Ren and Sora arrived at the Old Financial District just as the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the derelict towers in an ominous, blood-orange glow. The destination was the Black Market Auction House, an underground behemoth notorious for trading illegal magical artifacts and built atop an obsolete IAB Mana Conduit.
The moment they breached the perimeter, Sora's kinetic senses screamed.
"It's too quiet," she hissed, slowing her pace. "Not a peep from the auction crowd, but the Mana signature is boiling. The air is vibrating with raw, unshaped Jujutsu—it's heavy, elemental, and completely out of control."
Ren used his Snap Cast Mastery to instantaneously deploy a micro-tracking spell across the entrance plaza. "You're right. Haruka's Warp Splatter is minimal here, meaning the entry was recent, but the energy inside is immense. They're not stealing the Blade of Union yet; they're creating a diversion."
He pointed to a holographic banner advertising the night's main event: the sale of the Blade of Volcanic Flare. "That blade is purely offensive, a relic that amplifies fire-based Jujutsu to catastrophic levels. They aren't interested in buying it; they're interested in using it to cause maximum chaos."
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The Chaos Trap
The interior of the Auction House was a cavernous dome, currently illuminated by the frantic, shifting shadows of high-volume elemental casting. The Cursed Assembly hadn't just used the building; they had weaponized it.
Sora sprinted ahead, channeling massive amounts of Mana into her hands. "That's Zilla! He's using Tectonic Force Jujutsu to overload the building's foundation! If he hits the Mana Conduit, the whole district goes up!"
A sudden, paralyzing wave of sonic distortion washed over them. It wasn't kinetic; it was magical.
"No, that's Finn," Ren corrected, instantly dropping low and deploying a tiny Snap Cast Nullification Bubble over his own ear canals. The distortion vanished for him, but Sora staggered, clutching her head. "He's using Sensory Nullification to scramble our tracking and comms! He's trying to blind Kaito and neutralize our teamwork!"
Sora shook off the worst of the psychic noise, her face grim. She countered Finn's magical warfare with brute force. With a loud, tearing sound, she deployed a high-tensile Concussion Web, not at an enemy, but across the main support column near Zilla. The web, augmented with Vibrational Density, didn't shatter the column; it created a localized, massive shockwave, forcing Zilla to divert his Mana from the conduit to shield himself.
"Get focused, Ren! Zilla's too strong to take down, and Finn's too elusive! We need to find the victims!"
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Glitch: The Unbreakable Wall
As Zilla roared in frustration, a new figure stepped out of the shadows: Glitch, the Assembly's defensive specialist. Glitch wasn't physically imposing, but the air around him was visibly warped by his continuous Kinetic Negation Jujutsu—a passive, high-density shield that instantly nullified any Mana-fueled physical movement that crossed its threshold.
"IAB scum," Glitch sneered, his voice metallic. "Your speed and force are useless here. Try me, 'Kinetic Master.'"
Sora knew what this meant. Her Concussion Webs, her ultimate weapon, were useless. Any web she deployed would instantly have its kinetic energy drained to zero the moment it touched Glitch's barrier. She was the master of force, and Glitch was the master of its negation.
"Ren, cover!" Sora yelled, changing tactics instantly. She deployed a wide, messy Concussion Web toward Zilla and Finn—not to hit them, but to cover their escape in raw energy.
Ren didn't hesitate. While the enemy was distracted by the raw power, he executed a perfect $\text{\[Snap Cast\]}$—a silent, instantaneous Aura Implosion spell deployed just behind Glitch. The spell was too small and fast to be caught by the general negation field, but it didn't do damage. It was a precise, targeted attack aimed at the source of the negation.
Glitch staggered, his continuous shield flickering for a millisecond as his Mana core was momentarily shocked. It was a tiny window, but enough.
"The victims are in the side vault, fueling the Blade of Volcanic Flare!" Ren snapped, having read the residual Mana flow during the flicker. "They're preparing to activate that blade and engulf the district in fire Mana!"
The two Enforcers knew their mission was no longer about tracking, but survival. They had to neutralize the Blade of Volcanic Flare and prevent mass catastrophe, or else Kenji would be forced to step in—and reveal the Dark Magic that would shatter his life forever.