"Huff... puff..."
Aoi Todo looked at his intact left hand, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
He knew very well that if Yoru hadn't forcibly intervened at the last moment to sever Mahito's technique connection...
...this hand, and even his entire soul, would have been twisted into a monster within that 0.2-second domain.
"Yoru..."
Todo looked at the swaying figure standing in front of him, a complex mix of emotions surging in his heart.
This man, whom he had unilaterally declared his best friend, was clearly struggling just to stand, yet he remained stationed at the front like an insurmountable mountain.
"Hehe... such touching friendship."
In the distance, Mahito shook his arm, which had been scorched by the Bright Red Nichirin Sword.
Although that golden flame was still preventing his wounds from healing, and the technique burnout from forcibly activating a 0.2-second domain meant he couldn't use Idle Transfiguration for now...
...as he watched Yoru's extremely weakened state, the fear in his eyes was gradually replaced by a cruel excitement.
"Still, this is the limit of what you can do, isn't it?"
Mahito's massive, demon-like body leaned forward slightly, his hollow, deep eyes locking onto Yoru.
"Meddlesome swordsman."
"Since you're in such a hurry to die, I'll send you to hell first!"
Boom!
A deep crater exploded under Mahito's feet as his massive body turned into a pale afterimage, hurtling toward Yoru with a sonic boom that tore through the air!
He raised his right arm, now a giant bone blade, and swung it down mercilessly toward Yoru's head with terrifying force meant to cleave through everything!
Faced with this thunderous blow.
Yoru grit his teeth and tried to lift Shiranui to block.
But his arm felt like a rusted piece of machinery that wouldn't listen, far too heavy to react in an instant.
'I've hit my limit...'
Yoru sighed inwardly, the vision provided by the Transparent World beginning to blur with intense double images.
However...
...just as Mahito's bone blade was about to slice Yoru in half!
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
A crisp clap rang out abruptly from behind Yoru!
Shua—!
Space swapped!
Yoru's vision blurred, and he suddenly found himself in the rubble a dozen meters away.
Where he had been standing, Aoi Todo's towering frame stood firm like an iron tower right in front of Mahito's bone blade!
Bang!!!
The massive bone blade slammed into Todo's crossed arms!
The violent impact instantly shattered the ground beneath Todo's feet, the sheer force forcing him down to one knee. The bones in his arms groaned under the unbearable pressure.
"Leave this to me!"
Todo roared at Yoru while straining against the bone blade:
"Go rest up! From here on, this fight belongs to us students!"
Yoru knelt on one knee, propping himself up with Shiranui.
He looked at Todo's face, which was bulging with veins from the exertion, and said nothing, simply closing his eyes.
He knew that forcing himself to fight now would only make him a burden.
But he hadn't given up completely.
'Transparent World...'
Enduring the splitting headache, Yoru maintained the Transparent World within a tiny range, watching every detail of the battlefield with intense focus.
If Todo or Yuji faced a mortal danger, he would swing one final strike, even if it cost him his last breath.
"You think a gorilla like you can stop me?"
Mahito looked down at the struggling Todo with pure disdain.
He swung his left arm, which had morphed into a massive hammer, down toward Todo's back!
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
Just as the hammer fell, Todo managed to free one hand to clap.
Shua!
He instantly swapped places with a pebble at Mahito's feet, appearing right behind him!
"Ora!"
Todo delivered a heavy low kick right into the back of Mahito's knee.
But in his Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing state, Mahito's defense was terrifyingly high.
Todo's kick, powerful enough to snap steel bars, hit Mahito's bone armor with a dull thud. Mahito didn't even wobble.
"Useless!"
Mahito sneered, his thick tail whipping back like a steel lash!
Bang!
Unable to dodge in time, Todo was struck squarely in the chest.
"Gah!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing hard into a pile of rubble.
"Todo-senpai!"
Seeing this, Yuji roared from a distance and charged forward, fists swinging once more.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Vessel. Your turn will come soon enough."
Without even glancing at Yuji, Mahito waved a hand, sending a wave of energy made of distorted souls to force him back.
His eyes remained fixed on Todo, who was struggling to get up from the ruins.
"That swapping technique is certainly annoying."
Mahito walked slowly toward Todo, his massive body casting a deep shadow over the ground.
"But how many times can you hide in the face of absolute power and speed?"
Shua!
Mahito's figure vanished again.
A second later, he appeared before Todo as if by teleportation, his arms transforming into countless sharp bone spikes that rained down like a torrential storm!
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
Todo grit his teeth and clapped, swapping with an abandoned car in the distance.
Boom!
The car was instantly riddled with holes by Mahito's bone spikes.
"Again!"
Mahito laughed maniacally, giving Todo no room to breathe as he lunged forward like a shadow.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
In the short minute that followed...
Aoi Todo pushed Boogie Woogie to its absolute limit.
He swapped with pebbles, abandoned cars, and even flying shards of glass!
He was like a magician dancing on the edge of a blade, narrowly escaping Mahito's lethal strikes time and again.
But...
The continuous use of his technique at such high intensity was putting a horrific strain on his cursed energy.
Moreover, Todo had already exhausted much of his reserves in the preceding battle.
"Huff... huff..."
Todo's breathing became as heavy and ragged as a broken bellows.
His vision began to blur, his body shook uncontrollably, and sweat poured down his face like a waterfall.
That was the severe backlash of overdrawing his cursed energy!
'This is bad...'
Todo felt his legs go weak; even the simple act of raising his hands had become agonizingly slow.
And in the split second his movements faltered...
"Caught you!"
A cruel glint flashed in Mahito's eyes.
Instead of attacking from the front, he used his thick tail to vault off the ground, swinging his massive body at a bizarre angle to come up behind Todo, out of his line of sight!
'Not good!'
Panic seized Todo. He tried to clap again, but the overwhelming fatigue caused him to be a half-beat too slow.
*Puchi!*
Mahito's blade plunged through Todo's right abdomen without resistance!
"Aaargh!"
Todo let out a pained grunt as blood immediately stained his uniform.
"Hehe... my technique hasn't recovered yet, but this body is strong enough to tear you apart."
Mahito hoisted Todo high into the air and clenched his massive left hand into a fist. The muscles in his arm writhed like dragons, and with mountain-shattering strength, he aimed a blow straight at Todo's chest!
Since he couldn't distort the soul directly, he would use the most primitive and violent means to completely pulverize the flesh!
"It's over, gorilla."
The wind from the fist howled, compressing the air to the limit in that instant.
Despair.
A true, desperate situation!
Todo watched the heavy fist rapidly expanding in his field of vision and grit his teeth.
'Yuji...'
He thought silently.
'The rest... I'm leaving it to you.'