(Inside the Dark Domain)
Kamo Kenji's consciousness floated in the quagmire of boundless fear and despair. The foul wind brought by the Cursed Spirit's destructive pounce almost scraped his face.
He could even clearly see his own twisted and horrified face reflected in that single eye. Time seemed to be stretched, death was close at hand.
In this final instant—
Mukyoku Nagi raised his right hand, making a strange gesture. His middle finger and ring finger rested lightly on his thumb, forming a starting stance that looked simple but contained infinite profundity.
This action did not trigger a Cursed Energy frenzy that changed the wind and clouds. Instead, the Cursed Energy around him, which had been fluctuating violently due to the fierce battle, instantly became extremely introverted and profound, like the suffocating calm in the center of a storm's eye.
*Snap.*
A crisp finger snap, so slight it was almost inaudible, exploded like thunder in this deadly silent Dark Domain!
Immediately after, a formless and substanceless power, with his right hand as the origin point, spread out silently yet unstoppably like absolutely precise transparent ripples.
It was not a shockwave, but more like a kind of... coverage.
"Maximum Technique: Nagi (Calm)" —
The ultimate form of the power of "Slow." Its essence was not creating resistance, but the absolute real-time cancellation of kinetic energy.
Bearing the brunt was that Special Grade Cursed Spirit—the Dark Domain Lord.
Its massive body, like a small mountain, condensed with terrifying Cursed Energy and the kinetic energy of muscles contracting and exploding in a proactive forward pounce, was precisely canceled out in the same microsecond it was generated by a reverse resistance produced out of thin air, acting on every particle of its entire body with completely equal numerical value.
This was not a hard impact block, but the mutual annihilation of motive force and resistance at the very beginning of their birth on the physical level. The final result was—
The net motive force used for the pounce was zero.
After losing all proactively provided muscle and Cursed Energy kinetic energy used to maintain posture and resist gravity, its massive and twisted body could no longer maintain the pouncing stance. It immediately followed the law of gravity—
*BOOM!!!*
Like a mountain of meat that lost all support, it smashed heavily and solidly onto the ground below from mid-air in an incredibly rigid manner, purely free-falling without any buffering or posture adjustment!
It made a heart-palpitating dull thud, even causing the entire arena to tremble.
Because all muscle and energy activities throughout its body had been "stopped," its falling posture maintained the appearance of the pounce. There was no struggle or twitching, just like a heavy bag of cement being thrown down, appearing even more eerie and terrifying.
This wasn't over!
The biological kinetic energy generated by the energy transmission of the granulation tissue on its body, which was squirming crazily attempting to repair wounds, was canceled out. The repair process froze instantly.
The diffusion and flow kinetic energy of the thick, highly corrosive cursed black mist spewing from its body was also canceled out. The black mist solidified in the air like black sculptures, no longer churning.
The mechanical kinetic energy of waving and grasping of those pale arms made of shadows and resentment grabbing from all directions was similarly canceled out. All froze dead halfway, like countless weird ice prisms.
It was not frozen by ice, nor was its action interrupted. Rather, all proactive "movement" kinetic energy generated by itself within its body and surroundings was neutralized and canceled out in real-time, globally, and thoroughly from the most basic physical level.
It turned into a terrifying piece of art that was absolutely still yet fell due to gravity, lifelike in detail, lying quietly in the shallow pit it smashed out.
Immediately following was the entire "Dark Domain" itself, composed of the Cursed Spirit's power.
The domain barrier that was constantly contracting and squeezing inward, attempting to crush the two, had the kinetic energy of its contraction movement canceled out. It stopped squirming and solidified into a hard black shell-like structure.
The malice and curse aura flowing like substance within the domain had their flow kinetic energy canceled out. They stopped flowing, as if turning into viscous, static black asphalt.
The mental whispers and corrosive energy ripples constantly eroding the mind like background noise had their energy transmission kinetic energy canceled out. They fell completely silent, unable to cause any impact on the sanity of the two anymore.
The entire Dark Domain, from a purgatory of chaotic violence filled with dynamic death threats, transformed within a few moments into... a grave where all kinetic energy was stripped away, absolutely silent, cold, and devoid of any changes.
This was a "quietness" that made one tremble from rational cognition to the emotional soul.
Kamo Kenji froze in place, his pupils dilated to the extreme, his brain almost crashing because it couldn't process this scene far beyond understanding.
He could still think, still feel his heart beating wildly with fear and blood rushing in his vessels.
—Because the rule force field of Nagi's "Maximum Technique: Nagi" acted precisely only on the "designated range."
But all "external movements" perceptible in his vision had all... stopped. This absolute, non-magical stillness based on physical rules made him feel a collapse and fear originating from the depths of his worldview more than any occult freezing or sealing.
