"Let's see how you plan to get close to m—"
Satoru's words stopped mid-sentence.
Because in his perception, the Inverted Spear of Heaven was still in the air?!
"There!"
Sensing the cursed energy behind him, he quickly turned around and raised his fingers, ready to fire off another Red.
But what he saw made his eyes widen in shock.
There was no one there. The weapon had simply been tossed into the air and was now falling down.
"You're still so easy to mislead."
Mukuro's voice came from behind him. He was already there.
"It's useless! Using that strange cursed tool as bait is your biggest mistake!"
Without that weapon capable of nullifying techniques, and since Mukuro himself had no cursed energy, Satoru couldn't see any way he could've broken through Limitless.
Satoru twisted his body midair, adjusting his stance. The Red in his hand was fully charged, aimed straight at Mukuro's abdomen.
If this hit, his opponent would lose all ability to fight back.
"Mistake? The fight's just getting started."
Mukuro didn't even flinch. A confident smile curved his lips.
A flash of red light burst out and tore through his body, slamming into the ground below. The explosion carved a crater nearly ten meters wide.
"No… it's an illusion?!"
Satoru's realization came too late.
At the exact moment Red fired, something had felt off about Mukuro's figure, and his suspicion had been correct.
Shhik!
A sharp sound rang out as a blade drove through flesh.
Satoru turned his body, arm raised, but the Inverted Spear of Heaven had already pierced through from the side.
He had managed to dodge vital points at the last second, but the weapon still skewered his arm.
As he reached out with his other hand to counterattack, Mukuro landed smoothly after retreating midair, like he'd been standing on solid ground the whole time.
"You… damn heterochromatic bastard. You can actually hover midair with that ridiculous body control?"
Satoru held his wounded arm, reverse cursed energy flowing at full strength as the injury began to heal rapidly.
Mukuro's bizarre skills once again exceeded his expectations.
In the coming fight, he'd have to stay alert, not just against illusions, but against that absurd, almost inhuman combat technique that defied logic.
"So, you still wanna keep fighting?"
Mukuro flicked the blood from his weapon and looked up at the boy floating in the sky.
"Of course I'll keep going! It's been so long since I've felt this alive!"
Despite being at a disadvantage, Satoru only grew more manic.
This is it… this is real battle.
Even after facing defeat, his heart burned brighter than ever. There was no hatred or resentment in him, only joy.
The world around him was silent and roaring at the same time, a chaos that somehow felt peaceful.
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
He pointed upward with one finger, declaring his dominion to the world. His blue eyes shone like pieces of the sky.
"Is that so? Then I guess I'm the heaven."
Mukuro smiled faintly at his arrogance. Then he stomped his right foot into the shattered ground.
"First Path: Primordial Chaos."
The number in his right eye changed to "1."
The earth beneath him collapsed again in a circle over twenty meters wide.
But to Satoru, it wasn't just the floor; it was the entire sky that seemed to crumble.
The air twisted violently. Space distorted around him. His body was dragged into the chaos, dizziness and pain surging through him like waves.
'No… when did I fall into another illusion?!'
Through sheer will and the clarity of Six Eyes, Satoru broke free within seconds.
But the pain in his body didn't fade. That illusion had ignored Limitless!
"Still spacing out?"
Mukuro appeared right before him, the Inverted Spear of Heaven poised to pierce his chest.
"Hey! What are you two doing? Can't you guys get along for once?"
From a short distance away came Suguru's helpless voice, like a tired teacher scolding two overgrown children.
"Took you long enough."
Satoru grinned again.
From the time he fell into Mukuro's illusion, he had been waiting for this opportunity: when his opponent would get close enough to make dodging impossible. But he had held back, afraid that if he struck too hard, things might go too far. Now, with Suguru and Shoko arriving, he no longer had to worry.
As Mukuro's weapon thrust into his chest, Satoru grabbed his arm with his left hand. His right hand was already glowing.
The collision of positive and negative infinity, creating infinite imaginary mass, and then releasing it all at once.
Hollow Purple!
Blinding light exploded, tearing through the air. In an instant, it shot toward Mukuro's abdomen. The aftermath surged outward, tearing through walls until it finally dissipated.
"Satoru! What the hell are you doing?!"
Suguru's shout snapped Satoru out of his trance.
Now back on the ground, he looked around, but there was no sign of Mukuro.
Then he looked down, and realized his left hand was clutching the hilt of the Inverted Spear of Heaven still embedded in his own chest.
"When… did this happen?"
His mind went blank. For a moment, he even forgot to pull the weapon out.
"Mirror Flower, Water Moon. What you see is only what I allow you to see. Your five senses are under my control."
Mukuro's calm voice came from beside him. As he walked past, he pulled out his weapon and pressed a hand over Satoru's wound, reminding him to heal it.
"Illusion? But I clearly—"
"Then tell me, when did you start believing you'd escaped my illusion?"
Mukuro cut him off with a question.
"Wait… you mean…"
Satoru suddenly understood.
That wave of dizziness, the physical pain. It was a ruse. It made him believe he had broken free. And when Mukuro's attack came immediately after, he naturally assumed that was reality.
But in truth, that was when the real illusion began.
"You drop your guard too easily. Until you've won the fight, no, until you've confirmed your opponent's complete defeat, never relax. Got it, white-haired idiot?"
Mukuro extended a hand toward him.
"You talk big. Fine, I lost this round. But until I become the strongest, you better not lose to anyone else, got it, heterochromatic bastard?"
Their hands clapped together with a sharp smack.
"Seriously? These two idiots… are actually getting along after that?"
Standing behind the two, Shoko blinked in confusion, not understanding the kind of bond that forms between men who nearly kill each other.
"Mukuro, where's Riko?"
"In the meeting room downstairs. Let's go get her."
Suguru hadn't forgotten their true goal: to bring that innocent girl home safely.
In his haste, he left the others behind and rushed down to the underground conference room.
When he pushed the door open, the room was filled with white-robed members of the Star Religious Group.
"Let's go home—"
Bang!
Before he could finish, the cult leader pulled the trigger in front of everyone.
The girl's body fell before his eyes.
"Ri…ko?"
Suguru's lips trembled as he whispered her name, his eyes wide with disbelief and grief too deep for words.
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