The moment Yoru's combat boots set foot into Tokyo Colony No. 2, the surrounding air felt thick and viscous.
Unlike the first colony, which had been razed entirely to the ground and scorched with traces of lightning and fire, the second colony preserved far more traces of a modern metropolis.
However, the facades of these buildings flickered with an eerie neon glow, and the air was laden with the scent of cheap liquor, cigarettes, and an adrenaline-pumping feverish craze.
This place was practically a lawless casino blown up to an infinite scale.
Yoru had left Hiromi Higuruma, Musashi Miyamoto, and the others behind in the first colony to handle the aftermath, crossing the colony barrier completely alone.
His objective was clear: destroy every colony core and put an absolute end to this farce called the Culling Game.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Steady footsteps echoed down the deserted street.
Through the perception of the Transparent World, Yoru's deep crimson eyes easily locked onto the immense cursed energy ahead, swelling like an erupting volcano.
At the end of the street, in front of an abandoned large-scale pachinko parlor.
A man in a tattered black shirt, sporting a flamboyant slicked-back pompadour and exuding a ruffian aura, sat sprawled arrogantly across a worn sofa.
Kinji Hakari.
Nearby in the ruins behind him, Noritoshi Kamo, who had just sworn his submission, leaned against a shipping container while Kirara Hoshi administered rudimentary bandaging.
Hearing the footsteps, Noritoshi Kamo struggled to raise his head.
The moment he clearly made out the newcomer's face, the eyes he had kept calm instantly contracted violently with sheer terror!
"Yo... Yoru?!"
Ignoring his severe injuries, Noritoshi Kamo struggled to his feet, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
"Hakari-senpai! Do not take him lightly! That man... is a monster who crushed the entire Kyoto School on his own!"
He would never forget that scene from the Sister School Goodwill Event. With not a shred of cursed energy, relying only on a single blade, that man had utterly shattered the pride of every single one of them.
"Yo, finally here, huh?"
Hearing Kamo's exclamation, Kinji Hakari did not show the slightest apprehension. Instead, he casually crushed the can in his hand, tossed it aside, and slowly stood up.
Without even glancing back at Kamo, he stared straight at Yoru.
"Shut your trap, young master, and open your eyes wide to watch."
He took no combat stance, but as he rose, the air across dozens of meters began to warp faintly under his coarse cursed energy.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, destroyer of Colony No. 1."
Kinji Hakari licked his lips, his feral eyes locked dead onto Yoru.
"From all that distance, I could already smell that scent on you that could burn someone straight to ashes."
"It's freaking awesome!"
"This kind of pressure that makes your heart race and your blood boil..."
Kinji Hakari spread his arms wide, his face contorting slightly from overwhelming excitement.
"I can barely suppress my fever!"
Standing behind him, Kirara Hoshi swallowed hard and instinctively took half a step back.
She could feel that this cold, sharp-faced man carrying a long blade was entirely different from any opponent they had faced before.
There was no massive, leaking cursed energy, nor any loud, overbearing bloodlust.
All that existed was an abyss-like calm, along with an ultimate sharpness that felt as though it could sever heaven and earth with a single stroke!
Yoru halted his steps, less than ten meters from Kinji Hakari.
He looked quietly at the hyper-excited man before him, his gaze completely devoid of ripples.
"Are you the ruler of this colony?"
Yoru's voice was not loud, yet it pierced clearly through the noisy ambient din.
"I have no interest in entertaining your lunacy."
"Get out of the way, or get cut down. Pick one."
Overbearing.
Utterly overbearing.
Not a single wasted word, showing zero regard even for the strength Kinji Hakari took such pride in.
Hearing Yoru's words, Kinji Hakari did not get angry; instead, he burst into a wild, arrogant laugh.
"Hahahaha! Arrogant enough! I like it!"
Kinji Hakari stomped hard, his violent cursed energy instantly grinding the stone slab beneath his feet into dust.
"I heard you tore through Colony No. 1 all by yourself, and even that God of Thunder from four hundred years ago bent the knee to you."
"Since you're so strong, how about we make a bet?"
Kinji Hakari held up a single finger, a mad gleam unique to gamblers glittering in his eyes.
"You win, and my life, along with Colony No. 2, are all yours."
"I win, and you stay behind to be my enforcer for the rest of your life!"
"How about it? That's a deal you can't lose on!"
Faced with this enticing, provocative invitation, Yoru responded with only a single action.
Clang!
Shiranui let out a low hum, its edge unsheathing an inch, a deep red gleam flickering across the blade.
"I don't gamble."
Within Yoru's transparent eyes, Kinji Hakari's feverish face was reflected.
"I only fight."
Boom!
The moment his last word fell.
A terrifying heat like a descending sun, accompanied by razor-sharp sword intent, instantly erupted from Yoru's body!
This aura was not even consciously directed at anyone; its mere natural release caused the surrounding air to shriek with explosive pops under the immense strain.
Streetlights along the road shattered one after another under this presence, and the pachinko parlor's glass doors disintegrated into fine powder in an instant.
Faced with this suffocating pressure, the cursed energy within Kinji Hakari went completely berserk like an aggravated beast!
Rumble!
Coarse golden cursed energy violently collided with scorching crimson sword intent midair!
The ground along the entire street began to tremble violently as though struck by a magnitude-ten earthquake, the two completely distinct forces carving out a visible vacuum zone between them!
Even the dense clouds in the sky were forcefully torn apart with a massive rift by the shockwave born of this clash!
"Hahahaha! Good! Beautiful!"
Feeling that lethal pressure, Kinji Hakari did not back down at all; instead, he took a step forward directly into Yoru's sword intent.
The grin on his face widened to an exaggerated degree, his entire state plunging into absolute frenzy.
"Since you don't like house rules, we'll settle this with our fists!"
Kinji Hakari slammed his palms together before his chest, a torrent of cursed energy several times stronger than before surging into the sky.
"Then let's have ourselves a good, clean brawl!"
"Whoever wins is the boss around here!"
Yoru slowly drew Shiranui, angling the blade tip toward the ground.
Within those completely emotionless eyes, the patterns of the Transparent World were fully engaged.
To a gambler who pinned all his hopes on ethereal luck.
Yoru would use the Bright Red Nichirin Sword in his hand—capable of cutting through everything—to teach him the simplest truth.
In the face of absolute violence, any so-called probability and miracle were nothing more than fragile bubbles that popped at a touch.
A pinnacle clash between a divine blade and an immortal body had already raised its irreversible curtain in this lawless land drowned in fever.