Mimir appeared on Reinhard's shoulder, larger now to match the scale of Odin's form. Black feathers gleamed with blue highlights that matched the armor's glow.

"You need to push Fenrir off the planet and up into the Imaginary Sea."

Reinhard's thought formed inwardly, careful not to break concentration. Will our clash really destroy the city? And where is the Imaginary Sea?

"It won't destroy the city, it'll destroy the entire universe."

What?

"Just force Fenrir into the air, then slash out with Zenuken." Mimir's voice carried urgency. "In your current state, your blade transcends the concepts of dimension and space. It can create an opening to the sea."

Reinhard's inward nod was more acknowledgment than agreement and was simply accepted because there was no time for anything else.

Fenrir roared, and the sound tore through reality itself.

The crimson-black sky rippled with the force. Buildings that had somehow survived the chaos shook, windows exploding outward in a show of glass.

Then Fenrir moved with its six golden eyes shining. Its massive form launched forward, black fur rippling across muscles that could crush mountains, with its claw reaching out as the distance between them vanished in a heartbeat.

Sleipnir's hooves struck air.

The eight legs moved in perfect synchronization, carrying Reinhard forward to meet the charge rather than evade it.

They collided in the next moment!

The impact created a shockwave that flattened everything within a hundred yards!

Buildings collapsed, the ground cracked in spiderweb patterns that spread for blocks, and the air itself compressed and then exploded outward.

Zenuken's blade caught Fenrir's claws. The blade met claws with a terrifying sound that echoed out. Black-blue energy erupted from the contact point, mixing with golden light that poured from Fenrir's form.

Reinhard pushed with Sleipnir's legs tensed, and the horse surged upward, eight hooves moving on empty air as if climbing invisible stairs.

Fenrir was driven back.

Its massive bulk lifted from the ground, carried by the force of Reinhard's charge and Sleipnir's impossible strength.

They rose higher and higher with the ruined Mehko Research Center falling away beneath them. The city spread out beneath them, it was an image of destruction, ruin, and death as they rose into the sky.

Fenrir's jaws opened as a crimson-black energy gathered before compressing into a sphere that grew rapidly, eclipsing even Fenrir's massive head.

The blast erupted, rushing out towards Reinhard.

But Reinhard swung Zenuken, the blade instantly cutting through the incoming energy and splitting it down the middle.

The two halves passed on either side, missing Sleipnir by inches, continuing downward to pierce holes in the crimson-black void and illuminate the city.

Sleipnir snorted, its breath a gust of frost and fire. The creature's hooves thundered against nothing, each step defying the absence of ground as they climbed higher into the unraveling sky.

Reinhard slashed again, and Zenuken tore through the fabric of reality itself. The sky split open, revealing a blinding rift of gold and shadow in reality before Sleipnir seized the moment.

It reared back and slammed its hooves into Fenrir's chest with a force that shook the air. The beast roared, a sound that shattered the edges of the rift, but the blow sent it flying backward into the opening.

Reinhard didn't hesitate as he urged Sleipnir forward, and they plunged into the rift. The world dissolved around them, replaced by an infinite golden pillar of light that stretched upward into eternity.

It was a flowing river of radiance that splashed out with little droplets of gold, and Reinhard for a moment saw images in it before they faded. Sleipnir's hooves struck the pillar, each step sending ripples across its surface like stones dropped into a still pond.

The vibrations sang in Reinhard's ears, a harmonic resonance that felt like the universe itself was saying something.

Behind them, Fenrir's roar erupted again, shaking the pillar and fracturing its surface in jagged cracks of light.

The beast was already in pursuit, its massive form surging up the golden flow with terrifying speed. Its claws gouged into the pillar, tearing chunks of luminous energy free, each fragment dissolving into sparks.

Fenrir's eyes burned brighter now, twin suns of unrelenting malice, and its jaws snapped at the air.

Is this the Imaginary Sea? Reinhard thought calmly.

"No." Mimir's voice whispered. "This is still your universe, but you're just seeing its infinite higher dimensions unfolding before you. Ignore that and keep climbing, the sea lies above."

Reinhard didn't reply as Sleipnir's muscles surged beneath him, and then it began rushing up with each leap, carrying them higher along the golden pillar. The air or whatever passed for air in this place seemed charged with an energy that faded when it touched Reinhard's armor.

Fenrir's roars grew louder and closer, but Reinhard shut out the sound.

There was only ascending this golden pillar, which continued for a bit before then with a final leap.

Sleipnir broke through a golden swirling light!

Reinhard felt himself transcending and moving beyond this place, with his eyes being blinded. And then he saw colors exploding across his vision, it came in the shade of every color as if a rainbow became the landscape.

Time stopped having any meaning here. There was no concept of time here, it was as if this place never had it in the first place. Space lost its meaning as well, with distance becoming a whim, a suggestion rather than a fact.

Where is this-

"The Imaginary Sea," Mimir's voice cut through the disorientation. "The place above all concepts and law, the place where all magic energy originated from."

