"Hiss!"
Hundreds of Special Grade and Grade 1 cursed spirits surged like a black tide, frantically battering against the defensive line held by Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto.
Above the ruins, severed limbs flew through the air as the stench of black cursed energy almost completely blotted out the sky.
"Bang!"
Yuta Okkotsu slashed back a mantis-like cursed spirit that had attempted a sneak attack.
However, he was sent stumbling back by the massive recoil, the web of his thumb splitting open once more to reveal a wound so deep the bone was visible.
"Yuta!"
Rika let out an anxious, frantic scream.
Her massive body was currently covered in a dense network of wounds.
Although a vengeful cursed spirit's recovery was astonishing, the constant attrition of this endless battle was starting to take its toll.
"It's okay, Rika."
Yuta Okkotsu gasped for air, sweat mixed with blood streaming down his face.
He maintained a death grip on his specially-made katana, whose light had grown extremely dim, while his eyes remained fixed on Suguru Geto in the distance.
"Is this all you've got?"
Suguru Geto stood atop a massive flying cursed spirit, looking down at the cornered Yuta Okkotsu from his high vantage point.
His face wore a gentle smile, yet his expression was layered with a chilling coldness and mockery.
"It seems this is your limit, Yuta."
"Do you really think you can survive this cruel Shura field with such a pitiful talent for mimicry?"
"Mimicry of this level won't even touch a hair on my head!"
Suguru Geto waved his hand sharply.
"Tear them apart!"
At his command, the army of cursed spirits surged forward in an even more frantic and reckless charge, like a pack of wolves smelling blood.
"Dammit..."
Yuta Okkotsu grit his teeth.
He could feel that while the cursed energy within him was still vast, the high-intensity, continuous output had caused a severe tearing sensation in his meridians and muscles.
If this continued...
He wouldn't even need Suguru Geto to finish him off; he would be torn apart by his own surging cursed energy!
*What should I do...*
*Instructor Yoru, if it were you, what would you do in this desperate situation?*
Under the high pressure of this life-or-death moment...
Every memory of his special training with Yoru at the abandoned primary school flashed through Yuta's mind like a kaleidoscope.
That was the first time Yoru had shown him the meaning of ultimate power delivery.
"Yuta, watch closely."
In his memory, Yoru simply picked up a stray branch.
"The peak isn't about venting all your power at once."
"It's about the absolute moment of the swing."
"Making your breathing, your muscles, your will, and even the flow frequency of every spark of cursed energy in your body..."
"Reach an absolute one-hundred-percent synchronization!"
"Buzz—!"
The image in his memory instantly overlapped with his current crisis.
Yuta Okkotsu snapped his eyes open.
Within those eyes, previously bloodshot and weary, a brilliant light suddenly erupted!
"I understand..."
"I finally understand!"
Yuta Okkotsu took a deep breath.
This time, he didn't try to blindly compress his cursed energy, nor did he try to force the simulation of those dark-red flames.
He simply emptied himself completely.
He allowed the sea of cursed energy within him to follow the rhythm of that raw, primitive breathing technique, initiating an unprecedented resonance!
"Rika!"
Yuta Okkotsu let out a roar that seemed to tear the sky apart.
"Lend me your power!"
"Sync with me!!!"
"Boom!!!"
Rika seemed to sense the absolute resolve deep within Yuta's soul.
Without a moment's hesitation, her massive form transformed into a pure, terrifying torrent of black cursed energy, flooding into Yuta's body!
In that instant...
The total volume of cursed energy within Yuta broke through a terrifying threshold!
Yet, he wasn't blown apart by the power.
Because, in that absolute instant where even time seemed to stand still...
His breathing, his muscles, his will, and the terrifying energy poured in by Rika!
Achieved an incredible miracle of absolute synchronization for 0.000001 seconds!
"Clang!"
The specially-made katana in Yuta's hand let out a terrifying ring that felt as if it could slice through space itself!
Not only did the faded dark-red flames ignite once more...
But at the core of those flames, a faint, eerie black bolt of electricity flashed with the scent of destruction!
That was... a Black Flash!
It wasn't a simple energy eruption. Relying on his heaven-defying talent for mimicry and an explosion of extreme emotion, Yuta had forcibly replicated his own prototype of the Crimson Flash at the moment of his strike!
"Sun Breathing..."
Yuta Okkotsu gripped the hilt with both hands, his entire body like a divine bow drawn to its limit, concentrating all his strength into this single strike!
"Slash!!!"
"Rumble—!"
A dark-red bolt of black lightning, like a violent dragon tearing through the abyss, exploded at the center of the battlefield!
This was a Black Flash triggered through the medium of a katana and breathing frequency!
This Pseudo-Crimson Flash not only carried the terrifying high temperatures of Sun Breathing but also possessed the space-distorting destructive power of a Black Flash, sweeping away every obstacle in its path!
"Sizzle!"
In the face of this dark-red black lightning...
The supposedly indestructible Special Grade and Grade 1 cursed spirits were like paper.
Dozens of spirits were instantly evaporated into nothingness by the extreme heat before they could even let out a scream!
The residual power of this Pseudo-Crimson Flash continued unabated, slamming hard into Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate in front of Suguru Geto!
"Aiee!!!"
Tamamo-no-Mae let out a shrill, pained shriek.
A terrifying wound over ten meters long and deep enough to see bone was carved into her massive body!
What shocked Suguru Geto even more...
Was that a faint layer of dark-red flames clung to the edges of the wound like a persistent curse, frantically hindering her proud regenerative abilities!
"How... How is this possible?!"
Standing on the back of Tamamo-no-Mae as she was pushed back dozens of meters, Suguru Geto looked at the scorched trench carved into the earth, his narrow eyes filled with disbelief and shock.
Meanwhile, at the top of the distant clock tower...
Yoru, with his Transparent World active, watched the dark-red black lightning dissipate at the center of the battlefield.
The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily before he let out a sharp whistle.
"He actually landed a Black Flash like that?"
Looking at Yuta Okkotsu, who stood tall like a god of war despite his heavy panting, Yoru's eyes were filled with unmasked admiration.
*Using high-frequency friction of cursed energy to simulate Sun Breathing, then triggering a Black Flash through instantaneous synchronization... This kid's Pseudo-Crimson Flash might lack the power of the original and place an immense load on his body...*
*But this kid...*
*He's an absolute monster.*
On the battlefield below...
That stunning Pseudo-Crimson Flash had not only instantly reversed Yuta's desperate situation...
It was like pouring a ladle of ice water into a pot of boiling oil.
Completely, and without reservation...
It ignited the suppressed, decade-long madness of fighting spirit deep within Suguru Geto's heart!
"Hahahaha!"
Suguru Geto laughed toward the sky, his laughter filled with an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and resolve.
"Excellent, Yuta Okkotsu!"
"You really didn't disappoint me!"
Suguru Geto violently tore off his damaged gojo-kesa.
A black cursed energy, even vaster and more malevolent than before, began to gather and compress behind him like a world-ending tsunami.
He looked at Yuta Okkotsu opposite him.
In his eyes, there was no longer any testing or restraint, only the purest killing intent belonging to the Most Evil Curse User.
"Come!"
"Let's use this final strike for this grand carnival..."
"To bring everything to a perfect close!"