'Suguru... you've changed.'
On the cracked asphalt road, a streak of dark red light, wrapped in thunder and fire, surged at a speed akin to teleportation. The shockwave it whipped up sent debris flying from the ruins.
As Yoru sped along, he tilted his head slightly. Under the enhancement of the Transparent World, his clear red eyes shone with a deep, piercing brilliance.
Amidst the intense wind pressure from his high-speed movement, the entire battlefield kilometers away had lost its color, transforming into countless transparent and violent lines of energy.
He saw clearly that at the edge of the black-and-red storm of slashes that could shred anything, Suguru Geto was covered in blood, holding up the golden Buddhist light of the Lotus Garden of Pure Souls.
Tens of thousands of civilians wept in each other's arms within that pure land. The man who once viewed ordinary people as "monkeys" was now using his own life to shield them from the Reaper's scythe.
A gratified arc formed at the corner of Yoru's mouth. His pace quickened further, creating a series of deafening sonic booms in the air.
As the distance rapidly shrank, his gaze locked onto the bone-wrought shrine at the center of the battlefield like a precision radar.
Under the ultimate vision of the Transparent World, he sensed an extremely faint fluctuation within Sukuna's domain.
'Because he's simultaneously dealing with Mahoraga's evolution and Suguru's domain purification, Sukuna's sure-hit effect will have a gap of one ten-thousandth of a second during the transition.'
'That... is the only chance to break into the battlefield!'
Yoru took a deep breath. The blood in his body roared like lava, and his body leaned nearly parallel to the ground.
Like a solar arrow piercing through time and space, he left a straight, scorched red trail among the ruins.
Fast! Even faster!
He had to kill his way back to the main battlefield before that ten-thousandth of a second gap vanished!
'Hold on, Suguru.'
However, at that moment, Sukuna suddenly snorted at the center of the battlefield.
"Since slashes are no longer effective against you..."
He looked at the white demonic general before him, which had become completely immune to the damage of Malevolent Shrine. The cruel grin on his face grew even wider.
"I see. Your adaptability is terrifying, but can you only evolve against types of attacks you've already come into contact with?"
Sukuna saw through Mahoraga's essence. He wasn't flustered at all; instead, he acted as if he were discarding a toy he'd grown tired of.
"Since slashes are useless, I'll switch to a technique you've never seen before and burn you to ashes!"
Sukuna slowly raised his right hand, palm upward.
A bizarre gesture—one rarely seen even in the Heian era a thousand years ago—formed instantly at his fingertips.
"[OPEN: FUGA!]"
Sukuna's voice, sounding like a demonic whisper, echoed over the ruins.
BOOM!!!
A cluster of black flames, thousands of times hotter than Jogo's lava and so pure they seemed to swallow light, ignited in Sukuna's palm!
The moment these flames appeared.
The surrounding airflow, which had been violent due to the domain clash, suddenly fell into a dead silence.
It hadn't stopped flowing; rather, it had been vaporized into a vacuum by the devastating heat!
Even the concrete debris shredded by the slashes turned into invisible particles the instant they touched the residual heat of the black flames.
"Roar?"
Mahoraga, who was about to swing the Sword of Extermination, suddenly froze.
For the first time, a flicker of human-like bewilderment and instinctive fear flashed in the eyes hidden behind its white mask.
The Sacred Dharma Wheel on its back.
The divine artifact that could spin frantically and complete its adaptation in a short time, no matter how severe the slashes it received.
When faced with this new black flame filled with absolute destruction, it actually jammed like a rusted gear!
Its rotation became incredibly slow.
Because this power completely exceeded any data model it had adapted to so far!
"Die, toy," Sukuna laughed wildly, swinging his right hand forward.
The mass of black fire instantly elongated, transforming into a massive arrow of flame capable of piercing the heavens and the earth, carrying the terrifying power to incinerate all things!
!!! WHOOSH
The fire arrow shot toward Mahoraga's chest at an inescapable speed, leaving a long-lasting black scorch mark in the air!
"ROAR—!!!"
Mahoraga let out its first piercing scream since its arrival.
The black flames spread frantically like a relentless curse the moment they touched its dark-gold chitinous layer.
That powerful defense, capable of resisting countless slashes, was as fragile as wet tissue paper before the black fire!
Mahoraga swung the Sword of Extermination desperately, trying to slash away the flames on its body.
But the fire seemed capable of burning cursed energy itself. Instead of being extinguished, it climbed up its arm along the blade!
"Clack... k-clack..."
The wheel on Mahoraga's back trembled violently, trying to force an adaptation to this power that was on the verge of erasing it entirely.
But it was too late.
"BOOM!!!"
Sukuna's gaze turned cold as he increased his output of cursed energy.
The fire arrow's power surged several times over in an instant!
"Pshhh!"
The black pillar of fire pierced through Mahoraga's massive frame without suspense, directly shattering the cursed energy core within its body!
"Aaaaagh—!"
Amidst the shrill screams, this strongest shikigami—which no Ten Shadows user in history had ever successfully tamed—
this white demon general, which had evolved continuously in desperate situations and even pushed back the King of Curses—
finally could no longer resist this new, overwhelming destructive force.
Under the scorching of the black flames, its body began to crumble and carbonize at a visible rate.
Ultimately, it turned into a shower of black ash, completely scattered into the night sky of Shibuya by a gust of wind.
Mahoraga was completely destroyed!
Meanwhile, at the other end of the battlefield.
"Cough... Gaaah—!!!"
In the arms of Kento Nanami behind cover.
Megumi Fushiguro, who was in a state of suspended animation, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
His eyes were bloodshot, and a large mouthful of black blood mixed with organ fragments sprayed from his mouth.
As the summoner, the terrifying backlash from Mahoraga's complete destruction slammed into his soul like a heavy hammer!
Megumi's body convulsed violently a few times before his eyes rolled back, and he fell into a deep coma.
"Fushiguro! Fushiguro!"
Kento Nanami pressed down hard on Megumi's chest. Although he couldn't use Reverse Cursed Technique, he desperately funneled cursed energy into him, trying to sustain his last, faint breath.
"Boom!"
At the same time.
On the edge of the central battlefield not far from them.
With Mahoraga's demise, Sukuna's indiscriminate storm of slashes finally seemed to cease.
Suguru Geto's Lotus Garden of Pure Souls, already riddled with cracks and swaying,
finally could no longer hold out after exhausting its last bit of cursed energy, collapsing like shattered glass.
The billowing white mist and golden Buddhist light dissipated instantly.
"Thud."
Suguru Geto's knees buckled, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.
He gasped for air, and there was hardly a patch of intact skin on his body. Every breath was thick with the scent of blood.
But as he looked at the tens of thousands of civilians behind him—shaking with fear but miraculously alive—
a weak but incredibly relieved smile appeared on his blood-stained face.
"At last... they're safe."
And in the very center of the battlefield.
The bone-wrought shrine slowly faded away.
Ryomen Sukuna stood amidst the scorched earth and ruins, the black cursed markings on his body exuding a desperate pressure under the night sky.
He coldly scanned the people lying on the ground around him.
Toji Fushiguro heavily unconscious, Megumi Fushiguro near death from backlash, Suguru Geto collapsed from exhaustion, and Kento Nanami barely holding on.
"What a boring farce."
Sukuna yawned, his eyes filled with indifference.
"It seems the sorcerers of this era only amount to this much."
He slowly raised his hand, a glimmer of black cursed energy gathering at his fingertips once more.
"It's over."
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