The sword came out of its sheath.
There was no ring of steel, no flash of light, not even the faintest stir of wind.
The moment that seemingly ordinary longsword left its sheath, the crystallization spreading beneath Senior Brother En-En's feet abruptly stopped.
Weblike cracks appeared across the crystal's surface, as though some invisible order rejected the very existence of the sword.
His grip was steady. His stance had not changed.
He simply stood there with his sword, silent and still, yet he had become the only thing out of place in this world as it solidified.
When the power of [Final Silence], which sought to drag all things into an Eternal Seal, came within a foot of him, it split around him like a tide striking a levee.
"A sword is made to cut things apart."
Senior Brother En-En repeated the words, but this time he sent them clearly to everyone through the Team Channel.
He was not offering an explanation. He was stating a truth.
He moved.
There was none of Dawn's explosive, space-rending force, nor any fancy footwork.
He merely took one step forward.
Then he thrust his sword.
It was utterly ordinary, like a beginner's most basic thrust.
The sword point was aimed not at any particular enemy, but at the world itself.
A black "line," purer than the void, extended from its tip and stretched without end.
Wherever the line passed, it split the translucent crystal world cleanly in two.
There was no violent explosion, no clash of energies.
This was "separation" on a higher level.
The edges of the Crystal Wall cut by that black line were smooth as mirrors, yet they could not heal.
For what Senior Brother En-En had severed was not matter, but the "rules" sustaining this Divine Kingdom.
With the