Power Stones!
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Amid the city ravaged by the constant battles between players, a black barrier stood exposed in the chaotic street. Traces of cursed energy lingered in the air, a testament to the intense battle that had taken place mere seconds ago.
Uro, who had observed the fight from a safe position, approached gracefully through the air, her eyes taking in the destruction around her with fascination. It was rare to witness a battle of such magnitude, two beings unleashing cursed energy with such ferocity.
She could count the times she had seen something like this on one hand. The most memorable, undoubtedly, was the battle between the Generals of the Void and the King of Curses...
The King of Curses...
Uro shuddered. She couldn't say for certain, but she noticed a strange resemblance in Itadori.
It wasn't his fighting style but rather the way he had injured the serpent. Those cuts... Uro felt the wounds bore an uncanny resemblance to those inflicted by the King of Curses.
The thought sent chills down her spine. When her finger was cut, she hadn't noticed anything unusual beyond the burn-healing process. But now... she was sure she had overlooked something.
"Could it be...?"
Her eyes narrowed as a dark thought crossed her mind. But shaking her head to dispel it, she sighed as she landed a few meters from the large black barrier. No, that's impossible. No one should be able to contain him.
She brushed the unsettling ideas aside and approached the massive barrier, crossing her arms and pressing her lips together.
What should she do?
She owed nothing to Itadori. In fact, seeing him pushed to the brink brought her a bit of satisfaction. But letting him die... That didn't sit well with her.
As much as it irked her to admit, Itadori had utterly defeated her and shown her mercy when he could have killed her in a heartbeat. The least she could do was help him, even if reluctantly.
But… how?
She wasn't an experienced sorcerer for nothing; she could accurately gauge an opponent's level. She had no doubt the massive serpent was terrifyingly powerful. The first attack that struck Itadori—she was sure it would have left her with numerous broken bones had she been in his place.
Even with her experience and strength, enough to hold her own against Yuta and Ishigori, she relied primarily on counterattacks and direct confrontation. In a battle like this, being on the front lines was impossible.
"I guess he's on his own…" She sighed, her feet lifting off the ground as she rose a few centimeters. "Well, if he can't defeat that curse before his domain breaks, I'll try to help somehow…"
Just as she was about to ascend into the skies to maintain a safe distance when the domain shattered, she barely noticed a blur in the distance. Her head turned as she swore she saw something.
"What was that?" She tensed, her eyes scanning her surroundings for any sign of danger. "It was fast…"
She continued ascending, this time more slowly, to keep her eyes on her surroundings.
"...!"
But just as she reached ten meters above the ground, Uro was startled as something struck her body with such force that it slammed her into the ground, her eyes instinctively closing in preparation for impact. What—
Boom!
Her back hit the ground hard enough to shake the earth. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw two black orbs staring at her, a blade firmly positioned at her throat, preventing her from moving.
"Who are you?" The black eyes showed no trace of fear despite the seemingly disadvantageous situation. Her fingers on the ground tensed, as if preparing to act at any moment.
"Who's fighting inside that barrier?"
Uro, silent, studied the figure threatening her. Black eyes, short hair of the same color, and burn scars that strangely didn't detract from her feminine beauty.
Dressed in a black high-collared shirt and tight black pants, she had a strong, commanding presence.
!
As Uro moved her arm slightly, she gritted her teeth when her body was abruptly forced back to the ground, the blade at her neck pressing harder.
So strong…
"I won't ask a third time…" Uro tilted her chin so their eyes met, her expression serious as she received the imposing words.
"Who's fighting inside that barrier?"
The one who had received the blessing of a body free from the chains of cursed energy, Maki Zenin, demanded with the authority of someone who held her enemy's life in her hands.
"..." And Uro, who knew this, could only smile irritably.
For the second time in one day, she had to admit defeat to a modern sorcerer.
. . .
Inside Itadori's domain, the moment he appeared in the frigid environment, there were no formalities for what followed.
