Orbital Collapse

Dhruv Lakdawalla retreated at an astonishing speed, only slightly slower than Long Xi after his enhancement.

That did not match the intel that his actual body was fragile.

Although Long Xi had never mentioned it, his intelligence network was no slouch! Did he have any idea what a level-ten Tieba debate veteran was?!

Long Xi's first slash missed. The blade swept through the air, trailing a black-edged line of fire. It struck the edge of the rooftop, slicing through the concrete railing before blasting it to pieces.

"Did you kill two Shikigami in exchange for mobility?"

Long Xi kept moving, charging even faster.

Dhruv did not answer.

He swept his staff sideways, and three Pterosaur Shikigami swooped down from the flank. Their orbits crossed, sealing off all four directions around Long Xi.

That was what made Dhruv so troublesome.

His Shikigami were not pets, nor were they disposable troops summoned to bite people.

They operated independently, constructing Orbit Domains on their own.

With enough of them, the battlefield would become a cutting net that tightened without end.

If Long Xi retreated, he would run into the orbit behind him.

If he kept charging, Dhruv's staff was already aimed at his throat.

"Void."

Long Xi slammed his left hand downward.

The shock wave did not strike the enemy. Instead, it blasted the ground beneath his feet.

A huge hole opened in the rooftop. Long Xi dropped through it as three orbits crossed above his head, slicing the ruined roof into several sections.

He fell into the sixth floor.

This had once been the mall's dining area. Tables and chairs lay overturned, and half an illuminated sign remained. The words "New items half price" flickered twice before going dark for good.

The moment Long Xi landed, he bent his knees to absorb the impact.

A second later, Dhruv's Pterosaur Shikigami dove through the opening.

"Back to die?"

Long Xi delivered a backhand slash.

Flames burst along the blade, but before they touched the orbits, they suddenly scattered into dozens of tiny fire seeds.

"Flame Seed."

The fire seeds silently attached themselves to the Pterosaur Shikigami's bellies, wing roots, and the sides of their necks.

They were too small, and Long Xi had suppressed their cursed energy fluctuations to a minimum.

The Pterosaur Shikigami kept diving.

Long Xi raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The fire seeds detonated together, but not from the outside.

They exploded outward from within the cursed energy structures.

The first Pterosaur Shikigami's wing root snapped, instantly throwing its orbit off course. The second had no time to change its radius and plunged straight into the cursed residue left by its vanishing companion, its flight path falling into chaos.

That single instant was already enough to prove fatal in a battle at this level.

Long Xi sprang off a dining table and drove his blade's tip into the second Pterosaur Shikigami's lower jaw.

"Void."

The impact surged through the blade.

Its cursed energy core shattered.

The Shikigami's remains smashed through the floor and fell to the level below, trailing black smoke.

Dhruv stood above the opening, his expression grim.

He had never encountered this kind of fighting style.

His opponent clearly had no domain, yet he was using "Void" to forcibly interrupt the formation of the orbits. He had only just grasped Reverse Cursed Technique, yet he dared to treat his body as a disposable tool. Worse still was that "Flame Seed."

Invisible fire seeds.

Attachment, concealment, detonation.

This was no mere flame-based Cursed Technique.

It was a blade designed specifically to dismantle Shikigami structures.

How could such a powerful Cursed Technique exist? And that fellow... wasn't he only seventeen?!

What had I been doing at seventeen?

There was no time to think about that. Compared with his opponent, he was like Jotaro Kujo's son-in-law getting beaten by Jotaro himself.

A father thrashing his son!

At this rate, that fellow would kill me sooner or later!

Long Xi looked up at him. The wound an orbit had just sliced across his shoulder was closing.

"Why aren't you smiling anymore?"

"Were you born without a sense of humor?"

Dhruv's expression stiffened for a moment, but he refused to lose his imposing air, trying to maintain his usual tone.

"You think you can use Reverse Cursed Technique forever?"

"No."

Long Xi admitted it readily.

"No one can keep healing forever. It burns through a lot of cursed energy, after all. But as luck would have it, I doubt I'll run out of cursed energy in this lifetime."

"Monster..."

Dhruv slammed his staff against the ground.

The mall's exterior wall exploded.

More than a dozen Pterosaur Shikigami changed their orbits at once, cutting in from different floors and angles.

They circled Dhruv's actual body, but their paths interwove inside the building to form a three-dimensional cage.

Walls were sliced open. Elevator shafts were severed.

Half an escalator split down the middle and crashed to the ground.

