Darkness exploded outward from beneath my feet while Yuta's cursed energy surged from the opposite side like a tidal wave.
For a brief moment, the world around us ceased to exist as both domains collided.
'So he does have a domain…' I couldn't help but click my tongue at this, and here I was hoping that he didn't.
That surely would have made the situation easier for me.
'Tsk… but he had to have a domain.' I once again sighed as both of our domains collided midway. The impact alone sent shockwaves through the surrounding environment as two completed domains fought for supremacy.
Yuta's domain manifested first within my vision.
Countless swords stretched across the landscape in every direction like an endless graveyard of blades. The ground itself resembled a burial site for warriors long forgotten, each weapon embedded into the earth while an oppressive amount of cursed energy lingered around every single one.
It was a bit more visually appealing when compared to my own domain, which was mostly made of darkness that swallowed everything.
The ground vanished beneath an endless black sea while behind me stood the giant cross that served as the centerpiece of my domain.
And nailed upon that cross was Mahoraga. The cornerstone of my confidence that I could win this fight.
Yuta's eyes immediately narrowed and locked onto the cross behind me. It was exactly like my own gaze, trying to analyze his domain, from aesthetics to theme, and trying to figure out its weaknesses.
I could tell he was studying the giant shikigami behind me.
And it seemed I was lucky. Mahoraga wasn't exactly famous outside very specific circles. It being the crown jewel of one of the three big clans' inherited techniques, knowledge about Mahoraga and the Ten Shadows in general, while accessible to higher circles like the higher-ups, wasn't known to ordinary sorcerers.
Of course, Gojo could have explained it to Yuta, or Maki for that matter, but by the way he was observing the cross behind me, I doubted he recognized Mahoraga. Or knew about his powers for that matter.
He definitely recognized the danger though. Mahoraga had that kind of aura around him.
But not the exact nature of that danger. And that was my advantage.
At first, neither domain gained ground. The collision reached a complete stalemate just as I thought.
Just as expected, Yuta's domain was refined, not so much that it could brute-force most domains like how Gojo did with Jogo, but his domain was refined enough.
His basics were excellent, and even when his experience regarding using domains wasn't as much as mine, he was holding on through sheer talent alone.
However…
Just seconds after our domains collided, the situation became evident. While at first they looked equal in refinement and cursed energy distribution, soon his domain started to shake.
Vibrations of instability rippled out across his domain. It wasn't so much that my 'Death Trade' could push Yuta's domain back, however, it explained much about Yuta's domain's current refinement.
And that was when my eyes snapped onto him, my mind recognizing exactly why this was happening.
"This is the first time you're facing someone in a domain clash, isn't it?" I asked, a bit of amusement spreading across my face when I figured out why his domain was shaking like this.
'Wasn't I the same back then when I clashed against Dagon's domain for the first time?' I couldn't help but feel a bit amused at that.
Yuta didn't answer my jab. If anything, he looked completely nonchalant about his own shaking domain.
"So, this is a domain-based technique. Interesting." Yuta instead commented on my own technique.
And that kind of answered me as well. It wasn't just his domain that was unrefined. If anything, it was more or less accurate in terms of refinement. It was my domain that was better, partly because of how many times I had used and refined it.
Not to mention, my entire technique was domain-based, and non-lethal domains by their very nature were more refined.
To my surprise, he didn't attack immediately unlike what I thought he would be doing until now. Instead, he gave himself time to observe the domain clash itself, like he was trying to learn from it.
And before I knew it, the shaking of his domain lessened.
'Yuta, he is a genius alright.' I cursed under my breath with a sigh.
My darkness pushed against his graveyard.
His graveyard pushed against my darkness.
Neither side yielded. And the small gap in refinement was quickly being fixed under Yuta's slight adjustments.
I felt it immediately when he started making changes to the domain.
And I just stood there, letting him.
Because him not attacking and wasting time was helping me more than the other way around.
