Meanwhile, on Artoria and Akuro-Ō Ootake's battlefield.
Akuro-Ō Ootake was also completely suppressed by Artoria.
Clang, clang, clang!
The great axe and holy sword clashed again and again.
One nick after another appeared on the great axe.
Clang!
The holy sword and great axe collided once more.
This time, Akuro-Ō Ootake did not pull back his great axe.
Instead, he pressed down hard on the back of the axe with his left hand.
He wanted to crush the enemy before him with pure strength.
After all, in Akuro-Ō Ootake's understanding,
how could someone only half his height and less than one-sixth his size possibly compete with him in strength, a burly three-meter-tall man who radiated power?
However, the moment they began to wrestle for dominance, Akuro-Ō Ootake knew he was wrong.
And terribly wrong.
"Aaaah!"
Akuro-Ō Ootake roared in fury, his arms swelling continuously.
Yet even so, Akuro-Ō Ootake was still being suppressed by Artoria's strength.
He was even being pushed backward, his feet dragging two long marks across the ground.
Akuro-Ō Ootake felt as though he was not facing a petite young girl, but a Dragon.
Crack.
The first thing to give out was the great axe in Akuro-Ō Ootake's hand.
This axe, condensed from Cursed Energy, was clearly no match for the holy sword in Artoria's hand.
"Hmph!"
Artoria swung her holy sword, following through with the momentum.
The great axe in Akuro-Ō Ootake's hand immediately shattered.
Akuro-Ō Ootake retreated helplessly.
He narrowly dodged the holy sword aimed at his neck.
He could not understand why he would lose to Artoria in strength.
Tap.
Akuro-Ō Ootake planted his right foot on the ground, stabilizing his backward movement.
Then he dropped the great axe and threw a punch at Artoria.
Smack.
Under Akuro-Ō Ootake's stunned gaze,
Artoria switched from gripping her sword with both hands to only one.
She drew back her left hand and, reinforced by Mana Burst, firmly caught Akuro-Ō Ootake's incoming punch.
In the next second, Artoria pushed off the ground.
She leaped up and drove a punch into Akuro-Ō Ootake's chin.
Akuro-Ō Ootake's chin took the heavy blow, and his entire face instantly changed from round to square.
Then he flew out like a cannonball.
Boom, boom, boom.
Akuro-Ō Ootake was like a skipping stone.
He smashed into the ground again and again, then bounced back up.
That one punch sent Akuro-Ō Ootake flying more than a hundred meters away.
Artoria did not stop to wait. After confirming that Akuro-Ō Ootake had been sent flying,
and that the battered Panda behind her would no longer be affected by their battle, she immediately gave chase.
"Why does this feel like a loli beating up a perverted uncle?"
Panda, who had watched Artoria beat down Akuro-Ō Ootake up close, scratched his head.
Artoria's height might be fine in other worlds.
But in this world, it really was a little...
"Let's go meet up with Maki and the others first."
After confirming that Artoria did not need his help,
Panda dragged his broken body in the direction Maki and the others had gone.
Suddenly, a sharp surge of Cursed Energy behind him startled Panda.
He saw a pitch-black sphere suddenly appear where Artoria had previously been.
"Is this a Domain Expansion?"
Panda's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran toward the Domain.
He remembered that Artoria could not use Domain Expansion.
So Panda wanted to help Artoria break the Domain from the outside.
After all, a Domain primarily focused on trapping those inside.
Therefore, its external defenses were often not especially high.
Crack.
Crack, crack, crack.
However, before Panda could even reach the edge of the Domain, the Domain had already shattered.
Panda could vaguely see lingering dark clouds and lightning within the dissipating Domain.
It turned out that Akuro-Ō Ootake, who had been constantly suppressed by Artoria, had steeled himself and intended to make one final stand.
He wanted to turn the battle around with his trump card, Domain Expansion.
But Artoria was the one controlling the fight.
The rhythm of battle was also in Artoria's hands.
Therefore, when Akuro-Ō Ootake risked taking a blow and losing a knee in order to form the hand signs.
Artoria directly raised her holy sword and fired a Mana Burst beam.
The Domain expanded, and dark clouds mixed with lightning enveloped the two of them.
But the Domain had barely opened before it collapsed, unable to be maintained because of Akuro-Ō Ootake's severe injuries.
Artoria followed with two sword slashes, and the V-shaped blade light cut across Akuro-Ō Ootake's body.
After confirming that Akuro-Ō Ootake's aura had become extremely weak, as though it could dissipate at any moment, Artoria nodded in satisfaction.
"This should be enough."
'I wonder what kind of grand meal Suguru will offer in exchange this time...' she thought.
Artoria imagined the lavish meal Suguru would present to thank her, then turned to look at Panda.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Panda scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"This Cursed Spirit?"
Panda pointed at Akuro-Ō Ootake on the ground.
"Suguru will be here soon, so I'll leave it for his late-night snack."
"Oh."
Panda nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, where Maki and Mahoraga were,
Eichi had already begun treating Maki and Toge.
"You seem a little different from before."
Eichi keenly noticed the change in Maki's aura.
The old Maki had been like a sharp sword, able to wound others at any moment.
The current Maki was much more restrained.
"I saw it, what you talked about in class."
Maki reached out as if grasping something.
Eichi knew what Maki was referring to.
He had once told Maki ahead of time about the insight she would gain in the future.
He had not expected that in only a few months, Maki would truly achieve it.
"Congratulations."
Eichi smiled brightly.
Because he knew Maki had already stepped into Toji's realm.
And unlike Toji, who had become almost completely indifferent to everything around him.
Maki, who had neither lost her sister nor slaughtered her Family, could go even further.
"Thank you."
Maki returned a bright smile.
Next was Toge.
Toge's injuries were light. The main problem was concentrated in his throat.
It was the backlash from Cursed Speech.
"Inumaki, how is your Reverse Cursed Technique training going?"
"Tuna with mayonnaise."
Toge shook his head, indicating that he understood absolutely nothing.
He could not understand anything Shoko said, and she had even told him that he had no talent for it.
Satoru had offered to give him a free near-death experience, guaranteeing that he would grasp Reverse Cursed Technique. If it did not work the first time, they could try a second time.
After what happened with Mai's near-death experience, Satoru was completely confident.
But Toge did not know that, and the terrified Toge had frantically shaken his head to refuse.
"There is one other quick method, though."
Eichi stroked his chin and suddenly said this.
"Salmon roe!" (Thank you very much. Don't get too happy. Also showing determination.)
Toge immediately spoke up loudly, his tone a little agitated.
This crisis had made Toge fully understand his own limitations when facing powerful enemies.
He had even almost dragged his companions down with him, so Toge was very eager to learn Reverse Cursed Technique and be able to heal his throat at any time.
However, Eichi's next words filled his face with question marks.
At this moment, Toge completely understood the meaning of the phrase often said by his seniors at Tokyo Jujutsu High, "Can anyone who gets along this well with Gojo-sensei really be normal?"
"Can you accept Satoru entering your body?"
"Sal-salmon roe?"
(To be continued.)