Suffocating pressure!
The moment Yuta Okkotsu drew his long sword, the air across the entire block seemed to be sucked dry.
An ocean-like surge of cursed energy erupted from his seemingly slender frame, suspending the surrounding rubble and debris midair.
Even the dark crimson sky appeared to warp under that colossal mass of cursed energy.
Behind him, the Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, Rika Orimoto, let out a blood-curdling roar.
Her massive form looked ready to pounce at any second and tear everything in sight to shreds.
Yet facing a terrifying aura sufficient to instantly break any Grade 1 sorcerer,
Yoru, standing at the edge of the high-rise, merely dusted off the corner of his clothes.
"Impressive cursed energy reserves. Far purer than the Special Grade Cursed Spirits I encountered in Shibuya."
Yoru's voice remained gentle, carrying a hint of elder-like appreciation.
"Your cursed energy is like a boundless ocean—endless and ever-renewing."
"However, cursed energy alone won't be enough to test my depths."
Before his words fully settled, Yoru vanished on the spot!
No roaring cursed energy burst. No thunderous sonic boom.
He simply disappeared into thin air, moving so fast that not even an afterimage remained!
"So fast!"
Yuta Okkotsu's pupils constricted sharply.
Relying on his formidable dynamic vision, he barely managed to catch a subtle shift in the air's trajectory.
That speed had surpassed the limits of the human body—it was practically Teleportation!
Clang!
A deafening clash of steel exploded directly in front of Yuta Okkotsu!
Without anyone noticing, Yoru had crossed hundreds of meters and materialized right before him.
He had not even drawn Shiranui, striking casually against Yuta's parrying blade with the sheathed sword alone.
Yet that deceptively light blow carried a monstrous physical force that sent a chill through Yuta's scalp!
Boom!
The ground beneath Yuta collapsed instantly, spiderweb cracks crazily spreading outward.
Dozens of meters of asphalt tore upward from the sheer force, launching countless chunks of debris like bullets in every direction.
Both hands gripping his sword trembled violently, a tearing pain flaring between his thumbs and forefingers.
'This guy's physical strength... is even more terrifying than awakened Maki-san?!'
Stormy waves churned in Yuta Okkotsu's heart.
He could clearly sense not a shred of cursed energy flaring from Yoru.
This was pure physical capacity combined with refined leverage techniques, producing an overwhelming physical crush!
A mere normal attack packed the destructive power of a Special Grade sorcerer's full-power strike!
"Rika!"
Yuta Okkotsu shouted sharply, summoning his greatest aid without hesitation.
"Yuta—!"
With a shrill shriek, Rika Orimoto's colossal body slammed toward Yoru like an artillery shell, her fanged maw snapping brutally toward his head!
Confronting an assault potent enough to chew straight through steel,
Yoru's gaze remained calm as still water.
[Transparent World] fully activated!
In Yoru's vision, every muscle contraction and cursed energy pathway coursing through Rika's massive form laid as bare as lines on a palm.
He could even anticipate Rika's next attack path and landing point well in advance.
He shifted aside slightly, contorting his body at an impossible angle.
Whoosh—!
Rika's gaping jaws roared past the tip of Yoru's nose, failing to snip even a single strand of his hair.
Immediately afterward, Yoru snapped his right leg up, tracing a crescent arc through the air and kicking precisely into the weakest cursed energy node on Rika's lower jaw!
Bang!
A dull explosion rang out.
The Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit Rika, built like a small mountain, was sent flying backward by that deceptively casual kick!
Rika's enormous frame carved a parabolic arc through the air, smashing heavily through two buildings behind them and throwing up a blinding curtain of dust.
"How is that possible?!"
Yuta Okkotsu was completely shocked.
This was the first time he had ever seen anyone knock Rika back using raw physical combat alone, without deploying any cursed technique!
It utterly overturned his understanding of jujutsu combat!
"Ordinary testing is meaningless, it seems."
Yuta Okkotsu took a deep breath, his gaze turning grave as never before.
"If I don't pull out my true trump card, I might not even qualify to touch his clothes."
"In that case, let me see just what your technique is!"
"Rika, copy him!"
Yuta Okkotsu issued an absolute command to Rika.
As a Special Grade genius wielding the absurd ability of Mimicry, Yuta needed only to decipher an opponent's technique in past battles to forcibly replicate it through Rika for his own use.
It was his greatest trump card for reigning supreme among the strong!
Yet this time,
Rika crawled up from the ruins, letting out a pained and bewildered howl.
"Yuta... I can't... Rika can't do it..."
