Chapter 20: Thunder Breathing, Burning Lightning
"Womb of Death."
The moment those syllables fell, the space around them was rewritten.
The corridor vanished.
In its place rose an obscene world of dark red flesh, writhing tentacles, and pulsing walls that looked as though they had been torn straight out of a living body.
Death.
Never before had that word appeared so clearly in everyone's mind.
Pfft!
There was no time to think.
The instant the Domain finished taking shape, the Divine Dog Megumi had just summoned exploded into a burst of blood mist.
"Nue!"
Megumi tried to force his hands into another sign.
But the pressure inside the Domain slammed down on him like a mountain. His body was driven to the ground, bones creaking, muscles screaming. Every connection to his shikigami snapped at once.
"Megumi!"
Nobara cried out in alarm.
But before she could even fully turn, an invisible slash had already reached her throat.
"Watch out!"
Yuji moved on instinct.
He lunged forward and threw himself in front of her.
Swish!
Blood sprayed.
A severed hand spun high through the air.
"AAAAAGH!"
Yuji dropped to his knees with a choked scream, clutching the stump of his left arm. Half his forearm had been cleanly severed.
To save Nobara, he had taken the hit in her place.
"Yuji! Nobara! Megumi!"
Yami roared.
Shiranui exploded into motion, flames surging along the blade like a fire dragon as he slashed at the incoming cursed energy.
Clang!!!
A deafening impact shook the Domain.
Then the recoil hit.
Yami was hurled away like a cannon shell and crashed hard into the edge of the barrier.
"Cough...!"
Blood splashed from his lips.
His right hand trembled violently around the hilt. The flesh at the base of his thumb had split open, and blood ran down the grip in thin streams.
Too strong.
So this was a real Special Grade inside its completed Domain.
Within this space, every attack was guaranteed to hit, and every strike had been raised to a higher level. Even with Total Concentration Breathing pushed to its limit, even with his sharpened senses barely catching a trace of the cursed energy's path, he could do no more than see it.
He could not stop it.
This was true despair.
It was not a matter of struggling harder.
Inside this Domain, resistance itself felt like a luxury.
They were no more than fish on a chopping block.
The Special Grade laughed in delight.
It raised one hand.
All the cursed energy in the Domain began converging overhead, forming a massive black sphere that hung above them like a newborn black hole.
Once it fell, there would be nothing left.
Move. Move faster.
Yami gritted his teeth and stared up at the descending sphere.
This was a sure kill attack.
There was only one way to break it.
Be faster.
Faster than the attack.
Faster than the Domain itself.
[Ding! Host detected facing a certain death situation!]
[Mission "Break Through Despair" reward issued in advance!]
[Role playing progress +5%! Current progress: 10%!]
[Congratulations, host. Random breathing branch unlocked: Thunder Breathing!]
The instant the system's voice rang out, Yami moved.
There was no need to think.
No time to adapt.
The violent power of lightning flooded through his body in a single surge, transforming him into a streak of gold.
Inhale.
Draw.
Move.
Everything happened in less than the blink of an eye.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."
The black sphere dropped.
The last crack in the closing Domain was right in front of them.
All Megumi saw was a blinding burst of scorching lightning erupt from Yami's body.
"Thunderclap and Flash!"
Boom!!!
A golden bolt of blazing electricity tore through the darkness.
It was not merely fast.
It carried the heat of Sun Breathing with it, so intense that the air itself ignited along its path.
Too fast.
Far too fast for thought to follow.
Before any of them could even understand what had happened, a tremendous force struck all three square in the chest.
"Go!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara all felt their bodies become weightless.
It was not an attack.
It was rescue.
In the final instant before the Domain sealed completely, Yami had blasted all three of them through the last opening and out to safety.
"Cough! Cough!"
Yuji hit the ground outside hard, then forced himself upright, ignoring the agony from his severed arm.
His eyes immediately darted forward.
"Yami!!!"
At the last moment before the barrier closed, the three of them saw him.
Yami stood alone inside the Domain.
His uniform was torn and stained, but Shiranui remained steady in his hand.
Golden lightning and crimson flame coiled around him together, making him look like a war god abandoned by heaven but still refusing to fall.
He glanced back at them once.
His expression was unreadable.
"Don't come in."
His voice passed through the barrier, low and charged, carrying the faint crackle of electricity.
"From here on..."
Buzz.
The Domain sealed shut.
Yami and the Special Grade were trapped inside together.
"Yami!!!"
Yuji rushed the barrier like a madman and slammed his remaining fist against it over and over.
It did not move.
The black barrier stood there like a wall between worlds.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Yuji fell to his knees, blood pouring down from the stump of his arm.
"Why..."
His whole body shook.
"Why am I so weak?!"
"My grandpa... he wanted me to die surrounded by people someday..."
His voice broke.
"Not to stand here and watch my friends go die in my place!"
Negative emotions drowned out reason.
And in that moment, a deep, evil, irresistibly seductive voice echoed from within him.
"Want to save him?"
"Want to kill everything here?"
The voice curled through his mind like poison.
"Give me your body... and I'll do it for you."
Yuji's body froze.
Ryomen Sukuna.
...
Inside the Domain.
The Special Grade tilted its head and looked at the human who had chosen not to flee.
It could feel it.
This human had reached his limit.
That last burst of speed had drained nearly everything he had left, all for the sake of throwing the others out.
As for himself...
His bones were groaning from the recoil.
Blood dripped from his split hands and ran down over the hilt of Shiranui.
There was nowhere left to run.
Or rather
He had never intended to leave alive.
Yami slowly forced himself upright, each breath dragging fire through his lungs.
Shiranui had turned fully crimson in his grasp.
It was not merely heat anymore.
It was proof.
Proof that Sun Breathing had been driven to its limit.
Proof that he was now burning his own life.
"Run away?"
Yami seemed to read the curse's thoughts.
A cold smile touched his lips.
Sizzle.
Scorching golden lightning erupted once more beneath his feet.
He raised the sword slowly, steadily, until the tip pointed directly at the Special Grade's brow.
"At the very least..."
His voice was hoarse.
But absolute.
"I'm taking you with me."
.....
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