He went limp on the ground, mouth wide open, but unable to make any sound.
Mukyoku Nagi stood quietly in place, maintaining that hand gesture.
His face was as pale as paper, without a trace of blood. His body trembled uncontrollably, as if he would fall at any moment.
The consumption brought by executing "Maximum Technique: Nagi" was unprecedentedly huge and multidimensional!
This was far from a simple outpouring of Cursed Energy. It required his brain, under the extreme assistance of the Vermilion Eyes, to perform incomparable terrifying real-time global precise calculations—perceiving every bit of kinetic energy vector of every moving individual (from macroscopic Cursed Spirit bodies to microscopic energy particles) within the range of effect in an instant, and simultaneously outputting countless completely equal, opposite reaction forces for precise cancellation!
The volume of information processing, energy control precision, and burden on mental strength reached an unimaginable, inhuman level, almost instantly draining his Cursed Energy, stamina, and mind.
(Outside)
Outside, just in the instant before the black sphere broke.
Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliant blue light. The cynicism on his face had long disappeared, replaced by extreme focus and incredible shock!
"This... this is?! The energy flow inside... No! Not flow! It's... it's 'stagnated'! All dynamic Cursed Energy... kinetic energy?! Kinetic energy was neutralized?!"
His Six Eyes frantically captured and analyzed the data streams defying common sense inside that eerie black sphere.
"All movements of that Special Grade Cursed Spirit... their kinetic energy was canceled out by a completely equal opposite force the moment it was generated?! Net energy change became zero?! Are you kidding me! What kind of outrageous technique principle is this?! What degree of microscopic perception and control of energy and movement does this require?! That guy Nagi... what exactly did he comprehend?!"
Even with the Six Eyes capable of seeing through the origin of Cursed Energy, he was horrified by this eerie ability to directly interfere with basic physical rules and achieve "absolute kinetic energy cancellation." This had already touched upon some application of "Infinity," but it took a completely different path, leaning more towards rule negation!
Although Geto Suguru couldn't see through the essence like the Six Eyes, his powerful Cursed Energy perception allowed him to capture that strange "quiet" artistic conception spreading from inside the black sphere, returning all energy activities to dead silence.
His brows locked tight, his face full of great worry and confusion.
"This feeling... never seen before... How is Nagi exactly? Such power... how great must the burden be on his body?"
Compared to exploring the mysteries of the technique, he was more worried about Nagi's condition at this moment. That feeling of dead silence made him uneasy, afraid that Nagi had paid an unimaginable price.
Shoko gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles white from force. She couldn't understand Satoru and Suguru's shocked technical analysis, but she could clearly feel that the originally violent, evil, suffocating aura inside the black sphere suddenly became extremely "stable"—stable to the point of dead silence, stable to the point of eeriness!
And although Nagi's aura was weak, it still existed.
"Nagi..."
She called softly, her heart in her throat.
Utahime and Mei Mei also felt that unusual silence, looking at each other with eyes full of unease.
Yaga Masamichi and Gakuganji Yoshinobu also stopped contacting the association, staring dead at the black sphere that began to change.
*Crack... crack...*
The surface of the pitch-black sphere, which had withstood multiple impacts from inside and outside and was already covered in cracks, began to emit increasingly dense, crisp cracking sounds!
Having lost the active maintenance of the internal Cursed Spirit's power (because it had been "stopped"), coupled with the previously accumulated damage, this eerie domain cage finally began to collapse completely!
"It's breaking! Everyone be careful!"
Gojo Satoru shouted low. Although shocked, his reaction was extremely fast, instantly entering a state of alertness.
Geto Suguru also immediately commanded several defensive Cursed Spirits to protect everyone, his gaze locked tightly on the breaking point.
*Bang!!!!*
Finally, under everyone's nervous gaze, the pitch-black sphere shattered completely, turning into countless drifting black light spots that quickly melted into the air.
The scene inside the domain was revealed to everyone without reservation, shockingly.
What impacted their vision and cognition first was not the expected intense aftermath of battle, but an incomparably eerie static picture—the massive, twisted, hideous body of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit maintained its pouncing posture, yet like a puppet that lost all strings, without any vitality or movement, purely following the law of gravity, it smashed heavily, stiffly, and straight down from mid-air onto the ground!
*BOOM!!!*
A extremely dull loud noise came, the ground trembling, even smashing out a shallow pit.
Because all muscle and energy activities throughout its body had been "stopped," its fall had no buffering or adjustment. Like a heavy sandbag being thrown down, maintaining that terrifying posture of baring fangs and brandishing claws, it lay quietly there, forming an extremely incongruous and hair-raising scene.
No struggle, no twitching, even the dust kicked up seemed to fall faster than usual, as if the surrounding air had become "lazy."