Reinhard's gaze swept across the Imaginary Sea. His mind struggled to process it, grasping at fragments of comprehension that slipped away like water through his fingers.

An ocean stretched before him, infinite in every direction, its surface a churning maelstrom of those impossible colors.

Lights.

It was then he saw countless lights, each one small, fragile, and extremely radiant. They shimmered like stars, each holding something vast within its delicate glow.

Reinhard's breath caught as the realization struck him, and he grasped the truth, his mind struggling to even accept it.

One of those is our universe.

The realization struck without Mimir confirming it. One tiny light among infinite others, all flowing through the Imaginary Sea like fish in an endless ocean.

And there were an infinite number of streams, and each contained infinite lights which were Universes beyond counting.

Mimir began fading.

His form losing solidity, becoming transparent, wisps of black feathers dissipating into the Sea's impossible colors.

"I'll leave the rest to you." The crow's voice came distant now, already half-gone. "Fenrir isn't at his full strength, and all you need to do is push it until it wastes the souls it's using to sustain itself."

Then Mimir was gone.

And Reinhard was alone until Fenrir burst from his universe light and out of the stream below. The figure of Fenrir began to grow, bigger and bigger, until he reached around the same size as Reinhard.

Golden energy trailed from its form as it surged upward, and its six eyes blazed with terrifying fury.

It crashed into Reinhard and Sleipnir with force that made their earlier collision seem gentle.

The impact sent shockwaves through the Imaginary Sea.

The streams around trembled, and the infinite lights flickered.

They rolled through the Sea, locked together in combat. As claws clashed against blades, fur rubbed against armor, and impossible force met immovable objects. They spun, twisted, with neither gaining a clear advantage as they fell through various types of colors.

Fenrir's jaws snapped towards where Reinhard's head had been a moment before. While Sleipnir twisted, eight legs pushed off against reality and used it to dodge.

Reinhard hacked out towards Fenrir's throat, drawing a line of golden blood that sprayed outward and became light. The wound closed instantly, healing so fast it seemed like it had never existed.

They quickly separated as they became a streak of light.

A distance opened between them that could have been a mile or an inch in a place where measurement had no meaning.

Fenrir's eyes narrowed before the space around it began cracking with black lines appearing in the air. Reinhard's eyes slightly narrowed as he saw the cracks widen, becoming tears, becoming holes that led to nothing.

Space was being distorted and reality torn apart.

Energy gathered around Fenrir, the power of the Imaginary Sea, the fundamental forces that held universes together. The black holes began pulling it in, consuming it, swallowing power that could fuel creation itself.

Reinhard rushed forward as Sleipnir's hooves struck the Sea. Each step created ripples that spread outward, the eight legs moved in perfect rhythm, building speed that transcended velocity and became something closer to inevitability.

The distortion pulled at them, not just physically, but conceptually. The holes were trying to consume not just his magic but the idea of his energy, the concept of his movement, and the fundamental nature of his existence.

Reinhard simply slashed out!

The blade cut through space and separated it from the distortion, creating a path that shouldn't exist. Reinhard and Sleipnir rode that path forward, immune to the consuming holes, and rode through a slice of reality the distortion couldn't reach.

They swiftly reached Fenrir with Zenuken hacking down on Fenrir's skull. But hacked upwards with a paw, leading to them clashing once more.

Then the figures of Fenrir and Reinhard turned into streaks of light that began moving over the oceans of color. Each clash sent shockwaves through multiple streams and led to some of the lights fading away.

Reinhard hurled Zenuken, which Fenrir caught with its teeth before a fist smashed into Fenrir's chest and black-blue energy erupted. Fenrir's eyes trembled before it was sent flying through the sea as Zenuken flipped in the air.

But Fenrir's tail was already moving, cutting through space and instantly appearing. But Sleipnir smashed out with one of its legs, leading to a collision with the tail.

Instantly, a terrifying force swept out, shaking the ocean and pushing Reinhard back a bit.

Fenrir recovered before its jaws opened wide and became a void that threatened to swallow everything. Black tendrils erupted from its throat, spreading outward in all directions, and with them came sound. A howl that wasn't heard but felt, that bypassed ears entirely to strike directly at existence itself.

The tendrils instantly appeared over Sleipnir's legs, and it felt all of its movement ceasing as if time stopped. The black sound wave washed over Reinhard, and his armor locked up, every joint becoming immovable.

Fenrir rushed out as it became a streak of light and appeared in front of Reinhard.

Drasil Step.

Time stopped for everything, washing over the tendrils, over the sound wave, and over Fenrir itself.

Drasil Step, but elevated beyond its normal function.

Now it didn't just slow time, but it slowed the concept of being frozen, the idea of immobility, the fundamental law that said he should be unable to move.

Reinhard and Sleipnir burst free, motion returning in an explosive surge.

Zenuken swept out as the blade passed through space and through Fenrir's paw. Golden blood splashed out.

Then the new paw grew immediately, but Reinhard was already moving.

Sleipnir's hooves struck Fenrir's chest, and it drove into the beast with force that could shatter everything. Fenrir was thrown backward, tumbling through the sea once more.

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