Rumble—!!!
A massive roar echoed throughout the streets of Shibuya, feeling as if a sudden magnitude ten earthquake had struck.
The thick asphalt fractured like brittle crackers as a towering figure emitting a terrifying pressure burst from the ground, accompanied by a storm of dust and flying rebar-reinforced concrete.
"Hahahaha! So this... is the true form of the soul!"
Mahito, in his Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing form, let out an arrogant roar.
His massive frame was covered in a layer of pale, indestructible bone armor. His arms had transformed into horrific blades capable of slicing through tanks with ease, and a thick tail behind him whipped about, snapping a nearby abandoned car in half with a casual swing.
"This power... it's simply inexhaustible!"
Mahito slammed his fists together, his terrifying cursed energy burning around him like tangible black flames.
After taking that soul-striking Black Flash from Yuji, he hadn't died. Instead, like a venomous snake shedding its skin, he had stripped away all pretenses and found the purest essence of his soul.
Swish! Swish!
Two figures leaped one after another from the massive crater Mahito had carved, landing steadily on the ruins flanking the street.
They were Yuji Itadori and Aoi Todo, who had been in hot pursuit.
"This guy's cursed energy... it has more than doubled!"
Yuji looked at the alien-like demonic monster before him, a flicker of shock in his eyes, but his clenched fists did not waver.
"It's not just the cursed energy; that outer shell of his..."
Todo's expression grew more solemn than ever as he stared intently at the pale bone armor covering Mahito.
"He looks like a mobile fortress. Ordinary physical attacks probably won't even tickle him."
"If that's the case..."
Yuji took a deep breath, mobilizing all his remaining cursed energy. A faint blue glow compressed frantically around his fists.
"Then I'll just use even more power to smash that turtle shell of his to pieces!"
Before his voice had even faded...
Yuji's legs exploded with terrifying force, launching him forward like a shell from a cannon directly toward Mahito's transformed state.
"Divergent Fist!"
"Naive brat!"
Mahito watched the charging Yuji, his eyes filled with contempt.
He didn't even bother to dodge, simply raising a blade-transformed right arm and swinging it down violently toward Yuji.
Boom!
Yuji's fist collided heavily with Mahito's blade in mid-air!
An ear-piercing sonic boom instantly erupted.
However...
The Divergent Fist, powerful enough to shatter an ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit, left only a shallow white mark on Mahito's bone armor.
Instead, Mahito's terrifying physical strength sent Yuji flying backward.
"How can it be this hard?!"
Yuji flipped several times in the air, his feet plowing two long furrows into the ground before he managed to steady himself.
The webbing of his right hand had been torn by the impact, blood dripping from his fingertips.
"Do you see it now? This is the difference in the very essence of our souls!"
Mahito laughed maniacally as his massive body erupted with a terrifying speed completely at odds with his size.
Bang!
The ground shattered instantly. Mahito appeared before Yuji as if teleporting, his left blade-arm carrying the stench of death as it swept toward Yuji's waist and neck.
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
The crisp sound of a hand-clap rang out once more.
Whoosh—!
At the critical moment, Todo swapped positions with Yuji.
Facing the blade that could cleave anything in two, Todo didn't try to block it. Instead, he arched his body backward sharply, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow with a high-stakes backbend.
"That move again!"
Having missed his mark, the irritation in Mahito's eyes was instantly ignited.
"Is running like fleas all you two can do?!"
He violently opened his fanged maw. Deep within his throat, a terrifying energy compressed from countless twisted souls began to gather frantically.
The surrounding air groaned under the weight of the high-density cursed energy, and a purple-black light illuminated half of the Shibuya night sky as if it were day.
"This is bad! Get out of the way, brother!"
Todo's pupils constricted. He could feel the destructive power contained within that energy.
"Roar—!!!"
With Mahito's howl, a beam of purple-black energy over several meters in diameter erupted from his mouth like a laser cannon.
Everywhere it passed—asphalt, abandoned cars, solid steel-reinforced buildings—was completely annihilated by the power of twisted souls, leaving not even ash behind.
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
The instant before the beam could swallow them, Todo activated his technique with everything he had, swapping himself and Yuji with two pieces of rubble in the distant ruins.
Rumble—!!!
The beam brushed past their afterimages and slammed into the distant city blocks. A whole row of skyscrapers collapsed under the terrifying energy, turning into a sea of fire and ruins.
"Huff... huff..."
Todo knelt on the roof of an overturned car, gasping for breath.
Large beads of sweat continuously rolled down his rugged face.
The high-frequency activation of Boogie Woogie, combined with the energy spent clearing the cursed spirit army in the subway station, had left his cursed energy nearly depleted. His body was beginning to scream in fatigue.
"Brother... this guy is just ridiculously strong."
Todo wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked toward Yuji with a bitter smile.
"His defense has almost no blind spots, and his attacks are certain-kill... he's a total monster."
Yuji stood on another pile of rubble, looking at the path of destruction that had leveled half a block. The shock in his eyes was undeniable.
But quickly, that shock transformed into absolute resolve.
"I can't give up!"
Yuji grit his teeth, remembering the look in Instructor Yoru's eyes when he had held his shoulder firmly in the ruins.
He remembered the ordinary people Suguru Geto had died trying to save.
If he fell here, if he let this monster escape...
Then all the previous sacrifices and all his guilt would become a meaningless joke!
"Instructor Yoru said that as long as it's a cursed spirit, it must have a weakness!"
Yuji closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He recalled every detail of his previous exchanges with Mahito, feeling the cursed energy within him begin to boil from extreme anger and focus.
"His shell might be hard, but a soul cannot be completely encased!"
"As long as my fist... can penetrate that shell and strike his soul directly!"
Yuji snapped his eyes open, his pupils flashing with an unprecedented, piercing light.
"Let's go! Todo-senpai!"
"Hah! Now that's my brother!"
Todo laughed loudly, forcing out the last remnants of cursed energy from his body. His towering frame once again ignited with a violent fighting spirit.
"Then let's deliver the final requiem to this monster on the streets of Shibuya!"
The two transformed into streaks of light, charging fearlessly once more toward the god-like figure of the Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing from the left and right.
The battle on the ruins of Shibuya reached its most tragic and intense escalation.