This surreal scene made everyone who saw it suck in a breath of cold air, instantly losing their voices, minds going blank.
This impacted their cognition far more than seeing it destroyed or sealed.
Immediately after, they saw Mukyoku Nagi kneeling on one knee, panting violently, face as pale as paper, looking as if he would faint at any moment, and Kamo Kenji sitting paralyzed beside him, eyes hollow, looking as if his soul had flown away.
"Nagi!"
Shoko was the first to react from the shock. She rushed over immediately, ignoring the static Cursed Spirit, and squatted down to check Nagi's condition.
Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru also appeared beside Nagi almost simultaneously.
"Hey! Still alive? You guy... caused such a big commotion!"
Although Gojo Satoru's tone was still a bit brash, his movements were fast. He supported Nagi, who was about to fall, his gaze behind sunglasses quickly scanning his state. "Tch, Cursed Energy and stamina are almost bottomed out, weak as anything."
Geto Suguru immediately half-knelt on the other side, his face full of genuine worry. He carefully checked Nagi's situation while asking urgently: "Nagi! How do you feel? Where are you hurt? The burden of that kind of technique on the body is too great!"
He completely ignored the static Cursed Spirit first; all his attention was placed on his companion's safety.
He even subconsciously wanted to reach into his pocket, seeming to want to find if there was any candy left, although knowing clearly this candy was useless here.
The people from Kyoto School were also thoroughly stunned by this scene.
Principal Gakuganji stood up abruptly, face full of horror. Nishimura Kenta and other students were silent as cicadas in winter.
Kamo Kenji sat paralyzed on the ground, looking with complicated eyes at Mukyoku Nagi, who was closely surrounded and urgently cared for by the Tokyo School group.
Nagi raised his head with difficulty, vision somewhat blurry. He saw his companions surrounding him, faces full of worry.
He coughed violently a few times, voice hoarse and exhausted: "Temporarily... solved... the principle is kinetic energy cancellation... but its 'existence' itself... has not yet been exorcised..."
After speaking, his body went limp, leaning almost completely on Gojo Satoru, eyelids drooping heavily.
"Hey hey! Don't faint!" Gojo Satoru hurried to prop him up.
"Shoko!" Geto Suguru immediately turned to look at Ieiri Shoko who was examining him, tone anxious.
"Excessive consumption, mental overdraft, and some internal injuries, but the Reverse Cursed Technique is operating and repairing on its own... no life danger, but needs immediate rest and recuperation."
Shoko concluded after a quick check, sighing in relief slightly, but her brows remained tightly furrowed. She took out the supplement she carried with her and carefully fed it to Nagi.
The scene fell into an eerie silence. On one hand, worry for Nagi's escape from danger and weakness; on the other hand, the huge visual impact and psychological pressure brought by the Special Grade Cursed Spirit lying quietly on the ground, emitting an ominous aura yet absolutely static. How to deal with this unprecedented "spoil of war"? How should this turmoil end?
At the same time, in that distant hidden Japanese room.
In front of Kenjaku, the water waves in the "Peeping Basin" oscillated violently the moment that "quiet" artistic conception spread, then seemed forcibly smoothed by some power, becoming smooth and dead silent like a mirror surface, unable to reflect any images anymore, leaving only pitch darkness.
"Oh?"
Kenjaku's originally leisurely and comfortable expression disappeared instantly. He straightened up slightly, a trace of genuine surprise flashing in his eyes.
He tried to activate the Cursed Tool again, only to find that the connection with the Dark Domain Lord had been completely cut off in an extremely weird way. Not destroyed, nor shielded, but... became "static," unable to transmit any dynamic information anymore.
"Actually... can achieve this level?"
Kenjaku muttered to himself, fingers tapping lightly on his knee. Instead of annoyance at his plan being disrupted, his face revealed an even denser, more excited smile of interest.
"Not simple power confrontation, not domain competition... but more essential... interference on the rule level? Directly invalidating the concept of 'movement'? 'Vermilion Eyes'... 'Curse of Love'... can actually derive power in this direction? Truly... too unexpected! Too interesting!"
His laughter echoed in the quiet Japanese room, full of ecstasy like discovering a peerless treasure.
"Gojo Satoru's 'Infinity,' Geto Suguru's 'Cursed Spirit Manipulation,' and now Mukyoku Nagi's 'Stillness'... this era is indeed full of surprises!"
"The plan needs a slight adjustment..." Calculating light flickered in Kenjaku's eyes. "Such power, if it cannot be controlled, must be... thoroughly guided toward destruction. Or, see if this extreme 'stillness' can shake the foundation of that 'Infinity'? Truly something to look forward to..."
The smile on his face became increasingly profound and dangerous. Mukyoku Nagi's unexpected outbreak did not frustrate him; instead, it allowed him to see more possibilities and... fun.
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