"Rumble—!!!"
As Kenjaku's words fell, flat as a death sentence, the air in the underground cavern seemed to vanish in an instant, replaced by an invisible yet tangible and terrifying power.
Anti-Gravity System!
En felt as if a massive mountain had suddenly been dropped onto his shoulders.
The hard, bluish-black rock beneath his feet crumbled and gave way the moment his soles made contact.
"Crack!"
En's legs were forced deep into the ground, buried past his knees, and his muscle fibers trembled violently under the extreme overload.
Every bone in his body let out an agonizing groan, unable to bear the overwhelming force.
"Ugh... argh!"
En let out a muffled grunt as blood seeped from between his teeth.
"A Special Grade body is indeed impressively durable."
Kenjaku strolled through the center of the collapsing gravity field, the corner of his monk's robes fluttering slightly.
He stopped five meters in front of En, looking down at the man who was now half-buried in the earth.
"But you are still just a mortal."
Within Kenjaku's palm, that mass of cursed energy was no longer a simple ball of power; it was a collection of the grudges of countless compressed and crushed low-level cursed spirits.
The shadow of death loomed over En's head with unprecedented thickness.
En grit his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms.
'Is this... the peak of a Special Grade sorcerer? Just the reversal of a technique is enough to plunge so-called "powerhouses" into despair.'
"Cough..."
En spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which was slammed against the rock by gravity before it could even hit the ground.
But he didn't shrink back, didn't beg for mercy, and the light in his eyes didn't dim even for a second.
His lips curled back, revealing blood-stained teeth.
It was the crazed, greedy smile of a gambler betting their very last chip.
"Mortal?"
En suddenly snapped his head up.
"Don't get too arrogant, you ancient fossil."
En ignored the system's health warning and ignited every drop of cursed energy he could squeeze from his body in that single moment.
En crossed his hands, forming a hand seal that had never been seen before.
"Domain Expansion—"
Hum—!!!
The space that had been warped and compressed by gravity suddenly experienced a strange stagnation.
Then, the world of darkness was torn apart.
Countless blood-red lines spread frantically in all directions from En's center.
There was no closed barrier.
Instead, a massive golden scale radiating an ancient and majestic aura manifested in the void.
And intersecting red lines of death filled the entire space, appearing as if they were carving the world into countless fragments.
Deca-Realm Sentence
"This is..." The composure on Kenjaku's face finally cracked, and his pupils shrank slightly.
Domain Expansion?
No, this domain was still incomplete.
"How naive! How many seconds can you hold an incomplete domain like this?"
Kenjaku sneered. With his vast experience, he assessed the situation instantly. He had no intention of giving En any chance to perfect the domain as the Uzumaki in his hand fully formed.
It was a pitch-black, high-density singularity of cursed energy.
Boom!!!
The black vortex roared forth, twisting the light and air in its path as it lunged directly for En.
Meanwhile, En slowly stood upright within the gravity field.
His left hand gripped the scabbard, thumb pressing against the guard; his right hand held the golden-carved snake-head handle in a reverse grip.
"It is incomplete."
The world changed before En's eyes. Under the enhancement of Deca-Realm Sentence, all things had flaws, and all things had an end.
Even the Uzumaki, composed of pure energy, was filled with fragile nodes before the intersecting red lines of death.
"But to deal with you..." En lowered his stance, assuming the starting position of a quick-draw technique. "It's enough!!"
The immense pressure the Anti-Gravity System exerted on him was also being absorbed by the cane.
"Click."
The blade unsheathed an inch. That crisp sound actually drowned out the roar of the Uzumaki.
Drawing the blade again. This time, it was the release of all his energy! This included the weight of ten thousand tons brought by the Anti-Gravity System, the weakness strikes granted by the domain, and all of his cursed energy!
"Clang—!!!"
A dazzling amber-gold light, so bright it was impossible to look at directly, instantly illuminated the entire underground cavern once more. It wasn't just a slash. It was a golden storm!
This strike lacked flashy techniques; it possessed only ultimate speed and ultimate weight.
Within that single slash was the accumulated total of all previous rounds!
"Boom!!!"
The golden blade light and the black vortex collided in mid-air. Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Then, the two forces clashed violently, consuming each other.
The mockery in Kenjaku's eyes solidified. He witnessed an unbelievable sight.
The Uzumaki, which represented absolute violence and was powerful enough to level half a city block, was actually being sliced open by that golden slash, which was as precise as a scalpel and as frantic as a nuclear explosion!
The line of death running through the center of the Uzumaki was precisely severed by En. The structure collapsed.
That strike was unstoppable!
"!!!"
Splat—!!!
The golden light flashed past, and the black vortex was split in two, exploding into a sky full of light specks. Immediately after, blood sprayed.
An arm, still wearing half of a blood-stained sleeve from a monk's robe, flew high into the air, drawing a grim arc.
The terrifying aftershock of the slash continued unabated, slamming directly into the rock wall behind Kenjaku.
"Rumble—"
...
After a long while, the dust settled, and the sound of falling rubble gradually faded.
En remained in his sword-swinging posture. The light from the long blade faded, and it transformed back into the unremarkable black cane.
"Huff... huff..."
He gasped for air as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. His legs could no longer support him, and he collapsed onto one knee, the cane clattering against the ground as he leaned on it to avoid falling completely.
Opposite him.
The dust cleared, revealing Kenjaku. He held the stump of his right arm, blood dripping from between his fingers onto the ground. But he wasn't angry; he only looked at the kneeling man with a somber expression.
No sneak attacks. No interference. This was a direct... frontal breakthrough.
The power of that strike had completely exceeded his intelligence reports on En.
"What kind of... technique was that?"
Kenjaku glanced at the cane in En's hand, then at the fading phantom of the golden scale, lost in thought.
Sizzle... The Reversed Cursed Technique activated rapidly. White smoke rose from the severed arm, and flesh began to writhe frantically.
Within just a few breaths, the healing was complete.
"Clap, clap, clap."
The gloom on his face gradually dissipated, replaced by the composed smile of a chess player, even despite his injury.
"Wonderful."
"Truly wonderful, Hayashi En."
Kenjaku looked at En, his eyes no longer containing any contempt, but rather a sense of fervor.
He spread his remaining left hand, the cursed energy residue behind him slowly dissipating, and the oppressive gravity field around them was released.
"You have passed this test."
The moment the gravity vanished, En felt his body lighten.
He sat on the ground without any pretense and wiped the blood from his face.
"Ha..."
An all-out strike, even gambling on a domain he hadn't fully mastered, had only managed to sever one of Kenjaku's arms.
Moreover, seeing the other's nonchalant manner, it was clear he still had countless trump cards left.
En didn't understand why Kenjaku had gone to such lengths, even descending personally to test him, for what purpose.
With a trembling hand, En pulled a bottle of blue-glowing Cursed Energy Restoration Potion from his coat and downed it.
"So, Mr. Geto..."
En tossed the empty bottle aside and, amidst the ruin of the cavern, looked up with burning eyes at the thousand-year-old sorcerer.
"Since I've passed the interview."
"Shouldn't we sit down and have a proper talk...?"
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