The street, which had been filled with continuous explosions, suddenly fell into complete silence after the formation of the bounded field.
It was as if the previous explosions and earthquakes had all been illusions. Not a single sound remained on the street—only the shattered pavement and collapsed buildings stood like ruins, with flames slowly burning, casting the scene in a post-apocalyptic light.
"Is it over now?"
"What on earth was that just now?"
"It must have been a natural disaster! Definitely a natural disaster!"
People who had taken shelter behind various buildings during the catastrophe cautiously emerged from their hiding spots. As they gazed upon the war-torn scene before them, panic, fear, and confusion spread through the crowd.
"I don't know if my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I swear I saw someone flying just now?"
"No way, that's impossible!"
"Huh? You guys didn't see it?"
Among the crowd was a shaken red-haired girl, seemingly around high school age, clutching her heaving chest with a terrified expression. Hearing her companions' frightened speculations, she looked at them with utter disbelief.
"There really was someone! And that person was fighting some weird, monstrous thing..."
That was why the street had ended up like this. They had been caught in the crossfire of some unknown battle.
The two companions exchanged glances, their faces filled with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Did you hit your head somewhere?"
"I'm not joking! You have to believe me—there's still a huge black sphere over there in the corner of the street! That person and the monster are both inside it!"
The red-haired girl froze for a moment before pointing emphatically at a spot in the distance, staring incredulously at her friends.
"And there's a massive boulder over there too—that's what caused the explosion when it fell... Can't you see it?"
But no matter how she tried to explain, the two girls acted as though the black sphere in the corner didn't exist. Instead, their worry for her mental state was written all over their faces. Carefully, as if trying not to hurt her feelings, they suggested she visit a psychiatrist.
Frantically, the red-haired girl scanned the surroundings, hoping to find someone who could confirm what she had seen. Yet nearly everyone around her seemed oblivious to the anomalies—some huddled together in panic, others anxiously searching for friends and family. Suddenly, it dawned on her.
The one who was abnormal wasn't her companions.
It was her.
"What in the world is going on...?"
It was as if she alone had fallen into a completely different world from everyone else. She alone had been excluded, isolated from the rest.
She even began to question whether what she had seen was real or if her mind had truly broken, mistaking a natural disaster for a battle between humans and monstrous creatures.
Had she watched too many anime?
Crack!
Suddenly, a fissure split open across the surface of the enormous black sphere in the distance.
Following closely, cracks spread rapidly across the entire black sphere, causing it to shatter like paper before dissipating into dust.
The red-haired girl was startled by this sudden change, fearing a repeat of the earlier disaster. She nervously turned her gaze in that direction.
Then, she witnessed a sight that made her heart race.
"This head is quite round—perfect for kicking, don't you think?"
A white-haired, red-eyed boy emerged from the shattered remains of the black sphere.
A headless corpse lay before him, while the volcanic-headed figure's skull was pinned beneath his foot. His bespectacled smile appeared amiable, but his words and actions were anything but kind.
"Just a mere human...!"
Jogo could only feel a large foot grinding against his face, as if he were nothing more than an insect being crushed underfoot.
Fury and shock surged within him, his head steaming violently as he instinctively struggled to resist. But with only his head remaining, he was utterly powerless against Roy's suppression, reduced to growling in helpless rage.
"Even after having its neck severed, a cursed spirit can still survive. How tenacious."
"We cursed spirits are superior lifeforms that transcend humans! Far more advanced than your kind. It's only a matter of time before we replace you outdated humans—it's inevitable!"
"Spare me the nonsense. If you were truly superior, you wouldn't be under my foot right now, getting ground into the dirt."
"...Hmph!"
Jogo was momentarily left speechless, but unwilling to concede the argument, he let out a cold snort, adopting an expression that said, I won't bother arguing—I'm not losing either.
Roy couldn't be bothered to engage further.
After all, it was just a mere cursed spirit.
He had no interest in wasting words on it.
"With this, only Mahito remains... Oh? Speak of the devil!"
Roy's ears twitched as he lifted his head, his gaze locking onto a distant point in the sky.
There, a figure resembling a falcon soared with wings of black feathers, streaking across the horizon at an astonishing speed. Upon spotting Roy, it dove toward him like a supersonic fighter jet.
"Danger! Get down, now!"
The red-haired girl, witnessing this from afar, felt her scalp tingle. She hastily shoved her companions back behind cover.
"Why are we hiding again?"
"What's happening?"
"Look, it's just not over yet!"
No sooner had the three taken shelter than a deafening BOOM erupted outside, followed by a violent gust of wind—as if a fighter jet had just crash-landed. The sheer force of the impact shook the ground beneath them.
The two companions immediately covered their mouths, shooting the red-haired girl looks of thank you for saving our lives.
"By the grace of the Great Kami Kita, please spare us!"
"Whether we make it home alive depends entirely on you now!"
"Tch..."
Seeing her companions practically worshipping her like a bodhisattva, the red-haired girl's lips twitched slightly.
Then, cautiously, she peeked out from cover, stealing glances at the distant battle.
If she wanted to survive, she needed to keep a close eye on the fight.
And yet—
The battle wasn't unfolding as expected.
There was no second round of combat.
Instead, another massive black sphere had appeared.
"Here we go again..."
The red-haired girl muttered in a tone that sounded utterly exhausted.
"When will this black sphere crack open this time?"
...
The cursed spirit Mahito had transformed himself into a hawk-like form, his arms extending into steel wings resembling those of a fighter jet. At full acceleration, he even broke the sound barrier, diving toward the ground at a terrifying speed.