And just as our domains started to reach complete equilibrium, to the point where they were mostly equal, a sound resounded through the separated space of the clashing domains.
A single metallic rotation.
Yuta's eyes immediately moved to the wheel above Mahoraga's head that had turned.
For a second or two, he just stood there, wondering what that was. Did I do something, or was it the shikigami?
Until everything changed.
Cursed energy rippled out, and the next second his domain, which had mostly stabilized, was forcefully thrown back. The entire space of his domain rippled, and his barrier gave out a shuddering shock that almost gave him a physical jolt.
The darkness pressing against Yuta's domain suddenly surged forward, overtaking the boundary of the domain rather violently.
"What!" Yuta's expression changed instantly. For the first time, that calm and collected look on his face shattered into panic.
Then his graveyard of swords and love trembled the more my darkness advanced.
His domain began losing ground.
Fast.
Far too fast, and he wasn't comfortable enough to keep his nonchalant attitude anymore.
His hands snapped into his domain hand signs again, trying to stabilise his rapidly collapsing domain, and his eyes were now glaring at Mahoraga behind me.
I wasn't sure how much he understood, but Yuta reached the correct conclusion almost immediately.
Unfortunately for him, understanding the problem and solving the problem were two very different things.
The pressure on his domain intensified almost instantly as Mahoraga completed his first adaptation.
I'm certain the next adaptation would completely collapse his domain, while it would also permanently improve my domain as well.
Cracks began appearing throughout the landscape of swords.
Yuta immediately tried to reinforce his domain manually. His cursed energy surged violently as he attempted to stabilize the collapsing structure; however, it was for naught.
Handling minor refinement adjustments during a domain clash is different from facing a domain that is technically in a completely different class of refinement compared to yours.
The collapse did slow down though, but it was just a preventive measure.
A delaying tactic more than anything, like using a Simple Domain against a complete full-fledged one to buy some time.
The collapse itself did not stop.
And that was when Yuta finally was forced to move.
There was no winning the domain clash anymore, even he was certain of that, and he wasn't sure how the boy in front of him did what he did.
But there was another way to win.
To damage the opponent to the point that his domain collapsed first.
"Rika!"
He shouted. No exact command was needed.
She knew what to do.
The cursed spirit reacted instantly. Without hesitation, she charged directly toward me.
My eyes narrowed while my body tensed up, knowing I had to hold out until Mahoraga was done.
"Ah, damn it. Come."
Instead of just waiting for her to come while Yuta reduced his domain's collapsing rate, I rushed toward her myself.
"If fighting is the only way out, then damn it, I'm gonna beat the shit out of you." I shouted and rushed.
Well, unfortunately or fortunately for me, my newly gained resolve to fight for my life and the epic war declaration went almost wasted because just when both Rika and I were about to collide, that same sound resounded around us once again.
Click.
The wheel turned again, just before we came into contact, and the next second the adaptation was completed.
The effect was immediate. The darkness behind me surged forward like a tidal wave and Yuta's domain shuddered, but this time instead of holding up like earlier, it gave out.
The swords embedded throughout his domain began breaking apart one after another.
Yuta's eyes widened. The technique backlash from one's domain breaking told him that there was no saving his domain anymore.
His cursed energy flared.
He still fought back.
But all of that was for nothing.
His domain's barrier shattered away under Mahoraga's recently adapted adjustments, and my domain finally took over.
And that was the fortunate part, the unfortunate part which I mentioned was that Rika was still rushing towards me and the punch connected when I got distracted by the earlier shift in domain dominance.
I felt like I got hit by a truck.
Pain rang out inside me, bones almost breaking, though due to the increased 120% cursed energy output from the domain's boost, I somehow tanked the blow with cursed energy reinforcement.
Though, I was still thrown back like a ragdoll, my body completely rattled from flesh to bone.
