Kara no Kyoukai: A Complete Guide to the Setting’s Power and Abilities

This thread serves as a "respect thread" for Kara no Kyoukai, an overall evaluation of the novel's setting and its power. There's a persistent myth floating around the internet that KnK is somehow the "weakest" Type-Moon series. When in reality, it's the strongest by an overwhelming margin.

The reason for this is simple: Kara no Kyoukai explores existential and abstract themes, delving into the very essence of reality and the fundamental nature of human perception. This results in a setting that is conceptually and narratively far more powerful than anything else in the franchise.

Despite this, some self-proclaimed "readers" (who are more like wiki skimmers) spread blatant misinformation, such as the claim that Ryougi Shiki is just a "normal girl" physically. This argument completely ignores the novel’s explicit statements that she is a program designed for maximum versatility and efficiency, supported by countless superhuman feats. Others dismiss the setting as "tame" and therefore "weak," an argument with no actual basis in reality. The most striking claim I recall was that Kara no Kyoukai was a "fodder verse carried by Void Shiki." In reality, it is KnK that carries other series like the original Tsukihime, by providing more context and insight into the mechanics of the higher-tier characters. The novel's mechanics, such as Origin awakenings, were even treated as end-all-be-all power-ups in Fate/Extra CCC.

Much of this confusion stems from the fact that the Kara no Kyoukai light novels were untranslated for many years. Only recently has a proper translation become available, allowing readers to finally grasp the full scope and complexity of its lore.

So, in this thread, I’ll be debunking these misconceptions and proving that Kara no Kyoukai stands as one of the strongest settings out there, even if we evaluate it purely within its own self-contained universe, without relying on other series like Tsukihime for scaling.

Before getting into the actual explanation, it is also very important to read this interview from Nasu.

He essentially admits that the person who originally wrote Kara no Kyoukai, his younger self, is "dead," and that the Ufotable adaptations diverge from his original intent, going down a completely different path. In his own words, Future Gospel (Mirai Fukuin) is a “Frankenstein” sequel: a product of gratitude toward the anime’s success, not a natural continuation of the original novels.

This is why Future Gospel contradicts the core themes and character arcs of the original story: Shiki and Mikiya would never want a child; Shiki would never return to her family and conform to the roles they forced onto her. It’s not a follow-up to the original Kara no Kyoukai: it’s a reinterpretation by an author who admits he no longer holds the same worldview. For more info on the matter, refer to my other blog here.

The takeaway: Any material produced after the Ufotable anime (post-2007) should not be treated as applying to the original LNs. The only exception to this is Melty Blood Actress Again, which appears to still use the novel's lore despite it intending to promote the movies. That said, Tsukihime and Melty Blood have both been rebooted as well, making even that connection irrelevant.

This ties into a broader, and crucial, point:

Nasu’s interview statements are irrelevant. He has openly admitted that his past self, the one who wrote Kara no Kyoukai, is “gone,” and that his current creative direction diverges significantly from his original intent. More importantly, the source material always takes precedence over any external commentary.

And yet, for years, this has been the go-to tactic for people trying to downplay Kara no Kyoukai's setting and characters. It's baffling how many rely entirely on offhand author comments while ignoring what the story actually shows. The result? Takes that are literally the "Goku is wall-level" of the Type-Moon community: completely missing the explicit supremacy the Kara no Kyoukai cast holds over most of the broader verse.

Araya Souren and Ryougi Shiki in particular are not just strong. They'd obliterate everyone else in the franchise while blindfolded, and no, that’s not hyperbole.

Author comments, pamphlets, interviews, blog posts, are meta-text, not canon. If Nasu says one thing in an interview, but the story shows another, the story wins. Authorial intent may explain why something was written, but it doesn’t override the actual writing. What matters is what’s shown, framed, and emphasized in the text itself.

And frankly, I’m not even touching the laundry list of lore contradictions in Nasu’s interviews, nor the questionable circumstances surrounding many of them (his team regulating his story decisions, him admitting his younger self was like another person entirely, other writers openly laughing at his claims, or even Nasu confessing that he sometimes says nonsense because he’s overworked and has to "cope").

Don’t cling to author comments like gospel while ignoring what the actual events, themes, and tone of the story tell you. In any serious analysis, text beats meta every time. If a random interview statement is contradicted by the actual story, then it is invalid and no different from fanfiction. TM is literally the ONLY fanbase that doesn't seem to get this very simple concept. Canon is determined by narrative consistency, not what Nasu says while half-asleep in a Q&A.

Additionally, Nasu has openly admitted that he has a team managing lore and information for him (Grand Order only increased their numbers, so don’t argue he didn’t have help with earlier works). More importantly, he’s stated he doesn’t mind retconning details as long as he can keep a single, overarching theme intact:

And guess what? He no longer supports the older themes. His “past self” has effectively “passed on,” which explains why he butchered Kara no Kyoukai with Future Gospel and other crossover nonsense. Now he focuses on something new and divergent from his younger self, freely contradicting the foundation of those original stories simply because of that.

Besides, claiming to “have a firm grasp on what you’re going to write” while accepting constant inconsistencies is contradictory, to say the least. But I digress.

So STOP taking his offhand interviews seriously. Nasu himself has said his past self is effectively gone, and that even before Fate/Grand Order, he already had a team of “information managers” overseeing lore details; which has only expanded since then. He openly admits he doesn’t sweat retcons or contradictions as long as he can focus on a central theme for years. In other words, he doesn’t keep track of every fine detail in his own stories. People treating his random declarations as gospel over the actual text is honestly something out of a sci-fi movie. Every other fandom knows source material beats author comments, but the Type-Moon fandom? They can’t even let it go when the author HIMSELF openly admits to shifting mindsets and details.

Anyways, let's get into it now:

Explanation of Origins:

Now, the most crucial aspect in understanding the capabilities of the KnK's cast is the concept of Origins. But what exactly are they?

Origins are the “directions” that define how an existence operates, abstract forces embedded in all living beings and even objects, shaping their deepest nature. If existence were a machine, the Origin would be its blueprint:

"The direction of everything that arose from fundamental cause. The α that enabled the existence of α, the absolute order that existed at the very core. For instance, something with the Origin of 'taboo,' regardless of being born as a human, animal, or plant, would always exist to go against the morals established by the collective. It was the idea that, independent of the process of reincarnation, humans acquired bodies and wisdom from the directional force at the point of origin, and acquired personalities that were only slightly different from their prior lives.  - Garden of Sinners Pamphlet - [Other] : Origin

But more than that, Origins are what allow existence to function at all. Without them, the world would be a chaotic flux of infinite, undifferentiated possibility. Origins act as vectors, definitive paths that let the universe express itself in structured, meaningful forms. Every being, every phenomenon, unfolds according to the unique direction inscribed in its Origin.

For example, someone with an Origin of Slaughter would, regardless of upbringing, gravitate toward killing. Even if reborn as a different entity, be it human, animal, or supernatural, their existence would still follow that same imperative.

This drive is not limited to sentient beings. Even inanimate matter follows a subconscious, ungraspable directive. That is what an Origin is. It's not exclusive to biological life; it is the hidden intent from which phenomena themselves emerge. Every phenomenon is, in essence, a manifestation of a certain idea; and Origins are those ideas:

"Kokutou, do you believe in past lives?"

"You mean like, living as an animal before being born as a human? Hm, I suppose it'd be a maybe. While I can't deny it, it's not like I approve of it either."

"I couldn't think of an answer more befitting of you. Well, for the sake of discussion, let's hypothesise that they do exist. Even when speaking scientifically, there are grounds for believing in reincarnation. Every particle that exists in the universe eventually changes forms, right? So long as you don't factor in concepts like our minds and souls, everything will eventually be reincarnated as something else.

An Origin is a means of retracing that orderless rule. There are some mages who allow themselves to be possessed by their past lives in order to use their abilities. Basically, it's an attempt to bring the abilities you possessed before being born into the present. An Origin is a similar concept, but it exists on an even higher plane than that. If we possessed lives before our current ones, then it'd only make sense for that life to also have one previous to it. Even if you weren't born as a human in your past life, and even if you weren't a living being in the life before that, there lies a thread of existence that ties it all together. For every one of us, there exists a beginning of our soulsーa birthplace of our existences. However, the concept of living beings does not exist there.

All that exists is a genesis, a direction for causality to move in. Within the fount where all originates, an orientation toward something is born in a flash of lightning. That prerogative toward a certain something begins to flow, eventually taking a form suitable to it. Sometimes, it just so happens to be the form of a human being. Perhaps you could call it a driving force that emerged at the beginning of all things. It's an inescapable impulse to accomplish something born from within the chaos of the Fount of Origination. An absolute imperative for all that have been given form to fulfil their purpose. That impulse is what we mages refer to as an Origin.

Well, put simply, I guess calling it an instinct would be good enough. You know how some people are only attracted to children? They say stuff like that is caused by a traumatic instance in a person's childhood, but nothing that happened to a kid would be able to affect an adult's consciousness like that.

People like that have been that way since before they were born. Our souls are bound by the rigid shapes of our Origin. Even if we're aware of it, we cannot oppose the courses set for us during the foundation of our existence."

That thing she said at the end sounded a bit too extreme. Regardless,

there were also some parts that indubitably made sense. We humans engage in actions that we don't want to because we're unable to keep our urges in check.

For all things, be it plants or minerals, our lives are bound by a predetermined direction.

"Most people live their entire lives unaware of their Origins, though.

However, there are people who are born a bit too close to their Origins. Just like people with psychic powers, they possess extraordinary abilities, and as a result tend to be outcasts of society. By the way, Shiki constantly seeks death because her Origin is Emptiness, and the reason why Azaka refuses to be bound by rules is because hers is Taboo. Shiki's being driven by that impulse because she's too close, but Azaka's pretty much a normal girl, right? An Origin is only a cause, meaning it isn't ordinarily something that rules over an individual. Unless you become aware of it for whatever reason, that is."

She glanced at me with a keen look in her eyes. I'd already understood what she was trying to say.

"In other words, you lose the ability to go in a different direction once you realise your own Origin?"

"Exactly. An Origin is a current that has surged since the beginning of existence. The mere seventeen years that Shirazumi Lio possesses will only end up getting swept away. All he can do is surrender himself to that impulse over and over again. Consumption, huh? That's quite an unusual impulse he has. I'm not surprised that Araya wanted to keep a close eye on him.

Listen, Kokutou. If that's what his Origin is, then his past life was probably a creature that feasted on everything it could get its hands on. Those who have awakened their Origins will gain the past lives they have accumulated. He can't be considered a single human anymoreーhe's an entire pack of beasts. Things haven't taken a turn for the worse because his original personality is still holding on, but once that's gone, that pack of beasts is all that will remain. Well, that'd also be quite the interesting sight," she said with a sarcastic grin on her face. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

As Touko explains, all matter in the universe undergoes transformation. But no matter how many times it changes form, it continues to obey the directive of its Origin.

This means an Origin transcends material existence. It is not just a trait of the body, but an abstract directive that persists through every cycle of rebirth. It is the soul’s trajectory across time. In fact, Touko suggests that awakening one’s Origin draws forth not just metaphysical instinct, but the accumulated memory of past selves. The Origin acts as an archetype, a prime directive that has shaped every form the soul has taken since the very beginning.

—The flesh is there first, and intellect arises out of it. Is borne out of it.

—The flesh, we may say, becomes the basis of the intellect. It does not itself "have" an intellect. The flesh simply "is." But the flesh does have a personality, a will, of a kind. It grows up as one with, and gives birth to, the intellect. That- is what I am.

Ah, he said. He'd heard it somewhere before, hadn't he. That the human being is composed of three different things. Mind and soul, to which is added the fleshly body. Supposing, then, that the mind resides in the brain, and the soul in the body. That makes her - what? Shiki's essence. Her true character. A personality, "the body", with nothing of Shiki's heart.

Gently, she nodded her head. Ryougi Shiki did.

—Basically, that's how it is.

—"I" am not a personality borne of the intellect. I am the personality of the flesh as such.

"A personality of the flesh as such arises in every human, but ordinarily it does not come to any kind of self-awareness. Usually, before that can happen, the intellect stirs to life. From out of the body, more precisely the brain, the intellect is produced. The intellect borne out of the brain's activity becomes a personality and gains executive function over the fleshly body. At that point any personality which dwelt in the flesh becomes meaningless."

—It's because of this that the intellect tends to treat the brain which gave birth to it as if it were something specially set apart from the rest of the fleshly body, even though it is just one part of the whole.

—Software is useless without hardware, but hardware can't function without software. The personality borne of the intellect forgets this truth: it forgets that it is the body's product, and it imagines that it is the creator of this fleshly, embodied "I" which it finds itself to be. That is the ordinary case. I am different only in that the order in which these things happened was different for me.

—Even so, the fact that I'm here, now, talking to you is entirely due to the personality of Shiki. If she wasn't here, I wouldn't even have language. I am, after all, nothing but flesh.

—I think I get it, he said. Your ability to "know" or "perceive" the outside world is dependent on Shiki's personality.

—Correct. I am simply an unpowered piece of hardware. Without the requisite software I am just an inert box.

—I am a hollow container which only gazes inward, which communes solely with death - in other words with what Magi call the "Root", though I see no value in it whatsoever. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Void Shiki in this passage is explaining that each living being has three components:

• The soul, which is shaped by the Origin, acting as the foundation determining the purpose and traits of that existence. It is the “idea” of something.
• The body, which acts as the interface for the soul to manifest in the material world, interact with it, and express its traits. It is the manifestation of the soul’s idea.
• The mind, which acts as the program controlling the entire system, moving the body and tapping into the inner talents shaped by the soul. It is shaped by the soul, but also by outside experiences, meaning it can deviate significantly from the Origin’s directive unless reminded of it through some circumstance.

Awakening an Origin is a special process that grants the mind unfiltered access to the soul. What does that mean? That the mind is no longer limited by the specific manifestation it was born as, nor by natural laws. Now, the mind can tap into all possible expressions of the concept behind its soul, reconfiguring the body at will to operate optimally against any threat.

However, there is also a downside to this: the soul also gains access to the mind, which means it can develop its own independent personality that can potentially override the personality formed by the brain. This Origin personality is entirely shaped by its abstract concept, meaning it is the embodiment of an idea and exists purely to do what that Origin dictates, making the personality of the mind a slave to those primal impulses.

However, if the person has sufficient willpower, they can suppress those impulses and the Original personality, maintaining control over themselves while still accessing its abstract power. Every major character in KnK has undergone some form of Origin awakening, which is the foundation of their abilities.

Ryougi Shiki is a special case: her soul’s true personality, Void, surfaced first, and was later overwritten by the mental personality formed through experience. Despite this inversion, the underlying concept remains the same.

So how does this relate to combat?

Even before an Origin is fully awakened, some individuals are born close to theirs. Though they may not be consciously aware of it, this proximity grants them abilities beyond human limits, manifesting as psychic or paranormal talents that feel natural, like breathing:

However, there are people who are born a bit too close to their Origins. Just like people with psychic powers, they possess extraordinary abilities, and as a result tend to be outcasts of society. By the way, Shiki constantly seeks death because her Origin is Emptiness, and the reason why Azaka refuses to be bound by rules is because hers is Taboo. Shiki's being driven by that impulse because she's too close, but Azaka's pretty much a normal girl, right? An Origin is only a cause, meaning it isn't ordinarily something that rules over an individual. Unless you become aware of it for whatever reason, that is." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

Abnormal ability. Functions that normal humans do not possess. A kind of circuitry that leads to what are commonly called paranormal activities. Different from magecraft, inborn talents are absolutely necessary for psychic power. Those possessing psychic power circuits can induce paranormal phenomenon as naturally as breathing. The psychic power users themselves take psychic power for granted, and treat it as something they simply “can do.” They only realize that they are abnormal after others (who can only comprehend “normal”) have pointed it out. In this story, Asagami Fujino is an psychic power user, but since she was tampered with somewhat, her ability falls between psychic power and magecraft. Psychic power is normally an incidental occurrence, a sudden mutation limited to one generation.- Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary - Psychic Power [other]

Thus, even proximity to an Origin can grant supernatural traits:

The boy, over the course of an hour, devoured a human corpse. Using nothing but his bare teeth and jaw, he consumed a creature larger than himself. The taste of human flesh held no pleasure or disgust; it was simply a task requiring raw exertion.

"An hour? Impressive," the cloaked figure remarked, having witnessed the boy's meal.

The boy turned, his mouth a crimson mask, not from the human flesh, but from the shattered bones of his own jaw, testament to his relentless chewing.

Yet, he hadn't stopped for a single second. As a result, the corpse had vanished without a trace.

"But that is your limit," the man continued.

“Merely acknowledging your Origin won't suffice. It must be awakened to take form."

The boy listened with vacant eyes. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

Araya Souren observes that Lio can already perform inhuman feats just by recognizing his Origin. But true power comes only with full Awakening. This illustrates the overwhelming potential of Origins, even when only partially tapped.

This proves that Origins aren’t just “instincts.” They are the literal purpose of existence, to the point that the mind, even becoming marginally more aware of it, can unlock abilities that defy physical law.

When a full awakening takes place, this is the result:

"When those instincts surface, they also bring a slight change to the physical body. Not in terms of appearance, but its internal makeup. Apparently, it's some sort of return to our original forms. The point is, people don’t even realize it’s happening until it’s over." — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 7

In this context, “internal makeup” refers not to appearance, but to the entire biological structure of the body: muscles, nerves, cells, and instinctual systems. It means the body is restructured at a fundamental level, aligning itself with the concept of the fighter’s Origin. This isn’t a cosmetic shift: it’s a complete transformation of how the body functions, down to its core. It becomes a direct expression of the Origin’s idea. In that moment, the fighter isn't relying on muscle memory or training. Instead, their body is shaped by the pure concept of their Origin, allowing them to perform actions that break the rules of physics and biology.

They're not just fighting as a person: they're fighting as a concept made real.

This makes them extremely dangerous: they aren't limited by what their body should be able to do. They act with perfect instinct and absolute precision, guided by a force older than the physical world itself.

Let’s look at a few concrete examples of this in action:

"The enemy's prowess had escalated beyond recognition. Unnatural speed and precision surpassed any creature of flesh and bone." —Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 7

Lio’s abilities surpass anything achievable by a biological organism because they are not physical; they are conceptual. His speed and precision are described as “unnatural,” placing him outside the realm of ordinary life. This suggests that once a being awakens to their Origin, they no longer operate under biological constraints, but under metaphysical law. Lio moves not through technique, but through pure instinct honed into will. His limbs become extensions of his predatory essence.

Other examples include Ryougi Shiki dodging Asagami's distortions:

The stack of materials Shiki is hiding behind is instantly smashed. At that instant... a white figure streaks out of the wreckage - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Fujino's eyes glimmer. The left eye for a rotation to the left. The right eye for a rotation to the right. Taking Shiki's head and left leg as the fulcrums, she twists. A strange sensation occurs instantaneously. The moment Shiki feels the invisible power upon her, she jumps explosively to one side. But the power on Shiki does not weaken. Fujino's power is not a projectile weapon. Even if one gets away from one round, it is impossible to get completely away from it whilst in her vision....... Damn......!! Shiki realizes Fujino's power is stronger than she thought. She runs. As if to escape from her vision, Shiki runs in a circle around Fujino.

"Do you think you can get awa-"Fujino murmurs, but then is astonished. Shiki did get away! Unbelievably, Shiki has jumped off the bridge down to the ocean. The sound of a window being broken is heard. What athletic ability... Shiki went off the bridge and into the parking lot right underneath it. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Fujino’s sight-based ability distorts space itself, bending and twisting the coordinates of reality to crush her targets. Because this ability warps the very medium through which all motion and perception occur, dodging it should be impossible. Yet Shiki evades it with fluid ease. Her movements occur in the infinitesimal gap between perception and event, a moment before causality finalizes. She moves within the pre-event interval, in the space where phenomena have been defined but not yet realized.

This phenomenon is echoed again during her encounter with Kurogiri in Chapter 6, where her speed completely outpaces the mage's conceptual manipulation of reality through speech:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"This is futile. I already explained, you cannot defeat me. Even you, who can kill anything, cannot vanquish words."

It was a truth I'd never contemplated. Words were the one enemy beyond my reach.

"However, that doesn't grant me the power to kill you either. This is the extent of my abilities. Any closer, and you could overpower me with ease. There will be no exchange of lives. I am no warrior. My role is simply to fulfil your desires." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"Isn't that useless then? What's the point of it all if no one can even reply to him?"

"If it were just a normal language, then yes. The fact that he can communicate with beasts and rocks doesn't mean that he's speaking to them directly. Instead, he speaks to the world itself. Think of it like an ontological hierarchy. As long as 'I' exist, there will always be an Aozaki Touko above me that exists within the world itself. If he were to use the Unified Language on me, I would have no way of resisting. If I were to reject his words, that'd be equal to denying the fact that I exist in this world. The very words he utter become an irreversible truth. God's Word is capable of placing all of creation under complete hypnosis. The memories that we humans possess, are also recorded by the world itself. It's a similar concept to the Akashic Records, but this is a wave phenomenon that exists on a lower level than it. You see, one of the possible methods of deciphering it is the Unified Language. That's why Kurogiri's able to gather memories that have already been forgotten. He isn't drawing their forgotten memories out of their brains, but rather from the record the world stores of the past. In the present day and age, he's the only person capable of accessing the various recordings of the past that our world has kept in store. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

His Unified Language isn’t simple speech, it’s thaumaturgical command, where each word (“You.” “Cannot.” “See Me.”) rewrites reality as it’s spoken. Even so, Shiki strikes before the sentence completes, severing his arm mid-incantation. Kurogiri himself concedes she moved “faster than [he] could speak.” In doing so, she bypasses the interval between declaration and manifestation, acting in the space before the world updates to the new truth his words define.

Both encounters illustrate the same principle: Shiki moves in the liminal interval between transformation and realization, cognition and outcome. Her movements are not predictive, but ontological; she occupies the moment when an event is both unreal and inevitable. In that state, she ceases to function as a biological organism. Her body becomes a metaphysical instrument, moving by resonance with her Origin, the Void that precedes all form.

This is why pain, fatigue, or damage lose meaning for her. In the final battle with Lio, despite being drugged, maimed, and near death, Shiki kills him instantly, faster than his mind can register. She even considers severing her own nerve signals to continue living through sheer will:

The third time, her leg was torn. A sickening squelch followed as concrete soaked with blood. The claws, embedded deep in her bone, stained her foot and the floor, making even standing excruciating. Indeed, merely standing brought agony. Blood loss clouded her vision, her body teetering on the brink of collapse.

The end was shockingly abrupt. As Lio's arm lunged for her neck, she severed it. Without hesitation, she then severed both his legs. With a swift, merciless motion, she plunged her knife into his body, which momentarily floated like a balloon, before slamming him to the ground. The knife, a cruel tombstone, pierced his heart. He gasped once, a final breath, and then it was over. Lio's face remained frozen in shock, too stunned to comprehend the fate that had befallen him as his life functions ceased. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

Lio's corpse showed no bleeding; the vibrant crimson staining the warehouse floor was solely hers. With limbs torn and flesh ripped, her life would likely be measured in mere minutes. Or perhaps, as Ryougi Shiki, she could potentially extend that time until help arrived. But she made no move. A sigh escaped her lips as she relinquished the knife, collapsing onto the cold floor.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

"Ah," she breathed. She extended her breaths, severing the nerves in her bleeding wounds. Perhaps she would be able to conserve enough energy to call for help by resting like this. "But... what's the point?" she murmured, her gaze drifting skyward.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

As long as her body retains minimal structure, her Origin overrides the biological systems that should limit her:

Ryougi Shiki looked at the Magus with her sword still in the swinging position. A single line of fresh blood spilled out from her lips. She herself had not received a wound. However, it was just the wounds from last night reopening. Ryougi Shiki’s body had a few broken ribs and some organ damage; just walking caused regurgitated blood to flow out of her mouth. Even with such wounds, she still unveiled an impressive dance with her blade. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even if Ryougi Shiki is awake, she cannot do anything. You do not need to watch her, as it will be difficult for her to even get up with the wounds she has sustained. Even if she awoke, she still could not move her body.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Despite injuries that should render her immobile, Shiki fights with unbroken precision. Araya’s assumption, that she wouldn’t even be able to stand, proves wrong. Her movements are no longer bound by the condition of her flesh, but by her metaphysical essence.

We see this again in her confrontation with Asagami, where she sprints through storm and flooding as if the world’s resistance simply doesn’t apply to her:

Shiki starts to run. Her speed is incredible, despite the pooling water and violent wind. It should not take more than three seconds to reduce the distance between them from ten meters to zero. Enough time to bring Fujino's frail body to the ground and stab her in her heart. But even that speed cannot match the speed of sight. Shiki has to close in on her target while Fujino only has to look at her target. For the two, that difference of three seconds is too long. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Across multiple encounters, Ryougi Shiki consistently demonstrates abilities that ignore conventional physical limits:

• Dodging a space-warping ability that should be impossible to evade.
• Fighting at full efficiency despite crippling injuries.
• Killing an opponent faster than he can process, even while drugged and weakened.
• Running at full speed despite environmental resistance.
• Striking down a mage faster than he can speak reality-altering words into existence.

These feats suggest that as long as Shiki’s body retains even minimal functionality, her actions are dictated more by her Origin than by the conventional mechanics of biology. Her movement, perception, and reactions are no longer filtered through muscle and nerve, but through the principle of Death that governs her very being. Only when her body is truly incapacitated does this transcendent effect seem to cease. This aligns with the broader idea that an Origin Awakening liberates one from the boundaries of flesh and bone, allowing them to operate according to the fundamental nature of their existence rather than the limitations of the physical world.

Consider now Araya Souren’s display of Stillness:

"The mage moves. If Shiki left an afterimage of a white kimono in the darkness of the night as she ran, the man melted into the night as he approached his prey. A demon-like speed that didn't even let you grasp the process of him approaching. He stops, next to the immobile Shiki the mage's black coat flaps in the air. Shiki was unable to respond to the mage's unfelt approach. She had been looking --- she had been looking at the man advance towards her, but she can't perceive that the man is standing right next to her ---." — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

Araya Souren uses his Origin of Stillness not just to move with extreme speed, but to make his movements imperceptible. Despite Shiki’s heightened awareness, she cannot perceive his approach: his presence is so detached from the normal flow of time and space that even while looking at him, she fails to register his motion.

While Shiki’s movements, though superhuman, still follow the rules of perception, Araya transcends them. His Stillness renders him invisible not by vanishing, but by eliminating the process of movement itself. It’s not speed, it's the suspension of causality between intention and result.

He doesn’t move in the traditional sense; he simply arrives. What seems paradoxical, Stillness applied to motion, makes perfect sense under his control: by isolating the destination and bypassing the "in-between," he redefines movement itself.

And Araya’s Stillness isn’t just applied to speed or perception, it also manifests in the raw, overwhelming force of his physical attacks:

“His tightly clenched fist drives into Shiki's stomach. Receiving a blow that could break through a large tree, Shiki's body rises up into the air. With just that one attack Shiki spews out just as much blood as the mage who has had his chest and neck stabbed. With a grating noise, her insides and the bones that were protecting them break.

Shiki faints. No matter how great a physique she had, her body is still that of a young girl. Even if half the power had been held back, there was no way she could withstand Araya's attack which could break concrete walls. Grabbing hold of her belly with one hand the mage lifts the girl up, and throws her at the mansion wall.”

— Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

When Araya strikes Shiki, his single punch, calmly delivered, sends her flying and ruptures her insides. Despite holding back, the blow is strong enough to break through large, solid structures like concrete walls. Her body, for all its supernatural resilience, crumples under the sheer, unopposed force.

Just like with his movement, Araya doesn’t generate power in the usual way; he imposes it. The Stillness of his Origin doesn’t dull action: it removes resistance, allowing his force to act as if there's nothing in the way. His will reaches the target without interference, as inevitable as a falling weight. This turns even his raw strength into a manifestation of Stillness: absolute, precise, and undisturbed.

This is a striking example of how Origins in Kara no Kyoukai can rewrite physical and perceptual laws, allowing characters to operate beyond conventional limits.

-----

The key takeaway from Kara no Kyoukai is that its characters transcend conventional power scaling.

Their abilities are not defined by speed, strength, or numerical stats, but by abstract concepts and primal instincts. Origins are cosmic directives, the fundamental laws that shape matter, motion, and meaning. Every defined existence in the universe is encoded with the “will” of its Origin. Even if a being’s conscious mind develops differently, their body and soul remain innately aligned with their Origin’s nature, imprinting its essence into every fiber of their being.

When an Origin awakens, the individual ceases to function like a normal organism. They revert to a primordial state; not bound by biology or natural law, but moving through instinct as a pure embodiment of their concept. In this state, they don’t consciously decide how to act; their Origin determines the necessary form or expression, and it simply manifests.

For example, if Lio Shirazumi must hunt a Dead Apostle, his Origin elevates his instincts to rival, even surpass, those of an Ancestor, not by calculation, but by becoming the archetype of all predators. If Araya Souren faces a colossal titan immune to brute force, his Origin of Stillness overrides the object’s resistance: his blow lands with such absolute intent that opposition, mass, and movement are negated. Not through violence, but through metaphysical refusal. And if Ryougi Shiki duels a master swordsman, her Origin will let her mirror, refine, and exceed their technique instantly, achieving perfect harmony between offense and defense. That is the essence of her Origin: Yin and Yang, the ever-adapting duality that governs motion and stillness alike.

In short: trying to quantify these characters with metrics (how strong, how fast) is fundamentally misguided. Strength and speed are effects. Origins are causes. These characters don’t operate within the world’s constraints; they reshape the world around them. Reality moves with them, not against them.

This is the brilliance of Kara no Kyoukai: it doesn’t portray power as raw force, but as the realization of existential purpose. Those with awakened Origins are not merely strong: they are inevitable. They don’t win because they overpower their enemies. They win because the world, at its core, was always meant to let them. Making conventional power scaling assumptions moot.

How strong is Lio?

Lio Shirazumi is often overshadowed because of how easily Shiki dismantled him, yet his Origin of Consumption makes him far more terrifying than most realize. Consumption is the fundamental drive to devour, absorb, and overcome.

It is not merely a personal impulse but a primordial principle: the force that has shaped all predation since the dawn of life. Any being that survives by devouring, from the simplest predator to the most complex vampiric Dead Apostles, falls within his conceptual domain:

"Exactly. An Origin is a current that has surged since the beginning of existence. The mere seventeen years that Shirazumi Lio possesses will only end up getting swept away. All he can do is surrender himself to that impulse over and over again. Consumption, huh? That's quite an unusual impulse he has. I'm not surprised that Araya wanted to keep a close eye on him.

Listen, Kokutou. If that's what his Origin is, then his past life was probably a creature that feasted on everything it could get its hands on. Those who have awakened their Origins will gain the past lives they have accumulated. He can't be considered a single human anymoreーhe's an entire pack of beasts. Things haven't taken a turn for the worse because his original personality is still holding on, but once that's gone, that pack of beasts is all that will remain. Well, that'd also be quite the interesting sight," she said with a sarcastic grin on her face. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

This passage highlights the depth of Lio’s Consumption. He is not just a man with a violent hunger; he is an embodiment of all that predates. Unlike vampires, who remain tethered to Gaia’s ecosystem and must consume blood for survival, Lio transcends biological necessity. His hunger is not survival-driven but an inevitability; his prey is a medium through which his Origin asserts dominance over all who consume to survive.

Even before fully succumbing to his instincts, Lio displayed inhuman precision and fluidity, effortlessly tapping into different predatory behaviors to suit his needs:

The snake shed its coiling form, erupting into a ferocious beast. With an explosive burst, it launched itself towards Shiki's head, its knife aimed at her skull. A metallic clang echoed as their blades met, Shiki's own knife raised in defence. For a fleeting moment, their gazes locked, as if their weapons were extensions of themselves. Shiki's gaze burned with cold hostility, while the monster's eyes blazed with manic glee. With a twisted grin, he leaped back, landing with the agility of a spider. A single, fluid motion had put six metres between them. He braced himself on his hands and knees, panting like a beast, a creature clearly beyond the bounds of humanity. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

But retreat would never allow him to outrun Shiki. To escape, he had to flee to a place beyond her reach. Thinking on his feet, he sprang onto the wall surrounding the alleyway and then vaulted higher. With a movement akin to a flying squirrel, he easily gained a safe distance. The monster clung to the side of the building, twenty metres above the ground, fearfully surveying the scene below. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

He bolted, startled, but it was too late. I closed the distance, the knife in my left hand arching downwards in a deadly strike. At the last moment, he sprang upwards, aiming for the wall just as he did last night. Unlike a bird or spider, my human form lacked the dexterity for such three-dimensional manoeuvres. I was getting tired of all his little tricks. I hurled the dagger at the wall-clinging foe, sending him crashing to the ground. I lunged forward, pinning him beneath me. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

These moments show how Lio instinctively adopts the most efficient predatory movement for any situation: striking like a snake, leaping like a flying squirrel, clinging to walls like a spider. Unlike martial artists, he doesn’t train these skills: they are inherited through his Origin. He doesn’t have to think; his body simply knows.

This is the all-encompassing nature of Consumption: unlike ordinary beasts bound to fixed traits, Lio transcends any single species. His body draws from the primordial essence of all predators, shifting seamlessly between patterns and instincts as needed.

But this is only the initial stage of Lio’s Awakening, still tied to the realm of natural predators. After he “kills” Mikiya, the last tether to his sanity and humanity, his Origin fully takes over. He discards his knife for claws, symbolically rejecting his human self. In this state, he surpasses anything he was before, attaining a level of speed and precision no creature of flesh and bone could ever match:

The enemy's prowess had escalated beyond recognition. Unnatural speed and precision that surpassed any creature of flesh and bone. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

Here, Lio’s Origin of Consumption reveals its true form: transforming him into the ultimate predator, no longer constrained by biology. His abilities cease to be merely physical; they become conceptual. He now embodies the accumulated essence of all predators shaped by Consumption since the dawn of life itself. As Touko notes earlier, once his personality surrenders, as it does here, Lio is no longer a singular human being. He becomes an entire pack of predators, an ever-devouring force of nature.

This places him above even vampires like Nrvnqsr Chaos or the True Ancestors, who remain tethered to Gaia’s ecosystem; dependent on blood, bound by mortality, and subject to the planet’s natural laws. Vampires, while powerful, are still governed by the logic of the world. Lio is not. His Origin breaks that chain. He doesn’t represent any one species; he embodies predation itself, able to manifest the traits of any hunter, not just those born of nature. His hunger channels instinct as a universal principle, beyond any single world’s rules.

In combat, this means Lio doesn't adapt over time; he adapts immediately, shifting to whatever state most effectively dominates his prey. Against any opponent still bound by physicality, his very existence enforces the supremacy of the predator. With each passing moment, he grows faster, stronger, and more precise, not through effort, but by inevitability. He doesn’t just use instinct: he is instinct, made manifest through his Origin. Evolution is no longer a process for him. It is his natural state of being.

Some people attempt to downplay this line:

"The enemy's prowess had escalated beyond recognition. Unnatural speed and precision that surpassed any creature of flesh and bone."
— Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 7

by citing another translation that renders it as something like:

"He surpassed the line of a real beast."

They argue this makes the description vague or less impressive. But this is a misreading. Both translations convey the same core idea: Lio has surpassed the natural order of living predators. Whether it's phrased as “beyond recognition” or “beyond the line of a real beast,” the meaning is that Lio is no longer comparable to any natural creature. His abilities are not just animalistic; they transcend animals entirely.

This is the entire point of his Origin: he doesn’t imitate predators or act like one out of survival instinct. He is predation itself: the source of what beasts draw their instincts from. The comparison isn’t meant to imply he’s close to a beast, but that he is what beasts ultimately try to become through evolution, and thus stands fundamentally apart from them.

It's the difference between a being that fights because it learned to survive, and one that embodies survival as its essence.

Additionally, Lio possesses advanced regenerative abilities:

"This? It's exactly as you thought, Ryougi Shiki did this to me. I didn't think losing an arm would be a big deal, but it looks like I've got no hope of getting it back. I suppose this is what it means to kill something. Even though I can heal the wound, there's no bringing back the part of me that died. Araya once told me that the ability of revival was only within the realm of magicians."
— Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

From this, we infer that Lio can recover from severe injuries, even regrowing lost limbs, proof of an extraordinary regenerative factor. However, this healing is not absolute. What Shiki destroys with her Mystic Eyes isn’t merely wounded; it’s erased from existence. Her ability severs the very concept of a thing, reducing it to “death” in its purest form. Lio’s body can heal flesh, but it cannot restore what has been conceptually annihilated.

More significantly, Lio’s regeneration is not just biological; it is metaphysical. Because his Origin is Consumption, a principle rooted in predation and survival, his healing draws upon the accumulated instincts of all predators throughout history. The essence of the “pack of beasts” Touko describes is embedded in him, and with it, their drive to survive, to adapt, to endure. Just as different animals evolve traits suited to survival, Lio channels all of them simultaneously, bypassing normal biological processes to recover from damage at an instinctual, existential level.

Yet even this instinctual evolution has boundaries. He cannot regenerate what has been fundamentally severed from reality, nor revive what no longer exists. That is why Shiki, who kills not the body, but the concept of life, remains an absolute counter to his existence. No matter how overwhelming his capacity to heal, it becomes irrelevant before the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which render even the greatest regenerative feats meaningless by striking at the core of being itself.

Even in his incomplete state, Lio instinctively draws from the abilities of countless predators, exhibiting unnatural speed, agility, and precision. His body mimics animal traits in real time, responding to threats without conscious thought, shifting between movement patterns as if guided by a deeper instinctual intelligence.

When fully awakened, this adaptability evolves even further: his body and mind no longer merely heal but actively reconstruct themselves. He refines his combat capabilities on the fly, adapting to opponents in real time. In nature, predators evolve across generations to remain dominant; but Lio skips the wait. His Origin makes him not just a product of evolution, but evolution itself: a being who adapts by necessity, not time.

Touko’s metaphor of a “pack of beasts” captures this perfectly. Lio doesn’t borrow from individual species so much as embody the collective drive that underlies them all; the universal instinct to hunt, to survive, to consume. This makes him nearly impossible to predict or overpower. Every blow teaches him. Every threat is assimilated. His tactics and even his form evolve mid-battle to meet the enemy.

This lead to a crucial point: 

The true scale of Lio’s Consumption is often underestimated.
His Origin isn’t limited to Earth’s biosphere. It taps into the primordial current that shaped predatory life across the cosmos. Even on Earth, predators display staggering versatility: mimicry, parasitism, chemical warfare, regeneration, camouflage, adaptive cognition, and more. Now imagine those strategies, but extrapolated across all possible ecosystems, worlds, and lifeforms.

Unlike Nrvnqsr Chaos, who embodies Earth’s fauna as chaotic and fragmented familiars, Lio is a unified principle. Nrvnqsr struggles to control hundreds of semi-autonomous beasts. But Lio is the beast. His abilities are fully integrated: his entire body is a seamless enactment of consumption and adaptation. He doesn’t manage a horde. He becomes whatever the situation demands.

Because Consumption is a conceptual principle, not a biological one, Lio’s adaptations are not constrained by physics or DNA. He doesn’t just regenerate tissue; he manifests new functions from the idea of predation itself. Like another creature stepping from the pack, he might grow venom sacs, excrete paralyzing toxins, spin silken traps, tunnel underground, mimic his surroundings, or even express traits drawn from alien ecosystems, untouched by Earth’s evolutionary history and common sense.

In this sense, Lio is not merely a predator; he is predation perfected. Not raw chaos, but a refined, inevitable force. A universal constant within the ecosystem of reality, something that always evolves to hunt what came before. He is not many beasts. He is the answer to all of them.

And yet, ironically, he died the moment he reached this perfected state. His body had only just finished evolving, and then Shiki killed him effortlessly. We never got to see his true capabilities in motion. But that’s the difference between even a universal predator… and Ryougi Shiki. She doesn’t just kill life; she kills the idea of it. Consumption may be inevitable in nature, but Shiki is a force outside of nature. She doesn’t overpower principles. She erases them.

-----

Despite having limited chances to fully showcase his abilities, especially when dismantled by Shiki, Lio remains a terrifying opponent for any conventional fighter or creature. His strength and speed transcend normal biology, channeling a primordial instinct that overrides fixed shapes or forms. As Touko aptly described, Lio is not merely one beast, he is an entire pack: the culmination of every predator shaped by Consumption since the dawn of life.

But what makes this truly terrifying is that Lio’s Origin, Consumption, is not just a compulsion to devour: it is a cosmic principle that optimizes predation across all existence. It’s the same current that guides ecosystems not only on Earth but on any world, in any reality where life survives by consuming. His body doesn’t evolve through slow trial and error:  it rewrites itself instantly, manifesting the perfect counter to whatever he faces. If he encounters an invisible enemy, he might develop senses that track heat or motion abstractly. If faced with curses or magecraft, his Origin could reject foreign interference, manifesting natural magical resistance or even entirely new survival logics. The more alien the threat, the more alien his adaptations can become. Unlike Nrvnqsr Chaos’s beast catalogue, which is a chaotic collection bound to Gaia’s life, Lio doesn’t mimic: he actualizes the ideal predator for any prey, as dictated by the cosmic drive that every living thing answers to. He is the universal rule that for every prey, a hunter will rise to meet it.

Lio Shirazumi’s combat potential far surpasses that of Dead Apostles and even True Ancestors, precisely because he is not bound by the natural laws of Gaia. Compared to Nrvnqsr Chaos, who houses 666 lifeforms as a raw snapshot of Gaia’s ecosystem, Lio is far more refined. Nrvnqsr is powerful but chaotic and tied to what Gaia allows. Lio, by contrast, is not a creature of Gaia but a predator forged by the primordial archetype that shapes every world’s survival logic, no matter how alien. His regeneration, speed, and instincts are Origin-enhanced, making him fundamentally unrestricted by any single ecosystem or planet’s rules.

Imagine a predator that doesn’t just learn from the animals on Earth but from every predator that has ever existed across all possible worlds, across countless ecosystems with wildly different laws of physics and lifeforms. Whether it’s a hydra regenerating endlessly through cellular renewal, a spider spinning webs of unparalleled strength, or a creature blending perfectly with its environment through mimicry, Lio can manifest these traits instantly and flawlessly. He can adopt venomous attacks, camouflage, echolocation, extreme senses, or even abilities that defy natural laws because his Origin is not bound by biology: it is the idea of predation itself.

In essence, Lio is a perfected version of Nrvnqsr: not a chaotic swarm of many beasts limited to Gaia’s natural order, but a single, perfect predator who embodies the essence of hunting across the entire cosmos. He can draw on strategies and abilities from predators in alien worlds with completely different realities, and rewrite his own form to match or surpass them in real time.

However, Lio begins to struggle and becomes less relevant when up against true reality-warpers, those who can control the abstract forms of reality. His Origin, being focused on survival and nature, cannot influence more fundamental concepts on which even Consumption relies. This limitation prevents him from being a true higher-tier character in Kara no Kyoukai or the broader Type-Moon universe. Despite this, he still stands a cut above most characters, especially those lacking conceptual abilities.

We’re only at the first character, and one of the weaker ones, no less, yet we’ve already crossed the threshold of Dead Apostle Ancestor-level threats. With the fearsome Nrvnqsr Chaos being literally a dollar store version of Lio in combat abilities. If that doesn't tell you already that KnK is a powerful setting, I don't know what does.

How strong is Asagami?

Asagami Fujino’s main power lies in her Mystic Eyes of Distortion, which allow her to manifest invisible fulcrums around which she twists and contorts targets through eyesight alone. This isn’t merely a psychic ability, but the result of an artificially awakened Origin: Nothingness (not to be confused with Shiki’s version). This transformation turned her into something far more dangerous than a natural-born psychic.

We know Asagami’s Origin was fully awakened because Araya Souren specifically sought individuals who had undergone an awakening to push Ryougi Shiki toward her own:

"I failed 2 years ago. That person was too different. What was needed were those who had diverged from the same 'origin.'" – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

His goal was clear: by forcing Shiki to confront killers whose nature opposed her own, he could drive her to realize her true self and potentially lose to its influence, causing Void Shiki to take over her body:

"Right? By making Shiki confront murderers who held concepts totally opposite to her own, you made Shiki realize her own nature." – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

So, what was it that you wanted, Araya? For Shiki and SHIKI to tear each other apart and leave behind an empty shell? Or did you just want to meet Ryougi Shiki?"

"Two years ago was to draw 'her' out. But it's different now. I told you the conclusion was already out. Shiki does not require that body. That body which is connected to the origin, I shall be taking it and making it my own." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Now, as noted, Fujino’s Origin is not exactly the same as Shiki’s, but it represents a different expression of the thematic connection to emptiness. In her case, this emptiness manifests through her lack of physical sensation and touch, which fundamentally alters her perception of reality: Fujino doesn’t experience space as something solid, structured, or full of distinct objects. Because of her Origin and her congenital insensitivity to pain, she perceives reality as an undisturbed, boundless field without resistance; a world without surface, impact, or form. Pain, after all, is one of the most fundamental ways the body communicates its position, boundaries, and existence. Without it, the world has never truly registered for her, either physically or conceptually.

This numbness doesn’t just dull her sense of self: it severs her connection to the external world’s natural limitations. She doesn’t feel the boundaries of her own body, so she doesn’t recognize the boundaries of space itself. To her, the world isn’t built from separate things, but is one continuous, formless surface. She doesn’t see a steel beam as “hard” or “heavy”, she sees it as something soft and empty, so she can crush it without even understanding that it should be impossible.

In other words, her Origin doesn’t allow her to recognize or believe in spatial structure as something fixed or meaningful. Spatial dimensions (direction, density, position), don’t carry the same intuitive significance they do for others. As a result, her power doesn’t manipulate force or material properties like a mage’s spell might. Instead, it projects her personal, distorted perception onto reality itself, erasing the very logic of directionality and dimensionality in whatever she targets.

What occurs when she activates this ability is not a forceful twist of matter, but a collapse of spatial order. The object doesn’t break from impact: it folds, crumples, or implodes because the coordinates that once defined it no longer apply. This is not a physical phenomenon but ontological damage: a fundamental rewriting of how space is interpreted. Her distortion is not the product of control, but of disconnection; a quiet, reflexive rejection of structure born from a lifetime of never having felt it.

Asagami Fujino’s abilities initially manifested as psychic powers; an incidental mutation caused by being born close to her Origin. However, due to external interference, her powers evolved into something far more dangerous.

In this story, Asagami Fujino is an psychic power user, but since she was tampered with somewhat, her ability falls between psychic power and magecraft.Psychic power is normally an incidental occurrence, a sudden mutation limited to one generation.- Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary - Psychic Power [other]

This tampering was carried out by her own family, who artificially sealed her abilities. Rather than weakening her, this paradoxically strengthened her power, as noted by Touko:

"A family totally opposite of that of Ryougi, which tries so hard to make ones with power. But what's sad is that her power became stronger by doing that. Magi from in and around Egypt stitch their eyes shut to keep their Mana within them. What's the difference between them and Asagami Fujino?" — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 3

This forced suppression likely triggered the awakening of her Origin: Nothingness. By severing her sense of touch, they alienated her from the world and shattered her perception of reality, elevating her from a mere psychic to something far more volatile.

Fujino exists in a space between psychic power and magecraft. She cannot be neatly classified within the existing structures of the supernatural world. Her powers, fueled by an Origin and shaped by trauma, defy conventional boundaries. Even experts struggle to comprehend her:

"You mean the arms of an adult? That's pretty amazing. "Distortion" depends on the object's size rather than its hardness. I would think it should take about seven days to bend something like the human arm. So, which way is it? Right? Left?"

"Does that matter?"

"Of course. It has something to do with the fulcrum. Even Earth has a direction of rotation, right? What, it's not constant? Hmm... does such a power actually exist? Then you shouldn't have anything to do with this person. This person has more than two channels. That unfit existence can probably rotate things in both directions. I have never heard of a case of someone having two channels and able to use them both at once; it's too powerful."- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Most supernatural abilities follow a structured flow, like the fixed rotation of the Earth. Fujino, however, can twist reality in both directions simultaneously. She isn’t merely applying force; she’s breaking the fundamental framework of space itself.

The “more than two channels” comment suggests that her power doesn’t just bend the world: it operates on layered metaphysical planes. Where typical magi or psychics channel their power in predictable ways, Fujino’s energy exists in a chaotic, unbound state. This is why she is so destructive: she doesn't distort objects; she distorts the rules that govern distortion itself.

In short, Fujino is neither a psychic driven by mental force nor a magus bound by theory. She is an unclassifiable anomaly: a force of raw, metaphysical disruption born from pain, sealed potential, and the awakened Origin of Nothingness.

Unlike conventional telekinesis, which applies force along a single vector (push left, pull right, lift up), her Distortion sets a fulcrum and twists the target in multiple directions at once, an impossible phenomenon under normal physics. The result isn’t just “pressure”, it’s the loss of coherent structure. The object or body literally unravels as its internal coordinates are torn apart from all sides:

Fujino's eyes glimmer. The left eye for a rotation to the left. The right eye for a rotation to the right. Taking Shiki's head and left leg as the fulcrums, she twists. A strange sensation occurs instantaneously. The moment Shiki feels the invisible power upon her, she jumps explosively to one side. But the power on Shiki does not weaken. Fujino's power is not a projectile weapon. Even if one gets away from one round, it is impossible to get completely away from it whilst in her vision...

Damn......!! Shiki realizes Fujino's power is stronger than she thought. She runs. As if to escape from her vision, Shiki runs in a circle around Fujino.

"Do you think you can get awa-" Fujino murmurs, but then is astonished. Shiki did get away! Unbelievably, Shiki has jumped off the bridge down to the ocean. The sound of a window being broken is heard. What athletic ability... Shiki went off the bridge and into the parking lot right underneath it. – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 3

The stack of materials Shiki is hiding behind is instantly smashed. At that instant... a white figure streaks out of the wreckage. – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 3

Fujino’s ability isn’t a kinetic force: it’s a sight-triggered rewriting of reality. Once something enters her vision, it becomes subject to her will. She doesn’t push or pull objects; she strips away their structural resistance, forcing them to contort as if matter itself has lost its grip on stability.

Importantly, the text clarifies that Fujino’s ability is not a projectile. Once she perceives her target, the effect is continuous and inescapable so long as she maintains even the faintest awareness of it. This makes conventional evasion useless: her power doesn’t travel through space; it rewrites space wherever her eyes land. The only reason Shiki is able to evade it is due to her own awakened Origin, which allows her to break free from deterministic causality. Ordinary beings would be locked into the fulcrum the moment they're seen. We aren't talking about a simple attack, but a direct alteration of space, the very medium people exist and move in. Even if you’re fast, the directions you might dodge are themselves twisted. You are forced to bend, your body or form unraveling as its defining coordinates collapse in on themselves in chaotic, non-linear directions. It’s not speed that saves you; it’s metaphysical resistance.

And yet, as if that weren’t overwhelming enough, Asagami’s casting and reaction speed are further enhanced by her Origin. Because Origins are instinctual, non-physical directives embedded in all things, Asagami’s body acts not through thought but through concept. Though she is not physically trained or agile in a traditional sense, she moves faster than conscious awareness; responding not to cause and effect but to existential presence within space itself. Aligned with her Origin of “Nothingness,” her body becomes an embodiment of spatial nullification. She doesn’t “react,” she simply acts, as if the rules of time and distance no longer apply to her. Most beings move within the world. Asagami’s existence disrupts the rules that make that movement possible.

So don’t think that having some generic “faster than the eye” speed will save you. Fujino’s perception doesn’t rely on vision in the normal sense. Her Origin acts beyond it, allowing her to register distortions in space before you’ve even consciously moved. Against such a presence, consciousness itself is too slow. What you need is speed backed by a greater conceptual force; like Shiki, for example.

But this also creates a critical weakness: because her ability depends entirely on vision, she’s vulnerable in close-range combat. If someone breaks her line of sight, moves faster than her gaze, or distracts her, she can’t react. She has no natural fighting instinct to fall back on; her strength is purely conceptual, and when disrupted, she’s left defenseless.

Even so, her expansive spatial awareness makes her incredibly dangerous in prolonged encounters. While Shiki, due to her own Origin awakening, can momentarily escape Fujino’s perception, even she is forced to retreat and hide from Asagami’s sight. This shows how inescapable Fujino’s power is: so long as she maintains awareness of her surroundings, her opponents aren’t merely fighting her: they’re fighting against the structure of space itself, which she has already rewritten in her favor.

While fighting Shiki, Asagami underwent a further evolution: she developed clairvoyance, a power that drastically enhanced her already overwhelming abilities. Previously, her distortions required a direct line of sight. But clairvoyance allowed her to perceive the space around her beyond conventional vision, effectively erasing her greatest weakness.

With this newfound awareness, she could instantly destroy an entire bridge, demonstrating the catastrophic potential of her fully realized power:

The parking lot shakes. The ocean in the middle of the storm appears inside of Fujino's mind. Withstanding the burning in her brain, Fujino creates a fulcrum on either side of the bridge...... And bends...

BOOM!

A tumultuous roar, like the crash of lightning, is heard. The metal foundation creaks and screams. The ground tilts and the ceiling starts to collapse. Fujino blankly stares at the building that is about to give way. The girl on top of her fell away as the world suddenly tilted. There is a storm outside, with the ocean below. If she falls without being able to grab onto something, she will surely die. Fujino takes command of her body, which is even having trouble breathing. She tells it that this place is going to collapse, so she has to get away from here. Dragging her nearly burned-out body, Fujino exits the parking lot. The shopping mall is relatively free of damage. The square corridor is now a rhombus - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Broad Bridge is distorted like it has been squeezed by a giant hand. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Shiki and Touko immediately recognize the implications of this development:

"Touko, she came up with clairvoyance in the end. She'll have a ridiculous amount of power if you leave her be." "Clairvoyance, huh? Certainly, if you add that to her power, she'll be invincible. She would be able to make a fulcrum even if you are hiding... Huh? If you leave her be...? - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Up until this point, Fujino’s power had a critical limitation: her distortions required her to see her target. She could be outmaneuvered by breaking line of sight, forcing her to actively search before attacking. But clairvoyance eliminates that flaw completely. She’s no longer restricted by the physical constraints of her eyes; her awareness extends beyond them, allowing her to perceive and target hidden objects, people, or even internal body structures.

The term “clairvoyance” typically refers to extrasensory perception. In Asagami’s case, it translates to an expanded spatial awareness: the ability to intuitively know where things are, even without looking. That makes her distortions not only harder to avoid, but also far more devastating. Her destruction of the massive bridge underscores this: her powers now affect the environment on a macro level. Like a bomber, she can unleash destruction across vast areas without needing to pinpoint each target.

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To conclude, Asagami Fujino is less a conventional combatant and more an existential space manipulator, able to exert near-total control over the medium in which all beings exist. Her power lets her bend or twist any physical substance effortlessly, simply by willing it. As long as her target remains within her line of sight, her distortion continues to affect them, making dodging or blocking her attacks through normal means virtually impossible. Unlike Lio’s Consumption, which adapts and devours, Fujino’s Origin erases the structural “directions” that hold reality together. If something exists within the spatial framework she perceives, solid or intangible, it can be distorted.

Her ability is rooted in the collapse of spatial logic, not just manipulation of matter. Anything that has position, orientation, or alignment becomes fair game. In essence, she treats existence like a three-dimensional puzzle that she never learned to solve; so when she looks at it the “wrong” way, it shatters. This is crucial because Asagami can actually bend even “intangible” or “non-physical beings” as long as they occupy space or have a presence that can be seen. The reason these entities are so elusive is that they exist in a different “interaction frequency” from conventional beings, making them untouchable to those limited by space. However, that’s the key: they are simply more free from space’s rules, not fundamentally transcending them. This means Asagami can bend them all the same, as her power disregards the neutral rules of space (unless actively enforced by a reality warper, which is something else entirely FYI) and works on anything that has a position within it.

Her ability works by establishing an invisible fulcrum within her target: a conceptual pivot point around which she twists the object or person in multiple directions at once. This is not simple telekinesis or brute force: it is a bidirectional, layered distortion that rips apart the target’s structural integrity from the inside out. Because the fulcrum is formed the moment she perceives her target, no amount of physical speed or raw durability can resist it, it’s like being gripped by the fabric of space itself and forced to unravel. All physical power and speed are expressed within space, so when space itself is the target, there is no escape without conceptual abilities. Your very form is forced to bend in unnatural ways, and the vectors you could try to retreat along are exactly what Asagami bends with her Distortions; causing collapse.

Combined with her clairvoyance, this distortion becomes a devastating weapon. She can target precise weak points within objects, environments, or even internal structures, and her power can escalate to large-scale destruction: entire bridges, buildings, or landscapes can be broken apart at will.

