Volume 3—Chapter 61: Realisation

On the completely opposite side of the building, Viola and Irana moved cautiously through the dim hallways. Every step echoed softly, swallowed quickly by the strange stillness that covered the place.

“Hey Irana… just a thought,” Viola said, breaking the silence.

Irana glanced at her. “What?”

“Is it possible that Aria never entered this dimensional crack in the first place?”

Irana furrowed her brow. “Why are you bringing that up now?”

“Well… think about it. The way we got dragged into this place was strange. My teleportation ability glitched the moment we tried to catch up with Aria, and the next thing I knew, we were here.” Viola gestured vaguely at the walls. “Maybe it only affected us.”

“So you’re saying Onee-chan is still outside… and your teleportation caused this whole mess?” Irana asked skeptically.

“Basically, yeah,” Viola replied with a slight shrug.

Irana shook her head. “I don’t think so. Even if that were the case… I’m sure Onee-chan would’ve ended up in here anyway.”

Viola raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that?”

Irana took a deep breath, then began walking again. “I imagine the scenario went like this: Onee-chan noticed no one was following her, except maybe Kotori. Assuming Kotori didn’t get pulled into the crack too, Onee-chan probably told her to head back while she searched the building for me… and for you. And somewhere during that search, she took a wrong turn or triggered something and fell into this crack too.”

Viola stared at her, unimpressed. “That’s oddly specific. You sound like you were standing right there watching it all happen.”

“I just know how she thinks,” Irana said confidently. “Besides… I can feel her. She’s somewhere in this building. I’m sure of it.”

Viola blinked. “Wait, what? You can feel her?”

Irana nodded. “Maybe it’s a twin thing. Some kind of connection… instinctual.”

Viola gave her a flat look. “You say that with so much confidence, yet you got completely fooled by a phantom pretending to be Aria.”

Irana flushed. “Shut up…”

Before Viola could tease her more, Irana suddenly stumbled, her vision blurring. The hallway around her twisted just slightly, the dim lighting flickering, and in an instant, she found herself in a slightly different section of the corridor. Still the same building, but definitely not the same spot.

“Huh?” Irana blinked rapidly, disoriented. “What just—”

“That was close,” Viola said, having appeared beside her once more. “There was a skeleton monster sneaking up on us. I had to teleport us out of the way just in time.”

Irana swallowed and looked behind her.

“…Right. Thanks,” she muttered.

Viola smirked. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect your clueless twin-sense.”

Irana’s eye twitched at Viola’s casual remark, but she didn’t waste time with a retort. Her expression hardened with focus as she took a step forward, placing herself between Viola and the skeletal figure in front of her.

“Just stand back… and quit saying nonsense, alright?” Irana said.

The temperature around them dropped suddenly, the air turning crisp with an unnatural chill. Tiny flakes of frost formed along the nearby walls and floor, crackling underfoot with every movement. A pale mist began to creep across the tiles, swirling with anticipation around Irana’s feet.

The lone skeleton ahead stood unnervingly still, its hollow sockets fixated on the girls like a predator measuring its prey.

But then, something changed.

Faint blue lights began to flicker in the air—at first like fireflies, then growing brighter.. One by one, more skeletons began to materialise out of thin air, their bones assembling. The clicking of their joints echoed through the hallway like chimes made of death.

Viola took a cautious step back, watching the spectacle unfold. “How many is that now? Six? No… wait—seven?”

Irana didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes narrowed, and a sharp breath escaped her lips as a sheen of frost coated her arms. With a swift motion, she formed blades of ice around her fists, twisted and shimmering with lethal intent.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said coolly, cracking her knuckles beneath the ice. “Once my ice shatters them…”

She took a battle stance, her body lowered and poised.

“There’ll be zero.”

Without wasting another second, Irana launched herself forward.

