Whispers of Shikiban:The king walks among us-Chapter 70 --

"Enzo sends his regards," Zai smirked, spinning a sleek dagger between his fingers. "Said to 'play nice'... but honestly?"He shrugged. "I'm bored."

CLANG!

Zai was in Ishigo's face before breathing could happen. Time itself lagged behind him, dragging like broken film.

Ishigo barely twisted aside—BZZZT—the dagger slicing a thread of his hair.

TIME GLITCH.

Suddenly Zai was BEHIND him, like a TikTok transition glitch but with lethal intent.

"Tsk. Too slow, silver boy," Zai chuckled.

Yeji lunged in, blade flashing—Zai caught it with two fingers.

Two. Fingers.

Yeji's eyes widened.

Zai smiled.Then rewound.

Yeji's strike snapped BACKWARD—like a video getting dragged in reverse—and Yeji stumbled, caught totally off-guard.

"Aw, you broke physics," Zai cooed mockingly. "No refund."

Ishigo stopped breathing.Okay.Coolcoolcool.Not terrifying at all.

He forced his body to move, slipping into Blue Flame Requiem form. Blue light surged off him like steam from dry ice.

"I don't need physics," Ishigo said, voice low."I've got hands."

Zai lit up—grinning like he'd just unwrapped a Christmas present.

"THAT'S the spirit."

THE FIGHT STARTED.

FAST.

Zai moved like a cursed glitch. Each frame of his body was out of sync.One second he was mid-swing—The next he was halfway through another move, like he edited reality itself.

Ishigo dodged—barely—leaving scorched blue flames in his wake.

CLANG—!Ishigo blocked a dagger swipe—only for the blade to rewind mid-air and come at him again, from a completely different angle.

He cursed, ducked, and lashed out—BLAM—blue flames detonating across the floor, but Zai just rewound the space between them, stepping clean through the blast like it was nothing but an old VCR tape.

"This is a bad mechanic!" Ishigo snapped, frustration bleeding through.

Zai laughed so hard he clutched his stomach mid-fight.

"Skill issue."

Yeji slammed into the fray again, Invincible Ring activated, but even that didn't mean shit.

Zai simply froze the entire dome mid-air—Snapping his fingers once, rewinding the space-time of the attack until the ring cracked and collapsed into useless shards.

Yeji hit the ground hard, coughing blood.

Zai clicked his tongue. "Y'all playing checkers while I'm speedrunning life."

ISHIGO HAD ENOUGH.

"Blue Flame Requiem — Second Invocation: ECHO BREAK!"

His twin blades separated again, wrapping in a spiral of white-blue flame, forming a vortex around him.

Zai's eyes actually lit up with interest.

"You gonna sing me a lullaby, princess?"

Ishigo didn't answer.

He launched straight at him—Blade strikes chaining into impossible angles—Spiraling blue bursts flying off him like shotgun blasts.

Each clash distorted the room harder, walls cracking under the pressure.

Zai dodged most—rewound some—but Ishigo was learning.

Adapting.

He read the slight rewind ticks—timed his strikes half a second ahead.

SLASH—!

The tip of Ishigo's blade grazed Zai's cheek.

Blood flicked into the air, frozen in slow-motion.

Zai stopped.

He touched his cheek.Looked at the blood.

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Then smiled wide.

"Congratulations," he said, voice dripping with twisted excitement."You just made it personal."

BZZZZZMMM—!

Zai dropped the act.

The entire floor froze — time folding around him like a black hole.

He moved so fast the light couldn't even keep up.

Ishigo got SLAMMED into a wall. Hard. Bones creaking.

Yeji tried to move—Zai rewound him three steps back, over and over, like a broken NPC.

Zai stalked toward Ishigo, dagger spinning, the clock behind his head spinning faster, faster, FASTER—

"You're talented, silver boy. But talent without experience?"He leaned close."Still means I win."