Saving the Day

Blue lightning reflected in Kinji Hakari's gradually unfocusing pupils.

The air around him grew increasingly scorching as Hajime Kashimo's metal staff touched his chest.

"As a gambler, you don't deserve to die unfairly."

Hajime Kashimo spoke calmly, and the lightning at his fingertips exploded in an instant.

Just as the guaranteed-hit lightning strike was about to pierce Hakari's brain, the gravity across the entire ruin seemed to vanish in an instant.

"Buzz!"

An extremely tyrannical invisible force, containing not a trace of cursed energy, surged in continuously from every direction.

Rubble, steel bars, cargo containers, even those charred corpses within a hundred miles all broke free from gravity's shackles at that moment, crazily spiraling upward into the sky.

Hajime Kashimo frowned slightly. His body was also swept directly into the air by this sudden telekinesis.

"Who?"

He abruptly steadied himself in midair and activated his technique. Drawn by electric charges, he returned to the ground with a bang. He drove his metal staff into the earth, and arcs of electricity firmly anchored him in place.

On the horizon, a tiny black dot rapidly grew larger.

"Free Chicken lets me soar to the moon!"

Shiyue Shuo descended like a comet, carrying a mountain-crushing wave of telekinetic force as he slammed heavily between Kinji Hakari and Hajime Kashimo. The shockwave instantly cleared away the surrounding ruined walls and debris.

"Whew... made it in time." Shiyue Shuo straightened up, lifting the unconscious Kinji Hakari with his left hand while casually wiping away the blood flowing from his nose with his right. He had activated his incomplete domain again, but this time he had only used the [Chicken], [Rabbit], and [Horse] Talismans. Since it was currently the Hour of the Rooster, he had effectively only used two additional Talismans, so the burden on his body was not great.

Milky-white life energy continuously poured into Kinji Hakari's body, slightly improving his condition.

"Shiyue... you bastard..." Kinji Hakari barely opened his eyes to a slit and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "My jackpot... hasn't... cough, cough."

"Alright, alright. If you lost, then step off the stage." Shiyue Shuo casually tossed him to the mechanical puppet that had just arrived behind them. "Senior Kokichi Muta, he's in your hands."

"Leave this place to me."

Hajime Kashimo stared at the young man before him, who radiated a strange aura. The disappointment in his eyes finally vanished, replaced by extreme exhilaration.

"You don't have cursed energy. That power just now didn't belong to cursed energy!" Hajime Kashimo held his staff horizontally as the blue arcs over his body began shifting into dazzling violet-white. "Are you Sukuna?"

"That's right, I am. Do you believe me?" Shiyue Shuo's expression was grave. "Also, even if it's only a little, I do have cursed energy."

"Whether you are or not is no longer important. With the strength you've displayed, you count as a powerhouse in this era. I'm not like those old fools who only look at cursed energy levels!"

Hajime Kashimo vanished. He turned into a pure current of electricity. A twisting purple trail streaked through the air, and in the next second, Hajime Kashimo's staff was already smashing toward Shiyue Shuo's temple.

"Condense!"

Shiyue Shuo pressed two fingers together, and the air within a meter of him was instantly compressed into a hard shield. Inspired by the Monkey Talisman, he had grown increasingly proficient in wielding the Talismans' powers.

"Bang!"

Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the telekinetic barrier the instant it came into contact with the staff.

Hajime Kashimo's cursed energy property was too bizarre. Those tiny electric charges were like living creatures, directly seeping into Shiyue Shuo's body along the fluctuations of his telekinesis. Paralysis slithered into his brain like a venomous snake.

No. The Chicken Talisman alone can't defend against this kind of attack anymore. Why didn't I think he was this troublesome when I watched it back then?

Shiyue Shuo was horrified. He kicked off sharply and used levitation to slide backward.

"Too slow."

Hajime Kashimo appeared above Shiyue Shuo's head like a ghost. His left hand formed a claw, and the charges gathered in his palm erupted with thousands of volts in an instant.

"Crackle!"