The cold air exploded outward with her first step, and in a blur of movement, she slammed her ice-coated fist directly into the nearest skeleton’s ribcage. A sharp crack echoed through the hallway as brittle bones shattered like glass under the force. Shards of frozen bone scattered across the floor, skidding to a stop near Viola’s feet.

The rest of the skeletons barely had time to react. Irana was already moving, her figure weaving between them like a blizzard in human form.

She spun, ducked, and leapt—each motion followed by a devastating strike of icy fury. Her fists became battering rams, her kicks like crashing waves of an avalanche—every hit connected with ruthless precision, breaking femurs, skulls, spines. For every skeleton that raised a rusted weapon, two more were already reduced to splinters by the time they did. What had begun as a confrontation became a massacre—a one-sided storm of violence.

Viola stood at a safe distance. Within moments, the last skeleton let out a dry clatter as it crumbled into pieces

“Told you,” Irana muttered, brushing a few frost-covered bone fragments from her shoulder. “Zero.”

“Hmm… weird. Why are the monsters in this dimensional crack so weak?” Viola asked, tilting her head as she kicked a stray bone fragment.

“They’re just skeletons,” Irana replied flatly. “Also, consider that the first one tried a sneak attack. The monsters themselves aren’t the real danger here.”

“You mean the real threat is that they don’t attack directly, but lurk around waiting to ambush?” Viola clarified.

“Well, yeah, that too. But what I meant is…” Irana paused, frowning as she tried to find the right words. “The biggest danger in this crack is the mental interference. The… uh, the dissonance thing. Cognitive dissonance?”

“You mean cognitive distortion?” Viola corrected.

“Whatever,” Irana waved dismissively. “Point is, this crack messes with your mind. It warps your thinking—subtly nudging you to act differently than you normally would.”

“Do you really think that’s happening?” Viola asked. “If that’s true, maybe we were already affected back when we were at the café.”

Irana narrowed her eyes. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, if we were in our right minds, there’s no way we would’ve agreed to Aria’s ridiculous plan that quickly,” Viola said dryly.

That made Irana pause. A sudden, cold realisation struck her. If their minds were influenced before they even realised it... Then maybe it wasn’t the crack itself doing it. Maybe something or someone was manipulating them.

“…Shit.”

Viola blinked, caught off guard. “Irana?”

But Irana didn’t answer. She suddenly sprinted ahead. Viola stared after her for a second before breaking into a run to catch up.

“Irana! Why are you running?!”

“This crack—it’s a trap,” Irana called back. “It’s not natural. It was set up to lure espers in… and turn us into prey!”

“What are you talking about?!”

“I remember seeing some classified files back at Association HQ,” Irana said breathlessly as she ran. “I never cared about them before, but now it makes sense. The disappearances… they were all linked to Spectre activity. We need to find Onee-chan—now—before it’s too late!”

Viola picked up her pace. “Should we split up to cover more ground?”

“No! That’s exactly what they’d want. If the Spectre has control over an esper with mental abilities, then splitting up is suicide. We need to stay together—watch each other for signs of manipulation.”

“Urgh—what the hell…” a man groaned as he staggered back from the impact.

Irana stumbled, caught herself, and immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Viola arrived moments later, blinking as she took in the scene.

“You alright?” she asked, glancing between Irana and the man.

Irana narrowed her eyes. The figure before her was tall, wearing the standard-issue coat of the Esper Association, now dusty and scuffed. He adjusted his glasses, clearly annoyed but otherwise unhurt.

“Wait a second… you, I recognise you,” Irana said, straightening but staying alert. “You’re a C-rank, aren’t you? What are you doing inside a dimensional crack?”

The man brushed himself off with a sigh. “I was investigating a string of disappearances tied to Spectre activity. I didn’t expect the investigation to land me inside the crack itself.”

Viola crossed her arms. “You got pulled in? Alone?”

He nodded. “My partner and I were separated the moment the breach triggered. Haven’t seen her since.”

Irana’s eyes narrowed further. “Name.”

“Ichiro, Toyama Ichiro”