The key to defeating Asagami is to counter space manipulation and close the distance before she can perceive you, but that’s nearly impossible. Her clairvoyance extends her awareness far beyond normal sight, allowing her to track movements through obstructions and see through most forms of stealth. This gives her a near-perfect defense against ambushes, while her awakened Origin passively enhances her awareness of all surrounding space. Unlike typical fighters who rely on reflexes or martial skill, Fujino reacts by sensing disruptions in space itself and distorting them before they become threats.

When her impulses fully align with her Origin, the usual constraints of physical combat no longer apply. She acts with uncanny speed and precision, not because of trained reflexes, but through the seamless projection of her spatial will. Her responses become instinctive, allowing her to overwhelm anyone who approaches by rewriting the battlefield itself.

In short, while she is not a fighter in the traditional sense, her power makes her a uniquely terrifying opponent: one who controls the very structure that her enemies must rely on to attack or defend.

Finally, much like Lio, Asagami is a natural counter to physical entities, but she is fundamentally ineffective against beings that manipulate abstract principles. Her Origin, rooted in the concept of nothingness as the absence of physical sensation and spatial boundaries, allows her to distort tangible matter and warp the geometry of space. However, this distortion is strictly tied to the physical layer of existence: it does not reach into the metaphysical realm where laws, meanings, and abstract forms reside. As such, she has no control over abstract concepts. A being capable of manipulating the very abstract forms that sustain creation would have little difficulty dealing with her, as their power exists outside the scope of her Origin.

Fujino’s power is still fundamentally a space-based distortion: so its field of effect is any existence that obeys the normal structure of three-dimensional space. Beings that don’t obey spatial rules (like Ryougi Shiki fully aligned with Nothingness, or a true conceptual entity with no defined coordinates) can slip past it, because there’s nothing to “twist” if there are no stable vectors or directions to grip.

Moreover, Fujino’s distortions are not an intrinsic rewriting of reality’s laws; they are the imposition of her own subjective, distorted view of reality onto a neutral space. If the actual laws of reality are actively modified by a superior force, (for example, by a true reality warper or a being who reshapes the underlying world logic) then her perception cannot override that field. In other words, her ability only hijacks the normal spatial framework of the world. If that framework is redefined or sealed off from her reach, her Distortion becomes powerless, no matter how strong her will is.

This ties directly into something important I need to clarify before ending her section, since I’ve seen people claim she’s one of the most powerful characters in the setting; or worse, that she’s stronger than Araya Souren (the guy who literally passively builds entire universes sealed from all external interference). That’s simply not true. So I'll now take a bit of time to dismantle her wank utterly, before moving on with the rest of the characters:

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Why Asagami isn't actually a top tier in KnK, and why she only fought a massively pre-prime Shiki:

While Asagami’s abilities are certainly formidable, it’s important to clarify that, contrary to popular belief, she ultimately poses no real threat to Ryougi Shiki at full power. Their fight in Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 3 occurred when Shiki had not yet fully aligned with her Origin or fully awakened her combat nature. The most crucial, and often overlooked, aspect of this fight is that... Shiki wasn’t even used to her Mystic Eyes yet:

"I suddenly recall the girl that was with Azaka... That aura of death creeping out of her like capillaries. Since I am not used to my eyes yet, I saw it without any prior preparation... That was abnormal." — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 3

This is the ONLY reason she even struggled with Asagami; she couldn’t yet perceive the more complex forms of Death, such as those embodied by Fujino’s Distortions. However, after becoming accustomed to Asagami’s powers, Shiki could finally perceive them, despite their formless and invisible nature:

"... I see. ...... You must be abnormal."

Fujino can only think this. She looks at Shiki and bends. Her vision distorts. The fulcrums created on Shiki's head and leg each rotate in opposite directions and twist Shiki's body like a piece of carpet.

... It should have twisted her.

Shiki, whose left arm is bleeding, nullifies Fujino's "distortion" just by swinging the knife in her right hand. No...... she kills it.

"It's hard to see that without form, but you used your power too many times. Now I can finally see it. Your power is a spiral of red and green. It's really... beautiful."

Fujino does not understand what Shiki is saying. The only thing she realizes is that Shiki will surely kill her now. Fujino repeatedly prays.

Bend, bend, bend, bend!

As Fujino glares, Shiki swings her knife and eliminates the power. The pain in Fujino's stomach is about to go over its limit.

"Who...... are you?"

Shiki answers Fujino's fear with infinitely deep eyes.

"Everything in existence has an imperfection. Especially humans, but even in air, will, and time. It's natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of things. They're special, like yours."

Shiki looks at Fujino with those ominous eyes that Fujino felt before.

"That's why... if one exists, I could even kill a God."

Shiki runs. As gracefully as if she were walking. She approaches Fujino and pushes her down to the ground. Shiki straddles her. Fujino's throat trembles at facing Death so close to her. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

After Shiki adjusted to her ability, Asagami essentially became irrelevant. Even though Shiki was on the verge of unconsciousness from blood loss and had a crippled arm, she was still able to casually defeat Fujino:

Shiki takes off her jacket and cuts away the sleeve. She wraps the cloth around her left upper arm to staunch the bleeding. A crude treatment. There's no feeling in the arm that was twisted. It will probably never move. Shiki feels a chill at that fact.

She is losing blood quickly. She feels her consciousness slipping away....I'm hot-blooded anyway. If I lose some, it will just make me think more clearly…

After shaking her head clear of the effect of the blood loss, Shiki gets up. She grips her knife tightly in her right hand. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

I really want to emphasize this: Asagami was only a threat to Shiki because she wasn’t used to her new powers yet. Many people understandably get the impression that Asagami is a major challenge due to the non-linear storytelling, but chronologically she was essentially a “tutorial” enemy for Shiki, shortly after she acquired her MEoDP. That’s why in Chapter 1 (which takes place later), Shiki defeats a far more abstract and powerful threat like Kirie Fujou with far less effort.

Moreover, Shiki’s broader perception of Death directly ties into her speed: both her stats and MEoDP stem from her Origin, which reconfigures her body to match its intent. Shiki herself explains her fighting style is not trained but rather a mental reconstruction that modifies her body anew for every battle, tapping into her limitless potential as a “blank” vessel:

The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.

"You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person.

I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts, and while you are fighting, is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“The Ryougi family is a dynasty, just like the Asagami and the Fujou families. They are families who are trying to create humans who are beyond human, and used various methods to ensure the birth of an heir. All so that they could pass on their family’s ‘inheritance’.

“The Ryougi family is especially interesting. They knew that if they had a supernatural ability, they would one day be destroyed by the civilized world. So they thought up a supernatural ability that would let them appear as normal human beings. Hey, Kokutou. Those people we call professionals, why is it that they can only reach the top in one area?

That’s because no matter how perfect a body, or how high the amount of natural aptitude you are born with, you can only put one talent into one person. The higher you climb, the more you are restricted as to what other peaks you can go up, until in the end you cannot climb any others.

“The Ryougi family solved that problem by imbuing one body with a countless number of personalities. It’s the same as a computer. If you put hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of software into one piece of hardware called Shiki, a professional in all areas is created. That’s why her name is Shiki. The Shiki kanji in Shikigami. The Shiki kanji when you talk about Mathematical Formulas. A program that fulfills any task required of it perfectly. An empty doll that possesses countless numbers of identities, and can be modified by putting in another personality with different morals, thought patterns, even senses.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

What does this mean? When Shiki perceives something with her MEoDP, she is automatically fast enough to kill it; the more abstract the form of death she can perceive, the faster she will be.

This is demonstrated against Kurogiri Satsuki:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"This is futile. I already explained, you cannot defeat me. Even you, who can kill anything, cannot vanquish words."

It was a truth I'd never contemplated. Words were the one enemy beyond my reach.

"However, that doesn't grant me the power to kill you either. This is the extent of my abilities. Any closer, and you could overpower me with ease. There will be no exchange of lives. I am no warrior. My role is simply to fulfil your desires." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"Isn't that useless then? What's the point of it all if no one can even reply to him?"

"If it were just a normal language, then yes. The fact that he can communicate with beasts and rocks doesn't mean that he's speaking to them directly. Instead, he speaks to the world itself. Think of it like an ontological hierarchy. As long as 'I' exist, there will always be an Aozaki Touko above me that exists within the world itself. If he were to use the Unified Language on me, I would have no way of resisting. If I were to reject his words, that'd be equal to denying the fact that I exist in this world. The very words he utter become an irreversible truth. God's Word is capable of placing all of creation under complete hypnosis. The memories that we humans possess, are also recorded by the world itself. It's a similar concept to the Akashic Records, but this is a wave phenomenon that exists on a lower level than it. You see, one of the possible methods of deciphering it is the Unified Language. That's why Kurogiri's able to gather memories that have already been forgotten. He isn't drawing their forgotten memories out of their brains, but rather from the record the world stores of the past. In the present day and age, he's the only person capable of accessing the various recordings of the past that our world has kept in store. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

In her optimal state, after mastering MEoDP, Shiki can literally move faster than reality can register alterations by far more fundamental powers than Asagami’s space hacks. Kurogiri tried to rewrite reality by speaking directly to its abstract foundation, yet Shiki was able to strike him before his commands stabilized. Panicked, Kurogiri decided to outright remove the concept of sight for everyone, including himself. Even then, this only temporarily stalled Shiki. Kurogiri himself admitted that if Shiki got any closer, becoming perceivable through senses other than sight, he would be dead. He also clarified that Shiki’s connection to the One made her as fundamental as his words, proving her speed is metaphysical and capable of avoiding all Distortions Asagami could ever make, now that Shiki holds the “death” of those Distortions in her grasp.

"Well, ok. But Asagami later got Clairvoyance, so she is much more dangerous even for Shiki!"

Not really. While Asagami later developed Clairvoyance, Shiki recognized all forms of death, including concepts themselves, abstract constructs, and rules. If it can be conceptualized as a “thing,” Shiki can erase it.

Her vision perceives the inherent imperfection in all things, from physical bodies to intangible abilities. She can simply perceive the death of Asagami’s distortion or her precognition, eliminating them before they can take effect:

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions. Any living thing touching those circular lines would have its power stopped. – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Surrounded by walls that cannot be destroyed by any physical impact, this closed world is an inescapable cage. You sealed Shiki within there, and you found solace in that. Certainly, it is perfect. However, such things won't work against 'it.' Just as magic is omnipotent in civilized society, 'it' conflicts with beings like us who live by concepts. We pose a threat to common sense, but─── Shiki is the grim reaper to the unconventional, as you should have experienced."

An enclosed, infinite space with no exit was impenetrable to conventional means. Since it had no form, physical weapons could not touch it. But Ryougi Shiki's power was meant to target such intangible things.

But, Araya Souren, because you're a mage, you treated magic as absolute. Closing off a space doesn't matter. Something that abstract—she'd break through it with ease!" - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

No weapon could interfere with a sealed world where the space was chained together infinitely with no exit. Because it had no shape, physical weapons that can only interact with physical objects couldn’t clash with it. But, Ryougi Shiki’s power was precisely one that targeted such formless things. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shiki can literally force Death into intangible, abstract ideas that shouldn’t die; just as weapons like the Black Barrel can force Death on Ultimate Ones. In those examples, Shiki kills Araya’s barriers, which enforce conceptual rules upon the space she inhabits. This isn’t just space being distorted like with Asagami, but space fundamentally rewritten to obey Araya Souren’s will; negating all possible forms of power or expression, or infinitely looping contradictions against his laws back to a null point.

By destroying these barriers, Shiki is not just breaking physical defenses; she is killing the rules that define and bind that space itself. This means she can kill the foundational concepts that make those spaces what they are.

This power stems from her unique perception: with her MEoDP, Shiki sees the “floor-plan” of reality; the architect’s design underlying all existence, revealing how concepts interact and can be unmade. As the epilogue puts it:

—That is Shiki's capability. Much like Asagami Fujino, she perceives a unique channel in which things unseen by others become visible. When she "looks" at them, she is seeing a glimpse of the architect's floor-plan for all reality. That is the "swirl of the Root." - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Because Asagami’s Distortion is essentially an expression of her Origin, a conceptual “rule” governing how she uses it in combat, Shiki can perceive this underlying rule and kill it directly. Just as Araya’s bounded field was a “rule” that placed space in stasis or chained it infinitely, Asagami’s Distortion can be read as a “rule” that allows her to use her Origin to bend space. By erasing this fundamental premise, Shiki permanently prevents Asagami from distorting space again. Clairvoyance or not, once Shiki severs the root of Asagami’s power, the ability itself ceases to exist. This is why the magus called it "an absolute power".

Clairvoyance does not stop this. Ryougi’s body reconfigures itself, drawing directly from Nothingness to become as fast as the void preceding form and matter, allowing her to outpace even the rewriting of reality’s truths by the Unified Language.

While Touko comments that Fujino would be “invincible” with clairvoyance added to her powers, this is an exaggeration meant to emphasize her potential danger. Shiki, in contrast, remains unmoved and simply remarks that she would have “a ridiculous amount of power if left alone.” This distinction is important. Shiki’s indifference implies that, even after her evolution, Fujino remains within the realm of what Shiki can overcome. In truth, while clairvoyance eliminates Fujino’s primary weakness and grants her a terrifying degree of battlefield control, it does not elevate her to the highest tiers of the verse. Rather, it makes her a localized apocalyptic threat, immensely dangerous to most, but still outclassed by figures with deeper conceptual authority or overwhelming metaphysical reach.

Asagami’s power bends space. Shiki’s power removes the premise of space entirely. Even before awakening to full strength, Shiki had already outmaneuvered and defeated Asagami in a weakened state. At full alignment with her Origin, there’s no contest.

Outside of her fight with Shiki, there's one more "evidence" people love to spam mindlessly when claiming Fujino is a top-tier character:

Pure statistics-wise, Fujino has the greatest ability in this tale. - Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Asagami Fujino [Person]

At first glance, this might sound impressive. But again, we’re dealing with people who treat reading comprehension like a hidden talent. It literally says “pure statistics-wise.”

What are statistics? Numerical data; strength, speed, durability, the kinds of quantifiable traits that define interaction within standard physical reality. And yes, Fujino’s Distortion disregards those rules by targeting space itself. That’s powerful...in a vacuum.

But here’s the problem: the higher-tier characters in this setting transcend those statistics. Shiki can read the blueprint of how existence is structured and erase those rules altogether. God's Word doesn’t obey statistics: he rewrites them through conceptual assertion. Araya Souren’s bounded fields override the world’s parameters with his own, sealing out all external interference.

So yes, Fujino has the strongest statistical ability. In the same story where statistics are a plaything for actual reality-warpers. If that one quote is your entire argument for calling her top tier, you're missing the point of Kara no Kyoukai; a setting built around abstraction overriding physical rules.

In fact, Asagami is arguably the weakest of the individuals Araya deployed against Ryougi, even weaker than Shirazumi Lio.

Unlike ordinary beings, Lio constantly evolves to meet and overcome threats. Even if initially affected by Asagami’s spatial distortions, his Consumption instinct drives him to conceptually and physically restructure himself to bypass such localized “glitches.”

Asagami’s spatial manipulation is a projection of her subjective rejection of spatial logic, a localized corruption of the directions that hold matter together. While dangerous, it remains subordinate to the deeper laws of reality that define how existence can be altered.

By contrast, Lio’s Consumption is a primordial instinct functioning as a fundamental law of existence: all living things consume to survive. His Origin doesn’t just reshape his body: it passively distorts reality around him, forcing the world to yield to his impulse to devour. Unless met by a force with greater conceptual authority, his Consumption always twists the conditions of battle in his favor, allowing him to hunt and overcome any prey.

Practically, this means Lio would neutralize Asagami’s distortions over time. He could rewire his limbs or senses to phase around warped geometries, reinterpret spatial anomalies as natural terrain, or move in ways that defy her subjective logic. What initially affects him becomes irrelevant as his Origin adapts and devours the conditions that make her power possible.

In short, while Asagami can bend space, Lio’s Consumption ensures that he ultimately consumes the very premise that enables her distortions.

As for Kirie and Kurogiri, their superiority over Asagami should be obvious once we reach the sections covering their abilities. Kirie’s power drags the subconscious mind into the conscious layer, rewriting how reality is perceived at its root, while Kurogiri’s statements directly address the concept of an entity as recorded in the world’s memory, compelling it to obey. Both operate at a deeper metaphysical level than a simple spatial distortion ever could.

How Strong is Kirie?

Kirie Fujou is one of the most underrated characters in Kara no Kyoukai, largely because she was quickly dispatched by Shiki. However, she was actually the strongest piece Araya prepared to confront her. Unlike Asagami or other opponents, Kirie’s abilities transcend the material plane, making her a more abstract threat.

Her power is directly tied to her Origin, Nothingness, which manifests differently from both Shiki's and Asagami’s. We know Kirie’s Origin was fully awakened because Araya specifically sought individuals who had undergone an Origin awakening in order to push Ryougi Shiki toward her own:

"I failed 2 years ago. That person was too different. What was needed were those who had diverged from the same 'origin.'" – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

His goal was clear: by forcing Shiki to confront killers with natures that opposed her own, he hoped to drive her toward fully realizing her true self. If Shiki lost to this influence, Void Shiki would take over her body.

"Right? By making Shiki confront murderers who held concepts totally opposite to her own, you made Shiki realize her own nature." – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

"So, what was it that you wanted, Araya? For Shiki and SHIKI to tear each other apart and leave behind an empty shell? Or did you just want to meet Ryougi Shiki?"
"Two years ago was to draw 'her' out. But it's different now. I told you the conclusion was already out. Shiki does not require that body. That body which is connected to the Origin—I shall be taking it and making it my own." – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

While Kirie’s Nothingness is not identical to Shiki’s, it represents another form of emptiness. Unlike Asagami, whose detachment is primarily physical, Kirie embodies a broader existential severance: a lack of purpose and a deep inability to connect with the world. She is drawn to escape, not from a specific condition, but from the suffering of existence itself. This makes her the embodiment of Thanatos (also the name of her chapter), the subconscious drive toward death as a form of release.

Thanatos, in Kara no Kyoukai’s context, can be understood as a negative inversion of an Origin. While Origins are subconscious directives that propel life forward, pure instinctual movement, Thanatos reverses that vector. It is not merely the absence of desire, but the refusal of desire’s validity altogether. Instead of acting impulsively through unconscious drives, Thanatos replaces those drives with a will toward non-being. It views the fact of existence as suffering, precisely because existence is tied to compulsive longing.

Thanatos is the force that strips those impulses of meaning, revealing them as arbitrary, weightless. It is the realization that dissolution is the only state of being free from desire, from compulsion, from the cycle of reaching and lacking. Kirie’s entire being is shaped by this concept. Her powers are not simply an expression of death: they are the manifestation of a soul that has realized nothingness as peace, and life as distortion.

Her entire character revolves around floating and daydreaming, symbolic of a life without true purpose or direction:

A woman in her late twenties. One of the three who made contact. A descendant of an ancient shaman lineage. A character defined by day-dreaming and floating.
Kirie was a woman plagued by disease and spent her life in the hospital ward. After losing her sight, she viewed the world with renewed clarity, and was set free by Araya Souren with another body.
However, without a goal, Kirie had nowhere to go. She lingered and floated, resulting in several victims.
As an aside, the Fujous made a living by channeling. They are a house as ancient as the Ryougis and Asakamis. Although the itako of Mount Osore lost their sight due to looking into the realm of the dead, Kirie’s power blossomed as a result of losing her sight to illness. - Garden of Sinners pamphlet - Kirie Fujou [Person]

This quote reinforces that Kirie Fujou's powers are fundamentally spiritual in nature, aligning with her Origin of Nothingness. The Fujou family practiced channeling, meaning they had abilities tied to spiritual perception, possession, or communication with the dead. Like the blind itako of Mount Osore, who gained supernatural sight by gazing into the afterlife, Kirie developed her powers after losing her physical sight. This suggests that her blindness allowed her to interact with a plane beyond normal human perception, much like how Shiki's Mystic Eyes allow her to see Death. This is what likely caused her Origin to awaken, as she was gradually detaching herself from the world in a physical sense and observing it in a broader way:

"...Have you ever longed for the outside world for a long time? For so many years that you lose touch with reality? I hated, despised, and feared the outside world. I was overlooking it all the time. After a while, my eyes became weird. I was in the sky above that garden, and was overlooking the world below. It was a feeling like my eyes were flying around while my body and mind were still here. But since I can't move from here, all I can do is to overlook the area around here.”

"You must have imprinted the surrounding scenery into your mind. If that's the case, you should be able to think that you can see it from all directions... You started to lose your vision around that time too?"

I'm surprised. She knows I'm on the verge of losing my vision.

I nod.

"That's right. The world turned white and in the end, nothing was there. At first, I thought everything turned into darkness, but that was wrong."

Everything disappeared, or at least everything that could be seen.

But I have no problem with that, because my eyes are already flying around. I can only see the scenery around this hospital, and I can't get out of here anyway.

"Nothing changed, nothing..."

Then, I cough. It's been a long time since I've talked this much, so my throat is burning.

"I see. So your mind was up in the sky. But then... why are you alive? If that ghost at the Fujiyoh building was your mind, you should have been killed by Shiki."

Yes, I am wondering the same thing.

That person... I guess the name is Shiki... How was that person able to cut me?

That floating me cannot touch anything. In return, I cannot be touched by anything, but that person killed me as if I had a real body.

"Answer me. The you at the Fujiyoh building, was that really Fujoh Kirie?"

"The me at the Fujiyoh building isn't me. Myself looking at the sky and myself in the sky, ‘that me’ gave up on me and flew away. I have been left behind even by myself."

The woman gasps. For the first time, she showed her emotion.

"So it's not that your personality split up. There was someone that gave you, who had one container, a second container. I see, you controlled two bodies with one mind. This is indeed nothing like before." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

Kirie’s transformation began as she lost her vision, initially confined to the hospital but gradually perceiving the world in a detached, floating way; her eyes seeming to separate from her body. This detachment perfectly reflects her Origin of Nothingness, manifesting as a complete disconnection from physical reality.

Her perception shifted from an embodied human to a “mind in the sky,” observing from a detached, astral-like vantage point. This radical change aligns with an awakened Origin, marking a fundamental transformation tied to her nature.

The key revelation is that Kirie ended up with two bodies controlled by one mind. When the floating self at the Fujiyoh building “gave up on me and flew away,” it was her actualized Origin self; fully consumed by Nothingness. Meanwhile, the part remaining in the hospital was “left behind,” indicating a split consciousness between her physical form and her awakened essence.

Touko’s insight clarifies this: Araya Souren, skilled in Boundaries and Origin awakening, granted Kirie a second body, one no longer limited by her diseased physical form, but fully embodying her Nothingness.

The final key takeaway is that Kirie’s second body was shaped by her Origin, allowing her to exist in a state beyond conventional physicality. She describes her floating self as untouchable: “That floating me cannot touch anything. In return, I cannot be touched by anything.” This shows that her second body wasn’t just a ghost: it was a conceptual phenomenon, an abstract projection of her will. Unlike a normal spirit or phantom, it didn’t interact with the material world at all; it was pure mind given form, detached from normal laws of cause and effect.

The only reason she was ultimately defeated was because Shiki could perceive the Death of all things, even the boundary that anchored Kirie’s abstract existence to reality. Shiki didn’t cut a physical body, but rather the limit that allowed Kirie’s will to manifest at all, erasing her from the world. This is why Kirie is confused by how she was “killed”: she believed she had become something no longer bound by any physical or spiritual harm.

Since an awakened Origin naturally shapes the user’s vessel, Kirie’s second body functioned as an extension of her mind and essence alone. It was completely untouchable by the outside world because Kirie herself was fundamentally disconnected from it, unable to perceive it as meaningful: her very nature dissolved the boundary that would allow normal interaction. This makes her almost impossible to harm or alter, since her very existence is an undefined singularity: a pure extension of her mind with no meaningful tie to the world it floats above.

With that being said, Kirie is not simply a passive abstract entity but an active enforcer of her Origin, using it to impose Nothingness upon others in an offensive and lethal manner:

The white fingertip points at Shiki. Shiki's head sways. The thin body steps once to regain its balance. But only once.

"---------"

The woman overhead hesitated a bit from that. The suggestion that "you can fly" is not working on this person. Her power can give someone the impression that "they were flying" - more of a brainwashing than a "suggestion" by any normal definition. There is no way to fight it, and as a result, one actually tries to fly, or conversely runs away from the fear of being able to fly. But Shiki was able to withstand it with just a small daze.

"---------"

The woman wonders if the contact was too weak, and decides to use suggestion again. But this time, stronger. Not a weak impression like "You can fly" but she orders firmly: "You have to fly!" - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

This passage shows that Kirie’s power doesn’t simply hypnotize: it directly enforces a contradiction between mind and body. The victim’s perception is rewritten, and the body fails to reconcile it. It’s not suggestion; it’s conceptual reprogramming, an extension of Kirie’s own existential state. Her Origin of Nothingness dissolves the boundaries between self and void. By projecting that onto others, she forces them into a dissociative collapse: they either embrace nothingness (suicide) or flee in vain from the void they now embody.

The reason why Shiki is able to resist this ability is because of her own Origin of Nothingness, which makes her fundamentally immune to the underlying principle of Kirie’s attack. Shiki’s existence is already self-contained and detached from external influence; she perceives all things as inherently meaningless compared to the perfection of the Fount. Kirie’s ‘escape’ from reality’s constraints is therefore irrelevant to her: she is already severed from those constraints by nature. We know later on that Shiki's connection to Akasha can even resist God's Word unified language, so this is clearly a resistance granted by her Origin.

"That makes sense. But why weren't you happy with just imagining the outside world? I don't think there was a need to let those girls fall."

Those girls...? Oh, I see, the girls I was jealous of. They were unfortunate. But I did not do anything, because the girls fell on their own.

"The you at the Fujiyoh building was more like a will. You used that, huh? Those girls were able to fly from the beginning, right? Even if it was just an image in their head, or if they really had the power to fly. People flying in their sleep isn't rare, but it never gets to be a problem. Why? Because they only do so in their sleep and they never even think about flying when they are awake. Since they are unconscious, they have no evil will when they are flying.

“Those girls were special even in that case. We're not talking Peter Pan, but it's easier to fly when you're small. Maybe one or two might have actually floated, but most of them should have floated only in their dreams.

“But you made them think about it. You gave them the impression they had while they were dreaming when they were awake.

“As a result, they found out they could fly. Yes, they can fly... but only unconsciously. Flight with only human power is difficult. Even I cannot fly without a broom. The chance of flight under consciousness is about thirty percent. The girls tried to fly as usual, and fell as they were supposed to."

Yes, they were flying around me. I thought they could be my friends. But all they did was float around me like fishes without noticing me.

It was shortly after that I found out they had no consciousness. I just thought they would notice me if they had consciousness. That was the only reason, so why... - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

This confirms Kirie didn’t “command” the girls to jump. She surfaced a memory from their dreams into waking awareness. Normally, dream experiences stay buried in the subconscious; that boundary keeps reality stable. But Kirie’s ability forces the unconscious into the conscious mind.

This isn’t ordinary suggestion: it’s a deeper collapse of cognition. Instead of planting new ideas, she exposes hidden ones never meant to surface. In doing so, she dissolves the natural divide between states of being: conscious and unconscious, life and death, self and void. It’s a direct manifestation of her Origin of Nothingness.

She doesn’t issue commands: she triggers a forced realization. The victim “remembers” something they could only handle unconsciously, like flying in a dream, and tries to apply it to the real world. But the body, trapped between logic and dream-logic, fails, and falls.

Importantly, this means Kirie’s power isn’t truly about death or escapism. Death is merely a side effect of a deeper contradiction: the conscious mind trying to act on an unconscious truth that was never meant to surface. Her power breaks the boundary between unconscious instinct and conscious action, causing reality, and the body, to fail in response.

In that sense, Kirie’s ability is one of the most advanced forms of subconscious manipulation in the setting. It doesn’t just control thoughts; it disrupts the entire structure of perception, forcing reality to collapse from within.

The reason this is so dangerous is because the subconscious acts as the interpretative filter of a sentient being: while each world has its natural laws, those laws are enforced by influencing the subconscious and collective consensus, ensuring individuals do not stray from them. However, in principle, an unbound subconscious could reorganize the world however it sees fit, which is why dreams can feel indistinguishable from reality until we wake up. What Kirie does is directly manipulate this filter, so that reality is perceived according to the victim’s deepest desires, until they either self-destruct or lose all clarity of purpose.

So her ability actually goes far beyond simple mind control: it is a fundamental distortion of perception and conceptual boundaries. This is most clearly demonstrated in the passage where the girls, after falling from the Fujou Building, continue to exist in a ghostly state. The novel explains that even after their deaths, their memories persist unnaturally:

“So in other words, time there is not working properly. It's not like there's only one way for time to pass by. The time it takes for something to rot away is unfairly different for everything. Then, it should follow that a human individual and its memory take different times to disappear. When someone dies, does that person's memory disappear? It doesn't, right? As long as there are observers, ones to remember, nothing disappears instantly, but gradually fades away.

“Memories, or rather, 'records'. If an observer happens to be in the environment around that person, people like those girls will be preserved by their memories and walk the earth as 'illusions' even after their deaths. This is part of the phenomenon which we know as 'ghosts.' The only ones who see these projections are the ones that share the memories with these ghosts, namely their parents and friends. Shiki, however, is an exception.

"Of course, the passage of time does affect these 'records,' but at the top of that building, it seems to occur at a much slower rate. The girls' memories from when they were alive have not caught up to their true state yet.

"As a result, the memories stay alive. What can be seen there are the actions and the existences of those girls whose time happens to be passing by slowly.” — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

Normally, time governs the natural decay of both physical bodies and abstract concepts like memory. After death, a person’s existence is typically preserved only through the memories of others, which fade with time. But in Kirie’s presence, this process is disrupted: memories linger and become visible, not as metaphors or hallucinations, but as perceivable illusions grounded in suspended time. This suggests that Kirie can stabilize abstract phenomena and cause subconscious remnants to manifest as tangible reality.

Crucially, if she can make memories persist unnaturally, it stands to reason that she could do the reverse: erase someone from conscious perception. This could lead to a form of conceptual erasure, making someone “forget” they exist, dissolving them into nothing. She may even be capable of halting the decay of ideas or prolonging phenomena beyond their natural end, suspending them in a kind of existential limbo.

From a combat standpoint, this makes Kirie extraordinarily dangerous. She could blur the line between life and death, cause the living to dissipate like ghosts, or manipulate time conceptually: accelerating, suspending, or erasing experiences entirely. Her ability is not just psychological, it’s metaphysical. She overrides the logic that governs how perception structures reality itself.

In short, Kirie Fujou’s power is not about death, suggestion, or escapism, it is about distorting the relationship between perception, memory, and reality, reducing everything to the borderless void her Origin represents. Her ability to make people fall to their deaths is just one application of this much broader and more terrifying power.

The reason she focused on the girls and the idea of “flying” in the story is because she wanted companions who shared her inherent detachment. Kirie sensed that the girls subconsciously wished to escape reality in their dreams, and simply made them act on it, the ghostly remnants that linger afterward are evidence of how her power traps these subconscious states in abstract stasis, keeping them around her, free from reality’s suffering and rules, but not in the way they truly hoped for.

This shows that Kirie’s power inherently gives precedence to desire over reality: the girls secretly wished to “escape,” so Kirie made them “fly,” unbound by any rule: neither life nor death could claim them, because they became free from their defining conditions.

This principle applies to any sentient being. The subconscious, in theory, is pure potential: it can dream anything, want anything, and reconfigure reality in any direction. That’s why, in dreams, physical laws don’t apply and contradictions coexist freely. If everything is possible, then “nothing” becomes significant, slowly leading to oblivion. Even something like an Ultimate One is not exempt. An Ultimate One’s subconscious still carries the “instinct” to uphold its planetary order: that hidden directive is what makes it a functional reality framework. Kirie’s power can draw out that latent freedom, the potential to stray from that instinct, but without any stabilizing purpose. The result is that even a being meant to embody a planet’s logic could dissolve into existential silence, its subconscious “freedom” unraveling its very form back into inert Stillness.

Kirie’s Origin is not destruction; it is a return. It echoes Thanatos in its deepest form: the desire for dissolution, for the undoing of all imposed form and meaning. Her Nothingness of Mind is the quiet force that returns beings to the undifferentiated, to a state before identity, function, or structure. She does not kill in the active sense; she offers release.

Every living being moves according to some internal function: survival, reproduction, growth, fulfillment. Kirie removes the necessity of that movement. She reveals that purpose itself is optional, that you don’t need to act, because nothing is inherently meaningful. And once this truth is realized, the instinct to continue simply… fades.

This is Thanatos in its truest form: not violent death, but the end of the need to be.

------

Kirie Fujou is an intangible phenomenon, detached from the material plane and impervious to physical harm. She does not interact with the world through conventional means because her very existence transcends the body. She is not a person, but a disembodied will, tied to her Origin of Nothingness of Mind, or more simply, Thanatos: the vector away from unconscious attachment to life. In contrast to Origins like Shiki’s, which operate through pure will or instinct, Thanatos negates that direction altogether. It does not act through desire; it annihilates the framework where desire has meaning.

Her ability doesn’t just manipulate the physical world: it enforces the subconscious as law. Whatever a person subconsciously desires or fears becomes inevitably real in her domain. But this isn’t just a power fantasy or projection, there’s a deeper philosophical message: 

Once your unconscious desires become real, they lose their mystique. They collapse under their own weight. They are no longer unconscious; they are exposed, emptied, meaningless.

Kirie essentially drags the id into the real. And in doing so, she reveals that even the strongest drives, when externalized, can’t fulfill or satisfy the self. Her power is a Thanatos 'injection': it grants people what they most subconsciously desire so that they can feel how empty it is.

Ordinarily, humans rely on boundaries between their waking consciousness and the subconscious: the former governed by logic and coherence, the latter by dreams, instinct, and repression. Kirie erases these boundaries. Reality and illusion become indistinguishable. When she makes someone believe they can fly, it is not metaphorical. The conviction takes hold with the force of physical law, and the body responds.

This is not hypnosis. It is not illusion. It is reality reconstructed through belief.

But it extends beyond flying. If someone subconsciously fears fire, she can cause them to perceive a neutral space as a burning inferno, triggering shock or even death from psychosomatic trauma. If a hallway is associated with death from childhood, she can turn it into a place where death truly manifests, because the mind accepts it as inevitable. If a person believes they deserve to die, that belief can become a physical truth.

Kirie warps experience so thoroughly that the conceptual becomes physical, and the physical becomes conceptual. Time is distorted not by actual change, but through altered perception and memory. Worse still, her effect isn't limited to individuals. It extends to entire environments. In the Fujiyoh Building, time and decay were suspended by her will. Memories of dead girls lingered as conceptual imprints, not ghosts, but mental records embedded so forcefully into the fabric of space that they became real. Kirie doesn’t raise the dead; she preserves the idea of death until it takes shape again.

Her power is especially dangerous because it targets the core mental structures shared by all sentient beings: a conscious mind, a subconscious, and a sense of self. Kirie doesn’t merely insert thoughts; she dissolves the framework that thinking depends on. This works because the subconscious is the interpretative layer through which any mind applies the “laws” of reality to itself: the hidden structure that says “gravity binds you,” “this is fire,” “this is your identity.” Kirie hijacks that interpreter, rewriting how existence is processed. Just like Asagami bends space to “nothing” and Ryougi reduces reality to “nothing” with her mystic eyes, Kirie reduces the subconscious to “nothing,” disrupting every instinct and directive that tethers it to a stable existence.

Even beings who can control time, space, or life must perceive and distinguish those concepts to act on them. Kirie renders that distinction impossible. When everything becomes fluid and contradictory, even reality-warpers lose the ability to act. Their will collapses into incoherence because they no longer understand the tools they once wielded. Only those with an absolute, self-contained existence, like Araya Souren’s Stillness or Ryougi Shiki’s inner Void, can resist her unraveling effect.

And because Kirie’s existence is purely that of a mind shaped by her Origin, she cannot be harmed by conventional means, nor by reality manipulation. She is a mind given form, detached from physical or structural anchors, defined by a fundamental paradox: she is Nothingness given will. Any attempt to reshape her must first define her, but definition is precisely what she erases in herself and imposes on others.

In this sense, Kirie is a passive, creeping counterpart to Ryougi Shiki. Where Shiki severs the threads of existence with decisive clarity, Kirie erodes those same threads by dismantling the mind that perceives them. One ends reality through action; the other ends it by returning perception to a formless, undefined state, a primordial Stillness.

This makes her an intriguing counterpart to Araya Souren. Araya starts from the same empty foundation, the Stillness beyond chaos, but tries to bind it into perfect, unchanging structure to contain all contradictions forever. Kirie does the opposite: she undoes structure so thoroughly that the world returns to an unshaped calm. Where Araya uses Stillness to hold existence together, Kirie lets it dissolve back into its natural, undisturbed state.

In the end, when all minds that interpret reality are gone, what’s left is a world of pure, silent Stillness, not forced, but free, a place where the burden of meaning disappears, and suffering with it.

How strong is God's Word?

God's Word, also known as Satsuki Kurogiri, was intended to be Araya's fourth and final agent against Shiki, but Araya was defeated before he could enact this plan:

"Araya briefed me about you. I was originally called to this city for that purpose, after all. As I said, you and I have a connection of our own. He desired to put the two of us at odds, but it seems he fell before that could ever happen. It's truly a shame. I was somewhat interested in seeing him achieve his goal." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

However, his connection to Shiki is far different compared to Asagami and Kirie. Unlike them, who represent different aspects of Nothingness, God's Word is Shiki’s direct conceptual opposite:

"So, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, I see. I view only streams already travelled, while you perceive trails yet to be trodden. Chronicler of the past and observer of the future. Hm... it seems Araya summoned me to eliminate you, Shiki." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

While Shiki perceives the 'future', the inevitable death of all things, through her connection to Akasha, God's Word retrieves the world's memories, allowing him to reshape reality. This ability stems from his greatest power: the Unified Language, an ancient and metaphysical tongue that communicates with the world on an ontological level:

It was God's Word that proved all of them wrong. He showed that it wasn't only our planet that was more powerful in the Age of Gods, but also our language. If God confused the languages of man, then what was it like before that? Indeed, mankind had but a single language of communication back then. Could a language truly give meaning to and speak of every single phenomenon in our world? If it truly existed, then it would have to be a formless language. It would not be a language used to communicate with fellow men, but a language that derived its meaning through a dialogue with the world itself. God feared the word of man, so he confused our tongues and granted us a language with form.

We thought we were being granted wisdom, but we were only robbed of the truth instead.

That lost truth is what God's Word has learned, the original language that was shared among all who dwelled in this world before the Tower of Babel. We call this the Unified Language.

"Isn't that useless then? What's the point of it all if no one can even reply to him?"

"If it were just a normal language, then yes. The fact that he can communicate with beasts and rocks doesn't mean that he's speaking to them directly. Instead, he speaks to the world itself. Think of it like an ontological hierarchy. As long as 'I' exist, there will always be an Aozaki Touko above me that exists within the world itself. If he were to use the Unified Language on me, I would have no way of resisting. If I were to reject his words, that'd be equal to denying the fact that I exist in this world. The very words he utter become an irreversible truth. God's Word is capable of placing all of creation under complete hypnosis. The memories that we humans possess, are also recorded by the world itself. It's a similar concept to the Akashic Records, but this is a wave phenomenon that exists on a lower level than it. You see, one of the possible methods of deciphering it is the Unified Language. That's why Kurogiri's able to gather memories that have already been forgotten. He isn't drawing their forgotten memories out of their brains, but rather from the record the world stores of the past. In the present day and age, he's the only person capable of accessing the various recordings of the past that our world has kept in store. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

As stated in this passage, God’s Word possesses the ability to access the world’s stored memories, functioning as a lower-tier equivalent of the Akashic Records: a “compilation” of every possible phenomenon that exists or could ever exist within creation. Every conceivable being and concept is inherently an entry in these records, which reality itself refers to so that those entities are recognized as “real.” By retrieving these records, he can “hypnotize” the world itself, altering reality by making his statements an undeniable truth. His power operates on an ontological level, addressing the very concept behind an entity’s existence and enforcing retroactive changes upon it. This is why Touko says that refusing it means going against your very existence: it doesn’t matter how unique or powerful you are, the very fact that you exist means you must necessarily be catalogued within creation’s records for that existence to be “true.”

A good example of God's Word’s reality-warping ability is when he commands Shiki to lose sight of him, effectively blocking her physical eyesight through his words alone:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

Shiki initially counters her blindness through her Mystic Eyes, which grant her resistance to the Unified Language. This is because her Eyes are tied to her Origin: an absolute, immutable truth that exists beyond external interference. Recognizing this resistance, God's Word escalates his power, issuing a command that strips the entire area of the concept of "sight" itself.

At that moment, the chapel itself is rewritten to be a domain where sight doesn't function, not through mundane means like light being extinguished, but through ontological rewriting. It’s not darkness in a conventional sense; it’s a world where the concept of seeing simply no longer exists. Even Kurogiri himself says:

"Though, of course, I can't see anything here either."

This reinforces that what he invoked is not one-sided manipulation: he’s changed the world in a way that affects everyone, even himself.

Notably, God's Word states in this passage that his Unified Language operates on the same rank as MEoDP in terms of its connection to Akasha, further proving the fundamental and far-reaching nature of his power. MEoDP allows Shiki to perceive the inherent "death" of all things, directly affecting the blueprints of reality by enforcing their inevitable end. Unified Language, by contrast, achieves a similar scope of influence but through a different principle: rather than enforcing "death," it recalls an entity's "past" (its foundation) and retroactively alters the present by "hypnotizing" reality itself.

This distinction is why Touko explicitly states that he can hypnotize "all of creation:" his words override the world's underlying truths, rewriting existence at its most fundamental level. In this way, God's Word stands among the most powerful beings in existence, possessing a reality-altering ability comparable to Shiki’s, yet operating through an entirely different metaphysical approach. God's Word doesn't simply recall the past; he edits it. By speaking to the foundational concept of an entity, he “hypnotizes” it, causing the world to conform to an idealized version of that entity. The current state of things is overridden by a version of reality shaped by God's Word's words, recasting the past as the new foundation.

“But God’s Word is said to be the closest to True Magic, meaning he’s still just Magecraft and not top tier!”

First of all; that’s a laughable take. His feats speak for themselves: altering reality through absolute truth, rewriting existence through speech, and bypassing all conventional magical systems. That is top tier. The label doesn't diminish his standing: it reflects the metaphysical categories of the verse, not a power ceiling.

Second, Unified Language isn't classified as True Magic not because it lacks power, but because it was once a natural human faculty. Ancient humans could use it to literally define the world as they described it. They weren’t casting spells: they were declaring reality, and the World accepted it.

It was sealed away by “God”, not out of necessity, but out of fear and jealousy. God didn’t want humanity defining the world on its own terms. So it was locked away, suppressed, and forgotten after the events of the Tower of Babel.

So yes, from a metaphysical categorization perspective, Unified Language isn’t “impossible,” and therefore doesn’t qualify as True Magic. But that’s a technicality. The only reason it isn’t labeled True Magic is because it used to be possible. In truth, it was more natural and more direct than any current system; and the fact that God's Word can wield it now means he is doing what should no longer be possible, reclaiming the divine authority that was stolen from humanity.

So calling him “not top tier” because it’s “not quite True Magic” is missing the point entirely. Unified Language may not be True Magic in classification; but it’s just as frightening, and arguably more meaningful.

The only thing left to address now is the obligatory "but how do we know x character is Origin-awakened?" Well, beyond the clear deduction that he was one of the agents prepared by Araya to confront Shiki, there’s the matter of his innate affinity for Unified Language. This ability isn't something he acquired through study or effort: rather, it is a genetic mutation that he was born with. Despite having no talent for magecraft, God's Word was able to master the Unified Language within only ten years, surpassing what even the most skilled magi can achieve after decades of study:

According to the rumours, God's Word never harms other people. In the first place, he isn't even a mage. He doesn't have any latent aptitude for magecraft, nor is he descended from a family of mages. He was born with some genetic mutation, just like Azaka was. Similarly, just as Azaka's only ability is to control flames, his sole gift is the command over language. However, because these abilities are part of their innate disposition, they are capable of reaching heights that even bloodlines spanning generations such as mine cannot hope to achieve. In that sense, God's Word is a monster. It took him only ten years to attain those heights.

The magecraft he utilises is exactly as his moniker suggests: God's Word. He has complete command over every language spoken by any race or tribe that currently roams the world. When I say complete, I don't just mean that he can speak them. He knows everything that has ever emerged from them, beginning from their conception. Their history, their beliefs, all of it. There exists no word that he cannot speak, and there exists no race of man that is unknown to him. However, he did not acquire this knowledge by travelling the world. God's Word learned only a single language, and his understanding of every other one is nothing more than a consequence of that. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

This passage confirms that God's Word’s ability is a direct result of an innate talent. Much like those who develop psychic abilities close to their Origins, God's Word's affinity for the Unified Language is a natural, intrinsic gift: an extraordinary talent that transcends conventional magecraft. However, this still doesn't necessarily prove his Origin was actually awakened, only that he was born close to it.

Fortunately, it is later revealed that God's Word did indeed experience a profound transformation that changed his existence and aligned it with his ability:

“It’s true that I was abducted by fairies in my youth. Then again, I don’t know if those creatures really were fairies. Perhaps they were only spirits that sought out companionship. They told me they wanted to be together for all of eternity. I, on the other hand, only ever wanted to go home. I'd known of the superstition that children who ran into fairies could never return home, so I frantically tried to escape from them. I ran through the plains and past the woods. When I finally saw my house in sight, I looked back in relief. It was then that I noticed the countless empty husks that were once fairies, and realised that my hands were stained in their red blood. It was at that moment that I realised that the superstitions were true. After being abducted by them, I was never able to return to my home," he said with the comical expression of a clown.

I tried to envision it in my mind. Even when he returned home, all his parents were met with was their son soaked in blood. At that point, his home was no longer what it once was, it was no longer a place for him to return to. The home he'd envisioned was one with a loving family, not one with the cold stares of his parents.

"You mean the fairies didn't abduct you?”

"Indeed. Apparently, I'd massacred them all instead. That proved to be a grievous mistake, however. In the end, they cursed Kurogiri Satsuki for what he did to them. Like I said, I hadn't actually forgotten anything. It was just that from that day on, Kurogiri Satsuki became unable to recognize his memories as his own. Since then, I've been unable to authenticate anything I see with my own eyes. All the knowledge I gained from then on was mere information, not memory. I no longer saw the world as a picture, but as a mass of information that could be changed with words. My world stopped moving when I was ten years old. There exists no method for me to dispel the curse that has been cast on me by the fairies."

I have the traits of the person known as Kokutou Azaka recorded within me as words. Your appearance matched up with the words I used to describe Kokutou Azaka, which is why I recognized you. If someone else who fit my definition better than you arrived, then they would become Kokutou Azaka to me instead. It has nothing to do with whoever you actually are. As I said, there are no pictures within me. Everything within me is documented by means of language. In the case of humans, that'd be their height, weight, bone structure, skin colour, hairstyle, behaviour, and age. I have the traits of the person known as Kokutou Azaka recorded within me as words. Your appearance matched up with the words I used to describe Kokutou Azaka, which is why I recognized you. If someone else who fit my definition better than you arrived, then they would become Kokutou Azaka to me instead. It has nothing to do with whoever you actually are. As I said, there are no pictures within me. Everything within me is documented by means of language. In the case of humans, that'd be their height, weight, bone structure, skin colour, hairstyle, behaviour, and age. I didn't look at you and recognize you as someone I know, it's just that your traits happened to match up with those of Kokutou Azaka best. I can encode, record, and store memories. Only the authentication portion of the process is impossible for me. Of course, this method of mine leads to countless mistakes. Without the ability to verify information with images, I can only distinguish them through words. The mere act of choosing to tie your hair a different way could be enough for me to mistake you. That's why I'm often considered to be forgetful by the people around me. The people of this academy have been saying that about me too, haven't they?"

He chuckled like a child.

"You mean your memories are just a form of language to you?" I mumbled, unable to hold myself back. The events of the day before were stored within him as records, and not as memories. Because of that, a walking mass of data such as him had no concept of self. It was impossible for someone who couldn't recognize his own memories. To him, memories didn't exist as a foundation for his sense of self, but rather as a source of information in order to survive the world around him. The will of the man known as Kurogiri Satsuki was a very faint thing. Because of that, he only ever spoke if he was talked to first, and accepted all things without any resistance whatsoever. In the first place, he couldn't resist, even if he wanted to - Kara no Kyokai Chapter 6.

The trauma from the massacre and subsequent curse from the fairies disrupts Kurogiri's ability to perceive reality in a normal way. His "memories" become mere words, and he can no longer verify or authenticate them with visual cues. This breakdown of sensory perception and shift to abstract language sets the foundation for his affinity for the Unified Language. Kurogiri's world ceases to be one of images and experiences and becomes one of abstract "words" and "data". This directly correlates to the Unified Language, which operates on the idea that language itself has the power to shape and influence reality. His shift from a concrete world to an abstract one makes him deeply attuned to the power of language, which is the core of his Origin.

In essence, the event where Kurogiri massacres the fairies, combined with the curse that distorts his perception of reality, likely sets the stage for his Origin’s awakening. The overwhelming power of his language abilities aligns with the themes of an Origin awakened through a deeply traumatic and reality-altering experience.

This brings to an insightful revelation about his Origin:

Kurogiri Satsuki’s Origin is best understood not as “nostalgia”, as Nasu offhandedly claimed, but, more accurately, as the Nothingness of Memory; a metaphysical state where memory loses all personal meaning. Kurogiri doesn’t forget events, but becomes unable to recognize them as his. His past exists only as neutral data: he knows what happened but not how it felt. Experience no longer forms identity.

This detachment results in the loss of subjectivity. Kurogiri cannot say “I lived” or “I felt,” only “this happened,” as if observing someone else’s life. He becomes an archive with no interiority; a body divorced from selfhood. His Origin nullifies memory as emotional continuity; it doesn't evoke longing but erases meaning.

This void of self is what enables Unified Language, his ability to rewrite reality by treating it as dead syntax, just as he views himself. Without the weight of memory or feeling, he sees existence as language to be rewritten, not experienced. Unified Language is the weaponized form of this detachment: rewriting reality as cold, disconnected information.

Araya Souren selected Kurogiri precisely for this. His goal wasn’t to test Shiki physically, but to break her metaphysically. His agents each targeted a core pillar of being:

• Fujino Asagami – breakdown of physical sensation
• Kirie Fujou – breakdown of perception and mind
• Kurogiri Satsuki – breakdown of memory and self

Once these pillars collapse, Araya believed that Shiki would no longer cling to individuality, thereby surrendering to Void Shiki, the pure embodiment of death and non-self.

Kurogiri was the final blow: a mirror of Shiki’s own dissociated state post-coma, when she felt like a newborn without past or identity. He forces her to confront the abyss she once stood on; the possibility of existing without truly living.

Thus, Kurogiri’s Origin is not nostalgia, but the denial that memory ever belonged to him. He doesn’t long for the past: he erases it. This aligns not only with his character arc, but with his role as Araya’s final metaphysical instrument.

------

In essence, God's Word is one of the most formidable reality warpers that you can find. He possesses the unique ability to communicate directly with the abstract concepts that underpin reality itself. By doing so, he compels these concepts to accept his words as absolute truths, effectively “hypnotizing” the very foundations that sustain existence. This enables him to retroactively alter any manifestation of those concepts within the world, bending reality to align with his declarations. It’s as if he can rewrite the laws of being with a single sentence: for example, he could proclaim, “This world has no gravity,” and reality would adjust itself to follow that rule.

Not even the strongest conventional reality warpers can resist this. The very fact that they exist, and that they possess their powers in the first place, is only valid because it is recorded and authenticated in the world’s conceptual records. God’s Word works on the level of the truth of existence itself, something that nothing can escape, granting him an authority that transcends all ordinary reality manipulation and cosmic power.

His only limitation is his passive, non-confrontational nature. To fully unleash his potential, one would need to remove his moral inhibitions, as his power is tied to the precision and assertiveness with which he uses it. In short, in a "morals-off" scenario, God's Word could shape and rewrite reality with near absolute freedom.

Nasu calling Kurogiri Satsuki’s Origin “Nostalgia” is yet another example of him misremembering or oversimplifying his own lore, something not uncommon in his interview statements. Nostalgia implies a longing for the past, a sentimental attachment to memory. But Kurogiri’s entire character is defined by the opposite: he has no emotional connection to his memories. He explicitly states that he does not “remember” in the subjective sense: his memories exist only as detached data, stripped of identity and feeling. This disconnection is central to his metaphysical breakdown and why Araya chose him to confront Ryougi: he embodies the Nothingness of Memory, a void where the self collapses because memory no longer affirms it. Nostalgia implies warmth and continuity. Kurogiri represents discontinuity, emptiness, and disassociation, which directly contradicts Nasu’s later, offhand claim. It's a clear case of retroactive mislabeling, which is not surprising, as Nasu directly admitted his "older self" has passed on and he wanted to bring KnK into a new direction that simplified its themes.

In truth, Kurogiri belongs in the same metaphysical category as Kirie and Asagami: embodiments of ontological absence, each representing a different variation of Nothingness. And it is precisely this emptiness that grants Kurogiri his terrifying conceptual power.

How strong is Touko Aozaki?

Compared to the higher tiers of the setting? Not very much. She barely defeated a doll imitation of Araya, which was being remotely controlled by an already weakened Araya who was just getting used to a new body. Oh, and he was intentionally holding back because he wanted to keep her brain intact to study her knowledge:

That was... a puppet?”

As Touko spoke she spat out more blood. The Magus who had suddenly appeared behind her replied,

“Of course.”

“I may not be as skilled as you in making puppets, but I too have inherited the techniques of my predecessors. You know the name of the esoteric priest who crafted human figures, don’t you?” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

All that remained to die was her brain. Without the flow of blood, her brain would soon deteriorate. The knowledge and techniques she had accumulated would be completely lost. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The combined efforts of Ryougi Shiki and Aozaki Touko had completely destroyed the body he had been using up to this point. The body that was now active was just a spare he had prepared. It would take time for him to fully adapt to it. Even though he would soon transfer to the body of Ryougi Shiki, any misstep with this body he was not used to could lead to irreparable failure. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

After destroying what had been Enjou Tomoe, the Magus stood still as he stayed in the corridor. The time was near. It had been half a day since he moved from the body he had been using up to yesterday to his current spare body. Finally, his consciousness felt like it had spread to every corner of this body. Araya Souren was not like some Puppeteer who had died after preparing a completely identical copy. He still had not experienced death. His body had rotted away several times over the years, each time this happened he maintained his consciousness and so far continued to live on. Araya Souren was only one person. If this body perished, there would be no refuge next time. Things had to be handled carefully. However, there was no longer any need to wait. The will of the soul known as Araya Souren had placed this latest of his bodies under his control. The wiring of the Magic Circuits that moved his body extended down to his toes, the Magus had at last sublimated his temporary body into a real one. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Compared to the rest of the verse though? She ranks surprisingly high. But let’s proceed in order.

Touko specializes in Rune Magecraft, a system that applies specific effects through engraved symbols, such as the rune Sowilō, which can set a target on fire. However, her magecraft is fundamentally limited by conventional energy dynamics: she is a magus, not a conceptual being or Origin-awakened entity. Her techniques depend on her magical energy and obey the physical and metaphysical constraints of normal magecraft. Or, in simpler terms, they are limited by Touko’s “power level,” making them insignificant compared to the abilities of the other major characters in the story.

Additionally, her runes are ineffective at a distance against anyone with even basic magical energy. This is because mages with active magic circuits can instinctively reject indirect magical interference. To bypass this, Touko must inscribe her runes directly onto the target through physical contact:

The Rune Magecraft that Touko had mastered certainly had offensive capabilities. Runes are a form of Magecraft that makes the meaning of the engraved letters a reality by carving a powerful seal into a target. If Touko were to directly inscribe the Rune of Sowilō, which represented fire, onto Araya’s body, then his body would burst into flames.

... The weak point, however, was that the runes had to be inscribed directly, overlapping letters from a distance wouldn’t work on Magi. Indirect magical energy would be repelled by a Magus who had direct magical energy coursing through their body. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5.

Because of this limitation, Touko relies heavily on an enchanted coat as a key defensive tool. This coat acts as a powerful magical artifact that severs direct interference with her magic circuits, effectively shielding her from typical magecraft attacks while she closes the gap to engage at close range.

