Since it was his Domain, everything inside was under his control. Two subway gate doors appeared out of thin air and slammed toward them.
"Clang!"
As the two dodged, two Saito Yuya No. 1 cards appeared behind Kento Nanami, signaling the start of his riichi phase!
"I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late!"
A voice came from the side. The protagonist, Yamaguchi Yuki, was rushing over with a briefcase in hand, sprinting toward the ticket gate.
Having roughly figured out the game's rules, Noritoshi Kamo looked at Yuki and said to Ultimate Mechamaru, "If Yamaguchi Yuki gets through the ticket gate, it means he makes it to work on time. That should be what they call hitting the jackpot."
Ultimate Mechamaru instantly understood. The cannon barrel on his right hand unfolded, and he fired a Cursed Cannon at Yamaguchi Yuki. It missed, passing straight through him as if he were a phantom.
"I told you to attack Kento Nanami already!"
Noritoshi Kamo was speechless. He immediately pulled an arrow from the bamboo tube at his waist and sliced open his palm. Then, he clapped both hands toward Kento Nanami, firing red blood like bullets.
"Hundred Binding: Blood Piercing!"
Kento Nanami merely snapped his fingers, and three subway gate doors instantly blocked the attack.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Two of the metal doors were pierced through in an instant. The last held for only 0.1 seconds, but that was enough for Kento Nanami to evade.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Yamaguchi Yuki charge toward the ticket gate. His heart was filled with anticipation as he waited for the jackpot. That Double Great Sacred Cannon from before had nearly torn his body apart. If this was not a jackpot, he probably would not last much longer.
"Don't think you're getting away!"
With Noritoshi Kamo's shout, the blood droplets abruptly turned ninety degrees and pierced straight through Kento Nanami's arm.
Ultimate Mechamaru finally reacted and aimed his cannon at Kento Nanami, compressing cursed energy before firing the attack!
"Snap!" Kento Nanami snapped his fingers with his right hand, and four metal gates appeared to block the strike.
But the other side clearly had no intention of giving him room to breathe. Noritoshi Kamo condensed three rapidly spinning Blood Wheels and flung them out.
"Hundred Binding: Blood Wheel!"
The metal gates blocking the cursed energy cannon were sliced apart like tofu. Clutching his injured left hand, Kento Nanami hurriedly dodged. Yet his gaze remained fixed on Yamaguchi Yuki, who was nearing the ticket gate, and he shouted inwardly:
Get your ass through there already!
The three Blood Wheels cut his skin, and blood began to spurt. Yet Kento Nanami's expression did not change. He snapped his fingers with his right hand, and metal gates appearing from nowhere slammed toward the two of them.
"Keep moving and you'll bleed to death. Kento Nanami, you've already lost, no matter what jackpot you draw!"
The two evaded. Noritoshi Kamo glanced at Yamaguchi Yuki, who had already passed through the ticket gate, and shouted.
"I made it!"
As Yamaguchi Yuki cried out, a third Saito Yuya card appeared behind Kento Nanami. He smiled as well and shouted, "Music, START!!"
His wounded body healed in an instant, and the cursed energy he had expended was restored to its peak in an instant. Music began to play alongside it.
Feeling the "infinite" cursed energy flooding his body, Kento Nanami became intoxicated by the sensation and cried out inwardly, It's here! This overflowing cursed energy... I'm about to take off...!!
"..."
"..."
Noritoshi Kamo and Ultimate Mechamaru exchanged a glance. They no longer knew what to say. Every Tokyo School student knew Reverse Cursed Technique? What the hell was the point of fighting?
"Let's continue with our second round!"
Kento Nanami rolled his neck and vanished from the spot in an instant. Appearing behind Noritoshi Kamo, he took a deep breath and threw a fierce punch.
"Hundred Binding: Blood Shield!"
The moment Kento Nanami vanished, Noritoshi Kamo sensed something was wrong. A blood shield as thin as cicada wings instantly appeared behind him. It held for a breath before being smashed through.
The two of them retreated from where they stood.
"Your reactions aren't bad. Then let's change the setting."
Kento Nanami snapped his fingers as he spoke, and the subway station entrance vanished. The three of them returned to the maze.
"We're back? Why did you dispel the Domain?"
Noritoshi Kamo looked around. Although they were in a different location, they were still inside the maze. He simply did not understand why Kento Nanami had canceled his technique. After all, everything within the Domain was under his control. Why leave it?
