When two domains expanded simultaneously, the more refined, more powerful Jujutsu would gain the advantage.
Thus, the final outcome would depend on three key factors: Cursed Technique compatibility, Cursed Energy output, and total Cursed Energy reserves.
This was the ultimate contest of the practitioners' overall capabilities.
At that moment, one side of the domain clash was a place of "emptiness" that dragged everything inside "Limitless," pouring useless information into the mind without end.
It was an infinitely expanding expanse of pure white, seemingly without boundaries. Yet a closer look revealed faint glimpses of illusory colors flowing within it, as deep and vivid as a starry sky painted in ink.
Opposite that "emptiness" lay pure blackness, where even light and fundamental concepts were utterly stripped away and devoured.
The reversed power of "Concept Stripping" had been applied to the barrier, stripping all existence down to a "boundary" beyond which nothing more could be stripped away. Even vacuum fluctuations ceased to exist in that absolute, soul-shuddering silence.
The scenery manifested within an innate domain generally did not directly serve any combat or destructive function. Rather, it was closer to the ultimate projection of a Sorcerer's inner world.
Satoru Gojo's inner landscape was one of disdain for all things, looking down upon all creation: "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
Dio's inner landscape was one of conquering everything and commanding all existence: "Victory and dominion."
Within the domains, now fiercely clashing and eroding each other, their "sure-hit" effects continually canceled and neutralized one another like two opposing torrents.
Although the practitioners could still manually control their Cursed Techniques to attack the opposing Sorcerer or the barrier itself, that ultimately brought things back to a head-on contest of their capabilities.
As the two silently faced each other, the spectators saw the overlapping barrier shells intertwine, devour one another, and fiercely resist. They shook and shuddered as though alive, continually releasing rings of visible Cursed Energy shock waves.
And yet, they had indeed reached a stalemate!
"Are you serious!?" Kusakabe blurted in shock, the lollipop stick falling from his mouth to the ground.
"No way..." Mei Mei lost her customary composure, her expression turning just as grave.
Even Suguru Geto looked profoundly shaken, unable to stop himself from murmuring, "They're evenly matched! He actually did it!"
Deep within the domains, where no one else could see, Dio's "Boundary of Emptiness" had already temporarily stripped away some of Satoru Gojo's concepts, thanks to his one-tenth-of-a-second head start.
Even so, the two sides were still evenly matched!
The capabilities of his domain and Satoru Gojo's had formed a delicate equilibrium in their collision.
Dio understood perfectly: had he not unleashed his trump card first and caught his opponent off guard, he would probably have quickly fallen behind in a head-on domain battle.
But that was fine!
It had been less than three months since he first encountered and began learning to use Cursed Energy.
Whether in his Cursed Energy reserves, strength, precision, or the depth of his Cursed Technique development, he had yet to reach the peak this body and soul's potential could achieve.
The current stalemate was already the best result he could secure.
"What is it? You look like you have something to say." Dio spoke first, his voice echoing clearly through the deathly silent domain.
"Nothing." Satoru Gojo blinked his right eye and smiled. "I'm just a little happy to see you fighting even harder than I expected."
"Heh. Not as hard as you." With the Six Eyes, Dio glanced at the bruises on his body that had not fully healed. The bruise stretching across the bridge of his nose was particularly conspicuous.
"With that 'Cute Star Flying Smash' just now, we were the ones delivering and taking the force, so we both ate the full heat damage from start to finish. What a reckless move."
"Hahaha! It worked pretty well, didn't it?" Satoru Gojo laughed heartily, gave a thumbs-up with his right hand, and pointed toward the outside of the barrier. "My students are watching. Let me show off a little longer!"
Despite his carefree words, Satoru Gojo keenly sensed that his Cursed Energy output had dropped slightly.
He said no more and attacked first!
Thoroughly warmed up by their earlier exchange, Satoru Gojo deftly pushed his speed to its limit, his figure becoming an afterimage moving at over a hundred times the speed of sound.
A plain, unadorned jab packed with terrifying kinetic energy shot straight at Dio's face like the tail of a comet piercing the stars!
A momentary lapse in concentration left Dio half a beat behind, too late to grab the blade and block.
He had "The World" stand by with the "Soul Liberation Blade" while he abruptly bent low and drove into Satoru Gojo's body, locking both arms around the tops of his thighs!
As Gojo redirected his punch and slammed it into the crown of Dio's head, Dio's core muscles erupted with terrifying strength.
