Crack…
The domain clash finally ended after a painful minute or so of brutal survival.
Both domains shattered at once, and the pressure vanished—and then came the impact.
I didn't even realize I was flying until my back slammed into the ground outside the domain's boundary. Beside me fell Maki, though a tad bit more gracefully; the girl had at least landed on her feet.
I felt like I broke almost every fiber inside me against that monster. Why the hell is a special grade so powerful?
Everything hurt.
Burns stung across my arms and side, my clothes half-charred and sticking to my skin. My breathing was uneven, each inhale dragging heat into my chest. It felt like the entire respiratory tract inside me had been burned to a char.
"You… cough… cough… okay?" I asked Maki, and to my slight jealousy, she was indeed looking much better than I. Her body was more durable than I had anticipated.
But we were alive, and for that I was glad.
"Yeah, so what's your plan? Now that we are out, tell me." Maki nodded and asked, eyes still on Jogo, who too had gotten out—but unlike us, who were punched out by him, he calmly stood there like he owned the place.
He was mostly unharmed; even the minor damage Maki and I delivered healed up in a matter of seconds. Didn't even know curse spirits had super healing.
I forced myself to stand, legs shaking slightly, but I poured more CE to reinforce myself. Between the fighting, I had figured out how to do that with much more efficiency.
I observed him for a few seconds before answering Maki.
"Cooldown."
"What?" she asked, confused.
"After a domain use, a sorcerer's technique goes on cooldown. Could be seconds, could be minutes. During this time, we can't use our cursed technique. I assume it's similar for curse spirits as well.
I can't use my domain for a while, and he most likely can't use his fire-based technique either. This is our chance—we have to take him out before he recovers his technique," I explained.
Maki blinked. Looked at me, then at the curse spirit, then back at me.
"I understand." She nodded. Maki didn't know that something like this exist. Honestly, how many did she know in Jujutsu High or in the Zenin clan who had a domain, let alone someone who would explain this to her?
Only one—and that idiot had himself sealed by this lot. Maki's earlier scowl turned into a feral grin. That fire was a pain in her ass until now; if not for my water technique, both of us would have been done for by now.
If that fire technique was out of the equation then…
"We can jump him," she muttered.
I nodded. "Together…"
We moved at the same time.
She rushed him head-on, naginata already mid-swing. I followed a step behind, CE reinforcement tightening around me. I was getting better at this cursed energy business during the fight.
But when it came to fighting itself—I sucked. I could only amateurishly throw punches and kicks with reinforcement. That was the limit of my current offensive capabilities.
Jogo moved at the exact same time we did—almost twice as fast as us, covering more distance than we could, launching himself toward us.
Maki's strike came down with enough force to crush bone.
Human bones, mind you. Not spirit bones. Definitely not special grade bones.
Jogo raised his arm and blocked it.
The impact cracked the ground beneath them. It was almost terrifying how physically gifted the girl was—I was almost envious—but still, Jogo's stance didn't break.
I came in from the side.
My punch landed against his ribs.
It felt like hitting solid rock. However, the impact wasn't fruitless. Jogo was pushed two steps back by it.
Jogo turned his head slightly, his eye locking onto me. That big eye honed onto me like a predator finally spotting its target.
His logic was on point—the woman had almost no cursed energy. The real threat in this fight was the man. But the woman was annoying. Kill her first and remove the annoyance. Kill the man who killed Dagon next and the match ends anyway. Both options worked for him.
However, that all sounded good in theory. In practice, he found it particularly annoying how hard we were turning out to be to kill.
His hand shot out and grabbed my face. Pain exploded as he slammed me into the ground. Spiderweb cracks formed where I hit, my vision blacking out for a few blinks from the impact.
If not for my improved reinforcement, my head would have been crushed completely.
Before he could follow up, Maki struck again—this time aiming for his neck.
Jogo twisted, releasing me just in time to catch the weapon again. His other hand drove forward, slamming into Maki's stomach and sending her skidding back.
He really didn't need his technique to beat the shit out of us.
My eyes locked onto Maki's naginata in Jogo's hand, and my body moved on instinct. Cursed energy surged up, and I swung a kick, which the curse spirit totally saw coming. He jumped just in time to avoid it, but that was enough for me to grab onto the long weapon's handle in his grip. Using it as leverage, I pulled myself up and headbutted Jogo hard.