Yuta did experience the backlash of his domain breaking, while for him, this wasn't that big of a deal because he hardly lacked cursed energy after using his domain and the technique cooldown on his mind was minimal when Rika was manifested around him.
However…
Now he was inside my domain.
"First Trade… Limited Cursed Energy Pool, based on my current reserves."
Instantly, the atmosphere shifted inside the fully established domain. Yuta felt it immediately; his limitless cursed energy reserves from Rika were cut off, even his own reserves were sharply reduced to less than one fifth of his normal reserves.
"So that's what your technique does. An extreme case of force-imposed binding vows tied up in a domain."
Yuta was still Yuta, he immediately figured out what was going on.
He was half ready to open a Simple Domain to protect himself from the sure-hit effect of the domain, but that would leave him stationary, leaving the fighting only to Rika.
However, now knowing that the domain was indeed non-lethal, he decided against it. Fighting was a better option here.
His technique flared up, for the first time he was planning to use his real technique in the fight.
Yuta's technique was Copy.
He could copy others' techniques and use them by storing those techniques inside Rika. To use his technique, he had to manifest Rika and use the copied techniques through her.
I had no idea whether this Rika was different from the one I knew from JJK 0 or if it was the same one, nor was I certain that his technique worked in the same way as shown in the movie, and honestly I didn't care.
I had already figured out how to fight Okkotsu.
So just as snake markings manifested around Yuta's mouth, no doubt he was planning on using Inumaki's Cursed Speech as I recalled from the movie.
"Blast Away." He shouted.
However, I was just a tad bit faster.
"Second Trade, only one cursed technique is allowed, the one original to the individual."
And just like that, nothing happened.
Yuta was left there glaring at me with half confusion and half dread as his mind figured out what just happened.
His cursed technique was working, however, he was not able to use other cursed techniques.
"The original function of the technique is intact, however, using a copied technique is considered an entirely separate technique here." Yuta muttered to himself, and for the first time during the fight he was honestly thinking that he was in trouble.
The majority of his cursed energy was gone, he now only had a fraction of it, and he couldn't use his copied techniques.
"This guy… he is strong." Yuta slowly said to himself, now that he was on the back foot.
"However, I still have Rika, unless he makes another rule like one-on-one fighting, and following the logic of his domain, he most likely can't put an offensive rule against me. So it ultimately will come down to who can damage the other more, and by how much." He grumbled, and the next second his eyes sharpened at me.
Without any other words, he launched himself towards me like a bullet, Rika herself following the same idea as Yuta, they were planning on jumping me.
The two rushed me simultaneously.
Rika was much closer to me already and thus she closed the gap first, before I knew it, she was already on top of me, swinging that massive boulder-like arm of hers, planning to bury me in my own domain subspace.
Yuta was following just behind, planning to do a follow-up attack with Rika as soon as her strike connected, and even if it missed, he would be there to box me in. That was their go-to fighting style, a natural scenario to fight basically any cursed spirit or curse user, just jump them.
Rika's massive arm fell and I saw death approaching, that last strike still had me numb, if I tanked this one I'm surely breaking bones, forcing me to use RCT to heal, that would drop my output.
But...
I had no way out, dodging at this close range wasn't possible.
Irritated and panicked, my eyes flickered to Yuta who was closing the gap quickly before Rika's attack finally came crashing down.
Boom.
Even the domain's barrier rippled, that's how powerful her attack was, it swelled up the dark mist of the domain, and she was certain she hit the target once again. Happily, she lifted her hand to show Yuta she had captured the guy he wanted.
However, upon lifting her hand, she froze.
"Y-YUTA!" She let out a cry, and beneath her massive hand wasn't the boy who tricked her before but instead Yuta.
Plastered under her blow, blood running out of his head and looking half unconscious, Yuta himself didn't know what happened. One second he was running towards Rika and that boy and the next something hit his head with so much power that for a second or two everything blanked out.