However, against conceptual or reality-altering attacks, the coat's limits become apparent. When Araya unleashed his space compression, a subtle yet devastating manipulation of reality that crushed the very space Touko occupied, her body was struck from all directions by an invisible force. Despite the coat blocking all forms of magical interference against her Magic Circuits, it was shredded to pieces, forcing her to her knees:

Simultaneously, Touko’s body shook with a violent impact. Her coat, which blocked all forms of magical interference with her Magic Circuits, was shredded to pieces and fell to the floor.

There had been an attack, it was an invisible impact.

Struck equally across her body from every direction, she then fell to her knees.

Touko instantly understood what the impact had been.

... Araya crushed the space in which Touko had been standing. It was as if her entire body had been pressed down upon.

Touko’s tongue was silenced in disbelief. She had no knowledge of what Magecraft enabled such a small gesture to manipulate space.

“... I got hit. Dammit, how many ribs did he break?”

Swallowing the blood pooling in her mouth, Touko assessed the damage to her body. Unlike Shiki, Touko had no physical training, she had no way of knowing how many of her bones were broken.

All she understood was the fact that her coat had saved her. If she were to take a hit like that again, she would certainly be crushed. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This incident demonstrates the coat’s remarkable durability against conventional magecraft and blunt physical trauma, even from opponents with superhuman strength. Yet it also highlights its vulnerability to high-tier conceptual abilities like Araya’s space manipulation, which transcend ordinary physical and magical defenses.

In essence, Touko’s coat is an exceptionally resilient defense against the vast majority of threats, magecraft and physical alike, that operate within normal parameters. But it cannot provide absolute protection against foes wielding powers that warp reality itself.

However, it's not just about her coat; Touko's true strength comes from her familiars, which in KnK are represented by a magical creature of pure shadow projected by a special machine in her bag:

Aozaki Touko's bag. She seems to be very fond of using it.

It is not used as a bag, and is stuffed with a projector-like mechanism.

A projection machine that perjures a magical creature of shadow. - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Orange Bag [Others]

This familiar is a powerful and eerie creature vaguely resembling a cat, but having a face similar to an Egyptian hieroglyph, and a black body with no thickness, making it an otherworldly opponent:

“Is that... slime?”

Aozaki Touko directed such a phrase at the other worldly creatures that started swarming around her. However, the monsters that oozed out of the lobby’s outer walls were not such simple creatures.

Cream colored liquid oozed out of the walls and rapidly took form into larger shapes.

The shapes had the forms of both humanoids and beasts. Although the surface of the creatures looked like melting keloid scars, they appeared to constantly reshape themselves in an grotesquely real way. It was as if they were real people and beasts in a state of eternal decay, they looked extremely detailed yet awkward.

“With all your incarnation abilities this is the best you can do? Alba, forget about Magecraft, why not try being a movie director? I bet you could make a monster flick on a pretty tight budget with this creature fare here. Really you would be better suited trying your hand at horror movies than being the director of the abbey you know.”

Surrounded on all sides by the monsters filling the lobby, the young woman muttered these complaints. Certainly, the scene unfolding did look like one from a horror movie. Though it appeared that neither a Crucifix nor a shotgun would be of any effect.

Despite the fact that she was now surrounded by the monsters she called slimes, with only approximately a one meter radius around her to spare, she calmly reached into her inner coat pocket without lifting even an eyebrow.

“Actually you wouldn’t even be able to be a director; the direction isn’t good enough. If this is the best you can do, you wouldn’t please anybody in the audience. It can’t be helped really. Let me show you an example, Alba. If you want to advertise yourself as a horror show, you had better be able to at least do this.”

Thud, the woman kicked the leather bag still sitting at her toes.

“Go.”

The authoritative command left no room for disagreement.

In response the bag seemed to open on its own. Bang, the bag itself seemed to have nothing inside. At the same time, a black form spiraled around the Magus known as Aozaki Touko. Like a typhoon with a body, in which Touko stood in the eye of the storm, it began to spin around and around with an incredibly fast speed. The storm had an insane force.

Only a few seconds had elapsed before the lobby was completely devoid of the creatures that were just there. There was no trace or shape left of the things that had been spilling into the lobby. Only Aozaki Touko and her bag, now snapped shut, remained. That, and a black cat that now sat at her feet.

“... Wha–”

Alba could only look on at the scene as if in a trance.

The cat was bigger than Touko. Its body was pure black, but didn’t seem to have any thickness. The cat’s fur appeared like shadows. Rather than a cat, the form seemed merely to hold the silhouette of a cat, and face that resembled the Egyptian hieroglyphs.

“What is that..?”

The man looked down from the second floor at the cat. His gaze met with the cat’s painting like eyes. Even though it was missing a mouth, the cat seemed to smile back at him.

As if waking up from a nightmare, Alba gulped.

Touko didn’t say anything.

Bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, from somewhere there rang a buzzing noise.

“This isn’t what we discussed! Was it a lie that your familiar was defeated by your sister!?”

Alba could no longer remain quiet and let out a shout.

With hardly a shrug, Touko gave only a half reply of, “Who knows?” then shifted her gaze back to the black cat.

“I guess I made you eat something nasty. However, your next meal will hopefully taste a little

better. Not just a lump of ether, but an actual human made of flesh. You already have plenty of spiritual reserves. And don’t hold back just because he’s a former classmate of mine. I’ve been properly training you every day haven’t I? How to devour your enemies.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

As seen in the passage, the creature appeared instantly upon Touko’s command, swirling around her like a typhoon with incredible speed and power. It completely obliterated the slime creatures surrounding her without leaving a trace, all within a matter of seconds. This display highlights its absurd speed, so much so that even Alba was left stunned at what had just occurred.

Because it is a projected shadow, this familiar defies conventional physical laws, making it an opponent that mages like Alba, who are limited to manipulating physical phenomena, or other conventional superhuman fighters simply cannot overcome.

For example, when the black cat charges at Alba:

Suddenly the black cat sprang forth.

As if sliding across the marble floor, the black cat sprinted toward the staircase.

... Yet the cat’s feet did not move. The silhouette of the cat remained in a sitting position while only the eyes seemed to shift as the shape continued forward toward the man in the red coat. At this speed it would not have taken ten seconds to reach the Alba on second floor landing from where Touko stood in the lobby.

However, Alba was no ordinary human who would allow this.

He was a Magus. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Its movement is completely unconventional, gliding across the floor without moving its limbs. Although the text says it “won’t take ten seconds” for the cat to reach Alba, this should not be mistaken for slow speed. Considering that Touko is standing in the lobby on the ground floor and Alba is positioned on the second floor landing, a significant vertical and horizontal distance, the cat is actually covering a large area in under ten seconds. In reality, this means it moves extremely fast, sliding effortlessly over a considerable distance in just a few seconds.

Alba tries to counterattack:

From that perspective, Alba’s chanting was excellent. It wasn’t particularly long, stuck to the necessary rhythm, incorporated words to uplift his own spirit, and required no more than two seconds to articulate.

Touko was impressed by this fact.

The young man Alba used to like chanting incantations that were unnecessarily long and overly elaborate, but he had undoubtedly grown over the past few years. The shape and speed of his chant, as well as the way he connected his circuits to affect the material world, were surprisingly skilled.

If his chant was simply Magecraft to destroy objects, it was undoubtedly the work of a first-rate Magus.

“I am the order. Therefore, you will be defeated securely––!

Alba stuck out one arm.

The moment the black cat seemed to reach the first step of the staircase, the air trembled slightly, and the stairs burst into flames.

A sea of blue flames engulfed the stairs, like a mirage rising up from the ground.

In only a few seconds, the flames engulfed the atrium all the way up to the second floor.

It was as if a volcanic geyser had erupted. The sea of flames, that seemed to consume all oxygen in the lobby, incinerated the black cat. This much was certain. The heat of the flames which exceeded a temperature of one thousand degrees Celsius would have melted the bodies of any creature like butter and evaporated their mass into the atmosphere. There wouldn’t even have been a split second for it to have gone through the liquification process. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Despite being hit by a magical attack with a temperature over 1000°C capable of melting and evaporating all solid matter, the cat was completely unaffected:

And yet, Alba saw it.

As the flames burned out, all of the sudden, the bizarre shape of the black cat suddenly appeared.

“That’s impossible!”

His blue eyes stared fixedly at the stairs.

The black cat sat licking at its thin black body in disappointment before shifting its gaze to the Magus in the red coat.

The black monster resumed its dash.

Alba wasted no time trying to determine what the cat was.

“I order you to repeat...!”

With cutting sharpness, Alba repeated his spell.

The stairs erupted into flames, however this time the cat did not stop. As if used to the flames, the cat continued in a straight line toward the Magus.

“Repeat!”

The sea of flames erupted again, then disappeared.

The cat had already arrived at the top of the stairs.

“Repeat!”

The fourth iteration of flames ended meaninglessly.

The black cat arrived at the second floor landing and opened its jaws wide as it drew near to Alba. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

It suddenly appeared as the flames burned out, almost as if it phased and immediately reconstituted itself; then it simply charged through the next flames as if they didn’t even exist, until it reached Alba.

From this, we can gather that this shadow being cannot be harmed in any conventional way. It simply adapts and phases through any material attack, regardless of how devastating.

Outside of its invincibility, the familiar is also capable of ignoring all physical limits, moving in a way that resembles sliding or teleportation rather than normal movement. It later even displays the ability to reverse gravity:

“What?”

With a faint look of surprise, Araya turned around in an instant. Without hesitation, he spread his outstretched palm and clenched it tightly once more.

Onn, a sound like a tremor could be heard.

Touko saw it, the space in front of Araya was collapsing further and further inward. The black cat leaped upward before it could be compressed. As if gravity had reversed, the cat landed on the ceiling and then glared at the Magus below. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

All of this is possible because the creature is an “ether body,” the fifth Imaginary Element that enables the creation and manifestation of the four basic elements in magecraft:

Ether Lump

Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Substance as coined by the Association. It is a necessary medium that gives shape by mixing with the Four Elements.

It is shapeless, but it is a critical element in the functioning of magecraft.

Ether is bound to become one of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, but in the hands of a novice, it would fail to become one of the Four Elements and materialize. This is ether lump.

Ether lump is completely useless. In some sense, creating ether lump is analogous to creating “Nothingness.” Looking at it from this perspective makes it sound like “True Magic” In fact, ether lump is originally the First Magic’s———

Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

It is a formless substance that upholds and precedes every physical, natural element, allowing the cat to ignore and bypass all physical limits, being composed essentially of the closest substance to conceptual you can possibly find while still bound to the physical world.

Araya Souren later explains how it works, revealing another layer of defense for this elusive creature:

“A shadow-puppet familiar is it? I see. That would explain why it could nullify all attacks. Even if the ether body projected into the atmosphere was destroyed, as long as the projector, the true body, kept running, it could revive endlessly... It’s a shame, I have to remove such a genius.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The creature’s true body is the magical device itself. Even if the projection is destroyed, it endlessly regenerates so long as the projector remains intact. This makes it virtually invincible and capable of surprise attacks even against opponents far stronger than Touko herself.

This tactic allowed it to defeat the Araya puppet, an imitation that used the same powerful abilities, including bounded fields and conceptual laws that affect all planes of existence:

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions. Any living thing touching those circular lines would have its power stopped. – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

It bypasses these fields because the projector inside Touko’s bag remains outside the bounded field’s reach. Even if the projection is “stopped,” the true body continuously recreates it from beyond the field’s conceptual influence, preventing the Stillness-based rules from fully halting it and enabling the familiar to relentlessly pursue and devour its target.

As for its offensive capabilities:

Once the black cat reached the second floor, it went up to Alba and opened up its mouth. The body of the cat, which was as big as a man, opened up from head to toe. As if opening a treasure chest with the crown of its head as a lid.

Inside of the flat, planar cat, the corpses of the protoplasmic creatures it had swallowed earlier are pasted like mud.

Alba realized only then. That this thing was only taking the shape of a cat, and that it was an organism that had only a mouth.

"Repeat --- !"

With death in front of his eyes, terror makes him repeat his final spell.

But before that, the shark's mouth in the body of a cat closes down upon the mage. When it swallowed him whole with his red coat, Alba lost consciousness. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This familiar “opens” its entire man-sized body to engulf prey whole, functioning as a living phenomenon of consumption. Its feline shape is mere camouflage; in truth, it is a pseudo-dimensional maw that absorbs anything it swallows. The detail of the swallowed creatures being “pasted like mud” inside its flat interior indicates that it does not physically chew or digest in a normal sense; instead, it traps its prey within a non-physical internal space, akin to a warped pocket dimension or living womb.

This means the familiar ignores conventional notions of durability. Its offensive power is not brute force but the ability to envelop the target in an ether-based mouth that erases the boundary between the prey’s physical form and the creature’s ether body. Once inside, the target is gradually broken down and transmuted into the same formless substance that composes the familiar, making it an abstract predator that bypasses most physical or magical defenses through pure existential consumption.

"But the familiar wasn’t that strong in Fate!"

Good for it. I’m talking about the original work, not Fate’s reinterpretation, which blatantly borrows from Future Gospel, an incompatible spin-off that contradicts the novel and expands an alternate direction from the anime adaptation. Nasu himself has said he doesn’t mind retcons or contradictions, believing that “the river will flow” so long as he has a major theme to follow. This familiar doesn't "throw hands" or shoots beams of light as Fate changed it to. It is an actual shadow that consumes anything it catches instantly and without mercy.

So stop pestering me with watered-down interpretations and acting like they override the original novel.

------

Overall, Touko is an extremely skilled magus capable of defeating most “conventional” supernatural threats; such as non-top-tier Dead Apostle Ancestors, all non-top-tier magi, and a vast number of Fate characters (including virtually every Servant from Stay Night and Zero, whom I doubt could handle her).

Her enchanted coat protects her from nearly all physical and magical attacks, even saving her from near-death against something as overwhelmingly powerful as Araya’s True Magic-tier manipulation of space.

Her familiar is a shadow being composed of a formless, conceptual substance, the source from which all physical matter and natural elements originate, rendering it immune to most non-conceptual attacks. It can completely ignore conventional speed limits, moving by unbounded phasing, reversing gravity, or giving the illusion of teleportation. Its debut showcased its ability to envelop Touko herself like a tornado, consuming everything within a full 360° radius in mere seconds.

Beyond its invincibility and near-instantaneous speed, the shadow cat is effectively immortal against even those rare attacks capable of harming it, such as Araya’s spatial compressions. As long as the device in Touko’s bag remains active, the cat infinitely regenerates from it, since the cat is merely an extension of the true body residing in the projection device. This allows it to potentially catch superior opponents off-guard and engulf them whole.

When the cat consumes its prey, it reveals itself as a man-sized mouth acting like a portal, transferring victims into an internal pocket dimension dedicated to their consumption. The prey appear flattened inside its planar body, illustrating how they are absorbed into this internal space and gradually broken down into formless ether.

This makes the cat essentially invincible against any being bound by physical laws, meaning it will defeat any character who is not Origin-awakened, a True Magician, a Type, or otherwise endowed with conceptual and reality-altering abilities. Touko likely obtained this familiar to counter her sister Aoko despite lacking the aid of Beowulf or the mystic eyes she once possessed; hence its incredible power. Even if an opponent knows about the projection mechanism, they must still reach Touko and destroy her bag, but as seen, the black cat acts as a constant, formidable shield, making direct confrontation extraordinarily difficult, even with full knowledge.

However, it falls short against Origin-awakened beings like Shiki, the real Araya Souren, or his stronger agents. To put it bluntly: the projection device is basically a subordinate instance of Lio Shirazumi’s Origin, meaning it’s only a glimpse of his potential, who could easily adapt to it or suppress it entirely. Nevermind the others.

In other words, while Touko may be outclassed by the monsters populating her own series, she remains an incredibly dangerous combatant in Tsukihime and especially Fate, ranking far above any conventional magus, Servant and Dead Apostle Ancestor even. It’s simply that within Kara no Kyoukai, which features existential threats of a much higher tier, she is outclassed; but even there, she still holds her ground reasonably well.

How strong is Azaka?

Mikiya's younger sister, who trained as a magus under Touko with the ambitious (and laughable) goal of surpassing Shiki. Despite the motivation fueled by her inferiority complex, her talents as a magus are mediocre at best: she doesn’t even possess Magic Circuits. Her only notable ability is a natural predisposition for combustion spells, which resemble ESP more than traditional magecraft. Her signature technique, Spontaneous Combustion, causes targets to self-combust internally rather than igniting them directly:

The so-called unexplained phenomenon of human combustion.

It was the spell that Kokutou Azaka favored. However, it was closer to psychic power than magecraft. In terms of psychic power, it would be called Pyrokinesis.

Spontaneous Combustion is a method of attack that causes the target to self-combust, rather than immolating the target directly.

There are many theories which explain Spontaneous Combustion, Azaka’s Spontaneous Combustion can be explained by an amalgamation of the Charged Corpus Theory and the Electromagnetism Theory. The Charged Corpus Theory suggests that the human body produces electrical current during states of psychological arousal which causes Spontaneous Combustion, while the Electromagnetism Theory suggests that Spontaneous Combustion is a result of an increased release of electrons in the atmosphere.

All incantations used to activate Spontaneous Combustion were musical notes, since Azaka comprehended magecraft and combat through music. - Garden of Sinners Pamphlet - Spontaneous Combustion [Other]

Despite her quirks, she has no significant feats that place her beyond the weakest character in the verse. In Kara no Kyoukai, it's even explicitly stated that mages can reject indirect magical interference, which is why Touko couldn’t apply her rune magecraft from a distance and had to inscribe it directly. This resistance comes from a mage’s control over their magical circuits, allowing them to instinctively negate any foreign magical effect not applied through direct contact:

... The weak point, however, was that the runes had to be inscribed directly, overlapping letters from a distance wouldn’t work on Magi. Indirect magical energy would be repelled by a Magus who had direct magical energy coursing through their body. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Azaka’s combustion spell, which is theorized to be based on the Charged Corpus Theory, manipulates the body’s natural electrical activity, particularly during moments of psychological stress, to trigger spontaneous combustion. While it can be effective against untrained targets, it relies on indirectly interfering with a person’s internal state.

But against a trained magus, the spell would likely fail entirely. Since it operates through indirect bodily manipulation, any competent mage’s passive resistance would negate it, just like with Touko’s runes. So while flashy, the spell is virtually useless against anyone with basic magical defense. In short, Azaka gets passively negged by any halfway decent magus, let alone the monsters that populate the rest of the setting.

Some misguided individuals may try to argue she might be physically stronger than Shiki, based on a comedic scuffle where Shiki casually handed her a knife to end the fight. But that scene was clearly lighthearted banter. Shiki didn’t take Azaka seriously, and neither should we. No need to overanalyze a gag moment, especially when Azaka herself admitted she is fodder:

Shiki has the power to see things that normal people can't. Aside from being able to see spirits, she can apparently see the lines that hold an object together.

On top of that, she's a savage at heart with incredible reflexes and physical abilities. If I were to be honest, she's the exact opposite of Mikiyaーshe's someone special. Someone like that is the last person I'd ever want to see with him.

In the first place, I actually only began training with Ms. Touko because of her. If Mikiya's partner was an average girl, I would've been able to eliminate her in a single day. However, I was soon faced with the reality that Shiki was on a completely different level altogether.

Despite all of that, I had to cope with the bitter truth that I still wouldn't be able to match up to Shiki, and so there I was honing my skills day by day. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

In fact, Azaka is very unlikely to be physically superhuman at all, even in that scene. The context makes it clear that Shiki wasn’t taking things seriously: she was lying in bed, annoyed but relaxed, and eventually handed over the knife just to end the argument. She didn’t see Azaka as a threat, even kept a hidden knife just in case, and her bruises came from Azaka’s emotionally charged roughhousing, not from being physically overpowered.

When Shiki quips that Azaka could “probably pin Mikiya,” it’s obviously a joke, not a genuine assessment of strength. Mikiya has no combat ability whatsoever, pinning him doesn’t mean anything in terms of power. More importantly, Azaka has no feats anywhere in Kara no Kyoukai suggesting she possesses enhanced physical stats. She doesn’t move with abnormal speed, has no signs of superhuman durability, and her magic is purely elemental, not strength-enhancing. She’s a fiery, stubborn character, but still functions fully within human limits.

How strong is Cornelius Alba?

Alba, a first-rate Magus who assisted Araya Souren during the events of Kara no Kyoukai, specializes in High-Speed Incantation: a form of rapid-fire magecraft that unleashes devastating thaumaturgical flames. These flames exceed 1000 degrees Celsius and can be cast repeatedly with near-instantaneous activation. Their destructive output is so intense that they instantly consume all oxygen in the vicinity and can reduce most physical matter to nothingness in mere seconds.

This excerpt showcases the overwhelming potency of his spellcasting:

From that perspective, Alba’s chanting was excellent. It wasn’t particularly long, stuck to the necessary rhythm, incorporated words to uplift his own spirit, and required no more than two seconds to articulate.

Touko was impressed by this fact.

The young man Alba used to like chanting incantations that were unnecessarily long and overly elaborate, but he had undoubtedly grown over the past few years. The shape and speed of his chant, as well as the way he connected his circuits to affect the material world, were surprisingly skilled.

If his chant was simply Magecraft to destroy objects, it was undoubtedly the work of a first-rate Magus.

“I am the order. Therefore, you will be defeated securely––!

Alba stuck out one arm.

The moment the black cat seemed to reach the first step of the staircase, the air trembled slightly, and the stairs burst into flames.

A sea of blue flames engulfed the stairs, like a mirage rising up from the ground.

In only a few seconds, the flames engulfed the atrium all the way up to the second floor.

It was as if a volcanic geyser had erupted. The sea of flames, that seemed to consume all oxygen in the lobby, incinerated the black cat. This much was certain. The heat of the flames which exceeded a temperature of one thousand degrees Celsius would have melted the bodies of any creature like butter and evaporated their mass into the atmosphere. There wouldn’t even have been a split second for it to have gone through the liquification process. 

And yet, Alba saw it.

As the flames burned out, all of the sudden, the bizarre shape of the black cat suddenly appeared.

“That’s impossible!”

His blue eyes stared fixedly at the stairs.

The black cat sat licking at its thin black body in disappointment before shifting its gaze to the Magus in the red coat.

The black monster resumed its dash.

Alba wasted no time trying to determine what the cat was.

“I order you to repeat...!”

With cutting sharpness, Alba repeated his spell.

The stairs erupted into flames, however this time the cat did not stop. As if used to the flames, the cat continued in a straight line toward the Magus.

“Repeat!”

The sea of flames erupted again, then disappeared.

The cat had already arrived at the top of the stairs.

“Repeat!”

The fourth iteration of flames ended meaninglessly.

The black cat arrived at the second floor landing and opened its jaws wide as it drew near to Alba. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

What truly distinguishes Alba is his near-constant barrage capability: he casts powerful spells in roughly two seconds and immediately begins the next incantation without significant downtime, sustaining a relentless stream of lethal fire few could withstand. Most magi of comparable rank require longer chants and pauses to gather prana; Alba’s ability to maintain both speed and potency places him closer to rapid-fire artillery than a traditional caster, saturating battlefields with unyielding destructive force.

This is far more significant than it might first appear, as Fate has shit like this (Credit to Seventhmoon/nicetryson for the compilation).

• Servants operate at speeds consistently below the speed of sound, with some of the fastest combat maneuvers, such as Medusa’s Pegasus charge or Saber’s motorcycle, clocking in around 400–500 km/h. While fast, these speeds remain far from supersonic or hypersonic.
• Attack speeds and reaction times for even elite superhuman fighters like Kotomine Kirei are measured in tenths of a second (e.g., 0.3 seconds per Black Key throw). 
• Firearms and projectile speeds in Fate are notably nerfed compared to real-world physics, with bullets traveling around 63.5 m/s, far slower than the 343 m/s speed of sound. 
• Servants, despite their legendary status, often require significant time and effort to break through simple physical barriers. Berserker Lancelot, for example, needed multiple hits to destroy an iron door, and even enhanced firearms took time to pierce a truck that Saber used as cover.
• When facing extreme rapid-fire weaponry such as the M61 autocannon (12,000 rounds per minute), Servants are overwhelmed, unable to contend with the sheer volume and speed of attacks.

Against this backdrop, Alba’s feats become all the more impressive. His spells rival or exceed the destructive power of the most rapid and devastating automatic weapons that Servants struggle against; yet he unleashes them with continuous, near-instantaneous activation, leaving no opportunity for evasion or recovery.

Where Servants rely on physical resilience, speed just shy of supersonic, and bursts of power with clear recovery windows, Alba delivers a seamless torrent of infernal flames, each blast obliterating matter within seconds and instantly sapping the battlefield’s oxygen. His sustained offensive output effectively surpasses the speed, power, and reaction thresholds that define the upper limits of Fate’s heroic spirits.

Some might argue that Fate Servants would simply kill Alba before he finishes casting. However, his incantation lasts less than two seconds, an incredibly brief window, and immediately unleashes an overwhelming, continuous barrage of flames. Given Fate Servants’ subsonic speeds and reaction times measured in tenths of a second, interrupting Alba’s near-instant activation is far from guaranteed. Once unleashed, his assault obliterates matter and drains oxygen so rapidly that evasion or counterattack becomes nearly impossible. In essence, Alba operates on a level of sustained destructive potency and speed that Fate Servants simply cannot match.

------

So Cornelius Alba, despite being one of the weakest characters in Kara no Kyoukai, is still an absurdly high threat outside of that universe, with capabilities that demonstrably surpass anyone in Fate. His flames don’t just burn foes: they erase living creatures to nothing in seconds, so utterly that even the liquefaction stage is skipped. This means he simply needs to activate his incantation (which only takes less than 2 seconds on its own) and spam his flames to obliterate any opponent.

However, the reason Alba isn’t a major threat in Kara no Kyoukai is that he remains bound to physical limits: his speed isn’t superhuman, and his magecraft, while extremely powerful, is still a physical phenomenon. This makes him essentially irrelevant to KnK characters, who possess absurd hax and conceptually enhanced stats (especially Origin-awakened beings). That’s why even Touko quickly dispatches him, Araya is depicted on an infinitely superior tier, and Alba’s role in the story is limited despite his incredible raw power.

It’s wild how in Kara no Kyoukai, Alba is “that guy who helps Araya” and isn’t overwhelmingly dominant, yet when compared to Fate, he turns into a walking, breathing wrecking ball that makes Servants look like they’re moving in slow motion. This difference highlights the contrast between a series that focuses on abstraction and existential dilemma (Kara no Kyoukai) and one that relies more on conventional destruction of matter or elemental manipulation (Fate).

It’s a perfect example of being a “big fish in a small pond” who becomes a mythical sea creature when you see the bigger ocean.

How strong is Touko's sealed box demon?

This is probably the hardest "character" to gauge in the novel. The sealed box demon is described as an immensely powerful and potentially infinite entity, but its true strength is difficult to assess due to its indirect nature and the context in which it is referenced:

“That impudent talk, so it really is you? Then will you oppose me again?”

“No way, I have no chance of winning in this apartment complex.”

Her answer was absolute, she looked away from the Magus’s consciousness.

For her, treating the boy’s wounds was more important than her dialogue with Araya Souren, she took bandages out from under her coat and skillfully applied them to both of the boy’s knees.

“Are you sure? The monster in that box might be able to defeat me.”

“I refuse. This guy’s endless, if I let him go carelessly this entire apartment complex itself could disappear. If I did something so flashy the Association would not stay silent. This time, I’d be in a position to be pursued by the Association. I went through a lot of trouble to disappear, so I’m not going to do anything that’ll get me found by those guys.”

Although she answered the voice of the Magus she was still looking away.

“I was defeated in this matter as soon as I was killed. At this point I have no intention to interfere.

Whether you remove Shiki’s brain or settle inside the empty shell, do as you like. If there’s anyone who will prevent you from doing so, it surely won’t be me.”

“Are you still relying on The Counter Force at this point? But I told you that won’t take effect.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This exchange between Touko and Araya Souren is frequently misread as implying the sealed demon is more powerful than Araya. But a closer reading reveals something else entirely.

Touko plainly states that she has no chance of winning within the apartment complex, not because Araya is invincible in absolute terms, but because the environment is entirely his domain. The Ogawa Apartment Complex functions like a Reality Marble: a bounded field where Araya exerts complete control over both physical and metaphysical laws. Within it, he is nearly omnipotent, capable of redefining perception, time, causality, and matter itself:

“A twisted dimension of this level should be completely separated from the physical laws of the outside world.” (Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5)

Araya's control is so absolute that with a gesture he can reduce someone to non-existence:

The Magus swung his arm.

The body in the form of Enjou Tomoe was completely annihilated with that one swing.

It was shattered into pieces, not even the head remained. As if it had been that way from the beginning, in the same way the Magus had said it, worthless, it turned into dust and disappeared into the void. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

When Araya says, “The monster in that box might be able to defeat me,” he isn’t expressing genuine fear. It’s rhetorical; meant to test Touko’s judgment, not to suggest true vulnerability. Touko responds by flatly dismissing the idea, calling the demon “endless” not to imply it's stronger than Araya, but to highlight its uncontrollable, indiscriminate nature. Releasing it would be reckless: it could destroy the apartment’s structure and attract the Mage’s Association, which Touko is trying to avoid.

The demon’s power may be capable of tearing through the physical walls of the complex, but this structure is more than concrete. The apartment’s true essence is a Möbius loop encapsulating Mugen, the infinite void of formless potential. Araya binds this void within his bounded field, exercising conceptual dominion over yin-yang theory and the metaphysical substrate of reality itself:

“There is no need for concern. I have not imprisoned her in a room within the apartment complex. I have thrown her into Mugen, the infinite void, that connects the material world to the otherworld.

The primary purpose of this distorted alien world was to create a closed loop. By no means, no matter the method or the impact, could one escape from the darkness of Mugen. Even if Ryougi Shiki were to awaken, there is nothing she could do. Monitoring her is unnecessary. Besides, given her injuries, even standing would be difficult. Even if she wakes, her body will be incapable of moving properly.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Sure, you didn’t make a mistake. For you as a Magus, this is the best solution. But, what if the assumption itself is a mistake? You isolated Shiki? Not in a room somewhere in this apartment complex, but you isolated her in this apartment complex itself? A Bounded Field that achieves spacial isolation is already on the level of Magic. It’s a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create.

“Those who are trapped by the sealed space of a Mobius Ring can never get out from the inside. A closed world that’s enclosed by walls that can’t be destroyed by physical impacts, it’s a cage that’s impossible to escape from. You slapped Shiki in there, which gave you peace of mind. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Wait Araya. I have one question. The original purpose of this apartment complex is to represent the Taiji in order to take in the Taiji, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. I created this alien world to completely cut off Ryougi Shiki from the outside world. The other various functions are just accessories.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

What’s important is not the quantity of death. It is the quality of death. Tracing back to the source, the forms a death can take can be categorized into broader distinctions. Dissecting the possibilities of death into every possible route, I arrived at the sixty-four possibilities present here. Here I have gathered the people who shoulder those varieties of death. Therefore, this place is a microcosm of the whole world. By experiencing their suffering, I am able to comprehend their suffering. I am able to simplify the eight divine signs into four simple forms and arrive at Ryougi, the Two Forms.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

his is a continuation on the subject of the Taiji, but the division of the chaotic 「　」 into two is Ryougi. In order to further stabilize this, and in order to increase the number of classes available, they divide it into four phenomena. They then further increase the complexity by cutting it into eight trigrams. Like this, they keep dividing by a base of two. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

In truth, Araya’s dominion over Mugen means he has already subdued something far more fundamental and boundless than the demon’s so-called “endless” power. Mugen is not simply a chaotic force: it is the undefined infinity, the primordial void from which all existence and concepts arise. It represents not power in the conventional sense, but the raw conceptual ground of creation: the liminal field where the Root’s swirling abstractions begin to gain shape, context, and relational form before manifesting into reality.

By binding Mugen within the Möbius loop of his domain, Araya hasn’t just sealed a powerful anomaly; he has encapsulated the source of all potential. This grants him a metaphysical authority far beyond brute strength: the ability to reshape, reconstruct, or erase anything within his bounded world by drawing from Mugen’s limitless reserve of undefined meaning and emptiness.

However, to avoid triggering the Counter Force, the complex must retain a structural resemblance to the real world. This necessity introduces a formal weakness: the demon’s chaotic energy can temporarily erode or destabilize the physical shell of the domain. But this is only a surface disruption. Araya simply restores the damaged sections by tapping back into Mugen, from which his domain was shaped in the first place. To an external observer, this manifests as the apartment intermittently “blinking” in and out of existence.

The demon’s destruction, then, isn’t meaningful; it’s a momentary glitch in a system that automatically corrects itself. It may degrade the visible structure, but Araya’s conceptual sovereignty ensures the domain is endlessly restorable. Once the system stabilizes, Araya could confront and defeat the demon within his recreated domain, or let it exhaust itself against the void. Meanwhile, Touko would be the one at risk, either from the demon’s indiscriminate violence or from drawing attention from the Mage’s Association due to the resulting chaos.

But more likely, the demon wouldn’t even reach that far. Araya’s domain doesn’t just contain intrusions; it preemptively absorbs and neutralizes them. The very walls of the complex function as a conceptual membrane, filtering all things through Mugen. This is illustrated when Shiki is thrown against a wall, and instead of taking physical damage, she’s simply swallowed by the domain:

Grabbing hold of her belly with one hand the mage lifts the girl up, and throws her at the mansion wall. It was a brutal action that looked like it should break every bone in Shiki's body, but that too turned into an unnatural event. ... Having been thrown onto the wall Shiki's body was sucked in as if she was sinking into water. Only when the mansion wall had finishing gulping Shiki down, did the mage lower his arm. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This shows that the complex doesn't resist chaos through brute force; it dissolves it. Any “endless” force unleashed inside is either recycled by Mugen or rendered inert within the domain’s sealed law. Araya’s Stillness stabilizes not just what is, but what could be, locking all phenomena into a self-contained, infinitely restorable system.

So, while the demon may appear boundless and destructive, its actual strength is vague, and ultimately meaningless within Araya’s domain. He never truly feared it; he deliberately goaded Touko into using it, knowing it posed no real threat to him and would more likely destroy her instead. His composed demeanor, vastly superior feats, and even Touko’s own admission of helplessness all reinforce the idea that the demon is an ambiguous threat: dangerous, yes, but nowhere near Araya’s level. The notion that it might defeat him is pure speculation, unsupported by any demonstration of comparable power.

The fallacy in claiming the demon is stronger than Araya lies in confusing raw, directionless force with conceptual sovereignty. Araya doesn’t resist chaos: he defines the reality in which chaos is forced to operate."

How strong is Shiki Ryougi?

Shiki, the protagonist of Kara no Kyoukai, is one of the most overpowered characters in existence. This is a streamlined look at her powers alone: no cross-series scaling, no extra fluff. Just the core of what makes her so terrifyingly absolute. 

Since Shiki is the central character, this section will inevitably be much longer than the others, so you've been warned.

Shiki's Origin is Nothingness, also known simply as " " :

"Nothingness is itself your murder impulse, your origin.--- Look upon that darkness. And remember your name." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

By the way, Shiki constantly seeks death becauseher Origin is Emptiness, and the reason why Azaka refuses to be bound by rulesis because hers is Taboo. Shiki's being driven by that impulse because she's tooclose, but Azaka's pretty much a normal girl, right? An Origin is only a cause,meaning it isn't ordinarily something that rules over an individual. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

—But not only did they keep me alive, they woke me up. They did not implant some readymade personality into me. They awakened the " " which is my origin. The outside world was thrust upon me. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

—My origin is nihil. From nihil I originated, the flesh that I am, the corpse in the womb to which life was somehow given. That is why Shiki can perceive death. For two years, in her comatose state, she was unable to view the outside world, and could do nothing but gaze into the nihil that Ryougi Shiki "is." More than simply seeing, she felt death. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

" " is the abstract void from which all things originate, the primordial emptiness that holds unlimited potential:

The swirl of the Root is a "place" where all causalities interlace, where all things are in potential, and therefore where nothing is whatsoever. — Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Paradoxically, because it encompasses every possibility, every idea, it is defined as "Nothing." Not in a literal sense, but as a technical limitation: something that holds all possible definitions cannot be reduced to any single one, and thus it can only be described as "Nothing," though even that is an oversimplification:

If you really wished to pronounce this term, call it “Kara.”Its meaning varied depending on each individual’s understanding. To put it in simple terms, it was the Spiral of Origin. However, since the Spiral of Origin was called the Spiral of Origin, it was no longer “ ”.To properly express this term was a source of headache during the production of the drama CDs. -Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

Every idea you use to name it is already sourced from the void, meaning you are using a fraction to define its greater whole, a reductive approach. Not only that, but the very act of naming it, or even your ability to think about it, is itself one of the possibilities that arise from it in the first place.

This makes this void (Also known as the Spiral of Origin / the Root / Akasha) an omnipotent, boundless source where all concepts arise. Holding infinite potential, it can create all possible realities, making it the very foundation of existence:

A mage's ultimate goal, you see, is to reach the 'maelstrom of origins'. It's also called the Akashic Record, but it may be better to just regard the edge of the maelstrom as having such properties attached to it.

The thing called the maelstrom of origins, it is probably the birthplace of everything. All phenomena flow out from it. If you know the origin, the results are naturally produced. To describe it as it is, you could say that it is the 'perfect knowledge'. By creating a standard like perfection or the like, we are ultimately limiting the concept, so even that description is incorrect. But since that the easiest way of defining it, the name stuck.

Essentially, all the branches of magic that have spread throughout this world are nothing more than one branch of a small river flowing out from this maelstrom. This is the reason that every country has their own traditions and legends. The core is the same, but what decorates the exterior is the background of the one who understood that 'river'. Astrology, alchemy, kabbala, spiritualism, rune, the innumerable researchers. Their origins are the same, so in the end they hold the same final destination in mind. Because, they who have touched the tip of the stream that split off from the maelstrom of origins called magic, they have imagined what lay before --- the shape of the beginning.. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This passage reinforces that the Akashic Records, or the Maelstrom of Origins (yet another name for it), is the birthplace of all phenomena. Even defining it as "perfect knowledge" imposes a limitation, as its true nature defies finite concepts. Only its "edge" can be described in terms we understand. Every magical system in the world originates from this singular source, with cultural interpretations merely acting as external "decorations."

Furthermore, the novel states:

Infinity is not 「 」. For infinity to remain infinite, the finite has to be defined. Without the finite there cannot exist infinity. Because things have an end, we can observe the thing called infinity.

If there really is no finite, then it’s not infinite but 「 」. If the finite can be comprehended, Shiki could detect and slash through it. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even the concept of infinity as we understand it is not 「 」, because infinity relies on the finite to be defined or observed. We recognize infinity because something has an end: without the finite as a point of reference, infinity itself would lose meaning. Thus, infinity is contingent on its opposite, while the void is contingent on nothing. On the contrary, the moment you name something, it is no longer part of the void.

Shiki's Origin represents this infinite potential. Her very existence was that of a vessel capable of reaching a state of emptiness, achieving the greatest level of adaptability possible within a human form:

Ryougi Shiki. The Ryougi clan was a family who had toiled over the ages to give birth to one with an empty body who could act as a vessel, all in order to create a human with maximum uses. To be empty was 「　」. Without realising what a dangerous thing they were doing, they had given birth to a body called Shiki who was connected to 「　」. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Her very name is a reflection of this. "Ryougi" stands for Liangyi, the division of the One before existence (Another name for " ") into Yin and Yang:

Taiji [Others]

A philosophy originated in ancient China, a graphical representation of the Yin-Yang theory. It attempts to capture the essence of everything on a conceptual level: those that are active are defined as Yang (white), and the opposite are defined as Yin (black).

The Taiji symbolizes opposing concepts such as day and night, light and darkness, male and female. At the same time, you may also call it a condensed version of the ever-changing, dynamic World.

Furthermore, there is a dot of Yin in Yang, and conversely a dot of Yang in Yin. This indicates that the distinction between Yin and Yang is not absolute. There is darkness even in light.

Taiji is the "one" at the beginning, the Yin and Yang that divide the "one" are called Liangyi (Ryougi). - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Encyclopedia: Taiji

This division into opposites forms the foundation for expressing the infinite potential of the "One" in a defined way. Rather than opposing forces, Yin and Yang encompass everything by serving as fundamental dualities:

“Hmph. Is being unified as one really so desirable, Araya? Light and darkness were not divided to oppose each other, but because they are the attributes that encompass the greatest number of things. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Meanwhile, "Shiki" as a term refers to a program or mathematical formula. She was designed as a superhuman being, a vessel containing boundless potential. Her core existence was “empty,” allowing her family to implant countless “softwares” within her to specialize in various fields or perform any task with near-perfect competency:

“The Ryougi family is a dynasty, just like the Asagami and the Fujou families. They are families who are trying to create humans who are beyond human, and used various methods to ensure the birth of an heir. All so that they could pass on their family’s ‘inheritance’.

“The Ryougi family is especially interesting. They knew that if they had a supernatural ability, they would one day be destroyed by the civilized world. So they thought up a supernatural ability that would let them appear as normal human beings. Hey, Kokutou. Those people we call professionals, why is it that they can only reach the top in one area?

That’s because no matter how perfect a body, or how high the amount of natural aptitude you are born with, you can only put one talent into one person. The higher you climb, the more you are restricted as to what other peaks you can go up, until in the end you cannot climb any others.

“The Ryougi family solved that problem by imbuing one body with a countless number of personalities. It’s the same as a computer. If you put hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of software into one piece of hardware called Shiki, a professional in all areas is created. That’s why her name is Shiki. The Shiki kanji in Shikigami. The Shiki kanji when you talk about Mathematical Formulas. A program that fulfills any task required of it perfectly. An empty doll that possesses countless numbers of identities, and can be modified by putting in another personality with different morals, thought patterns, even senses.”

Did Shiki already know of this..? Yeah, she definitely knew. That’s why she had stubbornly avoided becoming friendlier. Accepting the fact that she wasn’t an average person, the fact that she had not been born into a normal family, she had just been trying to live a quiet life.

“This is a continuation on the subject of the Taiji, but the division of the chaotic 「　」 into two is Ryougi. In order to further stabilize this, and in order to increase the number of classes available, they divide it into four phenomena. They then further increase the complexity by cutting it into eight trigrams. Like this, they keep dividing by a base of two. This, too, could symbolize Shiki’s ability. But that no longer exists. A bug appeared in the perfect program, you see. The Shiki you see now, well, there may be slight problems, but she is a perfectly normal human with self-awareness.”

“Why are you making a face like that? The one that broke it was you. A mentally disturbed person, you see, doesn’t break down because they don’t even dream that they may be mentally disturbed. Shiki was like that before, too. Yeah, but a human called Kokutou Mikiya made her aware of the fact. That the existence of the one called Ryougi Shiki was strange. Ah, that’s right. If you were to say it was a rescue, you already saved Shiki two years ago, didn’t you? - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shiki’s self-awareness acted as a “bug” in the Ryougi family’s program designed to create an ideal operative.

The family compartmentalized her multiple personalities, each trained with specific skills to flawlessly execute assigned tasks. This rigid programming prevented Shiki from acting instinctively or transcending human limits because her actions were dictated by imposed structures rather than natural impulse.

Meeting Mikiya triggered a breakthrough in her self-awareness, exposing this “bug” and unlocking her latent potential beyond the family’s control:

“After meeting Mikiya, I became warped. I realised that while I had blended into society, there had never been a moment where I truly lived within its norms. ...If only I hadn't known. I wished I hadn't known the warmth I could never possess. I yearned for it, but that yearning was also my undoing. No matter how much I tried to rationalise it, I was Shiki, the one who harboured a bloodthirsty monster within. That's when the undeniable truth slammed into me: I was broken. I desperately wanted to deny that epiphany and return to my former self, the one who felt no suffering. But I failed. From that point on, the bond between me and SHIKI began to fray.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

Following her coma, Shiki severed ties with her family’s system and integrated her fractured personalities into a singular identity. This unification marked the true awakening of her Origin powers.

A clear demonstration occurs in Chapter 4 when, driven purely by instinct and clarity of mind, not pre-programmed skill, Shiki executes an unprecedented miraculous movement:

After the arrangement changed so that the corpse was on the ground side and I was on top riding it, I jumped by sense alone. I had just executed a miraculous fall, the likes of which I hadn't done once in the dojo - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

In that moment, Shiki performed movements she had never even practiced before, purely by instinct. This moment reveals that Shiki’s Origin enables spontaneous adaptation and extraordinary potential, activated only when she acts from her own will with full awareness rather than through imposed mental constraints.

Building on this, Shiki explains that her fighting style is based on mentally reconstructing herself; she essentially becomes a different person by reshaping her mind, which then guides her body’s movements:

"Aikido is just for fun. There's only one thing I've done since I was young."

"Since you were young, eh. I thought you were strong. It was you who let loose a high kick at the back of a fleeing opponent's head. I thought how you acted was different. It was because of that. So do you have anything like a finishing move?"

I ask the lamest questions. But Ryougi goes mmm, and falls into serious thought.

"I suppose I have something along those lines. I train by taking down everything using that as my premise, so if you call it a finishing move, it is one. But we aren't of that school. And it's originally a self-created style as well."

The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.

"You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person.

I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts, and while you are fighting, is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shiki also says she hasn’t fully utilized this principle yet; what we see in her combat, whether hand-to-hand or with a knife, is mostly her copying techniques she’s observed.

This demonstrates how her fighting style is a direct expression of her Origin of “Nothingness” and the meaning behind Ryougi as the division of the Void’s limitless potential. For Shiki, combat is never a fixed form: she “remakes” her entire body and mind each time, aligning her breathing, awareness, and physical state to match the moment perfectly.

This reflects the primordial split of the undifferentiated Void (Taiji) into dualities (Liangyi), which underlies every phenomenon in existence. In battle, Shiki embodies this division by instinctively harmonizing opposites: offense and defense, power and precision, motion and stillness. By doing so, she can seamlessly imitate or discard any technique she encounters, reconstructing her fighting style on the fly. Her mind is like an empty vessel, a “program” that overwrites itself again and again, selecting the most efficient approach in an endless interplay of opposites.

It’s not just adaptation: it’s the realization of the Void’s infinite possibilities, divided and defined through her as Ryougi.

This “remaking” isn’t just mental, it’s a complete restructuring of her entire being through her Origin. When Shiki adapts, she does so on the level of the Void’s limitless potential: she reconfigures her body, reflexes, and even the way her muscles and nerves work to match whatever she needs to overcome her opponent.

This means she’s never bound by fixed physical limits: her strength, speed, and precision dynamically reshape themselves to be sufficient to defeat any threat that confronts her, as long as she remains aligned with her Origin’s emptiness and division.

This is what makes her so fundamentally different, yet strangely mirrored, to her male counterpart, Nanaya Shiki. Nanaya represents Death itself: an executioner who refines his body to its utmost limits to kill efficiently, honing the art of slaughter into something instinctual and unstoppable. He is a predator made perfect through singular focus.

Ryougi Shiki, however, is something more terrifying. She is not just the end of a life, but the undoing of everything that gives that life structure. By reconfiguring herself to perfectly counter her opponent’s technique or nature, she doesn’t merely overcome them: she dismantles the very framework that defines their specialization. It’s a living expression of her nihilistic core: a reality where nothing is absolute, where any form or skill can be deconstructed if it is flawed. She doesn’t just kill her opponent: she reveals that their existence was always hollow enough to be unmade.

After establishing the baseline of Shiki's abilities and the moment of her true awakening, let's dive into more specific examples of how her Origin manifests in action:

The bundle wasn’t even one meter long, but was heavy as if it were made of steel. While it didn’t seem like a very bulky bundle when I left my house, my arm had gone numb after walking a hundred meters. While I relaxed the muscles in both my arms, Shiki came walking over.

Showing a rare bright face, Shiki lifted the bundle leaning against the wall. Holding the package that was heavy even for me with just one hand, Shiki began to loosen the string that held the bag shut. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first. Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like it was in slow motion. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds have passed. Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary."Ooowah!", he screamed while beginning to flee. The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the last one."Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

"Hou, are they saying they want to go for it?" Ryougi spoke as if smiling and pulls a knife out from inside her jumper. Someone slowly came into the lounge. The lightly treading shadow that appeared without making a sound, it was a middle-aged man who would have belonged anywhere. His blank face and empty eyes paradoxically let us sense that this is a dangerous person. That man who I thought I had seen somewhere tried to attack us straight away. Like some puppet being controlled by its strings, without any warning. But Ryougi easily kills him. One person. Two people. Three people. Four people. She kills the mansion residents who are flooding in through the front door with an easy grace that makes it look like she is dancing. There were no useless motions in that dance. Before long the lounge was full of corpses. Ryougi grabs my hand and starts running. "It's not good to be in this place for long, let's go.

"Ryougi is Ryougi. I --- had become a little unsteady after seeing my parents' corpses, but even then I couldn't forgive this situation.Why --- why is this brat killing people for no reason?

"Ryougi, you --- !"

"Let's talk later. By the way, those things aren't human. Even I can't tell how many times they've died. Things like those, they aren't humans or even corpses but mere dolls. This one and that one, they all want to die so I'm feeling sick.

"For the first time --- With a face full of hatred Ryougi runs. I hesitated for a second, then stepped over the corpses of the crowd Ryougi had murdered and came out into the corridor. When I came out to the corridor, there were already five or so people on the ground. In the time that I spent looking from one to another, Ryougi was cutting down a somethingeth human in front of number 8.

--- Strong. It's overwhelming. For some reason these don't seem like they came from the east building, but they don't move slowly like the zombies you see in movies. With a human-like quickness they leap towards us. Regardless, Ryougi doesn't bat an eyelash and easily takes care of them. Is they reason they aren't bleeding because they aren't human, like Ryougi said? Killing people without spilling a drop of blood, Ryougi looked like a white god of death as she opened a path to the central lobby. I look towards the end of the pack of people Ryougi is cutting down. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

These examples not only confirm Shiki’s superhuman abilities but also showcase her extraordinary control over movement. Her actions unfold with such precision and fluidity they seem almost slowed down, producing unnatural effects, like effortlessly grabbing a thug’s arm and throwing him unconscious with sheer force. Moreover, her graceful yet brutal dispatch of the undead horde highlights how her Origin harmonizes seemingly opposing traits, blending beauty and lethality to achieve maximum efficiency with minimal effort.

The best examples of Shiki’s abilities though come from her major battles. In her fight against Asagami Fujino, she showcases that, even as a baseline, her physical body operates at the peak of what a human could achieve, despite environmental resistance:

Shiki starts to run. Her speed is incredible, despite the pooling water and violent wind. It should not take more than three seconds to reduce the distance between them from ten meters to zero. Enough time to bring Fujino's frail body to the ground and stab her in her heart. But even that speed cannot match the speed of sight. Shiki has to close in on her target while Fujino only has to look at her target. For the two, that difference of three seconds is too long. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

As the narrative notes, her speed here is remarkable, especially given the challenging conditions: running through water and against strong wind would slow even the best athletes. Yet this is just her baseline running ability, executed with perfect efficiency but still within the realm of what a well-trained human could achieve.

Her speed isn’t supernatural yet in this moment because she is running toward a still target. It’s only when Asagami begins using her Distortion ability (the “speed of sight”) that Shiki’s Origin enhances her further to counter the threat.

Her combat speed, in fact, far exceeds normal human limits and even normal perception, as shown when she dodges Fujino’s space-warping power:

Fujino's eyes glimmer. The left eye for a rotation to the left. The right eye for a rotation to the right. Taking Shiki's head and left leg as the fulcrums, she twists. A strange sensation occurs instantaneously. The moment Shiki feels the invisible power upon her, she jumps explosively to one side. But the power on Shiki does not weaken. Fujino's power is not a projectile weapon. Even if one gets away from one round, it is impossible to get completely away from it whilst in her vision....... Damn......!! Shiki realizes Fujino's power is stronger than she thought. She runs. As if to escape from her vision, Shiki runs in a circle around Fujino.

"Do you think you can get awa-" Fujino murmurs, but then is astonished. Shiki did get away! Unbelievably, Shiki has jumped off the bridge down to the ocean. The sound of a window being broken is heard. What athletic ability... Shiki went off the bridge and into the parking lot right underneath it. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

This feat is absolutely insane because the moment Shiki feels the attack’s presence, it’s already distorting her body’s position in space, yet she reacts instantaneously, bursting away with speed far beyond any normal human, evading an assault that warps space itself.

Fujino’s power isn’t just fast: it’s reality-bending. It instantly obliterates anything in its path, demonstrated when she shatters a stack of materials:

The stack of materials Shiki is hiding behind is instantly smashed. At that instant... a white figure streaks out of the wreckage - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

What makes this more than just raw speed is that Fujino’s power doesn’t simply move fast: it actually warps the space around Shiki. This distortion twists and bends the very space Shiki lives and moves in, forcing her body along paths that lead to harm.

Because space itself controls her movements, there’s no way to dodge normally, the space she would use to avoid attacks is what pushes her toward danger. She’s trapped inside this warped space.

To survive such an attack, Shiki must transcend the physical plane itself, slipping through a level of awareness where even mutable space can’t bind her. The fact that she feels the distortion means it’s already “got” her spatially. So her only chance is to move in a way that slips out of the warped coordinates before they fully settle.

This is exactly what her Origin of Void (or Nothingness) implies: the ability to operate beyond the constraints of material reality, existing in a conceptual state where distortions of space become irrelevant.

Alongside her remarkable agility, Shiki’s physical endurance is equally extraordinary. After having her arm twisted at an unnatural angle, she immediately counters:

Fujino hesitates a bit and then bends. With a cracking sound, Shiki's left arm breaks. Her neck is next; but when Fujino looks... Shiki is already within range. The path that the knife takes is like a flash of light. A bright swing that leaves a lingering trace in the darkness. The knife that strikes without hesitation, however, does not hit Fujino. She ducks, avoiding the swing that was aimed at her neck... no, it was just an accident. Asagami Fujino only looked away because she was scared of Shiki, who was running towards her with a broken arm.

"Damn..."

Shiki readies her knife again. Fujino frantically stares at Shiki's body.

"... Go away...!"

Shiki's movement is faster than Fujino's scream. Shiki runs unhesitatingly into the darkness. One should be surprised not at her athletic ability, but at her quick thinking in choosing to escape. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Even after suffering significant blood loss, Shiki’s ability to continue fighting is demonstrated when she applies a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Though her arm is numb and likely non-functional, she forces herself to stay alert, fighting through weakness and the brink of unconsciousness:

Shiki takes off her jacket and cuts away the sleeve. She wraps the cloth around her left upper arm to staunch the bleeding. A crude treatment. There's no feeling in the arm that was twisted. It will probably never move. Shiki feels a chill at that fact.

She is losing blood quickly. She feels her consciousness slipping away....I'm hot-blooded anyway. If I lose some, it will just make me think more clearly…

After shaking her head clear of the effect of the blood loss, Shiki gets up. She grips her knife tightly in her right hand. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

At this point, she’s able to perceive Asagami’s distortions with her Mystic Eyes and react even faster than before, severing them with ease:

"... I see. ...... You must be abnormal."

Fujino can only think this. She looks at Shiki and bends. Her vision distorts. The fulcrums created on Shiki's head and leg each rotate in opposite directions and twist Shiki's body like a piece of carpet.

... It should have twisted her.

Shiki, whose left arm is bleeding, nullifies Fujino's "distortion" just by swinging the knife in her right hand. No...... she kills it.

"It's hard to see that without form, but you used your power too many times. Now I can finally see it. Your power is a spiral of red and green. It's really... beautiful."

Fujino does not understand what Shiki is saying. The only thing she realizes is that Shiki will surely kill her now. Fujino repeatedly prays.

Bend, bend, bend, bend!

As Fujino glares, Shiki swings her knife and eliminates the power. The pain in Fujino's stomach is about to go over its limit.

"Who...... are you?"

Shiki answers Fujino's fear with infinitely deep eyes.

"Everything in existence has an imperfection. Especially humans, but even in air, will, and time. It's natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of things. They're special, like yours."

Shiki looks at Fujino with those ominous eyes that Fujino felt before.

"That's why... if one exists, I could even kill a God."

Shiki runs. As gracefully as if she were walking. She approaches Fujino and pushes her down to the ground. Shiki straddles her. Fujino's throat trembles at facing Death so close to her. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Finally, still in those weakened and injured conditions, Shiki survives a collapsing bridge and later casually knocks out a security guard with a single tackle, despite being pale and weak:

The parking lot shakes. The ocean in the middle of the storm appears inside of Fujino's mind. Withstanding the burning in her brain, Fujino creates a fulcrum on either side of the bridge...... And bends...

BOOM!