Now, I understood—even without flames, his strength, speed, and durability were overwhelming.
But what the f*ck, his head was so damn sturdy. The stars I saw a few seconds prior came rushing back, filling my vision.
It was only a testament to how hard I delivered that headbutt that even Jogo was clutching his head, forced to let go of the naginata and step back three steps.
"You annoying damn human," he growled.
A fist was already coming my way. I happened to have a weapon in hand, so I used the only thing I had as a shield.
With a sickening crack, the wooden handle of the naginata snapped into two. The punch continued and hit me with reduced force—but still enough to throw me five steps back.
Just as another attack was reaching for me, it was suddenly intercepted by Maki, who appeared out of nowhere.
"Give me that," she shouted without looking, and I knew what she wanted. I just threw her the broken weapon.
"Once this is over, you're paying for this."
Seriously, she cared about that in the middle of something like this?
I honestly felt there was something wrong with this girl's brain. Or were all jujutsu sorcerers like her?
"Quit lying around and help me," Maki grunted, fighting off Jogo's relentless assaults with her broken weapon. Had to say—even with a broken weapon, she used it like a master. How old is she to master weapons like this?
I got up, struggling with acute pain in my chest, but forced my body anyway and rushed at Jogo again.
We adjusted mid-battle—no plans, no words, just pure instinct to survive.
Maki moved first—and I followed. Just like earlier.
Though "followed" might have been misleading, I was moving, yes, but it was she who moved me. Literally dragged me to match her speed.
Jogo stepped in again, aiming straight for me. I barely raised my guard with reinforcement snapping into place before Maki intercepted, slipping into his range and deflecting the strike with her forearm.
"Don't think—move," she snapped.
I did. At least, I tried.
Jogo's next hit would've taken my head off—but Maki grabbed the back of my collar and yanked me out of the way like I weighed nothing.
"I said move, don't think!"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
She shoved me forward immediately after.
I stumbled—and my fist crashed into Jogo's side. The girl was using me like a humanoid weapon.
It worked though, and that's why I wasn't complaining.
Cursed energy surged through the impact, forcing him a step back. I pursed my lips—the damage was there, but he healed almost instantly. This won't do.
Not even a moment later, Maki yanked me back again.
I saw her face only inches away from me, as our body almost connected before she use the turning and earlier pull as a leverage and shot her own body forwards.
I barely retained my balance while she engaged Jogo once more, drawing his attention, controlling the space while I covered for attacks she couldn't handle—until she threw me in once more.
I get it—I was the only one doing damage between the two of us. But if it was just me, I would never land a hit. She was creating openings for me. I respected that, but which man would be happy being manhandled like a toddler?
But, since Maki took the battlefield command, we were doing much better. Can't argue with that.
Every time Jogo shifted his focus to me, she was already there—striking, redirecting, forcing his movements just enough to create an opening.
I never hesitated to attack—I just couldn't figure out when she wanted me to attack. Which was the correct opening? How was I supposed to know that? I wasn't a fighter like her.
It was chaos, but that's why we were surviving. If I didn't know when I was attacking, then how the hell was that volcano freaks supposed to figure it out?
A full-on throw sent me flying straight at Jogo with just enough alignment to land a hit.
And I learned as well—timely covering for her when she couldn't handle constant exposure to Jogo's strikes.
And midway, when I was moving to attack again, Jogo seemed to intentionally take the hit from me, catching me off guard. He grabbed me and, much like Maki, yanked me away—his hand going straight toward Maki's broken weapon.
He caught the broken shaft of her naginata. Before she could react, he snapped off the jagged blade still attached to it.
My stomach dropped.
When he kicked her away and turned toward me, weapon in hand—without his technique, that weapon was the next best thing he had to kill.
I was mid-step. Off-balance. Completely open.
The broken blade drove forward, aimed straight for my abdomen. Instincts kicked in and I forced my reinforcement as high as I could—but that wouldn't be enough to tank a naginata blade aimed at my abdomen.
Just when I started to see the light, a hand forcefully grabbed my shoulder and violently yanked me sideways.
The blade missed me by mere inches—
And sank deep into Maki instead.
Right into her abdomen.
My eyes widened in horror.
"MAKI"
xXx
A/N : Are you guys liking the story so far, tell me where I can improve. Would love to know what you guys think about the story so far.
I am planning to put extra chapter on Patreon soon.