His vision spun from the direct head injury, he was already forcing RCT through his body, especially his brain, to heal the lingering damage. His ears rang and blood poured out of his cracked head freely.
"Ah… it worked, who would have thought."
And that was when that voice attracted both of their attention. With much struggle Yuta opened his eyes and focused on the person, only to find that the boy was standing exactly where Yuta was earlier before he got hit.
Slowly, his mind pieced things together. Seeing Rika, who was supposed to be away from him, closer to that boy, attack him, and was now on top of him fussing about his injury.
"You…" Yuta's eyes widened.
"Oh, it seems like you figured it out. Tsk… I don't like strong characters, especially when they are smart." I grumbled. Though internally I myself was sweating bullets, half still in disbelief that it worked.
What I did was actually imitate Todo's technique. After witnessing it several times, I got the gist of it, and to my fortune, replicating it was actually possible, though only inside my domain.
The right terminology here should be that I was using the sure-hit effect of the domain and traded my place with Yuta's. Essentially swapping positions.
By the looks of it, it was clear that he understood what took place, and his face wasn't looking good by the way he was frowning hard.
I could practically hear him shouting inside his head, "Time for a change in strategy," because "I can't jump someone who is technically a Todo copy."
However, Rika couldn't care less about what he was thinking right now, for her, that boy had just done something which led her to harm her Yuta.
That was a complete "NO NO…" in her books.
Needless to say, she was pissed, if not for the Cursed Energy limit applied on her, she might have been boiling with cursed energy by now.
"YOU… YOU HARMED YUTA…" She roared, turning toward me with her deadly mouth showing her teeth and fangs.
Before Yuta could even say anything, the she-spirit was dashing in my direction with speed beyond anything she had yet shown in the fight.
It was honestly intimidating.
Yuta snapped out of his partial healing/numb state seeing her aiming at me.
"Rika, wait." He shouted, knowing what would follow if they attacked me mindlessly, however, the female curse was too enraged to hear anything.
In the blink of an eye she closed the distance and attacked me with everything she had.
Both her hands came crashing down on top of me and the next second I was gone, appearing exactly where Yuta was earlier. Already expecting an attack, but expecting and being ready were two different things.
Even when he had reinforced his body with cursed energy this time around, the blow from his yandere girlfriend still knocked him down to his knees, almost broke his hands and even cracked a few of the bones which the earlier attack had already damaged quite a bit.
One second he was barely able to stand back up on his feet and the next he was once again lying flat on his back, coughing blood out of his mouth.
"YUTA…" Rika too snapped out of her enraged state seeing Yuta's condition, she frantically cradled him while transferring the limited cursed energy she had so Yuta could use RCT.
"Man… that was close." I muttered while wiping the sweat accumulated on my brow after that close exchange. It could have been me lying flat there if I wasn't quick back there.
'I gotta thank Todo later for giving me this idea.'
My eyes never left Yuta or Rika though, it took seconds but he was already healing. I could feel both of their cursed energy levels had fallen from using RCT like that.
Reverse Cursed Technique was indeed a lifesaver, and a pain in the butt if an enemy had it too, but at the same time, it burned cursed energy like a sink.
"Come on… you guys ready yet? I haven't done half of what you did to Yuji. I only knew the guy for a week but let me tell ya. You're not getting out of this domain alive for what you did to Yuji, no matter who you are." I stated, and it wasn't me just saying it.
I really felt anger seeing Yuji's body go limp back there, I could only pray that Sukuna decided to intervene and act as plot armor for my boy, or else…
I shook my head, now wasn't the time to get distracted. I couldn't help him, but I could make this guy pay.
'Gojo once saved you, bastard… this is how you repay him, by attacking his other students.' I gritted my teeth and before they could move, I myself was rushing towards them.
Everything was out of pure instinct, I didn't plan the attack, I just found my body moving on its own.
"Ahhhhh… Come on here."
Yuta snapped up at my charge, stopping Rika, who was already planning to rush mindlessly.
