The bridge was silent again.
Cold wind howled between the steel beams.
Drops of blood slid across cracked concrete.
Kneeling near the center, breathing heavy—
Choso.
Ahead of him, walking away without fear—
Toji Fushiguro.
Pride Ignites
Choso's hand trembled.
Spared.
He had been spared.
"I don't need your mercy…" he whispered.
Blood gathered at his fingertips again.
He forced himself to stand.
"I am not weak."
The air around him thickened as he drew more blood than before.
Veins bulged across his arms.
This time—
He would not hesitate.
Maximum Output
"Supernova."
Blood spheres formed mid-air around Toji's path.
Compressed.
Dense.
Explosive.
They detonated at once—
A violent blast swallowed the bridge in red mist and smoke.
Steel twisted.
Concrete shattered.
Water below erupted from the shockwave.
Choso panted, eyes wide.
"This time… you can't dodge everything."
Through the Smoke
A silhouette stepped forward.
Calm.
Unshaken.
Toji emerged from the settling smoke, coat torn slightly but body intact.
He had moved before the explosion finished forming.
Not reacting to the blast—
But reading the moment of intent.
Choso's heart sank.
Impossible.
Desperation
Choso gritted his teeth and unleashed everything.
Piercing Blood fired repeatedly.
Blood blades extended.
Spikes erupted from beneath the ground.
A full battlefield of blood manipulation surrounded Toji.
Yet—
He moved through it like an unseen current.
Every technique required calculation.
Compression.
Intent.
And Toji read it all.
He closed the distance instantly.
Choso tried forming a defensive wall—
Too slow.
Toji's fist drove straight through the blood shield and slammed into Choso's stomach.
Air vanished from his lungs.
Another strike followed—
Precise.
Measured.
Choso collapsed to the ground.
The Truth
Toji stood over him quietly.
"Your technique is strong."
Choso coughed weakly.
"Then why…"
"To use blood," Toji said calmly, "you must think."
He looked down at him.
"I fight before thought."
That was the difference.
Blood manipulation relied on control.
Toji relied on instinct sharpened beyond human limits.
One required energy.
The other required survival.
Complete Failure
Choso attempted one final Piercing Blood—
His hand shook.
The beam fired—
And missed completely.
His cursed energy faltered.
His body had reached its limit.
Blood manipulation failed.
Choso fell unconscious.
The Hunter Walks On
Toji turned away once more.
Another powerful sorcerer defeated.
Another proof of something terrifying:
Techniques meant nothing if they could be predicted.
And Toji predicted everything.
As he disappeared into the darkness, sirens echoed faintly in the distance.
The Sorcerer Killer was still moving.
And stronger opponents were waiting.