Black Flash!

Utahime Iori could not help but freeze for a moment.

Back when she had first learned to control cursed energy, it had taken her quite a while to succeed—and that had been in a quiet environment under a teacher's guidance.

Yet this unfamiliar boy had managed it in the middle of battle. His talent likely far surpassed that of ordinary people.

But those thoughts only flashed through her mind for an instant before she shouted.

"It's fine, as long as you can sense it! Keep trying to draw out more power. Remember, imagine it as a whole—don't scatter it!"

A whole... a whole...

Toho Tetsu silently repeated the words in his heart as he dodged, using the faint strand of power he had just mobilized as a starting point to draw more cursed energy into his hand.

Fortunately, the process was much easier than before. Perhaps a pathway had formed, or perhaps he had found an outlet and direction. More and more tiny traces of cursed energy gradually gathered together, triggering a qualitative change.

He glanced at his right hand.

A thin layer of dim blue flame now wrapped around his fist. Its edges were blurry, as if it might be extinguished at any moment, yet it did not disperse at all.

"My hand is glowing!"

Hearing his shout, Utahime Iori was surprised by how quickly he had gathered cursed energy, but she continued guiding him.

"You did it! That's cursed energy. Keep it up, stabilize it, and try to make it denser!"

Gritting his teeth, Toho Tetsu used his thoughts to draw more power into his right hand, doing his best to compress it together. The dim blue flames gradually grew larger and more solid as a result.

Just then, a violent muffled crash sounded beside him. One of the two remaining support pillars collapsed, kicking up another cloud of dust from the ground.

This time, he did not flee immediately. He merely twisted aside, letting the cursed spirit's fist brush past him. Then, using the momentum of his turn, he drove a cursed-energy-clad fist—laden with the resentment of being chased for dozens of minutes—into its waist.

With a dull thud, the cursed spirit involuntarily staggered back two steps.

It looked down at its injured waist, then at Toho Tetsu as he withdrew his fist. Perhaps because it had been injured for the first time, or perhaps because it sensed that the roles of hunter and prey were beginning to change—

It unleashed a roar of fury several times more savage than before.

"I'll kill you!"

The next second, a fist carrying even greater force than before smashed toward him.

Toho Tetsu had no intention of confronting the cursed spirit head-on. Especially now that it seemed enraged by its injury—not only was its roar louder than before, but its punches had become even fiercer.

He hurried behind the last pillar, preparing to resume his pillar-circling plan.

After all, he had already gained a preliminary grasp of cursed energy's flow. Though he had not mastered its core—that terrifying level—if Utahime's amplification technique was added in, perhaps he still had a chance against this flawed cursed spirit?

Unfortunately, that thought was swiftly and mercilessly crushed.

The cursed spirit gave him no more room to maneuver. Its fist missed again and struck the pillar, but this time, the pillar could not hold. It snapped clean through.

His final barrier was gone. Though he had retreated the instant the pillar fell, when his back hit the wall, he realized there was nowhere left to run.

The cursed spirit, having noticed the same thing, revealed a hideous and wicked smile. It raised its fist high, seemingly preparing to deliver the final blow.

Utahime Iori, some distance away, noticed it as well.

She had thought that with the two of them working together, they might be able to try exorcising this Grade 2 cursed spirit. But for some reason, in that brief instant, the cursed spirit's strength had increased yet again, even destroying the boy's final shield.

She could no longer worry about anything else. Tossing her kagura bells aside, she flooded her body with cursed energy and charged toward the cursed spirit.

She was not skilled at fighting, but she had no choice but to step in now. Even if she could distract the cursed spirit for one second and let him escape, they could try fighting it together again—or flee.

"Hey, run!"

She shouted as she ran.

But Toho Tetsu, backed against the wall, only gave a somewhat bitter smile.

Run? I want to run too. But this wall isn't long, and both sides are blocked by rubble and rocks. No matter which way I go, that cursed spirit's fist can reach me.

Looks like it's time to risk my life.

He took a deep breath and focused all his attention on his right hand.

At that moment, he no longer thought about guiding or drawing power, nor did he think about the consequences of whether his next attack succeeded or failed. He simply gave it everything he had, cramming every bit of power he could mobilize into his right hand.

A heavy pressure spread outward.

Utahime Iori, who was closing in on them, abruptly halted. At that moment, she suddenly felt an incredibly terrifying pressure coming from the cursed spirit and the boy—and it was rapidly expanding.

The cursed spirit, preparing to attack, sensed the abnormal pressure as well. It froze for an instant, then swung its fist with even greater force, intending to crush the prey that had toyed with it for so long into pulp in one blow and turn it into nourishment for its evolution.

Facing that fatal strike, Toho Tetsu did not retreat. Instead, he stepped forward and turned slightly, letting the cursed spirit's fist graze past his face before throwing a punch into which he poured everything.

The dim blue flames suddenly collapsed inward. Black-red light burst violently from his fist, exploding like lightning and swallowing the cursed spirit before him whole.

Under the assault of the black-red cursed energy torrent, its body was destroyed piece by piece, disintegrating and vanishing in midair until nothing remained. The entire process took less than three seconds.

Even at the end, a cruel, furious smile lingered on its face, as though it had not even understood what had happened.

After throwing that punch, Toho Tetsu's arm instantly split apart, spraying blood everywhere. Yet he remained standing in place in that same posture, gasping for breath.

Utahime Iori, watching from a distance, stared wide-eyed in shock. She blankly watched the scene, recalling what she had just seen, until a word finally escaped her lips after a long while.

"Black... Black Flash?"

While she was lost in thought, a huge chunk of debris suddenly fell from the subway station ceiling and crashed onto the ground with a deafening bang, jolting her awake.

When she looked up, she discovered that with the support pillars gone, along with the constant vibrations and damage from earlier, the ceiling was now cracking apart section by section, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

This made her stop thinking about the anomaly she had just witnessed and the dense, peculiar pressure she could now feel. She simply shouted at the unfamiliar boy.

"Hey, stop spacing out and run! This place is going to collapse!"

But the boy standing there in the same pose did not respond to her voice. Instead, as though affected by the sound, his body went limp and he fell to the ground.

"What?"

Looking at the boy lying on the floor, Utahime Iori did not know what had happened, but she still gritted her teeth and rushed over. Reinforcing her body with cursed energy, she hoisted him up from the ground.

The instant she saw his face, she froze for a moment. Then she gave a dry cough, supported him, and rushed toward the subway station exit.