Kashimo stood where he was, the transparent film surrounding him trembling slightly.
"That was close."
Zenin Sawa's voice came from across the way, hoarse but filled with the relief of having narrowly escaped death. Steam still rose from his face as Reverse Cursed Technique repaired it. His expression was obscured by the white haze, with only the vague outline of his regenerating face visible.
"You almost blew my head apart."
Kashimo said nothing.
His gaze fell on the churning shadows. Great Serpent emerged from the darkness, its enormous body coiling, its scales gleaming coldly. Above him, Nue had already spread its wings, lightning identical to his own wreathing its body.
The next instant.
Great Serpent moved.
Its huge jaws opened from below, fangs bared, and snapped straight at Kashimo's body. Its speed was astonishing; almost the instant it moved, it was already upon him.
At the same time.
Nue dove from above. The lightning gathered between its wings turned into several dazzling pillars of light that struck down toward Kashimo's head.
An attack from above and below.
Nowhere to dodge.
Thunderclap instantly erupted all over Kashimo's body.
The blue-white light swelled to a blinding intensity, violent cursed energy surging wildly outward with him at its center. Great Serpent's closing jaws were shredded by Thunderclap. Scales, flesh, and bones flew everywhere before it could even scream.
He freed one hand and reached upward.
His fingers spread, catching Nue's descending talons with perfect precision.
The talons struggled and twisted in his grip. Lightning struck down from Nue, only to vanish against the thin film surrounding him. Kashimo gave it no second chance. He raised his leg and drove his foot into Nue's belly.
Bang!
He sent it flying like a cannonball with a single kick.
Straight toward Zenin Sawa.
Zenin Sawa remained where he stood, his face still regenerating. His restored eye watched the corpse draw closer and closer. He neither dodged nor moved.
Just as it was about to crash into him.
An enormous force struck from the side.
Boom!
Kashimo was knocked sideways through the air. The force was too great for him to resist. Like a kite with its string cut, he tumbled and fell along the edge of the domain.
He planted one hand on the ground and righted himself just before he hit the domain's outer shell, using that push to regain his footing.
He raised his head.
Piercing Ox stood where he had been, breathing heavily. Amplified by the domain, its enormous body had swollen until it seemed to tower between heaven and earth. Even the breath gushing from its nostrils carried scorching fluctuations of cursed energy.
Then a jet of water struck from the side.
Kashimo twisted aside. The jet skimmed his shoulder and hit the domain's boundary behind him with a piercing hiss. It corroded a deep pit in the ground, white smoke still rising from its edges.
Max Elephant.
The enormous elephant shikigami stood nearby, its trunk raised high and aimed straight at him.
Kashimo spat.
He lifted his head, looking past the shikigami watching him hungrily to the figure repairing his face at the center of the domain.
The caster.
As long as the caster could no longer sustain the domain...
The domain would shatter.
He drove through his legs, shattering the ground beneath his feet.
The blue-white figure charged at Zenin Sawa again, moving so fast that only an afterimage remained. Piercing Ox chased from behind, Max Elephant took aim from the side, Great Serpent lay in pieces, and Nue still hadn't managed to get up in the distance.
They were too late.
He was too fast for those shikigami to catch him.
Fifty paces.
Thirty paces.
Ten paces.
Zenin Sawa's face had yet to fully regenerate. His restored eye stared at the approaching Kashimo, reflecting that lightning-wreathed figure in its pupil.
Suddenly.
An enormous figure lunged out from the side, blocking Kashimo's path.
Tiger Funeral.
Its eerily gleaming eyes fixed on him, fangs exposed, a low, restrained growl rumbling in its throat.
Kashimo didn't slow down.
His lightning-wreathed fist slammed straight into Tiger Funeral.
Splurch-!
A gaping hole instantly burst open in Tiger Funeral's belly. Flesh peeled back, bones snapped, and purplish-black blood gushed out, splattering Kashimo. The massive beast let out an earth-shaking roar of pain, but before it could struggle...
Kashimo was already upon it.
He wrapped both arms around Tiger Funeral's neck from behind, crossed them, and locked them tight. His muscles bulged, veins standing out as lightning crackled between his arms, scorching its skin.
