Chapter 105: Ry/ou

The fight had tipped in Tobio's favor. He'd darkened the surroundings, giving both him and his mutt more shadows to slip in and out of, attacking from blind spots. I dodged a shadow blade that shot toward my back and charged in the direction it came from.

"Nemesis Cursed Slash!" I shouted, releasing a powerful arc of red and black energy that carved through the ground, destroying buildings in its path. Clicking my tongue, I leapt into the air as Tobio appeared below, reaching up to grab my leg.

"Really, brat?" I grinned, unleashing another attack. "Cursed Slash!" A smaller arc formed, but Tobio hurled a chunk of rubble into it, shattering the attack and scattering debris behind me as he disappeared back into the shadows.

"You can't keep this up fore—" My senses flared. I spun just in time to see Tobio behind me forming from the debris behind me, wielding a shadowy scythe nearly as large as my body. He raised it high, releasing a thin black arc of energy. At the same moment, Canis Lykaon, wielding a blade of shadows in it's mouth, emerged in front of me with a matching attack.

I poured cursed energy and bloodlust into Muramasa, spinning in midair. "Twice Over: Nemesis Cursed Slash!" I released two enormous arcs, each one wider than a house to intercept their attacks. As they collided, I threw Muramasa downward by my feet, using it as a foothold to execute a swift shundō to the ground. I summoned Muramasa back into my hand, running my other hand along its blade to coat it with my blood as Tobio's attacks overpowered mine.

'The kid's getting stronger with every exchange.' I thought, feeling a rising excitement. 'But his stamina is rapidly decreasing.' I felt my reserves. 'half my cursed energy remained.'

I shifted from cursed energy to Reiatsu releasing a red, purple, and black aura that drove back the shadows from where I stood. Grinning wide, I stomped down hard, sending tremors through the ground and bellowed. "Come on, brat! This fight's only started!"

No response. Just a flicker of movement at the edge of my vision.

"The blonde and brown haired bitches are still alive!" I taunted and sure enough, Tobio and his mutt emerged from the shadows. His form was smaller now, more my own height, his energy noticeably dimmer.

'Got him.'

Canis Lykaon growled as Tobio fixed me with a glare, his voice rough but steady. "You said they were dead. Where are they?"

I raised a foot onto a chunk of rubble and shouldered Muramasa. "Witches fetch a high price, especially ones with Sacred Gears."

The mutt's growling intensified, and Tobio took a step closer, his eyes full of fury.

'This is too fun.' I'd known from the first few exchanges that Tobio's Balance Breaker was insanely overpowered, and that if he landed even a single hit? I'd likely die. My grin widened as he picked up speed, charging at me with rage in his eyes.

"Haha! You want them?" I called, raising my aura higher. "Then kill me and break the barrier I put on them! Come at me, I want to get paid!"

We shot toward each other in a blur meeting at the halfway point, our blades clashing in a burst of raw energy. The impact forced us apart, and we steadied ourselves, readying for another round. Tobio let out a bone-chilling howl.

"Jin, now!" 'Shit the mutt!'

My eyes widened as Canis Lykaon surged from Tobio's shadow, its blade flashing toward me before I could react. I looked down in shock, seeing a thin red line slashed across my midsection, blood slowly seeping out. I looked back at Tobio, who was slipping out of his Balance Breaker form, a look of finality in his eyes.

I laughed weakly, my voice barely a whisper. "Can't believe… I fell for that." My vision blurred as I felt myself slide apart as my top half separating from my lower half, collapsing onto the ruined ground. I stared up at the brightening sky, Muramasa slipping from my grip.

'Fuck.'

Drip.

...Drip.

Drip.

The space around me was a void, dark and bright at the same time. In front of me, two massive pools of energy loomed, each as large as a planet. As I floated closer I recognized them, one pulsed red with cursed magic and the other, purple with Reiatsu. But the purple energy was slowly dripping below into a smaller black pool.

Frowning, I let myself drift toward the pools. The sound of dripping grew louder, reminiscent of when I almost died against Zaraki. My gaze followed the drops downward, noticing a faint hint of red mixed into the trickle. I floated closer to the black pool, feeling a strange cold familiarity.

"Is this supposed to represent my body... or something else?" I muttered, rubbing the back of my head as an unexpected ache began to bloom. Shrugging off the pain, I went back to the two massive pools of purple and red, stretching my hands wide to touch both pools of energy. As my hands connected, the dripping sound intensified, turning into a downpour that vibrated through the space.

A tingling sensation spread through me, and I looked down to see my missing lower body slowly reforming, piece by piece.

'That brat and his dog.' I recalled, gritting my teeth as the pain of regeneration pulsed through me. "Fuck." Closing my eyes, I waited out the searing ache. When I opened them again, the sun was beating down on my reformed body, filling me with renewed strength.

Footsteps faded in the distance. Smiling wide, I flipped onto my feet, relieved to see my pants intact. "Hey, kid." I called out as I stood up and cracked my neck. Tobio and his mutt froze, turning slowly to see me summon Muramasa and rest it on my shoulder. "I told you, didn't I? This has only just begun."

Gripping Muramasa with both hands, I lifted it high over my head, meeting the widening eyes of Tobio and Canis Lykaon. A flood of power surged through me, so potent that the world itself seemed to lose color.

"Soul of the Sinner!" I bellowed, feeling the faint tug of lifeforce draining as I channeled it, as well as the aura around me increase. "The Gap Between Within and Without!" My cursed energy plummeted and increased the power once again, Tobio and his mutt shifted back into Balance Breaker mode, bracing for what was coming.

I grinned so wide it hurt as I raised my voice further, the chant strengthening with every word. "Scale of the Dragon!" I felt Ophis's serpent inside my arm pulse, fueling the attack. With a final roar, I brought the blade crashing down, unleashing a tidal wave of black, purple, and red energy as I invoked my strongest attack yet.

"Final Requiem: Cursed World Slash!"