"Rika… just follow my lead." Yuta shouted, not letting her go on her own.
"OKAY…!" Rika nodded.
Yuta somehow got up, finding his body already pretty healed up, and started his own charge towards me. Rika right behind him.
Both of us closed the distance, punches up in the air to slam them into each other's faces.
However, just as Yuta was near me, he changed direction instead of hitting me. He slid down, aiming for my legs, making me jump up at the last moment to avoid the low attack, only for me to come face to face with Rika, who was right behind him.
I saw once again a boulder-sized punch aimed right at me.
"Motherf*cker."
The moment that punch was about to land, I activated my technique and exchanged positions with Yuta again, appearing a little further away while forcing him into the exact location I had occupied moments ago. Under normal circumstances, that would have caused Rika's attack to crash directly into him, but Yuta had already anticipated the possibility. The instant our positions changed, he twisted his body and pulled his sword arm back while Rika halted her swing halfway through, narrowly avoiding another collision.
Before either of them could recover, I stepped forward and drove my fist into Yuta's ribs. The blow landed cleanly and forced him backward, but Rika was already reacting. She surged forward to intercept me, her massive arm swinging toward my head with enough force to cave in a building.
I switched positions again, this time trading places with her at the last possible moment. The result should have placed Yuta directly in the path of her attack, yet he adapted once more, throwing himself sideways before the punch could connect and avoiding what would have undoubtedly been another devastating hit.
'Man, he is fast at adapting….' I complained. That's almost like cheating. A broken technique, massive reserves, a pet special grade curse spirit who has the hots for him, and is also ridiculously talented!
How is that fair?
The battle quickly evolved into a constant exchange of predictions and counter-predictions. Every time Yuta attacked, he was already considering where I might move next. Every time Rika swung at me, she did so while accounting for the possibility that I would exchange positions with either of them. Unfortunately for them, predicting my next move was only half the battle, because I was making those decisions in real time.
At one point, Yuta lunged toward me with his sword while Rika closed in from behind, attempting to trap me between them. I switched places with Yuta and immediately found myself standing directly in front of Rika. However, rather than attacking, she deliberately stopped her punch and shifted her stance, expecting me to swap positions again.
The moment she hesitated, I took advantage of the opening, switching places with Yuta a second time and appearing behind him before driving my knee into his back. The impact staggered him forward directly into Rika's path, forcing both of them to abort their next attacks before they accidentally struck one another.
'Yeah. Mad respect for Todo for making this shit work, it's a mind strangler.' I grumbled. Making those real-time, high-speed decisions was like running at the edge of a knife. Way too stressful for me.
As the fight continued, the battlefield descended into complete chaos. Positions changed every few seconds, attacks were redirected midway through their execution, and openings that existed one moment disappeared the next. Yuta and Rika gradually improved their coordination, but every improvement forced me to become more creative with my own positioning. The fight stopped being a contest of strength and became a contest of adaptability, with all three of us constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the others.
The more it went on, the more I was starting to get tired. Those swaps are not free, you know. I too have a limit on my cursed energy.
And I was doing far less damage than I intended. This way, I was not taking down either of them.
"Alright, fine…" I backed off… huffing from the fast-paced fight I had just had, with both indignation and frustration.
Yuta narrowed his eyes.
"Giving up… I'm not gonna change my mind if you are thinking of getting out of this, you know. I'm here to kill you, that's not changing." Yuta stated plainly, while he too looked tired.
"What!"
"Giving up, me…"
"Nah..." I nonchalantly shook off the slander.
"I'll win."
xXx
A/N : Would you believe me if I say that the curse doesn't work and make you a kit kat as long as you don't say the cursed words in a same line.
Anyways.
Like the chapter, tell me in the comments.
Would appreciate stones if you can spare any. Thank you.
If you want to read up to 10+ Chapters in advance, check my Patreon on
Patreon.com/Kamidemond