Long Xi stood in the center of the dining area, every exit around him sealed by orbits.

"Now that's more like it."

He clenched the battered blade between his teeth and raised both hands.

Flames poured from his palms. Rather than radiating outward, they compressed into a thin film that clung to the entire floor.

"Furious Flame Mound-Flame Seed."

Fire seeds spread along the gaps between the floor tiles, burrowing into cracks in load-bearing pillars, ceiling conduits, and broken rebar.

Dhruv realized something was wrong.

"Stop him!"

The Pterosaur Shikigami dove, but Long Xi showed no intention of dodging.

He stood straight where he was, allowing the first orbit to graze his ribs.

Flesh split open, and searing pain stabbed into his brain.

Reverse Cursed Technique immediately sealed the wound!

Long Xi raised his hand, palm facing down!

"Void."

The entire floor exploded. Not just in one place-every spot where "Flame Seed" had planted a fire seed suffered an internal impact at once.

The load-bearing pillars shattered first, then the floor collapsed, and the ceiling blew upward.

The remaining half of the seven-story commercial building crumpled as though a giant hand had seized and crushed it. Rebar sprang from the walls, and chunks of concrete hurtled into the sky.

The collapse forced the orbits of more than a dozen Pterosaur Shikigami off course.

Once the orbits fell into disarray, a gap opened in the domain.

Long Xi charged through it.

He stepped onto a flying concrete slab and swept through the air, his right hand gripping the battered blade once more.

His first slash severed a Pterosaur Shikigami's neck.

His second attack, a punch, shattered another one's core from a distance.

For his third attack, he compressed "Void" beneath his feet, accelerating again in midair. He smashed straight through a Shikigami's body and charged toward Dhruv, trailing black cursed residue.

Dhruv tried to raise his hands to block!

But how could he possibly compete in a contest of pure cursed energy? His staff split instantly!

Long Xi's knee slammed viciously into his chest!

The old man flew backward, crashing through the exterior wall of the building opposite and rolling more than a dozen meters through the rubble.

He coughed up blood and dug his fingers into the ground. For the first time, he struggled to breathe.

Not because of his injuries, but because of fear.

In the brief time it had taken his opponent to send him flying, he had felt his connection to another Shikigami break.

In that single instant...

Helplessness. This helplessness went beyond that of an impotent husband-it was on the level of a useless harem protagonist.

He had not felt this way in a very long time. The last person who had made him feel this way...

So long ago that he had almost forgotten the name.

The young sorcerer emerged from the smoke and dust, his wounds still healing, flames rippling over his shoulders and back.

It was not the full oppressive presence of a Special Grade, but it carried something worse.

Reckless gambles with his life, growth without regard for the consequences, and cursed energy control that grew more practiced with every exchange.

As Dhruv watched him, another figure surfaced in his mind.

The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna...

Their strength was not exactly the same. It was the feeling of being targeted-of being watched by a monster that would tear apart the rules and trample common sense!

Like a sheep facing a wolf, or Mahito facing the Tiger Heavenly Emperor, it was discomfort that ran through mind and body, right down to the gut...

As though killing his opponent were simply a matter of course!

Dhruv seized the cursed energy link to his last Pterosaur Shikigami.

I can't keep fighting.

If I keep fighting, I'll die!

And it'll be an ugly death!

He bit through the tip of his tongue and spat blood mixed with cursed energy.

The last Pterosaur Shikigami let out a shriek.

"In exchange for the Shikigami's certain death within three minutes, compress all remaining orbits..."

The Pterosaur Shikigami's body abruptly swelled, its cursed energy squeezed to the limit. Its Orbit Domain contracted from a broad circle into densely packed lines of death that closed over Long Xi.

At the same time, Dhruv killed three other Shikigami on the verge of collapse.

In exchange, his actual body gained the speed to escape. His figure became a blur, and he left the battlefield without hesitation.

Blocked by the orbits, Long Xi raised his hand and blasted out "Void," but only shattered a few of the outer cutting lines.

"Tch."

He stared in the direction Dhruv had fled, murderous intent simmering in his eyes.

"That old bastard didn't live this long by having any shame..."

"But how long do you think this thing can hold me?"

"Thirty seconds?"

Perfect... Since gaining these two new abilities, I haven't tried emotional amplification yet.

Multiplying the original power by thirty was certainly strong, but the long windup weakened that advantage.

But after reaching Grade 2...

In a situation like this, that windup...

Could be ignored completely!!!

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