A rear naked choke.
Tiger Funeral struggled ever more violently, its four paws gouging deep furrows into the ground, its tail lashing wildly. But those arms were like cast iron, tightening harder and harder.
Crack.
A sharp snap.
So crisp it made the scalp prickle.
Tiger Funeral's struggles abruptly stopped. Its huge body stiffened for an instant, then crashed to the ground like a collapsing hill.
Kashimo released his grip and stood.
Something dangled from his hand.
Tiger Funeral's head.
Purplish-black blood still dripped from the severed neck, spreading dark stains on the ground. Its eyes remained open, the terror and defiance of its final moments lingering within them.
Across from him.
Zenin Sawa's face had finally finished regenerating.
His newly regrown face froze, his eyes widening as he stared at the still-dripping head in Kashimo's hand. Fury erupted in his eyes, as though something had snapped completely in that instant.
"You little bastard-!"
Zenin Sawa's roar exploded through the domain, his voice distorted. His freshly restored face twisted beyond recognition, veins bulging on his forehead, rage almost spilling from his eyes.
"Once I defeat you, I'll make you watch my Divine Dogs-"
He ground out each word through clenched teeth.
"Feast on your body!"
Kashimo said nothing.
He merely tossed Tiger Funeral's head aside. The enormous head rolled into the shadows, sending up black ripples. Then he continued forward at a measured pace, each step making the ground tremble slightly.
Zenin Sawa advanced as well.
The distance between them rapidly shrank. At the same time, Piercing Ox charged from the side, its immense body bearing terrifying brute force as it moved to catch Kashimo between itself and Zenin Sawa.
Ten paces.
Five paces.
Three paces-
Fists and feet clashed.
Bang!
A dull impact exploded through the domain. Zenin Sawa punched at Kashimo's face. Kashimo tilted his head aside and countered with an elbow. Zenin Sawa raised an arm to block, his other fist already driving toward Kashimo's stomach.
Kashimo didn't dodge.
The punch landed squarely in his abdomen, denting muscle and jarring bone-but he didn't so much as furrow his brow. At that same instant, his own fist slammed beneath Zenin Sawa's ribs.
Both grunted, both retreated half a step, and both charged back in.
Piercing Ox's enormous hoof swiped in from the side. Kashimo ducked beneath it and followed through with a sweeping kick to Zenin Sawa's shin. Zenin Sawa staggered a step, then swung a fist into Kashimo's shoulder.
Fists.
Legs.
Elbows.
Knees.
Every strike carried violent cursed energy. Every collision sent shock waves through the domain. The ground cracked beneath their feet, shadows churned around them, and the entire domain trembled slightly.
Zenin Sawa's hand-to-hand skills were far from weak.
His combat skills were the real thing, befitting a wielder of Ten Shadows and the head of the Zenin Clan. Every punch and kick had been honed through countless repetitions, carrying the depth of his clan's inherited teachings.
But Kashimo...
Was faster.
More vicious.
More reckless with his own life.
His fists were always half a beat ahead of Zenin Sawa's. His knees always arrived before Zenin Sawa could block. For every punch he took, he landed two in return; for every kick, he smashed three elbows into his opponent.
They exchanged blows furiously within the domain, fists weaving together, kicks whistling through the air. Piercing Ox tried to intervene from the side, but it couldn't keep up with their rhythm.
Bang-!
Another head-on clash.
Both retreated, opening a distance of ten paces.
Zenin Sawa panted heavily, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. His left eye was swollen shut, a deep fist mark lay beneath his ribs, and his entire right arm trembled slightly.
Kashimo stood where he was, breathing steadily.
His face was injured too, and his body was bloodied, but his eyes still shone. His lips slowly spread into a smile.
Against the blood and grime, that smile looked particularly glaring.
Zenin Sawa stared at it, his pupils contracting slightly.
He had already given everything he had.
Piercing Ox, Max Elephant, Tiger Funeral, Great Serpent, Nue-he had used every shikigami available, every hand-to-hand move at his disposal.
But the man facing him-
Was still smiling.
In their hand-to-hand clash, he had actually been completely outmatched.
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