[The scene continues.]
"Crazy! She's completely crazy!!!"
"Doesn't she feel pain?!"
"Suddenly… Erza seems pretty gentle in comparison…"
Inside Fairy Tail Guild, the mages all sucked in a breath of cold air as they watched Nobara Kugisaki with three nails driven into her slender wrist.
Even Erza Scarlet, who was being compared, couldn't help but imagine it.
In the end, she realized—without experiencing it herself, she would never truly know the answer.
[The scene continues.]
[With the third nail driven in, Eso's steps faltered once more, his speed dropping sharply.]
[Kechizu, on the other hand, collapsed completely, unable to move.]
[Seizing the moment, Yuji and Nobara regrouped. Back-to-back, they instantly switched targets—]
[Yuji faced Eso, while Nobara turned toward the near-dead Kechizu.]
["Switching opponents?"]
[Eso's eyes widened as he instantly understood their plan.]
["I can't let that dying woman face my even more dying brother!!!"]
["Don't think you can keep me suppressed forever!!!!"]
[But just as he rushed forward, Nobara—who was also heading toward Kechizu—suddenly turned her head and gave him a sinister wave.]
[Her expression was like a villain in a drama about to do something terrible to the heroine right in front of the protagonist.]
[Seeing that, Eso's anger exploded.]
["Woman!!!!!!!"]
[Though his face showed fury, his heart wavered.]
["Should I release the technique?"]
["At this rate, I won't be able to save my brother…"]
["I can't use 'Wing King' while 'Rot' is active…"]
["But… does that woman still have the strength to kill him?"]
["Even if she interferes… I won't die before her at the hands of that man!"]
["I absolutely won't release it!!!"]
[Just as Eso steeled himself, Kechizu's weak voice came from ahead.]
["B-Brother…"]
[Kechizu lay battered on the ground, a trace of pain visible even in his hollow eyes.]
["!!!∑(?Д?)"]
[Eso froze.]
[A memory surfaced—words once spoken by Choso:]
["The three of us… are one…"]
[In an instant, the black floral patterns on Yuji and Nobara dissolved into petals, scattering into the air.]
[Freed from the technique, Yuji Itadori's speed surged several times over.]
[Leaping into the air, he spun and brought down a devastating axe kick.]
[With the technique gone, the marks formed by blood also vanished, and Nobara's Resonance lost its effect. Eso's speed returned.]
[In the blink of an eye, Yuji and Eso exchanged over a dozen blows.]
[Amid the flurry, Yuji seized an opening—his fist, glowing blue with cursed energy, slammed into Eso's abdomen.]
["BOOM!!!"]
["BANG!"]
[Eso was sent flying into a rock wall. Before he could recover, Yuji was already upon him again.]
[Acting on instinct, Eso ducked—barely dodging a lethal strike as Yuji's fist embedded itself deep into the rock.]
"My god…"
"Yuji… are you even human?"
At the Occult Research Club, everyone trembled.
The impact was too real—too brutal.
It felt as if they themselves were the rock wall, shattered by that punch.
On the Thousand Sunny, while most were fired up, Nico Robin calmly remarked:
"For some reason… I actually feel sorry for those two."
"The older brother canceled the technique because he cared about his younger one…"
"But Yuji and Nobara…"
"They look more like villains right now."
Her words stunned the crew.
They looked back at the screen—then at each other.
"…Wait."
"Are they the villains?"
Existential crisis: activated.
[The scene continues.]
[Taking advantage of Yuji pulling his fist free, Eso finally snapped out of it.]
["By the time I realized it… I had already released the technique…"]
[Before he could think further—]
[Yuji's left fist came crashing toward his face.]
["BANG!"]
[Eso rolled along the wall to dodge.]
[But Yuji was relentless—like a shark smelling blood.]
[One punch missed—another followed immediately.]
[Right fist freed—he continued pressing the attack.]
["BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"]
[Realizing he couldn't keep dodging forever, Eso seized an opening and leapt into the air, unleashing multiple streams of corrosive blood.]
["Wing King!!!"]
[In an instant, the attack sealed off all of Yuji's paths.]
[Forced to retreat, Yuji pulled back to avoid the blood.]
[In a flash, offense turned to defense.]
[On the other side—]
[Kechizu, now freed from Resonance, staggered to his feet.]
[Seeing his brother regain momentum, he forced himself forward, opening the grotesque mouth in his abdomen as he lunged at Nobara.]
[Seeing her prey deliver itself, Nobara's eyes lit up. She stopped moving and waited.]
[As Kechizu closed in, her expression shifted—twisted, almost demonic.]
[A nail flew into the air. Her hammer rose high.]
[At the same moment, Yuji feinted a retreat, then suddenly leapt behind Eso.]
["BOOM!"]
["BOOM!"]
[Both Yuji's fist and Nobara's nail ignited with blue cursed energy—]
["CLANG!!!!!!"]["BANG!!!!!!"][Their attacks landed simultaneously.]