A shrill scream tore through the night sky of Shibuya.
Yuji's Black Flash, imbued with a perfect flow of cursed energy, slammed precisely into the core of Mahito's chest!
Black lightning rampaged. Mahito's body, covered in pale bone armor, looked like porcelain struck by a heavy hammer as shocking, massive cracks instantly spiderwebbed across its surface.
Purplish-black blood mixed with bone fragments sprayed violently from the fissures.
"Did it work?!"
Amidst the ruins, Aoi Todo clutched his bleeding abdomen, his eyes locked onto Mahito's position.
But in the next second...
Mahito's screams came to an abrupt halt.
They were replaced by a low, incredibly violent panting, like a beast on the verge of death.
"Unforgivable... Unforgivable!"
Mahito's eyes turned blood-red. He snapped his head up, his distorted face a mask of extreme rage and madness.
"A mere human... A mere vessel!"
"How dare you... shatter my soul like this!"
Boom!!
A surge of Special Grade cursed energy, even more violent and viscous than before, erupted from Mahito's body like a volcanic explosion!
His already massive body swelled once again, fueled by the cursed energy!
Countless sharp barbs actually began to grow from the cracks left by the Black Flash.
Mahito's arms grew thicker, and the bone blade on his tail shimmered with a chilling light.
He had entered a state of pure frenzy!
"Die! All of you, just die!"
Mahito roared, his massive foot shattering the ground.
Bang!
He appeared before Yuji as if teleporting, moving so fast the air itself let out a sonic boom!
'So fast!'
Yuji's pupils shrank as he instinctively raised his arms to block.
Boom!
Mahito's bone blade slammed into Yuji's arms like a heavy truck, sending him flying!
Yuji tumbled through the air more than a dozen times, only coming to a stop after snapping three lampposts in half.
"Pfft!"
Yuji spat out a large mouthful of blood, feeling as though the bones in his arms were about to break.
"I'm not done yet!"
Mahito laughed maniacally as his figure vanished once more.
He turned into a white cyclone of death, rampaging through the streets of Shibuya.
Yuji and Todo were forced to retreat through the rubble, their lives hanging by a thread.
Every collision was accompanied by the collapse of buildings and the cracking of the ground.
"Huff... Huff..."
Aoi Todo's breathing had become as heavy as a broken bellows.
His cursed energy was almost depleted. Every time he forced a use of Boogie Woogie, he felt a pain as if his soul were being torn apart.
The wound in his abdomen continued to bleed, and his vision began to blur.
'I can't fall... I can't fall yet...'
Todo gritted his teeth so hard he drew blood from his tongue, using the pain to force himself to stay conscious.
'Yuji still needs me... I have to create an opening for him!'
On the other side...
Kneeling on the ground, Yoru's face was as pale as paper.
He desperately maintained the Transparent World, watching Yuji struggle to endure the berserk Mahito's attacks.
"Yuji!"
Yoru's raspy voice rang out again.
"Remember the feeling from when you landed that Black Flash!"
"That was your soul screaming!"
Yoru's words were like a lighthouse in the darkness, piercing through the ringing in Yuji's head.
"Don't hesitate! Don't be afraid! Follow your instincts!"
"Pour all your rage, your sorrow, and your resolve to protect everything into that single punch!"
Listening to Yoru's shout, Yuji closed his eyes while struggling to dodge Mahito's strikes.
The sensation of landing the Black Flash surfaced in his mind once again.
It was a wondrous state of being.
Cursed energy was no longer an external power borrowed from outside, but an extension of himself, perfectly synchronized with his flesh.
The vibrations of his soul resonated with the explosion of his power.
The world around him slowed to a crawl; even the tiny motes of dust in the air became clearly visible.
'I understand now...'
Yuji snapped his eyes open. Within those clear depths, not a shred of hesitation remained.
Around his fists, the heart-stopping black lightning crackled once more!
"You're trying that again?"
Seeing the black light on Yuji's fists, a hint of wariness flashed in Mahito's eyes, but it was quickly swallowed by his murderous frenzy.
He violently opened the fissure in his chest, and several tiny soul-heads surged out, forming a suicidal barrier of soul-flesh around his body.
"Against absolute power, your Black Flash is meaningless!"
Mahito roared, his massive body leaping high into the air. His arms transformed into two colossal bone blades that blotted out the sky, swinging down toward Yuji's head!
At that critical moment!
From within the ruins, Aoi Todo suddenly grabbed two fist-sized chunks of concrete rubble.
In his bloodshot eyes, a flash of absolute, desperate madness flickered.
"Let's go, best friend!"
Todo let out a thunderous shout, using the last of his strength to hurl one of the stones to Mahito's left!
Simultaneously, he threw the other stone to Mahito's right!
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
The crisp sound of a clap rang out just as Mahito's bone blades were about to descend!
Swish!
Space swapped!
Yuji's figure vanished from the spot, instantly swapping positions with the stone on Mahito's left!
"To the left!"
Mahito's reflexes were incredibly fast. He forcibly twisted his massive body mid-air, swinging the bone blade on his left arm toward the left with destructive force!
At the same time, the soul barrier around him began to swell violently, preparing for the impact.
However!
"Boogie Woogie!"
Clap!
Aoi Todo's hands came together for another strike with speed that surpassed his limits!
Due to the high-frequency technique output and severe cursed energy backlash, his palms instantly split open with a spray of blood, and the bones in his hands even made a grating, agonizing sound.
Swish—!
A second space swap!
Yuji, who had just appeared on Mahito's left, vanished into thin air again!
He bypassed Mahito's fully defended left side and avoided the exploding soul barrier.
He completed a second, extremely tight swap with the stone on Mahito's right!
"What?!"
Mahito's brain completely stalled for that fraction of a second.
The attack from his left arm had already been committed, and the defenses around his body had all been seen through and bypassed by Yoru's guidance.
And there, on his right side...
In his weakest defensive point and blindest spot...
The figure of Yuji Itadori appeared like a phantom.
His right fist, wreathed in violent black lightning, was already primed and ready!
"Take your malice and rot in hell!"
Yuji let out a roar that pierced the heavens!
All his cursed energy, all his power, and all his rage converged at that moment at the peak of his right fist!
Boom!!!
A bolt of black lightning, more blinding and violent than ever before, slammed with pinpoint accuracy into Mahito's right temple!
Black Flash!
A combo!
Crack!
Accompanied by the hair-raising sound of shattering bone, Mahito's indestructible head armor instantly exploded under the strike of this perfect Black Flash!