"Who told you I was going to run?"
As Code shot out of the thirteenth Claw Mark, his right leg swept toward Shengu Xuan's waist with all the power granted by the White Kāma, while his left fist thrust out of another rift at the back of Shengu Xuan's head.
Both attacks struck the invisible barrier at once. White energy exploded against its surface like fireworks hitting a steel plate, scattering fragments everywhere, but the plate did not budge.
Code retreated into the Claw Mark faster than he had emerged, his palm tingling slightly from the shock transmitted back to him.
"Impossible." He poked half his body out of a rift at the farthest end of the cavern, his silver-white pupils fixed on the figure who still had both hands in his pockets. "The White Kāma's output is already eighty percent of Lord Isshiki's power at his peak. What exactly is your defense?"
"You asked the same question as Jigen." Shengu Xuan tilted his head to look at the half-exposed face in the corner, the grass stem bobbing leisurely at the corner of his mouth. "He died right after asking it. Want to try another question?"
Code stepped fully out of the Claw Mark. He did not retreat into it again, instead standing with his back against the cavern wall. The White Kāma's markings began flowing faster across his body, and a white band of light condensed in his right palm.
"If I can't hurt you up close..." He flung the band of light toward the cavern ceiling. White markings burst across the rock, and dozens of new Claw Marks split open at once, each larger and deeper than before. "Then I'll use space itself to cut you to pieces."
All the Claw Marks closed simultaneously.
The space inside the