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Golden lights flashed, lighting up the dark sky. The air rang with the sound of treasures clashing. Countless weapons shot out like a heavy rain, moving so fast they broke the sound barrier, making the air boom and almost tearing space apart.
Facing such a fierce attack, Sukuna's face turned serious for the first time. His immense cursed energy boiled around him, swirling like flames. With each movement of his dark, slender fingers, it was like a storm breaking out, shattering and sweeping away countless Noble Phantasms with sharp clashes.
"If that's not enough, then here's more," Yuto said, crossing his arms with a blank face. He opened the Gate of Babylon again, and golden ripples spread across the sky like a chain reaction, filling the air.
Both in quantity and quality, the King's Treasury was more than enough to overwhelm Sukuna.
"Damn it!!!"
Under this relentless bombardment, the sky turned a dazzling white in an instant. The terrifying power erupted, turning night into day.
Sukuna, caught in the storm, was covered in blood. He couldn't withstand Yuto's rain of treasures any longer. Countless wounds appeared on his body as the endless Noble Phantasms cut into him without mercy.
Dark blood mixed with the storm, spinning fast, creating a cutting force strong enough to slice through steel.
If Sukuna hadn't reinforced his body with cursed energy in time, he would have been torn to pieces by now.
"Not bad, kid."
At that moment, Sukuna's eyes glowed redder, ignoring his battered body. Instead, he swung multiple slashes toward Yuto, who stood in the air.
This time, he used ninety percent of his cursed energy, trying to break through the torrent of Noble Phantasms and escape.
"Hmph, trying to run?"
Yuto snorted coldly and projected a black Western bow. He casually took a Noble Phantasm from the Gate of Babylon and nocked it on the bowstring.
"Get down here!"
Swish!
As the red dragon heart in his chest pulsed, the blood in his body heated up fast. The dragon blood factor, as active as boiling water, turned a large amount of life force into mana, quickly bringing him to peak condition.
With this power, the giant arrow, shaped like a spear, shot out in a twisted path that defied physics, heading straight for Sukuna in the air.
The speed was shocking, hitting the King of Curses almost instantly.
Intense energy waves twisted the surrounding space, and the raging storm seemed to rip the void apart.
"Kid, you dare—!"
Sukuna's face showed shock. For the first time, he felt threatened. He tried to use all his cursed energy to escape but couldn't defend in time as the exploding Noble Phantasm struck him.
Bang!
Amid the flying debris and dust storm, Yuto's fist, charged with cursed energy, suddenly struck the fiery arrow rushing through the smoke.
A thunderous boom echoed, causing the surroundings to crack bit by bit. The shockwave from the blast swept everything around chaotically, filling the air with howling winds.
[Technique Release: Open!]
This was another of Sukuna's techniques besides his slashes. He gathered raging flames between his hands, forming a large bow of fire.
Its power was enough to instantly kill the volcano-headed curse, Jogo, and the incomplete Mahoraga, causing a massive explosion.
When the dust settled, the four-eyed man, covered in cracked wounds, awkwardly dispersed the burning bow in his hands.
At this moment, his chest was completely shattered, a bloody mess. His body was full of horrifying wounds, and dark red blood oozed out, quickly staining the ground red.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, and faintly, bits of shattered organs could be seen in it.
It was clear how badly he was hurt.
Sukuna's face darkened as he used the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his heavily wounded body.
He had been undefeated for a thousand years. In the past, sorcerers teamed up to challenge him but all failed. Even the famous sorcerer families' attack teams were easily wiped out by him.
No one could beat him. No one could face him and walk away unharmed.
But today, he was badly injured by a mere boy.
'That guy should be dead, right?'
He had ambushed him with the fiery bow, and the opponent didn't even have time to defend, hastily using his body to block.
Such careless actions made the King of Curses smirk.
"You are too young afterall."
He was confident in that attack.
As his cursed energy flowed, his injuries healed quickly, visible to the naked eye.
But then, a voice from the ruins changed his expression.
"Not bad."
The unharmed boy calmly walked out of the smoke, making Sukuna's face turn cold.
"Kid, you do have some skills."
"I admit, I underestimated you this time… Next, I won't hold back at all."
With that, the King of Curses grew deadly serious.
He extended both hands and formed a mudra like that of Yamantaka in Buddhist teachings.
"Domain Expansion!"
A low voice came from Sukuna, making Yuto's eyes narrow.
Massive cursed energy pulsed, twisting the surrounding space.
In the next second, an astonishing scene spread out like an invasion, quickly expanding in all directions.
This was the innate domain that made the King of Curses famous a thousand years ago.
"Malevolent Shrine!"
The crimson sky swiftly overtook the real world, painting everything in sight red.
A huge shrine rose slowly from the reflection of the world, which looked like a water surface. Above was an endless crimson blood mist, and below was a clear reflection like water.
The shrine, shaped like a small palace, stood on the rippling water reflection, its look deeply unsettling. Countless eerie skeletal remains hung like a base, covering the bottom layer. Rather than a shrine, it felt more like a demonic altar.
Being in such a domain was like standing in hell.
Yuto looked around, his eyes flickering slightly, but he stayed calm.
"Kid, you're pretty bold."
"Ordinary people who fall into my 'Malevolent Shrine' are all terrified, hopeless… I've seen countless begging for mercy. Aren't you afraid of me at all?"
Sukuna's lips curled into a fierce grin, letting out a heavy killing intent.
