The instant Hanami's Domain Expansion echoed through his mind, Aoi Todo felt his heart tighten.
The moment the Domain unfolded, the battle between them had escalated to an entirely different level.
Most Special Grade Cursed Spirits are capable of using Domain Expansion. However, active Special Grades like the four Disaster Curses are rare. More commonly, Special Grades manifest only incomplete or Innate Domains, such as those seen at the Juvenile Detention Center and Yasohachi Bridge.
As Hanami's Domain engulfed him, the surrounding scenery was instantly replaced by an endless sea of flowers stretching infinitely in all directions.
Todo could clearly sense an immense amount of Cursed Energy converging toward Hanami's left shoulder, specifically toward the arm that had been wrapped and concealed.
His thoughts raced as he tried to deduce the Domain's effect. If it possessed a sure-hit effect, then he would need to activate his Simple Domain with perfect timing in order to resist it.
Within a Domain imbued with a sure-hit effect, no matter how frequently he used Boogie Woogie, he would be unable to escape the binding rules imposed upon him.
Moreover, there was nothing within this Domain that satisfied the conditions necessary for a positional exchange through Boogie Woogie.
Under Todo's vigilant gaze, Hanami's concealed left arm finally revealed its true form.
In reality, it was not the blackened arm that required concealment, but the enormous red flower blooming from Hanami's left shoulder. That flower was the true focal point of the converging Cursed Energy.
At the same time, with Hanami standing at the center, the vast sea of flowers surrounding them began to wither at an alarming rate. The radius of decay continued to expand outward.
Hanami then directed the red flower toward Todo. At the center of that ominous bloom, a fully opened eye stared directly at him.
Acting purely on instinct, Todo immediately activated his Simple Domain.
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain!"
In the next instant, an overwhelming surge of Cursed Energy erupted from the red flower on Hanami's shoulder. It manifested as a blinding golden radiance that poured directly onto Todo's Simple Domain.
The moment the energy collided, the Domain-enhanced output instantly fractured the Simple Domain's barrier.
Another second passed, and one third of the already cracked Simple Domain was obliterated.
A second later, Todo's Simple Domain shattered completely.
Once the Simple Domain collapsed, the cursed radiance no longer struck a single point. With the sure-hit effect fully restored, the attack engulfed Todo's entire body.
This was the insurmountable chasm between Grade 1 and Special Grade.
As long as the opponent refused to engage him in close combat, Todo had no opportunity to utilize Boogie Woogie to create openings. At this point in time, Boogie Woogie had not yet evolved to operate over an expanded range.
Likewise, he had no chance to discover that the branches covering Hanami's eyes were a potential weakness.
Several seconds later, Hanami ceased the release of Cursed Energy and deactivated the Domain.
Pulling up a nearby tree by its roots, Hanami gripped the trunk, ensuring it contained no trace of Cursed Energy, and began methodically smashing the barely conscious Todo, strike after strike, until his body was reduced to a mangled state.
The reason for using such a method was simple. After deactivating Domain Expansion, Hanami had entered a brief period of cursed technique burnout. Otherwise, a single activation of its technique would have sufficed, allowing thick branches to finish the job effortlessly.
Mahito had instructed that after eliminating Aoi Todo, Hanami could prepare to withdraw. The remaining individuals were insignificant minor players. It could proceed directly to rendezvous with Mahito.
However, at that very moment, because Hanami had used Domain Expansion and there were no longer Juzo Kumiya or Haruta Shigemo obstructing them, Utahime Iori and Yoshinobu Gakuganji rushed straight toward Hanami.
Utahime began moving in a rapid, rhythmic dance as she activated her Cursed Technique, Solo Forbidden Area, temporarily amplifying Gakuganji's overall Cursed Energy and output.
Gakuganji strummed his guitar, releasing bolts of Cursed Energy that shot toward Hanami in succession.
Yet such attacks produced little more than superficial abrasions on Hanami's body.
Meanwhile, earlier on the other side.
Unlike the situation involving Todo and Maki, the moment they sensed the Veil descend, Noritoshi Kamo and Megumi Fushiguro had immediately ceased fighting. Both sensed that something was gravely wrong.
The area designated for the Exchange Event was originally located far from human habitation, and this specific location had been used for many years.
They had never heard of an Exchange Event where an additional Veil was deployed. Even during the previous year's event, when Yuta Okkotsu had participated, there had been no mention of erecting a Veil to minimize external impact.
Furthermore, the scale of this Veil was astonishing. It completely enveloped the entire competition grounds.
Noritoshi Kamo could not help but remark, "To maintain a Veil of this magnitude, what level of barrier technique proficiency is required?"
"Deploying a Veil here is definitely not to keep ordinary civilians out," Megumi analyzed calmly. "If I am not mistaken, there are only two possibilities. Either it is meant to prevent those of us inside from leaving, or it is meant to prevent people outside from entering as reinforcements."
"I believe it is the latter. If it were the former, the teachers and principals stationed outside would have entered the moment they detected the anomaly. If Gojo-sensei had stepped into the Veil, then with his strength, even if he could not instantly resolve the enemy, we would have sensed the commotion of battle. But given the current situation..."
Kamo trailed off before finishing his sentence.
Megumi understood immediately. The fact that Satoru Gojo had yet to appear already suggested the severity of the situation.
"In any case, we should locate the others and regroup first," Megumi concluded after brief consideration.
Kamo nodded in agreement.
However, just as they stepped out of the building, they suddenly sensed two powerful waves of Cursed Energy colliding in the direction of the Storage facility.
"Such intense Cursed Energy fluctuations?" Kamo exclaimed in shock.
Megumi frowned. After a brief moment of analysis, he asked quickly, "One of them feels like a Cursed Spirit. But the other is unfamiliar. Is that Todo's Cursed Energy?"
"No, that is not Todo's Cursed Energy." As a Kyoto student, Kamo was intimately familiar with Todo's energy signature.
"That makes it even stranger. The Storage facility is located deep within the grounds. Even if the teachers entered, they should not have reached it so quickly. Within the parameters of the Exchange Event, the only one theoretically capable of releasing Cursed Energy at this level is Todo. If it is not him, then who exactly is fighting there?"
...
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