"You bastard! What are you laughing at? What is so damn funny about trampling on human lives?!"
The tragic deaths of innocent civilians and the heavy toll on his comrades had stoked a fire of pure, unadulterated hatred in Yuji's heart. His voice shook with the weight of his fury.
Faced with Yuji's condemnation, Mahito only laughed harder, his shoulders shaking with genuine mirth.
"Hah? What kind of nonsense are you spouting now? Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten in your life?"
"Or would it make you feel better if I put on a tragic, repentant face while I killed? Would that satisfy your ego?"
"Who do you think you are? A janitor sweeping up pests? Or the legendary hero of some fairy tale, punishing evil and rewarding good?"
Mahito's laughter turned jagged and manic. He leaned in, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper. "Yuji... don't you realize it yet? You are me!"
Yuji froze for a split second before snarling back, "What kind of sick joke is that? I save people, you murder them! We are mortal enemies!"
Mahito shook his head, looking genuinely disappointed. "How childish."
"Ratio Technique!"
Nanami blurred into motion, closing the distance instantly. His blunt blade struck a precise point on Mahito's torso, triggering the forced weak point.
The impact buckled Mahito's body into a shape like a curled shrimp.
Before Yuji could spiral further, Todo's massive hand slammed onto his shoulder. "Brother! No matter what your resolve is, the only thing that matters right now is fighting alongside your comrades!"
Yuji snapped out of his trance, his gaze hardening into steel.
"I've got it. Let's go, Brother!"
"Ooh-rah!"
Megumi and Nobara exchanged a sharp nod. "We're moving in!"
The five of them surged forward, a coordinated wall of sorcery descending upon a single curse.
Mahito leaped back, creating distance while screaming at Yuji with wide, frantic eyes. "Yes! That's it! Yuji, I came here specifically for you!"
"Come! Let us curse each other until there's nothing left!"
"You talk too much. It's annoying!"
Todo roared as he closed in, his cursed-energy-clad fist smashing directly into Mahito's jaw. The curse's face distorted like wet clay, but his hands didn't stop moving. His arms elongated, snaking toward Todo's ribs.
"Idle Transfiguration!"
Seeing the strike was unavoidable, Todo's lips curved into a confident smirk. He slammed his palms together.
Clap!
"Boogie Woogie!"
In the blink of an eye, the massive Todo swapped places with Yuji. The difference in their heights caused Mahito's lethal touch to whistle harmlessly over Yuji's head.
"Divergent Fist!"
Yuji let out a guttural roar, landing a rage-fueled blow squarely on Mahito's exposed face. The curse's body whipped through the air like a discarded rag.
"Ratio Technique!"
Nanami stepped into the trajectory. Seizing the moment Mahito's consciousness wavered, he delivered a clinical, high-speed slash to the curse's arm.
Squelch!
The limb was severed cleanly, and Nanami followed up with a heavy kick that sent Mahito tumbling. The severed arm spun through the air, landing right at Nobara's feet.
"Kugisaki!"
Nanami's shout was the only signal she needed. She snatched three nails from her pouch with practiced ease.
"Straw Doll Technique—"
But in that instant, Mahito let out a sly, guttural chuckle.
Nanami's instincts screamed. He spun around, his voice cracking with urgency. "Wait! Get back, Kugisaki!"
The severed arm on the ground suddenly bloated with unnatural pressure, expanding instantly into a second, perfect replica of Mahito.
"Idle Transfiguration: Body Clone!"
While the clone couldn't use Idle Transfiguration on others, it could warp its own shape just as fluently as the original. The clone's arms shifted into two massive, serrated cleavers, swinging them toward Nobara's neck in a lethal arc.
"Kugisaki!"
Just as the blades were about to taste skin—
"Toad!"
A long, whip-like tongue lashed out, wrapping around Nobara's waist and yanking her backward. The toad opened its maw wide, swallowing her whole to shield her from the strike.
"So gross!" Nobara's muffled voice complained from inside the shikigami.
Megumi rolled his eyes. "I'm literally saving your life!"
"Tch! A miss?" The clone spat, clicking its tongue in annoyance.