Half of Shiyue Shuo's shoulder was instantly scorched black. His concentration on maintaining the Talismans loosened, and he crashed heavily into a pile of rubble, his chest heaving violently.

This man's control over cursed energy had already reached perfection. Though Shiyue Shuo's Talisman powers were indeed formidable, before such combat experience, he was like a child holding a divine weapon without knowing how to wield it.

"If this is all you have, then die here." Hajime Kashimo raised his staff, and faint thunder seemed to answer from the sky.

Shiyue Shuo clenched his teeth as the Talisman wheel in his mind began to resonate wildly.

He knew he had no choice but to go all out.

"Although I can't beat you in experience, I still have the stats!"

"Domain Expansion—"

"Twelvefold Astral Signs: Eternal Coordinates."

With a low shout, the air throughout the entire Tokyo Second Barrier seemed to freeze. Six Talismans lit up in a fan shape behind him.

Extreme speed, brute force, explosion, immortality, restoration, telekinesis.

Six authorities emerged at the same time and began influencing reality. Shiyue Shuo's wounds healed instantly under the Horse Talisman's enhancement, the Ox Talisman's immense strength filled his limbs, and the Rabbit Talisman propelled him into a state of acceleration invisible to the naked eye.

"Again!"

His voice carried a deep echo.

Hajime Kashimo's pupils suddenly contracted. He discovered that the young man before him had changed, becoming more like a savage special-grade cursed spirit.

In an instant, the two figures began an inhuman clash amid the ruins.

Every punch Shiyue Shuo threw carried the Dragon Talisman's explosive flames, while Hajime Kashimo met them head-on with his body of lightning. Every second, the two exchanged no fewer than a hundred blows.

Buildings collapsed beneath their feet, and the ground melted beside them.

"Hahahahaha! Incredible! Incredible!"

Hajime Kashimo laughed wildly. Though Shiyue Shuo had punched a dent into his chest, the lightning over his body only grew more violent.

"This feeling... this level of slaughter. You truly are strong. You're qualified to make me remember your name!"

Yet Shiyue Shuo felt a deep chill. Even though he had mastered six Talismans at once, even though he possessed an immortal body and instantaneous healing, Hajime Kashimo before him had been evolving all along. Through their constant battle, this man was analyzing his defensive patterns.

Hajime Kashimo had discovered the mutual repulsion between the Talisman powers. Although the Horse Talisman healed wounds, there was always a brief pause, as if it were competing with the other Talismans for priority.

"Splat!"

Hajime Kashimo's staff struck Shiyue Shuo again. This time, it was neither a simple blow nor an electric shock. Through electrolysis, it instantly vaporized the water inside his body. Shiyue Shuo spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with water vapor.

The pressure in his mind had reached its critical point. He could feel the six Talismans grinding against one another, their friction generating force that ceaselessly battered his brain.

Still not enough... this level of strength is nowhere near enough to defeat this four-hundred-year-old monster. Let alone fight Sukuna!

Through the hazy blood-red veil before his eyes, Shiyue Shuo looked at Hajime Kashimo's frenziedly excited gaze. He knew his opponent had not even used the technique he had specifically prepared for Sukuna.

"Hey, Hajime Kashimo." Shiyue Shuo braced both hands on his knees, his body swaying on the verge of collapse. "Do you know that there are real gods in this world?"

Hajime Kashimo stopped and snorted coldly. "I only believe in myself."

"Then I'll show you."

Shiyue Shuo went all in. He prepared to forcibly integrate the Twelve Talismans.

He slowly raised his right hand. In his palm, the phantom of a wheel engraved with the twelve zodiac animals emerged. The Talisman power within his body began crazily collapsing inward. The remaining six Talismans—Rat, Tiger, Snake, Sheep, Monkey, and Pig—let out unwilling roars deep within his mind, trying to burst through his body.

"What are you doing?"

Hajime Kashimo instinctively sensed a danger capable of destroying heaven and earth, and every hair on his body stood on end.

"I'm going to..."

"Domain Expansion—"

Shiyue Shuo's pupils vanished in an instant, replaced by chaotic light that endlessly shifted through twelve colors.

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