A tumultuous roar, like the crash of lightning, is heard. The metal foundation creaks and screams. The ground tilts and the ceiling starts to collapse. Fujino blankly stares at the building that is about to give way. The girl on top of her fell away as the world suddenly tilted. There is a storm outside, with the ocean below. If she falls without being able to grab onto something, she will surely die. Fujino takes command of her body, which is even having trouble breathing. She tells it that this place is going to collapse, so she has to get away from here. Dragging her nearly burned-out body, Fujino exits the parking lot. The shopping mall is relatively free of damage. The square corridor is now a rhombus - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

"Are you in pain?"At the end of the pain, Shiki is standing. She has a knife in one hand. Fujino turns over to face Shiki. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Broad Bridge is distorted like it has been squeezed by a giant hand. After coming here in the storm in Touko-san's buggy and arguing with the guard, Shiki shows up from under the bridge with a blood-soaked arm. The guard runs up to Shiki, but she tackles him and knocks him unconscious. Shiki says this with a pale face. There were many things I wanted to say, but they all disappear when I see how weak she is. I run to help her, but Shiki refuses and does not even let me support her. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

This entire sequence showcases how Shiki’s Origin empowers her to act with unparalleled efficiency, responding instantaneously to everything she perceives, whether through her Mystic Eyes or instinct, transcending the limitations of spatial manipulation, physical injury, and conventional constraints.

Her speed isn’t mere raw physical velocity; it arises from heightened awareness and instinctive reaction. When she first dodges Fujino’s distortion, Shiki reacts the instant she senses its presence, defying an attack that would normally be instantaneous through sheer instinct alone.

Later, even weakened, as her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception fully comprehend Fujino’s power, Shiki moves with even greater precision and economy of motion, swiftly enacting its “death.” Her speed is as much mental as physical, making her movements appear effortless, deliberate, and razor-sharp.

This principle reaches its peak during her battle with Kurogiri. There, Shiki isn’t just reacting to an external threat, she’s overcoming a mage whose very words reshape reality:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

Each phrase Kurogiri utters functions as a metaphysical law, rewriting existence through ontological truth. Yet even in this domain, Shiki acts before the world can be rewritten. When he says, “You. Cannot. See Me,” she is already in motion between the words, severing his arm before the concept of invisibility can fully manifest. Kurogiri himself concedes that she acted faster than he could speak, a staggering admission.

Her ability to perceive death mid-spell, before the mage’s words stabilize reality, shows Shiki not only reacts with superhuman acuity but actively nullifies reality-warping effects by striking their outcome before it forms. In that space between intention and realization, Shiki acts. She is not just fast: she operates on a metaphysical plane where time, cause, and consequence collapse into the singularity of her killing intent.

Next, there is her fight with Lio Shirazumi:

"Who..."

"...Huh?" The monster couldn't comprehend it. Ryougi Shiki's actions, executed with an impassive face and only her blue eyes gleaming, were imperceptible to him. Her movements, as swift as a predator stalking its prey, were beyond the human eye's capacity to perceive. Even with the monster's heightened senses, he couldn't track her movements. The knife that had severed his arm was now aimed at his neck.

"...the hell did you say you'll kill?" - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

The moment Lio threatens Mikiya’s life, Shiki becomes fully serious, her speed accelerating to a degree that even Lio, in his monstrous form with heightened senses, cannot track her movements. Her strikes are so swift that, despite Lio’s extraordinary awareness, she is imperceptible to him.

In their third confrontation, Lio fully awakens his Origin and transcends the physical limits of any living creature:

The enemy's prowess had escalated beyond recognition. Unnatural speed and precision surpassed any creature of flesh and bone. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

On top of that, at this point, Shiki is gravely injured and numbed by a muscle relaxant, making even standing an excruciating challenge:

The third time, her leg was torn. A sickening squelch followed as concrete soaked with blood. The claws, embedded deep in her bone, stained her foot and the floor, making even standing excruciating. Indeed, merely standing brought agony.

Blood loss clouded her vision, her body teetering on the brink of collapse.

Lio's corpse showed no bleeding; the vibrant crimson staining the warehouse floor was solely hers. With limbs torn and flesh ripped, her life would likely be measured in mere minutes. Or perhaps, as Ryougi Shiki, she could potentially extend that time until help arrived. But she made no move. A sigh escaped her lips as she relinquished the knife, collapsing onto the cold floor.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

My memory was fuzzy, but it seems I was done in by Shirazumi Lio. My hands were bound, and my whole body felt numb and weak, as if injected with some strange drug. My mind swam, unable to grasp anything concrete.

Handcuffed, I lay on the unforgiving floor, eyes open yet unseeing. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

"Awake already, Princess? You're quite the eager one," he sneered.

"Seems the drugs weren't enough. Should've used this from the beginning."

He yanked my arm and plunged the needle deep. Numbness crept in, eclipsing any pain. Paralyzed and chained, I could only glare at him with impotent fury.

"Good. That fiery gaze," he hissed. "That's the Ryougi I remember. Don't worry, it's just a muscle relaxant. Need you nice and still for a while." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

With that, I turned away. My body numb from the drugs, my torn left hand throbbing, I moved past Shirazumi Lio like a stranger. He stood rooted to the spot, his breaths ragged as he watched my retreating figure. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

So, Lio had surpassed the limits of any physical creature, turning into the conceptual embodiment of predation. Meanwhile, Shiki was on the brink of collapse, blood loss clouding her vision, her body paralyzed by drugs. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an effortless victory for Lio. Yet, the outcome was far different:

The end was shockingly abrupt. As Lio's arm lunged for her neck, she severedit. Without hesitation, she then severed both his legs. With a swift, mercilessmotion, she plunged her knife into his body, which momentarily floated like aballoon, before slamming him to the ground. The knife, a cruel tombstone,pierced his heart. He gasped once, a final breath, and then it was over. Lio's faceremained frozen in shock, too stunned to comprehend the fate that had befallenhim as his life functions ceased. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

Shiki literally ignores all constraints and instantly obliterates Lio, despite having only one arm functioning. Afterward, she reflects on how she could simply sever the nerves near her bleeding wounds to conserve energy and prolong her life:

Lio's corpse showed no bleeding; the vibrant crimson staining the warehouse floor was solely hers. With limbs torn and flesh ripped, her life would likely be measured in mere minutes. Or perhaps, as Ryougi Shiki, she could potentially extend that time until help arrived. But she made no move. A sigh escaped her lips as she relinquished the knife, collapsing onto the cold floor.

"Ah," she breathed. She extended her breaths, severing the nerves in her bleeding wounds. Perhaps she would be able to conserve enough energy to call for help by resting like this.

"But... what's the point?" she murmured, her gaze drifting skyward.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

This once again highlights how Shiki’s body is governed by her mental state. She achieves supernatural feats by aligning her actions with her mindset and Origin, from shutting off pain at will to making the most of whatever remains functional in her battered form.

This is reflected once again in the final confrontation with Araya Souren. There, Shiki demonstrates her ability to fight with remarkable swordsmanship, even while severely injured:

“Even if Ryougi Shiki is awake, she cannot do anything. You do not need to watch her, as it will be difficult for her to even get up with the wounds she has sustained. Even if she awoke, she still could not move her body.” — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Despite these injuries, Shiki remains deadly:

Ryougi Shiki looked at the Magus with her sword still in the swinging position. A single line of fresh blood spilled out from her lips. She herself had not received a wound, but it was just the wounds from last night reopening. Ryougi Shiki’s body had a few broken ribs and some organ damage; just walking caused regurgitated blood to flow out of her mouth. Even with such wounds, she still unveiled an impressive dance with her blade. — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This illustrates yet again how, even when her body is crippled and suffering, she can push beyond its limitations. Despite her broken ribs and internal injuries, she fights with the precision and grace of a master swordswoman, revealing how her intent and willpower can override the physical constraints of her body. Shiki’s power lies in her ability to transcend human limitations, pushing her body to perform feats that would otherwise be impossible in such a state.

Finally, the most incredible example of Shiki's combat prowess is her first encounter with Souren Araya, whose Origin of Stillness allows him to move faster than Shiki can perceive:

The mage moves. If Shiki left an afterimage of a white kimono in the darkness of the night as she ran, the man melted into the night as he approached his prey. A demon-like speed that didn't even let you grasp the process of him approaching. He stops, next to the immobile Shiki the mage's black coat flaps in the air.

Shiki was unable to respond to the mage's unfelt approach. She had been looking --- she had been looking at the man advance towards her, but she can't perceive that the man is standing right next to her ---. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Despite this overwhelming advantage, Shiki turns the tide of the battle by unsettling Araya and disrupting his Stillness:

And with that she planted her knife in the floor. Out of the three circles the mage possessed, she had just 'killed' the outermost circle.

"--- Ignorance."

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

After catching him off guard and destroying the protective tools he believed would contain her, Shiki anticipates his anxiety-driven rush and throws her knife with a trajectory that defies physics:

-- Even that, is too slow. "Still in that crouched position, Shiki puts her hand behind her. Inside the belt that tightens the kimono is the second knife. As soon as she pulled the knife out to the side from her belt, she immediately threw it at the mage.

The knife blade penetrates the two-fold ward. Like a stone skimming the water the knife bounced twice off the top of the circle, and flew towards the mage's forehead. At the speed of a bullet.

"---?!"

The mage nimbly evades. The knife nicks the edge of his ear and disappears into the corridor, and the ear which had appeared to have evaded the attack has been carved off. Flesh, blood, broken bone. Brain fluid leaks out of the wound.

"--- Ugh."

The mage lets out a groan. Faster than that however --- he felt an impact that skewered his body. Thud, and a white darkness lands upon the mage's body. By the time the mage grasped that this was Shiki, who had charged straight at him after throwing the knife, the outcome of the fight had already been decided. Driving into his body shoulder first, Shiki's single blow had the same force as a cannon shell. Just that alone would have broken a few bones, but Shiki is clenching a silver knife in her hands. The knife is perfectly penetrating the centre of the mage's chest.

"Ug --- gh."

The mage coughs out blood. His blood was a sand-like powder. When Shiki removed the knife she straight away thrusts it towards the mage's neck. With all the strength in her two hands. The fight has already been decided, but she is desperately trying to deliver another critical blow. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The knife skips forward without losing momentum, inexplicably changing trajectory mid-air to strike Araya’s head, disorienting him further. Simultaneously, Shiki closes the gap and strikes with the force of a cannon, breaking Araya’s bones despite his superhuman abilities. This fight perfectly showcases how Shiki’s combat style blends precision, power, strategy, and supernatural ability. She effortlessly exploits even the smallest opening or flaw, overcoming an opponent who, on paper, seems superior to her. 

Her Origin essentially turns her into the perfect fighter, someone who is not constrained by physicality or conventional limits. In this scene, it’s clear that her Origin allows her to transcend the physical plane itself, enabling her attacks and movements to defy ordinary spatial constraints. This grants her uncanny precision and inevitability, as if her strikes bend the laws of physics to ensure their success.

-On a small side note, there are some idiots who attempt to downplay Ryougi Shiki to "normal human level" by taking quotes out of context, such as this one:

That’s right. What makes Ryougi Shiki’s nature so different from Magi like them, was definitely not something like that. Her real nature is the ultimate nothingness that kills things that can’t be killed, even formless concepts.

“The thing that causes death.” That is the ability of Ryougi Shiki.

No weapon could interfere with a sealed world where the space was chained together infinitely with no exit. Because it had no shape, physical weapons that can only interact with physical objects couldn’t clash with it. But, Ryougi Shiki’s power was precisely one that targeted such formless things.

Then..?

“Yes, if you wanted to imprison Shiki, you should’ve trapped her in a box made of concrete.

If Shiki only had the physical strength of a young lady, all you had to do was simply prepare a hidden room enclosed by iron walls. But Araya Souren. You are a Magus, therefore you treat Magecraft as an absolute. Closing off space is meaningless. You used something ambiguous like that, but she can easily cut through that thing.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Some people unironically claim with a straight face that Touko was saying Shiki is just a normal human here, yet the passage very clearly states "IF" Shiki "ONLY HAD" the physical strength of a young woman, then a simple iron cell would have sufficed. The entire point is that Araya assumed his magical method was absolute, since it was impervious to physical force, but failed to understand Shiki’s true nature. Touko isn’t downplaying Shiki; she’s outright mocking Araya for thinking a conceptual prison would be enough to contain something as limitless as the embodiment of death itself. Shiki isn’t a "normal girl:" she is a force of nature that shatters all attempts to restrain her boundless existence.

Some other dishonest liars claim that Shiki was "threatened by the collapse of a building." This is pure anime-only nonsense. In the actual novel, Araya would have crushed the building himself, with his own power, using his spatial compression ability to its full extent:

The Magus suddenly appeared in the garden, without a moment’s rest from the spatial transition he stuck out his right arm.

Looking up into the night sky, he spread the palm of his hand to crush the circular tower. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

So there’s nothing to say here other than that these people are either completely illiterate or biased beyond reason. They aren’t arguing in good faith: they haven’t even read the novel they’re trying to "debunk".

Seriously, the novel constantly tells you she is a superhuman, lmao:

Shiki has the power to see things that normal people can't. Aside from being able to see spirits, she can apparently see the lines that hold an object together.

On top of that, she's a savage at heart with incredible reflexes and physical abilities. If I were to be honest, she's the exact opposite of Mikiyaーshe's someone special. Someone like that is the last person I'd ever want to see with him.

In the first place, I actually only began training with Ms. Touko because of her. If Mikiya's partner was an average girl, I would've been able to eliminate her in a single day. However, I was soon faced with the reality that Shiki was on a completely different level altogether.

Despite all of that, I had to cope with the bitter truth that I still wouldn't be able to match up to Shiki, and so there I was honing my skills day by day. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

And this is just a random example out of many. The only passage that might be confusing and somewhat reasonable to bring up is this:

His tightly clenched fist drives into Shiki's stomach. Receiving a blow that could break through a large tree, Shiki's body rises up into the air. With just that one attack Shiki spews out just as much blood as the mage who has had his chest and neck stabbed. With a grating noise, her insides and the bones that were protecting them break.

"---."

Shiki faints. No matter how great a physique she had, her body is still that of a young girl. Even if half the power had been held back, there was no way she could withstand Araya's attack which could break concrete walls. Grabbing hold of her belly with one hand the mage lifts the girl up, and throws her at the mansion wall. It was a brutal action that looked like it should break every bone in Shiki's body, but that too turned into an unnatural event. ... Having been thrown onto the wall Shiki's body was sucked in as if she was sinking into water. Only when the mansion wall had finishing gulping Shiki down, did the mage lower his arm. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

However, it's important to understand that this quote isn’t referring to literal durability. If it were, Shiki would have been reduced to a bloody mist after such an attack. What it’s actually saying is that even though Shiki is superhuman, her body still has limits and isn’t invincible, as it’s still biological. She needs vital organs to function, bones to sustain her, etc. So, enough force can incapacitate her.

The comparison to walls and trees isn’t meant to be taken literally. Instead, it illustrates that Araya’s attacks are so powerful and precise, empowered by his Origin of Stillness, that they can bring down large, solid structures in a single strike. Notably, the novel emphasizes that this devastation comes from a single punch, delivered while holding back half of his power to avoid accidentally killing her. This shows that even an extremely measured, basic strike from Araya carries immense destructive force due to how Stillness fundamentally amplifies and focuses his strength. Naturally, the more fragile structure of a human body would be crippled by the same force. That's all.

Back to the actual story now, beyond her combat ability, Shiki's Origin also defines her core existence and enables her to resist all external manipulation of her essence:

Her subliminal suggestion, urging her victim to fly, wasn’t working on this girl.

Her ability to force the image of flying into a person’s very consciousness was beyond the realm of hunting and was more like full-fledged brainwashing. There was no resisting it. As a result of the inevitable suggestion, whether they believed it would actually happen or not, people simply ran over the edge of the roof, secure in the firm belief that they could fly.

Shiki had brushed this urge aside after only slight dizziness.

Maybe, the woman pondered, it had just been a glancing blow. She resolved to try once more.

It would be much stronger this time.

Not “You can fly” this time. A strong compulsion: “You will fly.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

Shiki completely shrugs off Kirie’s subconscious manipulation, which forcibly erodes the boundary between a person’s perception and reality, making them act on their subconscious desires as an absolute truth. Kirie’s ability works by implanting the contradiction of "flying" as an undeniable fact in the victim’s mind. When the conscious brain tries to process this impossibility, it collapses under the paradox, leading to self-destruction. Yet, Shiki remains unaffected, experiencing only slight dizziness before discarding the suggestion altogether.

This is because Shiki's essence is defined by Nothingness, a blank state free from imposed definitions or boundaries. She is a self-contained existence, detached from external influences that would rewrite her fundamental nature.

Later on, she resists even God’s Word's Unified Language, a metaphysical language that speaks directly to the concept sustaining an entity’s existence and rewrites it to fit the speaker's statement:

It was God's Word that proved all of them wrong. He showed that it wasn't only our planet that was more powerful in the Age of Gods, but also our language. If God confused the languages of man, then what was it like before that? Indeed, mankind had but a single language of communication back then. Could a language truly give meaning to and speak of every single phenomenon in our world? If it truly existed, then it would have to be a formless language. It would not be a language used to communicate with fellow men, but a language that derived its meaning through a dialogue with the world itself. God feared the word of man, so he confused our tongues and granted us a language with form.

We thought we were being granted wisdom, but we were only robbed of the truth instead.

That lost truth is what God's Word has learned, the original language that was shared among all who dwelled in this world before the Tower of Babel. We call this the Unified Language.

"Isn't that useless then? What's the point of it all if no one can even reply to him?"

"If it were just a normal language, then yes. The fact that he can communicate with beasts and rocks doesn't mean that he's speaking to them directly. Instead, he speaks to the world itself. Think of it like an ontological hierarchy. As long as 'I' exist, there will always be an Aozaki Touko above me that exists within the world itself. If he were to use the Unified Language on me, I would have no way of resisting. If I were to reject his words, that'd be equal to denying the fact that I exist in this world. The very words he utter become an irreversible truth. God's Word is capable of placing all of creation under complete hypnosis. The memories that we humans possess, are also recorded by the world itself. It's a similar concept to the Akashic Records, but this is a wave phenomenon that exists on a lower level than it. You see, one of the possible methods of deciphering it is the Unified Language. That's why Kurogiri's able to gather memories that have already been forgotten. He isn't drawing their forgotten memories out of their brains, but rather from the record the world stores of the past. In the present day and age, he's the only person capable of accessing the various recordings of the past that our world has kept in store. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

At the heart of this battle is Kurogiri’s unique power: he doesn’t rely on conventional magic or brute force. Instead, he manipulates reality itself through the Unified Language, a primordial system that doesn’t merely describe truth: it defines it. When he says “You cannot see me” or “This place inhibits sight,” he isn’t casting illusions, he’s rewriting reality to nullify Shiki’s perception. As he speaks, Shiki literally cannot see him or perceive death, trapping her in a dark, altered world where her powers should fail.

Yet Shiki’s response defies this conceptual suppression. Even before Kurogiri’s spell completes, she sees the death lines manifest. This isn’t just heightened perception; it’s an outright rejection of the rewritten reality. Shiki doesn’t counter with magic or dispel the spell: her existence, tied to the Root (the “Fount”), overrides it naturally. Her eyes don’t just observe reality; they forcibly reveal the truth of death even when reality itself has been altered to hide it. Kurogiri admits this, acknowledging, “Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words.”

This equality reveals Shiki’s true transcendence. The Unified Language forms the fundamental code of existence, yet Shiki, as an ontological contradiction linked to the Root, exists outside and above it. She can kill even what language defines and protects. Kurogiri recognizes that while she can’t defeat “words,” he also cannot kill her, if she gets close, she would effortlessly kill him, even within his altered domain.

Shiki’s Origin is a self-contained truth that cannot be rewritten or overridden by external forces, no matter how reality is warped or concepts manipulated. Sometimes she casually resists such effects, as with Kirie’s power, or overrides them mid-process, using her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to kill the caster before their alterations take full effect. Lesser manipulations like mental interference, telekinesis, or conventional supernatural powers are even more easily erased, falling entirely within the domain of her Mystic Eyes.

Speaking of that, it's time to now focus on her most renowned ability:

Mystic Eyes of Death Perception:

During her coma, Shiki experienced " " in a state of Stillness, the boundary between existence and non-existence, where only her consciousness remained:

This place was dark, and the floor was pitch black. When I realized that the only thing around me was the darkness, I had accepted the fact that I was dead. I was floating in a sea with no light or sound. Naked, without anything to cover her, the human being called Ryougi Shiki was sinking into the depths.

There was no light here. No, I suspect I had never fallen in the first place. Since there was nothing here.

It wasn’t just that there was no light, there wasn’t even any darkness. Since there was nothing here, nothing was visible. There was no meaning to the concept of falling. Inside the 「　」 within which even form was meaningless, just my body kept sinking. The naked me; I’m a poisonous shade which made me want to turn my eyes away. Because everything 「here」 bore such a poisonous aura

“–––This is death.”

Even the sound of my muttering seemed like a dream.

Then, I observed something like “time”. Time had no meaning inside「　」, but I became able to observe it. As naturally as flowing water, as grossly as putrefaction, I was just marking time.

There was nothing here.

Even if I kept continuously looking in the distance, I couldn’t see anything. Even if I kept waiting continuously for something, I couldn’t see anything.

It was very nice and peaceful.

No, since nothing had meaning, just 「being」here made everything perfect.

This was death.

The world which only the dead could reach. The world which the living could not see.

But, I was still alive–

I thought I would lose my mind.

For two years I sat there in the midst of the concept called “death”. Rather then observation, it was closer to the struggle of battle. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

Suspended between life and death, Shiki transcended material reality but had not yet fully dissolved into 「　」. This state represents the origin point of existence, where concepts like light, darkness, or falling hold no meaning. Only raw consciousness remains, free to create or dissolve meaning. Even time is experienced not as linear but as a flowing, stagnant presence, illustrating the primal stage where the self begins to conceptualize the world.

This profound experience forms the basis of Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Her coma granted her the ability to perceive the formless dissolution of reality and consciously apply it:

I, who experienced 「death」for two years while still alive. My body has changed so that I can now view such formless concepts.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

—My origin is nihil. From nihil I originated, the flesh that I am, the corpse in the womb to which life was somehow given. That is why Shiki can perceive death. For two years, in her comatose state, she was unable to view the outside world, and could do nothing but gaze into the nihil that Ryougi Shiki "is." More than simply seeing, she felt death.

—All that time she was floating there in that ocean which others call the "swirl of the Root." Shipwrecked all alone in the midst of " ".Yes, indeed. If nihil is her origin, then most likely she wills to bring all things to nought. Shiki is able to kill anything without exception, for that reason alone. The personality, Shiki, strives to negate. Why? Because that is the original pattern of her soul. The inclination to nihil, which ardently wishes the death of all creation. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Shiki “felt” death while still conscious, giving her the unique ability to enact death on creation itself by perceiving the inherent flaws of all thing:

"Everything in existence has an imperfection. Especially humans, but even in air, will, and time. It’s natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of things. They’re special, like yours." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

As Shiki stated herself, everything in existence has imperfections, even abstract things like will or time. There is always some rule binding them, or some limitation they cannot overcome. This allows her to trace the underlying “source code” of their existence and sever it. 

Her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception reveal these flaws as lines or points, marking the inevitable end of all things. By tracing these, she instantly brings death to her target:

"Mystic eyes are normally the result of you bringing about some kind of augmentation effect for your eyes through spiritual surgery. But in your case, I think they came about naturally. An ability you originally had was brought to the fore by the accident. By the sounds of it, it seemed that the child called Shiki was always seeing to the heart of everything.

"Every object has flaws. The fancy of wishing everything could be taken apart and remade only exists because there's no such thing as a perfect object.

Your eyes can see those flaws, as if they were a microscope. Your spiritual sight is too strong. You can see those lines that are invisible to us, and that brain of yours that was in contact with death for so long can even understand what they are. In conclusion, you can see death. Not only see it, but you can even touch it. A living organism's lines of death will keep changing position as long as it's alive. The ability to see those lines clearly, there's not much difference between that and mystic eyes that can kill with a look. If you must stab those eyes, I will receive them instead. I will pay you any price you name."- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4.

Araya Souren reflects on this principle when discussing Shiki’s ability:

"... Indeed, I was foolish. I should have had all the proof I needed after the events at the hospital. Whether it is dead or alive, if it moves you cut off the root of that motion. That is your ability. Even if I am a stopped organism, as long I exist like this there is a thread that permits my existence. If that is cut I would definitely die. The unique exception is this left arm, but even that can't be hidden forever. No matter which saint's bone it is as long as it functions there will always be a cause for that movement." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

For Shiki, the crucial factor isn’t life or death, but motion: the influence an entity or concept exerts on reality. As long as something “moves” or changes, it must have a cause, (a principle, an event, a law) that allows it to express itself or change into a new state of being. Even saintly bones or Araya's biologically dead body are still sourced from the material world and thus have a faint cause that can be severed.

Even abstract concepts require interactions with other ideas to have context and influence over reality, which falls under Shiki's perception. By severing the cause, Shiki erases her target and sends them back to 「　」, the source of all causalities where all things exist as potential and inert, devoid of change or unnecessary interactions.

“That is Shiki's capability. Much like Asagami Fujino, she perceives a unique channel in which things unseen by others become visible. When she ‘looks’ at them, she is seeing a glimpse of the architect’s floor plan for all reality. That is the ‘swirl of the Root.’”

— Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Void Shiki helps clarify this further. When Shiki uses her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, she glimpses the “floor plan” of reality: the underlying map of how all concepts, phenomena, and entities in the world interact and define each other. This “floor plan” shows how everything is connected: how this planet operates according to certain principles (X, Y, Z), how entities exist by following specific patterns, and how phenomena are bound by their rules.

Through her eyes, Shiki sees not just death, but the fundamental structure of existence: how meaning is created, maintained, and erased. The lines of death she perceives represent the limits and lifespan of things, revealing how each concept or object is expressed within reality. By tracing these lines, Shiki doesn’t merely cut or destroy; she returns these expressions of existence back into the void, the primordial space where concepts lose definition and cannot be held or changed.

In this way, Shiki’s power is not only a tool for killing but an ability to erase the very presence of things by undoing their place in the interconnected map of reality:

The constantly shifting, graffiti-like lines visible to Ryougi Shiki. The lines appeared on everything, and by slashing the lines with a knife, the object bearing the lines could be "killed". Since the lines posed no resistance, everything could be killed with the same ease. The Lines of Death are not the lines at which "an object can be easily cut apart", rather, they are the concept of longevity given form. Strictly speaking, it is not "tracing the lines causing the object to fall apart", but "ending the lifespan and killing the object". To put it into simpler terms, it is the erasure of existence rather than physical destruction.- Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Encyclopedia: Line of Death [Others], p.032

In fact, it explicitly extends beyond the physical world into the abstract:

Surely Ryougi Shiki, who saw death, was an unusual existence. However, there were many people in the world who had the ability to kill people. If it were just about killing living creatures, there was no way to beat the various modern weapons that civilization has produced.

That’s right. What makes Ryougi Shiki’s nature so different from Magi like them, was definitely not something like that. Her real nature is the ultimate nothingness that kills things that can’t be killed, even formless concepts.

“The thing that causes death.” That is the ability of Ryougi Shiki.

No weapon could interfere with a sealed world where the space was chained together infinitely with no exit. Because it had no shape, physical weapons that can only interact with physical objects couldn’t clash with it. But, Ryougi Shiki’s power was precisely one that targeted such formless things.

Then..?

“Yes, if you wanted to imprison Shiki, you should’ve trapped her in a box made of concrete.

If Shiki only had the physical strength of a young lady, all you had to do was simply prepare a hidden room enclosed by iron walls. But Araya Souren. You are a Magus, therefore you treat Magecraft as an absolute. Closing off space is meaningless. You used something ambiguous like that, but she can easily cut through that thing.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

What sets Shiki apart is that her power is not mere physical destruction. As Araya noted, she embodies absolute oblivion that swallows even thought itself. No weapon can stop her because her power transcends the physical realm. It targets the very essence of things, their foundational concepts, and the collapse of their physical forms is simply a side effect of those concepts being erased from reality. This means her power bypasses all forms of durability, defense, resistance, and states of being.

As long as something exists, Shiki can perceive and target its core identity or concept, erasing everything related to it, including its physical body. She essentially “reads” the definitions that define the target and how it interacts with reality, allowing her to remove it from reality’s underlying “map.” This causes the target to fall apart because reality can no longer coherently interpret its existence.

This is why her power bypasses all defenses: even the idea that you have defenses, regeneration, immortality, or other abilities is something encoded and realized by reality itself. But Ryougi’s eyes strike at this very “source code”, the fundamental rules reality uses to grant your powers and existence in the first place.

It should also be noted that Shiki's MEoDP allows her to see invisible things, such as spirits, separately from the Lines of death too:

Shiki has the power to see things that normal people can't. Aside from being able to see spirits, she can apparently see the lines that hold an object together. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

This gives her an exceptional awareness of the world, making it impossible to conceal one's presence from her sight. Another crucial aspect of her MEoDP is that they are tied to her brain and Origin, rather than her actual physical eyesight:

"Is it the 'mystic eyes of death perception'? It's too wasteful to destroy that, Shiki. Especially seeing as anything you can see will be seen even if you ruin your eyes. You see, a curse is something that comes back if you throw it away."

"... Did you say I will be able to see this even if my eyes can't see? In that case, there's no reason for me to stab them."- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

Even should Shiki become blind or lose her physical eyes, her brain would still be able to use her MEoDP ability. This is why Shiki could still perceive God's Word's lines of death despite him making her blind:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

In addition, contrary to popular belief, Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception are not merely a visual ability: they are inseparable from her entire fighting style. Her speed, strength, and reflexes don’t stem from her physical body alone but from her deep connection to her Origin and the clarity of her perception. This is why, even while injured, she instinctively dodges Asagami’s spatial distortions and gradually reacts faster to them: her growing understanding of their “death” lets her move in harmony with their collapse. Her perception literally accelerates her body to align with the metaphysical truth she sees.

The same principle applies in her battle with Kurogiri. Despite his reality-rewriting Words, Shiki severs his arm before his commands fully manifest. Her killing instinct, empowered by her clear perception of death, allows her to bypass the gap between intention and reality’s alteration. In that moment, she doesn’t resist reality: she outruns its rewriting. Her combat ability is metaphysical, a direct extension of her death perception.

Even more telling is when Kurogiri declares, “You cannot defeat me.” This was not a mere taunt but a reality-altering command. Yet, before it could take hold, Shiki already saw his death lines. Had he not erased the concept of sight from the chapel, she would have killed him instantly. This shows her perception doesn’t just resist conceptual interference: it surpasses it. Her killing intent operates on such a fundamental level that even reality-warping speech is too slow to contain her.

Essentially, once Shiki perceives something, her Mystic Eyes automatically identify its flaws, enabling her to move fast enough to bypass physical limits and terminate her target. This is typical of Origin-awakened beings, whose powers transcend the physical, allowing actions far beyond human capability. The more complex the concept she perceives, the faster she acts, making her ironically harder to defeat.

So when people say, “She can kill X but isn’t fast enough to do so before losing,” they misunderstand Shiki entirely: her speed and death perception share the same Origin, which reconfigures her body beyond physical limits to execute its intent, directly linked to the death her eyes perceive and compel her to bring.

In other words, the most common argument against Shiki being top tier is fundamentally flawed, indeed, it’s almost a deliberate misunderstanding.

Now, Shiki doesn't immediately master her MEoDP; her understanding grows gradually because her perception is initially limited by her human experience:

Ryougi Shiki is a living being, and she seemed to have a easier time seeing the end of a living being. This is because as a living being, it is easier to comprehend "the death of a living being". In order to see the Lines of Death of minerals or Concepts, she either has to become minerals, or use her brain and tap into her "imagination".

In summary, the end (lines) of an existence that humans cannot comprehend is not visible. - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Encyclopedia: Line of Death [Others], p.032

Because the death of living beings is instinctive and aligned with her own nature, Shiki can perceive it more easily. But to see the death of minerals or abstract concepts, far removed from human experience, she must engage her imagination and push her mind to understand them. Over time and through experience, her perception expands to include more complex forms of death.

Even when Shiki first awoke from her coma and gained her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, she was already able to perceive the death of the walls around the hospital and even of the air itself:

"The first thing I saw upon waking up from the coma was not the surprised nurse running towards me... it was the line wrapping around her throat. People, walls, even the air itself... there are incredibly fine lines visible on everything."-Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 04

By the time of Chapter 3, she tells us she is still not entirely used to the eyes:

I suddenly recall the girl that was with Azaka....... That aura of death creeping out of her like capillaries. Since I am not used to my eyes yet, I saw it without any prior preparation.... That was abnormal. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

It's only during the fight with Asagami that she experiences her first major evolution in terms of perception:

"... I see. ...... You must be abnormal."

Fujino can only think this. She looks at Shiki and bends. Her vision distorts. The fulcrums created on Shiki's head and leg each rotate in opposite directions and twist Shiki's body like a piece of carpet.

... It should have twisted her.

Shiki, whose left arm is bleeding, nullifies Fujino's "distortion" just by swinging the knife in her right hand. No...... she kills it.

"It's hard to see that without form, but you used your power too many times. Now I can finally see it. Your power is a spiral of red and green. It's really... beautiful."

Fujino does not understand what Shiki is saying. The only thing she realizes is that Shiki will surely kill her now. Fujino repeatedly prays.

Bend, bend, bend, bend!

As Fujino glares, Shiki swings her knife and eliminates the power. The pain in Fujino's stomach is about to go over its limit.

"Who...... are you?"

Shiki answers Fujino's fear with infinitely deep eyes.

"Everything in existence has an imperfection. Especially humans, but even in air, will, and time. It's natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of things. They're special, like yours."

Shiki looks at Fujino with those ominous eyes that Fujino felt before.

"That's why... if one exists, I could even kill a God." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 3

Shiki initially struggles to perceive the formless nature of Asagami’s spatial distortion, a conceptual alteration of space’s fabric. But after Asagami repeatedly uses the ability, Shiki finally glimpses its end, reflecting her evolving mastery over her eyes’ perception.

Later in Chapter 1, Shiki kills Kirie’s second body, an intangible entity detached from the material world, existing as a pure mind beyond physical interaction:

"I see. So your mind was up in the sky. But then... why are you alive? If that ghost at the Fujiyoh building was your mind, you should have been killed by Shiki."

Yes, I am wondering the same thing.

That person... I guess the name is Shiki... How was that person able to cut me?

That floating me cannot touch anything. In return, I cannot be touched by anything, but that person killed me as if I had a real body.

"Answer me. The you at the Fujiyoh building, was that really Fujoh Kirie?"

"The me at the Fujiyoh building isn't me. Myself looking at the sky and myself in the sky, ‘that me’ gave up on me and flew away. I have been left behind even by myself."

The woman gasps. For the first time, she showed her emotion.

"So it's not that your personality split up. There was someone that gave you, who had one container, a second container. I see, you controlled two bodies with one mind. This is indeed nothing like before." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 1

Kirie’s second body is not just intangible but abstract: an embodiment of the nothingness of mind itself. Her Origin erodes the boundaries between conscious and subconscious, making her existence fluid and untethered to physical laws. This makes her nearly impossible to interact with physically, yet Shiki’s power can target the underlying concept of her being.

Touko later reveals the profound consequence of this erasure:

“But you’ll feel its influence. Shiki’s got good eyes. If what she saw was a secondary entity, then its collapse will probably reach your real body. I have two or three things I’d like to know before that happens. That’s why I came out here.” - Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 01

This further proves that Shiki targets the concept of "you" and erases anything related as a result. By erasing the concept of Kirie's existence, she will eventually erase the "other" Kirie as well. This is shown once again against Araya:

There was sweat on his forehead.

Some of his internal organs had stopped functioning and were signaling danger.

“... I was... cut?”

The Magus growled faintly, he couldn’t believe it.

But it was true.

Just now, in this apartment complex, which could be said to be Araya Souren himself, something had been cleanly severed somewhere.

As easy as cutting through butter, without hesitation, the space itself had been cleanly cut off.

Just as the Magus’s consciousness controlled his own body, he had also attuned the activity of the apartment complex with his own consciousness.

This building was inside of his body. The electric wiring was like his nerves, and the water piping was an equivalent to his blood vessels. The pain from his body being cleanly cut inside was not something he could ignore.

As if to prove that point, the Magus’s focus on his consciousness was broken by the pain, and he was forced from the first floor lobby up to his physical body in the tenth floor hallway... As if he were pulled by a giant’s arms, he was forced to return and could not resist.

“... What is... this?”

Muttering, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with one hand.

As though a spider was running down his spine, he felt a chill permeate his internal organs. For the first time in hundreds of years, he remembered what nausea felt like.”

“What are you afraid of, Araya Souren?”

The Magus berated himself for his own weakness. But the abnormalities in his body didn’t stop. The power that had run across every corner of his body just a few moments ago was now gone. Bzzt, bzzt. The Magic Circuits that send commands for his body to move began to disconnect, starting from his fingertips.

–Death was drawing near. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya’s very being is merged with his apartment complex, making it an extension of his body. However, this doesn’t mean he gets damaged when the building itself is physically damaged, as he was casually going to destroy it entirely as a last resort against Shiki:

To stop his opponent–

“Do I have to kill my alien world...!?”

The Magus’s left hand opened.

Space compressed for the third time, but it wound down with a slash of Shiki’s katana; he stood there entirely shocked. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The Magus suddenly appeared in the garden, without a moment’s rest from the spatial transition he stuck out his right arm.

Looking up into the night sky, he spread the palm of his hand to crush the circular tower. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The reason he felt pain and disruption during this encounter is because when Shiki escaped and cut the sealed void acting as the building’s foundation, Araya felt the “pain” of his existence being reduced. Since the building is one with Araya and Shiki's MEoDP targets the underlying concept of things, her cutting of the building’s conceptual essence affected Araya himself as a side effect. His existence is deeply tied to the building’s essence, so when the building was "cut," it was as though his own "concept" was damaged.

Speaking of Araya, during their first encounter, Shiki was able to destroy his bounded fields:

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

Araya is shocked, as his bounded fields are conceptual laws imposed upon the very fabric of space, forcing the laws of reality to bend in order to accommodate those principles. Yet, Shiki is able to kill even these formless and abstract constructs:

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions. Any living thing touching those circular lines would have its power stopped. – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This quote further shows that the bounded fields are not limited to any specific physical space. They transcend the material world, extending across different planes and dimensions, indicating that they are not merely physical barriers but are tied to the abstract concept of space and existence itself.

These barriers are essentially reality-warping constructs, forcing reality to reshape itself according to the magus’s imposed rules. Shiki’s feat shows that she can deal with such reality-warping powers because her Mystic Eyes let her “kill” the underlying law itself, no matter how abstract or dimension-spanning it is.

Ironically, the more pervasive and large-scale a reality-warping effect is, the more convenient it becomes for Shiki. Because the law is imposed over an entire space or plane, it literally reveals itself to her as lines or points of death throughout that entire area. This means the more reality is forced to obey an artificial rule, the more “surface area” that rule gives her to sever it.

In other words, any reality-warping effect that manifests within existence provides her a clear target: as long as she can perceive its effect on reality, its “death” will appear across the whole domain it controls, making it ironically easier for Shiki to cut through and nullify it.

In this fight, Shiki also demonstrates her ability to defeat seemingly immortal entities, such as Araya. Initially, Shiki is surprised to find that Araya lacks the typical "lines of death" that she can perceive on all living things:

This bastard, I can't see him... !

Hiding her inner surprise, Shiki coldly looked the man over. The death she could see on people if she merely wished to, this man doesn't have any. If you felt along a human's body there were lines that put an end to the part they belonged to if they were cut. Whether those were the seams of life, or a weakness in the bonds between the molecules, Shiki didn't know. It just was that she could see them. Without exception everyone she had seen until now had possessed those 'lines of death'. But, upon this man, those lines were too faint.

Strongly, harder than she had ever done before, Shiki glares at the man. Her brain may have overheated, because she observed the opponent till a portion of her consciousness went white, only then could she see it.... In the centre of his body, she can see a hole in the middle of his chest. The line went round and round like a child's doodling, tracing a circle at the same place. The result was what looked like a hole. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya’s apparent immortality comes from his Origin, Stillness/Suspension:

The mage's discourse continues."As a reference, I do not die. My origin is 'suspension'. Someone who has woken to their origin becomes ruled by that origin itself. Someone who has already stopped - how can you kill him?" Shiki doesn't reply. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

His Origin makes him "already dead," suspending his existence and rendering him changeless and eternal, unable to be affected by the concept of death or any form of external influence or interaction.

However, despite the nature of Araya’s Origin, Shiki, by straining her awareness, is able to perceive a point of death on him:

Strongly, harder than she had ever done before, Shiki glares at the man. Her brain may have overheated, because she observed the opponent till a portion of her consciousness went white, only then could she see it.... In the centre of his body, she can see a hole in the middle of his chest. The line went round and round like a child's doodling, tracing a circle at the same place. The result was what looked like a hole - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This point is Araya's "weak point" in his own words:

"I realise that spot is my weakness. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5.

It’s a structural weakness that would collapse his body if severed. Over time, Shiki is able to perceive even the faintest of lines on him:

Shiki doesn't reply. She threw away all her emotions, and bent all her energies to finding those faint lines upon the man's body. Ignoring both the paralysing despair running riot in her body and the pain crushing her face, she tries to find that one breach. But before she could. The mage looked over the girl he was holding in the air, and made a decision.

"--- That's right. The face is useless."

An emotionless voice. The mage puts strength into his arm for the first time. Crackle, the sound of bone breaking can be heard. In that instant ---The right arm that attempted to pulverise the face of the girl called Ryougi Shiki, this time it really does get cut off.

"--- Mmm. "

The mage retreats a bit. Having cut off the mage's arm at the elbow while still in that floating position, Shiki pulled off the hand clinging to her face and quickly pulled back. Thwock. The black arm falls to the floor. Narrowly escaping to a place untouched by the triple circle around the mage, Shiki kneels with one leg on the floor.

Whether it was because of the pain from having her face squeezed, or because she had focused her awareness to look for the mage's faint lines of death. Shiki's breathing is ragged as she looks at the floor she is kneeling upon. The distance between the two, once again it has widened. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This is because, as Araya concluded, having an immortal essence does not equate to having an immortal body too:

"... Indeed, I was foolish. I should have had all the proof I needed after the events at the hospital. Whether it is dead or alive, if it moves you cut off the root of that motion. That is your ability. Even if I am a stopped organism, as long I exist like this there is a thread that permits my existence. If that is cut I would definitely die. The unique exception is this left arm, but even that can't be hidden forever. No matter which saint's bone it is as long as it functions there will always be a cause for that movement." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Although his essence is eternal, Araya’s physical body still participates in reality. As long as it exists and interacts with reality, it retains a faint thread that Shiki can eventually perceive.

Even his sacred bones, which contain the essence of an enlightened Buddha, are not immune to this law:

"--- Still inexperienced. I've embedded a Buddha's remains in this left hand. There are no places where you can easily kill it, not even with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. A simple act like cutting it, Araya Soren will not be hurt by such things." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The same principle applies: Even though the bones are enlightened, they still have a physical form with causes behind their movement. Thus, they are not entirely exempt from contingency. This demonstrates that even if an entity's abstract essence is immune to death, Shiki can still sever their connection to reality by eliminating their physical vessel or any other aspect tied to the material world. In doing so, she targets the flawed nature of their existence, showing that their presence in the physical realm is ultimately contingent and vulnerable.

It's important to highlight that the only reason Araya is able to prevent an immediate death here is because of his incredibly long lifespan and, most importantly, remarkable willpower:

Her foe isn't yet dead.

"Goddamnit, why... ! "

Shiki shouts as if casting a spell. Why --- why don't you die. Upon the mage's unmoving face that shows no emotion, just his eyes are bright with mirth.

"I realise that spot is my weakness. But just that is not enough. Even if it's the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, you cannot instantly kill this two hundred year old life of mine. This body will die one day, but I was prepared for this happening. It's quite fitting that the price I pay for capturing Ryougi is my death. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This moment illustrates that Araya's willpower allows him to withstand Shiki’s ability longer than normal, but it’s not an inherent flaw in Shiki’s power. Shiki can still identify the point of death; Araya’s immense will simply gives him a temporary reprieve. This is unique to Araya, whose will is consistently described as absurd:

"Araya, who has no exceptional talents, became a first-class Bound Field master through the accumulation of time and sheer willpower." – Garden of Sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

... Hellish. What I mean by saying that, Kokuto, is that if the idea of Hell was to gain a will and take the form of a man, my hypothesis is that it would be something like him. To the degree that he couldn't accept others, he was just absorbing misery. His ability as a mage was full of flaws, but his strong ego surpassed everything.

--- It was a coarse guy like that who I fell for." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya's overwhelming willpower manifests in a way that even challenges cosmic forces. In the battle with the Counter Force, his ego is shown to be so unyielding that it could overpower the will of billions:

That Counter Force is the consciousness of every human being on earth. Do you really think you can win against the will of nearly six billion people all by yourself?”

“I will win.”

Without any hesitation and without exaggeration, the Magus replied immediately.

A living hell that had collected the deaths of many people. The Magus had imagined each person’s history and the future that should have existed beyond their actual end. No matter how meaningless the death was, he lived as if it were his own.

Touko thought it was an extreme ego, forged like steel, that would win; even if it meant making all of humanity into his enemy.

Araya Souren possessed that. Whether it was true or not wasn’t really an issue, what mattered was his unshakable will to assert it as truth. When he asked this question, Araya Souren must have clearly imagined having to confront the dignity of six billion people; one by one.

Araya had answered that he would win. He imagined the struggle as if it were reality, even after realizing how painful it would be. This strength of will was the strength of the Magus. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even so, despite his extraordinary resilience, Araya's body eventually succumbs to death shortly afterwards:

Having been thrown onto the wall Shiki's body was sucked in as if she was sinking into water. Only when the mansion wall had finishing gulping Shiki down, did the mage lower his arm.... Shiki's knife is still buried in his neck, and his eyes hold none of the oppressive light they showed until now. Although a long time goes by without anything happening the black coat does not budge. That's only to be expected if anything is. The mage's body, is totally dead. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

So, by this point, Shiki has evolved her understanding of Death to the extent that she can erase abstract rules governing reality and impose death on immortal entities by severing their influence on reality. Since their abstract essence cannot maintain its perfection, they must rely on a finite body and experience change in order to interact with the world, making them vulnerable to MEoDP as long as they influence reality. However, her most impressive feat with the Mystic Eyes occurs just before her final fight with Araya, when she destroys his infinite void:

“There is no need for concern. I have not imprisoned her in a room within the apartment complex. I have thrown her into Mugen, the infinite void, that connects the material world to the otherworld.

The primary purpose of this distorted alien world was to create a closed loop. By no means, no matter the method or the impact, could one escape from the darkness of Mugen. Even if Ryougi Shiki were to awaken, there is nothing she could do. Monitoring her is unnecessary. Besides, given her injuries, even standing would be difficult. Even if she wakes, her body will be incapable of moving properly.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Sure, you didn’t make a mistake. For you as a Magus, this is the best solution. But, what if the assumption itself is a mistake? You isolated Shiki? Not in a room somewhere in this apartment complex, but you isolated her in this apartment complex itself? A Bounded Field that achieves spacial isolation is already on the level of Magic. It’s a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create.

“Those who are trapped by the sealed space of a Mobius Ring can never get out from the inside. A closed world that’s enclosed by walls that can’t be destroyed by physical impacts, it’s a cage that’s impossible to escape from. You slapped Shiki in there, which gave you peace of mind. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

No weapon could interfere with a sealed world where the space was chained together infinitely with no exit. Because it had no shape, physical weapons that can only interact with physical objects couldn’t clash with it. But, Ryougi Shiki’s power was precisely one that targeted such formless things. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

He had sufficient awareness to understand how she escaped the imprisoned space. Last night, the young lady had lost consciousness after several of her ribs were shattered by the Magus’s blow.

She had just recently awakened within the closed space, in the boundary set between the walls of the apartment complex. Within that impossible space she slashed through the impossible wall.

Infinity is not 「 」. For infinity to remain infinite, the finite has to be defined. Without the finite there cannot exist infinity. Because things have an end, we can observe the thing called infinity.

Ryougi Shiki had been cast into infinity, she saw the impossible finite and cut through it.

Of course, there is no finite inside of the infinite. You can’t slash through what doesn’t exist, so escape from such a cage is impossible. But, if there is no finite then there is no infinite. Whether finite walls exist or not, an endless world holds no meaning before Ryougi Shiki.

If there really is no finite, then it’s not infinite but 「 」. If the finite can be comprehended, Shiki could detect and slash through it.

... The black hole that should have been absolute was just a small dark room to his opponent. The Magus felt ashamed of himself. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5 Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

There’s quite a bit to unpack here. Araya defines this space as an infinite expanse bridging the material world and another realm called the “otherworld.” It doesn’t follow conventional physical laws but is instead a conceptual space governed by abstract principles, embodying infinite potential. Because it has no fixed laws, infinite ideas can occur within it without altering its fundamental nature. Araya believed that by trapping Shiki here, she would be powerless: there is nothing physical or defined for her to perceive.

Araya then imposed the conceptual structure of Stillness onto this void: a Möbius ring, a closed loop where any change not authorized by Souren is denied. This transformed the infinite expanse of Mugen into a downward, trapping spiral with no end. Since the void is formless and folds inward, it has no exit or physical edge to attack: only self-contained nothingness that returns intruders to their starting point. Any action taken within this space is rendered meaningless, as the void enforces its isolation through conceptual boundaries. It doesn’t resist specific phenomena; it nullifies all through recursive containment.

Araya explicitly states that this realm was created to embody the Taiji, and thereby contain it, or, by extension, Ryougi’s Origin, which reflects the same universal principle:

“Wait Araya. I have one question. The original purpose of this apartment complex is to represent the Taiji in order to take in the Taiji, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. I created this alien world to completely cut off Ryougi Shiki from the outside world. The other various functions are just accessories.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

As established, Taiji represents the totality of existence on a conceptual level. The Mobius Void embodies this by accounting for all possible variables born from the interplay of Yin and Yang. Its identity is to have no end, a conceptual infinity where even infinite potential or infinite universes are trapped within its self-contained loop.

However, there is one fundamental flaw in Araya’s realm: even infinity is an idea contingent on something defined: its opposite, finitude. We recognize infinity precisely because things normally have an end.

Imagine a universe where nothing has an end: in that case, infinity wouldn’t be special; it would be the default state of all things. Instead, it would be the concept of having an end that becomes the unspeakable anomaly.

In other words, if you remove the concept of finitude, infinity itself loses its meaning and significance. This subtle “flaw,” however abstract, is something Shiki’s Mystic Eyes can perceive and sever.

Even infinity has a “cause:” it depends on its opposite, unlike the eternal, changeless nature of Stillness or true 「 」, where all change is stopped and all things exist in pure potential.

So, Shiki quite literally "killed" the concept of infinity: a void that folds all phenomena, all paths, and all outcomes back into nothing, endlessly. If that doesn’t qualify as broken, what does? This reinforces the absolute nature of the MEoDP: there is no escape from it unless one possesses true omnipotence or exists as a pure abstraction that never engages with reality on any level.

You know what this includes, right?

Abilities themselves are conceptual definitions, structured traits with clear existential properties. As such, they fall squarely under the jurisdiction of Shiki’s Mystic Eyes. By reducing an ability to the void, returning it to "nothing", she nullifies it. No matter how abstract or supernatural the power, it ceases to exist if Shiki chooses to erase the very concept of its effect.

In short: from Chapter 5 onward, Shiki is capable of killing not only people or objects: but traits, abilities, and hax themselves. If it exists and she can comprehend it, it can die. And this ability continues to evolve further throughout the story.

In Chapter 6, Ryougi Shiki faces off against God's Word (Satsuki Kurogiri), a magus who wields the power of Unified Language: a primordial speech that doesn’t just affect the mind or body, but rewrites the very fabric of the world. When Kurogiri says, “You cannot see me,” it doesn’t function like hypnosis or invisibility. Instead, it becomes an ontological truth: Shiki’s eyes, and even her understanding of reality, are forced to comply. The world itself is rewritten so that the concept of "seeing Kurogiri" is rendered invalid:

"You." "Cannot." "See Me."

The mage's voice echoed, resonating directly in my mind. Its truth was undeniable. In an instant, I lost sight of him, and my swung knife cleaved empty air.

"Wha..."

I scanned my surroundings. There was no one else in the chapel, only the presence of another person transmitted to my skin. Kurogiri was indeed right in front of me, yet his form remained unseen.

"...That was dangerous. I underestimated your ability to act faster than I could speak. As a result, I lost an arm. It's no wonder Araya was defeated. You possess a remarkable aptitude for killing."

The voice came from right in front of me. I suppressed my urge to attack, focusing my consciousness on my immediate vicinity. If I couldn't see him, I only needed to perceive his lines of death...

"You cannot defeat me," the voice echoed directly in my thoughts.

But before it finished, his death lines materialised before my eyes.

"Found you."

This time, I wouldn't let him escape. Once again, I charged towards the mage.

But... I lost sight of him again.

"This Place." "Inhibits." "Sight."

The voice reverberated through the chapel, which had now plunged into complete darkness. With a single word, the world turned invisible, devoid of light.

"Hm... It appears the effect is weaker on you. Your connection to the Fount places you on the same rank as my words. But that's been accounted for. Here, even Ryougi Shiki cannot perceive death. Though, of course, I can't see anything here either." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

"This is futile. I already explained, you cannot defeat me. Even you, who can kill anything, cannot vanquish words."

It was a truth I'd never contemplated. Words were the one enemy beyond my reach.

"However, that doesn't grant me the power to kill you either. This is the extent of my abilities. Any closer, and you could overpower me with ease. There will be no exchange of lives. I am no warrior. My role is simply to fulfil your desires." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

What’s remarkable is that Shiki still nearly kills him. Despite being affected by this conceptual rewriting, she reacts faster than the spell can fully bind her perception. Kurogiri even acknowledges this, saying he lost an arm because she attacked before the words could fully take effect. This isn’t a matter of mental resistance or willpower: Shiki's very existence as a being tied to the Root (referred to here as “the Fount”) allows her to exist on the same metaphysical level as Kurogiri’s Words. That is, her spiritual nature is so closely connected to the fundamental structure of reality that even conceptual edits must contend with her.

To defend himself, Kurogiri escalates. He doesn’t just hide himself from Shiki's eyes, he removes the concept of sight from the area entirely. The chapel plunges into a world where visibility no longer exists, even for him. This isn’t just darkness, it’s the conceptual annihilation of the ability to perceive form and shape. And yet, despite removing the very notion of “sight” from their environment, Kurogiri admits that if Shiki gets close to him again, he will be unable to stop her. She would still be able to kill him, even without seeing. Her connection to death and the Root transcends even his conceptual defenses.

This fight reveals something profound: Shiki does not merely “see” death as a passive ability. Her very being is a rejection of all things that pretend to permanence. She can cut through illusions, through rewritten reality, through divine commandments: because she represents the ultimate truth of mortality, which lies beneath all layers of constructed meaning. Even something as absolute as "Word-based reality manipulation" can be pierced by her, so long as the concept of death exists beneath it.

When God’s Word says “you cannot kill words,” he’s mostly bluffing to protect his pride. At that moment, he’s inside a space that erases sight, and only sight. This means Shiki can't see the death lines, which require visual input, but her ability isn’t fundamentally blocked, just temporarily limited by the sensory conditions. However, this doesn’t actually save him if he tries to attack or get close. The moment he moves, speaks, or otherwise creates a presence that Shiki can detect through other senses like sound or touch, she could strike. Her combat instincts, speed, and lethal intuition allow her to respond even without perfect vision.

More importantly, the excuse that “you cannot kill words” rings hollow because Shiki has already demonstrated she can kill abstract, formless concepts, like Araya Souren’s Bounded Fields. Those barriers had no life, no physical shape, yet she annihilated them with her knife, even from a distance. This confirms her Mystic Eyes don’t rely on physicality or even traditional “life.” If a concept exists, and can be perceived, she can sever its origin.

So God’s Word retreating isn’t proof that he’s immune. It’s the opposite: he’s fully aware that if he takes one step too far, becomes tangible in any way, or tries to act, Shiki will see and kill him. His claim is an act of self-preservation disguised as superiority: a bluff meant to save face rather than a true counter to her power. He openly concedes that any further engagement would lead to his death. Thus, the fight ends in a stalemate only because he refuses to push further, not because he’s stronger, making Shiki’s performance all the more impressive. She nearly kills a being who surpasses even Types in conceptual manipulation, and only conceptual sensory erasure, which affects both sides, lets him survive.