Leviathan, the furious serpent curse, didn't wait for him to rise before lunging forward with its massive body, its mouth emitting cursed energy as it prepared to unleash a devastating attack.
"So restless…" Itadori muttered, retreating quickly as he wove his hands through the air. A slash struck the serpent's face, slowing its advance.
While it reduced the beast's momentum slightly, it mainly served to irritate it further—if the furious gaze and chaotic cursed energy were any indication.
"Is this thing's skin getting tougher?" He narrowed his eyes, noticing that the slash was shallower this time. "If that's the case, I need to finish this as soon as possible!"
!
Leaping aside as lightning streaked toward him, Itadori immediately touched the ground, raising a wall of earth to shield himself from a concentrated water jet.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
"Thankfully, I'm not alone." Itadori managed a confident smile as he heard those familiar heavy steps. Turning his head, he saw a white blur leaping over his earthen barrier. "Good to see you, buddy."
Boom!
Leviathan, focused on destroying the barrier with a continuous water jet, was completely caught off guard as its neck was suddenly bitten, its massive body slammed downward with feral growls.
The serpent was momentarily confused, but as its eyes turned downward to see the giant wolf sinking its teeth into its neck, its eyes gleamed with electricity. Amaroq, who had been biting down fiercely, opened his eyes in surprise as the serpent abruptly lifted its head, raising the massive wolf still latched onto its neck with ease.
"Oh… That's surprising." Watching the exchange between the beasts, Itadori pressed his lips together in apprehension. "Looks like I'll need to step in."
Bam!
With a swift twist of its massive body, the serpent hurled the wolf away. Amaroq landed heavily on the ground before rising with ferocity burning in his yellow eyes.
The display of strength had indeed surprised the wolf, but it was far from discouraging him. In fact, it only fueled his resolve to devour this opponent.
A wolf losing to a snake? Amaroq would never let that happen.
This was his domain! And he would prove that here, he was the ultimate predator!
Roar!
With a powerful roar that blew away the surrounding snow, Leviathan had no patience for exchanging glances with the wolf. Its massive body twisted like a whip, lunging toward its target.
"Amaroq, help me pressure it!"
Leaping over the attack, Amaroq turned when he heard Itadori shouting an order. His sharp eyes tracked his master jumping toward the distracted serpent's head, landing a powerful punch that pushed it back.
Howl!
Howling in agreement, the wolf dashed forward like a blur, its powerful jaws sinking into the serpent's massive body, eliciting a hiss of pain from the cursed spirit.
"Now, Amaroq!"
At Itadori's shout, the sorcerer launched a series of slicing attacks, targeting the serpent's head to disorient it. Understanding the signal, Amaroq attacked with ferocious bites and slashes, creating a relentless combination that left the giant snake reeling, unable to defend itself effectively.
Leviathan, overwhelmed by this barrage of attacks, realized it was in serious trouble. It understood what it meant to face a demon and knew the peril of being caught off guard.
But the serpent had confidence in evading a guaranteed strike. After millennia as a curse, it had picked up a few tricks, and domain amplification was one of them.
Trusting this strategy to save it, the curse failed to consider that Itadori's domain could be a non-lethal one, delaying its reaction when confronted by the two.
This miscalculation proved fatal, tipping the scales of the battle. Yet, as a curse with a long lifespan, Leviathan had faced dire situations before.
It had been hunted countless times for the threat it posed. Even the generals of the void had tried to exorcise it, though the curse had outsmarted them. Could a single sorcerer and his shikigami succeed where others failed?
Itadori might be a young and powerful sorcerer, but Leviathan was a millennia-old curse. It wouldn't allow its reputation as the Beast of the End to be tarnished by falling to an up-and-coming sorcerer.
The symbol of chaos and malevolence would not die today.
Sweesh!
Leviathan would ensure it.
Boom!
Gathering a massive amount of cursed energy around its body in an instant, a wave of lightning erupted from the serpent, accompanied by a pulse of raw cursed energy. The attack caught both adversaries by surprise, hitting them squarely.
