Hanami's face, composed of wooden branches, revealed a trace of sheer disbelief.
The man before them was actually crushing the three of them using nothing but pure physical strength.
Its roots, capable of eroding all matter and converting life into cursed energy nourishment, were as fragile as withered weeds before this man.
It was as if a higher-dimensional rule clung to the blade of the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
The moment these cursed energy-based techniques touched it, they were forcibly nullified, reduced to primal energy, and scattered into nothingness.
The single eye on Dagon's massive body contracted violently.
It felt an intense, overwhelming sense of danger from the man standing before it.
However, no matter how strong his body was, he was still just a human without cursed energy.
Domain Expansion was an insurmountable chasm he could never cross.
Fury instantly replaced its shock.
"You're just a mere human without cursed energy!"
Dagon unleashed a deafening roar that echoed across the ruins, kicking up waves of air.
Holding nothing back, it unleashed all the cursed energy built up within its body.
"[Domain Expansion]!"
*Rumble—*
With Dagon at the center, the ground beneath their feet instantly transformed into a turbulent, pitch-black ocean.
A tropical sea breeze, heavy with the salty, metallic stench of the ocean, materialized out of nowhere and whipped through everyone's hair.
An endless swarm of fish shikigami erupted from beneath the dark surface, blotting out the sky.
Every single shikigami carried terrifying power capable of effortlessly shredding steel.
"Kill him!"
Dagon's will echoed through every corner of the domain.
Yet, standing at the very center of this sure-hit domain, Toji Fushiguro's face showed not a single trace of panic.
He even let out a rather bored yawn.
"What a... boring trick."
The next second, he moved.
He blurred into a black afterimage completely untraceable to the naked eye, charging straight into the endless sea of fish.
The moment they clashed, it became a thoroughly one-sided, suspense-free slaughter.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven in Toji Fushiguro's hands transformed into streaks of cold light that tore through space.
Every swing sent chunks of shikigami remains and foul-smelling fluids flying into the air.
And when the sure-hit fish crashed into him, they couldn't even scratch his skin.
Jogo and Hanami could only watch helplessly as their proud comrade was utterly suppressed by a human with zero cursed energy, right inside its own domain.
The burning volcano atop Jogo's head erupted with furious flames.
It exchanged a glance with Hanami beside it, both seeing a glint of absolute resolve in each other's eyes.
Conventional attacks were completely meaningless against this monster.
Defeating him was impossible with their previous combined domain. Since that was the case, they had no choice but to use the move it had learned right before its death.
"Hanami! Dagon!"
For the first time, Jogo's voice carried a tragic, heroic weight.
"Seal off all his escape routes!"
"I will use my life to put an end to this battle!"
"This time, I won't lose my comrades again!"
The moment its words fell.
Jogo madly compressed every last drop of cursed energy in its body into a single point, holding absolutely nothing back.
Its body transformed into a black sun radiating apocalyptic light and heat, rocketing into the sky.
At the exact same time.
Hanami summoned countless indestructible cursed plants from beneath the earth, forming an airtight cage that firmly trapped Toji Fushiguro in place.
Within the domain, Dagon manipulated the endless seawater into massive whirlpools, sealing off any remaining space for him to dodge.
Above and below.
In all directions.
An inescapable death trap had been formed.
Facing this seemingly certain death, Toji Fushiguro slowly raised his head.
He looked up at the descending black sun—an attack capable of completely leveling a city—and his lips slowly curled upward.
It was a smile brimming with madness and sheer exhilaration.
"Now this is getting a little interesting!"
Then, surprisingly, he put away the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
From the squirming cursed spirit inventory wrapped around his waist, he drew the cursed tool, Playful Cloud.
The stronger the physical body, the greater the force, and the more powerful Playful Cloud became.
This kind of head-on, brute-force clash was exactly what Toji Fushiguro loved most!
He crouched slightly. The next second, the ground beneath his feet violently caved in as he launched himself upward, charging directly into the falling sun.
...
Meanwhile.
Fukushima, Japan.
Above the ruins of a long-abandoned nuclear power plant, sealed beneath layers of concrete and lead plates.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit, [Little Boy], floated silently in midair.
It had no fixed physical form; it was merely a dark green cursed energy core constantly spewing chaotic, lethal energy.
It didn't need to slaughter.
Its very existence was a form of pollution, a curse in itself.
Everything within a radius of dozens of kilometers had long since been reduced to scorched earth, devoid of any signs of life.
Fukushima, which had only just begun to recover a semblance of vitality, was once again "blessed" with the radiant glow of nuclear fallout.
Suddenly, the piercing screech of brakes tore through the dead silence.
Yuki Tsukumo, riding her wild-looking heavy motorcycle, skidded to a halt at the outskirts of the ruins.
She slowly took off her helmet. Her face, usually carrying a hint of lazy nonchalance, was now etched with unprecedented seriousness.
She knew she couldn't drag out a fight with this cursed spirit for too long, or her own body wouldn't be able to handle it.
She swung off the bike as her shikigami, [Garuda], slowly materialized behind her.
"Let's go, Garuda."
"[Star Rage]."
She imbued her virtual mass into Garuda.
The shikigami behind her instantly transformed into a massive, flaming meteorite, crashing down toward [Little Boy] at the center of the ruins with sky-tearing momentum.
[Little Boy] didn't dodge or evade, allowing the meteorite to slam directly into it.
However.
The moment that terrifying mass attack made contact, it didn't deal any effective damage. Instead, it acted like a violent catalyst, instantly stimulating its fission process.
*Hum—*
An even more massive, far more lethal wave of radiation erupted outward.
Yuki Tsukumo's body jolted violently as a burning, stinging pain spread across her skin.
She knew she had already been contaminated by the radiation.
"So ranged AOE attacks are useless, huh."
Without a shred of hesitation, she decisively abandoned any plans for a battle of attrition from a distance.
She applied the technique of [Star Rage] directly to her own body.
The next second, she charged headfirst into the highly concentrated radiation zone.
Every punch and every kick she threw carried terrifying mass, engaging [Little Boy] in the most primal, barbaric collisions.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Every clash triggered violent explosions across the ruins.
The earth wailed, and the air trembled.
And the residents of Fukushima were truly "blessed"—massive waves of radiation continuously swept over their bodies. Just as they tried to scramble into nuclear fallout shelters, violent shockwaves struck again.
Under Yuki Tsukumo's reckless, frenzied assault, [Little Boy]'s unstable cursed energy core began to fluctuate violently.
Its cursed energy signature was climbing madly toward critical mass at an astonishing speed.
It seemed she was beating it to the point of self-destruction.
Yuki Tsukumo's eyes narrowed. 'I can't let it detonate!'
An even crazier decision took shape in her mind.
She would use her cursed technique to create a true... black hole right here on this land that was about to be consumed by a nuclear explosion.
Even if it was infinitesimally small.
Even if it only existed for a split second.
She abandoned all defenses, allowing the radiant energy—capable of instantly vaporizing steel—to completely engulf her body.
All so she could compress all her cursed energy, all her mass, and all her life into a single point at point-blank range.
Then, the two collided.
The residents of Fukushima could only watch as a massive, resplendent mushroom cloud slowly rose into the distant sky.