Not only that, but Shiki even corrects God's Word on her being unable to kill words:

The mage claimed that even I couldn't kill words. Yet, even words will someday perish. All things fade, vanish, and succumb to death. Without this mortality, the boundary between past and future would blur. It is because things don't return that we cherish them, fiercely guarding against their loss. Why, then, do we deem something non-eternal because it disappears? Even forgotten, the fact that it existed will not change. Only the receiving vessel, our hearts, undergoes change.

I should have spoken. Seeking eternity in oblivion is a futile pursuit.

Things meant to be forgotten are naturally consigned to peaceful slumber, free from further distortion. This act of forgetting, itself, becomes a form of eternity.

Now I understand. SHIKI, the boy within me, had retreated into oblivion.

He carefully laid those truly precious memories to rest, ensuring they wouldn't be warped by my present self.

Even if I cannot remember them, their existence remains irrefutable.

The mage must have known this, but he could not accept it as an answer.

Perhaps lacking a self, he craved eternity in words, the seemingly undying entity, precisely because he possessed nothing truly his own. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

To summarize: In Chapter 6, Shiki demonstrates the ability to resist even conceptual overwriting of reality. Her Origin and MEoDP exist as ontological truths, fundamental aspects of existence, placing her on the same metaphysical level as high-tier reality warpers. This allows her to bypass and even kill reality-defining laws.

Shiki doesn’t merely endure reality manipulation; she actively counters it. Her MEoDP can perceive and strike at death lines even while reality is being rewritten, before the alteration fully takes effect. This is not simply reaction time but an inherent trait of her nature: her speed and existential clarity enable her to reach and destroy a concept before it stabilizes.

If a reality warper attempts to enforce a new law that threatens her, Shiki can kill them before it's fully spoken into existence. And even if the law takes hold, she can target and sever the death of the law itself, as she did with Araya’s bounded field and Mugen’s conceptual space.

The only reason Kurogiri’s alteration temporarily succeeded is because he removed the very concept of sight, nullifying her ability to perceive death lines. But even then, he admitted that if Shiki got close again, he couldn’t stop her. In fact, he had to halt the fight preemptively: not because he won, but because he knew any further conflict would end with his death.

In other words, Shiki didn’t just survive a clash with a high-level conceptual manipulator: she forced him to back down out of fear. Her feats in this chapter place her as one of the few characters capable of directly challenging and even erasing reality warpers from existence.

--------

I understand this was very long in comparison to the others, but that's to be expected for the main character of the series honestly.

To summarize, Shiki Ryougi is a superhuman “program” with an empty core existence that grants her boundless potential, enabling her to perform tasks with inhuman perfection and efficiency. With no fixed definitions or limits, she can automatically operate at extraordinary levels in combat, because there is nothing inside her that resists being reshaped.

Shiki’s strength lies in the principle that the “One” divides itself to manifest all things: her family name, Ryougi (Liangyi), means the fundamental division of the void’s potential into complementary opposites. She embodies this at every level: not just Yin and Yang as abstract opposites, but as the real conditions that underlie motion and stillness, power and precision, offense and defense.

Her combat style reflects this perfectly. She doesn’t just balance these forces: she separates and recombines them, continuously remaking her body and mind to express exactly what the moment demands. Whether she’s imitating a fighting style by observing it once, or instinctively piecing together techniques she’s never seen before, it’s possible because she restructures herself from the ground up, like rewriting the software inside a perfectly flexible program.

This adaptability is amplified by her Origin, which transcends physical constraints and aligns her with the universal order beneath the laws of matter. Shiki’s strength, speed, and precision don’t come from training or brute muscle: they come from the void’s capacity to become anything by dividing and recombining its potential.

Just as Lio’s Origin rewrites his body into the perfect predator, Shiki’s Origin rewrites her existence into the perfect response, the flawless answer to any flaw or imbalance she confronts. She doesn’t simply react to threats; she becomes their correction. Her body does not “surpass limits” through force; it ceases to have those limits in the first place, because each part of her is in the exact configuration reality itself cannot reject.

Stillness and motion don’t just guide her fighting, they shape how she exists in each instant. When she is still, she is absolute potential: undivided, holding every possibility. When she moves, she is pure realization: divided into the precise form that resolves the threat. She doesn’t calculate the best move: she is the move. She doesn’t struggle to break through an obstacle: she becomes the exact force that causes the obstacle to collapse.

Because of this, Shiki isn’t bound by human constraints like reaction speed, stamina, or physical endurance. She doesn’t overpower opponents by being stronger; she erases what makes them stand by perfectly dividing and recombining her own being to embody their undoing.

That is the power of her Origin: the point where all opposites converge, separate, and re-join in the only way that is correct. And in that moment of perfect division and reunification, anything flawed, anything that does not align with truth, simply cannot exist against her.

Unlike her male counterpart Nanaya Shiki, who embodies Death itself and refines his body to its ultimate limits as a perfect predator, Ryougi Shiki is something even more unsettling. Nanaya represents killing honed to instinct, but Ryougi is the deconstruction of existence itself.

Her Origin lets her continuously remake her mind and body into the exact answer to any threat, not just defeating her opponent but unraveling the very structure that defines their strength. She doesn’t just overpower a fighting style: she perfectly counterbalances it, exposing its flaws and undoing it at the root.

Where Nanaya’s path is to sharpen himself into a weapon, Ryougi’s path is to remain empty, always able to divide and recombine her potential into whatever is necessary. In that sense, she’s not just a killer; she is the void’s quiet reminder that anything imperfect can be undone.

On top of her constantly evolving and perfectly balanced combat ability, powered by a cosmic force that shapes particles and phenomena, Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception allow her to perceive the boundaries that define an object or concept, enabling her to erase them from existence, returning them to " ". This power extends to anything that influences reality or exists in a definable way: abstract concepts, self-contained realities, words, mental states, laws of reality, and even immortal entities. Anything bound by duality and definitions (infinite vs. finite, alive vs. undying, tangible vs. abstract, etc.) can be killed by her, as her power originates from a boundless source that transcends definition, enabling Ryougi to send anything into a state devoid of meaning.

Her power is so terrifying because it targets the very definition of something. When she looks at a person, she doesn’t just see flesh and bone. She sees lines that say: “this is a living body,” “this is called a human,” “this individual possesses magical potential,” “this one is immortal,” “this one is loved,” “this one exists.” Even the protections or powers they wield appear to her as distinct lines of encoded meaning, and if it can be defined, it can be severed. MEoDP doesn’t merely detect flaws or limits; it reveals existence itself as a layered record of conditions. The moment something becomes actualized, even a conceptual defense or divine trait, it registers as an observable truth, and therefore becomes vulnerable to her gaze.

In effect, this means Shiki can erase supernatural powers, nullify inherent traits like immortality or regeneration, and even destroy memories if they’re tied to a persistent conceptual identity. This includes even the abstract laws governing a space: gravity, momentum, kinetic force, the flow of time, or how cause and effect are structured. She can even erase an entire space and nullify its framework as a side effect.

An interesting nuance of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception is that these laws manifest to her within the entire area they govern. Because such laws don’t physically “exist” as objects you can touch, they can only be grasped conceptually. So for Shiki, who can read them with the MEoDP, they appear immediately within reach, even inside constructs like Mugen, an infinitely looping formless void.

When she kills something with her eyes, it isn’t merely destroyed in the traditional sense. It is conceptually severed from existence itself, which includes its presence in time, space, and even potentiality. This means that what she cuts isn't just removed from reality, but from the possibility of being real again.

Once something is "killed" in this way, it no longer has a future. Even if people remember it, or speak about it, or try to reintroduce it, the actual force or identity behind it is gone. It becomes a hollow memory: something that can be recalled hypothetically but can no longer manifest in reality or be restored through normal or supernatural means. It’s not just erased from the world, but from the framework that allows things to exist at all.

Furthermore, her Origin makes her immune to any external manipulation, rejecting conceptual rewrites, reality-warping, or abilities that would affect her subconscious. This also enhances her abilities by adjusting her physical state to ensure she can enact the death of whatever she perceives with her Mystic Eyes.

In essence, Shiki is a threat to nearly anything in existence, even reality-warpers are prey. Her Origin naturally rejects their alterations by existing on the same plane as the abstract truths they attempt to manipulate. This allows Shiki to use her Origin-enhanced speed to literally outpace reality-warping and strike them down, or simply kill the law itself before it stabilizes. Abstract laws must still be encoded in a specific space, which makes them visible from every angle to her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

In the end, Shiki is one of the most powerful characters ever created. She is the ultimate corrective force in reality. Yet, this is still not her full potential. There is in fact one final aspect of Shiki's power we have to cover, which is her full power state.

Self-Hypnosis Shiki:

Despite her already formidable combat ability, Shiki never fights at her full potential for most of the novel. As she herself states, her melee combat and knife skills are merely imitations, never utilizing the full extent of her family's principle of mental reconstruction:

"What, if you are strong then that's that. There wont be any instances where you go around getting bashed up like me. And you finished off those three guys in an instant. That's an incredible self-created style right there. "

When I spoke, remembering that refreshing instant of when I met this girl, Ryougi seems a bit surprised.

"That's different. I only copied what I had seen. More than that, there's never been an instance where I've used our house's school of fighting."

She nonchalantly spat out that frightening statement, then Ryougi collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shiki’s true fighting style can only be fully realized when she wields a katana. Her knife and Mystic Eyes are merely substitutes, compensating for the absence of a sword. This state, referred to as her "true nature," makes her usual self seem vastly inferior:

No one really knew her true nature.

It was assumed that Ryougi Shiki’s fighting style used her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and a knife. But the reality was different. This woman was really a homicidal maniac with a katana in her hand. Compared to what she is now, her usual self was no match. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Yep, you read that right: everything we have seen up to this point (her knife combat, her immense speed, and even her use of the Mystic Eyes) was only a shadow of her true capabilities. When armed with a katana and fully tapping into her family's teachings, Shiki’s true nature as a killer emerges, elevating her combat prowess to a level far beyond her usual self.

But what is the mechanism behind her fighting style? Well, at its core, Shiki’s true combat ability stems from the full application of the Ryougi family’s principle of mental reconstruction, a technique that serves as the foundation of all martial arts. As she explains:

"The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.

"You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person. I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts, and while you are fighting, is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The Ryougi family took this principle to its extreme, developing a technique known as Self-Hypnosis. This ability completely reconfigures the user's biological state, turning them into a living weapon, entirely synchronized with their katana. All unnecessary human functions, such as breathing, are suppressed:

Long ago, when the Samurai drew their swords, they naturally accepted that they would kill and be killed. It was not because they were prepared for it as warriors. From the moment they gripped the handles of their swords, they were awakened.

As a result their bodies were only suited for killing, as a result their minds were only focused on survival.

It was not just about getting in the right mindset before a match. When they drew their swords their brains changed functions. It wasn’t that their bodies switched over to combat mode. It was that their brains changed their bodies for combat.

Thus, the muscles are used in ways no living creature should ever use them, the blood vessels would change the route of circulation they took and and they would even cease breathing normally... Yes, all human functions that were useless in battle would be eliminated, and all parts of them would switch into combat mode.

“That stance. I’m surprised at your transformation through self-suggestion.”

The Magus in pain muttered, and the woman in the kimono replied “Yes.”

... The moment Shiki opened her eyes, Araya understood the true nature of the anxiety that ran through him. The Magus cursed his own ignorance. He didn’t think that there was a family that had passed down this technique to the present day. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

By reaching this state, the practitioner becomes one with their weapon and attains "Nothingness", where the ego dissolves, distractions vanish, and they embody the flow of nature itself, true mastery of combat. They cease being a person and instead become a perfect tool for killing: a “nothing” that paradoxically holds infinite potential for the task at hand.

This means that, when Shiki specifically uses this technique, she reverts to her most fundamental state, fully embodying her Origin of Nothingness. This transcends her usual state of balancing Yin and Yang, instead reaching the singularity of Taiji, the One, the Root, or Akasha itself.

While her base form works within the limits of reality, harmonizing and optimizing her abilities, Self-Hypnosis Shiki breaks free from all constraints. As she notes, her normal state only partially taps into this power to achieve perfect efficiency but remains bound by inherent limitations. In contrast, Self-Hypnosis fully actualizes her mental reconstruction, transforming her into the purest expression of combat. By perfectly aligning with the infinite potential of her Origin, she transcends the world’s mechanics and becomes the very embodiment of pure combat.

Araya perceives this shift firsthand, observing that Shiki’s stance was not just strong but the most fundamental of all:

Up to now she had been holding her katana with one hand, she gently placed her other hand on the handle.

The center of gravity in her waist lowered slightly. With her stance, the handle of her katana was fixed in front of her abdomen and the blade was gently tilted towards the enemy before her.

Her stance was Seigan, the most widely practiced of the many schools of swordsmanship, a battle stance that has a reputation for being basic and one of the strongest. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Seigan is a foundational stance in traditional swordsmanship, embodying balance and readiness. The sword is held at waist level, angled slightly toward the opponent, with a firm yet relaxed grip. Though simple in appearance, it allows for maximum efficiency, enabling both swift counters and decisive strikes.

For Shiki, this stance holds deeper significance: it reflects her connection to Nothingness. While it may seem basic to the untrained eye, in her hands, it becomes the foundation of absolute combat. The simplicity of Seigan aligns with the concept of Nothingness itself: free of excess, containing only the pure essence of battle. It is the ideal expression of martial prowess, a state of poised stillness, where limitless potential awaits release.

In addition, Araya also noticed that when Shiki entered Self-Hypnosis, she ceased to be "Shiki" in the conventional sense. For a brief moment, Araya catches a glimpse of her true Origin, the presence of Void Shiki:

Now, what was with this woman’s response?

What is this vessel here?

This opponent, when did she stop being Shiki?

“I see... I’ve finally met you...!”

Holding his wound above his shoulder with his remaining left arm, the Magus roared. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

However, this isn’t Void Shiki in her full manifestation. Shiki remains in control, merely channeling her Origin to its fullest extent. Rather than becoming Void, she taps into her essence, pushing herself beyond her mortal limits while retaining her identity.

So, what can Shiki do in this state?

Araya saw it.

Strangely to Araya’s sight, the girl who was initially moving slower than his shout was now acting faster than his yell.

Both arms holding her katana jumped up. It was so fast that it gave the illusion of a flash of light.

The katana she posted overhead was then swung down with even greater speed.

The shout of, Shuku, was bisected by the sound of her blade, zan.

The distortion of space right in front of her should have crushed Shiki, but the entire distortion was “killed”. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

She opens her final fight with Araya Souren by already acting in impossible ways, suddenly accelerating like a flash of light despite moving after Araya chanted his spell, and then cut it before it could even take effect. Then:

The Magus put strength in his arm again.

All he had to do was open the palm of his hand and clasp it again. That’s all he had to do, but...

It was too late; before he could, Ryougi Shiki had already started sprinting.

“–––”

Araya didn’t make a sound and not able to think in time, he accepted the blow.

Ryougi Shiki had literally shot forth like a bullet.

She drew near to the Magus to land a blow, staying in the stance she had while cutting through the distortion.

Ryougi Shiki’s katana cleaved in a straight horizontal line before taking a step forward.

The Bounded Field the Magus had relied on dispersed.

... If it were only the outer perimeter, Araya was ready to let it be killed in one blow. Even if she got close, he intended to use the moment when, Shiki was focused on killing the second layer, to decide the match.

However with just one swing, she simultaneously annihilated two Bounded Fields outside of her range. She took a step forward again.

If she swung her katana at such extreme speed, then what was the speed of her footwork? - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Before Araya can act, before he can even think, Shiki launches forward like a bullet. Without changing her stance, she instantly crosses the battlefield and annihilates his Bounded Fields in a single motion.

Then, the most telling passage of all:

With only one step, Ryougi Shiki reduced the distance between them from four meters to zero.

Her body was flowing. The first step she took was simultaneously a step forward and a step towards unleashing a deadly slash. Her body was so quick, it felt more like time was going backwards rather than coming to a stop.

The deadly slash made a run at him.

The Magus jumped backward. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Here, we see the true nature of her movement:

1. From Araya’s perspective, time wasn’t simply stopping: it was going backwards. Her speed transcended normal comprehension.
2. With a single step, she crossed four meters to zero, treating distance itself as nonexistent.
3. Her movement and attack happened simultaneously, with no delay between thought and action. There was no sequence of steps: her intent became reality in an instant.

Despite jumping back, Araya doesn't even register the attack:

The Magus’s right arm fell off as he jumped out of the way. No, not just his arm. Everything

diagonally from the top of his shoulder to his chest had been cut off and fell to the floor.

The Magus had jumped back after he had been completely cut through. It didn’t even register to him that he had been cut. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya only reacts after he has already been cut. His brain failed to process the event until after it had already happened. If not for his bounded field slightly slowing Shiki’s movement, he would have been bisected in an instant:

... That blow just now surely would have been fatal. If Shiki’s second deadly slash had killed three Bounded Fields instead of two then Araya’s body would have been bisected in half at the torso.

Fugu, the Magus’s first Bounded Field protected the most immediate surroundings. Its protection forced her steps to be slightly more shallow allowing the Magus to escape a fatal wound.

No, that wasn’t the thing that was surprising.

Shiki was completely different from last night. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

While this might initially appear to be a classic "speedblitz," Araya's speed is not just physical; it’s conceptually amplified by his own Origin. As demonstrated in the section about normal Shiki's combat ability, Araya can isolate his will from any interference, making his movements absolute and beyond the reach of perception:

"The mage moves. If Shiki left an afterimage of a white kimono in the darkness of the night as she ran, the man melted into the night as he approached his prey. A demon-like speed that didn't even let you grasp the process of him approaching. He stops, next to the immobile Shiki the mage's black coat flaps in the air. Shiki was unable to respond to the mage's unfelt approach. She had been looking --- she had been looking at the man advance towards her, but she can't perceive that the man is standing right next to her ---." — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

 

Araya's "speed" is not conventional movement, it is the erasure of all contradiction. Through his Origin of Stillness, his actions are imposed on reality in such a way that all potential interference, resistance, or even perception of motion is negated. It's less that he's fast and more that his decision to act collapses possibility. Every path that reality could take is overwritten to result in his desired outcome. In effect, this is fate manipulation applied to motion: he does not move fast, he simply exists at the destination, because nothing within the flow of causality is allowed to disagree.

For Ryougi to bypass even his heightened perception, distort the flow of time, ignore the span of four meters, and perform feats that defy logic suggests something far more profound: Shiki’s swordsmanship transcends all limitations, bypassing not only physical distance but also perception, temporal delays, and any conflicting factors. It’s as if her movements exist outside the constraints of reality itself, weaving through them with absolute precision.

This is happening because, in this state of self-hypnosis, Shiki fully embodies the void of infinite potential: the source where all things exist in possibility but no cause or limit is fixed. Because her actions flow directly from this undivided origin, they transcend the usual chains of cause and effect. She simply is, and her swordsmanship just happens, not because it defies logic, but because it arises from the place that generates all logic yet remains untouched by any single definition. Any distance, delay, or restriction is just one fragment sourced from that same void, unable to bind her when she acts from its totality. In the presence of this perfect swordsmanship, reality’s boundaries dissolve.

The most ridiculous part? Shiki accomplished all of this while essentially dying:

Even if Ryougi Shiki were to awaken, there is nothing she could do. Monitoring her is unnecessary. Besides, given her injuries, even standing would be difficult. Even if she wakes, her body will be incapable of moving properly.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Ryougi Shiki looked at the Magus with her sword still in the swinging position. A single line of fresh blood spilled out from her lips. She herself had not received a wound. However, it was just the wounds from last night reopening. Ryougi Shiki’s body had a few broken ribs and some organ damage; just walking caused regurgitated blood to flow out of her mouth. Even with such wounds, she still unveiled an impressive dance with her blade. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Cough, drops of blood escaped her mouth as she coughed. If it weren’t for the wounds from last night, she might have slashed the Magus without pause and severed his head. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Her body was shattered: broken ribs and internal injuries making even standing an extraordinary feat. Now, imagine how incomprehensibly powerful she would be at her peak.

Though her Origin allows her to transcend the limits of her body, it can’t completely override the damage she's sustained. This results in crucial gaps in her capabilities, which, as Araya himself admitted, allowed him to narrowly escape certain death. Just think: at full strength, there would be no room for escape.

And in case there was still any doubt, Araya clarifies that what Shiki is doing is not merely "moving fast." He directly compares her to ancient swordmasters, whose mastery over space and time was so profound that it seemed as if they could bend reality to their will. These swordmasters could treat significant distances, such as five and a half meters, as if they were nothing. Araya acknowledges that even in her injured state, Shiki could casually close a distance of nine meters with a single step:

It dawned on Araya. For the old style of swordsman who existed in the past, a distance of just five and a half meters was practically nothing. It was likely this Shiki could have closed a distance of about nine meters in a single step. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This highlights once again how fixed limits, like measurable distance, are irrelevant to her swordsmanship. In this state, Shiki fully embodies her Origin of 「 」, the nothingness that holds infinite potential, allowing her to act as the ultimate combatant, her movements indistinguishable from the natural flow of reality itself.

Even Araya's Bounded Fields could only barely stop Ryougi, an incredibly significant feat that highlights how her movements transcend conventional space and time. Araya's Bounded Fields are metaphysical laws stretching across planes and dimensions, impacting not just physical matter, but the soul, mind, and even abstract properties:

Touko had already seen through the fact that Araya had constructed three Bounded Fields arrayed around himself.

Fugu, Kongou, Dakatsu, Taiten, Chiyougiyou, Ouken.

Threads of the Magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions.

Any living thing, touching those circular lines would would have its power stopped.

... Normally, a Bounded Field was a stationary construct; a boundary that protected something immovable. Instead the enemy was performing something monstrous, carrying them with him; centered around himself as he moved. For that reason they were visible but gave off no detectable presence. In close-quarters combat, Araya Souren could be said to be invincible. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

 

The fact that Araya's barriers could only slightly halt Shiki’s attack proves that her movements bypass reality itself, acting as a self-contained flow of existence. The only reason the Bounded Field affected her at all is that Shiki’s physical body still exists within the fabric of reality, allowing the field to exert some minimal influence through it. 

This also means that in this state, Shiki outright ignores reality warping. Araya’s barriers enforce stasis by passively bending reality’s laws, yet Shiki moves through, unbound by any definition or restriction.

Since all things in the void simply are, unchanging and in potential, Shiki’s action, flowing from that same state, simply is. Nothing can impose change or delay on it, because any limit is just one possibility within the greater whole she already embodies.

Skipping towards the end of their confrontation, Shiki demonstrates her ability to predict Araya’s movements before they even happen. She anticipates his teleportation to the garden and leaps from the tenth floor, landing at the spot where he would materialize before he even does:

The Magus suddenly appeared in the garden, without a moment’s rest from the spatial transition he stuck out his right arm.

Looking up into the night sky, he spread the palm of his hand to crush the circular tower.

In that moment.

His body was cut at the shoulder.

“Ryougi... Shiki.”

Looking up into the night sky, the Magus muttered.

“You...”

“Gah.” Red blood spread as it scattered from the Magus’s mouth.

The powdery blood didn’t drip to the ground, nor did it wet the face of Ryougi Shiki who had slashed him. Instead it scattered in the wind.

“It can’t... be.”

Just as he said, he couldn’t believe it.

And it was only natural. When the Magus had appeared in the garden and looked up toward the night sky, what was in his field of vision was Ryougi Shiki; she had jumped from the tenth floor.

This opponent, with no hesitation had jumped from the tenth floor corridor just as the Magus had connected the space from the apartment complex to the garden to move through. He didn’t understand what kind of confidence could have led to such an action? There was no way he could have understood.

Even if she really had predicted that the Magus would appear in the garden, who would think of jumping from the tenth floor?

It was beyond reckless, in the end, it could be classified as a miracle.

Jumping from the tenth floor aiming for just one person? How was such a thing any different from dropping a needle from the tenth floor and expecting it to hit a target?

Nevertheless without hesitation his opponent had jumped.

Even while the Magus’s form remained on the tenth floor, she jumped towards the Araya Souren who had yet to actually exist and would be standing in the garden. And the moment the Magus materialized in the garden his body was cut. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shiki’s ability to predict Araya’s teleportation before it even happens isn’t just enhanced reflexes or sharper senses. It comes from her deep connection to her Origin of Nothingness, a state that goes beyond normal time and space.

Nothingness here means the fundamental source beneath everything that exists: the place before time, space, and cause-and-effect fully form. When Shiki taps into this state, she isn’t limited by how things normally unfold. Instead, she perceives the flow of reality before it becomes fixed or certain.

Because of this, Shiki can sense not only what is happening now but also what is about to happen, like reading the blueprint of reality itself. This lets her move with perfect timing and accuracy, even when others see the situation as chaotic or unpredictable.

Her leap from the tenth floor to catch Araya is a clear example: she doesn’t just react after he teleports, she anticipates and intercepts because she understands the hidden patterns that govern his movement.

In short, Shiki’s Origin lets her step outside regular time and space, acting with knowledge of all possible outcomes. This is why her movements seem impossible: they come from a place where reality’s usual rules don’t apply.

The significance of Shiki's final diving attack also lies in her ability to shatter Araya's Sarira bones:

He immediately used his arm, protruded to crush the mansion, as a shield, but the entire arm was sliced as he was cut in two from the shoulder to the waist. Despite the protection of the Sarira in his left arm, it seems it couldn't withstand a slash containing the impact of a crash from 10 floors. -Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Those bones are infused with the enlightened essence of a buddha, someone who has achieved a state of liberation from reality's rules and exist in equilibrium with universal truths, allowing it to block even MEoDP:

--- Still inexperienced. I've embedded a Buddha's remains in this left hand. There are no places where you can easily kill it, not even with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. A simple act like cutting it, Araya Soren will not be hurt by such things." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

He blocked Ryougi Shiki's katana with his remaining left arm. The left arm embedded with the Sarira was still in good condition in his body. Even Ryougi Shiki cannot easily cut the protection of a saint. -Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

For Shiki to shatter this Sarira is hugely significant. It suggests her attacks, even those not using her Mystic Eyes directly (since Araya could still block her regular slashes), can cut through her opponent’s essence, not just their physical form. Araya even says her Mystic Eyes are a substitute for her true nature as a master swordswoman, whose skills transcend space, time, and sequential limits. This unbounded quality applies not just to her movement but also to her strikes: her slashes can bypass physical makeup to directly strike an opponent’s fundamental concept. Essentially, she taps into Nothingness to reveal the truth that all things originate from the void, sharing a fundamental nature that can be harmed equally.

The reason the diving slash broke the Sarira, while regular attacks did not, is the immense force from the fall, greatly amplifying the strike’s power. Martial arts often teach using the environment to enhance attacks, and Shiki’s perfect Self-Hypnosis mastery lets her channel this falling force with devastating precision, turning an apparently nonsensical move into a flawless, “perfect” blow:

The deadly slash just now was the finishing blow.

Honestly, it was an astonishingly nonsensical blow, but at the same time it was as perfect a blow as it could have been. Had he received it, he certainly could only perish right? - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The Sarira functions by negating any force that could disrupt its integrity. But Shiki’s absolute motion in Self-Hypnosis counters this fundamentally. She doesn’t simply “attack” in the usual sense; rather, she makes reality itself an extension of her will, adapting it for combat. While the Sarira blocks normal slashes, Shiki’s flawlessly executed diving attack, amplified by the fall’s force, broke through its divine protection.

------

In her Self-Hypnosis state, Shiki achieves the perfection of " ", applying its non-dual, limitless nature to her swordsmanship. This allows her to perceive space as zero and time as always "now," much like how Nothingness transcends all distinctions and limitations. Having reached perfect equilibrium and synchronization with the world and the flow of combat, SH Shiki is unbound by any restrictions: her strikes will always land, no matter the obstacle. Physical distance becomes irrelevant; her attacks appear instantaneous or even retroactive from her opponent’s perspective, and she performs multiple actions simultaneously without delay. This boundless perspective also allows her to glimpse all possible futures and act on the most optimal course of action to anticipate her opponent. Her sword slashes can damage an opponent’s very concept, bypassing both physical and metaphysical protections, even without relying on her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. This is because all definable ideas or objects in creation are sourced from the same exact void she embodies, making defenses “false” distinctions. Moreover, she channels the environment itself to enhance her martial mastery, producing “perfect strikes” capable of shattering divine protections like Araya’s Sarira bones.

Add to this the fact that she can still easily use her MEoDP in this state, and SH Shiki becomes the full embodiment of " " itself: a perfected system with no limiting boundary, allowing her strikes to always land regardless of distance, perception, time, causality, or any constraint within space-time. Her actions flow as naturally as the unfolding of existence itself, becoming a predetermined reality against which there is no defense or evasion, already encoded within the structure of the world and bypassing all physical laws and the perception of sentient beings.

And all of this was performed by a massively injured Shiki, so one can only imagine how absurdly powerful Shiki at her actual peak would be.

Speaking of her peak...

How strong is Void Shiki?

Void Shiki is Ryougi's Origin personality, representing the avatar of " " :

—The simple truth is that I was born dead. Perhaps brain-dead would be more accurate. Normally a newborn will have an infant's body, and this body in turn will be quickened by the first stirring of what's to become its intellect. I did not have that; I was born with nothing whatsoever. By rights I should have died immediately. That which is near to " " simply must not be born bodily into the world. You heard this from Touko, didn't you? The world itself wards off anything that might disrupt it. Ordinarily, indeed, I should not have been born at all.

—Ordinarily a creature whose being is poured out straight from " " simply dies in its mother's womb. That was my case. But the Ryougi clan possessed a technique for keeping such a thing alive.

—So I was born, alive, but without so much as a stirring of intellect. " " is utter nullity, and thus an intellectual nullity as well. I should simply have "lived" with no cognition of the outside world.

—But not only did they keep me alive, they woke me up. They did not implant some readymade personality into me. They awakened the " " which is my origin. The outside world was thrust upon me.

I - the void and vacant "I" - was forced to look at it. I found it an eyesore. I found it altogether too troublesome. So I in turn thrust it upon those two.

—It was only natural. The outside world, if you could call it that, was the most wearisome thing imaginable. Because it was, all of it, down to the last of its innumerable atoms, "already known" to me.

—But you do have a will. She seemed to him then such a tragic figure that he had to say it. Again she nodded.

—I do, after a fashion. A personality of the flesh as such arises in every human, but ordinarily it does not come to any kind of self-awareness. Usually, before that can happen, the intellect stirs to life. From out of the body, more precisely the brain, the intellect is produced.

—The intellect borne out of the brain's activity becomes a personality and gains executive function over the fleshly body. At that point any personality which dwelt in the flesh becomes meaningless.

—It's because of this that the intellect tends to treat the brain which gave birth to it as if it were something specially set apart from the rest of the fleshly body, even though it is just one part of the whole.

—Software is useless without hardware, but hardware can't function without software. The personality borne of the intellect forgets this truth: it forgets that it is the body's product, and it imagines that it is the creator of this fleshly, embodied "I" which it finds itself to be. That is the ordinary case. I am different only in that the order in which these things happened was different for me.

—Even so, the fact that I'm here, now, talking to you is entirely due to the personality of Shiki. If she wasn't here, I wouldn't even have language. I am, after all, nothing but flesh.

—I think I get it, he said. Your ability to "know" or "perceive" the outside world is dependent on Shiki's personality.

—Correct. I am simply an unpowered piece of hardware. Without the requisite software I am just an inert box.

—I am a hollow container which only gazes inward, which communes solely with death - in other words with what Magi call the "Root", though I see no value in it whatsoever.

—Mind you, right now I think there might be a little value to it after all. I could heal a wound like this, for instance. I could come to your aid. Disturb the universe a little. But you don't wish for any of that, do you?

—No, he answered. Shiki's specialty is breaking things. It would be asking too much. I'd be afraid for myself. How serious, that reply? He gave a light smile. Like a butterfly scattered in the afternoon light, her gaze left him in a moment. She lowered her hand, softly as the snowfall.

—Quite right. Shiki can only destroy. And to you, after all, I suppose I am she.

—Shiki?

A long pause.

—My origin is nihil. From nihil I originated, the flesh that I am, the corpse in the womb to which life was somehow given. That is why Shiki can perceive death. For two years, in her comatose state, she was unable to view the outside world, and could do nothing but gaze into the nihil that Ryougi Shiki "is." More than simply seeing, she felt death.

—All that time she was floating there in that ocean which others call the "swirl of the Root." Shipwrecked all alone in the midst of " ".Yes, indeed. If nihil is her origin, then most likely she wills to bring all things to nought. Shiki is able to kill anything without exception, for that reason alone. The personality, Shiki, strives to negate. Why? Because that is the original pattern of her soul. The inclination to nihil, which ardently wishes the death of all creation.

—That is Shiki's capability. Much like Asagami Fujino, she perceives a unique channel in which things unseen by others become visible. When she "looks" at them, she is seeing a glimpse of the architect's floor-plan for all reality. That is the "swirl of the Root."

—But I can see much further than that. No, rather - I may well be that "swirl" myself.

She was looking him right in the eye, but her tone of voice was insecure, uncertain. As if to let slip, between moments, an utterly incommunicable loneliness.

—The swirl of the Root is a "place" where all causalities interlace, where all things are in potential, and therefore where nothing is whatsoever. That is my true shape. Though I am merely bound to it, I am nonetheless a part of it. And the part and the whole of a nothingness are the same, wouldn't you say?

—So I can do - whatever. Recompose the the laws of nature, revert living beings to their evolutionary forebears. To overturn the system of the world, there's simply nothing to it. It's not a remaking. I simply crush the old one with the new world in its place.

She was faintly smiling as she said that. There was a wry twist to her mouth, as if she was mocking how ridiculous she sounded.

—But it's all so pointless, isn't it? Such a tiresome thing. Such nonsense, you might as well dream it up. As indeed I do. Without seeing, without thinking, without even dreaming

- I dream. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Void Shiki is not just a person, she is an existence predating identity itself. Born from absolute emptiness, she lacks ordinary intellect or self-awareness and exists primarily as a vessel meant to gaze inward. Fundamentally alien to the world, she should not exist within it. Yet, through the Ryougi family’s awakening techniques, she manifests not a fabricated personality but a direct embodiment of the Root, the primordial void from which all things originate:

The swirl of the Root is a "place" where all causalities interlace, where all things are in potential, and therefore where nothing is whatsoever. — Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

Paradoxically, because it encompasses every possibility, every idea, it is defined as "Nothing." Not in a literal sense, but as a technical limitation: something that holds all possible definitions cannot be reduced to any single one, and thus it can only be described as "Nothing," though even that is an oversimplification:

If you really wished to pronounce this term, call it “Kara.”Its meaning varied depending on each individual’s understanding. To put it in simple terms, it was the Spiral of Origin. However, since the Spiral of Origin was called the Spiral of Origin, it was no longer “ ”.To properly express this term was a source of headache during the production of the drama CDs. -Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

Every idea you use to name it is already sourced from the void, meaning you are using a fraction to define its greater whole, a reductive approach. Not only that, but the very act of naming it, or even your ability to think about it, is itself one of the possibilities that arise from it in the first place.

This makes this void (Also known as the Spiral of Origin / the Root / Akasha) an omnipotent, boundless source where all concepts arise. Holding infinite potential, it can create all possible realities, making it the very foundation of existence:

A mage's ultimate goal, you see, is to reach the 'maelstrom of origins'. It's also called the Akashic Record, but it may be better to just regard the edge of the maelstrom as having such properties attached to it.

The thing called the maelstrom of origins, it is probably the birthplace of everything. All phenomena flow out from it. If you know the origin, the results are naturally produced. To describe it as it is, you could say that it is the 'perfect knowledge'. By creating a standard like perfection or the like, we are ultimately limiting the concept, so even that description is incorrect. But since that the easiest way of defining it, the name stuck.

Essentially, all the branches of magic that have spread throughout this world are nothing more than one branch of a small river flowing out from this maelstrom. This is the reason that every country has their own traditions and legends. The core is the same, but what decorates the exterior is the background of the one who understood that 'river'. Astrology, alchemy, kabbala, spiritualism, rune, the innumerable researchers. Their origins are the same, so in the end they hold the same final destination in mind. Because, they who have touched the tip of the stream that split off from the maelstrom of origins called magic, they have imagined what lay before --- the shape of the beginning.. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This passage reinforces that the Akashic Records, or the Maelstrom of Origins (yet another name for it), is the birthplace of all phenomena. Even defining it as "perfect knowledge" imposes a limitation, as its true nature defies finite concepts. Only its "edge" can be described in terms we understand. Every magical system in the world originates from this singular source, with cultural interpretations merely acting as external "decorations."

Furthermore, the novel states:

Infinity is not 「 」. For infinity to remain infinite, the finite has to be defined. Without the finite there cannot exist infinity. Because things have an end, we can observe the thing called infinity.

If there really is no finite, then it’s not infinite but 「 」. If the finite can be comprehended, Shiki could detect and slash through it. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even the concept of infinity as we understand it is not 「 」, because infinity relies on the finite to be defined or observed. We recognize infinity because something has an end: without the finite as a point of reference, infinity itself would lose meaning. Thus, infinity is contingent on its opposite, while the void is contingent on nothing. On the contrary, the moment you name something, it is no longer part of the void.

Void Shiki’s Origin is the Root itself, and she embodies what the Root’s “personality” might be if it ever gained sentient will. From her perspective, reality is fully known down to the last atom, making all distinctions meaningless. Boundaries and concepts, which define creation, are irrelevant to her. She exists in a perfect harmony where all possibilities coexist.

This makes Void Shiki the most powerful being imaginable without being genuinely omnipotent. As she herself states, she can grant almost any wish, rewrite the laws of existence, or dismantle and remake all of creation under an entirely new set of rules. However, to her, such boundless power holds no true value:

—That is Shiki's capability. Much like Asagami Fujino, she perceives a unique channel in which things unseen by others become visible. When she "looks" at them, she is seeing a glimpse of the architect's floor-plan for all reality. That is the "swirl of the Root."

—But I can see much further than that. No, rather - I may well be that "swirl" myself.

She was looking him right in the eye, but her tone of voice was insecure, uncertain. As if to let slip, between moments, an utterly incommunicable loneliness.

—The swirl of the Root is a "place" where all causalities interlace, where all things are in potential, and therefore where nothing is whatsoever. That is my true shape. Though I am merely bound to it, I am nonetheless a part of it. And the part and the whole of a nothingness are the same, wouldn't you say?

—So I can do - whatever. Recompose the the laws of nature, revert living beings to their evolutionary forebears. To overturn the system of the world, there's simply nothing to it. It's not a remaking. I simply crush the old one with the new world in its place.

She was faintly smiling as she said that. There was a wry twist to her mouth, as if she was mocking how ridiculous she sounded.

—But it's all so pointless, isn't it? Such a tiresome thing. Such nonsense, you might as well dream it up. As indeed I do. Without seeing, without thinking, without even dreaming

- I dream. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

While Shiki with MEoDP can observe the fundamental nature of " ", Void Shiki is so completely attuned to it that she might as well be the Root itself. This grants her virtually unlimited power, yet to her, such power is ultimately inconsequential. Reality is no more than a fleeting dream: a random, transient arrangement within the vast nothingness she embodies. All of creation and its myriad possibilities exist merely as subconscious reflections of her mind, a dream she effortlessly conjures without deeper purpose or concern. Her statement, "I dream," encapsulates this notion: existence is simply an extension of her subconscious, something she manifests and manipulates almost without thought.

We have already seen that regular Shiki’s MEoDP enables her to kill anything, whether physical matter, abstract concepts like words, or entire sealed universes. Yet MEoDP represents only a fraction of Void Shiki’s true power:

Eyes of Direct Death is only one aspect of the powers of this body called "Ryougi Shiki". - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Encyclopedia: Mystic Eyes of Death Perception [Others], p.035-036.

We've also seen how Shiki, by channeling Void's perfection into the single act of swordsmanship, can transcend the usual boundaries of existence, perceiving time as now and reducing distance to zero. This ability is a direct reflection of Void's limitless nature. Both Shiki's Self-Hypnosis and MEoDP serve as powerful indicators of the boundless potential inherent in Void’s true power. These abilities are mere glimpses of her unbounded and all-encompassing nature.

However, it's important to clarify that Void is not TRULY omnipotent, just the highest possible non-omnipotent being that can ever exist. This is evident from her own words: while she is profoundly attuned to the nature of " ", she remains part of it and bound to it:

—The swirl of the Root is a "place" where all causalities interlace, where all things are in potential, and therefore where nothing is whatsoever. That is my true shape. Though I am merely bound to it, I am nonetheless a part of it. And the part and the whole of a nothingness are the same, wouldn't you say? - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

This is also why she stated she can only grant most wishes to Mikiya: Void can fulfill virtually any wish, except for those that reach the absolute peak, like achieving true omnipotence or altering her foundational nature. But these limitations aren't really relevant within the scope of Kara no Kyoukai's story.

This becomes more noticeable if you imagine a cross-verse scenario where the opponent comes from a setting with a sentient, true omnipotent being. In that case, Void wouldn't be able to overcome them, since her mind, while vastly powerful, isn't absolutely perfect, and she can't resist powers directly backed by a true omnipotent will.

Also, when Void mentions "human" wishes, it doesn't weaken her ability either. It's more about context: a more primitive species wouldn't even conceive of the kinds of desires humans have, while a hyper-advanced species would have fewer wishes that couldn't be fulfilled by themselves.

Moreover, Void Shiki desires to obliterate all of creation, as she finds it tiresome and wishes to return it to Nothingness. Despite this, Shiki’s immense mental strength allows her to suppress Void's impulses. While Ryougi Shiki loathes creation, she still values her existence for herself and Mikiya, preferring meaning over total dissolution. Ultimately, as the body, Void is forced to follow Shiki’s will, who, as the mind, gives her the capacity to reason and express herself:

—That said, mine and Shiki's dreams seem to be different. Shiki, you see - she hates to be alone. I know. So pedestrian, isn't it? How tiresome Shiki is. How tiresome reality is. How tiresome - I am.

Her voice, barely even a whisper. She was looking somewhere afar, deep into the night. As if it was of incalculable importance, something never to be seen again.

—But there's no helping it, I'm afraid. I am a body and nothing more, after all. We are the one thing, she and I, so I've no choice but to follow along with her dream.

—Shiki is looking at the outside, while I am looking at the interior. But the interior, Ryougi Shiki's body, is in communion with that "place" they call the Root. So even though I see only the inside of her, I see...everything.

—And that is so painful, so tedious, so utterly pointless that I have to close my eyes to it. I will keep them closed. For me there is nothing otherwise. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

This further shows she isn't 100% omnipotent, as Ryougi wouldn't be able to override an omnipotent's perfect will. However, this limitation in no way diminishes Void's immense power. When actual omnipotence is the only limit, it’s clear that her strength is still insane.

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Void Shiki is the avatar of 「 」, embodying its non-dual perspective where time and space lose all meaning, and no limited concept can contain her vast existence. As such, she stands as the most powerful non-omnipotent being imaginable, capable of effortlessly editing, destroying, or reshaping all of creation, much like a subconscious mind effortlessly alters a dream. For her, distinctions like "here" and "not here" are meaningless, as she exists unified with all possibilities and realities.

The key difference between Void and Stillness lies in their relationship to the world: Stillness must impose its will to create an ideal state, while Void requires no such effort because all possibilities already reside within her.

However, Void is not 「 」 itself. She is an avatar, an expression of that absolute source, carrying immense authority and power, but not its full totality. Consequently, she has inherent limitations: she requires a physical body to exist, and a sentient mind to express herself, specifically, the independent consciousness of normal Ryougi Shiki, who can suppress her.

In simple terms:

• 「 」 is the true omnipotent source of all existence.
• Void is a finite being who directly channels 「 」 within reality. She wields god-like power but retains certain constraints: dependence on a physical form and the fact that she is a manifestation, not the entirety, of 「 」.

Thus, while Void has some limitations that 「 」 does not, only a true omnipotent being could exploit these vulnerabilities. Any lesser entity attempting to challenge her would be effortlessly negated by her will, an extension of 「 」’s absolute authority over all finite existence.

Void’s only real vulnerabilities are:

1. Suppression by a true omnipotent being possessing a perfect, absolute mind.
2. Her reliance on the Ryougi body, which can be dominated either by normal Ryougi or by an invader transferring their consciousness into it (as Araya planned) to seize control of her powers. However, this would require immense willpower, as the invader must constantly resist Void’s intrinsic drive to return all things to nothingness. Attempting to possess Void’s body while she is active and hostile is effectively impossible, and normal Ryougi can employ her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and immense mental strength to repel such attempts. This vulnerability manifests only in rare cases, such as when Void is unconscious or suppressed, and even then, maintaining control is an extraordinary challenge.

Outside of these exceptional circumstances, Void Shiki remains effectively untouchable.

How strong is Araya Souren?

Araya Souren is arguably the most underrated and misunderstood character in the entire franchise. While he may not match Shiki at her absolute peak, his power is staggering, placing him firmly as the second most powerful character in the series. Fans often hype figures like the Ultimate Ones or True Ancestors, but few truly grasp just how overwhelmingly strong Araya Souren is. Outside of Ryougi Shiki, there is virtually no one who can stand against him, even before he attains the full extent of his abilities.

To put it into perspective, not everyone may get this comparison, but Araya is to Kara no Kyoukai what Priscilla is to Claymore: an overwhelmingly dominant antagonist who eclipses nearly everyone else and requires an even stronger figure (in Claymore’s case, Teresa), to finally be defeated. Likewise, Araya would have utterly crushed any opposition within the setting if not for Ryougi Shiki and his relentless drive to transcend reality itself, a goal so consuming that he disregarded all other objectives or interests.

Since Araya is the main antagonist (though also considered the true protagonist of the story, according to the guidebook), this section will likely be quite lengthy, perhaps even more so than Shiki's because of the philosophical depth of his powers.

Araya Souren's Origin is Stillness, also known as Suspension or Stasis:

The mage's discourse continues. "As a reference, I do not die. My origin is 'suspension'. Someone who has woken to their origin becomes ruled by that origin itself. Someone who has already stopped - how can you kill him?" Shiki doesn't reply. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Those who have their Origin awakened are bound by their Origin, huh? I see; my impulse was ‘stillness’.”

The Magus spoke sarcastically, not for anyone else to hear. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This principle may initially seem complex, but its core concept is straightforward once understood.

At its core, Stillness is the power to stop things. While this may sound lame on a surface level, Araya Souren takes it to its highest logical extent, making it incredibly broken. As he says, he cannot die because he is "already stopped."

What this means is that, much like the dead, Araya no longer participates in the natural cycle of reality. But unlike the dead, who are still somewhat subject to laws (reincarnation, return to the Fount, etc.), Araya exists entirely apart. He has removed himself from all causality, all law. Instead of ceasing to exist, he exists as a closed system: a creation unto himself, governed only by rules of his own making.

This reveals the true strength of Stillness: it doesn't just stop movement or life: it halts all forms of change: entropy, time, death, causality, even conceptual interaction. And when all of these are stopped, then there is nothing left that can limit Araya’s power. He enters a stasis so complete that nothing else can exist within it unless he allows it to.

That's why he specializes in bounded fields: by creating a barrier, he isolates himself from the outside world, "freezing" its rules and allowing him to create his own personal laws within the boundaries of the barrier.

Although Araya is average as a magus, his talents relating to Bound Field construction are exceptional.

A bound field divides what is inside from the outside. In order to construct a complete world from his own body, first Araya must complete himself.

Araya, who has no exceptional talents, is able to become a first-class bound field master by completing himself through the accumulation of ages and sheer determination.

That which divides the inside from the outside — Kara no Kyoukai is his story.

Araya symbolizes the paradoxical spiral, the most important event in this tale.

Talking about the impossible, what Araya accomplished is like achieving the pinnacle within a field while being completely oblivious of even the name of this subject field.

– Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

If you think about it, when something is 'stopped,' it is divided from the outside world. The external rules no longer affect it. It becomes an independent existence governed by its own internal laws. Under this lens, Stillness reveals itself as the very principle that enables distinction and creation: every reality, entity, or concept is an 'inside', a defined zone separated from the 'outside.' Interactions occur only through specific rules, which themselves are enclosed systems.

That is why Stillness, as an Origin, is essentially a world-construction principle for Araya Souren. By understanding and enforcing separation, he can modify reality according to static, absolute boundaries, "constructing a complete world from his body". But there is a catch: to build a complete world, he must complete himself. That means understanding all things he wants to incorporate so fully that they become internalized. If something remains “outside,” it cannot be stopped, and it cannot be ruled. Only when an idea or concept becomes part of your self-system, when it is no longer alien but comprehended and integrated, can you dictate its nature within your bounded field.

This is why Araya constantly studied death. To him, death is less about physically dying and more about "the death of possibility." When something is stopped from becoming or doing something else. And if you think about it, that is how all of reality is structured: by deciding what something can and cannot do, you define it. A dog cannot be a cat. A person cannot be a tree. Those are "boundaries" that cannot be crossed because doing so would contradict the logic of reality. By understanding how reality "stops" and limits undesired change or possibility, Araya is able to comprehend and manipulate those boundaries to shape his personal world, with his understanding gradually increasing over time.

In other words, Stillness and the One (“ ”) are not so far apart in practical terms. Both draw from the same infinite potential where all things exist in a stopped state, unchanging and inert until given structure. The key difference is that the One is the pure, unified core, a state where all separation dissolves, while Stillness is the outer boundary, where a self can stand apart and wield that potential selectively. This is what makes Araya’s power so overwhelming, even among the other top tiers in the Type Moon verse.

This makes Araya Souren fundamentally a concept manipulator, capable of shaping reality according to his will. His willpower, in fact, is consistently described as being extraordinarily formidable, so much so it can overpower the collective will of billions:

That Counter Force is the consciousness of every human being on earth. Do you really think you can win against the will of nearly six billion people all by yourself?”

“I will win.”

Without any hesitation and without exaggeration, the Magus replied immediately.

A living hell that had collected the deaths of many people. The Magus had imagined each person’s history and the future that should have existed beyond their actual end. No matter how meaningless the death was, he lived as if it were his own.

Touko thought it was an extreme ego, forged like steel, that would win; even if it meant making all of humanity into his enemy.

Araya Souren possessed that. Whether it was true or not wasn’t really an issue, what mattered was his unshakable will to assert it as truth. When he asked this question, Araya Souren must have clearly imagined having to confront the dignity of six billion people; one by one.

Araya had answered that he would win. He imagined the struggle as if it were reality, even after realizing how painful it would be. This strength of will was the strength of the Magus. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya is even explicitly described as the physical manifestation of Hell itself: an inexorable force that rejects all opposition, reshaping reality through his absolute judgment and trapping everything within a cycle of endless suffering and cosmic punishment:

... Hellish. What I mean by saying that, Kokuto, is that if the idea of Hell was to gain a will and take the form of a man, my hypothesis is that it would be something like him. To the degree that he couldn't accept others, he was just absorbing misery. His ability as a mage was full of flaws, but his strong ego surpassed everything.

--- It was a coarse guy like that who I fell for." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The novel repeatedly emphasizes how Araya's mere presence generates an overwhelming sense of restriction, fear, and inevitability, reinforcing that Stillness is not merely the absence of motion, but an active force that dominates space and imposes control over all within it. His aura alone evokes deep, almost primal dread:

“Indeed. In fact, it’s been two years since we met like this.”
A heavy voice that almost seized the listener’s brain.
—Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

The door—through which no visitor should have come—opened.
Silent, yet accompanied by a presence unlike any other, a man entered. He was tall, broad-shouldered, his grim face cloaked in shadow like a philosopher eternally pondering an unsolvable question. He looked as if he had always been this way.
His gaze was stern and sincere, but carried a sense of finality so intense it bordered on terror. The atmosphere grew so stifling it felt like the room had become a vacuum. Even she, who did not fear death—only the brevity of life—found herself sensing death’s presence in this man.
—Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

With that being said, the first, immediate fundamental property of Araya’s Origin awakening is true immortality:

The mage's discourse continues."As a reference, I do not die. My origin is 'suspension'. Someone who has woken to their origin becomes ruled by that origin itself. Someone who has already stopped - how can you kill him?" Shiki doesn't reply. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya’s soul is “stopped”, not in a literal or physical sense, but metaphysically. It has detached from the flow of change and decay that defines normal life. He exists in a static state where only truths he accepts hold sway. Death, which is change, simply cannot apply to him: Stillness rejects it outright. It is similar to how Ryougi's Nothingness rejects outside influence, but even more absolute. This means no external force can corrupt or destroy Araya's mind or soul. His consciousness is a sealed world, immune to any concept that might otherwise alter or erase it, not even the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception can “kill” what does not move.

However, this is also a limitation. Stillness implies perfect isolation and non-interaction with the physical world. The moment Araya’s soul acts through a physical body, that very act introduces contradiction. His vessel, being material, cannot be completely detached from external reality and is therefore bound by its laws. His soul is eternal, but it is anchored to a single vessel that can rot and decay:

Araya Souren was not like some Puppeteer who had died after preparing a completely identical copy. He still had not experienced death. His body had rotted away several times over the years, each time this happened he maintained his consciousness and so far continued to live on. Araya Souren was only one person. If this body perished, there would be no refuge next time. Things had to be handled carefully. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This body will die one day, but I was prepared for this happening. It's quite fitting that the price I pay for capturing Ryougi is my death. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

His continued existence depends entirely on maintaining this deteriorating body. Suspension allows his will to arrest decay and keep the corpse functional far beyond its natural lifespan. The state of his blood serves as evidence:

> “The mage coughs out blood. His blood was a sand-like powder. When Shiki removed the knife, she straight away thrust it toward the mage’s neck with all the strength in her two hands. The fight had already been decided, but she was desperately trying to deliver another critical blow.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

> “The powdery blood didn’t drip to the ground, nor did it wet the face of Ryougi Shiki who had slashed him. Instead, it scattered in the wind.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

His body no longer lives in a biological sense but functions as an extension of his will and Origin. His internal organs are already dead and non-functional. His blood has dried up to the point of resembling crimson sand. Even severed parts remain animate and ready to act independently from his main body:

> “Simultaneously, his right arm that had been cut off sprung up by itself. The arm slithered like a snake across the floor, and pounced at Ryougi Shiki’s neck.”— Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This demonstrates that Araya’s body is no longer governed by ordinary biology or physics, but by metaphysical command. Yet, this power has limits: while his soul is immovable, the vessel is not indestructible. If it is completely destroyed, he has no next host.

The mechanism here is that Araya’s body is sourced from the “outside” and is therefore naturally subject to its laws; chief among them being death and decay. However, because his soul forms the foundation of his being, and the soul belongs to the “inside,” his will can override those laws. This creates a paradox: the world constantly tries to suppress and erode his body, while his spirit continuously resists that pressure, striving to make it absolute. As a result, the world may damage his body, but Araya’s will either rejects or delays those effects, maintaining functional continuity.

Shiki’s Mystic Eyes exploit this very contradiction. They perceive the faint “threads”; the minimal motion necessary for his static soul to interface with the world:

"... Indeed, I was foolish. I should have had all the proof I needed after the events at the hospital. Whether it is dead or alive, if it moves you cut off the root of that motion. That is your ability. Even if I am a stopped organism, as long I exist like this there is a thread that permits my existence. If that is cut I would definitely die. The unique exception is this left arm, but even that can't be hidden forever. No matter which saint's bone it is as long as it functions there will always be a cause for that movement." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

It’s not that her Eyes kill his soul: they cut the conceptual root that anchors it to physical form. This requires enormous mental strain and a fundamentally unique power. Any other force or attack would fail, just as the world’s attempts to decay his body have failed; Araya’s will simply suppresses interference until it becomes negligible. Even reality warping, which relies on abstract manipulation of existence, cannot affect him, because his soul shelters his vessel from those alterations. Since the world cannot kill him, neither can the laws that govern it, including the abstract ones employed by reality warpers.

To truly defeat Araya, one must strike physically. The physical plane belongs to the “outside,” and thus represents the only point of access his Origin cannot completely seal. But merely attacking the body is not enough: biologically, it is already dead, and his will sustains its functionality. The only effective method is to “inject” an abstract, external concept through a physical attack, essentially bypassing his metaphysical insulation and forcing the consequences of reality onto his body. This is what makes the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception so effective: they operate on the truth of existence itself and erase targets regardless of properties. Ryougi was able to perceive Araya’s Lines of Death after intense strain and mental focus, allowing her to sever his last link to the physical world.

And if even she required that much effort to expose his vulnerability, no other power is likely to fully overcome Araya’s control. External, indirect, or non-local attacks, like reality warping or conceptual interference, are automatically negated. They do not physically interact with the vessel and are therefore entirely suppressed by Stillness.

• In essence, Araya’s soul is completely invulnerable; an unchanging “nothingness” immune to all interference, forged from the metaphysical source of space, time, and abstraction.
• His body, though shaped and sustained by that same soul, is still a material object. It can be reached, but only through direct physical contact, and only if that contact carries an abstract effect powerful enough to bypass his suppression. Unless that condition is met, his Stillness continues to reject reality itself.