Kento Nanami noticed the confusion in Noritoshi Kamo's eyes and merely smiled. "Of course, it's to play cat and mouse. My personality is pretty awful, after all! If you don't run, I'll slaughter you!"
With that, he punched the wall beside him. The solid wall was blown through in an instant, revealing Yuta Okkotsu and Todo Aoi fighting on the other side.
Three pairs of eyes looked at one another, all seemingly confused about why the others had appeared there.
"Kashiwagi-senpai, why are you here?"
"I-I just ended up here while fighting..."
Todo Aoi glanced over and asked, "That Domain just now was yours, right?"
Yuta Okkotsu asked in confusion, "A Domain? What's that? That thing like a curtain?"
"My rival, you haven't touched upon that level yet. Domain Expansion is..."
Todo Aoi launched into a long explanation of what a Domain Expansion was. He also grew increasingly curious about Yuta Okkotsu. Even he could not deploy one, and now he wanted to spar with him.
When Noritoshi Kamo and Ultimate Mechamaru heard that Todo Aoi had arrived, the tension in their hearts immediately eased. At the same time, they wondered where Nishinomiya Momo was.
Todo was already here, so why was she nowhere to be seen?
"That was a Domain Expansion just now, right?" Natsu Hiraku asked while sitting on Nishinomiya Momo's broom.
"Yes."
Nishinomiya Momo's expression was grim. When she had flown over Natsu Hiraku, she had seen him sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. She had thought it was the perfect chance for a sneak attack, but the moment she approached, he controlled her with a mental-type technique.
"Take me there."
Natsu Hiraku was not polite about it. His right hand grabbed her hair. Since she had dared to throw him down, he did not mind dragging her down with him. His body was tough enough to take a fall anyway!
"Got it..."
Todo Aoi spent more than four minutes explaining the principles and applications of techniques to Yuta Okkotsu before finally finishing. Kento Nanami did not attack, instead waiting until he was done.
After all, this was a Friendly Match, and Todo Aoi was teaching one of his own juniors. There was nothing wrong with that.
As time passed, the BGM Kento Nanami had gained from hitting the jackpot slowly faded away. It seemed as though the jackpot had expired, and the fullness of that "infinite" cursed energy within him vanished with it.
"Oh, I see."
Yuta Okkotsu seriously committed it all to memory.
"All right, that's all I'll teach you. Next comes a battle between real men." Todo Aoi looked at Kento Nanami and asked, "You can still deploy it, right? Your Domain."
"Heh! Of course. My luck is pretty good right now."
The two stared at each other, upholding the ideal of a one-on-one duel between real men. In unison, they said to Yuta Okkotsu beside them, "Junior—stay back."
"Oh..."
Yuta Okkotsu knew there was no longer any need for him to interfere. Remembering Kirara Hoshi, who was still unconscious, he left immediately.
Watching Yuta Okkotsu leave the range of his technique, Kento Nanami brought his hands together and said, "Ready for me to end this gamble of mine? Domain Expansion: Gambler's Demise!"
"Heh! With one thunderous boom from the sky, Natsu Hiraku makes his dazzling entrance! Who used that Domain Expansion just now?"
The instant the Domain opened, Natsu Hiraku fell from the sky and landed steadily between the two men, getting dragged inside himself.
The surroundings began to change. Since techniques within a Domain were guaranteed to hit, a massive amount of rules was forcibly crammed into their minds.
After briefly sorting through the sudden influx of information, Natsu Hiraku surveyed the area and found that they were standing at a subway station entrance.
Kento Nanami was speechless. He had never imagined someone would fall from the sky. "Raku-kun, what are you joining in for...?"
Natsu Hiraku scratched his head awkwardly. "Hehe, I was curious who deployed a Domain, so I came to pick up a trick or two. Didn't expect to get dragged in. How about... you let me out?"
Natsu Hiraku knew both of their personalities. If they fought, they would not permit outsiders to interfere. Mech-Maru was the perfect example.
"..."
"Let you out...? You think deploying a Domain doesn't cost cursed energy?" Kento Nanami knocked Natsu Hiraku on the head. "Go watch from the side. Just don't interfere in our fight."
"Oh..."
Natsu Hiraku covered his head and walked to the side. Before this intimidating senior, he looked like a harmless, meek little lamb.
