Agony churned and raced frantically through every inch of Yoru's muscles and nerves, like countless red-hot steel needles!
It was the horrific aftereffect of the Sure-hit lightning strike.
While the rampaging electrical currents ripped apart the skin on his body, they acted even more like an invisible, massive net that clamped down mercilessly on all his motor nerves.
With every breath, a tearing sting pierced through his lungs.
Yoru remained kneeling on one knee, his right hand gripping Shiranui trembling violently from muscle spasms.
Even the deep crimson Slayer Mark on his forehead flickered under the suppression of the lightning, looking as if it could extinguish at any second.
"What's wrong? Where did that arrogant defiance from earlier go?"
Hajime Kashimo's taunting voice echoed across the sea of thunder.
He hovered in midair, the armor formed of condensed violet lightning radiating a suffocating sense of despair.
Empowered by Mythical Beast Amber, he was the sole deity in this sea of lightning, holding absolute authority over life and death.
"If this is your limit, then you've disappointed me far too much."
Hajime Kashimo slowly raised his right hand, condensing an orb of lightning in his palm that burned even brighter and far more terrifyingly than before.
"A pity, but it's time to bring this boring game to an end."
Looking up at that orb of lightning in midair that resembled the eye of a reaper, Yoru slowly lowered his head.
His gaze fell upon Shiranui in his hand.
From that clash just now where neither had held back, an extremely minute fracture had actually surfaced along the blade of this Special Grade Cursed Tool.
'Not only has my body reached its limit, but even my weapon can barely take it?'
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Yoru's mouth.
He had to admit that the strongest God of Thunder from four hundred years ago truly possessed the capital to look down upon the world.
That unreasonable paralyzing trait and a Sure-hit lightning strike capable of triggering without expanding a domain made him the ultimate bane of close-quarters combatants.
If he relied solely on his current strength, trying to defeat a madman who had unleashed a suicidal cursed technique in this sea of thunder was practically an impossible feat.
And yet.
In the very next second, Yoru's gaze turned razor-sharp, like two peerless blades unsheathed to pierce straight through the surrounding thunder!
'If my current strength isn't enough...'
'Then I'll just surpass my limits!'
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Yoru's heart began to beat frantically at a terrifying rate that completely defied all human physiological norms.
Ignoring the electrical currents rampaging inside him, he forced every ounce of his willpower into motion, driving the frequency of his breathing technique toward an unprecedented, uncharted realm!
[DING!]
At that precise moment, a crisp, cold mechanical chime abruptly exploded deep within Yoru's mind!
[DETECTED THAT THE HOST FACES A LIFE-AND-DEATH CRISIS; COMBAT WILLPOWER HAS SURPASSED THE THRESHOLD!]
[YORIICHI TSUGIKUNI TEMPLATE FUSION RATE HAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED!]
[CURRENT SYNCHRONIZATION RATE HAS REACHED 69%!]
[HOST'S PHYSICAL STRENGTH HAS CROSSED THE CRITICAL POINT; BRIGHT RED NICHIRIN SWORD PRESSURE HAS FULLY ERUPTED, AND MASTERY HAS REACHED PERFECTION!]
Boom!
With the conclusion of the system prompt, a vast and ancient terrifying power—one that felt as though it spanned a millennium of time and space—instantly surged from the depths of Yoru's soul!
Like a rising blazing sun, this power bore down with an overwhelmingly dominant, crushing force, instantly evaporating every last rampaging electrical current inside Yoru into nothingness!
The muscles that had been trembling from numbness regained their strength.
The flickering mark upon his forehead flared with an exceptionally blinding crimson radiance, even creeping toward the corners of his eyes and his neck!
"What?!"
Suspended in midair, Hajime Kashimo keenly sensed the shift occurring in Yoru.
For the very first time, an incredulous tremor of shock flickered across his eyes of pure lightning.
'That guy's nerves were completely wrecked by my Sure-hit lightning. How can he still stand?'
'And... what is that aura frantically surging from him?!'