This alone speaks to how terrifyingly powerful he truly is. Araya doesn’t cling to life; he outright refuses to die through sheer force of will and complete mastery of his Origin. Against anything short of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, he is functionally invincible. And this is merely Araya existing. He doesn’t need to fight to be a threat. His existence alone is a contradiction so complete, it breaks the rules of reality. 

But that's not all there is to him, obviously. So, what about his combat prowess?

As we've established, an awakened Origin aligns the user with its fundamental principle, allowing them to bypass conventional limitations through abstract, metaphysical force. In Araya’s case, this manifests as a form of authority over his surroundings: his combat becomes the imposition of his will onto reality, silencing physical laws to enforce his intent. His background directly fuels how this Origin expresses itself in battle.

Araya was forged in an ancient era of unending conflict, a time so far in the past that weapons had yet to be invented, and survival depended entirely on hand-to-hand combat:

"What came to mind was only a vast, burned wasteland. No matter how many steps I took, there were only endless corpses. The gravel spread along the riverbank was not stone but fragments of bone. The stench of death carried by the wind sought to fill all of existence; never ceasing. It was an age of conflict. A time before weapons were invented, where those who lived only today would fight with their own hands." - Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

In this world, morality was irrelevant, and survival was the only truth:

"Wherever I went, there was conflict, and the bodies of the dead were, without exception, discarded in cruel abandon. The weak in villages were commonly slaughtered by flocks of strong humans. It didn’t matter who killed whom. On the battlefield, good and evil held no meaning. All that mattered was how many had died and how many could not be saved." - Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This places Araya outside modern martial frameworks. Araya isn’t a martial artist. He is combat in its purest, most primal form. Violence isn’t a skill he learns: it’s intrinsic to his being, an essential force, not a constructed technique. He has no style because he embodies the origin point from which all fighting styles and martial arts eventually arise. Martial arts and assassination methods are artificial frameworks designed to reconnect people to this lost primal state; a state buried beneath layers of civilization, social norms, and ideology. Assassins train rigorously to awaken their latent capacity for lethal efficiency, learning to kill cleanly and quickly within a system. Araya never needed such training; killing flows from him as naturally and effortlessly as breathing.

In his era, survival wasn’t about finesse, tactics, or discipline. It was a merciless, brutal struggle where only raw, overwhelming force mattered. Every martial art, weapon, and strategy that came later is a diluted echo of this primal truth: killing is the ultimate assertion of life itself, a ruthless act that imposes Stillness: the absolute severing of opposition. This is the root from which all styles grow.

This primal essence is exactly why Araya makes even the legendary Nanaya clan seem like amateurs. The Nanayas are famed for their supernatural agility, near-impossible reflexes, and ability to assassinate foes far stronger than themselves. But their prowess is the product of generations of selective breeding, painstaking training, and the use of specialized weapons. Even Kiri Nanaya needed a steel stick to complement his skills. Araya, in contrast, hails from a world before styles or weapons existed; an age where there was only the brutal imperative to kill or be killed. He survived not by perfecting technique, but by becoming pure killing intent incarnate. His body and will were forged in relentless conflict until they fused into a seamless extension of each other, a living archetype of violence itself.

Think of moments when ordinary people, driven by desperation or adrenaline, break through their limits, ignoring pain, fear, or exhaustion, to defeat seemingly unbeatable opponents. That is Araya’s baseline. His body is a tank that bulldozes through any defense or attack because hesitation is nonexistent. His will to kill is absolute and guides his every motion with perfect efficiency, turning him into a flawless killing machine with no weakness to compensate for.

Skill, at its core, is a framework for working around your own limitations and exploiting your opponent’s. Both sides carry subconscious doubts; uncertainties about whether they can decisively end a life. But Araya operates from total, unshakable certainty. In his time, hesitation meant death. His body functions at peak physical capacity, obeying his will without delay or error. He needs no style, no specific training regimen, no weapon. His killing intent is raw, relentless, and absolute: pure survival distilled to its essence. Countless battles forged his body’s physical capacity to obey his will fully, drawing every ounce of power, motion, and energy with perfect efficiency.

So when people praise the Nanayas as the ultimate human predators, they forget that Araya stands as the forgotten root, the raw template their methods only echo in diluted form. Where the Nanayas push their bodies to the limit to slip through perception, Araya simply is the shadow that erases contradiction. Where they train for “impossible” speed, he just severs causality itself.

This is where his Origin of Stillness takes it even further. It doesn’t just make him physically efficient: it turns that primal, instinctual killing into a conceptual weapon. His Stillness halts the flow of causality and suppresses all contradictions, so his actions become absolute. Where other killers rely on skill to overcome resistance, Araya’s Stillness prevents resistance from existing in the first place. Every motion is imposed as an unchangeable fact of reality, while his opponent’s will is locked in a state of frozen despair. The moment he moves, reality adapts to make his technique absolute.

Hence, within the modern world, Araya stands as the greatest unarmed combatant:

"Therefore, the way that Araya had to eliminate Touko was to engage her in hand-to-hand combat after closing the distance. Araya was a man who had survived turbulent times. In terms of fighting with his body as a weapon, someone from the modern era couldn’t hope to oppose him." - Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This is what sets him apart: his entire existence embodies the timeless archetype of conflict, and his Origin makes that archetype a conceptual absolute. Against him, you’re not just fighting a man. You’re fighting the idea that your own next move can ever happen.

This brings us to a common misconception about Araya: that he is "only" 200 years old. In reality, when Araya refers to that number, he means the duration of his current physical body’s stability; not the full span of his existence. The novel makes it clear that Araya has preserved this same vessel for centuries, continuously restoring and maintaining it through sheer force of will. Though the body ages and decays like any human form, his Origin sustains it far beyond natural limits.

A useful comparison is the Ship of Theseus: a vessel whose parts have all been replaced over time, yet its identity endures. Araya is the captain of such a ship, with the body as the vessel, rebuilt and upheld for 200 uninterrupted years in its current form. That number reflects how long this particular iteration has remained stable since the last "repair", not how long he has truly lived.

In truth, Araya’s existence stretches back to a time predating civilization itself, a prehistoric, mythic era when humanity had no weapons, no law, no structure. His recollections speak of a world strewn with corpses, bone fragments as gravel, and relentless hand-to-hand struggle. It was not simply ancient, but primal: a raw state of survival where morality had not yet emerged. Araya is not merely old; he is timeless, having studied mankind not for centuries, but across the unmeasured depths of prehistory.

That the idea of Araya being only 200 years old is so widespread, often cited even by fan wikis, reveals how much of the novel’s deeper lore is misunderstood or oversimplified. This disconnect highlights the gap between the actual story and its common online interpretations.

Back to the topic, his supremacy in physical combat extends even to Shiki Ryougi: a superhuman designed to access infinite potential, adapt flawlessly, and perform at an optimal level in any situation (refer to her dedicated section for a detailed breakdown). While Shiki fights by harmonizing Yin and Yang, blending the most efficient attributes to swiftly eliminate her target and refining imperfections, Araya fights by nullifying all opposing forces outright. His intent is the only truth.

This is demonstrated in their first encounter in Chapter 5, where Araya’s mastery over Stillness allows him to move at speeds beyond Shiki’s ability to even register:

The mage moves. If Shiki left an afterimage of a white kimono in the darkness of the night as she ran, the man melted into the night as he approached his prey. A demon-like speed that didn't even let you grasp the process of him approaching. He stops, next to the immobile Shiki the mage's black coat flaps in the air.

Shiki was unable to respond to the mage's unfelt approach. She had been looking --- she had been looking at the man advance towards her, but she can't perceive that the man is standing right next to her ---. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

As noted in the quote, Araya isn’t merely moving fast: his movement is fundamentally different from Shiki’s. While Shiki defies conventional limits with sheer speed, Araya bypasses the very act of movement itself. His presence doesn’t register in the process of transition; it appears as though he was always there from the beginning, even if one were watching him approach, as Shiki was in this scene.

The narrative compares his speed to a demon: not just a generic monster, but a reference to ghostly or demonic apparitions common in horror films, which don’t “move” in a conventional sense but simply exist in a new location. This ability takes people completely by surprise, even if they’re watching closely, much like the unsettling sudden appearances that often set up cheap jumpscares in horror movies.

Araya’s mastery of Stillness allows him to "divide" his destination from reality’s laws, ensuring his arrival by eliminating all opposing forces, including those that would make his movement perceptible. This is what makes him so terrifying: his will imposes perfect efficiency, leaving no room for resistance. Unlike Shiki, whose efficiency stems from harmonizing with reality’s constraints, Araya erases those constraints entirely.

The eerie nature of his movement is conveyed in this other passage:

He took my hand and burst forth in a dash, while Shiki trailed behind us. However, his legs moved so fast that it felt like we were gliding through the air. As soon as we exited the grounds of the Ryougi estate, he let go of my hand. I realised I would be able to return home safely if I left without any second thought. - kara no kyyoukai chapter 7

Araya moves so fast that, from Mikiya's perspective, he is outright gliding through the air. This is Stillness dividing his intent from the outside world's limitations: he simply “phases” through space and time until he reaches his destination, making him appear as a ghostly apparition that cannot be grasped by any living being. Araya isn’t just “fast”; he outright ignores the need for physical speed, moving inherently beyond what reaction time can handle.

Despite his incredible skill, Araya was caught off guard by Shiki’s surprise attack:

--- Even that, is too slow. "Still in that crouched position, Shiki puts her hand behind her. Inside the belt that tightens the kimono is the second knife. As soon as she pulled the knife out to the side from her belt, she immediately threw it at the mage.

The knife blade penetrates the two-fold ward. Like a stone skimming the water the knife bounced twice off the top of the circle, and flew towards the mage's forehead. At the speed of a bullet.

"---?!"

The mage nimbly evades. The knife nicks the edge of his ear and disappears into the corridor, and the ear which had appeared to have evaded the attack has been carved off. Flesh, blood, broken bone. Brain fluid leaks out of the wound.

"--- Ugh."

The mage lets out a groan. Faster than that however --- he felt an impact that skewered his body. Thud, and a white darkness lands upon the mage's body. By the time the mage grasped that this was Shiki, who had charged straight at him after throwing the knife, the outcome of the fight had already been decided. Driving into his body shoulder first, Shiki's single blow had the same force as a cannon shell. Just that alone would have broken a few bones, but Shiki is clenching a silver knife in her hands. The knife is perfectly penetrating the centre of the mage's chest.

"Ug --- gh."

The mage coughs out blood. His blood was a sand-like powder. When Shiki removed the knife she straight away thrusts it towards the mage's neck. With all the strength in her two hands. The fight has already been decided, but she is desperately trying to deliver another critical blow. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya did not anticipate that Shiki’s MEoDP would be so powerful as to destroy his bounded fields, causing him to instinctively rush forward in a desperate attempt to subdue her. This allowed Shiki to confuse him further and land a critical blow. However, it is important to note that Araya’s hesitation stemmed from his need to damage Shiki as little as possible, due to his plan of accessing " " through her body:

“Yeah, I still haven’t changed my theory. But this is amazing. I forgot, this place is inside your body isn’t it? Not just the building, but even the air itself is infused with your magical energy. It that’s the case then you can easily crush the space within. So I’ve already walked into a large spell. Hmph, if you were so prepared, why were you cornered and brought to the brink of death by Shiki?”

“... Capturing someone alive is troublesome. I would’ve crushed her if I had gone full force. But this time will be different. I will use all my strength against someone I must kill.”

“So, you wanted Shiki’s body that badly? She’s your only path forward after all. It must have been very difficult to nearly kill her without dying. Just hope that doesn’t turn out to be a bad choice.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

.. In any case, if this method was inadequate then he was at a dead end. Araya thought.

That his own weakness was his fear of failure, and that had been his greatest enemy all along. If he had simply killed Ryougi Shiki from the beginning, he would never have been backed into a corner like this.

Anyhow, the curtain would now fall. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya’s paranoia about factors spiraling out of control showed how his need to align with his nature was essential for him to be at full power. Because an Origin awakening requires alignment with its impulses, any anxiety or surprise directly undermines his Stillness. His Origin demands the absence of chaos and interference: once the situation became unpredictable, that unexpectedness briefly weakened his Origin-awakening and allowed Shiki to turn the tide of the battle. This reveals how even a slight disturbance in his mental state could fracture the clarity that his power depends on.

However, after Shiki lands her fatal blow and he has nothing left to be cautious about, Araya decisively knocks her out with a devastating punch:

"The mage's left hand comes racing in.... The outcome of the fight had already been decided. His tightly clenched fist drives into Shiki’s stomach. Receiving a blow that could break through a large tree, Shiki’s body rises into the air. With just that one attack, Shiki spews out as much blood as the mage who has had his chest and neck stabbed. With a grating noise, her insides and the bones protecting them shatter.

"---."

Shiki faints. No matter how great a physique she had, her body is still that of a young girl. Even if half the power had been held back, there was no way she could withstand Araya’s attack, which could break concrete walls. Grabbing hold of her belly with one hand, the mage lifts her up and hurls her at the mansion wall. It is a brutal action that should have shattered every bone in her body, but instead, it turns into something unnatural.

...Having been thrown onto the wall, Shiki’s body is sucked in as if sinking into water. Only when the mansion wall finishes swallowing Shiki does the mage lower his arm. — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Crucially, the novel states this overwhelming attack was delivered as a single, normal punch and that Araya was holding back more than half of his power to avoid killing Shiki unintentionally. This detail highlights that this scene is not about raw physical scaling. Instead, it emphasizes how Araya’s power is dictated by his will bending reality itself, meaning even a restrained, basic strike can utterly cripple an opponent.

This moment reveals the true metaphysical nature of Araya Souren’s Origin of Stillness. It is not merely enhanced physical strength; it is the imposition of an absolute boundary on reality. When Araya fully commits to an action, Stillness eliminates all uncertainty and variance. His will becomes absolute, forcing the world to obey a single, unchangeable decision.

His punch doesn’t simply deliver physical damage: it enforces a boundary of “non-functionality” on whatever it contacts. Whether it’s a human body, a tree, or a concrete wall, Stillness causes the target to collapse not through brute force but because Araya’s will decrees that it can no longer sustain its function or existence.

The comparisons to breaking trees or concrete walls are symbolic, not literal power measurements. Trees and concrete lack vulnerable organs or weak points like living beings, so the fact that they crumble effortlessly under his strike demonstrates how his power transcends conventional physics and biology. His power is less about brute physical force and more about defining what reality must become, making his attacks unstoppable manifestations of his will, even when restrained.

In other words, the novel shows that Araya’s strikes are so precise and potent that even while holding back, he can utterly cripple Shiki exactly as he intends, with no structure able to withstand his force.

This absolute, physics-bending power is precisely why the novel states that Araya is unmatched in melee combat. Araya’s combat ability is more akin to Shiki Ryougi’s self-hypnosis technique than to typical fighters in the Type Moon universe. Neither truly "fights" in the conventional sense; rather, they embody the purest expression of abstract concepts related to combat, making them near absolutes.

The main difference is that Araya consciously applies these principles: his actions remain sequential and distinct, yet reality prioritizes his will above all other laws, enforcing his commands flawlessly and without opposition. In contrast, self-hypnosis Ryougi doesn’t wield or apply these concepts, she simply is those concepts. Her movements do not follow any structured or causal chain; they just occur spontaneously, beyond the grasp of reality’s usual constraints. Reality cannot keep up with her, nor is she limited by the need to sequence her actions.

This fundamental difference is why Ryougi ultimately outclasses even Araya, despite his tremendous power. Still, Araya remains one of the few who can handle her on somewhat equal standing, far more capable than almost anyone else in the verse.

In other words, surpassing Araya in melee combat requires a level of undefined perfection that borders on the impossible.

Some may point to his "struggle" with Touko, but that was merely a puppet:

That was... a puppet?”

As Touko spoke she spat out more blood.

The Magus who had suddenly appeared behind her replied, “Of course.”

“I may not be as skilled as you in making puppets, but I too have inherited the techniques of my predecessors. You know the name of the esoteric priest who crafted human figures, don’t you?” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Additionally, Araya had just lost his previous body to Shiki and was still adapting to a new one:

The combined efforts of Ryougi Shiki and Aozaki Touko had completely destroyed the body he had been using up to this point. The body that was now active was just a spare he had prepared. It would take time for him to fully adapt to it. Even though he would soon transfer to the body of Ryougi Shiki, any misstep with this body he was not used to could lead to irreparable failure. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

After destroying what had been Enjou Tomoe, the Magus stood still as he stayed in the corridor.

The time was near. It had been half a day since he moved from the body he had been using up to yesterday to his current spare body. Finally, his consciousness felt like it had spread to every corner of this body.

Araya Souren was not like some Puppeteer who had died after preparing a completely identical copy. He still had not experienced death. His body had rotted away several times over the years, each time this happened he maintained his consciousness and so far continued to live on. Araya Souren was only one person. If this body perished, there would be no refuge next time. Things had to be handled carefully.

However, there was no longer any need to wait. The will of the soul known as Araya Souren had placed this latest of his bodies under his control. The wiring of the Magic Circuits that moved his body extended down to his toes, the Magus had at last sublimated his temporary body into a real one. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This forced him to be extra cautious. Rather than risking direct confrontation, he fought Touko through a proxy, conserving energy and avoiding unnecessary risks, such as the unpredictable tricks of her projection machine. Once she overcame his doll, he emerged personally and instantly crippled her. Contrary to his initial claim of wanting her dead, his true goal was also to preserve her brain and extract its knowledge for study:

Araya spoke to her, but she had already ceased all vital activity. The body of Aozaki Touko nolonger functioned as a living person.

All that remained to die was her brain. Without the flow of blood, her brain would soon deteriorate.

The knowledge and techniques she had accumulated would be completely lost.

The black Magus pulled his arm out of Touko’s body and placed his palm on her head. Grabbing her face with an iron grip, he broke her neck with a snap. After that, he slowly ripped the head off of the body and discarded the headless corpse on the floor.

Holding the severed head of his former comrade in one hand, the Magus turned on his heel. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Ultimately, Araya’s approach was calculated: minimizing risk, conserving energy, and ensuring he gained Touko’s knowledge rather than wasting unnecessary effort. If he had fought her at full strength, she wouldn't have stood a chance.

The same context applies to the claim that Touko’s cat familiar “surprised” Araya or “evaded” his compression. At that time, Araya was:

• Operating through a remote puppet, not his true body
• Weakened and in the process of transitioning into a new vessel
• Momentarily caught off guard (which we’ve established earlier can weaken his Origin awakening) by the familiar’s unexpected revivals within his bounded field, and later after being dissolved by Shuku

In truth, the cat only managed to destroy a remote doll replica piloted by an already weakened Araya, and even then, it still needed to catch him off guard to succeed. And it’s not as if the shadow cat is weak to begin with; it remains a non-physical entity operating on a tier above most combatants, capable of defeating anything short of True Magicians, Types, or beings with conceptual abilities. If anything, the fact that a vastly diminished Araya could put up such a fight against this creature only reinforces his supremacy within the verse.

Some others may try to use this line to downplay him:

"This opponent was of a completely different level than Alba. Their abilities might be comparable in theory, but within this building, Araya Souren held supremacy over everyone. Seeking protection by putting her back against the wall, she was conscious only of what was in front of her. After all, to focus on anything else would risk leaving an opening." -Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5.

But this quote is merely saying that Araya and Alba share the same fundamental type of powers, as magi practicing magecraft, but this says nothing about their actual skill, power, or combat effectiveness. Think of it like chess players who both know the rules and basic strategies: they share a similar “ability set,” but one can be a grandmaster while the other is a casual player. The similarity is in category, not in strength.

While Alba’s magecraft is impressive, Araya’s mastery, experience, and Origin awakening place him on an entirely different plane of combat. The narrative consistently shows Araya effortlessly outmatching others, including Touko and Alba, executing complex strategies with precision, while Alba is depicted as powerful but reckless and ultimately outclassed.

The text makes this clear in multiple ways. Araya’s physical combat prowess alone far surpasses modern standards:

"Therefore, the way that Araya had to eliminate Touko was to engage her in hand-to-hand combat after closing the distance. Araya was a man who had survived turbulent times. In terms of fighting with his body as a weapon, someone from the modern era couldn’t hope to oppose him." — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5.

His magecraft is equally formidable:

In an anxious manner the mage came forward. Another step, even though he approaches Shiki there is no change in Shiki.... The man's talismans have just shrunk from three to two. The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life, that kind of absolute power ---.- Kara no Kyoukai: Chapter 05

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions. Any living thing touching those circular lines would have its power stopped. – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

His techniques operate not just physically but conceptually, manipulating wards without form or life, and wielding power across dimensions to nullify opponents’ abilities. That kind of metaphysical control is far beyond Alba’s straightforward elemental destruction.

Alba is a powerful mage in a conventional sense, but Araya’s Origin-awakened powers let him manipulate the very fabric of reality and magic itself. So in every category, raw power, technique, versatility, metaphysical influence, Araya is leagues ahead.

If someone tries to use this quote to downplay Araya, they would be ignoring both the context and the clear power gap displayed throughout Kara no Kyoukai; an obscene amount of copium.

The final notable aspect of Araya Souren's base abilities is his specialization in perceiving inner truths, which enabled him to learn how to awaken someone's Origin. This skill was developed through his research into the fundamental nature of humanity:

Araya Souren learned the technique to awaken Origins during his research into the root of humanity. Of course, he only awakened the Origin of one person." - Garden of Sinners Pamphlet - [Other] : Origin

However, this process requires the target’s consent, as an Origin can only truly manifest when the person is aware of it:

"Are you sure about that? Awakening someone else's Origin is notsomething a mage can do on their own. An Origin can only be brought to theforefront once the person in question becomes aware of it. In other words, it's a hidden spell that can only be carried out with the consent of both parties. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 7

So this isn't particularly relevant in combat.

To summarize, Araya’s Origin renders him a self-contained world that “invades” our reality through a physical vessel meticulously shaped to defy conventional understanding; even of fundamental concepts like death itself. His fighting prowess is primordial and innate, requiring no formal style or mindset to compensate; his body moves in perfect harmony with his will. Conceptually, his Origin reconstructs his form to embody its abstract principle during combat, enabling him to impose his moveset onto reality instantly and without resistance.

Though already formidable, Araya’s abilities extend far beyond hand-to-hand combat and the passive exertion of Stillness. Much like Ryougi’s Mystic Eyes complement her martial skills, Araya possesses his own signature power:

Bounded Fields:

Souren Araya's Origin grants him unparalleled mastery over the magecraft art known as Bounded Fields:

Touko had already seen through the fact that Araya had constructed three Bounded Fields arrayed around himself.

Fugu, Kongou, Dakatsu, Taiten, Chiyougiyou, Ouken.

Threads of the Magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions.

Any living thing, touching those circular lines would would have its power stopped.

... Normally, a Bounded Field was a stationary construct; a boundary that protected something immovable. Instead the enemy was performing something monstrous, carrying them with him; centered around himself as he moved. For that reason they were visible but gave off no detectable presence. In close-quarters combat, Araya Souren could be said to be invincible. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Although Araya is average as a magus, his talents relating to Bound Field construction is exceptional.

A bound field divides what is inside from the outside. In order to construct a complete world from his own body, first Araya must complete himself.

Araya, who has no exceptional talents, is able to become a first-class bound field master by completing himself through the accumulation of ages and sheer determination.

That which divides the inside from the outside, Kara no Kyoukai is his story.

Araya symbolizes the paradoxical spiral, the most important event in this tale.

Talking about the impossible, what Araya accomplished is like achieving the pinnacle within a field while being completely oblivious of even the name of this subject field. - Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

In the Kara no Kyoukai anime adaptation, these Bounded Fields are depicted as simple, horizontal circular seals projected on the ground. While visually striking, this is a simplification of the more elaborate and abstract description found in the novel. There, the Bounded Fields are described as three overlapping orbital paths, rising from the ground into the air: thin, elongated rings arranged vertically around Araya, like the orbital diagrams of celestial bodies. The structure resembles gyroscopic rings or an armillary sphere, the ancient astronomical device used to model the movement of stars. This visual implies not only a cosmic scale but also a sense of frozen celestial motion: an artificial, rigid cosmos with Araya as its gravitational core, a singularity commanding the boundaries of space, movement, and meaning within:

Shiki saw it.

The three circular shapes stretching out from under the black man's feet.

--- Her body, was heavy... ?

The three circles that protected the mage, they resembled a diagram displaying the orbital path of a star. Three thin and long circles are overlapping each other as they rise up from the floor to the air. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This icon perfectly captures the appearance of Araya’s barriers:

As you can see, this intricate, overlapping pattern better reflects Araya’s immense cosmic power; much more fitting than the simpler depiction in the anime.

Bounded fields (or wards) are more than magical security systems; they are conceptual structures that define the boundary between inside and outside, both physically and metaphysically. They apply rules to a space that detach it from the world around it, allowing it to operate by a different logic. Even weaker wards distort perception or hide presence, creating a disconnect from the external world.

As Touko explains, they function by projecting ideas onto the "unconscious mind"; the layer of reality where interpretation, not objective truth, rules:

"Try listening to what someone is saying. A ward itself does no harm. That word, it originates from Buddhism. A ward is always something that isolates an area from the outside world, although it has somehow come to represent a technique by which a magician protects his or her body.

Understand? I said this just before, but the best wards don't feel weird to a normal person. Let's call it 'an idea which forces itself on the unconscious mind.' The best of the best reach the stage of 'disconnection of space'; but to go that far you are looking at magicians rather than sorcerers. Currently there's only one magician in this country, so basically that kind of ward just can't be formed." — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 4

This interpretative layer governs how reality is perceived and enacted. Just as vivid dreams can override logic through subconscious force, bounded fields rewrite local interpretation of natural law. They don’t erase the outside world; they bracket it, making a space ontologically self-contained.

In that sense, bounded fields are a practical expression of Araya Souren’s Stillness: the metaphysical pause that allows for separation, clarity, and control. A ward is not simply a barrier; it is a conceptual severance, a place where meaning is suspended and isolated from the flow of the outside world.

Because of this, Araya became the highest-level master of this art, breaking the usual limitation that bounded fields are stationary constructs. His Origin severs his essence from all external interaction and causality, making his very existence an “inside” inherently separated from all “outsides.” As a result, his being itself holds the power to divide and define reality according to his uniquely alien logic, enabling him to carry these fields with him constantly. This means that instead of customizing a space, Araya Souren outright reshapes the reality around him passively, using these fields to impose his own personal rules over the external world.

Having recorded death and suffering for centuries, Araya internalized the fundamental truth uniting all humans; death is inevitable and universal:

There were instances where I had made it in time, and instances where I had not. But either way, the result was always the same. The outcome was nothing but a mountain of corpses.

Humans were, in the end, creatures doomed to die.

A man cried out in anguish as he died.

A starving child died with a smile.

A mother prayed for her children to live, even just until tomorrow, as she died.

Death rushed irrationally toward everyone.

Neither the good deeds one had accumulated nor the life one had led held any meaning before it.

Human life is helpless. Life is all about struggling desperately, resisting all one can, only to die miserably. — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

Araya’s Bounded Fields are an extension of this truth, allowing him to exert death’s inevitability upon all living things by effectively “stopping” them:

Touko had already seen through the fact that Araya had constructed three Bounded Fields arrayed around himself.

Fugu, Kongou, Dakatsu, Taiten, Chiyougiyou, Ouken.

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions.

Any living thing, touching those circular lines, would have its power stopped. — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

When it says "power" here, it’s not referring to simple motion or physical strength, but the broader abstract notion of being capable of activity: movement, willpower, abilities, the potential for phenomena to happen. Everything that "moves" and has an active influence on reality is suspended in the bounds of these fields, locked into an unchanging stasis. By preventing existence from even happening, Araya is, in his view, preventing further suffering.

In effect, Araya’s bounded fields are the passive counterpart to Ryougi Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception: while Shiki perceives and severs the underlying "causes" that sustain existence, Araya negates existence altogether, bypassing death, bypassing killing, and removing both cause and effect by mere proximity. Nothing can act, change, or even begin within his domain.

To emphasize their tremendous power, the novel describes these fields as formless concepts:

The mage clicks his tongue in exasperation. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception would be so powerful. To think that she could kill a concept like a ward which had no form, or life — that kind of absolute power —. — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This confirms that wards are abstract laws governing reality. They cannot be touched or seen; thus, Ryougi’s Mystic Eyes are called “an absolute power” for being able to cut through them. Araya’s barriers cannot be destroyed conventionally. They are not “things” to break, but laws that erase the ability to manifest anything at all.

Later, these lines are further confirmed to extend beyond the physical, stretching between planes and dimensions:

Threads of the magus’s web stretched across the ground and space, between planes and dimensions.

Any living thing, touching those circular lines, would have its power stopped. — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This proves that Araya's fields are not physical barriers, but rather portable conceptual laws that force reality to operate under the logic of Stillness, locking every plane of existence (physical, mental, spiritual, even abstract) into non-being. Because they exist beyond just physical boundaries, these fields affect any living thing or force that crosses their lines, regardless of how unique, alien, or metaphysically different that being might be. 

This is why Araya’s defenses are so terrifyingly effective: they suppress or stop power on a fundamental level, cutting off even metaphysical or dimensional energy, making him nearly invincible in close combat, as the narration stated.

A helpful way to understand Araya Souren’s Bounded Fields is to think of them less as defensive walls and more like trigger zones or game modes in a video game. In many games, entering a specific area activates special conditions: healing might be disabled, time slowed, damage doubled. These aren’t walls; they’re invisible rule sets that reshape what’s possible within the zone.

Araya’s barriers act like event flags in a game engine: invisible parameters that reshape causality. Once you enter his domain, you’re not just fighting him; you’re now inside a conceptual space where he dictates the rules. No matter how strong or fast you are, you’re now playing by his metaphysical code. Araya isn’t just warping space; he’s overwriting what space is allowed to do.

This is made evident when he instantly paralyzes Touko’s shadow-familiar, a creature summoned via projection magic rather than conventional physical means:

“, Ouken”

Suddenly, a short rhyme was sung out.

The cat completely stopped its devouring of Alba’s body.

Even Touko, who had been watching from the sidelines, reacted to the voice.

From behind Alba there was a man.

He bore a facial expression that was filled with anguish and wore a black overcoat.

Though no trace had given away his existence prior, he appeared so naturally it was like he had been there the entire time.

The man in black grabbed Alba with both hands and effortlessly pulled him from the jaws of the cat and dumped him on the floor. The cat was caught in one of the three Bounded Fields that the man in black was carrying with him and thus could no longer move. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Aozaki Touko's bag. She seems to be very fond of using it.

It is not used as a bag, and is stuffed with a projector-like mechanism.

A projection machine that perjures a magical creature of shadow. - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Orange Bag [Others]

This familiar is not a normal entity, it operates as a manifested shadow, an ether-body projected from a device inside Touko’s orange bag. It defies physical laws, as shown by its resistance to Alba’s repeated high-temperature thaumaturgical attacks, and by its lack of locomotion in favor of a fluid, intangible movement style:

Instantly, the black cat starts running.

Crossing the marble floor as if it were sliding along, it runs up the stairs. ...Even so, the cat's feet do not move. Only its eye moves as its sitting shadow races towards the red coated human.

Sucking dry all the oxygen in the lobby in an instant, the sea of flame instantly erased the black cat from the world. That was only to be expected, too. These thaumatergical flames that were well over a 1000 degrees Celsius. Any animal that entered them would soon be melted like butter and turn from a solid to a gas. Passing through the liquid stage wouldn't have taken the time required for a comma.

But Alba saw it.

The impossible shape of the black cat, suddenly appearing once all the flames had burned themselves out.

"--- That can't be right."

Blue eyes stare at the stairs.

The black cat licked its thin black body as if it that last spell had been unsatisfactory, then shifted its gaze to the red mage.

The black monster resumes its charge.

Alba didn't even have the time to try and puzzle out the cat's nature.

"Repeat ... !"

With a tearing sharpness, Alba repeated his spell.

The stairs erupted into flames. But this time the cat didn't even stop. It raced straight towards the mage as if saying it had already gotten used to this kind of fire.

"Repeat!"

Once again the sea of flame roars up, and disappears.

The cat was already nearing the top of the stairs.

"Repeat!"

The fourth conflagration ended meaninglessly as well.

Once the black cat reached the second floor, it went up to Alba and opened up its mouth. The body of the cat, which was as big as a man, opened up from head to toe. As if opening a treasure chest with the crown of its head as a lid.

Inside of the flat, planar cat, the corpses of the protoplasmic creatures it had swallowed earlier are pasted like mud.

Alba realized only then. That this thing was only taking the shape of a cat, and that it was an organism that had only a mouth.

"Repeat --- !"

With death in front of his eyes, terror makes him repeat his final spell.

But before that, the shark's mouth in the body of a cat closes down upon the mage. When it swallowed him whole with his red coat, Alba lost consciousness. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

More specifically, the familiar is composed of Ether, the formless substrate from which all phenomena and elements in magecraft are manifested, making it as close to pure abstraction as one can be while still existing within creation:

Ether Lump

Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Substance as coined by the Association. It is a necessary medium that gives shape by mixing with the Four Elements.

It is shapeless, but it is a critical element in the functioning of magecraft.

Ether is bound to become one of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, but in the hands of a novice, it would fail to become one of the Four Elements and materialize. This is ether lump.

Ether lump is completely useless. In some sense, creating ether lump is analogous to creating “Nothingness.” Looking at it from this perspective makes it sound like “True Magic” In fact, ether lump is originally the First Magic’s———

Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

Yet, even this highly abstract familiar is rendered inert the moment it enters Araya’s Bounded Field. It only resumes movement because its true body, the projector, lies outside the barrier, continually re-projecting the form each time it’s erased:

“A shadow-puppet familiar is it? I see. That would explain why it could nullify all attacks. Even if the ether body projected into the atmosphere was destroyed, as long as the projector, the true body, kept running, it could revive endlessly... It’s a shame, I have to remove such a genius.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

In other words, Araya’s barriers were able to affect even a conceptual entity that precedes all material objects and manifestations, serving as a direct feat that supports the quotes above: they can place all entities in stasis, regardless of their nature.

The only reason Touko’s familiar could act again was because its essence exists entirely outside the barrier; it isn’t a single intrusion but a continuous external projection re-inserted from beyond the barrier’s metaphysical reach. So don't mistake that scene as proof that simple ranged attacks or remote reality-warping technique that requires crossing into Araya’s domain can bypass his fields. The shadow cat is constantly re-inserted from outside the barrier’s range, whereas all other reality warping, phenomena, and ranged attacks are fully contained within the barrier, carrying their internal essence with them and lacking any “external” projection to circumvent the field.

Even more telling: the version of Araya who stopped Touko’s projection wasn’t even his real body. It was a remotely-controlled doll, while Araya’s true self was undergoing transformation and heavily weakened. Despite this, the doll’s barrier still nullified a magical construct that ignored physical law entirely. This demonstrates that even a fraction of Araya’s presence retains full metaphysical potency. A fully realized Araya, in control of his fields directly, would be completely untouchable, even by conceptual beings or high-end reality warpers.

Indeed, Araya’s Bounded Fields don’t just replace or rewrite existing laws: they halt the very process by which laws manifest and operate. Instead of imposing a new set of rules (like typical reality warpers such as Ultimate Ones might do), they put the entire system into stasis, preventing any effect, movement, or phenomenon from unfolding within their boundaries.

This means:

• Phenomena, whether physical, metaphysical, or conceptual, cannot occur or continue inside these fields.
• Other powers or laws that try to act within the Bounded Fields find no “playground” because the foundational processes those powers depend on are suspended.
• Since the fields don’t compete by rewriting or overriding laws but by freezing all interaction, they stand immune to most other reality manipulations. You can’t manipulate or break something that’s fundamentally “paused.”

In essence, Araya’s Bounded Fields are like an ultimate stop-button on existence itself; no movement, no power, no change can take place where they hold sway. This conceptual stasis is what makes them so uniquely powerful and nearly impossible to overcome.

This leads to a terrifying truth about Araya: in Type-Moon lore, Types are considered monstrous because they have no concept of death. But Araya’s Bounded Fields go a step further: they embody a no concept of change at all. Even death requires change. So in a sense, Araya doesn’t just bypass death, he prevents existence from even reaching the state where death could happen.

In other words: this man just casually carries around three metaphysical layers of protection stronger than what even the Types have. Ryougi was able to kill them because her power targets anything that has a name or definition, regardless of its actual properties. However, this ability is unique to her alone.

Now that we’ve established the scope and range of Araya’s Bounded Fields, we can briefly examine their effects. These barriers go beyond simply halting change and transformation, as they are associated with six distinct commands:

Touko had already seen through the fact that Araya had constructed three Bounded Fields arrayed around himself.

Fugu, Kongou, Dakatsu, Taiten, Chiyougiyou, Ouken. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Each of these names corresponds to a specific "attack mode" of the barriers. The first of these, Fugu, acts as the initial line of defense employed by Araya, with the power to completely halt momentum and drain energy:

Before that, the mage intoned.

"Fugu"

The air changes.

Shiki's body suddenly stops.

As soon as she stepped over the outermost line of that circle, Shiki's body lost all of its momentum. Like a jeopardised butterfly caught a spider's web. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Maybe it was because he underestimated Enjou Tomoe? Tomoe’s mind only registered one line, not three like that time with Shiki.

The line covered an area of about one meter, just before the Magus.

Enjou Tomoe didn’t know of a way to avoid it.

So he confronted it directly.

His body suddenly came to a stop. The toes that were kicking off the ground lost their power.

There was nothing he could do, really. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

However, since "Fugu" only interferes with momentum, it can be potentially bypassed by extreme surges of power, as seen in this scene:

“Because I was here.”

He shot forth.

One leg had broken with a loud sound.

Thanks to that, he started collapsing forward allowing him to move - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This illustrates why Fugu is only the first and weakest level of Araya’s containment. Unlike his other Bounded Fields, it does not fully suppress or negate all actions, but rather halts the natural flow of movement. The novel’s comparison to a spider web is especially fitting: the field stops movement upon contact, yet the prey is not fundamentally nullified: it can still twitch erratically, struggling but unable to move freely.

The second command, Kongou, is only briefly described by the text, simply noting a line appearing from the floor when Araya commands it:

"Kongou"

Piercing the air with one hand, the mage shouts while facing Shiki.

Shiki found a line coming up from the floor. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

However, the name itself reveals much about its nature. Kongou literally means “diamond” or “adamantine,” terms traditionally associated with extreme hardness and unbreakability. Within the context of Araya’s mastery over bounded fields, this strongly implies that Kongou is a command that hardens the surrounding space into an impenetrable, unbreakable barrier. This effect effectively seals off an area, preventing any form of escape or intrusion.

While the narrative doesn’t explicitly describe the full mechanics of Kongou, the combination of its name, Araya’s known use of spatial manipulation, and the thematic consistency across his bounded fields allows us to confidently interpret it as a spatial bounded field that creates absolute, indestructible containment.

So Kongou doesn't just slow movement like Fugu: it completely prevents the target from leaving by rewriting space itself. It essentially locks the target in place at a conceptual level, making it so that moving out of the bounded area is outright impossible. it’s like trying to walk out of a place that no longer recognizes the idea of exits.

The third command, Dakatsu, imposes a crushing weight around Araya, effectively cutting off all movement in its vicinity:

"Dakatsu"

All movement is being cut off around the mage.

Shiki saw it.

The three circular shapes stretching out from under the black man's feet.

--- Her body, was heavy... ?

The three circles that protected the mage, they resembled a diagram displaying the orbital path of a star. Three thin and long circles are overlapping each other as they rise up from the floor to the air. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Dakatsu creates an intense, gravitational-like suppression around Araya, making movement extremely difficult or outright impossible within its range. Unlike Fugu, which halts momentum upon contact, or Kongou, which locks a target in place conceptually, Dakatsu actively exerts crushing force on everything nearby, increasing weight and pressure.

The narration notes that Shiki’s body stopped and lost momentum when touching Fugu. But with Dakatsu activated, her body feels heavy, and all movement around her is cut off, demonstrating Dakatsu’s active suppression rather than passive forbidding.

However, Dakatsu does not suppress instinctual responses, which operate independently from conscious thought and willpower. This is clearly shown during combat when Shiki reflexively reacts despite the field’s pressure:

At the moment the tips of the mage's fingers touch her face, Shiki twisted her head as if recoiling from them. Just like that, she shifts her body to the side and stabs the mage's arm with her knife. Tung, the knife made a dull noise as it severed the mage's left wrist. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This instantaneous, instinctive response bypassed Dakatsu’s suppression, proving that primal reflexes remain active despite the heavy pressure the field exerts.

The fourth command, Taiten, appears to negate physical damage inflicted on Araya’s body:

At the moment the tips of the mage's fingers touch her face, Shiki twisted her head as if recoiling from them. Just like that she shifts her body to the side and stabs the mage's arm with her knife. Tung, the knife made a dull noise as it severed the mage's left wrist.

"Taiten"

The mage pronounces. The knife blade definitely passed through the mage's wrist, but it doesn't fall from the arm. The edge passed through it cleanly as if cutting a turnip, but the mage's hand doesn't even have a wound upon it. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Taiten represents an impenetrable defense that prevents physical attacks from harming Araya, akin to a divine or celestial shield. Moreover, Araya chants “Taiten” after Shiki has already cut his wrist, yet the wound does not remain. This implies that Taiten not only prevents damage at the moment of impact but also retroactively negates or erases inflicted harm, as if reversing the attack’s effects and leaving no trace.

Effectively, Taiten locks Araya’s body into a metaphysical state of Stillness where external forces (slashes, cuts, explosions) fail to alter his existence. He does not resist damage; instead, the damage is conceptually invalidated before it can affect him at all.

The fifth command, Chougyou, injects overwhelming dread and despair into the target’s nervous system:

"Chougyou"

His right hand moves. The right hand that he pushed forward in anticipation of Shiki's movements after she escaped his left hand, it has a solid grasp upon her. Grabbing the girl's face with one hand, the mage lifts Shiki's body into the air. Even if Shiki was a girl he looked like a ghost or a monster as he lifted up a human with one arm.

"Ah ---."

Shiki's voice was shaking. There is no awareness in that moan-like sound. All that can be felt from this man's hand is a crushing despair. That lanced through her flesh to reach her brain, and from there it rode down her spine to invade her whole body. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Chougyou is more than just a mental attack. While it manipulates the victim’s emotions and nervous system, triggering a psychosomatic breakdown rooted in overwhelming despair and fear, its true nature lies deeper. It is a direct projection of Araya’s Origin of Stillness onto another being, forcefully halting their will, movement, and awareness. This isn’t merely psychological trauma: it’s the imposition of a cosmic principle that suppresses the soul’s capacity to act, inducing paralysis not just of the body, but of the very self. The despair the victim feels isn't just emotional; it's existential: the soul recognizing it is being subsumed by a power that denies all becoming.

Finally, the sixth command, Ouken, stands supreme as the embodiment of True Stillness, not merely freezing motion or will, but halting space and time themselves; negating the very framework that defines a being’s existence:

"Ouken"

Suddenly, a short rhyme was sung out.

The cat completely stopped its devouring of Alba’s body.

Even Touko, who had been watching from the sidelines, reacted to the voice.

From behind Alba there was a man.

He bore a facial expression that was filled with anguish and wore a black overcoat.

Though no trace had given away his existence prior, he appeared so naturally it was like he had been there the entire time.

The man in black grabbed Alba with both hands and effortlessly pulled him from the jaws of the cat and dumped him on the floor. The cat was caught in one of the three Bounded Fields that the man in black was carrying with him and thus could no longer move. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Ouken does not merely suppress energy or freeze movement; it suspends the very rules that determine what something is, what it can do, and how it relates to anything else. The laws declaring “this cat is devouring,” “Alba is inside the cat,” or “this is a living, resisting being” are all arrested simultaneously, as if paused mid-sentence by a higher cosmic authority.

This “cat” does not consume by digestion but flattens whatever it catches within its own form, acting as a sort of pocket dimension:

“Inside of the flat, planar cat, the corpses of the protoplasmic creatures it had swallowed earlier are pasted like mud.

Alba realized only then that this thing was only taking the shape of a cat, and that it was an organism that had only a mouth.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

In effect, the cat acts as a portal transferring its prey into a space dedicated to consumption. Without Ouken, lesser barriers like Fugu or Dakatsu would still leave active agents within the scene: Alba would remain “inside” the cat, and the cat would continue devouring; even if their motions were constrained. The prey is part of the cat’s own alien internal space.

But with Ouken, even those conditions are negated. There is no “being devoured,” no “struggling body with its own pocket dimension.” The entirety of the “cat” is placed in stasis on every conceivable level, becoming “nothing”; a potential rather than an actual entity within reality.

This is precisely what allows Araya to reach into the devouring beast’s jaws and pull Alba out without resistance. The cat no longer possesses the conceptual property of “devouring,” and Alba is no longer “inside” the cat in any actionable or spatial sense. Space, causality, identity, and function are frozen and stripped of continuity, leaving Araya free to edit the situation like a system administrator disabling a process mid-execution.

This scene is not just a flex of magical might: it reveals that Ouken is a form of dominion over reality’s blueprints. It makes concepts like ‘inside,’ ‘movement,’ ‘separation,’ and ‘life’ temporarily obsolete, turning beings into inert code that Araya can recompile or deconstruct at will. In this suspended state, he could just as easily extract internal organs, rip the soul out of the body, or shut down supernatural abilities by removing the underlying concepts that make them possible. Since everything from motion to resistance to structure depends on continuous laws, freezing those laws makes a being defenseless not just physically, but existentially.

-----

So, to summarize Araya's barriers, they are not physical obstructions, but layered conceptual commands, each embodying a different aspect of death, not as physical dying, but as the metaphysical cessation of potential, continuity, and meaning.

• Fugu halts all forward movement: motion, force, energy, the activation of abilities, and even the unfolding of abstract laws. All things are frozen in their current state of being; anything requiring change into a different state is locked. However, it doesn’t erase momentum already present: it merely arrests it, allowing rare exceptions (like Enjou’s instinctive self-harm) or phenomena too chaotic to be frozen immediately. Essentially, Fugu prevents effects but does not suppress the cause, allowing the target or the law to slip through if sufficiently unstable. Symbol: Death as stillness, the pause where existence no longer becomes.
• Kongou, though not explicitly described in the text, likely embodies a state of unbreakability. Its name (“adamantine,” “diamond-like”) suggests it makes the bounded space conceptually immutable, preventing both escape and alteration.
• Dakatsu exerts overwhelming metaphysical pressure that crushes action, potential, and response. It doesn’t just restrain: it smothers intent and possibility. In effect, it works on the causes, complementing Fugu’s restraint of effects. It erodes the will to resist and actively suppresses planning or resolve. Primal reflexes may still occur, as they bypass higher cognition (e.g., Shiki’s fear recoil). Symbol: Death as repression, the end of growth and possibility, merciless and absolute.
• Taiten applies Stillness to Araya’s body itself, preserving it in unchanging stasis that retroactively negates damage, restoring its ideal condition. Araya becomes effectively invincible within its scope; not by resisting damage, but by conceptually invalidating it before it affects him. Symbol: Death as detachment, the severance from causality that erases meaning and impact post-mortem, as if one never existed. 
• Chougyou instills paralyzing existential terror, dissolving will, identity, and reason. Victims may die from sheer psychic trauma. It is not merely fear: it is the destruction of the self’s foundation, acting as an evolved version of Dakatsu that directly suppresses the very soul and cognitive functions of the target, pressing their entire spirit into non-being. Symbol: Death as existential dissolution, the unraveling of selfhood and inner coherence.
• Ouken halts everything: time, space, motion, existence itself. By suspending the very rules that define being and function, Ouken turns entities into “nothing,” allowing Araya to manipulate their essence freely; extract souls, rewrite parameters, or reshape reality at will. It is akin to the cosmic judge Yama, freezing the metaphysical record and passing final judgment. Symbol: Death as finality, the absolute cessation of becoming.

 

Additionally, Araya’s Bounded Fields mask his presence completely, rendering him undetectable even at close range. This uncanny effect makes him a master of stealth, allowing him to approach his targets with terrifying subtlety:

The girl --- Shiki, only became aware of this man's existence after coming this close. The distance between them is not even five metres. She herself can't believe that she didn't perceive an "enemy" until he got so close to her.

No --- that wasn't all. She can't feel this man's presence although she is looking right at him, that fact steals away all of the composure she had maintained till then. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even Touko, who had been watching from the sidelines, reacted to the voice.

From behind Alba there was a man.

He bore a facial expression that was filled with anguish and wore a black overcoat.

Though no trace had given away his existence prior, he appeared so naturally it was like he had been there the entire time - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Ultimately, this ward system mirrors the full scope of Ryougi Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. The passive wards nullify function and motion, akin to how Shiki severs a target’s lines of death to erase specific aspects of its existence. Taiten invalidates offensive actions, much like how Shiki can "kill" an attack or phenomenon before it can harm her. Chougyou locks the soul in Stillness, paralyzing the spirit in the same way MEoDP can erase a soul without damaging the body.

However, Ouken goes further: it parallels MEoDP’s capacity for full conceptual erasure. Where MEoDP actively deletes an existence from within reality by severing its defining principles, Ouken represents the inverse: Death bleeding into reality itself. It halts life and motion outright, dissolving phenomena without requiring direct action.

While MEoDP reads and severs the definitions encoded in the Records of the World, the conceptual blueprint that determines a thing’s identity, Ouken suspends those records entirely, granting Araya the freedom to manipulate them. He operates on the same principle of “death,” but with far greater precision and control: he can isolate specific aspects of existence, suppress their capacity for undesired change, and then redefine them according to his will.

In this way, Araya doesn't simply erase what exists; he uses death as a governing principle, a conceptual limiter that allows him to reshape reality itself without necessarily destroying it.

Yet, despite his wards already being overwhelmingly powerful, there remains one final layer of Araya's base capabilities to explore:

The Sarira:

Arguably the most overlooked yet arguably the most powerful weapon in Araya’s arsenal are the Sarira; sacred relics of an enlightened Buddha embedded in his left hand:

--- Still inexperienced. I've embedded a Buddha's remains in this left hand. There are no places where you can easily kill it, not even with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. A simple act like cutting it, Araya Soren will not be hurt by such things." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

He blocked Ryougi Shiki's katana with his remaining left arm. The left arm embedded with the Sarira was still in good condition in his body. Even Ryougi Shiki cannot easily cut the protection of a saint. -Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

As these excerpts reveal, Araya’s left hand is merged with the physical remains of a Buddha: a saint who attained Enlightenment and escaped the cycle of life and death. There is no point where the Sarira can truly “die,” even against metaphysical attacks like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, because Buddha transcended reality itself, reaching the abstract realm that MEoDP and all forms of death attempt to send things to.

Enlightenment, in this context, can be viewed as a form of pseudo-Stillness. It transcends the laws of reality, bringing the practitioner into harmony with the “truth” beyond existence. In this state, change and interference are meaningless: the user becomes immune to causality, making any external force or concept incapable of reaching them. Since the practitioner has transcended material gains, they exist as a purely abstract principle that nothing from the flawed material world can interact with, because those things are only imperfect reflections of the pure abstract forms the Sarira now equals.

However, while the Sarira mirrors the qualities of Stillness, it is not truly absolute. It is a reflection of transcendence, not the thing itself. Araya notes this himself:

"... Indeed, I was foolish. I should have had all the proof I needed after the events at the hospital. Whether it is dead or alive, if it moves you cut off the root of that motion. That is your ability. Even if I am a stopped organism, as long I exist like this there is a thread that permits my existence. If that is cut I would definitely die. The unique exception is this left arm, but even that can't be hidden forever. No matter which saint's bone it is as long as it functions there will always be a cause for that movement." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This reveals the Sarira’s fundamental flaw: despite its immense power, it retains a physical form, a bone, and thus a “cause,” a traceable link to the material world. This cause can be located and severed. Therefore, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which reveal the “meaning” behind such functions, can ultimately destroy the Sarira. Still, accomplishing this is extraordinarily difficult, highlighting just how formidable the Sarira truly are. Given that MEoDP operates on the very “truth” of existence and ignores surface properties, no lesser ability would even have a chance at finding the Sarira’s weaknesses.

In combat, the Sarira embedded in Araya’s left arm serve exclusively to protect his physical body: his sole true vulnerability. While his mind and soul are sealed by his Origin of Stillness, immune to interference or conceptual harm, his flesh remains partially connected to reality and thus can be targeted by direct contact with abstract or spiritual attacks. The Sarira safeguards this blind spot.

Unlike his broader Wards, which restrain will, movement, or metaphysical laws on a wide scale, the Sarira act as a localized shield: they nullify whatever “property” an attack carries: physical, conceptual, or existential. They don’t deflect force; they erase the very meaning behind the attack. They deny the idea that “this thing can cut,” “this is poison,” or “this is a sacred sword.” This is the essence of Enlightenment, even as an imitation: the severing of meaning and the denial of all distinctions. No interaction can occur because all concepts are rendered still in the face of perfect equilibrium and the pure truth of abstraction.

However, even this high-level protection has limits. Araya’s Sarira-embedded arm is finally destroyed when Shiki, in her self-hypnotic combat trance, channels the impact of a ten-story fall into her slash. This is not just a feat of strength: it’s a metaphysical collision between two opposing principles:

He immediately used his arm, protruded to crush the mansion, as a shield, but the entire arm was sliced as he was cut in two from the shoulder to the waist. Despite the protection of the Sarira in his left arm, it seems it couldn't withstand a slash containing the impact of a crash from 10 floors. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The Sarira represents perfect stasis, the absence of movement or change.

Shiki’s self-hypnosis state, which allows her to fully embody her Origin of Nothingness and grants her swordsmanship the same undefined, boundless nature as the void (see her dedicated section), represents perfect motion, an unbroken flow of causality that effortlessly bypasses all resistance.

This makes Shiki the conceptual antithesis to the Sarira. She embodies pure motion without cause or thought, something the Sarira, which only nullifies “defined” actions and meanings, cannot freeze. Thus, the Sarira doesn’t fail because it is weak, but because her movement is so total, so seamless, that it surpasses what the Sarira can recognize or suppress.

Moreover, the Sarira were fundamental in Araya’s fight against SH Ryougi, who otherwise could easily bypass all his other abilities. Both exist on the same metaphysical tier: while Shiki’s self-hypnosis embodies pure abstraction beyond reality’s limits, the Sarira’s origin in an enlightened being grants it the power to nullify anything sourced from space-time or conceptualized by the human mind, just as Shiki’s perfect swordsmanship ignores all definable boundaries.

Because of this, the Sarira can also be used offensively to nullify abstract laws or protections, even without Araya’s Bounded Fields. By channeling enlightenment through his hand, Araya can temporarily override metaphysical rules or conceptual defenses surrounding an object or entity. This lets him touch and affect things normally untouchable due to spiritual, conceptual, or structural barriers.

This ability is shown when Araya blocks Ryougi Shiki’s katana with his Sarira-empowered left arm. Despite her attack drawing from the void (“ ”) and targeting the very concept of her opponent, his arm remains intact, protected by the sanctified power of the Sarira:

Taking a chance, the Magus advanced.

“–Dakatsu...!”

The Magus’s voice resounded.

He used his remaining left arm to block Ryougi Shiki’s katana. His left arm, with the Śarīra embedded inside of it, was still intact. Even for someone like Ryougi Shiki, the blessing of a saint is not an easy thing to cut through.

Simultaneously, his right arm that had been cut off sprung up by itself. The arm slithered like a snake across the floor, and pounced at Ryougi Shiki’s neck. — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

This scene demonstrates that the Sarira grant Araya the power to suppress even abstract attacks or protections through direct contact alone. Even if his Bounded Fields are broken, as when Ryougi pierces them, he can still enforce conceptual dominance at the point of touch. When his Sarira-enhanced hand makes contact, it compels whatever it touches to submit to a purer principle, nullifying laws, wards, or barriers that would normally render the target untouchable. This means he can grab, strike, or dismantle intangible or spiritual beings with ease, as they remain bound to space-time and subject to the Sarira’s pure abstract authority.

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Araya Souren as a combatant is best understood not through traditional measures of strength or speed, but as an immovable rock within the relentless flow of existence. His awakened Origin grants him an abstract, metaphysical authority that bends reality itself to his will. Centuries of survival in an age of raw conflict have refined this power, amplifying his will to override the physical constraints of his body, and transforming his body into a perfect execution machine that completes actions by their very definition.

This primal resolve stems from surviving constant conflict before weapons and structured martial arts were even invented, when hand-to-hand combat was the primary tool for killing and affirming one’s existence in humanity’s most primal age. Every later weapon or assassination technique is merely an attempt to reconnect people to this primal state, where the body itself acted as a flawless weapon, something most can only tap into through extreme training or desperation.