Having roughly understood the rules of the game, Todo Aoi smiled. "Let's begin."
"Of course!"
Kento Nanami tossed two steel balls from his pocket. One vanished to begin the animated sequence, while the other turned gold and was stored as a Retained Ball.
"I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late!"
The protagonist, Yamaguchi Yuki, passed in front of them carrying his briefcase. Todo Aoi reached out and found that he was a phantom, so he clenched his fist and punched straight at Kento Nanami.
This was the lowest expectation value, and he had only just activated his Domain. Clearly, even if he used both "Sudden Change" and "Sure Shortening," the chance of hitting the jackpot was only one in sixty.
Adding the jackpot chance raised by the so-called expectation value, it was at most one in fifty. Moreover, everything in the Domain was formed from cursed energy, so it could be attacked!
Todo Aoi had formulated the entire situation in an instant.
Kento Nanami also knew it would be difficult to hit the jackpot like this, so he directly used "Sure Shortening" to reduce the time.
Yamaguchi Yuki failed to pass through the ticket gate. Behind him, one Saito Yuya No. 1 card appeared among the two Asagiri Yume No. 2 cards.
The first animated sequence ended. The stored Retained Ball appeared and began the second animated sequence.
Meanwhile, Kento Nanami and Todo Aoi became entangled in close combat, fists and kicks flying. Natsu Hiraku watched from the side with itchy hands. He wanted to join in too, but he could not enter.
Still, this Domain was really interesting. Just like the technique's name, Gambler's Demise!
A gambler wagering against fate—it suited Kashiwagi-senpai's personality perfectly. Betting everything on every fight, the passion, the hot blood, and the gambler's boldness to remain calm in a crisis.
So this was what a Domain Expansion was: bringing the world one envisioned within one's heart into reality.
Natsu Hiraku had never studied theory related to Domain Expansion. It was simply how he felt. He also did not want to enter his own inner world. It was too dark...
Steel balls were thrown again and again, and the animated sequences accelerated over and over. Yet Kento Nanami still failed to hit the jackpot, while the cards behind him spun rapidly.
"Are you stacking your luck?"
Todo Aoi threw a punch that sent him flying from the subway entrance into the station.
"Tch, my luck's a little bad today." Todo Aoi wiped the blood from his nose and threw another steel ball. Two Shimizu Ryoka No. 5 cards appeared behind him, and the riichi began once more!
Yamaguchi Yuki appeared inside the station, waiting for the train. The train slowly pulled in, and golden light appeared on its doors.
"Gold means times three. There are seven cards in total, so the odds are three out of seven? That's a little risky."
Sensing trouble, Todo Aoi clapped his hands and instantly swapped places with the chair behind Kento Nanami, kicking upward.
That kick sent the unprepared Kento Nanami straight into the wall. Todo Aoi did not want to waste time and planned to defeat him outright, forcibly dispelling the Domain.
He clapped his hands again. The chair beside him instantly vanished, while Kento Nanami lay on the ground, his consciousness somewhat hazy. Todo Aoi kicked straight at his head.
"Boom!"
The ground cracked apart, and the train entered the station. Its doors opened. Yamaguchi Yuki, about to board, saw Asagiri Yume inside and said awkwardly, "Hello..."
Asagiri Yume replied with a blush, "Mm..."
Kento Nanami lay on the ground, completely unconscious, as the last card behind him began to jump.
"5. Shimizu Ryoka"
Three identical cards were assembled. The jackpot appeared!
As the music resumed, Kento Nanami, who had lost consciousness, instantly woke up and grabbed Todo Aoi's foot as he moved in to follow up. "That really hurt. Looks like my luck is actually pretty good today. I hit the jackpot again."
As soon as he finished speaking, Todo Aoi leaped into the air and drove both feet into the back of Kento Nanami's head before swiftly retreating.
Yet Kento Nanami acted as if nothing had happened, slowly climbing out of the crater. The wounds on his face healed rapidly, and the cursed energy within his body returned to its peak once again.
He rolled his neck and said, "You really don't hold back at all. The moment you get a chance, you kick me to death. Don't you know kicking someone in the head all the time makes them stupid?"
Todo Aoi watched Kento Nanami use Reverse Cursed Technique. Based on the music that had played for those few minutes before the Domain opened, he instantly understood the Domain. Assuming his stance again, he beckoned with his hand and said, "Don't worry. Takada said boys are better off a little dumb."
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