When the fully charged shikigami Piercing Ox slammed into Mahoraga, Megumi Fushiguro spat out blood, and his domain collapsed at the same instant.
The piercing screech of the domain barrier shattering mingled with the explosive crash of Piercing Ox striking Mahoraga. Watching from the sidelines as a witness, Chinatsu made a token gesture of raising two fingers to plug her ears.
Of course, Chinatsu had long since upgraded her automatic Limitless Defense to easily block even sounds intense enough to cause physical discomfort, so covering her ears was merely for show.
"Looks like Megumi pulled it off with that last hit~"
With her ears covered and a smile tugging at her lips, Chinatsu watched the battlefield ahead, shrouded in thick smoke. To save time, she dropped the pretense, pulled one hand away from her ear, and turned to point at the sky.
"Blue."
Instantly, Chinatsu placed a moderately sized Gravitational Blue in midair. Its pull sucked up all the thick smoke swirling around them, restoring visibility.
Megumi Fushiguro panted with his mouth open, his cheeks spattered with his own blood.
Although he had remained hidden in the shadows inside his domain and suffered no damage from anyone else, he had exhausted everything he had to maximize Piercing Ox's destructive power.
"Piercing Ox? You want to use that shikigami to destroy Mahoraga in one hit? It's a good idea, but actually pulling it off would take some pretty demanding conditions... Well~ give it a shot. With me here, Mahoraga can't kill you~"
"That didn't work. Your cursed energy output still isn't enough to strengthen Piercing Ox to the point where it can kill Mahoraga in one hit. Why not try charging it up with your domain expanded next time?"
"Oh dear~ once you slipped into the shadows inside the domain, that