Meanwhile, on Artoria and Akuroo Ootake's battlefield.
Akuroo Ootake was also completely suppressed by Artoria.
Clang, clang, clang!
The great axe and holy sword clashed continuously.
One by one, nicks appeared on the great axe.
Clang!
The holy sword and great axe collided once more.
This time, Akuroo Ootake did not retract his great axe.
Instead, he pressed down hard on the back of the axe with his left hand.
He wanted to overpower the enemy in front of him with sheer strength.
After all, in Akuroo Ootake's understanding,
How could someone only half his height and less than a sixth of his size possibly compete in strength with him, a three-meter-tall burly man who exuded power?
However, the moment they began to arm wrestle, Akuroo Ootake knew he was wrong.
And he was terribly wrong.
"Aaaah!"
Akuroo Ootake roared in fury, his arms continuously swelling.
Yet, even so, Akuroo Ootake was still suppressed by Artoria's strength.
He was even being pushed backward, his feet dragging marks on the ground.
Akuroo Ootake felt as if he wasn't facing a petite young girl, but a Dragon.
Crack.
The first to give out was the great axe in Akuroo Ootake's hand.
This axe, condensed from Cursed Energy, was clearly no match for the holy sword in Artoria's hand.
"Hmph!"
Artoria swung her holy sword, following through with the momentum.
The great axe in Akuroo Ootake's hand was immediately shattered.
Akuroo Ootake retreated helplessly.
He dodged the holy sword aimed at his neck.
He couldn't understand why he would lose in strength to Artoria.
Tap.
Akuroo Ootake planted his right foot on the ground, stabilizing his backward motion.
Then, he dropped the great axe and threw a punch at Artoria.
Smack.
To Akuroo Ootake's stunned gaze,
Artoria switched from holding her sword with two hands to one hand.
She retracted her left hand and, reinforced by Mana Burst, firmly gripped Akuroo Ootake's incoming punch.
The next second, Artoria pushed off with her legs.
She leaped and delivered a punch to Akuroo Ootake's chin.
Akuroo Ootake's chin took a heavy blow, and his entire face momentarily transformed from round to square.
Then, he flew out like a cannonball.
Boom, boom, boom.
Akuroo Ootake was like a skipping stone.
He repeatedly crashed into the ground and bounced back up.
That single punch sent Akuroo Ootake flying over a hundred meters away.
Artoria didn't stop to wait; after confirming that Akuroo Ootake had been sent flying,
and that Panda, who was tattered behind her, would no longer be affected by their battle, she immediately gave chase.
"Why does it feel like a loli beating up a perverted uncle?"
Panda, who had watched Artoria pummel Akuroo Ootake up close, scratched his head.
Artoria's height might be fine in other worlds.
But in this world, it was indeed a little...
"Let's go meet up with Maki and the others first."
After confirming that Artoria didn't need his help,
Panda dragged his broken body towards where Maki and the others had left.
Suddenly, a sharp surge of Cursed Energy behind him startled Panda.
He saw a pitch-black sphere suddenly appear where Artoria had been previously.
"Is this a Domain Expansion?"
Panda's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran towards the Domain.
He remembered that Artoria couldn't use Domain Expansion.
So Panda wanted to help Artoria break the Domain from the outside.
A Domain, after all, primarily focuses on trapping those inside.
Therefore, its external defenses are often not high.
Crack.
Crack, crack, crack.
However, before Panda even reached the edge of the Domain,
the Domain had already shattered.
Panda could vaguely see the lingering dark clouds and lightning within the dissipated Domain.
It turned out that Akuroo Ootake, who had been constantly suppressed by Artoria, steeled his heart, intending to make a final stand.
He wanted to turn the tide with his ultimate move, Domain Expansion.
But Artoria was the one in control.
The rhythm of the battle was also in Artoria's hands.
Therefore, when Akuroo Ootake risked taking a blow and losing a knee to form the hand signs,
Artoria directly raised her holy sword and unleashed a Mana Burst beam.
The Domain expanded, and the dark clouds mixed with lightning enveloped them both.
But the Domain had barely opened before it collapsed, unable to be maintained due to Akuroo Ootake's severe injuries.
Artoria delivered two sword slashes, and the V-shaped blade light cut Akuroo Ootake's body.
After confirming that Akuroo Ootake's Aura was incredibly weak, as if it would dissipate soon, Artoria nodded in satisfaction.
"This should be enough."
'I wonder what grand meal Suguru Geto will offer in exchange this time...' she thought.
Artoria anticipated the grand meal Suguru Geto would present to her in gratitude, then turned to look at Panda.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Panda scratched his head with an endearing clumsiness.
"This Cursed Spirit?"
Panda pointed at Akuroo Ootake on the ground.
"Suguru Geto will be here soon; I'll leave him for his late-night snack."
"Oh."
Panda nodded knowingly.
Meanwhile, where Maki and Mahoraga were.
Eichi had already begun to heal Maki and Inumaki Toge.
"You seem a bit different from before."
Eichi keenly noticed the change in Maki's Aura.
The old Maki was like a sharp sword, capable of hurting others at any moment.
The current Maki was much more restrained.
"I saw it, what you talked about in class."
Maki reached out, as if grasping something.
Eichi knew what Maki was referring to.
He had once told Maki about her future insights ahead of time.
He hadn't expected that in just a few months, Maki would truly achieve it.
"Congratulations."
Eichi smiled brightly.
Because he knew that Maki had already reached Toji Fushiguro's Realm.
And unlike Toji Fushiguro, who was almost completely indifferent to external matters,
Maki, who hadn't lost her sister or massacred her Family, could go even further.
"Thank you."
Maki gave Eichi a big smile in return.
Next was Inumaki Toge.
Inumaki Toge's injuries were light; the main problem was concentrated in his throat.
It was the backlash from Cursed Speech.
"Inumaki, how's your Reverse Cursed Technique learning coming along?"
"Tuna with mayonnaise."
Inumaki Toge shook his head, indicating he had no clue whatsoever.
He couldn't understand anything Shoko Ieiri said and she even told him he had no talent.
Gojo Satoru offered to give him a near-death experience for free, guaranteeing he'd grasp Reverse Cursed Technique; if it didn't work the first time, they could try a second.
After the experience with Mai's near-death, Gojo Satoru felt completely confident.
But Inumaki Toge didn't know that, and the frightened Inumaki Toge repeatedly shook his head in refusal.
"There is one more quick method, though."
Eichi stroked his chin, suddenly saying.
"Salmon roe!" (Thank you very much, don't be happy, also show determination)
Inumaki Toge suddenly said loudly, his tone a bit agitated.
This crisis made Inumaki Toge fully understand his limitations when facing strong enemies.
He even almost dragged his companions down, so Inumaki Toge was very eager to learn Reverse Cursed Technique and be able to heal his throat at any time.
However, Eichi's next words left him with a face full of question marks.
At this moment, Inumaki Toge fully understood the meaning of the phrase from his High School Seniors: "Can anyone who gets along so well with Gojo Satoru be a normal person?"
"Can you accept Gojo Satoru entering your body?"
"Sal-salmon roe?"
------------------------
There are already 70+ chapters available on my Patreon!
The story will continue to update 1 chapter per day on Webnovel,
while early access chapters are posted on Patreon.
Maybe it's not worth it today but it could be later
[email protected]/Kazenova223
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"