He kicked off the ground and leaped with Satoru Gojo in his grasp, completing two and a half rapid rotations in midair. Using the momentum of their spinning descent, he slammed Satoru Gojo viciously into the ground!
Spiderweb cracks burst across the ground, debris spraying in every direction like a torrential downpour.
A cut opened above Satoru Gojo's brow. Rather than trickling down, the blood scattered under the impact in a string of crimson beads.
But the fight was far from over.
The instant Satoru Gojo landed on his back, he planted both hands against the ground and pushed. His legs coiled around Dio's waist like pythons, his head tucked down, and his leg muscles suddenly tightened as he thrust upward and pulled!
Having just finished spinning, Dio had yet to steady his center of gravity. That deft application of force immediately dragged him off balance, pitching him forward.
Unfazed by the danger, Dio drove his right fist down toward Satoru Gojo's chest beneath him.
Crackle- ominous black sparks began spilling into the air.
The precursor to Black Flash!
Sensing the "surge" of Cursed Energy rising to its critical point, Satoru Gojo instantly released his legs and rolled sideways, then sprang to his feet, putting several meters between them in the nick of time.
Dio used the recoil from punching the ground to lift his torso and likewise rose steadily to his feet.
Within the domain, where brilliant stars intermingled with deathly silent emptiness, the two entered another brief standoff.
A second later, offense and defense resumed.
Satoru Gojo's left fist thrust out like a spear, aimed straight at Dio's throat.
Dio's left hand clamped precisely around his wrist like an iron vise and pulled upward. At the same time, Dio formed a knife-hand with his right and chopped down, cutting off the right punch that followed.
Seizing that fleeting opening, Dio turned his palm into a fist. Explosive force erupted across the tiny distance as he drove it hard into Satoru Gojo's abdomen!
Crackle-!!!
In that instant, the Cursed Energy strike, driven to its absolute peak, erupted in dazzling black-and-red lightning!
Black Flash struck again!
Surging power flooded his entire body like a volcanic eruption. Dio twisted with the momentum, torqued his waist, and drove downward, punching Satoru Gojo into the ground inside the domain!
At the same time, he used his surplus Cursed Energy to reinforce the ground, increasing the damage caused by the recoil.
Even so, under the impact of the black-and-red lightning, the reinforced ground cracked outward from the point of impact like tempered glass struck by a sledgehammer!
Satoru Gojo's body jolted under the blow. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes involuntarily rolling back from the pain and impact.
"Consecutive Black Flashes...!?"
Disbelief spread across his face.
"Ho-the world favors me, Dio!" Dio laughed in satisfaction.
Extraordinary luck was, by its very nature, an unreasonable ability that could distort possibilities and even directly rewrite reality.
This battle at the pinnacle had continued until now, yet despite Satoru Gojo's experience with Black Flash far exceeding Dio's, he had failed to trigger that miracle of a Cursed Energy strike even once.
His bad luck was downright uncanny.
By contrast, the instant Dio successfully triggered Black Flash, he entered something akin to the "selfless realm" that elite athletes occasionally experienced.
He could clearly feel every cell in his body resonating beyond its normal capacity, operating at 120% and unleashing latent abilities far beyond his usual limits.
Manipulating Cursed Energy, which normally required conscious effort, now became as smooth and natural as breathing, as though it had become an extension of his life.
It was an indescribable sense of control-as though the entire world revolved around his will, an intoxicating feeling of absolute assurance!
His whole body felt light, and his spirits had never been freer.
It was like greeting New Year's morning in fresh underwear, filled from head to toe with a renewed sense of clarity and freshness!
"Since your 'Inviolability' doesn't work against me," Dio said from above, his voice carrying the weight of a declaration of victory, "I'm afraid the title of 'strongest' is about to change hands. Don't forget, my Shikigami still hasn't used its ability!"
"!" Satoru Gojo's pupils abruptly contracted. His gaze swept over "The World," standing silently nearby with its blade, and the possibility of defeat entered his mind, refusing to leave.
Yet at that very instant, as defeat began to loom and crisis closed in, an emotion utterly unlike despair-ever more intense and searing-surged from the depths of his soul!
Fulfillment!
The loneliness of an absolute powerhouse, standing at heights too cold for company.
And now, in this battle that had driven him to the edge of a cliff and demanded everything he had, a nearly overflowing sense of fulfillment he had not felt in ages, accompanied by unprecedented excitement and joy, utterly suffused every inch of Satoru Gojo's flesh and soul!
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