explanation without hesitation.
The tension in the air was palpable.
A single Asura Community Ruler standing against the entirety of the Sorcery World... Under normal circumstances, victory was an impossibility.
Unless, of course, that ruler was Kae.
[Kae]: A thoroughly captivating display. You have my gratitude for the entertainment.
Kae's voice remained unhurried.
As he spoke, the bleeding from his eyes ceased, his gaze restoring itself instantly.
Kae (thinking): So that is where the missing powerhouses were dispatched... Yet the question remains: what did their investigation uncover? What truths have they brought back?
BLUR.
In the fraction of a heartbeat, Nayaka closed the distance, hurling a devastating fist straight at Kae's face—only to be struck by an invisible rebound force.
The shockwave blasted Nayaka backward, hurling him through hundreds of stone walls out into the open wasteland.
[Kae]: To launch an attack within another man's domain... such conduct lacks refinement.
Kae remarked softly.
[Krishna]: Abducting guests and confining them within your court is hardly the mark of a refined host.
Krishna retorted, his voice dropping to a frigid register.
BAM.
Another mental shockwave detonated.
More blood leaked from Kae's eyes, yet his focus remained razor-sharp.
[Kae]: It seems you have no intention of collapsing your Range Shiftling.
Kae (thinking): This sensation... it severely degrades my cognitive focus. Krishna has trapped me quite thoroughly. I cannot analyze the technique's architecture while under this mental burden, yet if I activate my passive mental defenses, I reveal key assets before the Pikra War even commences. A pristine checkmate...
[Kae]: In that case... let us adjust the parameters.
Kae's hands wove together, forming a series of deliberate, ancient seals.
Every Society Leader instantly recognized the posture.
RUMBLE!
A catastrophic earthquake tore through the bedrock.
Out of the void, multiple monstrous entities materialized.
A stifling, suffocating aura saturated the dimension—a aura so foul that every sorcerer present felt it in their marrow, even if they had never encountered it in their lifetimes.
Nayaka returned to the group, completely uninjured from his brief repulsion, his face deadly serious as the dust settled.
Standing directly behind Kae were the remaining six Rulers of the Asura Community.
Their collective presence alone caused the fabric of the Monster Realm—a domain deemed functionally infinite—to spider-web with visible cosmic fractures.
Kae's hand signs continued for a moment longer before coming to a sudden halt.
[Kae]: Ah... my apologies. I had briefly forgotten that supernatural authorities are sealed while bound within your Range Shiftling.
Kae tapped the back of his head with a light, self-deprecating laugh.
The Leaders stood frozen in place, horror gripping their chests as they stared at the full assembly of Asura Rulers at point-blank range.
Among them stood a legend of pure nightmare—Karnakasur, the Leader Slayer, recognized as the most terrifying warlord in the Asura Community.
[Krishna]: We are leaving. Now.
Without a second's delay, Krishna activated his spatial array, instantly teleporting every sorcerer off the field.
The oppressive weight of Zeroth Dimension vanished into nothingness.
Kae's eyes returned to normal.
Beside him, Kara slumped forward, completely unconscious.
The sheer mental load of Krishna's domain had rendered him insensate—a natural outcome for someone experiencing the conceptual weight for the first time, unlike Kae, who had endured similar phenomena centuries ago.
Kae turned back toward his fellow Asura Rulers, his serene expression undisturbed.
[Kae]: It appears the pieces are set upon the board.
He smoothed his robes gently.
[Kae]: Commence Plan D.
SWOOSH!
High in the skies above the Immortalus Society Compound, spatial distortions tore open.
The retreat was far from graceful; the Society Leaders plummeted from the clouds, crashing heavily onto the central training grounds.
Krishna and Arun touched down seamlessly on their feet, while the remaining Leaders hit the dirt in a chaotic heap.
Krishna looked out across the horizon, his eyes cold and calculating.
Krishna (whispering to himself): The pieces are set... Time for Plan B.
To be continued...
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Extras: Conceptual Mathematics Lesson I (Developed by Krishna during his teenage years, nearly three decades before his introduction to Sorcery.)
What is Conceptual Mathematics?
Unlike standard mathematics, Conceptual Mathematics is a theoretical framework constructed without traditional axioms or standard physical constraints.
It relies fundamentally on a single conceptual number, denoted as § (referred to as Ki).
The number § represents an active infinitesimal, formally expressed in classical limit notation as:
lim(∆→0+) ∆ = §
Property:
Non-Zero Identity:
§≠0
But
§^n = 0 for n≥2 where n represents natural numbers.
This mathematical foundation directly enabled the creation of Range Shiftling Zeroth Dimension: Mark II (also referred as Range Shiftling: Absolute Zero).