Boundless cursed energy burst forth as wailing cursed spirits flew out in all directions, and hands began rising from the ground one after another.
The domain stretched for more than two hundred meters.
This was something no one had ever seen before. Even within the jujutsu world, it had almost never been spoken of.
An open domain.
Instead of isolating the inside and outside with a barrier, the innate domain was directly manifested into the real world while greatly expanding its range. It was like painting directly on the sky instead of using a canvas.
A Domain Expansion of this level could only be described as miraculous.
In just an instant, Jogo was already standing inside the domain that Suguru had unfolded. It looked like a dark abyss shaped like a prison, with countless cursed spirits wailing below them.
Every step the two took seemed to land on piles of cursed spirit corpses. Even someone as strong as Jogo felt a chill at this horrifying sight.
Meanwhile, the massive flaming hands he had created earlier stopped less than a meter away from Suguru.
They had frozen solid.
'Freezing fire with ice?!'
Jogo had never seen something so absurd. Those flames contained his immense cursed energy. They could have destroyed the entire Shibuya Station in an instant.
Yet now…
"I told you already. If you get distracted in front of me, you'll die, curse."
Another spiral formed at Suguru's fingertip.
"Cut the nonsense!"
Jogo gathered flames in his palm.
But in the next moment his entire body suddenly turned into an ice sculpture. Space beside him shattered, and the Rainbow Dragon burst out to slam into his stomach.
The ice shattered and blood sprayed from Jogo's mouth. Before he could react, a small cursed spiral had already appeared in front of him.
BOOM!
A violent explosion shook the sky.
This was Suguru's domain: Myriad Manifestations of All Beings.
Inside the domain, his Cursed Spirit Manipulation gained a guaranteed-hit effect.
The domain had three abilities.
First, Suguru could release any cursed spirit he had absorbed from any position within the domain. That included Maximum Technique: Uzumaki.
Second, any cursed spirit within the domain whose strength was far below Suguru's would be instantly refined the moment the domain appeared. They would skip the process of turning into cursed orbs and being consumed. Instead they would be trapped directly in the endless prison beneath the domain and become Suguru's puppets.
Finally, every cursed spirit he had absorbed that originally possessed an innate technique could have that technique freely used by Suguru inside the domain. Those techniques would also gain the guaranteed-hit effect.
'I need to escape this domain quickly!'
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Jogo's broken body staggered forward while rushing toward the domain's boundary.
He had never encountered such an open domain before, but as a curse capable of Domain Expansion himself, he understood the concept.
An open domain could cover a much larger area but allowed escape, while a closed domain was extremely difficult to escape but had a limited activation range.
Therefore an open domain essentially traded the restriction that targets could escape the domain in exchange for an enormous range.
If he could leave this area, the guaranteed-hit effect would disappear. At that point, if Suguru still wanted to stop him, he would have to close the domain. That would force him into technique burnout.
No matter which choice Suguru made, Jogo could reverse the situation.
Steam roared from the volcano on Jogo's head. His body temperature rose so high that the air around him seemed to boil. He had to make sure he would not be frozen again.
"That won't do."
Suguru had already seen through his plan. But rather than rushing forward to stop him, he simply sat on the manta ray curse and smiled calmly.
"Domain Expansion: Bone-Chilling Mountain Burial."
Just a few steps away from the boundary, when victory seemed within reach, Jogo's body suddenly lifted into the air.
He was trapped in another domain.
And unlike Suguru's domain, this one was completely closed.
On top of his open domain, Suguru had activated the domain of his special grade cursed spirit Junrin, expanding its range through his own domain to the boundary and trapping both of them inside.
In other words, Jogo was now trapped within two domains.
Suguru's domain.
And the domain created through his Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
"Two domains?! You bastard…"
Jogo clenched his fists as flames erupted violently from the volcano on his head while he resisted the freezing cold.
"Maximum: Meteor!"
Realizing escape was impossible, Jogo chose a direct clash.
He raised both hands. Boundless cursed energy burst from his body, and behind him a massive blazing sphere formed like a miniature sun.
Its terrifying heat began melting the icy world within the domain.
"This might actually be a little troublesome…" Suguru frowned.
Even while Jogo was preparing the attack, he had already activated Junrin's guaranteed-hit effect. But the intense frost that touched Jogo's body melted instantly.
Their techniques had terrible compatibility, and that enormous fireball was unbelievably hot.
"Die, sorcerer!"
Jogo finally smiled.
He leaped high into the air and prepared to unleash his finishing move.
"Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirit: Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate."
Space twisted, and a humanoid cursed spirit covering its face appeared beside Suguru. This was one of the sixteen registered Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirits. Its ability temporarily amplified cursed energy.
Suguru raised a finger.
Countless screaming cursed spirits flew out of the prison within his domain. They easily passed through Junrin's domain boundary and gathered at his fingertip.
"Maximum: Uzumaki."
This attack contained most of the low-grade curses he had collected over the years. They were not very useful anyway. Exchanging them for the death of a powerful special grade was a far better choice.
Two terrifying forces collided.
Blinding light filled the entire domain space.
When the light finally faded, Junrin's domain collapsed. Only the outer layer of ice remained, preventing the cursed energy from spilling into the real world.
Jogo was now kneeling on the ground.
"Pfft!"
He tried to speak but instead spat out a mouthful of blood.
Not far away, dozens of cursed spirits reinforced by Suguru's energy had formed a wall in front of him. Although they had all been destroyed by the explosion, they had absorbed most of the remaining force.
When the remains disappeared, Suguru stood behind them completely untouched. Not even a speck of dust stained his clothes.
'Damn it…'
That attack had consumed a huge amount of Jogo's energy. And unlike humans, cursed spirits recovered cursed energy much more slowly.
If even that attack failed to defeat Suguru, then he had truly reached the end.
'Should I use my domain…'
Only one thought remained in Jogo's mind.
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