Without giving Hajime Kashimo any time to think, Yoru had already pushed himself up from the rubble to stand tall.
He drew in a deep breath, tightening both hands firmly around the hilt of Shiranui.
"Ignite... for me!"
A low growl tore from Yoru's throat.
Without holding anything back, he channeled that terrifying, tangible power newly awakened within him straight into the blade in his grasp!
Hum—!
An ear-piercing ringing of the blade, sharp enough to cut through space itself, instantly reverberated across the entirety of Tokyo Tower's ruins!
Right before Hajime Kashimo's utterly appalled eyes,
the pitch-black blade of Shiranui in Yoru's hands began an unimaginable metamorphosis.
Starting from the handguard, a chilling crimson spread frantically across the blade like a virulent contagion!
In mere moments,
the entirety of Shiranui had transformed completely into a deep crimson, peerless demon blade that looked as though it were cast from pure magma and blood!
The Bright Red Nichirin Sword erupted in full force!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
As the apocalyptic heat capable of boiling seas and melting mountains manifested completely, an extreme temperature more than ten times fiercer than the previous true solar flames swept outward frantically, centered on Yoru!
This sheer heat transcended physical combustion.
Before this absolute temperature, even the stray electrical charges in the air and the sea of thunder laid down by Hajime Kashimo groaned under the crushing weight, frantically evaporating away at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Impossible! That's impossible!"
Hajime Kashimo completely lost his earlier arrogance. Staring at the tachi in Yoru's hand glowing with a terrifying crimson luminescence, an unprecedented chill of dread crept into his heart.
It was pure, primal terror born of instinct!
It felt as though a mere sweep of that blade would thoroughly erase not only his flesh, but his very soul, his cursed technique, and every trace of his existence!
"Stop bluffing! Die!"
To drown out the dread gripping his core, Hajime Kashimo roared furiously and hurled the lightning orb—swollen to its absolute limit—violently down toward Yoru!
This was his ultimate strike, gathering every drop of power after unleashing Mythical Beast Amber.
Its destructive force was immense enough to instantly wipe the entire district of Tokyo Tower off the map!
Yet, confronted by this wrath of lightning that looked capable of ending the world,
Yoru merely raised his head, not a single ripple of emotion showing in his crimson eyes.
He gripped the Bright Red Nichirin Sword with both hands and took a deep breath.
"Total Concentration·Sun Breathing·Tenth Form!"
"Beneficent Radiance!"
Whoosh—!
Yoru's form instantly turned into a soaring red streak of light, executing a clean, unadorned slash directly into the path of that gigantic orb of lightning!
It was an upward spiral slash that looked poised to cleave the very heavens in two!
The moment that deep crimson Bright Red Nichirin Sword met Hajime Kashimo's ultimate lightning orb,
there was no earth-shattering explosion, nor was there any rampaging unleash of energy.
There was only a faint, subtle tearing sound.
Right before Hajime Kashimo's despairing, incredulous eyes,
the lightning orb he took such pride in—the one claimed to be capable of destroying everything—
parted just like butter meeting a red-hot blade, cleanly, smoothly, and without the slightest resistance, severed right down the middle by Yoru's Bright Red Nichirin Sword!
Not only was the lightning orb cleaved apart,
even the dense thunderclouds overhead and the sealed space were forcefully cleaved open by the residual terrifying sword energy, carving out a vacuum zone spanning a thousand meters!
Following along that vacuum corridor, sunlight shone down for the first time across the ruins blanketed in thunder.
"What... what kind of sword is that?"
Hajime Kashimo stared blankly as his ultimate trump card was cut in two and then entirely vaporized under the extreme heat.
He looked at the black-haired youth suspended in midair holding the Bright Red Nichirin Sword, looking like a sun god.
For the first time in his life, this most arrogant God of Thunder from four hundred years ago understood the meaning of true despair and powerlessness.
The glow of the Bright Red Nichirin Sword reflected against Hajime Kashimo's face, which had twisted in sheer terror.