How Delightful This Is

"Maki-chan, put some more passion into it!!"

Mizuki Makoto shouted at Maki, who was holding her phone in the distance.

Though her face showed both disgust and shock, Zenin Maki obediently cranked the volume to its limit.

This song isn't just for atmosphere, Todo.

It was meant to mimic the technique of the strongest sorcerer overseas. The man who had held a Black Rope in one hand and, with nothing but muscle all over his body, endured Gojo Satoru elbowing him for twenty straight minutes without dying—Miguel.

[Technique: Prayer Song].

Through a specific rhythm and melody, it converted cursed energy into an extreme enhancement of physical strength.

Although my physical strength is nowhere near that whip-wielding Black guy who had reality turned upside down, and my technique imitation is less than fifty percent accurate...

Todo Aoi, after all, you weren't Gojo Satoru!

"Honestly, just this once, Todo!"

He abandoned the flashy [Ushura Bullet], and his right fist once more gathered a dazzling [Blue].

But this time, a layer of high-frequency vibrations created by the music's rhythm appeared across Mizuki Makoto's body.

[Echo Mimicry: Prayer Song]!

Boom!!

The two figures collided once more. At that instant, there was no wariness in Todo Aoi's beastlike eyes at being engaged at close range. Instead, the moment their fists met, they erupted with unprecedented shock and wild joy, intense enough to burn through the air.

When his heavy fist smashed into his best friend's shoulder, the feedback was no longer that fragile sensation. It felt as though he had struck a piece of high-strength rubber filled with elasticity.

The tremor of fists hitting flesh and bones resonating made every cell in his body begin screaming feverishly.

Todo Aoi did not activate [Boogie Woogie].

He had originally thought Mizuki Makoto would use gravity to pull away as he had before, but he was wrong.

No more toying with space and distance. Have you finally awakened your instincts, brother?

"Is this the 'soul' you've been hiding, Brother!! This heavy, condensed exchange filled with pain... this is what I've always craved!!"

Boom!

Since his best friend had taken the initiative to challenge him in the field he was worst at—

Then would you leave your brother to be lonely?! There was only one answer, wasn't there?!

Todo Aoi likewise abandoned his technical advantage and responded with the bloodiest, most savage heavy punches and whipping kicks.

In other words, a brawl!

Mizuki Makoto did not dodge. Instead, relying on the enhancement brought by [Prayer Song], he forcibly took the kick head-on. Borrowing its momentum, he drove his fist, wrapped in [Blue], viciously toward Todo Aoi's face once more!

"That's... Miguel's technique?!"

Gojo Satoru finally couldn't hold back his laughter, his shoulders shaking. "When did that brat steal that guy's rhythm? This sick Aizo is actually his hymn for strengthening his body?!"

"What a scumbag. That's quite an interesting trick." Mei Mei watched the screen, her eyes gleaming with appreciation for money... no, for the gamble.

"He deliberately made Todo think that Boogie Woogie had stopped working, leading him to abandon his technique and devote all his cursed energy to strengthening his body. On the surface, he's entering the close-combat rhythm he's worst at, but in truth, he's looking for a chance to finish it all in one blow amid the chaos. This kid really knows how to go all in at the gambling table."

At the center of the arena, the two men used blood to wash away blood amid the frenzied electronic dance music!

For one second, every outside sound vanished, leaving only the final manic two-hundred-beats-per-minute drum rhythm of Aizo exploding in their minds.

And so, within that crazed melody, every punch from the two beasts carried an explosion of cursed energy.

The air in the arena seemed to have been sucked dry.

All of Mizuki Makoto's cursed energy boiled at that moment, and the enhancement from [Prayer Song] made his bones creak under unbearable strain.

His left hand pulled back, and all the strength in his body gathered within the blue light at the peak of his right fist.

"--[Blue Fist: Apex]!"

This punch was a desperate gamble, a final bet staking every last bit of his "art budget."

But Todo Aoi, a man worthy of being called a "combat demon god," reflected not fear in his fanatical eyes, but a near-sacred resolve.

"Brother! If this is all you've got, then I'll send you out with regret!"

At the critical instant, Todo did not dodge. His massive body actually stepped forward against [Blue]'s attraction. It was a suicidal charge, yet it landed precisely at the moment Mizuki Makoto's technique erupted.

His millstone-sized left hand suddenly clapped together, but not to activate Boogie Woogie.

Clap!

The crisp clap stirred up an extremely condensed vortex of cursed energy.

Under that extreme pressure, Todo's cursed energy instantly underwent a qualitative transformation. The originally blue aura of cursed energy collapsed and condensed in an instant, then turned into sparks as black as ink and as violent as lightning!

The discrepancy in the collision of cursed energy vanished within 0.000001 seconds.

"--Black Flash!!!"

"--[Faux Limitless]. Second Round!"

Mizuki Makoto frantically overdrew the remaining processing power in his mind, forcibly unfolding that transparent barrier at the very instant the fist reached him.

Hummm—!!!

Todo's heavy punch struck the "Limitless," unleashing a hum powerful enough to shatter eardrums. It was pure violence colliding with absolute physical law.

At that moment, Todo Aoi felt pressure.

Then, Todo Aoi, would you let this festival of souls end with regret?! Would you answer your brother's soul in such an immature state?!

Under that extreme pressure, a "miracle" arrived!

The originally blue aura of cursed energy collapsed and condensed in an instant, then turned into sparks as black as ink and as violent as lightning!

The discrepancy in the collision of cursed energy vanished within 0.000001 seconds.

"--Black Flash!!!"

That punch not only carried twice its usual power, but at the instant it landed, it forcibly pierced through the unsustainable "Limitless" created by the instability of Mizuki Makoto's cursed energy!

As his defense was forcibly torn apart, Mizuki Makoto, who should have been blasted away, instead leaned forward strangely.

I can't defend against it. Then I'll just compress all the remaining [Blue]!

Black lightning-fire collided with dazzling blue light, producing nothing but an empty gray.

The spatial distortion caused by Black Flash and the spatial attraction generated by Blue Fist formed an infinitesimal yet terrifying point of annihilation between them.

Gojo Satoru abruptly stood up, bracing both hands on the control console. Even his smile vanished for an instant.

"That was... Black Flash?"

Through the vision of the Six Eyes, this was no longer a duel between two students.

Todo's Black Flash and Mizuki Makoto's Blue Fist, though immature yet touching the essence of space, were engaging in some kind of energy clash beyond all reason at a distance of less than a centimeter.

"That kid Makoto... saw the 'strings' of space within the impact of that Black Flash?"

Booom—!!!!!

The entire martial arts arena was swallowed by a massive sphere of light.

Smoke and dust surged into the sky. The blast wave knocked the students in the stands sprawling in every direction. Okkotsu Yuta desperately shielded his phone, while the barbecue grills and folding chairs Mizuki Makoto had set up earlier had long since turned to ash in the gale.

Aizo's music cut off completely at that moment.

When the dust settled, a huge crater ten meters across had appeared at the center of the arena.

Todo Aoi knelt on one knee, his right arm an unnatural reddish purple from the recoil of Black Flash. He vomited blood in great mouthfuls, yet he was laughing madly.

The spot opposite him was empty.

Mizuki Makoto lay at the bottom of the crater, his school uniform reduced completely to rags. His right sleeve was gone, and his entire arm twitched uncontrollably. Watching the smoke gradually disperse in the sky, he struggled to prop himself up and weakly spat out bloody saliva.

"...That one... just as expected of Todo Aoi and his cheating game."

Add Bookmark

Back to Contents

Report Chapter Error

Share with Friends: