Splurt.
Dagon spat out a mouthful of blood. Had that Piercing Blood struck just a fraction lower, it might have sliced off the brain where its cursed technique was stored.
"Damn it...!"
On the surface, Kinoshita looked arrogant and untamed, as though he held everyone in contempt.
In truth, his heart trembled. Seeing how his single shot of Piercing Blood had nearly exposed the seabed, all he could think was, Yabai!!!
So this is the total cursed energy of ten-finger Sukuna?
This isn't even in the same league as Choso's or Noritoshi Kamo's Piercing Blood!!
Fortunately, he kept his composure.
With both hands in his pockets, Kinoshita looked at the fully braced Dagon and merely smiled. "Whatever else you've got, hurry up and show me."
The next instant, Dagon darted to Kinoshita's side, a powerful gust of pressure rushing straight at his face.
I can't let him put distance between us! Getting hit by this human's body is one thing, but I absolutely cannot take another one of those blood-red attacks!
Bang, bang, bang!
Just as an irritated Kinoshita was about to strike back, Dagon hurriedly retreated a step and formed another hand sign.
"Death Swarm"!!
A powerful eel immediately coiled around Kinoshita.
Amid the crackling sounds, Kinoshita felt that something was wrong.
Bzzzz!!!
This eel could actually discharge electricity!
Kinoshita's Blood Armor was tough enough to withstand shikigami attacks with ease, but this electricity could penetrate it. Though it was weaker than that of the Thunder God, Hajime Kashimo, Kinoshita's body wasn't particularly resilient.
"Hah!"
Kinoshita forcibly suppressed his muscle spasms, wrapped his lower leg in Blood Armor, and kicked the eel into a spray of minced flesh.
He performed a series of backflips, landing in the center of the island.
If another eel appeared, he would destroy it immediately!
What's going on...?
Ten seconds passed.
Dagon launched no attacks. Death Swarm was a cursed technique that overwhelmed enemies with endless shikigami, so why wasn't it continuing to wear Kinoshita down?
"What are you waiting for... Squidward...?"
"So this is your domain? Try making me fall for you!"
The next instant.
Kinoshita's pupils immediately contracted.
An enormous giant isopod shikigami seemed to blot out the sky as it moved to swallow him whole.
"You...!"
Kinoshita wanted to say more, but the domain's sure-hit effect still took hold.
He was immediately swallowed into the shikigami's belly and plunged into darkness.
Does this guy really think switching to a bigger shikigami will let it beat me?
Kinoshita simply wrapped himself in Blood Armor, easily blocking the sure-hit attack.
After slicing open the giant isopod with a blade formed from blood, Kinoshita was just about to mock it when a flood of seawater suddenly rushed into his nose.
What?!
Kinoshita turned his head. He was no longer on that sunny beach. Instead, he felt cold seawater and saw dim light.
He abruptly realized he was in the deep sea!!
Dagon had actually used the moment when the giant isopod shikigami swallowed Kinoshita to move the battlefield into the deep sea!
"Tch, you escaped that quickly?" Seeing Kinoshita emerge, Dagon formed hand signs without a moment's hesitation. "I'd thought I could take us a little deeper."
In an instant.
Countless giant isopods closed in on Kinoshita. Unlike on shore, the shikigami in the ocean would attack from every direction.
Dagon had been at a disadvantage from the very start of this battle.
Its shikigami were ineffective against Kinoshita, it was completely outmatched in close combat, and Kinoshita could even unleash a lethal cursed technique at will.
Only the deep sea...
Offered Dagon a chance to turn things around!
If its guess was right, Kinoshita's earlier cursed technique had something to do with liquid. Whatever it was, it would slow down underwater!!
Dagon had guessed correctly.
Kinoshita's Blood Manipulation relied on Convergence to control his blood, then compress it into an arrow shape and fire it as Piercing Blood.
As a result, Piercing Blood, which could break the sound barrier in air, became sluggish underwater.
But there was something Dagon hadn't anticipated.
Because of the nature of its innate domain, the ocean it constructed was merely pure water, with no electrolytes mixed in.
After all, a real ocean required organisms, geology, and cycles to form, and an innate domain couldn't meet those conditions.
Thus, although seawater had an osmotic pressure similar to blood, Dagon's ocean was nothing but pure water.
Consequently, blood in pure water would absorb water through osmosis and rupture.
Simply put.
Kinoshita could no longer use Blood Manipulation outside his body.
He had just instinctively summoned Blood Armor to cover himself, but when his blood cells ruptured, Kinoshita finally realized this seawater wasn't salty.
Oh, no!
Without the protection of Blood Armor, the bites of countless shikigami directly wounded Kinoshita's flesh.
"Heh heh heh... The ocean is the origin of all things, and it should be their end as well. Human, die here!!" Dagon kept its arms folded, continuously directing its shikigami to attack.
It didn't need to approach Kinoshita, or even inflict any damage on him.
It only had to keep him occupied, and the human would naturally suffocate because he couldn't breathe.
In other words...
Dagon had won!
"Flowing Red Scale: Stack"
"Reverse Cursed Technique"
Don't underestimate me! Kinoshita shouted inwardly.
Though he couldn't use Blood Manipulation outside his body, he could still control the blood within it.
He continuously repaired his flesh, smashing shikigami apart with punch after punch.
This human can even use Reverse Cursed Technique! Dagon was astonished.
From the looks of it, Kinoshita was fully comparable to the humans' Special Grade Sorcerers.
Reverse Cursed Technique, a powerful body, speed, attacks...
He was practically like the legendary Satoru Gojo!
"Hmph! Even if Satoru Gojo came here, he'd still need to breathe!"
"Hanami, watch closely! I, Dagon, have won this battle!!"
Only when fewer and fewer shikigami were being destroyed, and the battle began to quiet down.
Did Dagon dare to slowly approach Kinoshita.
After all, that Piercing Blood was terrifyingly powerful, far beyond anything Dagon could withstand. Only by being cautious could it kill this human.
Only when the shikigami stopped moving entirely did Dagon dare to disperse them.
It summoned a turtle shikigami to shield itself, then looked toward Kinoshita's position.
"You're awfully lively, Dagon."
"What?!" Dagon stared in disbelief at Kinoshita, who should have been dead.
How was that possible?!
Not only had he survived the attacks of so many shikigami on the seabed, he had also gained the ability to speak underwater?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
"If all I knew was Blood Manipulation, I really might have been done for."
"Construction Technique: Oxygen Tank"
"Construction Technique: Oxygen Mask"
"Construction Technique: Liquid Metal"
"Construction Technique: Toxin"...!
Dagon felt its vision go black, its consciousness slowly fading.
"Was it... poison?"
"When?"
It recalled the first shot of Piercing Blood. Kinoshita hadn't missed after all.
He had merely wanted to toy with a weakling like it.
"I see... You won..."
"What a... splendid battle..."
"Hanami... I'm coming to join you..."
The lord of the deep sea ultimately met its end in the deep sea.
Kinoshita had won this battle fought head-on against a domain!
Before you continue