Too fast! So blindingly fast that sound itself failed to keep up with that streak of violet lightning!
The instant Hajime Kashimo vanished from his spot, not even a whisper of air disturbed the atmosphere.
Only the two deep craters gouged into the earth by his explosive burst testified that a horrifying monster had stood there a moment ago.
"Left!"
The thought barely flickered through Yoru's mind when, within the vision of his Transparent World, a raging bolt of lightning tore through the night sky like a lethal blade and crashed straight toward his left ribs!
Boom!
Relying on feral instinct and the absolute predictive power of the Transparent World, Yoru brought Shiranui across his flank in the nick of time.
A monstrous impact capable of flattening a hillside, wrapped in suffocating electric current, slammed violently against Shiranui's blade.
Numbness shot through both of Yoru's arms, and he was hurled backward as though he had taken a head-on collision from a speeding freight train!
Crash! Bang! Bang! Crash!
His body smashed cleanly through three reinforced concrete walls in midair before crashing into the depths of an abandoned shopping mall, churning up a billowing cloud of dust.
"Hahaha! Too weak! Far too weak!"
"Brat! Is that all the speed you have?!"
Kashimo's wild laughter exploded overhead. Giving Yoru no room to breathe, he transformed into an erratic bolt of lightning and dove toward the rubble where Yoru had crashed!
"Sun Breathing, Fourth Form!"
"Fake Rainbow!"
Amid the debris, Yoru endured the numbness in his arms. A split second before Kashimo's thunderous fury arrived, his body twisted at an impossible angle in high-speed evasion.
Rumble!
Kashimo's fist smashed straight into the afterimage Yoru left behind.
The berserk lightning instantly excavated a bottomless crater ten meters wide, superheating countless shattered rocks into molten magma.
"An afterimage?"
Kashimo paused slightly, then curled his lips into an even more exhilarated grin.
"Interesting! Guess you're not just full of hot air!"
At that very instant, Yoru's real body materialized above Kashimo like a phantom.
"Sun Breathing, Fifth Form!"
"Fire Wheel!"
Yoru executed a gorgeous midair somersault. Channeling the centrifugal force, Shiranui unleashed a crimson, crescent-shaped wave of fire crashing down on Kashimo's skull!
"Come on, then!"
Without dodging, Kashimo thrust his Ruyi Jingu Bang upward, directly meeting the heavy slash blazing with true solar flames!
Clang!
The deafening metallic collision shattered every pane of glass in the surrounding area.
Scorching heat and violent lightning ground against each other in midair, erupting into a blinding glare impossible to look at directly.
"Thrilling! Utterly thrilling!"
Feeling the crushing weight bearing down from above, Kashimo's thirst for battle flared to its peak.
"In four hundred years, you're the first opponent to get me this excited!"
"Again! Give me more!"
The two parted in midair only to collide again at speeds exceeding the limits of human sight!
Boom! Crash! Clang! Boom! Bang!
Two streaks of light—one crimson, one violet—crisscrossed, clashed, and parted around Tokyo Tower in a frenzy.
Every impact erupted in thunderous roars, unleashing energy shockwaves violent enough to shred everything in their wake.
Under the clash of these godlike combatants, the surviving structures around them proved as fragile as paper.
Buildings collapsed, the earth splintered, and the very air caught fire!
This was no longer a mere fight—it was a bona fide natural disaster!
"Haa... haa..."
After trading well over a hundred blows, the two finally put distance between themselves atop a patch of ruins.
Yoru drew ragged breaths as a sheen of fine sweat beaded on his forehead.
Even with the Transparent World active to trace Kashimo's movements,
Kashimo was absurdly fast under the boost of Mythical Beast Amber!
So fast that Yoru's physical reactions could barely keep pace with his mind's foresight!
"Looks like if I don't show some real strength, I might actually meet my end here today."
Yoru drew a deep breath, resolve flashing across his crimson eyes.
"If my speed can't keep up, then I'll just have to push my bodily limits to the absolute maximum!"
Hum—!
As his heartbeat accelerated wildly, an aura far more scorching than before erupted from within him!
Across the left side of his forehead, a vibrant crimson mark resembling licking flames slowly surfaced.
The Slayer Mark awakened!
Under the dual amplification of the Slayer Mark and the Transparent World, Yoru's physical capabilities underwent an instantaneous qualitative leap, pushing his sensory perception into an unfathomable realm.
He tightened his grip on Shiranui, his gaze locking dead onto Kashimo.
"Warm-up is over, God of Thunder."
Yoru's voice rang cold and majestic, like a god passing judgment.
"The real fight starts now."
"Hahaha! Good! Excellent!"
Sensing the terrifying shift in Yoru's aura, Kashimo showed not the slightest hint of fear, instead throwing his head back in wild laughter.
"A mark? Breathing techniques? The secrets you're packing just keep surprising me!"
"Since you've brought out your full power, I'd better not disappoint!"
Kashimo hurled the Ruyi Jingu Bang high into the sky.
Bringing his palms together, the lightning-infused cursed energy swirling inside him like a vast ocean went completely berserk!
"Behold what real, thunderous devastation looks like!"
Rumble!
At his cue, the storm clouds that had been brewing overhead broke into complete pandemonium.
Countless arcs of violet lightning danced like mad silver serpents, raining from above and crashing all around Kashimo.
Rather than dissipating, the lightning wove and fused with the cursed energy pouring from Kashimo, blanketing an area hundreds of meters wide into a horrifying sea of thunder!
"Within this sea of thunder, I am absolute ruler!"
Kashimo's voice echoed simultaneously from every direction, making it impossible to pin down where he stood.
"Brat, your time is up!"
Bzzzt!
Before the words even faded, Yoru felt numbness surge through his feet as a fierce current ran up his legs and swept through his entire body!
This was not a direct blow from Kashimo, but the ambient electric charges saturating the entire sea of thunder!
"Not good!"
Yoru cursed inwardly.
In an environment so densely charged, even basic footwork became an agonizing struggle.
And in the tenth of a second that his muscles locked up,
Kashimo materialized behind him like an apparition.
"It's over!"
An orb of lightning compressed to its absolute limit gathered in Kashimo's hand, slamming violently toward the center of Yoru's back.
This was the strike primed by electrical charges accumulated quietly on Yoru throughout their battle—a sure-hit lightning strike!
Boom—!
An earth-shattering roar shook the entirety of Tokyo Colony No. 1.
A blinding pillar of lightning engulfed Yoru's body in an instant.
The piercing white flash forced everyone to shut their eyes.
When the glare receded, the sea of thunder gradually quieted.
Still holding his sword, Yoru stood silently in place.
Wafts of black smoke curled from his body; his black haori hung in tatters, and large patches of charred burns marked his skin.
"Phew..."
Yoru parted his lips, exhaling a breath of scorching foul air.
His body shivered with involuntary tremors.
It was the physiological backlash of violent electric current rampaging through his system, leaving his nerves severely numbed.
"Took that head-on, huh..."
Yoru murmured softly, feeling the tearing agony ravaging his insides.
This was the gravest injury he had suffered since entering the Culling Game.
It was also the first time he had been pushed so close to the brink.
And yet.
Looking across at the God of Thunder standing tall in apparent triumph,
Yoru slowly raised his head.
Within those crimson eyes, there was not the faintest trace of fear or despair.
Instead, an insane battle thirst burned a hundred times hotter and wilder than the true solar flames in his hand!
If ordinary flames could not sever thunder,
and if the physical limits of this body had been driven to their utmost brink,
then what method would Yoru use to break free from this fatal predicament and answer this arrogant God of Thunder's lethal strike?!
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