"He doesn't seem to care about your life at all, does he?"
Roy grinned.
He shifted his foot and, with a backhanded slash, drove the tip of his blade into Jogo's only remaining eye.
"Aaargh!"
Amid Jogo's agonized screams, Roy pushed off with his foot, his body drifting away like willow catkins in the wind.
Then, with a thunderous boom, Mahito crashed into the ground with devastating force. The earth trembled violently as if struck by an earthquake, cracking apart like a spiderweb, the surface shattered beyond recognition.
"Don't even think about running!"
Mahito's figure shot out from the dust. His legs had taken on the shape of rabbit feet, his face twisted into a manic grin as he lunged at Roy like a missile.
"Who said anything about running?"
Roy scoffed. His wind-tossed figure paused for the briefest moment before shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging straight at the oncoming Mahito.
Though it seemed like a head-on clash—
Mahito couldn't even pinpoint his actual position.
This was the essence of the Art of Empty Tides.
In short, it targeted the subconscious of intelligent beings, creating the illusion that they had dodged when they hadn't, or that their attacks had landed when they never even came close.
Misaligning the enemy's perception with reality—that was the fundamental application of the Art of Empty Tides.
After three grueling months of training under Fan Xinglou, Roy had finally grasped the basics of this endlessly versatile technique.
As Hanami had guessed, the correct countermeasure against an opponent using this technique was large-scale area attacks.
But Mahito had no such methods. Even if the Evil of Humanity had enhanced his power, it didn't strengthen his innate technique.
The combat styles and techniques derived from his cursed technique remained unchanged.
"—Domain Expansion: Self-Embodiment of Perfection!"
The moment Roy rushed toward him, Mahito's eyes lit up with triumph.
His mouth stretched wide.
Inside, tiny arms had sprouted, forming a peculiar hand seal.
In an instant, the dark dome formed above them once more, sealing shut like a coffin lid.
The massive black sphere, towering several stories high, reappeared in the middle of the street.
Roy and Mahito vanished together into its depths.
"I've already won!"
The moment his domain was fully deployed, Mahito's face twisted into a grin of pure ecstasy, as though victory was assured.
Roy couldn't help but pause.
Didn't this guy already know I can break his technique? Why is he so confident?
Does he have a new trump card?
Did the Evil of Humanity actually enhance his technique?
Instantly on guard, Roy prepared to tap into Tiamat's power at a moment's notice.
"Idle Transfiguration!"
Under Roy's wary gaze, Mahito smirked in satisfaction as he completed the hand seal.
"Under the guaranteed hit effect of my domain, my Idle Transfiguration was imprinted onto you the moment I activated it. Even if you can withstand the soul transformation once or twice, you'll never survive a third time. This time, I win!"
Mahito was using the same move again.
His cursed technique remained Idle Transfiguration, unenhanced.
He simply believed that with Idle Transfiguration combined with his domain's guaranteed hit effect, he could successfully land his technique on Roy. Once activated, it would transform Roy into a monstrous form and kill him.
Does this fool not realize I can already counter his technique?
Roy thought to himself.
Oh, right—he probably doesn't know.
When Roy had countered his technique before, Mahito had already lost his sanity after absorbing an overwhelming amount of curses. From that point onward, he likely had no memory of it.
Roy suddenly realized he had been on guard for nothing.
Just as he had said earlier.
Among the three Special Grade curses, Mahito was the least threatening opponent to him.
Physically inferior, practically no combat skills—his only technique, Idle Transfiguration, might be terrifying to others, but to Roy, it was practically useless.
And, there was something even more terrifying for Mahito.
Mahito grinned triumphantly.
The moment he activated Idle Transfiguration, he successfully made contact with Roy's soul—the simple barrier repelled attacks, not touch.
Then, his vision suddenly blurred.
Roy's soul vanished before his eyes.
In its place stood an enormous dragon.
This dragon, bearing feminine characteristics, drifted upon a sea of pitch-black mud.
Her colossal form resembled an ocean taking human shape—so vast that its edges couldn't be seen at a glance.
Facing this gargantuan dragon was like a tiny boat adrift in a stormy sea. The ocean wouldn't even notice his existence; a mere ripple of a single cell could capsize him without realization.
Mahito, staring up at this figure, froze in stunned silence.
He gaped at the massive dragon, so overwhelmed that words failed him, his very thoughts stripped away.
What... is that?
What is that what is that what is that what is that what is that?!
Where am I?
Why am I here?
What is this dragon, vast as the stars?
Who is she? Why is she here?
As Mahito's mind spiraled into chaos,
The great dragon drifting upon the black mud suddenly opened her eyes.
Contrary to her overwhelmingly oppressive size, her eyes were a mesmerizing pink starburst, glowing with an ethereal radiance.
But no matter how beautiful those eyes were, when they were large enough to contain ten billion versions of himself, Mahito felt no admiration—only sheer terror.
Especially when, the moment those pink starburst eyes opened, their focus locked onto him.
Instantly, fear stole Mahito's breath, his heart seemingly stopping.
"Aaaaaaaaa————————"
A deafening sonic wave, like a meteor striking the earth, shattered Mahito's consciousness into fragments.
He was like a willow catkin in a typhoon, not even capable of generating a single thought of resistance, utterly unaware of his own weakness. It was as if the stars themselves, the very Earth, had come crashing down upon him, leaving him speechless to the point where not a single coherent thought remained.
"Get away from my child!!"
Before his consciousness was torn apart, these murderous words roared into his ears.