It felt like a crushing pressure, as if surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, wrapped in an endless bloody aura.
But Yuto just shrugged, looking bored.
"Does an elephant care about an ant's taunts?"
"Arrogant!"
Faced with the boy's bold words, Sukuna laughed in anger and vowed to kill him.
"Today, you will only die here."
As soon as he spoke, countless spatial slashes fell upon Yuto. It was an endless number of slashes!
Like a storm!
Like a tidal wave!
Almost without limit!
The slashing technique was clearly Sukuna's best skill.
Even without a weapon or tool, he could release invisible slashes with a wave of his hand. It was a pure technique, made only for killing.
And now, with his domain active, using the innate technique within it, he could cut anything with cursed energy, living or not into pieces without having a chance to escape.
That was the terror of the [Malevolent Shrine].
Even worse, within this domain, the endless slashes grew stronger and stayed perfectly accurate.
Yuto had not only hurt him in the earlier fight but also deeply shamed him. Now, Sukuna only wanted this cocky brat to suffer a miserable death.
But he didn't notice that as his slashes came down, a glowing light suddenly appeared around Yuto.
"How is this possible?"
Sukuna, catching on, stared in shock. Despite the nonstop slashes, Yuto was completely unharmed.
Clang!
Suddenly, floating silver shields appeared, like a solid wall, blocking attacks from all sides.
Amid the clear sounds of impact, Yuto calmly reached into the golden ripples and grabbed something.
In the next second, with a thought, these small shields snapped together, forming a diamond-shaped shield as tall as a person.
Its surface was covered with countless detailed and beautiful golden patterns, striking to look at.
The Shield of Aigis!
One of the most famous shields in Greek mythology, tied to Zeus and Athena.
It didn't look like an ancient treasure; its silver material had a modern, almost sci-fi feel.
It has automatic defense, shape-shifting, and force redirection.
This Noble Phantasm was currently the strongest defensive item in Yuto's King's Treasury.
Even from Gilgamesh's three-command state, it was more than enough to block Sukuna's slashes.
"Shield of Aigis, armor form!"
Under Sukuna's heavy gaze, the large diamond shield shifted like armor, quickly changing in mid-air.
While blocking the flood of slashes, it swiftly covered the boy in a thick layer of silver armor.
Click, click, click!
The sound of parts locking together rang out.
Yuto, now in silver armor, stepped forward and looked at the King of Curses with a faint smile.
In the next moment, his figure vanished from the spot. Even in such heavy armor, his speed was so fast that Sukuna couldn't follow.
Boom!
"Kid, you!"
Sukuna, who had jumped to dodge the punch, had red light flashing in his eyes.
But Yuto ignored him and sped up again.
Bang!
A punch full of cursed energy hit the King of Curses' back, the stunning force sending him flying toward the ground.
With a series of shockwaves rippling out, Sukuna didn't even have time to react before he was slammed into the ground like a cannonball. He crashed into the water reflection, splashing countless waves of blood.
Swish!
But before the splashes settled, Yuto appeared again where he landed, standing in mid-air, raising his leg high and bringing it down like an axe.
Bang!
The booming sound echoed again.
The water blasted outward, making waves like the sea.
Sukuna couldn't block in time and could only raise his hands, getting stomped into the ground by Yuto.
"Splash."
Blood water fell like rain, covering both of them.
"Is that all you've got?"
Yuto spoke calmly, his tone flat, as if facing something insignificant. His footprint landed on the four-eyed man's face, leaving a mark of shame.
"Kid, you're asking for it!" Faced with such an insult, Sukuna was furious. He quickly raised his fists, blocking another heavy kick from Yuto.
In the next moment, both vanished from the spot.
Boom!
Above the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, two figures appeared, cursed energy flowing around them as they traded punches, their fists crashing together.
Terrifying shockwaves spread from their fists, making the water below surge again.
Black flashes burst from their attacks freely. Sukuna slyly mixed slashes into his punches, coming from all angles, sometimes from Yuto's blind spots, cutting his body again and again.
But with the Shield of Aigis' incredible defense, no matter how many slashes he threw, they did nothing to Yuto.
This made Sukuna's face grow uglier.
Bang!
When Yuto's fist landed on Sukuna for the umpteenth time, he finally flew back, crashing to the ground and splashing a large wave of blood water.
"This jerk!" Sukuna wiped the blood from his mouth with his fist.
While using the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his wounds, his face turned grim.
"What do I do? My slashes can't break his armor."
In this moment, the King of Curses, who had always been unbeatable, felt powerless for the first time. He, who always killed with his overwhelming technique, thought no defense could stop him.
But facing Yuto with the Shield of Aigis, he finally felt fear.
This boy didn't just outmatch him in physical skill; his strange and unpredictable abilities were beyond anything he'd seen, almost too strong to be human.
At this moment, Sukuna's heart filled with dread.
This person…no, this monster couldn't be stopped or beaten.
"Wait, kid, let's stop!"
The King of Curses finally didn't want to fight anymore.
"Can we make peace?"
"Yuto, you've earned my respect. I, Sukuna, am willing to call you the strongest!"
"Your respect means nothing," Yuto sneered, brushing off his offer. "Today, you will only die here."
He threw Sukuna's own words back at him.
And at that moment, in the boy's hand, unnoticed, was a golden object that looked like a sword hilt.
But attached to it was not a blade, but a golden key like a chip.
"Before you die, let me show you what true world-destroying power is!"
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