SATORU POV
"You're very sturdy," I mutter, a smirk tugging at my lips as I stand before the Special Grade curse.
The fight has been going on for some time. Without the Maidens here to support him, he's really no match for me.
He's just a brute with a sturdy body and high physical strength, the typical brawler type and the absolute worst matchup for my Infinity. If it wasn't for his absurd defence and massive reserves of Cursed Energy, I would have pulverized him with Blue already.
And those reserves are finally bleeding out, depleted by Emiya and Suguru damaging his Maidens over and over again.
The curse swings his massive fist again.
If it's anyone else it would pulverized them in an instant but I doesn't even move. The fist hits the Infinity, stopping a fraction of an inch from my nose. The kinetic energy ripples outward, shattering the trees behind me, but I don't even feel a breeze.
"My turn."
I snap my fingers. "Lapse: Blue"
The blue orb flares into existence at the tip of my finger for the tenth's time, the air around it screaming as space begins to fold. I launch it again—the same move. But each time it gets harder and harder for him to stop it as his curse energy is depleting.
The orb streaks forward, a sapphire blur aiming squarely for his stomach. The vacuum it creates is terrifying, an implosion that tries to condense the massive, white-skinned curse into a single point.
His bones groans—a sickening, grinding sound like a high-speed drill biting into thick steel, amplified a hundred times over—and he lurches forward, his footing finally betrayed by the sheer gravitational pull.
In act of defence, the Curse reaches out his massive hand to crush the orb, to snuff out the singularity before it can swallow him whole. But...
He's too slow for me.
I'm already there before he can even close his fingers. I don't just step into his guard; I rewrite the distance between us. I chamber my leg and launch a kick directly into that massive face, the impact enhanced by my Blue.
BOOM.
The shockwave ripples outward, flattening the grass around us in every direction.
He is sent hurtling through the treeline like a discarded toy, snapping the trees like they were nothing but dry toothpicks. He didn't stop until he slams into the heavy stone base of the park's central monument, the granite cracking into a spiderweb of craters behind his broken form.
I land softly, my infinity keeping the rising dust from the impact away from me.
"Is that it?" I tilt my head, adjusting my glasses. "You are too weak without them."
I can feel its desperation now. It knows it can't touch me.
Suddenly, the energy shifts and sparks of black lightning ripples through the air.
Black Flash?
Emiya. A smile breaks out on my lips.
He's just landed a Black Flash.
That's a massive milestone for any sorcerer; the difference between one who has experienced the black flash and one who hasn't is a literal mile apart.
And he's managed it in less than three months of being a sorcerer.
I knew he'd get stronger.
Not as strong as me, obviously.
Because in this heaven and earth, I alone am the hon—
SWOOSH.
The thought is cut short as the air pressure drops so sharply my ears pop.
The Special Grade in front of me is suddenly undergoing a violent metamorphosis.
Its five sanctioned mouths tear open like a grotesque cocoon, shedding its hide in wet, heavy slabs. That old skin didn't just fall away; it hardens, twisting into a dozen sharp, bony tentacles.
(Author note: I don't know how to describe the form😑😑 I will just add the picture.)
And three of them lash out instantly toward Suguru and Emiya, while a third strikes at me.
Although its sudden transformation and new speed are a surprise, I've already flickered away using Blue to appear out of their reach.
But the two tentacles that has lunged toward Emiya and Suguru don't actually attack them; instead, they coil around the Maidens and yank them back into the main body.
Their forms merge with the Special Grade as he absorbs them.
It's Curse Energy recovering and surging past it's previous limits.
It's pale face grinning toward us.
EMIYA POV
The Maiden I just punched is gone, yanked towards the fake 'God' by those bony, white tentacles.
I watch as the Mountain God undergoes its True Form—straight out of the Mieruko-chan anime—and its energy isn't just replenishing; it's skyrocketing.
Then it rotates it's neck with a series of wet, rhythmic snaps, the massive, pale face tilting to grin at each of us in turn.
I'm currently standing in the spot where I landed a black flash just a second ago, my Switch-Summon having placed me perfectly on the third point of the perimeter.
We're forming a triangle: Satoru is at it's apex, Suguru is anchored to the right with his gorilla, and I'm holding the left flank. The Curse is trapped in the dead center, but with its Cursed Energy skyrocketing, the "trap" feels more like we're standing in the splash zone of a ticking bomb.
"Satoru," I call out, my voice tight as I mentally tally my remaining housing space and structures. "You couldn't even finish him? You actually let him go Super Saiyan."
I have about 35 housing space remaining, with my five Balloons still in the air.
I haven't used many Walls, Archer Towers, or Mortars yet, and my Cannons are still intact.
Satoru doesn't look back at me. His white hair is whipping in the sudden, violent wind created by the fake 'God's' surging Cursed Energy.
"My bad, Emiya," he says, though his voice doesn't sound sorry at all. It sounds thrilled. "I guess I gave him too much room to breathe. Don't worry—I'll take the 'Super Saiyan' out of him."
He disappears, using Blue that places him instantly in front of the monster. His fist is already glowing with a sapphire intensity, ready to cave in the Curse's skeleton chest.
But just as he follows through with the punch, the Curse manic gaze locks onto him.
He jams.
The Cursed Energy around Satoru suddenly solidifies. The Maidens' 'Solidification' technique, which previously required them to raise their hands and channel—now triggers with nothing more than a lock of it's gaze.
"What—?" Satoru's eyes widen behind the glasses.
"SATORU!" Suguru and I yell, our voices raw as we hurriedly try to use our techniques to save him.
But the God doesn't miss the opening. In a fraction of a second a thick, boney tentacle, whips forward with a speed that breaks the sound barrier.
CRACK.
The impact is sickening. The tentacle slams into Satoru's midsection, he's launched backward like a cannonball, his body a white streak that shatters through the trees and slams into the reinforced concrete wall behind it.
A spray of crimson hits the pavement. Satoru Gojo is down, and for the first time since I met him, he's bleeding.