The subterranean archive room erupted in a storm of cascading light and dust. When Kenji's Anchor Blade, Kage, struck the chest, the clash of his concentrated Mana Efficiency against Kaito's Chronal Tracing Jujutsu did not result in a shockwave; it resulted in a temporal echo.
For a terrifying second, the room warped. Images—flickers of events decades old—flashed over the walls: an assembly of IAB scientists in sterile white, complex Mana suppression runes being etched onto steel, and the faint, spectral image of a younger Kenji, eyes wide with pain and raw, black Dark Magic radiating off him.
Ren acted instantly. He deployed a series of rapid, intersecting Snap Cast Neutralization spells—not aimed at Kaito, but at the surging, chaotic Mana released by the opened chest. Ren's perfect Mana Compaction was the only force capable of stabilizing the temporal energy before it fractured the entire archive.
The temporal echo subsided, leaving Kaito stunned, Ren breathing hard from the complex stabilization, and Kenji rigid with cold fury. The truth, in glimpses, had been exposed.
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The Suppression Protocol
Kaito slowly lowered his hands, the residual light of his tracing power draining away. He looked at Kenji, no longer with suspicion, but with utter comprehension.
"The Original Suppression Protocol," Kaito whispered, picking up a burnt, brittle document that had fallen from the chest. "It wasn't a standard binding. It was a forced, symbiotic containment. They didn't neutralize your Dark Magic; they trapped it within your body, forcing you to use only your Mana Efficiency—your public Jujutsu—as a pressure valve."
Kenji didn't deny it. "The Dark Magic is reality-bending. It was too unstable, too potent. The IAB couldn't kill it, so they buried it and made me the Special Grade to keep it leashed. My whole career, my laziness, my obsession with 'efficiency'—it was all the Protocol's pressure release. Use minimal, clean Mana, or risk the core breaking and the Dark Magic erupting."
Ren looked from Kenji to the document, his methodical mind piecing together the terrifying scope of the lie. "And the 'Temporal-Pressure Wave' at the Auction House... it wasn't efficiency. It was a breach. You used the Dark Magic to corrode Glitch's shield."
"It was the only solution," Kenji ground out. "Glitch's negation field was absolute against my clean Mana. I had to use the corrosive nature of the Dark Magic to dissolve the structural foundation of his shield. It was minimal exposure, but the Protocol registered it as a failure."
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The New Threat: Mana Harvesting
Kaito shook his head, looking past Kenji to the larger danger. "The Assembly is not finished, Kenji. Akira is a Master Enforcer. He would know about Project Anchor and the Original Suppression Protocol—it was a high-level secret. He isn't just seeking the Blade of Union for power."
Kaito pointed to the data on Ren's pad concerning the kidnapping victims. "The five Enforcers he kidnapped were all high-capacity Mana users. Their Mana wasn't drained just to power a distraction. It was purified and concentrated."
"He's creating a focused Mana reservoir," Ren realized, his eyes widening.
Kaito nodded grimly. "Akira knows the IAB's ultimate defense is the Suppression Protocol that binds the Dark Magic. He's collecting the purest form of Mana possible to create a targeted counter-spell—a magical shattering charge. He wants to break the Protocol and unleash your Dark Magic completely."
"Why?" Kenji asked, a cold knot forming in his stomach.
"Because the Dark Magic isn't just destructive when it's controlled," Kaito stated. "When it is uncontrolled and absolute, it's the ultimate magical weapon. Akira wants to force you to become the monster the IAB always feared, and then turn that raw, shattered power against the entire sector."
The distraction was over. The search for the truth was over. Now, Kenji, Ren, and Kaito had to race to stop a Master Enforcer from collapsing Kenji's psychic and magical containment, unleashing a disaster that would dwarf the Code Omega.