Damn! Itadori cursed as he was thrown several meters away, landing heavily beside Amaroq, whose massive body crackled with residual electricity. The preparation for that attack was so fast I didn't even notice it.
He spat blood, struggling to his feet as his muscles spasmed, lifting his gaze to the serpent's colossal form.
But it's obvious that after an attack like that... Narrowing his eyes, he noted the serpent's trembling body, a confident smile spreading across his weary face. It couldn't be unscathed.
The serpent tried to drag its body forward, but as it moved slightly, its massive form slumped to the side, its head crashing into the snow.
By now, even its regeneration was struggling to cope with the burned cuts, which were naturally harder to heal.
The internal damage from Itadori's punches and Amaroq's bites was extensive, forcing the serpent to prioritize its healing. Its cursed energy output had also dropped by 50% upon deactivating its domain amplification, compounded by the significant reserves it had spent on the previous lightning attack.
Itadori noticed this, evaluating the situation as cursed energy enveloped him like a mantle. He planted his feet firmly, preparing to charge toward the wounded curse.
"I need to strike now," he said urgently. "..!"
But as he stepped forward, his leg gave out as if all his weight had been dropped at once, his hands barely stopping him from face-planting into the ground.
"Damn it!" He bit his lip.
It was as he'd expected. The accumulated injuries from the battle had caught up to him at the most crucial moment. It felt like a cliché, and the realization made him scoff in frustration.
His arms, already battered from his earlier fights with Ishigori and Uro, had worsened from repeatedly striking the curse's hardened body. The fatigue from three consecutive battles finally exacted its toll, sapping the strength from his legs.
He was in a dire situation... but the curse wasn't in much better shape.
Neither was in a position to attack at full force. Now, it was a question of which would rise first.
That lightning hit me harder than I expected... He knelt, his chest heaving as exhaustion overtook him. I don't feel too hurt, but my energy's almost completely drained.
Planting a steady hand on the ground, he pushed himself up with a single motion, his hands resting on his knees as he watched the serpent shift slightly from its position.
"Well..." Taking a deep breath, cursed energy flared around his hand, chaotic and crackling like fire. "Looks like I'll have to go all out."
A grin tugged at his lips. His reserves were high—not at Yuta's level, but enough to expand his domain three times in a day and still fight without issue.
Even in this exhausted state, he had enough cursed energy to channel everything into a single blow. And if that didn't work? He'd trust his fists to finish the job.
The cursed energy grew wilder in his hand, but before Itadori lost control entirely, he pointed it at the serpent.
"Disman-"
Roar!
As he prepared to unleash a powerful slash, the serpent's mouth opened unexpectedly. Itadori dropped his hand sign and raised his defense as a jet of water shot toward him.
Bam!
"..."
"..."
"..."
Expecting impact, only the howling blizzard filled the silence. Confused, Itadori opened his eyes slowly to understand the strange pause...
"You told me not to do everything alone once..."
And when he saw the back in front of him, he couldn't stop the satisfied smile spreading across his face, an audible sigh of relief escaping his lips.
"But it seems you're the one trying to do it all on your own."
Even in his tired state, Itadori straightened up as the figure turned to face him, that scarred face and striking black eyes meeting his with a gentle expression.
"Hey..." He waved, allowing himself a moment to relax in the tension. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Maki."
"Well, good thing I am, or your ass wouldn't be here to greet me."
"They say one hand washes the other."
"Right, right."
"..."
Observing the interaction between the two, the massive serpent narrowed its reptilian eyes, taking their casual exchange as an insult to its presence.
"Hey, you better keep your focus on that thing." Itadori gestured toward the serpent, which now appeared furious and ready for battle again.
"Can you keep going?" Maki asked, gripping a cursed blade as she scanned his battered state.
"I'm a bit roughed up..." He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms, exhaling heavily. "But I've still got enough energy to fight a giant snake."
Maki smirked at his response, turning back to the serpent, satisfied that Yuji was still standing strong.
"All right, then try to keep up."
"I could say the same."