Elementalization

Yuta Okkotsu stared at Lu Yun's arm in disbelief.

That slash had gone straight through his arm, yet there had been no sensation of striking anything. It was like cutting through thin air.

Twisting around, Okkotsu swung again, refusing to believe it. He delivered three quick slashes, his keen blade slicing through the air and passing precisely through Lu Yun's neck, waist, and legs.

The result remained unchanged. The cold blade passed through him like a knife through flowing water, leaving Lu Yun completely unaffected.

Wherever the blade passed, arcs of electricity leaped from the wounds instead of blood, and his body returned to normal the moment the blade moved away.

His hair turned into lightning, standing on end and dancing wildly. Lu Yun raised his palm. His body now felt completely different from before.

As cursed energy continued to transform him, great surges of flickering electricity poured out of his body. Unlike the lightning that had previously wreathed him when his cursed energy erupted, Lu Yun now seemed to have become lightning itself.

Was this [Mythical Beast Amber]?

That was right. Lu Yun had actually activated Hajime Kashimo's ultimate move, Cursed Technique Release: Mythical Beast Amber!!

Unlike Hajime Kashimo's Mythical Beast Amber, however, Lu Yun's version was closer to the Elementalization form of a Logia Devil Fruit user in One Piece.

Naturally, he owed this transformation to the new ability he had just acquired: Cursed Energy-to-Electricity Conversion.

The original Mythical Beast Amber was the ultimate form Hajime Kashimo achieved by using his lightning-aspected cursed energy to reconstruct his body, manifesting the various phenomena created through his cursed energy. But it still remained within the bounds of flesh and blood.

With Cursed Energy-to-Electricity Conversion, however, everything changed.

After Mythical Beast Amber activated, cursed energy fully converted into lightning would also transform Lu Yun's flesh into lightning. Naturally, a body made of lightning would not suffer the collapse of flesh that occurred when the original Mythical Beast Amber ended.

Lu Yun had now completely transcended the bounds of humanity, becoming an entirely new elemental life-form.

"Okkotsu, I'm giving up my humanity!"

Raging lightning draped Lu Yun in a cloak made entirely of electricity. His appearance also shifted toward that of a ferocious beast, as though he had become a Thunder Beast bathed in thunder.

Surging electricity rampaged in every direction, melting the metal on the cars and leaving black scorch marks even on the ground.

Faced with Lu Yun's terrifying presence, Yuta Okkotsu knitted his brows and had no choice but to retreat, exclaiming:

"What kind of cursed technique is that? Isn't that a little ridiculous?!"

Even the technique's residual effects were this powerful. How terrifying would it be at full force?

Lu Yun's voice boomed like thunder:

"Let's call it Mythical Beast... no, [Lightning Release: Kirin]."

With a clang, the stun baton in Lu Yun's hand fell to the ground. The raging Thunder Beast became a streak of electricity and appeared before Okkotsu in an instant, swiping at his body with a claw surging with lightning.

Too fast! I can't react!

A flash of lightning crossed Yuta Okkotsu's vision. By the time he could make out Lu Yun again, Lu Yun's claw had already touched his body. With no time to resist, the lightning claw pierced straight through him.

Their figures crossed, leaving them standing back to back. Time seemed to freeze at that moment, and both Lu Yun and Yuta Okkotsu stopped moving.

A breeze brushed past, and Okkotsu shuddered. Uh... I seem to be fine.

Huh? ×2

The instant the lightning claw passed through his chest, Okkotsu's heart nearly skipped a beat. Still shaken, he felt his chest. There was no pain, no injury, just a faint numbness.

Lu Yun was equally baffled. He flexed his terrifying lightning claw, but there had been no sense of impact. It really seemed to have simply passed through Okkotsu's body without dealing any physical damage.

Uh, could it be...?

Lu Yun turned around and met Okkotsu's eyes. Seeing the same bewilderment reflected there, they both understood at once.

So it was all just for show!

Despite the imposing appearance of Lu Yun's [Lightning Release: Kirin], elementalization was ultimately just elementalization. While other people's physical attacks could not hurt him, he could not deal physical damage to them either. That was also why the stun baton had slipped out of his hand.

This is absolute garbage. It feels even worse than Kashimo's Mythical Beast Amber. At least that has a Thunder Pea Cannon that supposedly vaporizes everything.

Lu Yun seethed inwardly.

Wait, I think I can fire a cannon too.

Lu Yun remembered that he also seemed to have a skill called Cursed Energy Discharge.

Since physical damage won't work, I might as well try this.

Taking a nothing-to-lose approach, Lu Yun attempted to fire a Cursed Energy Cannon in his Thunder Beast form.

The Thunder Beast form seemed to further enhance Lu Yun's cursed energy output. As he mobilized an immense amount of cursed energy, a ball of lightning gathered at the mouth of his Thunder Beast Cloak.

Compared with pure cursed energy, the lightning converted from it was far more destructive. As Lu Yun continued charging, waves of destructive power rose, and the lightning surging within the sphere grew increasingly violent.

There was no way Yuta Okkotsu could miss cursed energy being mobilized on such a massive scale. Sensing that terrifying aura of destruction, his expression changed drastically.

Whatever Lu Yun is doing, anything that uses this much cursed energy can't be ordinary. I have to stop him!

Yuta Okkotsu shouted:

"Rika, stop him!"

An intensely sinister aura, much like that of a cursed spirit, rose. Yuta Okkotsu's personal shikigami, [Rika], abruptly appeared behind Lu Yun. Spreading her arms, she slammed her pale palms together around his body.

Smack.

Her two enormous palms crashed together, sending a powerful shock wave spreading from between them. Caught squarely in the middle, Lu Yun's body instantly scattered into countless bolts of lightning.

Lu Yun remained unfazed, never pausing his charge for even a moment. The dancing lightning gathered again, and his scattered body reformed.

"Yuta, I can't touch him!"

A youthful voice like a young girl's emerged from the enormous humanoid shikigami. [Rika] listlessly waved her palms, scattering Lu Yun's body again and again without affecting him in the slightest.

"It's all right, Rika. I'm ready now."

Okkotsu reassured her softly.

At some point, a ring had appeared on the ring finger of his left hand.

The shikigami who had been interfering with Lu Yun instantly moved to Yuta Okkotsu's side, and [Rika] fully manifested. That immense cursed energy, even greater than Lu Yun's, surged once again. Okkotsu raised his right hand to cover his mouth, and markings resembling snake eyes and fangs appeared on his cheeks and tongue.

Lowering his hand, Yuta Okkotsu fixed his gaze on Lu Yun inside the Thunder Beast and slowly said:

"Stop!"

The Cursed Speech technique Okkotsu had copied activated, and an invisible wave instantly enveloped Lu Yun.

The process of gathering the lightning projectile abruptly halted for an instant. Without cursed energy to sustain it, the raging lightning exploded, scattering into flashes that filled the sky.

After charging his ultimate move for so long, Lu Yun had failed to fire it. Feeling as though someone had forcibly edged him, he looked at Yuta Okkotsu in disappointment:

"Okkotsu, you're no fun."