"Rika doesn't understand... Rika can't copy it..."
"What?!"
Yuta Okkotsu froze.
He stared in disbelief at Rika's continually twisting form—this was the very first time Rika had ever failed to mimic a technique!
Whether it was Sky Manipulation or Cursed Speech, Rika could replicate it in an instant.
Why was she entirely powerless against Yoru's might alone?
"Surprised?"
Yoru slowly returned the scabbard to his waist, offering a faint smile toward the stunned Yuta Okkotsu.
"The reason you cannot copy it is that the power I use does not belong to your jujutsu system at all."
"No cursed energy. No cursed technique. No barrier."
Yoru slowly raised his right hand, and a cluster of crimson flame quietly surfaced in his palm.
The flame carried no heat, yet it radiated a sacred aura that made Yuta Okkotsu's very soul shudder.
"This is breathing."
"It is the most primitive reverence for life, the purest resonance with this world."
"Your cursed energy stems from human negative emotions—a product of hatred, fear, and jealousy."
"My power stems from life itself. It is the unyielding, ever-renewing sun."
"When you try to use a cup filled with sewage to catch the sun in the sky, how could you ever succeed?"
Hearing Yoru's words, Yuta Okkotsu stood blankly where he was.
He stared at the dancing crimson flame in Yoru's palm, sensing that pure power that transcended all logic of the jujutsu world.
His mind fell into a prolonged blank.
So the 'variable' Gojo-sensei spoke of was actually an existence that transcended every dimension.
After a long pause,
Yuta Okkotsu slowly lowered his sword, the cursed energy around him rapidly ebbing away like a receding tide.
To an outsider, it might have looked like Yuta sinking into disheartened resignation after realizing he could not defeat Yoru.
In reality, through the earth-shattering clash just moments ago, their wills had already executed a covert exchange in a manner only the two of them could comprehend.
"Senior Yoru... did my acting pass?"
Yuta Okkotsu kept his voice down, speaking at a rapid pace audible only to them, all while maintaining that melancholic and awed expression on his face.
"That bastard Kenjaku must be watching with keen interest behind a screen right now."
Yoru smiled faintly, replying imperceptibly:
"Great progress, Yuta. With Rika's cursed energy burst just now, even I almost thought you were serious."
Yuta Okkotsu shook his head with a bitter smile, then looked up once more and raised his volume, letting his voice echo across the ruins:
"You... don't belong to this world at all, do you?"
"No wonder Gojo-sensei placed such high hopes on you. Wielding power that transcends all rules and common sense, you are practically a god cloaked in human skin."
Facing Yuta Okkotsu's impassioned performance, Yoru cooperated by extinguishing the flame in his palm and gazing up at the dark crimson barrier canopy overhead.
"I am no god. I am merely a mortal with a sword."
Yoru turned back, a resolute yet gentle light gleaming within his deep crimson eyes.
"I merely... chose to protect this world."
"If this world is filled with regrets and tragedy, then I will use this sword to sever every last regret!"
"I will let those manipulating fate from behind the curtain know that human life is not a chess piece for them to trample at will!"
Hearing those words, Yuta Okkotsu shuddered. This time, the admiration in his eyes was genuine.
No matter how many times they staged a performance, he was still humbled by Yoru's pure, unwavering conviction.
Striding forward to stand before Yoru, he solemnly extended his right hand.
"My apologies. That test earlier was disrespectful."
Yuta Okkotsu's gaze grew sharp and resolute once more, his tone ringing with decisive proclamation.
"From this moment on, my back is in your hands."
"Let us bury that bastard Kenjaku and this disgusting Culling Game together once and for all!"
Yoru smiled faintly and reached out his right hand, clasping Yuta Okkotsu's tightly.
"A pleasure working with you."
The instant their hands met,
the entire Culling Game barrier seemed to groan under the sheer weight of these two absolute forces officially uniting!
The strongest Sword Saint with no cursed energy!
The God of Pure Love wielding boundless cursed energy!
As these two monsters capable of piercing through any ceiling formally forged their alliance,
deep within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, Kenjaku—having just completed the preliminary preparations for Master Tengen's Merger—suddenly shuddered for reasons unknown.
He snapped his head toward Master Tengen's still-tormented face, his brow furrowing deeply.
"Strange... where is this inexplicable sense of unease coming from?"
Little did he know that in his supposedly flawless thousand-year scheme, not only had a solar spark been planted inside that could detonate at any moment,
but outside the barrier, it had even welcomed two absolute monsters capable of ripping everything apart!
The true hunt of the Culling Game had only just begun.