Among the five, only Nobara's technique could truly threaten his core. If he could remove her from the board first, he could play with the rest of them without fear. He had been screaming Yuji's name as a distraction from the start, waiting for the perfect moment to execute the "unimportant" girl.
Suddenly, Megumi's eyes sharpened. He realized the nature of the clone. "Everyone! Attack the clone!"
"Oh no, you don't!"
The main Mahito tried to intervene, but Yuji and Todo stood before him like two immovable guardian deities.
"Go to hell and reflect on your sins!"
"Black Flash!"
Both of them struck simultaneously. Under the roar of black lightning, all things are equal. While it didn't deal soul damage, the sheer kinetic force blasted the original Mahito away.
Meanwhile, Nanami reached the clone, his short sword carving a path of lethal slashes. The clone barely evaded, only to find two shadows leaping from its blind spot. The claws of the Divine Dogs, sharp as scythes, shredded the clone's torso in a single pass.
Nobara didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, slamming a nail deep into a chunk of the clone's discarded flesh.
"Straw Doll Technique: Resonance!"
CRACK!
Two massive, ethereal nails erupted from the original Mahito's chest, geysering blood.
The clone's remains squirmed frantically, merging into a ball of flesh to escape the combined assault of Nanami and Megumi.
"I haven't used this one in a while, have I?" Nobara grinned, snapping her fingers.
"Hairpin!"
The nail embedded in the flesh detonated with a surge of cursed energy, acting like a drill that pulverized the mass.
BOOM!
The original Mahito suffered another massive backlash, a hole the size of a dinner plate erupting in his chest.
"Gwah—"
Mahito vomited a torrent of blood, looking at the five sorcerers closing in with a look that almost resembled fear.
But just as Nanami and the others moved in for the kill, a horde of transfigured humans surged from the shadows. They grabbed survivors from the rubble and began hurling them like live grenades at the group.
"Hahahahaha!"
Mahito scrambled to his feet, snatching a passing salaryman and throwing him toward them. He activated Idle Transfiguration the moment of contact, turning the man into a ticking human bomb.
Watching Mahito repeat his grotesque trick, Yuji's body trembled with a white-hot fury that seemed to set the very air on fire.
"Why? Why do you keep doing this? Why do you treat life like it's nothing but a toy for your amusement?"
Mahito looked at Yuji as if he had just heard the funniest joke in history. "You're so incredibly naive, kid!"
He suddenly lunged. His speed was astronomical—this time, not even Nanami or Todo could track him.
Flashes of black lightning mirrored Mahito's twisted smile. Yuji only had time to frantically reinforce his soul with cursed energy before the impact hit.
BOOM!!!
It wasn't Idle Transfiguration. It was a raw, perfect Black Flash.
"Is this it? Is this the 'Black Flash'?"
In that moment, Mahito felt as if he had stepped into a vast, new domain of existence. The manipulation of his soul became as effortless as breathing.
He looked down at Yuji, who was kneeling and coughing up blood. Mahito's laughter was the sound of a mind finally breaking. "Yuji, is this your 'justice'?"
"Don't make me laugh! What do you think we're doing here?"
"This is a war!"
"It's not a war to correct a mistake. It's a war to impose one's own justice upon the other!"
"I told you—you are me! Just as I don't remember how many humans I've slaughtered, you don't remember how many curses you've exorcised. Because those little things don't matter!"
"You choose to save; I choose to kill. It's our respective instincts and logic, nothing more!"
"You think you can defeat me with your half-baked resolve? You're delusional!"
"Enough talk!"
Nanami, Todo, Megumi, and Nobara launched a synchronized assault, their attacks converging on Mahito in a massive explosion.
When the dust settled, Mahito was not only unscathed—he was in a state of absolute, transcendental madness.
"The slaughter... the stakes... the death... the desperate craving for life..."
"Ah~ it's all so beautiful!"
"Yuji! You don't understand! This is the resolve required to truly enjoy a war!"
Mahito threw his arms wide. His flesh began to writhe and churn like a nest of disturbed insects, hardening into something crystalline and ancient.
"Idle Transfiguration: Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing!"
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