Araya’s Origin further amplifies this by conceptually reconfiguring his body’s biology to match his intent, turning him into a living boundary that enforces his will and negates any outside interference, including the very laws of reality. Stillness is the division of inside from outside; when Araya fights, he acts as an entirely independent creation asserting his rules over the natural order, making his strikes metaphysically instantaneous and absolute. This is the core essence of violence: severing your right to exist from any outside interference, silencing all opposition. To measure him by physical stats is to misunderstand him entirely: his “speed” and “strength” arise from his Origin, the very principle that governs the structure of all things.

In practice, this means his speed exists by default beyond perception. Even when watched directly, his movements cannot be tracked, predicted, or reacted to. Each strike targets not just flesh, but the metaphysical boundaries that sustain a target’s existence. His blows don’t merely break bones; they sever the very coherence of structure itself, rendering even massive or reinforced entities non-functional with a single hit. It’s not damage; it’s enforced collapse.

Essentially, Araya’s combat ability is as absolute as Shiki Ryougi’s self-hypnosis version, though ultimately slightly inferior. He wields Nothingness consciously, imposing unyielding, absolute laws onto reality itself. His will governs existence with near-perfect control, making his presence a fortress of unstoppable power.

On top of his conceptual martial skill, Araya’s Bounded Fields function as portable metaphysical laws derived from Stillness, reshaping space-time so that all activity and expression within them are forcibly stopped, trapped in total stasis. These barriers are a direct application of Stillness’ separation, isolating an area from the normal order of the world and making it a self-contained domain.

Araya has mastered these barriers so well that they no longer need to be fixed to a specific location. Instead, they extend from him, separating his will and presence from the laws of physics and reality’s conceptual framework. The space around him is rewritten according to his own logic.

Not even reality warping can dismantle these barriers, because they are abstract laws that suspend change itself, and even the unfolding of other abstract laws. Trying to affect them is paradoxical, as you are essentially attempting to overcome something that invalidates change by using more change.

Only someone like Ryougi Shiki, who can directly target the core of existence, can break these barriers.

His three primary wards act like a metaphysical pause button on anything that enters their bounds:

• Fugu halts the natural flow of change and continuity, preventing all things within its domain from progressing into a different state of being than what they currently are in. This results in living beings being unable to change position or complete actions, and abilities or phenomena either failing to activate or, if triggered prior to contact, being halted mid-process. However, it doesn’t suppress the target directly; only its capacity to act. It’s as if you suddenly lose the ability to feel or command your body. Sufficiently powerful bursts of will or chaotic phenomena may slip through slightly.
• Kongou spatially binds the target, anchoring them in place without allowing for escape, like an immutable pin in the fabric of space.

• Dakatsu actively restrains them by weighing them with immense pressure, cutting off movement and power while reducing will. In the case of inanimate phenomena, it suppresses their capacity to manifest through decisive metaphysical boundaries, reducing them to pure inactivity.

These alone are enough to overwhelm most opponents: Fugu arrests the consequences of movement, while Dakatsu halts inner will and power to prevent further change. Beings that operate on primordial instinct, like Origin-awakened entities, can slip through in short bursts, but not fundamentally escape. This even applies to Shiki Ryougi, whose Origin is an ontological truth akin to the Unified Language. Araya's rules, derived from his complete metaphysical divorce from the World, stand equal to, or even above, the very structure of reality she cuts. They are the logic of Stillness itself, parallel to her void.

Yet in the rare cases where something does resist, Araya invokes his higher wards:

• Taiten, to negate any attack or action executed by those in his presence. It renders them “nothing,” rewinding time to loop reality back to a prior state, acting as a defensive Stillness that denies damage to Araya’s body.
• Chougyou, to shatter mental stability and resolve. Unlike Dakatsu, which externally restricts ability, Chougyou is an internal injection of Stillness, suppressing the soul and mind through the torment of uncontrollable variables that define Araya’s existence. The result is an unspeakable dread of all action, as Araya only finds fixed truth in death.

Taiten protects Araya from beings his passive fields struggle to suppress. Chougyou then ensures control by applying Stillness directly to the spiritual and metaphysical foundation, the very source of the target’s unique nature, rendering them entirely inert. The only reason Ryougi could escape was due to perceiving Araya’s lines of death; a contradiction caused by his physical body not being fully severed from reality. Her Origin, therefore, could not be absolutely suppressed by Chougyou, and she could act upon the truth of death exposed in Araya’s body, a betrayal of the Stillness that he relies on.

And even if the target is an unspeakable abstraction, a conceptual being beyond containment, or if Araya simply wishes to exert total control or redefine existence rather than destroy or suppress it, he unleashes his sixth and most powerful ward:

Ouken.

Ouken suspends not only space and time, but all aspects of existence: thought, identity, even the metaphysical frameworks that define being. Everything caught within it becomes inert, paused across every dimension of reality. With all laws suspended, Araya alone remains active, free to observe, analyze, and edit the “data” of existence with surgical precision. He can alter or erase properties, strip away abilities, or even deny a being’s place in reality.

The only limit is that Ouken cannot create: it can only reshape what already exists. This is what makes it, even in its terrifying power, still inferior to the True Magic Souren later mastered.

Outside his bounded fields, the Sarira embedded in his left arm is the crystallized remains of a Buddha who achieved true Enlightenment, reaching “ ” and escaping the cycle of life and death. This relic embodies a state equal to the abstract principles that underlie creation. Just as reality warpers manipulate certain concepts to rewrite the world, Araya’s Sarira channels Enlightenment to nullify all laws of reality within its reach, not by deflecting force, but by cancelling the very meaning of the attack. A sword is no longer a sword; poison is no longer poison; an ability loses its function the instant it touches Enlightenment’s domain.

However, the Sarira’s sole flaw is its finite origin: Enlightenment, though transcendent, is still a human process, a phenomenon within creation, not an absolute primordial void. Thus, powers like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which directly target intrinsic existence, or similarly boundary-breaking abilities like Self-Hypnosis Ryougi’s unbounded motion, can potentially overcome it. But in practice, the Sarira makes Araya nearly untouchable: even without his Fields, a mere gesture can nullify almost any attack or barrier, allowing him to physically interact with intangible or conceptual beings as though they were ordinary matter.

Finally, Araya’s Origin also anchors his spirit and mind in pure Stillness, making them completely immune to external manipulation. His body remains locked in stasis where neither decay nor death can take hold. His will sustains and animates his body even in its damaged, long-dead state.

The only ways to truly harm or kill Araya is through highly specific attacks that “inject” the concept of death into his body through some physical medium, such as Ryougi Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception's slashes. These attacks act almost like a virus breaching a sealed system, piercing the perfect isolation maintained by his Origin and introducing death from the outside world into his suspended state.

Because Araya must interact with the world to exert influence, his body cannot be entirely sealed off. This faint point of contact allows physical attacks to harm him and potentially “inject” deeper conceptual damage, exploiting the minimal vulnerabilities left by his interaction with reality. To prevent this, Araya relies on layered Bounded Fields and his Sarira to shield his body, ensuring that even physical harm becomes nearly impossible.

To really hammer the point in, Araya is an immensely powerful being that can crush most other opponents in the verse, including true abstract manipulators and reality warpers such as Types, who are capable of altering fundamental laws of reality:

1. The very structure of reality favors him. His Origin instinctively nullifies any foreign conceptual laws aimed at affecting his soul or will. While his body remains the only component susceptible to harm, even that vulnerability is conditional. Araya’s will and Origin actively suppress external influences, including the natural laws of physical decay, preserving the vessel's functionality. As a result, only direct physical attacks against his body can theoretically harm him. But even then, these attacks are largely ineffective: his body is biologically dead, his Origin mitigates damage, and any destroyed part is conceptually reconstructed. To truly harm him, one would need to strike with a physical attack carrying an abstract property that targets the “fact” of his existence, such as the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, one of the most potent abilities in the setting, vastly superior to the power of the Types in the first place.
2. His hand-to-hand combat defies causality. Araya doesn’t merely strike or move: his Origin infuses his every motion with abstract significance. He eliminates the process of movement entirely, manifesting directly at his intended destination. His blows conceptually unravel structure and substance, not through force but through principle. In essence, his strikes are manifestations of Stillness itself. Any external law protecting a target is silenced before contact is even made.
3. His Bounded Fields function as passive, omnidirectional nullification. They essentially resemble a fusion of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and ORT’s Crystal Valley, except broader in scope. These Fields automatically rewrite surrounding reality, negating all forms of active existence by reducing phenomena to inert, unstructured potential. Laws and processes are dissolved into raw metaphysical “data” that Araya then subjugates.
4. His left hand houses a Self-Hypnosis Ryougi Tier artifact that nullifies any attack or defense born from thought; any action or principle that can be conceived mentally is erased at its source. The hand is a direct conduit to the pure abstraction from which all things originate.

In short: you could throw every Ultimate One at him simultaneously, and Araya would dismantle them the way Goku dismantled the Ginyu Force in DBZ: effortlessly, categorically, and without breaking a sweat.

His only true limitation is that he cannot create new laws: only suppress, silence, or overwrite existing ones. However, even this weakness vanishes within his apartment complex, which functions as a metaphysical dominion entirely under his control, a subject we will now explore.

But first, I need to explain something very important before closing Base Araya's section.

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The Counterforce misconception:

Some people will definitely try to dismiss Souren as god-tier by saying 'he cannot defeat the Counter Force,' but they misunderstand the situation entirely. For starters, let's take a look at what the Counter Force actually is:

You see, the term Counter Force refers to the ‘Restorer of Direction’ which is atonce our greatest ally, and our greatest enemy. We humans do not want to die. We want to live in peace. This planet that we live on doesn’t want to die either, it wants to live for as long as possible.

“It’s the unified unconscious of the collective human species, the desire to see that the world continues to exist. The fundamental instinct of the human race, converging and taking form. That is the Counter Guardian that we call the Counter Force.

“Let’s say, for example, there’s an extraordinary person, A, who has conquered the world. This person is a just person and his rule has been exemplary, at least within the limits of human morals.

However, if A’s actions are viewed as evil when viewed not from an individual perspective but from the whole of the human species, in other words a potential cause for extinction, then the Counter Force will manifest.

“This force is an unconscious collective of humanity itself, including A, that wishes to preserve its own existence. To protect humanity, this entity manifests itself, without anyone knowing, and it erases A without anyone being able to observe it. The representative created by the swirling subconscious of humanity is part of the unconscious, and therefore acts without its own conscious will.

“That doesn’t mean this formless consciousness becomes a curse and kills A. The Counter Force usually inhabits a human, who then kills A. The person who has become the medium has enough power to topple A, but no more, in order that they cannot replace A. Receivers who have the right channels and can accept the whole will of humans are few and far between. History calls them heroes and praises them.

“But in modern times that title isn’t used. Civilization has progressed to the point where it has become quite simple for humanity to destroy itself. If some company’s chairman invested all his money into expanding the amount of logging in the Amazon rainforest, the world could end in a year. See? The Earth is in danger wherever and whenever. There are countless individuals out there who, incited by the Counter Force, save the world without anyone knowing. There is one hero per age, a thing such as saving the world is no longer enough to get you called a hero.

“Also, in the case that A is too powerful to topple with a human’s power, the Counter Force becomes a natural force and destroys the area including A. Long ago, the sinking of a continent was due to this too.

“... If you talk about it like this it seems like some guardian of humanity, but this thing has no human emotions. There are times when it blocks acts that would make everyone happier. The tricky thing is that in the end this nuisance is the representation of humanity itself.

“Although we can’t comprehend it the Counter Force is the ultimate form of the dominant race.

Time and time again in the past, this thing appeared in front of Magi who attempted certain experiments, and the Magi were all massacred.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The Counter Force isn’t a single entity that appears and fights you: it manipulates circumstances, events, and people already present in the world to gradually dismantle your plans. The harder you push against it, the more it escalates its corrections. If the threat is extreme enough, it can even trigger catastrophic outcomes like erasing an entire continent.

So it isn’t a single enemy at all. It’s the unconscious, adaptive will of humanity itself, a collective phenomenon that neutralizes any threat to the world’s survival. Which means it isn't something Araya can just blink and move on; it reasserts itself any time a human, even an anomaly like Araya, threatens to destabilize the natural order.

Now instead, let's see the exact passage where Araya talks about his struggle:

"--- Are you trying to open the road to the origin?

But, how? Even if you don't set out a magical ward to testify that you aren't a mage, you can't fool the will of the dominant race. The only ones you can fool by using a technological ward are other mages. If you use this building a path will definitely open. Since its the realization of the Taeguekdo, a hole would certainly appear. But the first thing to come out of that hole will be a Counter Guardian. As long as we are who we are, there is no way we can stand up to that."

“The Counter Force is already at work. There’s the fact you’re present in this town. There was the man who committed theft here by chance, as if possessed by something for no reason. There was the woman who was the victim of a random murder in this area, although no such incidents had occurred here before. The Counter Force has acted three times even though I have restrained myself to this extent. But that’s enough. I’m not able to draw any closer to the Root. I will not let the past failures be for naught. I have tried to open a path undetected by the Counter Force, but that thing’s eyes can’t be fooled. Even if I have the means to defeat the Counter Force itself, it will just appear with even more power. There is only one conclusion, I lacked the talent.

For the first time --- the voice carries a sound which is close to emotion. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

As you can see, it’s not really a power struggle: it’s an existential paradox Araya is trying to resolve. The way Stillness works inherently contradicts transcendence to the Root (or Fount). Araya’s power is immense precisely because it creates absolute isolation: he seals himself within a closed internal world where only his will governs. Within that boundary, whether it’s his bounded fields or his melee prowess, he can easily crush any direct manifestation of the Counter Force.

But his goal is to reach the Root, which exists beyond all systems, including his own. You cannot transcend by staying within a perfect internal system. You must open a path outward. The moment Araya opens that “hole,” he creates a point where the outside interacts with his sealed world. That breach nullifies the very principle of Stillness: his barrier can no longer enforce total stasis if it accepts interaction.

It’s like a fortress with no entrances: perfectly invulnerable, but also eternally trapped. Open a door, and you create weakness. The path works both ways: Araya can use it to reach the Root, but the world, and more importantly, the Counter Force, can now enter his domain.

And the Counter Force doesn’t just send brute strength. It sends a conceptual answer: a Counter Guardian. Once inside, Araya is caught in a dilemma. To defeat the intruder, he must reactivate his field and re-seal the system, cutting off the very path he just opened. If he refuses to act, he risks annihilation. Worse, defeating a Guardian solves nothing: the Counter Force is a phenomenon, not an entity. It will simply produce another. This is the trap: every time Araya tries again, he’s either destroyed or forced to reset.

This is why he told Touko he needed to open a path “undetected.” He knows he’s most vulnerable at that moment. The paradox is cruel: his greatest strength, Stillness, must be sacrificed to achieve his goal. But once he does, the world itself floods in to correct the violation.

And it's not even just about the Counter Force.

Araya’s very existence is defined by isolation. His soul is not simply a metaphysical expression: it is an independent system, sealed from all interaction. But here’s the nuance: Stillness, in its purest form, means Araya shouldn’t even interact with the material world. And yet he does. He imposes his logic on it. He interacts through a physical vessel sourced from the very world he denies, one that should age, decay, and die. His will resists this inevitability, constantly restoring it to keep it viable. The body is a contradiction: it exists only because Araya sustains it against the laws of reality.

So when he opens a path to the Root, he isn't just “dropping his guard.” He is undoing the very system that keeps his vessel alive. The moment the breach opens, he gives the world permission to reclaim what it rightfully owns. His power isn’t simply interrupted; it ceases to function in the way it has always done. The laws of death, time, decay, all that he suppresses, return in full force.

That’s also why Shiki’s body is so crucial to him. Ryougi Shiki can access Akasha directly through her Origin without needing to use any pathway or interaction with the outside. Araya’s plan was to hijack that direct connection by making Shiki’s body his own vessel, bringing her into his world and using her innate path as a bridge, without ever exposing himself to the outside. In theory, that would have solved the contradiction, letting him keep his Stillness intact while transcending.

So this is completely irrelevant in a neutral combat scenario: Araya would absolutely fold any direct manifestation of the Counter Force, or any other character in Type-Moon, even Types and Archetypes. These limitations exist only because his final goal contradicts the condition that makes him invincible.

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With that out of the way, we can move on to Araya's next iteration:

True Sorcerer Araya Souren (The First Magic):

Araya Souren's goal in the story is to fully understand how reality functions, so he can replicate a perfect, immutable version of it, one not subject to the irrational variables of the outside world. By grasping the principles behind creation, he hoped to uncover even deeper truths that would grant him access to the abstract realm of the Akashic Records.

His earliest barriers were metaphysical reflections of his core belief: that death is the ultimate law. In Araya’s view, things aren’t defined by what they are, but by what they can never become. Death marks that boundary. In a universe where even “meaning” is in flux, he saw death as the only constant: a still point amid endless change. His bounded fields externalized this idea, enforcing death not as an end but as a stabilizing truth.

Yet at this point, Araya was still operating within the laws of the world. He hadn’t attained True Magic; the power to rewrite those laws entirely. What he could do was suppress suffering by collapsing realities already in motion. What he wanted was a reality where suffering never began.

To pursue this, he created a stationary variation of his bounded fields, enclosing an apartment complex and the land around it. As discussed earlier, these fields negate causality and movement, reducing everything to inert potential. However, in this specific case, Araya chose not to “stop” the lives within the apartment. Instead, he selected specific families, those already near psychological collapse, to move in.

“If that was the case there wouldn’t be any meaning to this alien world. All the families who were called to this place had already broken. Relationships that are already mangled easily arrive at their final destination if you just remove some personal space. A road to an end that takes decades is nothing but self-mortification. These people merely reached the end they would eventually have reached in less than one month.”

The Magus spoke neither with pride nor lament. Shiki narrowed her black eyes and peered at the black man.

“... In the end you are saying that you broke the brakes and egged them on. Without a doubt, this building has stress piled inside it. Everywhere you go it’s warped. The floor is slanted everywhere like some ocean so you lose your sense of balance, and because of the use of lighting and paints that put a burden on the eyes you become tired without even noticing it. To make people so crazy without even using any magical effects, you are a very good architect, I’ll give you that.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Araya used the building's unsettling design to further stress and accelerate their collapse. When people lose self-restraint and act on primal desires, death comes more quickly, allowing Araya to observe their true Origin and nature more clearly.

His goal with this was to create a laboratory to study death (the only fixed framework for interpreting reality) without external interference. By halting all causality except that within the building through his Ward, Araya could observe death in its purest form.

After the residents died, Araya allied with Cornelius Alba, who provided him with dolls that could be connected to the deceased's brains to mimic their lives and deaths, programming them to live out the same final day on a loop. Araya set this system up in the building’s western side, storing the original corpses in the eastern side. This division turned the structure into an offering to the Taiji, the framework governing reality through the interplay of Yin and Yang:

Repetition, like that Enjou family, the paranormal phenomenon where they die at night and come back to life in the morning.

“It not effective but. I have created a world that concludes within a single day. However it can’t become a Ryougi – the Two Forms – just because life and death are next to each other. If it isn’t the life and death of the same people, it is insufficient as a place to enshrine you. It’s incomplete as a spiral where you come to life after you die. If the condition is for them to be incompatible while mixing with each other, there’s no solution but to connect the two. Therefore, in the Yin I prepared their corpses, and in the Yang I prepared their daily lives.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Taiji [Others]

A philosophical concept originating in ancient China, the Taiji is a graphical representation of the Yin-Yang theory. It captures the essence of existence on a conceptual level: what is active is defined as Yang (white), and what is passive is defined as Yin (black).

The Taiji symbolizes opposing concepts such as day and night, light and darkness, male and female, and so on. It is also a condensed version of the ever-changing, dynamic nature of the world. Furthermore, there is a dot of Yin within Yang, and a dot of Yang within Yin, indicating that the distinction between the two is not absolute. Darkness exists even within light.

The Taiji represents the "One" at the beginning; the division of the "One" into Yin and Yang is referred to as Liangyi, or "Ryougi." - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet - Encyclopedia: Taiji

This is a continuation on the subject of the Taiji, but the division of the chaotic 「　」 into two is Ryougi. In order to further stabilize this, and in order to increase the number of classes available, they divide it into four phenomena. They then further increase the complexity by cutting it into eight trigrams. Like this, they keep dividing by a base of two. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

 

Essentially, the building housed Yin (corpses: stillness) and Yang (dolls reliving the day: motion). Notably, dying is still part of motion, while true stillness, Yin, is the cessation that follows death.

However, Araya still hadn’t understood how life and death truly interact; how Yang converges into Yin and emerges anew. He initially believed repeating this loop thousands of times might trigger some metaphysical "glitch" revealing the deeper nature of existence, but failed:

"This is just an experiment. I wanted to find out if a human could indeed meet an end other than their own. A human must die. But for every human there is only a foreordained death. The death that one person meets, there is only one kind.

One who dies in a fire will die by fire no matter what form their death takes, and one who is murdered by their family is murdered by their family no matter how hard they struggle. Even if they confront the first death and run away from it, the second, and the third death will come only through the foreordained method.

This limited death, we call it our lifespan.

A human has even his way of dying decided for him. However if you were to repeat the same end a couple of thousand times, even that spiral would develop errors. It doesn't matter if the error is a trivial one. Just being unlucky enough to be hit by a car on the way home from work is sufficient.

--- but. As of now the result is the same. It appears that one's destiny does not change with only around two hundred repetitions." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

 

Araya then changed his approach: instead of focusing on quantity (endless repetition), he focused on quality; why and how death occurs. He discovered death follows clear metaphysical patterns:

What’s important is not the quantity of death. It is the quality of death. Tracing back to the source, the forms a death can take can be categorized into broader distinctions. Dissecting the possibilities of death into every possible route, I arrived at the sixty-four possibilities present here. Here I have gathered the people who shoulder those varieties of death. Therefore, this place is a microcosm of the whole world. By experiencing their suffering, I am able to comprehend their suffering. I am able to simplify the eight divine signs into four simple forms and arrive at Ryougi, the Two Forms.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

He identified 64 archetypal deaths, each representing a fundamental contradiction that leads to collapse. The looping system showed Araya that even when events varied on the surface, people still died in the same essential ways, revealing the stability of these metaphysical categories. All beings, regardless of complexity, fall into one of these patterns. If the foundational structure of these deaths remains consistent despite differing circumstances, then they can be extrapolated to far more complex or cosmic variations.

No matter how unique the scenario may seem, the underlying interaction pattern remains the same, and so it will inevitably culminate in its associated death. Even if a subject avoids one outcome, others will arise in new forms until resistance is no longer possible. What Araya achieves is the elimination of resistance itself: he applies Death retroactively to all potential developments arising from a given contradiction, nullifying them at the source.

That is exactly what Araya required: the precise boundaries Yin imposes on Yang forces to suppress them when they become too chaotic or uncontrollable. Just as abstract concepts act as foundational blueprints for reality, Death functions as a fundamental safeguard that ensures reality follows a consistent path, preventing it from spiraling into undefined chaos:

Within this building that repeats the spiral of daily life, the original form of all the deaths that humans experience is swirling around. The records that the physical body called Araya Souren contained until now, this building has succeeded him as their container. This place was him, his will itself.

... So, that meant that she was inside his body.

Touko observed the atmosphere filling the lobby as she muttered to herself. The strained air wasn't for Araya's benefit. Rather, it was the soundless hatred of all the residents who had been murdered by this building.

This amount of hatred that threatens to crush even her, day by day, Araya keeps expanding it. To borrow his words it wasn't the amount he was increasing but the quality. Since in the end, all those hundreds of deaths were but one identical way of dying.

Murder born from love, in other words family, lover, mother, father, child.

Murder born of hatred, in other words family, lover, friend, upperclassman, stranger.

Various ways of dying for various reasons.

Repeated everyday, a conclusion that keeps getting clearer.

--- Death, becoming denser.

This building is a spell. An altar constructed to solidify Araya Soren's will. In order to carry out magecraft of a grand scale you needed not only an incantation and your own prana, but also the sacrifice of other lives and the strength of the land itself. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

As stated here, Araya kept condensing all forms of death into broader, more essential categories, refining them with such clarity and consistency that they eventually became deeply internalized. The apartment building, which housed his experiment, came to embody these condensed forms, until it was no longer merely a vessel but one and the same with Araya’s very body: a natural extension of his bounded field. He wasn’t just evolving his barriers; he was installing death itself into their structure. His goal was not merely to stop an existing reality, but to create a reality that was “stopped” from its very inception: a world where only what he allowed could ever unfold. In such a world, suffering and irrationality would become structurally impossible.

In Araya’s view, no matter how intricate a system appears, it ultimately arises from some duality; a tension, a push and pull. Each of the 64 Deaths represents a “stop condition” for one such polarity. When triggered, these conditions collapse the entire tension into inert potential. Take, for example, someone fated to die by their family. Regardless of how the story plays out (through betrayal, miscommunication, or even tragic love) the contradiction at the heart remains unchanged: the clash between familial belonging and personal autonomy. Araya’s system distills this into a core polarity: belonging vs autonomy. Once identified, that contradiction is frozen. No outcome born from it (violence, guilt, rejection), can occur. The contradiction itself has been nullified before it could ever give rise to events. This principle applies just as powerfully on broader and more complex scales. An entire alien empire with advanced technology might collapse from the same internal conflict, or a reality-warping entity may meet their end due to irreconcilable friction with a sibling. In Araya’s framework, the events and circumstances are merely surface-level variations: elaborate "decorations" on top of the same underlying metaphysical death.

This is the true significance of Araya’s experiment: the identification of the fundamental building blocks behind all conflict and interaction, structures that inevitably lead to collapse once they stray too far from their intended design. In a sense, this mirrors Ryougi’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception: no matter how complex or powerful something is, if it is “something,” it possesses inherent limits that Ryougi can perceive and use to return it to Nothingness. The 64 deaths that Araya distilled, then, are the very laws that govern Death Perception itself. Even the most powerful phenomena conceal within them contradictions that, when pushed beyond a certain point, ensure their inevitable demise.

And yes, this applies even to the Ultimate Ones and every other so-called “top-tier” being in the setting. Some might argue that such entities are exempt from these laws because they govern their own self-contained worlds, but they don't understand the significance of Araya's experiment in that case: these beings may delay death within their enclosed systems, but the greater framework that defines their existence remains bound by the 64 deaths. These laws exist precisely to ensure that contradiction cannot persist indefinitely, lest reality lose its coherence. If a Type deploys its power against something fundamentally incompatible with its nature, that clash will eventually exhaust it. As long as they exist, they will one day die. Their planets will eventually collapse, because creation itself mandates change. Nothing can remain static forever. That inevitability is the very system Araya sought to challenge.

These 64 deaths are not “spells” or phenomena imposed from the outside: they are intrinsic laws embedded at the moment of creation, silently dictating how an existence will end once it encounters a contradiction its attributes cannot resolve. Araya’s goal with his experiment was to apply Stillness to these laws themselves, so that even the delay, even the resistance, could be erased. In doing so, he would transform the 64 deaths from a final safeguard into a precondition for existence: a structure where collapse is no longer a possibility, but a certainty from the outset.

Araya then applies Taoist cosmology to this framework, interpreting the 64 forms of death through the lens of the I Ching’s 64 hexagrams; abstract archetypes that govern all change. Over time, he refines these further into even more essential oppositions, until he masters Yin and Yang themselves: the primal dyad underlying all contradiction. This grants him control over the total potential of the One/Root, allowing him not only to negate contradictions but to dictate which interactions may exist at all:

Therefore, this place is a microcosm of the whole world. By experiencing their suffering, I am able to comprehend their suffering. I am able to simplify the eight divine signs into four simple forms and arrive at Ryougi, the Two Forms.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Through this process, the apartment complex transcended its role as a mere experiment: it became a replica of the universe itself, a domain where all existence was reduced and encoded into 64 fixed conceptual states; a metaphysical vault that preemptively suppresses every possible form of contradiction.

In other words, Araya internalized and incorporated into his barriers the fixed laws that “kill” a concept along with all phenomena arising from it. This granted him complete mastery over the Taiji itself, the totality of possible forms and configurations any reality can assume. By freezing all concepts through their respective forms of death, Araya prevented them from manifesting without his consent, achieving absolute dominion over reality.

This made the building a true temple of Taiji, a structure that captured the totality of existence:

A temple of Taiji. It could be called the artificial manifestation of the inner landscape of Araya Souren, who did not have a Reality Marble.

— Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

 

Notice how it is explicitly said to be equivalent to a Reality Marble: a reality born from one’s inner world. But where typical Reality Marbles are temporary and suppressed by the World’s corrective force, Araya’s is permanent, because it is sourced from Stillness, the metaphysical principle of separation itself. That boundary is absolute; and within it, he is not a magician, but a god. 

Touko further confirms the building is the actual realization of Yin-Yang Theory, to the point it can open a path to the Fount:

"--- Are you trying to open the road to the origin?

But, how? Even if you don't set out a magical ward to testify that you aren't a mage, you can't fool the will of the dominant race. The only ones you can fool by using a technological ward are other mages. If you use this building a path will definitely open. Since its the realization of the Taeguekdo, a hole would certainly appear. But the first thing to come out of that hole will be a Counter Guardian. As long as we are who we are, there is no way we can stand up to that."

“The Counter Force is already at work. There’s the fact you’re present in this town. There was the man who committed theft here by chance, as if possessed by something for no reason. There was the woman who was the victim of a random murder in this area, although no such incidents had occurred here before. The Counter Force has acted three times even though I have restrained myself to this extent. But that’s enough. I’m not able to draw any closer to the Root. I will not let the past failures be for naught. I have tried to open a path undetected by the Counter Force, but that thing’s eyes can’t be fooled. Even if I have the means to defeat the Counter Force itself, it will just appear with even more power. There is only one conclusion, I lacked the talent.

For the first time --- the voice carries a sound which is close to emotion. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The only reason he didn't open that "hole" is because, as I explained in the previous section, doing so undermines the very premise of Stillness: you can't maintain an absolute internal world once it’s exposed to external interference. Opening the pathway is akin to Ryougi voluntarily deactivating her Mystic Eyes while surrounded by top-tier entities; it leaves Araya drastically more vulnerable, especially to higher-order phenomena like the Counter Force, which can infiltrate through the same breach. Thus, his only viable strategy is to use Ryougi’s body, which already connects to the Root directly, bypassing the need to compromise his own sealed world.

So, what are the specific abilities granted by the complex?

Well, the most immediate benefit it provides is that it serves as an extension of Araya's own body, allowing him to manipulate and control it as though it were a part of himself. His magical power permeates its very atmosphere, making the air itself align with his intent:

The man looks at the woman below him. With just that, the air in the lobby changed dramatically.

Was this what they meant when they said "the air froze over"?

The tranquil atmosphere disappears. As if the building itself was getting tense after welcoming its true owner.

The air in the lobby becomes tense.

A pressure that makes you wonder if space itself is not responding to the mage's killing intent and crumpling into itself.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Yeah, I still haven’t changed my theory. But this is amazing. I forgot, this place is inside your body isn’t it? Not just the building, but even the air itself is infused with your magical energy. It that’s the case then you can easily crush the space within. So I’ve already walked into a large spell. Hmph, if you were so prepared, why were you cornered and brought to the brink of death by Shiki?” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Just being inside of it causes nausea and feels like entering some living organism's body:

The walls of the apartment’s lobby were united in a cream color and were spotlessly clean. Yet I felt so unnerved looking at it that I thought I would faint if I stopped clenching my teeth. No, this was already close to disgust. My insides were twisting around so much that I thought I would go crazy. Although the air outside was so cold, the air inside the apartment building was lukewarm. It was probably only due to the internal heating being set too high, but it was like I was feeling somebody’s steaming breath. The tepid atmosphere that wrapped around my skin, it was somewhat similar to being inside a living thing’s womb. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Further, Araya can manipulate the space inside of his complex as he pleases, effectively allowing him to ignore the traditional boundaries of a building:

Even though Touko herself had said it, she had failed to understand the meaning to the very end.

This apartment complex was Araya Souren himself. The walls, the floors, common sense regarding buildings did not apply to Araya. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Just as the Magus’s consciousness controlled his own body, he had also attuned the activity of the apartment complex with his own consciousness.

This building was inside of his body. The electric wiring was like his nerves, and the water piping was an equivalent to his blood vessels. The pain from his body being cleanly cut inside was not something he could ignore. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This included instant teleportation in every part of the building:

He could exist in any location within the apartment complex and could manipulate any space within at will. This place was an alien world that embodied Araya Souren. Within the confines of this property, he could instantaneously teleport anywhere. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

-The magus, with his black coat, was disappearing. Shiki didn't think of stopping him.

The woman he was fighting - at the instant the magus had connected space from the mansion to the garden and moved - had jumped without hesitation from the hallway of the 10th floor. The magus' form still remained on the 10th floor, but she had jumped off to get to Araya Souren at the garden when he hadn't yet existed there. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Reducing objects to pieces with his glare:

As Araya glared at the bag, it shattered into pieces. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Erase someone from existence:

The Magus swung his arm.

The body in the form of Enjou Tomoe was completely annihilated with that one swing.

It was shattered into pieces, not even the head remained. As if it had been that way from the beginning, in the same way the Magus had said it, worthless, it turned into dust and disappeared into the void. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Crush space with a simple gesture, using a spell known as "Shuku" :

“... Silence.”

A short murmur.

The Magus’s open palm clenched tightly.

It was a motion like crushing something in the palm of one’s hand.

Simultaneously, Touko’s body shook with a violent impact. Her coat, which blocked all forms of magical interference with her Magic Circuits, was shredded to pieces and fell to the floor.

There had been an attack, it was an invisible impact.

Struck equally across her body from every direction, she then fell to her knees.

Touko instantly understood what the impact had been.

... Araya crushed the space in which Touko had been standing. It was as if her entire body had been pressed down upon.

Touko’s tongue was silenced in disbelief. She had no knowledge of what Magecraft enabled such a small gesture to manipulate space.

“... I got hit. Dammit, how many ribs did he break?”

Swallowing the blood pooling in her mouth, Touko assessed the damage to her body. Unlike Shiki,

Touko had no physical training, she had no way of knowing how many of her bones were broken.

All she understood was the fact that her coat had saved her.

If she were to take a hit like that again, she would certainly be crushed. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“What?”

With a faint look of surprise, Araya turned around in an instant. Without hesitation, he spread his outstretched palm and clenched it tightly once more.

Onn, a sound like a tremor could be heard.

Touko saw it, the space in front of Araya was collapsing further and further inward. The black cat leaped upward before it could be compressed. As if gravity had reversed, the cat landed on the ceiling and then glared at the Magus below.

“That’s enough.”

From beneath the black coat another arm extended, the fist tightly clenching.

The black cat and the spot on the ceiling on which it rested were crushed.

Bang, one corner of the ceiling caved in and the black cat was crushed, compressed beyond recognition, and disappeared. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The distortion of space right in front of her should have crushed Shiki, but the entire distortion was “killed”. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

In that small gap, the Magus retreated a step and stuck out his left arm.

“Shuku!” The palm of his hand compressed the space. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

To stop his opponent–

“Do I have to kill my alien world...!?”

The Magus’s left hand opened.

Space compressed for the third time, but it wound down with a slash of Shiki’s katana; she stood there entirely shocked. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Shuku is Araya Souren’s signature offensive technique within his apartment complex: a metaphysical compression of space that doesn’t just crush the body, but annihilates the very existence within that space. Though it appears as a gesture that compresses air or void around a target, its true power lies in denying all movement, transformation, and presence. It is an expression of Stillness as an absolute force that cancels the possibility of existence itself.

Unlike ordinary spatial manipulation, which bends or distorts space, Shuku collapses the ontological “room” an entity occupies. This is demonstrated when Araya uses it against Touko’s shadow familiar; an intangible, abstract being normally immune to physical or magical attack. Shuku neutralizes it by erasing the space it inhabits, proving the technique targets presence itself, not just material form.

Even Touko herself is not spared. Despite wearing a coat designed to block magical interference, Shuku ignores this protection entirely. The coat isn’t simply pierced; it is shredded and dissolved, as if it never existed. As Touko remarks, the space inside Araya’s domain, down to every inch of air and void, is saturated with his magical energy, granting him total authority over it:

“Yeah, I still haven’t changed my theory. But this is amazing. I forgot, this place is inside your body isn’t it? Not just the building, but even the air itself is infused with your magical energy. If that’s the case then you can easily crush the space within. So I’ve already walked into a large spell. Hmph, if you were so prepared, why were you cornered and brought to the brink of death by Shiki?” — Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This makes Shuku fundamentally superior to techniques like Asagami Fujino’s spatial twisting, which relies on directional fulcrums to bend space along specific vectors. Fujino’s power tears space by twisting it like wringing a cloth, causing localized torsion. Shuku, by contrast, applies omnidirectional inward pressure that crushes the very fabric of space around the target into nonexistence.

Rather than manipulating space through force and angle, Shuku negates space’s capacity to hold anything at all. It is a pure manifestation of Stillness: no motion, no resistance, only the cessation of existence within a defined area. This is why Araya names it Shuku (Silence).

Functionally, Shuku acts as a ranged, spatially targeted analogue to Ryougi Shiki’s Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Where Shiki traces lines of death to end existence, Shuku denies the potential for existence entirely in a targeted space, erasing physical, conceptual, or spiritual entities with a mere gesture. It doesn’t just destroy; it prevents anything from ever manifesting there.

In this way, Shuku mirrors Ryougi’s denial of reality, but does so spatially and remotely, making it a terrifyingly pure form of existence erasure that requires no contact, only intent. Shuku crushes space from all directions inward, shrinking it so completely that it collapses into non-existence. Once there is no “room” left for expression, any form tied to that space, physical structure, spiritual essence, even conceptual beings or abstract laws, is forcibly negated.

Because there is no longer any domain for those principles to manifest in, they produce an “N/A” error in reality’s source code, an enforced blank that undoes both presence and function. It is not simply spatial compression but a total suppression of being, pressing the act of existence itself into silent, inert potential.

However, it’s important to note that Araya’s intention wasn’t to outright annihilate Touko at that time. He aimed to extract her brain for study, a goal requiring her to remain alive and intact at least temporarily. This implies that Araya deliberately restrained the full destructive potential of Shuku against her, wielding it with precision and control rather than total devastation:

All that remained to die was her brain. Without the flow of blood, her brain would soon deteriorate. The knowledge and techniques she had accumulated would be completely lost. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Thus, Shuku is not simply an all-or-nothing power; it can be modulated to achieve selective erasure or suppression within Araya’s domain, making it an immensely versatile and terrifying technique, capable of erasing beings completely, or crushing them slowly and carefully when needed.

Beyond these direct applications, Araya’s control over space within his domain is virtually limitless. He can twist, bend, reshape, and command the environment at will, treating the complex as an extension of his own body. The building functions as an "altar," amplifying and focusing his will, allowing him to manipulate spatial forces and boundaries without restraint.

But even this is not the full extent of the complex’s power. In fact, the building’s true strength lies in its nature as True Magic:

“Sure, you didn’t make a mistake. For you as a Magus, this is the best solution. But, what if the assumption itself is a mistake? You isolated Shiki? Not in a room somewhere in this apartment complex, but you isolated her in this apartment complex itself? A Bounded Field that achieves spacial isolation is already on the level of Magic. It’s a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

"Try listening to what someone is saying. A ward itself does no harm. That word, it originates from Buddhism. A ward is always something that isolates an area from the outside world, although it has somehow come to represent technique by which a magician protects his or her body.

Understand? I said this just before, but the best wards don't feel weird to a normal person. Let's call it "an idea which forces itself on the unconscious mind". The best of the best reach the stage of "disconnection of space"; but to go that far you are looking at magicians rather than sorcerers. Currently there's only one magician in this country, so basically that kind of ward just can't be formed. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

No, it wasn't magecraft. A mystery that used a twisted dimension of this level was already no longer on the level of magecraft.

This was --- that was right, a mystery of a province unreachable with today's knowledge. There was no doubt that this was an act of absolute power that human hands could not reach, magic. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

These quotes make it abundantly clear: Araya’s bounded realm, and spatial isolation in general, is not just an advanced form of magecraft. It crosses a threshold: it is True Magic.

True Magic is fundamentally distinct from magecraft.

Magecraft, despite its mystique, is a system built upon the principle of equivalent exchange. It is the manipulation of possibilities within the known world. You can transform one thing into another, but you cannot create something from nothing. Magecraft simply enacts the possible in unusual or accelerated ways; it bends reality, but it never breaks it:

Although magecraft gave the impression of omnipotence, it fundamentally produced Mystery through the principle of equivalent exchange.

It was possible to transform one thing into another, but it was impossible to produce something from nothing.

However, the essence of magecraft as a discipline was to challenge that “Nothingness,” and endeavor towards the impossible. Large-scale spells such as the so-called Grand Sorceries, Grand Rituals were really purposeless if not for attempting to reach “ ” (kara) or True Magic.

Kara no Kyoukai was a story of one magus’ attempt at challenging “Nothingness. - Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphelt - Magecraft [Other]

The art we call sorcery, it's definitely something outside our everyday reality. In the end, though, it's still nothing more than making something that is possible normally happen under extraordinary circumstances. Should I give you an example?

Take making it rain, for example. Whether it's through science or magic, the result is indistinguishable. It's just that the method is different; the amount of effort that goes into it is nearly the same. Sorcery may appear to be the work of an instant, but the preparatory steps required are extensive. If you take the time and money spent, it’s nearly equivalent to making the rainclouds with science. In the past, that really was something close to a miracle. By today's standards, however, it's not a miracle or anything of the sort. Previously, any mage that could turn a whole village to ashes was hailed as a wizard, but these days if you have money, that's something anyone can do. All that is required is to throw one missile.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

In essence, magecraft is the extraordinary implementation of the possible; a method of reaching mundane results through arcane means. Whether it’s rainmaking, destruction, healing, or illusion, the goal remains within the bounds of the world’s laws. Even large-scale miracles, like Grand Rituals, are just humanity trying to push at the limits of possibility. But they remain within the framework of what can be achieved with time, effort, and resources.

By contrast, True Magic is a miracle, something that exists outside the laws of nature and causality. It performs what the current reality deems impossible. A Magician does not imitate the world; they overwrite it. True Magic is not a different method; it is a different realm entirely. It doesn’t follow the logic of science or even the logic of magecraft. It acts as a rupture in the very principle of equivalent exchange: an act of Something arising from Nothing.

This means Araya’s domain does not operate under the rules of conventional reality. It is a dimension severed from the known universe, something fundamentally “impossible” within the boundaries of human magical knowledge. As stated in the text, it exists beyond the reach of physical law itself:

A twisted dimension of this level should be completely separated from the physical laws of the outside world. Preparations for opening the path were finished long ago, Aozaki." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This is highly significant. The laws of physics are the governing parameters of Gaia’s reality, determining how phenomena interact, persist, or decay. Yet Araya's realm explicitly discards them. Why? Because it is completely isolated: a space cut off from the external universe, where only the laws Araya imposes are permitted to function.

This is the true expression of Stillness: a principle that rejects all external interference, preserving only what the user wills to remain. It is not mere stasis, but the imposition of absolute metaphysical control through negation.

In this way, the form of True Magic Araya achieves is the complete severance of space from reality: a self-contained world governed solely by his consciousness. Within this still domain, the constraints of reality no longer apply. There is no need for equivalence, sacrifice, or external energy. Creation occurs purely by will. It is a closed cosmology: self-authored, inviolable, and sustained by the miracle of True Magic.

Araya himself confirms the building’s cosmic purpose: containing the Taiji itself:

“Wait Araya. I have one question. The original purpose of this apartment complex is to represent the Taiji in order to take in the Taiji, wasn’t it?”

“Indeed. I created this alien world to completely cut off Ryougi Shiki from the outside world. The other various functions are just accessories.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

We have already seen earlier how the apartment internalized the 64 forms of Death. By doing so, it became an abstract engine capable of freezing all phenomena at their source, preserving every duality (life/death, light/dark, movement/stillness) as unchanging conceptual archetypes. Governed by Stillness, these archetypes are protected from distortion, contradiction, or interference. They exist as perfect, frozen templates of reality.

In that sense, Araya has effectively created a conceptual nature reserve: a space where phenomena no longer interact, and therefore can never decay, transform, or cause suffering.

So when Araya claims the complex can “contain” Ryougi Shiki, he does not mean physical restraint: he means neutralization. Shiki embodies Void, the pure potential to negate all things. But even the Void requires interaction to act. Araya locks her in a domain where contradiction itself is frozen, where cause and effect no longer unfold. The Root’s infinite potential becomes inert.

Thus, Shiki, and by extension Akasha, is preserved: perfect, and perfectly still.

In essence, Araya’s apartment complex is not merely a large-scale bounded field; it is a True Magic–level evolution of the very concept. Normal bounded fields impose laws on reality. Araya’s realm replaces reality itself. No chaos, no branching possibilities, only a perfectly looped causal system of his own design.

By freezing contradiction and releasing it selectively, he allows only the outcomes he chooses. Causality becomes a monolinear path authored solely by him. The Taiji becomes not just a symbol, but a law; a metaphysical engine in which he alone decides which wheel turns, and when.

This makes Araya effectively nigh-omnipotent within his domain. Having crystallized every possible interaction within the Taiji, he masters the full range of existence: every universe, concept, and potential born from Yin and Yang’s interplay. All are held in Stillness, frozen as fixed laws. His domain is a self-authored cosmology where only his chosen truths exist. With the entire spectrum of creation encoded and suspended, Araya can manifest any universe, phenomenon, or conceptual structure at will. But because these are static laws, they can no longer resist, contradict, or evolve. No force, will, or principle can overpower him in this space, as he has accounted for, dissected, and immobilized every conceivable outcome.

His near-omnipotence is further confirmed when the true nature of the Complex is revealed: a closed loop, the Möbius Ring:

“Sure, you didn’t make a mistake. For you as a Magus, this is the best solution. But, what if the assumption itself is a mistake? You isolated Shiki? Not in a room somewhere in this apartment complex, but you isolated her in this apartment complex itself? A Bounded Field that achieves spatial isolation is already on the level of Magic. It’s a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create.
Those who are trapped by the sealed space of a Möbius Ring can never get out from the inside. A closed world that’s enclosed by walls can’t be destroyed by physical impacts — it’s a cage that’s impossible to escape from. You slapped Shiki in there, which gave you peace of mind.” — Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

A Möbius Ring is not just a spatial loop; it is a conceptual structure: a non-orientable surface where inside and outside, beginning and end, collapse into a continuous whole. A closed circuit that always returns to its starting condition, it has long served as a metaphor for paradox, recursion, and self-contained eternity. For Araya, this is more than a neat geometric trick: it is the perfect embodiment of Stillness. No matter what action is taken, all motion circles back to the same result: death, the return to non-being. This logic underlies all his magecraft. Even in his earliest barriers, Araya imposed Stillness by projecting death as the default state, skipping decay and delivering all things directly into metaphysical silence.

The Complex fully embodies this principle. It is a spiral of repetition where Yin and Yang eternally interplay yet always return to the void. Araya internalizes this archetypal loop and weaponizes it: every phenomenon becomes trapped in a closed causal system. Any contradiction or external resistance is swallowed by the Möbius curve and redirected back to its origin: death. The system is immutable, its logic circular, and its borders guarded by Stillness: a conceptual wall that refuses all outside interference. 

This mirrors the true essence of Yin-Yang: not duality, but transformation within unity. Just as the Möbius Ring collapses all opposites into a single surface, Araya collapses the boundary between life and death, action and inaction. His field becomes a reality where motion is allowed, but direction is meaningless.

As practical examples, he might decree that no being inside can exceed human capabilities, or that any attempt to move forward is instantly consumed by cosmic fire. A reality warper trying to alter these laws this would find their changes endlessly looped back to negation. Even something as simple as walking down a hallway could be trapped in infinite return. Contradictions are caught in the Möbius loop and neutralized by Stillness.

As Touko notes in the above quote, this is not merely spatial imprisonment; it is conceptual isolation. The Möbius Ring doesn’t just erect walls; it imposes metaphysical boundaries that no truly real phenomenon can contradict. Within its structure, change itself becomes invalid: any action taken is rendered meaningless, unable to alter the conditions Araya has imposed. All things are inevitably returned to their origin on a conceptual level.

This loop is infinite and unbreakable, because it is not a constraint placed upon reality, but a condition woven into its logic. One cannot dismantle the concept of separation or stasis without unraveling the very framework that allows distinct beings and forces to exist and act. The identity of your powers (as distinct from all others) and their capacity to interact (as governed by internal rules rather than external interference) are both sustained by Stillness; the primordial boundary that Araya has now fully embodied.

So rather than simply halting phenomena outright, Araya can also allow events to unfold, but only insofar as they flow toward the preordained death he has assigned them. This death is not chosen arbitrarily; it is derived from the core contradiction of that being or event. By freezing that contradiction at its root, Araya ensures that no matter how one tries to defy it, the phenomenon must resolve itself in the only way possible: through the specific kind of Stillness it was always destined to meet. In effect, he is not stopping death: he is weaponizing it as an organizing principle, reducing the infinite potential of life into a finite loop of scripted ends.

This is where his comparison to Yama, the Judge of the Dead and embodiment of Hell, comes full circle. The Complex is not merely a prison: it is a personal hell. A sealed world where all “sinners” are locked in eternal stasis, their potential stripped away, their existence dictated by Araya’s fixed, divine laws. This is the apex of his True Magic: a Möbius reality that replaces the world’s flux with his eternal Stillness.

Within this domain, death is not an event, but a state. Nothing lives, suffers, or dies. All beings are effectively already dead: frozen in perfect definition. Suffering requires change, and change requires time. Araya stops both before they begin. And so, paradoxically, he creates a kind of mercy. Death is no longer cruel, because there is no life to lose, no pain to endure. Everything is preserved, perfectly and coldly, in Stillness.

By making death the law rather than the outcome, he prevents suffering by halting life itself, a frozen existence where change, and with it, pain, simply cannot arise.

-

As a neat side note, this also connects to the implied domain of the First Magic; the "Creation of Nothingness."

Ether Lump

Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Substance as coined by the Association. It is a necessary medium that gives shape by mixing with the Four Elements.

It is shapeless, but it is a critical element in the functioning of magecraft.

Ether is bound to become one of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, but in the hands of a novice, it would fail to become one of the Four Elements and materialize. This is ether lump.

Ether lump is completely useless. In some sense, creating ether lump is analogous to creating “Nothingness.” Looking at it from this perspective makes it sound like “True Magic” In fact, ether lump is originally the First Magic’s———

Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

Ether Lump, as a failed materialization of the Four Elements, consists of untapped Ether: the formless substance that enables Magecraft to manifest physical phenomena. It represents the concept of “creating Nothingness” insofar as it is pure, unrealized potential.

This principle underlies the First Magic: by refining the nature of Ether Lump, one can create not just failed pseudo-elements but actual, true “nothingness”, a void without inherent laws, paradoxically containing infinite possibilities.

This is the essence of Stillness and Araya’s apartment complex: by eliminating all external rules, limits, or interference, the user accesses “nothingness” (the creation of Nothingness) and shapes its boundless potential into a structured reality, maintaining complete separation between their intent and the outside universe’s framework. In doing so, they embody the very principle of creation ex nihilo: a divine power that easily surpasses mere Ultimate Ones or other reality warpers.

We already know Araya achieved True Magic, and by process of elimination, it can only be the First or Fourth, with evidence strongly pointing to the First as explained earlier. This reveals the deeper nature of Araya’s spatial isolation ability and ties it into the broader metaphysical structure of the verse: an ancient being existing since the dawn of humanity wielding the most primordial of miracles.

-

Back to the main topic, the reason Araya fought primarily through space manipulation within his complex was to avoid provoking the Counter Force: the main reality of his bounded field must remain largely indistinguishable from the outside world. Drastic alterations would be flagged as existential threats. Thus, he operates by subtly manipulating what already exists rather than rewriting laws outright. Additionally, by the final battle, Ryougi Shiki had fully embodied her Origin through self-hypnosis, a state of absolute perfection that cannot be defined, analyzed, or assimilated by any system. This makes conventional law manipulation pointless; no system can contain what has no structure.

Ironically, spatial compression remains one of the few viable attacks, as Shiki’s Origin, while metaphysically untouchable, is still anchored to her physical body. Unlike traditional law-warping attacks, Shuku doesn’t attempt to rewrite or impose new rules on reality. Instead, it directly attacks the very ability of space to express existence, collapsing the conditions that allow phenomena to persist. This makes Shuku not merely spatial manipulation but a metaphysical negation of presence: a powerful alternative to outright law manipulation that bypasses Shiki’s metaphysical immunity by targeting the physical anchor of her existence.

However, this restraint is purely contextual. In a hypothetical fight removed from narrative limitations, where Araya isn’t trying to reach Akasha or avoid interference from the Counter Force, he could freely reshape reality using the full scope of his True Magic, overwhelming most opponents through absolute control over law, causality, and space.

And if one were to imagine escape, even that hope is extinguished. The building that houses Araya’s Complex reveals its true form: Mugen, an infinite void that stretches beyond all physical and conceptual boundaries. But Mugen is not just empty space: it is a metaphysical domain, a bridge between the material world and the "otherworld," as Araya himself describes. Within this infinite canvas, Araya imposes the conceptual framework of the Möbius ring that defines his entire personal world:

“There is no need for concern. I have not imprisoned her in a room within the apartment complex. I have thrown her into Mugen, the infinite void, that connects the material world to the otherworld.

The primary purpose of this distorted alien world was to create a closed loop. By no means, no matter the method or the impact, could one escape from the darkness of Mugen. Even if Ryougi Shiki were to awaken, there is nothing she could do. Monitoring her is unnecessary. Besides, given her injuries, even standing would be difficult. Even if she wakes, her body will be incapable of moving properly.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

“Sure, you didn’t make a mistake. For you as a Magus, this is the best solution. But, what if the assumption itself is a mistake? You isolated Shiki? Not in a room somewhere in this apartment complex, but you isolated her in this apartment complex itself? A Bounded Field that achieves spacial isolation is already on the level of Magic. It’s a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create.

“Those who are trapped by the sealed space of a Mobius Ring can never get out from the inside. A closed world that’s enclosed by walls can’t be destroyed by physical impacts, it’s a cage that’s impossible to escape from. You slapped Shiki in there, which gave you peace of mind. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

No weapon could interfere with a sealed world where the space was chained together infinitely with no exit. Because it had no shape, physical weapons that can only interact with physical objects couldn’t clash with it. But, Ryougi Shiki’s power was precisely one that targeted such formless things. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Many misunderstand Araya’s Mugen as being the Möbius Ring itself, but this is incorrect. Mugen is the infinite void, a formless, unbounded space that bridges the material world and the “otherworld.” It exists outside conventional reality as a liminal space, a natural bridge between defined worlds. If Mugen were the Möbius Ring, it wouldn’t be a bridge at all, it would have no external connection, no “outside” to reach.

What makes Araya’s sorcery terrifying is that he imposes the Möbius Ring’s logic onto Mugen, chaining that natural infinity into his closed system of Stillness. He describes it as “infinitely chained with no exit", a topological prison where forward becomes backward, and all motion recursively reinforces his internal stasis.

In short:

• Mugen = the infinite void.
• Möbius Ring = the recursive structure Araya imposes on it.
• Result = a conceptual prison where Stillness is absolute and escape is impossible without killing the concept itself.

Since Mugen is infinite nothingness, it can contain an infinite number of phenomena or realities without changing its own fundamental nature, making it the perfect trap for nearly any being in existence. Its lack of defined structure means it can host limitless alterations without ever ‘breaking’ its own infinity. In this sense, it acts as the liminal canvas that allows reality warping to occur across all of creation: an unbounded space where phenomena can emerge, shift, and dissolve freely. To escape, one would have to dismantle the very concept of infinity itself, an impossibility because infinity is limitless by definition.

And because Mugen also acts as a bridge connecting different realms, someone might hope to exploit that link to flee into the material world, but Araya’s Stillness closes even that door. His Möbius Ring doesn’t merely bind an infinite canvas; it devours itself in a closed spiral of nothingness, severing any external ties that might offer a route of escape. It is an impossible prison: a cage with no exit, even in theory.

In other words, Mugen is an infinite cage of frozen possibilities; Instead of allowing potential to manifest or evolve, Stillness freezes all potential in infinite stasis, a state where nothing can begin, change, or unfold. Though infinite in scope, it paradoxically permits no actual potential to be realized or expressed unless authorized by Araya, because every contradiction and interaction is locked, suspended, and endlessly looped without resolution.

