"Construction Technique: Black Tide!"
Yorozu let out a low, guttural cry. Countless gallons of liquid metal materialized from thin air, twisting into jagged, whip-like tentacles that lashed out at Toji. Her technique was absolute: provided she had the cursed energy, she could recreate any non-specialized matter she had ever seen and command it at will. Unlike regular cursed energy constructs, these metallic creations were permanent.
She flooded the cavern with a sea of mercury-like death, attempting to drown Toji in a crushing wave of density. Yet, Toji's speed was absurd. He moved through the space like a kinetic projectile, ricocheting off the walls with such force that the air cracked with sonic booms.
What kind of monster is this? Yorozu thought, her focus wavering for a fraction of a second. She had never faced an opponent like this: a man with zero cursed energy whose every muscle fiber contained explosive, world-ending power.
Toji seized that heartbeat of hesitation. He closed the gap in a blur, the Soul Liberation Blade humming through the air. Yorozu managed to construct a massive shield of hardened metal just in time to catch the strike.
BOOM!
The impact was deafening. Even though the shield held, the raw, concussive force of Toji's strength rippled through the metal and slammed into Yorozu's internal organs. She was sent flying backward, her body smashing deep into the stone wall of the cave.
As Toji lunged to deliver a finishing blow, Yorozu's enraged scream echoed through the chamber. "Enough! You wild monkey! I will show you the true height of sorcery!"
She threw her arms wide. The liquid metal began to crawl over her skin like a living parasite, hardening into an intricate suit of biological armor. It was a grotesque fusion of nature's most efficient killers: the head of a locust, the shimmering wings of a wasp, the powerful hind legs of a cricket, and the serrated forelimbs of a mantis.
In the natural world, an insect can lift a hundred times its weight and jump a hundred times its height. By scaling those proportions to a human size, Yorozu had turned herself into a god-like engine of destruction.
Toji paused, recalling the intel Souma had shared. Insect Armor: grants the wearer the proportional physical stats of an insect. A total transformation.
A feral grin spread across Toji's face. His eyes burned with a long-dormant battle lust. "Interesting. Let's see whose body is truly superior."
"Die!" Yorozu roared.
Her hind legs compressed like massive steel springs and released. She vanished, leaving only a crater in the stone. Toji didn't bother dodging: he met her head-on. Two blurs of silver and violet collided in the center of the cavern, creating a shockwave that shattered every stalactite in the vicinity. They bounced apart only to slam back together again, over and over, their movements producing a continuous roar of clashing steel and breaking stone.
From his position in the distance, Megumi watched in stunned silence. He couldn't see them. He literally could not track their movements with his eyes. All he could perceive were the occasional sparks of friction and the terrifying tremors shaking the earth.
Is my dad... actually this strong?
The cavern began to collapse under the pressure of their duel. Anything caught between them was instantly pulverized. A few stray curses wandered into the path of the combatants and were reduced to red mist before they could even realize they were dead. Megumi realized the danger and hopped onto the back of a Divine Dog, leaping through the crumbling ceiling to return to the surface beneath the bridge.
CRASH!
The ground exploded as the two combatants burst into the open air. Toji looked disheveled, his clothes torn and steam rising from his overheated skin, but his eyes were wide with exhilaration. He hadn't had a fight this satisfying in years.
Yorozu, however, was in much worse shape. Her Insect Armor was cracked and weeping liquid metal, exposing half of her face. She stared at Toji as if looking at a ghost. He had used nothing but his own flesh and blood to overcome the proportional strength of her mechanical evolution.
The flaw in her armor was simple: while the exterior was powerful, her internal organs were still human. Every time they clashed, her body had to absorb the staggering G-force of the impact. Toji's body was different. His heart, his bones, and his very cells were forged by a Heavenly Restriction to be indestructible. A forced evolution could never surpass a natural absolute.
Squelch!
Toji's blade flashed past Yorozu, leaving a deep, weeping gash across her chest.
"Damn you!" Yorozu hissed, her eyes narrowing with desperate resolve. "I have no choice then."
She clasped her hands together, her cursed energy surging into a pitch-black sphere that began to expand with terrifying speed.
"Domain Expansion: Threefold Affliction!"
The massive black shell enveloped them both, cutting them off from the world. Outside, Megumi panicked. He summoned every shikigami he had: the Dogs, the Toad, Nue, and the Great Serpent. He remembered Satoru's lessons: a Domain is nearly impossible to break from the inside but relatively fragile from the outside.
"Everyone! Attack the shell!" Megumi shouted.
But before the first shikigami could strike...
CRACK!
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the air. A hairline fracture appeared on the black sphere, widening until the entire construct disintegrated into shimmering dust. The Domain had lasted less than a single second.
Toji stepped out of the dissipating mist, looking utterly bored. Yorozu stood frozen, staring at him in disbelief.
"What... what did you do?" she whispered.
Toji casually raised a short, jagged dagger with an inverted blade: the Inverted Spear of Heaven. "A cursed tool that forcibly nullifies any active technique. A Domain is just a big, fancy technique."
Yorozu's face twisted with indignation. "You had that this whole time? Why didn't you use it at the start?"
"I wanted to see how strong your armor was," Toji replied.
"You..."
"I'm done testing now. You can die."
Toji moved. Yorozu tried to retreat, but she was trapped in the aftermath of her collapsed Domain. Her technique was burnt out, her armor was gone, and she was defenseless. She watched in slow motion as the Soul Liberation Blade descended.
The blade sliced through her like a hot knife through silk. As her body fell, she looked up at the sky, her fading vision seeing the image of the four-armed demon she loved. "Ah... I'm sorry. I can't stay by your side. You'll be alone again."
Toji let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Alone? Are you kidding? A guy like that doesn't get lonely."
"What?" Yorozu gasped, her head beginning to dissolve.
"The King of Curses, the Great Demon Sukuna... all he cares about is his own absolute freedom and whim. This 'love' you keep talking about is nothing but a one-sided delusion. You were never even in his league."
Yorozu's face contorted into a mask of pure, demonic rage. "You wild monkey! What do you know? If I only prove my love to Lord Sukuna, I will be the only one—"
Toji watched coldly until her head vanished entirely into the wind. "Pathetic."
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