Spell Reversal

Fast.

But he could still dodge it.

As Hajime Kashimo charged forward, he lowered his body. The spear that shot past only grazed Hajime Kashimo's left hand, causing no serious damage, while Hajime Kashimo had already closed in on Xuan.

...He was smiling?

Why?

Hajime Kashimo's right arm instantly detached from his body, lightning like a spear violently shooting forth—using Phantom Beast Amber's ability to partially turn parts of his body into electricity. It was an idea he had conceived long ago, back when he was still alive.

But among those who had fought Hajime Kashimo, not one had ever pushed him far enough to gain an understanding of the Reverse Cursed Technique.

Thus, after learning the Reverse Cursed Technique, Hajime Kashimo immediately began using this "self-mutilating" style of combat.

Xuan raised a hand and knocked aside the thrown right arm. His right hand formed a palm strike and slammed it toward Hajime Kashimo.

Eight.

As Hajime Kashimo's left fist struck Xuan's right palm, it was instantly sliced into fragments by consecutive slashes—at the moment it detached, Hajime Kashimo's entire left hand transformed into spheres of lightning. The lightning exploded the instant Hajime Kashimo was sent flying by the cursed energy carried by the slashes.

Having pulled out of close combat, Hajime Kashimo immediately turned around—the spear had vanished, replaced by a black sphere spreading out from where it had been.

In Hajime Kashimo's cursed energy vision, that black sphere was still expanding. If he had been hit by that thing just now, he probably would have needed to activate Phantom Beast Amber to get away unscathed.

He had to stop Xuan from chanting another incantation.

Hajime Kashimo's Reverse Cursed Technique ran at full power, restoring both hands. Yet in less than a second of looking away, by the time he looked back at the lingering dust and smoke, only the traces of cursed energy Xuan had left behind remained.

Following those traces upward, Hajime Kashimo saw Xuan flapping his wings as he flew through the air.

Xuan raised his hand. Hajime Kashimo's pupils contracted, and in the brief instant he sensed the air humming, the figure of Hajime Kashimo dodging left was violently struck by lightning.

Having avoided most of the lightning, Hajime Kashimo panted as he activated his Reverse Cursed Technique again.

Not only was Xuan more proficient with the Reverse Cursed Technique than him, but his lightning technique was not inferior either.

To defeat him... was activating Phantom Beast Amber his only option?

Let me get used to it first... an incomplete Phantom Beast Amber, then.

Hajime Kashimo took a deep breath. His left hand was instantly covered in lightning, and then he fiercely severed the lightning-covered hand. With his rapidly regenerated left hand, he grabbed the arm Phantom Beast Amber had transformed into a "javelin," then hurled it toward Xuan in the sky.

During their earlier fight, quite a few negative charges had been driven into Xuan's body, while Hajime Kashimo had infused the tip of the "javelin" with a massive amount of positive charge.

So, in theory, this attack was guaranteed to hit.

But theory was only theory.

"Ah! You noticed! Well... it would be strange if you hadn't."

The javelin Hajime Kashimo threw was drawn away by an electric sphere casually tossed out by Xuan. That electric sphere, wrapped in Hajime Kashimo's cursed energy, violently crashed into the ground where Hajime Kashimo had been standing, and the explosion of cursed energy collapsed another huge stretch of the street.

"Don't let your guard down."

Dismantle, electric sphere, consecutive Dismantles, thunderstorm.

The instant he heard Xuan speak, Hajime Kashimo immediately altered his legs and eyes—enhancing his agility and reactions. He kept weaving through Xuan's consecutive attacks, but the barrage formed from different types of cursed energy still left several wounds across his body.

A slash instantly severed the building behind him. Hajime Kashimo slid beneath it, then sprang up. A charged electric sphere landed behind him, and amid the smoke kicked up by the explosion, several transparent slashes cut toward him. Hajime Kashimo could not evade in time and lost an arm, but he did not restore it immediately. Instead, he kicked off the ground at once, using the sudden reduction in his weight from losing an arm to launch himself high into the air.

In midair, Hajime Kashimo's arm slowly regenerated. Just as he was about to reach Xuan, Hajime Kashimo released a portion of Phantom Beast Amber, transforming his not-yet-fully-restored arm into the arm of the "qilin" he envisioned in his mind.

He threw a punch—surging cursed energy erupted from the scales on his fist, blasting toward Xuan with lightning. Xuan raised a hand to block it, but the blow jolted his flying posture—so Xuan immediately discarded the wings that made him such an easy target, then returned the favor with a punch of his own.

Hajime Kashimo clenched his other hand into a fist and collided with Xuan's. As arcing lightning burst through the air, the two of them landed on the ground almost simultaneously.

Hajime Kashimo darted after him again—claw curled into a fist. As Phantom Beast Amber continuously churned his flesh and blood, relentlessly pushing him closer to "death," that intense sensation found him again as he stepped forward and charged Xuan. Explosive black lightning burst from the arm he had transformed into a qilin's.

"Black Flash!"

Xuan's body was violently sent flying by the power raised to the 2.5th power, smashing into a store across the street. But immediately afterward, several shelves crackling with lightning shot out violently.

Hajime Kashimo threw consecutive punches and sent the shelves back. Xuan then walked out of the store, opened a bag of chips, and even tossed some into his mouth to chew a few times. Hajime Kashimo immediately rushed before Xuan. As half a bag of chips scattered into the sky, the two began brawling at close range once more.

Empowered by Black Flash's feedback, Hajime Kashimo could once again run his Reverse Cursed Technique at full power—the technique that had slowed earlier to repair his eyes and nerves began operating again.

Hajime Kashimo curled his claw into a fist again, and at the instant he swung, he detonated his lightning cursed energy once more—at that moment, the accumulated charge within Xuan's body became sufficient again.

"Take this punch! Strongest!!"

Roaring, Hajime Kashimo threw his fist with all his might. Xuan neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the blow to strike him.

As the explosive lightning violently crashed into Xuan, Hajime Kashimo realized that the man before him had not been troubled by the accumulated charge. The punch that should have detonated his cursed energy core was blocked by wings that suddenly extended.

Then he blew those wings apart completely—

The remaining half of the wings violently blasted Hajime Kashimo away. His body flew out and crashed onto the ruined street, where he tumbled several times in a sorry state before steadying himself.

"Return to Life."

"Three Realms Eye."

"Don't even think about it!!"

Hajime Kashimo immediately raised his hand into a palm. The Ruyi Staff shot out from the remnants of the city behind Xuan, striking Xuan and interrupting his chant—but that attack only interrupted Xuan once. Xuan raised his hand again.

"Rebirth"

"Three Realms Eye"

"Scarlet Heaven"

Hajime Kashimo instinctively sensed that something was wrong—he immediately hurled his Ruyi Staff like a javelin, but he still failed to stop Xuan from finishing the chant.

"Technique Reversal: Light"

The instant Hajime Kashimo saw the light rushing toward him, he fully unleashed Phantom Beast Amber.

Something like a pillar of light brushed past Hajime Kashimo's cheek, and only then did he realize something.

That light formed from cursed energy had not hit him.

Nor had he activated his own technique.