Then the pressure shifted.
A third presence forced its way into the clash.
My vision flickered as another domain manifested between the grinding barriers. It wasn't stable like mine or Dagon's. It was rough, incomplete—dark shadows spreading across the ground like ink bleeding through paper.
I didn't recognize it. Of course I didn't. God knows I just needed downtime to piece all my fragmented memories back together and know what I was working with here so badly.
A boy stood at its center.
Black hair. Focused eyes. And clothes similar to Maki's.
I didn't bother digging through the memories I still hadn't fully sorted out. If he looked like he belonged with them, that was enough for now.
I kept Death Trade active.
My attention remained locked on Dagon's domain pressing against mine. The moment I shifted my focus, the stalemate would break.
Beside me, Maki reacted instantly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she snapped.
Her voice cracked like a whip across the battlefield.
"This is the worst possible time to open another domain!"
The newcomer looked genuinely confused.
Megumi really wasn't sure what he was getting into when he forced his own half-baked domain to enter inside the clash between two domains. He only did it to save his friends.
It wasn't easy either. The clash meant that there was more pressure on him to make an opening with his domain. It really took him much longer than expected to break inside.
His eyes moved quickly across the scene.
Naobito was a blur, hammering Dagon from one side with relentless speed. Nanami moved like a metronome of violence, every strike precise and brutal.
All Dagon could do was let his Shikigami feint while he focused on his domain. Though considering the bright sunny domain of the curse spirit seemed to be shrinking ever so slightly by the second meant that whatever they were doing was working.
Understanding flashed across the boy's face almost immediately.
He didn't argue.
Instead, he reached behind his shoulder and pulled out a weapon.
For a split second I thought he was attacking. Uncertainty does that to you.
The weapon flew through the air.
Maki caught it cleanly.
Playful Cloud. A three-section staff, quite like a nunchuck. I registered that and then ignored it.
False alarm.
Then the boy exhaled slowly and the shadowy domain around him began to collapse.
Smart.
Because I could see if he hadn't done that, then it would have happened sooner or later—grinding both my and Dagon's domains.
He must have realized the same thing Maki had shouted. Three domains colliding in the same space would only destabilize everything. The balance was already fragile.
He was about to move.
About to rush forward and join Naobito and Nanami.
But something else slipped through.
It came from the boy's fading domain.
At first I thought it was just another shadow.
Then it stepped forward.
A man. A tall and very muscular man. And by what little I had learned about cursed energy so far, I couldn't sense him at all. Maki was quite similar, but I could sense her, albeit with difficulty. This one though—I couldn't sense his presence with cursed energy, period.
Like he had no cursed energy.
'Is he a friend or a foe?'
For half a second no one moved.
Then the man moved.
Fast. So fast in fact that he almost felt like he was teleporting. Much like how Naobito does, but in his case it's still possible to tell where he is going by his CE. Here though, there was nothing to track the man with.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't ask questions. Didn't even glance at the rest of us.
He went straight for the Special Grade Curse Spirit.
The curse barely had time to react before the man appeared in front of it like a ghost breaking through space itself.
Both Naobito and Nanami were stunned at the sudden arrival of someone they couldn't sense. Both paused in their tracks.
His fist crashed into Dagon's face.
The impact was monstrous.
Dagon's entire body folded from the force before being blasted backward across the shallow ocean of its own domain.
As soon as Dagon went airborne, my domain felt like the restriction around it was lightening.
'Oh, what the hell...'
I didn't know the man, didn't know whether he was friend or foe, but he was beating the curse, so for now he was with us.
My grin spread wide across my face, knowing this was my golden opportunity. I pushed my domain against Dagon's wavering domain which started to break apart when Dagon wasn't actively holding it together.
The curse screamed in fury, tentacles exploding outward.
The man didn't even flinch.
He simply tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing at Dagon like a predator finally finding something worth hunting.
And before anyone could respond—
He attacked again.
And above them, the sunny sky got covered by darkness.
Another hit from the man to that spirit and his domain was gone.
My domain had finally completely overshadowed the area and was fully established.
And now, the sure-hit.
"Death Trade..."
Dagon, including everyone's presence inside the domain except the man who I couldn't sense and who most likely wasn't under the sure-hit effect of my domain, suddenly felt their minds enlightened by knowledge.
Knowledge of the trade I had set up.
"I shall take no part inside this domain, and in return, you trade away your cursed technique. No more cursed technique."
It was a hastily made and very unrefined trade. However, by putting myself out of the fight altogether, it made the trade worth it, since the balance of the trade was more than enough to justify it.
Why?
Because inside the domain, anyone could attack me and I could die, while I couldn't fight back. I had risked my life in order to take away the curse spirit's cursed technique.
What I didn't think through was that besides Dagon, everyone else also lost their technique at the same time.
Nanami felt his CE. It was there, but suddenly he could no longer see the ratios of his technique.
Naobito couldn't manifest frames either, and so was Megumi, who could no longer summon shikigami or manipulate shadows.
"What is this cursed technique?" Nanami muttered with a baffled look on his face.
"It's the sure-hit effect of that guy. He took away our techniques… what kind of technique does he have?" Megumi felt like his very understanding of jujutsu knowledge was being challenged. What kind of technique was that? A technique that locks away others' techniques?
"YOU BRAT!" Naobito was the first one to snap out of the shock. He roared, in fact. "Think before you use your technique! We are inside the sure-hit effect of the domain as well! How else are we going to fight that special grade without our techniques?!"
Maki might have been the only one who was completely unaffected. If anything, this brought the ball right into her park. This domain was quite suitable for her.
The worst affected was Dagon though, because he was currently facing that man who, surprisingly, without having any cursed energy signature, was beating the shit out of a special grade curse spirit.
And now, Dagon couldn't even use his technique.
Needless to say—
He was cooked.