This reveals the true scope of Araya Souren’s power: he doesn’t merely access an infinite domain: he subjugates it. Infinity, by its nature, should be boundless, undefined, and free from structure. But Araya imposes Stillness upon it. He doesn’t destroy motion by freezing it; he redefines motion itself, converting endless possibility into closed, recursive stasis. In doing so, he demonstrates the ability to bend infinity to his will, not by brute force but through metaphysical architecture. In this sense, Araya’s power borders on divine, not because he overpowers the infinite, but because he rewrites its logic.

Seriously, The last time a character bent infinity to their will like that, it was Lucifer in DC Comics.

The only flaw of Araya's Mugen is this:

Infinity is not 「 」. For infinity to remain infinite, the finite has to be defined. Without the finite there cannot exist infinity. Because things have an end, we can observe the thing called infinity.

Ryougi Shiki had been cast into infinity, she saw the impossible finite and cut through it.

Of course, there is no finite inside of the infinite. You can’t slash through what doesn’t exist, so escape from such a cage is impossible. But, if there is no finite then there is no infinite. Whether finite walls exist or not, an endless world holds no meaning before Ryougi Shiki.

If there really is no finite, then it’s not infinite but 「 」. If the finite can be comprehended, Shiki could detect and slash through it.

... The black hole that should have been absolute was just a small dark room to his opponent. The Magus felt ashamed of himself. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5 Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

While Araya's Mugen is infinite in scale and suppressive reach, it is still defined. It exists in contrast to the finite world; its “infiniteness” depends on the existence of what lies outside it. And that dependency is an existential flaw.

Shiki, whose eyes perceive the death of all things, including concepts, realities, and contradictions, saw that flaw. And by cutting it, she severed the very foundation of Araya’s world.

But that flaw was only visible to Shiki. Her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception alone can recognize the hidden mortality of absolute systems. For others, reality-warpers, divine entities, conceptual beings, Mugen would be inescapable. It is not just emptiness; it is self-consuming lawlessness. A void with no structure, no laws, and no contradictions to leverage.

Araya’s Stillness binds all possibility into an infinite feedback loop. And within that loop, even the potential for change collapses. What begins as infinite potential becomes infinite collapse; a domain that devours meaning before meaning can take form.

And if you think simply avoiding his apartment complex will limit his power, think again.

Contrary to popular belief, Araya’s sorcery is not confined to the building he uses as his primary base. His power isn’t spatially restricted. Through the application of True Magic, Araya can manifest closed domains anywhere; self-contained realities that operate under his personal logic, independent of physical location.

Why this is possible, and how it works, will be explained in the next short section.

The true nature of the First Magic:

Araya’s apartment complex is where he realized his True Magic, but it was never its source. As Touko explains, Araya’s magic is a Bounded Field that achieves spatial isolation, which he can deploy almost instantly once understood, because his Origin is inherently tied to division and world creation:

“A Bounded Field that achieves spatial isolation is already on the level of Magic… a miracle that only a Bounded Field expert like you could create.” – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 5

“The best of the best [wards] reach the stage of ‘disconnection of space’; but to go that far you are looking at magicians rather than sorcerers.” – Kara no Kyoukai, Chapter 4

"Although Araya is average as a magus, his talents relating to Bounded Field construction are exceptional. A bounded field divides what is inside from the outside. In order to construct a complete world from his own body, Araya must first complete himself.

Araya, who has no exceptional innate talents, becomes a first-class bounded field master by completing himself through the accumulation of ages and sheer determination. That which divides the inside from the outside — Kara no Kyoukai is his story.

Araya symbolizes the paradoxical spiral, the most important event in this tale.

Talking about the impossible, what Araya accomplished is like achieving the pinnacle within a field while being completely oblivious of even the name of this subject field". – Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

This is what elevates Araya beyond a mere magus: he embodies the concept of separation itself. His magic isn’t something he casts; it’s something he expresses through his existence. His Origin has always been predisposed to world-genesis, but he first needed to complete himself: to understand and internalize how a world functions. Otherwise, it would remain something external, something belonging to the “outside.”

Araya initially used the apartment complex precisely for that purpose: to observe death in all its forms, to understand how reality identifies, isolates, and extinguishes the Origin of living beings. Since all entities and objects are shaped by their Origin, Araya could, once he understood this mechanism, learn to suppress or overwrite any phenomenon that operated under a similar metaphysical logic.

This contrast between “inside” (the phenomenon) and “outside” (Reality's suppressions) mirrors fundamental dualities: light and dark, life and death, potential and limitation. Araya uses this dualism as a bridge toward a metaphysical model based on Taiji, the blueprint for structuring and expressing the Fount’s potential:

Taiji [Others]

A philosophy originating in ancient China, a graphical representation of the Yin-Yang theory. It attempts to capture the essence of everything on a conceptual level: those that are active are defined as Yang (white), and the opposite are defined as Yin (black).

The Taiji symbolizes opposing concepts such as day and night, light and darkness, male and female. At the same time, you may also call it a condensed version of the ever-changing, dynamic World.

Furthermore, there is a dot of Yin in Yang, and conversely a dot of Yang in Yin. This indicates that the distinction between Yin and Yang is not absolute. There is darkness even in light.

Taiji is the "one" at the beginning. The Yin and Yang that divide the "one" are called Liangyi (Ryougi).

– Kara no Kyoukai Special Pamphlet – Encyclopedia: Taiji

Eventually, these interactions, the internalized Taiji, became part of Araya’s own “inside,” which he could then divide from the outside through a true magic evolution of his bounded fields:

A temple of Taiji. It could be called the artificial manifestation of the inner landscape of Araya Souren, who did not have a Reality Marble.

– Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

As this quote states, the power of the complex comes from being the manifestation of Araya’s internal world, his “inside”, effectively his version of a Reality Marble. The building doesn't empower him; he empowers the building. The “temple of Taiji” is the expression of a complete metaphysical model Araya has already embodied.

And once internalized, it remains permanently accessible to him; his bounded field became a portable, spiritual domain. Since then, Araya no longer requires a physical structure. He can project this enclosed Taiji field anywhere, across any location, because the world it expresses now exists within him.

Araya Souren’s power began as the construction of barriers that divide the inside from the outside. At its most fundamental, this was advanced bounded field magecraft, a method of defining a domain by severing external interference. Within these barriers, Araya could suppress or “stop” existing phenomena by halting their interaction with the World. Yet this remained within the scope of conventional Thaumaturgy: it manipulated the flow of events, but still relied on the World’s existing metaphysical grammar.

However, Araya’s aim was not merely to block reality, but to understand and replicate its governing structure so completely that he could reproduce it within himself. His philosophical anchor was the principle of Stillness: the cessation of external change, allowing the internal to be observed, refined, and ultimately rendered immutable.

Through this lens, Araya redefined the barrier; not as a passive shield, but as an active, sovereign world. The Ogawa Apartment Complex was his crucible: a massive closed space constructed as a Möbius ring, eliminating any “edge” through which the World could exert its corrective pressure. It was a sealed, recursive loop, a domain perfectly isolated from the outside and self-defining from within.

By internalizing the Taiji, the cosmic structure of opposing principles that governs all duality, Araya completed the great inversion: he no longer used barriers, he became one. Separation was no longer a technique, but an existential truth. What once required a building to sustain was now upheld by his very being.

This is directly confirmed in the scene where Araya escapes into a garden that lies within his bounded field but outside the Ogawa building itself:

“The Magus escaped from the apartment complex within his own body, to the garden outside of his body.

A green lawn enclosed the apartment complex’s garden; it was within the Bounded Field but not a part of the apartment complex itself. Even if the building was destroyed, this was the only place that would remain unaffected by the impact.” - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The phrase “escaped from the apartment complex within his own body, to the garden outside of his body” does not describe a physical transition, but a metaphysical shift. Araya is not simply fleeing a building: he is transferring his presence from one focal construct of his bounded field (the building) to another zone still under his dominion. The garden lies within the overall bounded field but outside the building, illustrating that the field is not bound to the structure: it is bound to him. The building is merely one manifestation of his internal world, and its destruction does not collapse the entire field.

This detail explains how Araya could still attempt his final ritual even after choosing to destroy the apartment complex. He wasn’t destroying his entire world, only the innermost layer, like a magus dissolving a single spell-form while maintaining the larger magical foundation. The garden functions as the stabilized outer layer of the field, untouched by the inner collapse, and still fully infused with his magical energy.

In other words, this proves that Araya's True Magic is an advanced application of a bounded field over a defined area, allowing him to select a specific space within it and use it as a vessel for his evolved internal world, like he did with the building. Meanwhile, the overall area remains under his control, enabling him to rebuild or manifest another universe should he destroy his previous one, as seen in this case. 

In Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6, Ryougi Shiki even offers a seemingly simple observation that quietly reveals the essence of Araya Souren’s True Magic:

As I trod along the humus-covered ground, I absentmindedly inhaled the scent of the air, fragrant and colourful, like a gushing stream of water. The smell of leaves and the sound of insects blended together, intoxicating my mind like a haze. The air was sweet and heavy, like ripe fruit, and the scenery seemingly moved at a leisurely pace. It was as if I was walking through a watercolour painting, a strange and fluffy feeling.

Indeed... This academy, isolated from the outside, was a different world.

A memory suddenly sprang to mind. In the past, there had been a man who created a foreign world by prohibiting entry to an apartment building. How convoluted. If he had simply erected walls around the perimeter, mirroring this academy or the Ryougi mansion, that alone would have severed the connection between his world and the outside one. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 6

At first glance, it sounds like a passing thought. But it quietly exposes the core of Araya’s miracle: the metaphysical enforcement of division: the instant a space is no longer part of the World, but is reborn as its own isolated domain.

Humans already perceive space this way. Each room, hall, or boundary feels like its own “world.” This isn’t just poetic: it’s neurological. We unconsciously reset context when we cross thresholds. Araya’s True Magic builds upon this instinct, literalizing it. Where we intuit separateness, he enforces it as a metaphysical law.

His True Magic doesn’t imitate a world: it invokes one. He severs a space from external causality and rewrites it according to his Origin of Stillness: not simple silence, but the erasure of interference, the point where interaction ends and pure containment begins.

The apartment complex in Chapter 5 was Araya’s prototype: a recursive domain where every room became a closed system, where death and causality were sealed and rewritten. But after mastering its laws, Araya no longer needed the building. He internalized the technique.

What once required structure and ritual now happens instantly, mentally, anywhere. Every enclosed space is a potential world under Araya’s control. His mind recognizes their separateness as we do, but where we stop at perception, he makes it real. This is True Magic: a miracle that cannot be replicated, a complete ontological overwrite through conceptual division.

Ryougi’s reflection captures this precisely. The world already breaks itself into pieces. Araya simply severs, rewrites, and commands them. Wherever he walks, reality divides, and the space becomes his altar.

He no longer needs to 'set up' a barrier in the traditional sense: it manifests instantly, because it’s not a tool but a direct expression of his being. In essence, he becomes a walking Reality Marble that does not collapse because it does not project: it divides.

This is why completing himself elevates his power to True Magic: he no longer creates a domain; he is one. Wherever he stands, an autonomous world walks with him. His only real vulnerability is internal: if the Stillness at his core is disrupted or tainted. But short of that, he moves through the World not as a man, but as a walking impossibility, an untouchable domain severed from all external causality. His barriers have evolved from static walls that block interference into a living universe that overwrites anything that dares to intrude.

And this is precisely what makes his power an unmistakable wielding of the First Magic:

Ether Lump

Ether, the Fifth Imaginary Substance as coined by the Association. It is a necessary medium that gives shape by mixing with the Four Elements.

It is shapeless, but it is a critical element in the functioning of magecraft.

Ether is bound to become one of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind, but in the hands of a novice, it would fail to become one of the Four Elements and materialize. This is ether lump.

Ether lump is completely useless. In some sense, creating ether lump is analogous to creating “Nothingness.” Looking at it from this perspective makes it sound like “True Magic” In fact, ether lump is originally the First Magic’s———

Garden of sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

Ether Lump is called "the First Magic's" because it embodies suspended potential: a natural element that has failed to manifest and thus represents “nothing,” a blank slate awaiting imposition of order and structure to come into existence. This is precisely what Stillness accomplishes on a broader scale: suspending reality’s rules to create a space of “Nothingness” that can be reshaped by the user with complete freedom.

Araya first mastered this principle when he perfected bounded fields centuries ago; abilities that allow him to enforce his own logic upon reality, reducing it to inert potentiality. He then advanced his power even further: no longer needing a pre-existing space to edit in his image, he outright manifests his own personal reality ex nihilo, a sealed domain governed by Stillness, where everything exists only in potential, moving and acting solely within predetermined boundaries.

-------

Inside his domain, Araya Souren wields the power of True Magic: spatial isolation, the ability to seal a space on a conceptual level, making it a fully independent universe. Araya's complex is explicitly stated to be disconnected from the laws of physics, and True Magic is inherently unbound by any conventional framework. This means the building has no natural laws, effectively becoming a "blank" reality that Araya can shape and edit at will, generating every possible reality and concept. This mirrors the implied principle of the First Magic, which involves the "creation of Nothingness." By negating all external forces that would otherwise limit his will, Araya Souren paradoxically generated a state of infinite potential, an undefined state akin to " " itself.

The Complex is a True Magic evolution of Araya’s bounded fields. Instead of imposing pre-existing, natural laws, such as those of Stillness and cessation, onto a defined space, this building nullifies reality’s laws altogether, replacing them with Araya’s own.

However, it is important to emphasize that Araya Souren’s apartment complex is not a prerequisite for his application of spatial isolation. The building represents the first successful manifestation of this principle, not a necessary conduit for its continued use. What the complex provided was a controlled environment, his initial laboratory, so to speak, through which he reached a breakthrough in applying Stillness at a cosmic scale. Once he comprehended the fundamental laws governing the interactions of Yin and Yang and actualized them within that space, the principle itself became internalized. Thus, Araya can replicate this form of spatial isolation anywhere, independent of the original structure.

This is demonstrated in the final confrontation, when the narration notes that Araya shifts from the complex within his body to the garden outside of it, attempting to crush Ryougi along with his alien world. This shows that the building is merely a vessel, an extension or localized focus, of Araya’s internal world. The broader bounded field, however, encompasses the entire land, including the outer garden. That external space acts as a secondary, self-contained world, unaffected by the collapse of the building itself, and allows Araya to still reach " " through Ryougi’s body without interference from the Counter Force.

In essence, Araya's Disconnection of Space invades and rewrites a defined area with a bounded field. Within this domain, he can create sub-divisions by focusing his will on particular locations, a building, an alley, even a magazine, and convert them into extensions of his internal world. Meanwhile, the larger space remains under his dominion. This structure implies that he can manifest multiple “cosmos” within a single bounded field, or even shape a new world directly from the field itself. This illustrates how versatile and comprehensive his application of Stillness truly is.

As a quick example of this general application, Imagine a scenario where Araya Souren arrives in Misaki Town during the Melty Blood incident in which Archetype Earth emerges to restore Wallachia to his original form. Upon entering the vicinity, Araya targets the half-constructed building where Tohno Shiki, Sion, and Arcueid are located. Rather than engaging in conventional combat, he enacts his fully realized True Magic upon the structure.

The result is a conceptual freezing of the entire space, comparable to the suspension seen in Ouken’s bounded field, but applied on a much broader, metaphysical scale. This isn’t simply a stasis of motion or time, but a complete cessation of all change across the ontological fabric of that bounded reality. At this level of Stillness, the building does not merely halt: it ceases to possess form as an active reality and instead reverts to pure potentiality. In essence, it becomes “nothing,” and through that nothingness, it becomes the primordial First, the precondition of all existence.

Within this substrate of pure potential, Araya holds absolute authority to construct and define any system of reality, unopposed by external forces or rules. His internal world is a perfected understanding of the Taiji: the full cycle of how the infinite potential of “ ” manifests through the duality of Yin and Yang, only to collapse back into stillness. This grants him the power to impose any configuration of laws, with the space functioning as an extension of his very being.

These laws are not enforced through domination or conflict, but through Stillness: the absence of chaos, motion, or flux from the user’s perspective. Araya achieves this because he has identified and internalized the “still points” that lie at the heart of every contradiction: the precise moment where opposing concepts (life and death, greed and need, creation and collapse) cancel each other and return to null-state. He doesn’t merely neutralize these dualities; he becomes their resolution.

By embodying both the origin and the collapse of all dualistic interplay, Araya freezes the very logic that makes reality dynamic. His domain becomes a Möbius ring of suspended contradiction, a sealed loop where no possibility can escape or oppose his absolute will. The external world becomes meaningless: replaced by Araya’s personal reality, a space defined entirely by Stillness. While natural existence flows through cycles of yin and yang (light and dark, life and death) Araya’s space halts that cycle, reducing it to pure awareness of its endpoint: the unchanging still law of his will.

Within this space, Archetype Earth is powerless. Despite her immense authority as a reality warper tied to celestial principles, her powers remain fundamentally expressions of Yin and Yang. There is nothing in her skillset that transcends that duality. Araya, having mastered this very structure, stands untouchable. Even if Archetype Earth attempts to alter the laws of his domain, her changes are denied, rejected by a reality perfectly sealed by Stillness.

Araya’s personal causality overrides the fabric of space itself, fusing it with his very being. Within this merged domain, the environment acts like an extension of his body: he can teleport instantly to any location, restructure space at will, and most notably, crush it with a technique called Shuku. This isn't mere spatial manipulation like Asagami Fujino’s bending of trajectories; Shuku is Stillness applied to existence. It doesn't just compress the geometry of space: it annihilates the ontological capacity of that space to contain phenomena.

In simpler terms: anything within the crushed zone, physical or conceptual, is reduced to pure non-being, compressed until it no longer qualifies as “existent.” Shuku is less destruction than erasure, a forced return to silence. There is no explosion, no debris; only cessation. We’ve seen it erase even intangible constructs like Touko’s projection device with a mere gesture.

In effect, Shuku functions as a ranged analogue to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, dismantling the possibility of expression itself. By collapsing space inward from all directions, Araya forces it to revert to potentiality: a liminal state where entities lose all medium of manifestation. This means Araya wouldn’t even need to rely on overt reality-warping to defeat Archetype Earth. He would simply compress the space she occupies so thoroughly that her very potential to exist would vanish from the fabric of reality.

One might ask, “Well, what if Archetype Earth simply escapes the building?” This is precisely where Araya’s concept of Mugen, an infinite Void, comes into play. Normally, Mugen is an infinite void of nothingness that connects different spaces. Araya, however, within the bounds of his realm, can subject it to the Möbius-like authority of his will, turning it into a recursive prison.

This Mugen is infinite not only spatially but ontologically: an unending, self-looping void with no edge, surface, or definable exterior. It cannot be attacked or escaped through conventional means, as it transcends all known spatial logic. Reality warping fails because Mugen is not governed by a law making it infinite: it is infinity manifested. And infinity, by nature, has no limitation that could allow for its manipulation or suppression, Ryougi Shiki had to "kill" the very concept of infinity itself to escape it, proving no conventional force could suffice.

This reveals Araya’s absolute authority through his True Magic: he manipulates and redefines even the concept of infinity, a feat no other reality warper in the Type-Moon universe has matched. Stillness is not mere absence of motion but the silent clarity enabling infinity itself to exist and be comprehended.

This grants him near-omnipotence, positioning him as one of the most powerful beings in the Type-Moon universe, surpassed only by Ryougi Shiki.

Bonus: Why Yumina is a Fraud and Araya was clearly intended to be the First's wielder back then:

Before getting into this, understand something really important: Araya’s connection to the First Magic does not magically inflate his power or define his status. Factually, Araya is already the second strongest character in the entire franchise in his base form alone. The link to the First Magic is just a precise explanation of what his Spatial Isolation actually is.

I say this because some utterly clueless morons actually think that his tie to the First Magic is the only reason he’s top tier. That’s laughably ignorant. It’s a minor technicality in the grand scheme, but of course, these brain-dead gnats have never been known for intellectual rigor. 

With that out of the way, some idiots will still claim that Araya cannot have the First Magic, simply because a Fate gacha game recently said it was founded by Yumina. But they don't seem to realize that KnK literally came first and explicitly tied it to Araya. So what on earth are they on about? Grand Order doesn't even remotely try to stay even somewhat consistent with KnK's lore either.

Void Shiki is completely out of character, reimagined as a generic “wise big sister” archetype who smiles, offers advice, wishes you happy birthday, and even claims to enjoy being “ordered around.” This directly contradicts the original portrayal of Void: a being of pure nihilism and emptiness, who found existence tedious precisely because she perceived all truths. She wasn’t warm, curious, or affectionate: she was cold, remote, and fundamentally detached from human emotion. That’s the core of her character.

This failure isn’t just a matter of tone, it breaks the lore at a fundamental level. In Kara no Kyoukai, an Origin is a cosmic truth that defines a being across all incarnations. It does not change, evolve, or “soften” over time. So if Void’s Origin is truly “Nothingness,” she cannot suddenly become sentimental or develop a sense of self. The very essence of her existence rejects that possibility.

And then there’s the Fount, arguably the most egregious misstep. Grand Order presents it as a physical space: a realm you can walk into, talk in, look around, and describe in simple terms. But this directly contradicts the source material. In the novels, when Ryougi Shiki accesses the Fount during her coma, it is described as a complete and total Void: a place where even light, darkness, gravity, language, and time do not exist. Even concepts like “falling” or “muttering” are impossible there. The Fount is the metaphysical source of all things, it cannot be named or localized without inherently reducing it.

Yet in Grand Order, Void says “this is a place with no boundaries, where things with names should not exist”, while literally standing in it, with a body, and speaking in language to another definable person standing with a physical body. It completely defeats the purpose of the Fount’s nature. And no, the “it was just a dream” excuse doesn’t work: dreams are subconscious reconstructions of known reality. You can’t dream about something truly incomprehensible like the Fount, which by definition has no form, no logic, and no boundaries. The moment it’s visualized or interacted with, it’s already a contradiction.

This is why Grand Order’s portrayal can’t be taken seriously. If the foundation of Void’s power is now a physical realm with set pieces and dialogue, how do you even explain the abstract, reality-warping feats performed by even lower-tier characters in the original novel? You can’t, because it fundamentally misunderstands what Kara no Kyoukai is.

Some morons point to Void’s landscape in her Melty Blood Last Arc as proof that the game respects KnK’s lore. But that’s a misunderstanding. Unlike Grand Order, Melty Blood never claims that summoned realms are the Fount itself. Instead, Void is simply warping reality around her, creating an illusion or reflection that captures the essence of the Fount, not the actual source.

This distinction matters greatly. Summoning a landscape within reality is fundamentally different from actually accessing the boundless, formless Fount that exists beyond all concepts. Melty Blood’s depiction is consistent with the original lore’s abstraction, unlike Grand Order’s physicalized, literal realm.

In short: Grand Order outright demonstrates a lack of understanding of how Kara no Kyoukai works in the first place.

And that's not all: this reframing extends to True Magic itself. Yep.

This scene makes it painfully clear that F/GO has completely lost sight of what True Magic meant in the original Type-Moon metaphysics. In the classical canon, True Magic isn’t just a high-tier spell or technique you can match by throwing enough energy at a problem. It’s a miracle: something that cannot happen, no matter how advanced science or sorcery becomes. No amount of magical circuits, resources, or "energy scaling" can replicate it. Why? Because True Magic doesn’t operate within the system. It breaks it. It violates causality itself.

So when F/GO casually suggests a character can "surpass" True Magic just by stockpiling mana or acquiring enough firepower, it isn’t just a plot hole: it’s a fundamental rewrite of a core metaphysical concept. And it’s not isolated. This misinterpretation ties directly into how Grand Order rewrote the concept of the Root, of Void Shiki, and of Kara no Kyoukai’s metaphysical foundation.

The worst part is that this isn’t limited to Grand Order. Fate as a whole demonstrates virtually no understanding of KnK’s lore, to the point that it either further confirm Nasu's claim of his older self being an entirely different person at the time or something else was going on, because it deliberately butchers the series’ more complex metaphysical concepts.

As a blatant example, look at this from Hollow Ataraxia:

“I knew that much.

But I hadn’t imagined it would come to this.”

They covered the entire town of Miyama in less than half an hour.

…For human beings, infinity is nothing more than a metaphor.

No matter how vast, no matter how far it exceeds human estimation, everything has a limit.

Infinity is merely a word born from the limits of perception.

But—

this is different.

What stood before me wasn’t countless in the usual sense.

On the surface, this tries to echo KnK’s core concept: anything that can be conceptualized, described, or measured, even “infinity” itself, still falls under the limits of language and perception. Infinity, as humans use the word, only describes what cannot be counted or estimated by conventional means. But that’s still an imperfect infinity, bound to categories. In KnK, the true “absolute” is the abstract that lacks any definable quality and can only be glimpsed through filtered manifestations in creation: the Root.

So far, that would be fine. In fact, it would be a fair nod to the philosophy underpinning KnK. An “infinite universe” or an “infinite number of entities” might be infinite in scale, but that doesn’t mean it embodies all possibilities; it’s still limited to its specific aspect. Infinity as a pure abstraction would include all infinite sets and their infinite variations simultaneously. That’s the gap between the measurable “infinite” and the absolute.

But then the passage immediately torpedoes itself with: “What stood before me wasn’t countless in the usual sense.”

This is already doubly asinine. First, “countless” doesn’t necessarily equate to infinite in the first place; it just means “innumerable,” too many to count practically. Second, you cannot on one hand say infinity is merely a human metaphor for what lies beyond counting, and then turn around and claim that this particular swarm somehow exceeds even that. That’s incoherent. All it amounts to is: “Infinity is just a metaphor, but here’s another metaphor claiming to surpass infinity!” Which makes the supposed profundity collapse into self-parody. It’s not qualitatively different; it’s just more of the same, more “countless” shadows.

And the worst part? The whole mystique is obliterated later when Angra literally assigns them a number: a hundred million. A finite, measurable, perfectly ordinary number. So not only is this not infinite, it wasn’t even beyond estimation; it’s a swarm with a defined headcount. This instantly reduces what was framed as “beyond the concept of infinity” into “a really big crowd.” The rhetoric undercuts itself so badly it becomes comical.

This is, honestly, the clearest example of Fate lifting KnK’s metaphysical cadence but stripping it of all meaning. The distinction between infinity as metaphor and the absolute beyond categories is what allowed Shiki to see through Araya’s mugen and why the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception even function: because everything with form, definition, or even “infinite” continuity still bears the line of death. Only the Root escapes that.

So when Fate takes this central theme and repurposes it as hyperbole for a swarm of shadows, especially ones that later get an exact number, it’s not just clumsy writing, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what that language meant in KnK. And that isn’t something you can handwave away, because in KnK this wasn’t window-dressing; it was the very metaphysical bedrock of how Shiki triumphed over Souren and what her eyes revealed.

The worst part? A simple comparison of feats between the so-called wielders of the First and Araya shows that... Flat Snark’s big shtick is making a bounded field that changes physical laws into fairy-tale logic, which, frankly, is inferior to regular Araya’s barriers suspending all laws of reality into inert potential. Yet even those barriers aren’t considered True Magic. Why? Because such abilities still modify the existing framework of reality rather than sever it entirely.

Flat Snark’s powers, which project a new internal logic via bounded fields, are still confined to the rules they create. He struggles to convert modern objects, can’t fundamentally alter his fairy-tale-like rules to work in wholly different ways, and so on. In contrast, Araya’s apartment complex achieves complete conceptual disconnection from the natural order: an essential trait of True Magic. Within that domain, he’s not merely rewriting reality; he’s severing it, gaining absolute freedom to establish or erase any rule. This is why Alice is only ever said to be “close” to True Magic, while Araya is explicitly linked to it in the narrative.

So... what do we have here?

1. Grand Order and Fate as a whole, including the older entries, has zero understanding of the Light Novel it tries to cash in on.
2. Araya is factually superior to anything Alice and her people have done.
3. Araya’s True Magic can only be the First or the Fourth, by simple logical exclusion.
4. The First is only ever described in the Kara guidebook: the same story Araya is a key figure in.
5. That source states the First is about creating Nothingness, comparing it to ether lumps, an untapped form of Ether with the potential to become one of the four elements. Essentially, the First is about creating pure potential in a suspended state that can become anything but doesn’t yet exist, lacking defined properties until structured. That’s literally Stillness’ power: to suspend reality and redefine it through absolute boundaries.

So, when you see someone whining that Fate gave the First Magic to a different character, just laugh. Fate doesn’t care about respecting the original novels, and Nasu even explicitly said in an interview that he doesn’t mind altering lore; as long as “the river will flow” (i.e., as long as he keeps pumping out content and making money).

Seriously, it’s no wonder KnK has been gaslighted as “weak” for so long. Fate, which is what 99% of the fanbase is actually familiar with, deliberately simplifies complex, abstract themes into hyperbole or mainstream “big explosions” narratives. So when people skim the wiki or watch the KnK movies, they naturally interpret everything through that distorted lens.

Oh, and btw, it can actually be argued Grand Order and any connected work is just something in Len's dream world. You can check this thread for the details.

This means that Yumina having the First Magic would be just a figment of Len's imagination, lmao. Either interpretation you choose, Araya having the First or it being part of his total moveset remains factual and something morons can only whine about with no resolution.

------

Now, let’s take a look at some of the “counters” people usually bring up. These aren’t the typical Fate fanboy supremacy arguments; they’re points that a neutral observer could reasonably raise. That’s why I’m addressing them more seriously.

"But what about the side materials mentioning that the user of the First Magic "died a long time ago?" You may ask:

"In the past, when civilization was young, most magi were also magicians, but now only five remain. …Well, that’s what they say, but there are actually only four still alive. The magician who handled the First Magic already died a long time ago. Of the remaining four, two have disappeared, and two are bothersome people who cause trouble wherever they go."

"Why they’re still called the five magicians comes down to perspective. It’s about whether you count the dead as having ceased to exist or whether you see them as 'alive' in some way, as long as some trace of them persists." – Tsukihime Plus Period – Magic [Term]

But this perfectly aligns with Araya’s situation actually. Araya has transcended his physical form to become more of an abstract concept, as illustrated in Kara no Kyoukai:

"Though she had disdain for him, she did not hate this Magus, who had become more of a concept. If she had made one wrong step… No, if she had not made a wrong step, she surely would have ended up like this too. Neither a human nor a living being, but merely the embodiment of a theory resulting in a phenomenon." – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Additionally, when Araya describes his experience:

"The time was near. It had been half a day since he moved from the body he had been using up until yesterday to his current spare body. Finally, his consciousness felt like it had spread to every corner of this body. Araya Souren was not like some puppeteer who had died after preparing a completely identical copy. He still had not experienced death. His body had rotted away several times over the years, each time this happened, he maintained his consciousness and continued to live on. Araya Souren was only one person. If this body perished, there would be no refuge next time." – Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

This passage, when reinterpreted, does not mean that Araya transfers his soul or consciousness between multiple bodies. Rather, it reflects his body’s incredible capacity for restoration and regeneration through sheer force of will. Despite his physical form rotting away repeatedly over centuries, his unique Origin suspends him in a state beyond normal life and death, allowing him to continuously restore and rebuild his single body. Technically, however, he is still considered "dead" in the conventional sense: his physical form has long ceased the natural processes of living, and his existence is sustained solely by this profound stasis and unyielding willpower.

The First Magic is fundamentally tied to the concept of Bound Fields (dividing and defining distinct existences) which Araya mastered through sheer will and determination over time:

"A Bound Field divides what is inside from what is outside. To construct a complete world from his own body, Araya must first complete himself."

"Araya, who has no exceptional talents, became a first-class Bound Field master through the accumulation of time and sheer willpower." – Garden of Sinners Pamphlet: Kara no Kyoukai Settings Glossary

This demonstrates that Araya mastered the core principle of the First Magic, the manipulation of Bound Fields, long before he fully realized its true potential. While Flat Snark’s use of the First Magic explores only a fragment of its power, often expressed through fairy tale logic, Araya’s capability extends far beyond any single application. His power embraces all possible realities.

What Araya needed was not new abilities, but the capacity to apply his existing knowledge across a broader range of possibilities by carefully observing and analyzing the underlying mechanisms of reality itself. A study he completed when he established his apartment complex.

So yes, Araya Souren truly did die a “long, long time ago,” not just in body, but in the conventional sense of individuality. The man called Araya Souren ceased to be a human and became something else entirely: an enduring will, rooted in Stillness, that has existed since the dawn of mankind. He speaks of eras predating even the invention of weapons, when combat was still fought hand-to-hand, and he does so not as a scholar, but as someone who remembers. This is because his spirit, anchored in his Origin, has remained unbroken across ages, unchanging, immovable, and eternal.

The vessel Shiki destroyed had lasted over 200 years, but that only marked the time since Araya last reconstructed his physical form. Before that, his bodies had rotted into dust countless times, yet he never died. Through sheer will and the conceptual nature of his Origin, he continually restored the same body, defying death not by transferring into new vessels, but by rejecting decay altogether. Araya did not survive by jumping hosts: he persisted by keeping his essence whole and rebuilding his form again and again from the same foundation.

Touko Aozaki remarked that even when he eventually exhausts all viable bodies, Araya will rise again in a future generation, long after magecraft itself has faded from the world. She didn't describe him as a man, but as something closer to a living concept. In that sense, while Araya may be "dead" as an individual, his identity as a will or principle persists beyond time. As a force tied to the inevitability of death and the structure of reality, his influence is eternal: one that will echo even into distant futures.

Another possible point of contention is: "How did Araya achieve True Magic if he himself said he lacked 'the talent' to reach Akasha?"

However, context is crucial. Araya wasn’t referring to his overall inability to access Akasha, but rather to his inability to access it in the specific manner required to fully reach his goal. The truth is, he did reach Akasha, but his path to doing so was unconventional:

But, how? Even if you don't set out a magical ward to testify that you aren't a mage, you can't fool the will of the dominant race. The only ones you can fool by using a technological ward are other mages. If you use this building a path will definitely open. Since its the realization of the Taeguekdo, a hole would certainly appear. But the first thing to come out of that hole will be a Counter Guardian. As long as we are who we are, there is no way we can stand up to that." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

His internal world was the realization of the Yin-Yang theory, and therefore a pathway to " ". This is why the First Magic is associated with "creating Nothingness." By isolating the outside world, Araya creates a domain of pure Stillness, a conceptual vacuum, allowing him to construct a personal reality where he becomes near-omnipotent. He can even access “ ” directly by exiting material reality and projecting his consciousness into the Root itself.

However, this is also the catch: the moment Araya abandons reality, he loses his power. Stillness is about isolating portions of reality within unbreakable boundaries where his will is absolute, which means he cannot leave those boundaries. Araya’s power is absolute, but it depends entirely on establishing and maintaining these barriers.

Leaving reality itself means relinquishing all his power to interact with an "exit", a way out that cannot be accessed if he is sealed inside his own domain. This is the paradox of his goal: the instant he drops Stillness and allows the external "exit" to the Fount to interact with him, he also opens himself up to other external forces like the Counterforce, making him vulnerable.

Because of this, it’s crucial for Araya to buy time and distract these forces through various means, so he can safely lower his barriers and enter Akasha without being attacked.

That’s why Araya sought out Ryougi Shiki. Her very nature is shaped by “ ”, she doesn’t need to open a path to the Root. She is the path. Her Void self is inherently connected to Akasha in a way that bypasses external interference entirely.

So when Araya says he “lacks the talent,” he doesn’t mean True Magic in general. He means that he lacks the innate nature to transcend reality without being compromised. His connection to the Root is still tethered to the material world, and that tether can be exploited. Only someone like Ryougi, who is born from the Root, can truly act freely beyond reality.

With that being said, we are still not done with Araya yet, there is in fact one last iteration of him that nobody seems to have caught on.

Prime Araya:

After his final confrontation with Ryougi Shiki, Araya Souren’s last physical body was destroyed. This was his final vessel; he had prepared no backups. As a result, his physical existence ceased, but not his consciousness. His soul, already “stopped” within Stillness, remained unfazed:

Araya Souren was not like some Puppeteer who had died after preparing a completely identical copy. He still had not experienced death. His body had rotted away several times over the years, each time this happened he maintained his consciousness and so far continued to live on. Araya Souren was only one person. If this body perished, there would be no refuge next time. Things had to be handled carefully. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The mage's discourse continues."As a reference, I do not die. My origin is 'suspension'. Someone who has woken to their origin becomes ruled by that origin itself. Someone who has already stopped - how can you kill him?" Shiki doesn't reply. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

Even in "death", Araya remains conscious. Both he and Touko confirm that this was not a final end, but merely another turn of his spiral:

“This body is at its limit.”

“Starting over again? How many times has it been? You never learn.”

That was the spiral. Araya’s sour look didn’t break down until the very end. Touko had a clear look of disdain aimed towards him; she threw away the cigarette she had pinched between her fingers. In the end, she had lit the cigarette but hadn’t brought it to her mouth even once. Though she had disdain for him, she did not hate this Magus, who had become more of a concept. If she had made one wrong step. No, if she had not made a wrong step she surely would have ended up like this too. Neither a human nor a living being, but merely the embodiment of a theory resulting in a phenomenon. Now that she thought that, it was sad.

“Gaha”, Araya vomited blood. The body, starting from the left side had begun to disappear and turn to ashes. “I didn’t make any spare bodies. If we are to meet again, it will be in the next generation.”

“There will be no such thing as a Magus by then. There won’t be a reunion. You will be alone in the end. Even so, you won’t stop?”

“Of course, I won’t accept defeat." - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 5

The phrase “next generation” is ambiguous. It may refer to a new era, a reincarnation cycle, or simply the eventual re-emergence of his will in a future context. What matters is this: Araya’s soul cannot die, to the point he will eventually return in a far future. In the absence of a vessel, he awaits a return. And in Kara no Kyoukai, where does the soul go when severed from the body?

It returns to death. To Stillness. To the realm of formless potential.

This mirrors the state Ryougi Shiki experiences during her coma:

This place was dark, and the floor was pitch black. When I realized that the only thing around me was the darkness, I had accepted the fact that I was dead. I was floating in a sea with no light or sound. Naked, without anything to cover her, the human being called Ryougi Shiki was sinking into the depths.

There was no light here. No, I suspect I had never fallen in the first place. Since there was nothing here.

It wasn’t just that there was no light, there wasn’t even any darkness. Since there was nothing here, nothing was visible. There was no meaning to the concept of falling. Inside the 「　」 within which even form was meaningless, just my body kept sinking. The naked me; I’m a poisonous shade which made me want to turn my eyes away. Because everything 「here」 bore such a poisonous aura

“–––This is death.”

Even the sound of my muttering seemed like a dream.

Then, I observed something like “time”. Time had no meaning inside「　」, but I became able to observe it. As naturally as flowing water, as grossly as putrefaction, I was just marking time.

There was nothing here.

Even if I kept continuously looking in the distance, I couldn’t see anything. Even if I kept waiting continuously for something, I couldn’t see anything.

It was very nice and peaceful.

No, since nothing had meaning, just 「being」here made everything perfect.

This was death.

The world which only the dead could reach. The world which the living could not see.

But, I was still alive–

I thought I would lose my mind.

For two years I sat there in the midst of the concept called “death”. Rather then observation, it was closer to the struggle of battle. - Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

Shiki exists on the threshold between life and death. Her body remains alive, but her mind drifts in a formless conceptual space. This space, where nothing moves, nothing interferes, and everything simply is, is Stillness.

Stillness is, quite literally, the abstract plane: the same as the Akashic Records, where all concepts exist in pure potential, unshaped by context or causality. It is the realm prior to manifestation, where form has not yet crystallized into matter, and contradictions do not yet exist. When a soul dies, it returns here, either to be reincarnated, or to dissolve back into the One, the Root.

In this state, a soul is suspended in possibility. It awaits definition. It is Stillness.

Just like Shiki, Araya now lingers in the conceptual realm of Stillness; the metaphysical boundary where form, identity, and causality dissolve. However, unlike Shiki, who retained a living vessel that eventually allowed her to awaken, Araya has no such anchor. His physical body has been destroyed, and he prepared no replacement. As a result, he exists now as a conscious soul suspended in pure possibility, fully immersed in his Origin. Neither reincarnated nor extinguished, he persists as a sealed phenomenon, unable to die, yet unable to manifest, until some future vessel or metaphysical condition redefines his existence and grants him form once more.

What many seems to miss is that this transformation will greatly increase Araya’s power when he returns. His mind now exists directly within Stillness itself. Previously, he was limited by his physical body: he had to analyze how the world worked and manually recreate the conditions that caused things to stop or die. To use Stillness, he built bounded fields, enclosed spaces that froze motion and cause-effect relationships inside them. These fields had to be anchored to his physical body and maintained by his conscious effort.

Because of this, his influence was limited to specific locations. Each time he wanted to create Stillness in a new area, he had to treat it as a separate space with its own rules. The human mind naturally resets its sense of context from one location to another, so he couldn’t maintain a single continuous field across multiple large areas.

But now that his body is gone, that limitation no longer applies. His consciousness hasn’t disappeared; it has merged with the metaphysical layer of Stillness itself: the void that exists before anything takes form. Unlike before, he no longer has to simulate Stillness from the outside. His mind is now part of it.

This means Araya no longer needs to project barriers. His own consciousness is the barrier; a field of Stillness that can expand freely. There is no longer a division between his mind and the space it used to generate. His “self” and the effect of Stillness are now one and the same.

Previously, Araya had to observe and replicate the ways phenomena come to an end in order to impose Stillness on them. Now, having internalized Stillness itself, he no longer needs to simulate those ends: he is the source. His mind can now apply Stillness directly to reality simply by existing.

Just as Shiki awakened the MEoDP by perceiving death while still alive, Araya is now completing the same process on a different metaphysical axis:

I, who experienced 「death」for two years while still alive. My body has changed so that I can now view such formless concepts.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

—My origin is nihil. From nihil I originated, the flesh that I am, the corpse in the womb to which life was somehow given. That is why Shiki can perceive death. For two years, in her comatose state, she was unable to view the outside world, and could do nothing but gaze into the nihil that Ryougi Shiki "is." More than simply seeing, she felt death.

—All that time she was floating there in that ocean which others call the "swirl of the Root." Shipwrecked all alone in the midst of " ".Yes, indeed. If nihil is her origin, then most likely she wills to bring all things to nought. Shiki is able to kill anything without exception, for that reason alone. The personality, Shiki, strives to negate. Why? Because that is the original pattern of her soul. The inclination to nihil, which ardently wishes the death of all creation. - Kara no Kyoukai Epilogue

In the same way Shiki was forced to perceive her inner self and feel her origin, Araya has now felt Stillness itself, and can carry that void into the world.

Mechanically, this means:

1. No physical limit: Without the “common sense” imposed by a physical body (which treated every location as a separate domain to contain and restrict) Araya’s internal world no longer originates from a single point. It can now extend outward without restriction.
2. Total absorption: Any phenomenon that comes into contact with his consciousness is drawn into Stillness; its causal links suspended, its form dissolved into inert potential.
3. No external anchor required: His “space” is no longer something projected into the world; it’s now the world that falls into his field, piece by piece, through his observation.
4. Self-replicating spiral: This expansion is theoretically infinite. Stillness has no motion, no resistance; once something enters, it cannot escape or act.

Again, Shiki's experience offers a clear precedent for how this version of Araya Souren will function:

I, who experienced 「death」for two years while still alive. My body has changed so that I can now view such formless concepts.- Kara no Kyoukai Chapter 4

When Araya dies and enters this state until his eventual return, he undergoes a comparable process.

Previously, Stillness was a state he had to actively pursue and attain. He observed reality externally, gradually deciphering the mechanisms by which motion halts and phenomena reduce to inert potential. Consequently, his manifestation of Stillness was always external, utilizing bounded fields and barriers to suspend movement and causal relationships. His power was confined by his physical vessel and the limits of his progressive understanding. This method inherently limited his scope because each field had defined boundaries and had to be maintained separately. The larger or more numerous the fields, the more difficult it became to sustain and control them.

Now, however, his consciousness exists directly within Stillness itself. He no longer requires artificial suppression or simulation; he has internalized the primordial void, allowing Stillness to naturally extend into reality through his very being. Unlike before, his internal domain is no longer constrained by a finite “range,” as was the case with his prior spatial isolation ability.

Having directly experienced true Stillness, Araya’s future vessel will be inherently transformed. Similar to how Shiki’s body adapted to perceive death during her coma, his next incarnation will possess the capacity to perceive the latent potential for all things to return to Stillness, and he will be able to enforce this return through the force of his will.

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After losing his physical body, Araya has finally reached and directly experienced Stillness; the very state from which his Origin is sourced and which has shaped his entire being. He will wait in this suspended realm as pure potential until something within reality provides him a vessel or context in which to manifest again. Just as Ryougi Shiki’s body was fundamentally altered by her experience within Stillness, awakening her MEoDP, Araya will likewise significantly expand his already immense power.

In this context, Araya was already essentially the most powerful being outside of Ryougi. His only limitation was that his personal cosmos had a limited “range” and had to be established anew for each individual area. This meant he could not eliminate overarching conceptual entities like the Counterforce, which spanned the entire planet. While his power was absolute within his domain, it was just one location among countless across the planet.

But now, even that limitation no longer applies: he merely needs to will it, and he can apply Stillness to everything he perceives, just as Ryougi Shiki can naturally perceive the lines of death on anything within her sight.

He has effectively become a living embodiment of eternal stasis: a consciousness that halts all meaning, devours motion, and reduces everything it touches to silent, inert possibility. A spiral that can never end, only grow. The only limit is whether he finds a context or vessel to interact with the world again.

But conceptually, if someone or something connects with his Origin, or provides him an anchor to manifest, it would be like reawakening an ancient Stillness that swallows reality.

Some brief clarification about "concepts" :

Now, in case it's confusing, there are two different kinds of "concepts" I've been discussing in this thread:

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1. The true concepts, the pure abstract forms:

These are ideas in their raw, transcendental state. They simply are, formless, unbound, and self-existent. They reside within the Spiral of Origin and serve as the primordial foundation of all existence. While anyone can recall or contemplate them, they cannot be truly defined or contained.

The narrative presents a fundamental paradox: any attempt to describe these pure ideas, through behavior, structure, or logic, is already a reduction. The true concept always remains beyond interpretation, and can be viewed in infinite ways. This means there is no “absolute” expression or singular understanding. Thought and representation can only ever glimpse them, never grasp them fully.

This is the realm where Stillness and Nothingness operate.

• Araya Souren exploits this paradox: his Origin imposes unchanging structure on reality by forcing a singular interpretation of these pure ideas. Born to comprehend abstract truth at all costs, he seeks to fix the infinite into a single absolute frame.
• Void Shiki, by contrast, is these ideas. Her existence dissolves meaning, structure, and differentiation. Her power returns all phenomena to the state before interpretation, before context or structure. She reverts reality to its raw, conceptual silence.

2. The concepts governing creation, structured expressions:

These are not the true forms themselves, but their filtered expressions within specific systems of reality. They serve as the “source code” of worlds, defining laws, beings, phenomena, and domains. Each structured concept is a contextual rendering of a deeper truth.

There are infinite ways to express a given idea, because reality has infinite permutations. This is why Void Shiki is weary of existence: every being, every world, every system is just a limited manifestation of something she has already “seen,” due to her fusion with the Spiral’s infinite view of conceptual potential.

This is the level where all reality-warpers operate.

• They draw inspiration from the pure abstract forms, but their powers are only interpretations, never the ideas themselves.
• Even beings awakened to their Origin aren’t absolute. They just have first-class access to how their Origin might express itself across all realities. But that’s still downstream from the original form.

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Practical Applications:

-Lio Shirazumi embodies the concept of Consumption within creation. He does not access the pure, formless abstraction of Consumption itself, but rather all possible material expressions of it. This grants him the ability to adapt and reshape himself or his environment, yet he operates only within a limited fragment of the full abstraction. In terms of potentiality, there could be infinite other beings embodying his Awakened Origin. Remember, abstract forms are the source of all conceivable possibilities, meaning even immensely powerful beings represent just tiny fractions of their full scope. For example, there could be infinite other beings or objects wielding the power of Araya Souren or Ryougi Shiki if shaped by their Origins and awakened to them.

-Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and the Unified Language bypass structured expressions entirely. They act directly on the records of existence, which compile all instantiations of a concept. MEoDP, specifically, erases expressions and sends them back to the pure abstract state. This is why even "invincible" ideas like Infinity or Stasis can be undone by it: because it's not replacing one rule with another (like a reality warper would), but removing the expression from existence completely.

Once Shiki kills an expression, reality loses the ability to ever express that interpretation again. For example: If Shiki kills a Type’s law that “all attacks are invalid,” she is not killing the concept of “protection” itself. That idea still exists, can still be used in other ways. But the specific protective law used by that Type is forever gone: it can no longer express itself in that way, and the Type loses that defense permanently.

Araya’s bounded fields express the idea of Stasis, but they are expressed as barriers. That’s a structure, hence Shiki can kill them, even if Stasis as an abstract concept cannot be touched. Mugen represents Infinity, but infinity requires a context (it is defined as contrast to finiteness). Mugen is just a relative form of infinity contrasted with our finite world, not the actual unstructured form of “Infinity.” So again, Shiki can kill it.

Unified Language, on the other hand, does not erase expressions. It rewrites them to conform to the user's will. It is reality warping at its most dominant: not bound by interpretation, but by authorship.

-Kirie’s Origin functions on yet another axis. She doesn’t attack the manifestation of concepts directly. Instead, she destabilizes the mind’s relationship to those concepts: its ability to interpret and give them meaning. She gradually dismantles the subconscious freedom to assign meaning or impose structure onto abstract ideas. In doing so, she forces the target to confront a devastating truth: that there is no “true” interpretation, only arbitrary frames the mind invents to survive. Once that illusion collapses, the psyche loses its grip on coherence. Meaning unravels. Identity dissolves. The mind dies, not from damage, but from the impossibility of understanding.

In doing so, she exposes the inherent absurdity of trying to truly “grasp” the abstract, an approach distinct from Shiki's, who restores concepts to pre-interpreted nullity. Kirie breaks the interpreter, not the expression.

-Araya’s Bounded Fields are unique in that they function as an offensive counterpart to the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Rather than returning manifestations to their pre-interpreted, null state like Shiki, Araya weaponizes that raw state as a boundary: a dominating structure that imposes his singular interpretation over all others. This ability to overwrite meaning itself is what makes him so absurdly powerful.

-Self-Hypnosis Shiki acts as an embodiment of the abstract ideas themselves. That’s why her combat actions transcend all laws, structures, or rules: no expression, no matter how absolute, can contain a being on the same level as pure conceptual being.

-Araya’s Sarira also operates on this abstract level. It negates anything structured or existent by default, because it is anchored in pure form. That’s why it was such a vital counter to SH Shiki: it worked on her own level.

However, both SH Shiki and Sarira still require physical vessels, which means they are not fully abstract, and can potentially be influenced by high-level conceptual powers like MEoDP or Araya’s own Bounded Fields. But this is only possible because those powers also reach near-abstract levels themselves.

The only character whose existence is fully transcendent is Void Shiki. Her dependency on Ryougi’s body cannot be exploited unless one possesses omnipotent authority from another fictional universe. Within the Type-Moon universe, Void Shiki’s connection to pure abstraction makes her untouchable to anything structured.

Conclusion:

As you can see, Kara no Kyoukai isn’t just the most powerful Type-Moon series by a wide margin: it’s also one of the strongest fictional settings overall. It features multiple conceptual powerhouses capable of completely obliterating most other settings, thanks to their ability to fundamentally redefine reality itself.

If I were to rank them:

• Void Shiki (avatar of “ ”, who perceives existence as a mere thought in her mind)
• Self-Hypnosis Ryougi (a perfect swordsmanship that ignores all definable limits and rules)
• Prime Araya Souren (his will equals existence itself outside the spiral of origin)
• First Magic Araya Souren (can isolate spaces and turn them into personal, independent universes where he controls every conceivable concept, even infinity becomes enslaved by his Stillness.
• Base Araya Souren (a soul immune to all outside forces, piloting a corpse protected by passive reality warping that negates all change and interaction, wielding sacred relics transcending life and death, with martial prowess enhanced by Stillness to make his movements and strikes absolute and instantaneous by silencing opposing rules)
• Ryougi Shiki (her being, strength, and speed draw from the Void before form, allowing her to resist and outpace even manipulation of fundamental truths; her MEoDP ability can erase any definable concept from existence, returning it to its purest state before interpretation)
• Kirie Fujou (dissolves the boundary between conscious thought and subconscious, the latter being the interpretative layer of reality, allowing her to make any sentient being experience reality in chaotic ways leading to self-destruction. As a pure mind interacting directly with the world, she is immune to all forms of reality-warping or attack, embodying a will unanchored to any plane and acting as an existential singularity that dissolves the coherence of anything that tries to affect her)
• Kurogiri (“God’s Word”) (can speak to the rules and records underpinning reality and force them to obey him)
• Shirazumi Lio (adapts to any physical obstacle through an ontological imperative)
• Asagami Fujino (distorts space itself, affecting even intangible beings as long as she perceives them as having position)
• Aozaki Touko (possesses clever magical techniques and familiars that can easily overcome virtually anyone who is bound to physics, but nothing truly crazy that can compete with Origins still)
• Cornelius Alba (A first-rate magus who can spam rapid-fire infernal flames that instantly obliterate solid matter, effectively acting as a walking artillery unit of eradication, consuming all objects and living beings with his fire. However, he shares the same conventional physical limits as most combatants, rendering him irrelevant against higher-tier, conceptual entities.)
• Azaka (she is there.)

Even with its self-contained lore, Kara no Kyoukai stands far above the rest of Type-Moon, especially the more recent series, which made the egregious retcon of " " being merely a random physical plane. Even the original Tsukihime and Notes, while powerful in their own right, ultimately fall short and, in many ways, depend on KnK's lore to uncover some of the most profound nuances of their strength. For instance, KnK’s lore surrounding Origin-awakenings provides much-needed context and clarification for characters like Nanaya Shiki, Kishima Kouma, and Archetype Earth, all of whom lack substantial connections to cosmic forces, aside from Archetype Earth's superiority over beings known to manipulate abstract laws.

In reality, aside from some additional details to already established concepts, the only significant contribution other TM series make to KnK is Base Ryougi Shiki defeating Archetype Earth in Melty Blood. However, even that feat is not a big deal, since her own feats in KnK against Mugen (an infinite void of potential) and God's Word (a reality warper far more versatile than Archetype, whose only option when facing Shiki was to literally flee) already made it clear Types are utterly outmatched by Ryougi at her peak, making Archetype Earth’s death in Actress Again if anything just a natural consequence of facing someone far beyond her capabilities.

On the contrary, any attempt to wank recent series or stuff like Fate by using KnK's lore is utterly incorrect, due to reasons that you can find here in this thread. That's all bullshit. The original Kara no Kyoukai novel can only be applied in relation to the original Tsukihime and Angel Notes at best, nothing more. Anything beyond that, especially Fate, is based on a watered-down version of the series that has lost all of its philosophical nuances and depth, further undermined by nonsensical retcons that try to overwrite the original material.

Even within Fate/Grand Order, there's no genuine anti-feat for Kara no Kyoukai characters. Ryougi and Void Shiki appear as Servants, which inherently limits their capabilities, especially considering that their Origin is a cosmic force that transcends humanity itself, let alone the constraints of the Throne of Heroes. Without those limitations, Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception have canonically erased Araya’s infinite conceptual void and later defeated Archetype Earth in Actress Again, a being who completely eclipses Primate Murder.

In Fate/Extra, the Moon Cell is shown to deliberately weaken entities that are too powerful to maintain fairness in the Holy Grail War. Gilgamesh, for example, loses 90% of his treasury just to manifest in the Near Side. This nerfing would logically apply to Shiki as well, yet despite that, she killed 99 Servants and still required the Grail War’s champion to finally defeat her. Furthermore, Fate/Extra CCC demonstrates that awakening to one’s Origin is such an overwhelming power-up that a normal Servant would be disintegrated instantly unless it's channeled through specialized Mystic Codes. Even in nerfed settings, KnK characters consistently operate on a tier above most of the Fate verse.

But ultimately, this isn’t a powerscaling issue. The Fate franchise uses a distorted, watered-down version of Kara no Kyoukai, a narrative echo that misunderstands or oversimplifies its core. The characters featured in Fate are not the real Shiki or Void Shiki from KnK’s source material. They’re reinterpretations, filtered through a system that fails to capture the metaphysical depth and conceptual integrity of the original. So, like I said, It’s not that the characters are "weaker:" it’s that they're not themselves anymore.

Ultimately, it’s the gaslighting, the initial lack of access to the original light novel, and Nasu distancing himself from his earlier work, combined with Ufotable retconning KnK out of the ass with the anime, that has led to the absurd idea that Shiki or Araya would lose to Fate characters, when even Lio solos 90% of the verse.