Just as Sol was weighing whether to reveal a fraction of his strength to end the fight or continue stalling, the others moved.
"No way!" Yuji roared, ignoring his own safety as he slammed into the Cursed Spirit from the side, trying to draw its attention.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Nobara snapped, firing a barrage of nails straight at the creature's eyes.
Megumi Fushiguro acted without hesitation. "Great Serpent, constrict!" The massive snake-like shikigami coiled tightly around the Cursed Spirit, while Nue descended with another strike of lightning.
Their response was immediate and decisive, driven by a clear determination to protect their teammate.
Caught off guard by the sudden counterattack, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit staggered as bursts of cursed energy erupted across its body. It let out an enraged roar, its focus snapping back to them.
Sol watched quietly.
Even in the face of an overwhelming enemy, they stepped forward without hesitation. That instinct to protect him was… not unpleasant.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Guess I can keep playing a little longer."
He still held back, standing in the chaos like an unmoving anchor, silently watching over his three newly acquainted classmates.
Yuji charged again, his fist wrapped in cursed energy as he swung with full force. The Cursed Spirit parried effortlessly, the impact sending Yuji stumbling backward.
Nobara's nails cut through the air, only to be deflected by a warped barrier of cursed energy before they could land.
Megumi's shikigami attacked from multiple angles. Nue's lightning crashed down while the Great Serpent struck and constricted, yet all they managed were shallow marks across the creature's greenish-gray skin.
"It's useless, useless!" the Cursed Spirit shrieked. The countless mouths covering its body opened and closed, unleashing foul blasts of cursed energy that forced the trio into constant retreat.
Sol remained where he was, his dark red eyes calmly observing.
He made no move to intervene. Instead, he used the moment to further integrate the vast, star-like divine origin power within him.
Once he felt a slight improvement, he acted without hesitation.
He began evolving Gojo Satoru's Limitless Cursed Technique.
"Limitless Cursed Technique evolving. Progress: 10%. Further evolution unavailable until completion of current stage."
"Ability: Limitless Cursed Technique."
"Description: A top-tier cursed technique that manipulates space, distance, and attractive and repulsive forces through the concept of infinity, combining offense and defense with immense power."
The immense energy within him barely stirred, like a grain of dust falling into a still ocean. Yet even that faint ripple, unintentionally released, distorted the surrounding space.
A low hum spread outward.
An indescribable pressure emerged, centered on Sol. It was not cursed energy. It was something more fundamental, more primal, as though space itself had been seized by an invisible hand.
In an instant, everything changed.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit froze mid-attack. Every mouth on its body locked in place, its shriek cut off abruptly. For the first time, something close to fear surfaced on its twisted face.
Its cursed energy, once violent and chaotic, stilled completely. Even its massive form trembled, gripped by an instinctive terror, as if facing a predator far beyond comprehension.
Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi felt it too.
A chill ran through their souls. It was not directed at them, yet it was overwhelming, like glimpsing a fragment of something vast and unknowable. Their bodies stiffened, their cursed energy faltered, and their thoughts went blank.
Across the detention center grounds, everything seemed to pause. The writhing flesh, the scattered remnants of cursed energy, even the oppressive atmosphere itself fell into unnatural stillness.
Then it was gone.
In less than a heartbeat, Sol suppressed the leaking power completely, burying it deep within himself. The suffocating pressure vanished as if it had never existed.
The world resumed.
The flesh shifted again. The Cursed Spirit's roar burst free. Yuji and the others regained control of their bodies.
But the tension in the air had changed.
"What… what was that?" Nobara panted, her grip on her hammer trembling slightly as she scanned the area. Her gaze eventually settled on Sol. Being closest to him, she had felt it most clearly.
Megumi's face had gone pale, cold sweat soaking his back. He stared at Sol, shock and disbelief evident in his eyes. That was not cursed energy, nor anything he recognized.
Yuji shook his head, confused. "Huh? Why did I blank out for a second? Was that some kind of illusion?"
His instincts told him something was wrong, but he lacked the awareness to understand it.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit reacted the most violently.
Its crimson eyes locked onto Sol, filled with both fear and fury. "It was you! What did you do?!"
It could not comprehend what it had felt, but the terror had been real.
Driven by that fear, it abandoned the others entirely and focused everything on Sol.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you first!"
The flesh beneath it churned violently, forming thicker, denser cursed energy tentacles. They surged forward like a swarm of massive serpents, blotting out the surroundings as they lunged at Sol with overwhelming force.
"It's still targeting Sol!" Megumi said urgently. "Cover him!"
Despite their confusion, they moved to protect him once more.
This time, Sol moved first.
As the storm of tentacles descended, his figure shifted.
There was no burst of speed, no dramatic display of power. His movement was simple, precise, almost effortless, slipping through the smallest gaps as if the attacks were nothing more than flowing water.
Every strike missed.
The tentacles slammed into the ground where he had stood, shattering stone and scattering chunks of flesh.
Sol reappeared several meters away, completely untouched. Not even his clothes were disturbed.
"What?!" the Cursed Spirit shrieked in disbelief.
Yuji and the others stared, stunned.
They knew they would never have been able to dodge that.
"So… cool," Yuji muttered.
Sol glanced at the bewildered Cursed Spirit, then at the three who were still trying to reach him.
Something in his expression shifted.
The purpose of this exercise had been fulfilled. Continuing any longer would serve no real purpose.
It was time to end this.