The radiance of the Bright Red Nichirin Sword was like a miniature blazing sun rising from the ruins, ruthlessly illuminating Hajime Kashimo's face, which was violently contorted with fear!
Sunlight poured down through the rift in the severed clouds, blending with the deep red blade in Yoru's grip to compose an image of a descending deity fit to be carved into jujutsu history.
Hajime Kashimo hovered blankly in midair, his purple armor forged of dense lightning hissing and dissolving under the monstrous heat radiating from the bright red blade.
"How could this be..."
"I discarded my human flesh and sacrificed my entire life to activate Mythical Beast Amber, something even Sukuna might not have blocked..."
"And it was cleaved open with a single strike?"
The voice of this peerless God of Thunder from four hundred years ago was filled with an unprecedented rasp and tremor.
He stared down at the black-haired youth wielding the bright red blade, whose gaze was as calm as if he had merely performed a trivial chore, and the pride in his heart shattered completely.
Yoru paid no mind to Hajime Kashimo's shock.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the crimson glow on Shiranui's blade did not wane at all, instead blazing even more dazzlingly and piercingly!
"You said earlier that this was your limit, didn't you?"
Yoru slowly raised his head, an absolute, commanding authority peering out from those deep red eyes.
"Since your performance is over, next..."
"Let me teach you what a real one-hit kill is."
Boom!
Before his voice even faded, Yoru's figure transformed into a streak of red light that the naked eye could not track at all!
No afterimages, no sonic boom.
Under the ultimate dual enhancement of the Transparent World and the Slayer Mark, Yoru's speed had completely transcended the constraints of physical laws, outpacing even Hajime Kashimo's proud "lightning speed" by several notches!
"Not good!"
Hajime Kashimo's pupils contracted to pinpricks, an overwhelming sense of mortal danger instantly enveloping his entire body.
His instincts as a battle fanatic spurred him into the most desperate reaction in this critical split second.
"Don't get cocky, brat!"
"I'm the strongest God of Thunder from four hundred years ago, damn it!"
Hajime Kashimo unleashed a desperate, beast-like roar, squeezing out every last scrap of lightning cursed energy remaining in his body without reservation!
"Ultimate Secret Art!"
"Lightning Burial!"
Sizzle—!
The entire sky darkened completely at this moment, as though doomsday had arrived.
Tens of thousands of purple bolts as thick as barrels crashed down like a torrential deluge, sealing off the entire area for a thousand meters in all directions!
This was a true lightning tempest unleashed as Hajime Kashimo reached the end of his life, potent enough to drag every living soul within this barrier to the grave alongside him!
"Die! Turn to ashes with me!"
Hajime Kashimo laughed madly; he no longer expected to survive, his only remaining thought being to drag this monster down in mutual destruction.
Yet.
Faced with this chorus of ten thousand bolts that seemed capable of destroying the world, Yoru's figure did not pause for even a fraction of an instant.
Like a crimson meteor defying the heavens, he crashed straight into that raging sea of thunder!
"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form!"
"Continuous Slash!"
Dance, Clear Blue Sky, Burning Sun... Twelve entirely distinct sword forms instantly coalesced in Yoru's hands into a flawless flaming barrier!
Within this horrifying sea of thunder where even the air was completely ionized,
the bright red blade in Yoru's grip unleashed monstrous power capable of scorching mountains and boiling oceans!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!
The instant those purple bolts—capable of instantly reducing a special grade cursed spirit to cinders—made contact with the slashes of the bright red blade, they were like moths to a flame, vaporized immediately by that absolute heat!
Yoru wove through the sea of thunder with total freedom, every slash carving a wide vacuum path right through the dense net of lightning.
"How is this possible... How can not even Lightning Burial stop him?!"
Hajime Kashimo stared in despair at that streak of red light surging upstream through the thunderous sea, his heart feeling as though it were being crushed by an invisible giant hand.
Too fast!
Too perfect!
Swordsmanship so seamless, without a single flaw, was just like the breathing of nature itself—utterly impregnable!
In merely the span of a breath,
Yoru's figure had completely pierced through that sea of lightning, appearing before Hajime Kashimo like a phantom.
Whoosh—!
A flawless, deep red crescent slash magnified instantly before Hajime Kashimo's eyes!
In that instant, time seemed to freeze entirely.
Hajime Kashimo could even clearly sense the terrifying heat radiating from the bright red blade, madly scorching his soul!
'Am I going to die...?'
Hajime Kashimo slowly closed his eyes, every day and night he had spent across these four hundred years in pursuit of being the strongest flashing through his mind.
'So in this world, there really does exist an absolute power... that doesn't even allow the thought of resistance to arise.'
However,
the expected agony of decapitation never came.
That monstrous heat capable of reducing him to ashes in an instant halted abruptly, less than an inch from his throat!
Whoosh—
The violent blade pressure whipped up a scorching gale, dispersing the purple lightning armor around Hajime Kashimo.
Yoru held Shiranui with one hand, the blade hovering steadily right before Hajime Kashimo's throat.
Across the deep red blade, there was not even a trace of a tremor.
"You lost."
Yoru's voice was exceedingly calm, as if he were stating an insignificant fact.
With a slight flick of his wrist, the glow of the bright red blade instantly receded. Shiranui returned to its solid black form before he smoothly sheathed it.
A light clatter rang out.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang in Hajime Kashimo's grip fell to the ground.
He stood frozen in place, staring at Yoru's deep red, placid eyes, his mind sinking into a prolonged void.
"Why... didn't you kill me?"
Only after a long while did Hajime Kashimo find his voice, thick with disbelief and a deep sense of defeat.
"I've already used Mythical Beast Amber. My flesh will collapse any second."
"Even if you don't kill me, I won't live much longer."
"You could have used that godlike swordsmanship to personally end an antique from four hundred years ago like me, making it your most glorious feat inside this barrier!"
Faced with Hajime Kashimo's near-hysterical questioning, Yoru merely glanced at him indifferently.
"Kill you? That's letting you off too easy."
Yoru turned away and looked toward the distant ruins.
"Besides, who told you that using Mythical Beast Amber guarantees death?"
Hearing those words, Hajime Kashimo's eyes flew wide open.
"What... What did you say?!"
Yoru did not answer. Instead, he walked straight up to Hajime Kashimo, reached out his right hand, and pressed it firmly against his rapidly crumbling chest.
Buzz—!
A pure, warm energy brimming with life force surged wildly from Yoru's palm into Hajime Kashimo's body!
This was the deeper level of control over life energy that Yoru had attained after fully awakening the bright red blade.
Though it could not bring back the dead and regrow flesh on bare bones like Reverse Cursed Technique, using it to forcibly lock down Hajime Kashimo's crumbling flesh and soul was more than sufficient!
"Th-this power..."
Hajime Kashimo felt in shock as the raging lightning inside him quickly subsided and his muscle cells began revitalizing.
The way he looked at Yoru had completely shifted from his initial arrogance, to the subsequent dread, and finally into a complex, stunned fanaticism!
"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"
Hajime Kashimo suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly, his laughter carrying an unprecedented exhilaration and release.
"I yield! I, Hajime Kashimo, yield completely and utterly in this life!"
He dropped to one knee before Yoru with a heavy thud, allowing that proud head to bow deeply.
This God of Thunder, who four hundred years ago lived solely to seek out the strongest, had finally reached the ultimate destination he had pursued his entire life.
And the Culling Game's long-broken landscape, with the submission of this ancient supreme warrior, was about to undergo an earth-shattering upheaval capable of flipping the entire board.
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