Finally Mastering the Core of the Body

The Binding Vow took effect. Morien threw a side kick, striking Toji Fushiguro in the stomach and forcing him back two steps.

All of his Cursed Energy had vanished, yet blue-violet "flames" laced with deep purple particles still burned around Morien's body.

The flames around him had not gone out the moment he traded away his Cursed Energy. Instead, they burned even more fiercely.

His Cursed Energy was gone—what did that have to do with his Path Power?

Morien raised a hand to straighten his mask, then tugged at his collar. The fluorescent lines across his body suddenly split open, cracking into fissures across his skin.

His entire physique changed considerably, and even his aura seemed to shift.

He became a little taller, a little thinner, and the muscles on his body grew more defined.

"I haven't used this form since it synchronized with me," Morien said with a smile. "You're the first."

Monsterification.

This was the Monsterification form Morien possessed as the Lonely Monster.

Toji Fushiguro paid no attention to what Morien was saying and charged forward again. Morien moved to meet him.

Their fists and kicks collided, their movements growing faster and faster until they could no longer be distinguished by the naked eye.

The few people watching from afar could not help narrowing their eyes.

Other than Shoko Ieiri, they were all Grade 2 or higher Jujutsu Sorcerers. Principal Masamichi Yaga and Kusakabe had even reached Grade 1.

Yet they still could not see clearly. All they could make out were afterimages darting through the air in irregular patterns.

One black and one purple, the two streaks tore through the air with raging winds in their wake.

The flashing afterimages only paused for about a second when they collided, briefly revealing their original forms.

As waves of air surged again and again, pits of various sizes began appearing in the ground and walls, along with scratches of varying lengths.

Some had been stomped out, some were caused by the aftershocks of their attacks, some were created when either Morien or Toji Fushiguro was sent flying by the other, and some were gouged out by flying debris after walls or stones were smashed apart.

Kusakabe stood atop a tall building, shading his eyes with one hand as he squinted and stared without blinking.

Suddenly, his eyebrows rose.

At the same time, the two fighters collided again, their movements briefly stiffening.

This time, Morien's fist struck Toji Fushiguro in the eye, while Toji Fushiguro's fist slammed into Morien's abdomen.

Splat!

Fine cracks suddenly appeared all over Toji Fushiguro's body, and butterflies tore through his skin and emerged from within.

In an instant, he became riddled with holes.

As if he had been slashed countless times in a single moment.

After that brief stalemate, both of them retreated.

Perhaps they were somewhat tired from fighting. The two tacitly chose to stop for the moment and catch their breath.

Only then could everyone clearly see their current condition.

Since neither possessed the Reverse Cursed Technique, their bodies were covered in wounds and bruises.

Toji Fushiguro's eye was also slightly red and swollen from the punch he had taken to the face.

By comparison, Morien was doing a little better.

After all, Morien wore a mask, so his face had not been injured.

Judging from the battle, the two appeared evenly matched.

But that was precisely what made Morien click his tongue more and more as the fight continued.

Thanks to the Binding Vow from a few seconds earlier, Morien's body now possessed strength close to that of a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer fully reinforcing themselves with Cursed Energy.

Not only that, his strength, agility, reaction speed, endurance, and every other attribute had been stacked fourfold; he had a Monster's special physique; the close-combat techniques of a Sequence 8 Melee Scholar; the Eyes of Mystery Prying, whose insight was powerful enough to earn it the name "Little Six Eyes"; the special qualities of a Path Power Superman; and the Path Power he could still wield after immediately converting his Cursed Energy into Path Power upon making the Binding Vow, thereby avoiding the "price."

Yet even with all that, he and Toji Fushiguro were still evenly matched.

The longer they fought, the more Morien felt something was wrong. But both sides were getting carried away, and he had no spare attention to figure out exactly what was off.

Eager to continue, Morien brought his fists together. Toji Fushiguro bent forward, assuming the posture of someone about to dive in.

Whoosh! Bam!

Their fists collided solidly.

The next instant—

Black lightning burst forth from the point where their fists met.

Although Morien no longer had Cursed Energy, his Path Power had absorbed the properties of Cursed Energy after fusing with it, so it still met the conditions for unleashing Black Flash.

But he was not the only one who had unleashed Black Flash.

Morien finally understood where the problem lay.

Originally, Toji Fushiguro, who possessed no Cursed Energy, should not have met the basic conditions for using Black Flash.

But that was only originally.

Now, however, Toji Fushiguro had been resurrected through the Séance Technique.

His body had been summoned into the body of a Curse User and used by that Curse User.

The only reason he could break free of control now was because his powerful body had beaten that Curse User's fragile soul into pulp.

But that was the key.

Though this body possessed the immense power of the Heavenly Tyrant, its essence still possessed Cursed Energy.

It seemed he had truly been pushed into a frenzy. He had instinctively drawn upon Cursed Energy he had never used before.

Crackle!

Black lightning scattered in every direction.

The two fists that had unleashed Black Flash crashed together, and a massive shockwave spread outward.

Crack!

Boom!

Every window in the surrounding high-rises shattered in an instant, while countless cracks spread across the surfaces of the walls.

A glimmer flashed through Toji Fushiguro's black eyes.

Is that so?

Right.

Maybe it is.

He had touched it—the core of the body!

That Black Flash had briefly restored Toji Fushiguro's sanity.

His body thoroughly crushed the soul of the Curse User who had summoned it into this body.

The Heavenly Tyrant, Toji Fushiguro, had briefly returned to life in Shibuya.

The two of them pulled apart once more.

Toji Fushiguro felt the voices continuously surfacing in his mind. He felt the Cursed Energy leaking from this body as its soul collapsed. Looking at Morien, he could not help but sneer.

His current existence was built upon a great many coincidences.

Crushing the original owner's soul had indeed restored his sanity, but it also meant that the fragile balance had been broken.

If he was now a dark cloud gathered by all sorts of conditions—

Then the leaking Cursed Energy was like rain beginning to fall from that cloud.

So...

"Once the rain stops, I'll die."

He said it to Morien.

Morien understood what he meant.

As an Assassin, his creed in life was, "Never do anything without being paid."

For example, fighting the man before him to the death was something he would never have done before.

He might have been a little more interested if it were a woman instead.

Earlier, he had begun fighting only because he had lost control, and the command he received before losing control had been to "kill all Jujutsu Sorcerers."

But now that he had recovered, someone who never rose early without profit naturally would not waste time on something like this.

"Looks like my time is valuable," he said with a grin at Morien. "Do you know where the nearest casino is?"

Seeing this, Morien knew they would not be fighting anymore.

He deactivated Synchronized Propagation in Toji Fushiguro's mind and pointed toward a nearby subway station.

"Rather than going to a casino, there may be something you want to do more."

"Hm?"

"In that subway station, there's a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer named Megumi Fushiguro," Morien said.

"Fushiguro?" Toji Fushiguro was visibly stunned. Then the smile on his face faded slightly. "I see..."

He turned around decisively and headed toward the subway station without hesitation.

"Thanks for telling me."

"I'll repay you in my next life."

As expected of someone who had grasped the core of the body—he had somehow learned how to take out a loan without being taught.

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