Rumble—!!!
As Kenjaku's flat, sentence-like words fell, the air in the underground karst cave seemed to be sucked dry in an instant, replaced by an invisible yet tangible and terrifying power.
Anti-Gravity System!
Lynn felt as if Mount Tai had been pressed onto his shoulders in a flash.
The originally hard, blue-black rock ground collapsed and sank the moment it touched the soles of his feet.
Crack!
Lynn's legs were pressed deep into the ground past his knees, and every muscle fiber in his body trembled violently due to overload.
Every bone let out an overwhelmed groan under this overwhelming force.
Ugh... Ergh!
Lynn let out a muffled groan, blood seeping through the gaps in his teeth.
"A Special Grade body is indeed surprisingly sturdy."
Kenjaku strolled through the center of the collapsing gravity field, a corner of his monk's robes fluttering slightly.
He stopped five meters in front of Lynn, looking down from above at the man who was half-buried in the earth.
"But you are still just a mortal."
In Kenjaku's palm, that clump of Cursed Energy was no longer simple energy, but a collection of resentment from countless compressed and crushed low-level Cursed Spirits.
The shadow of death loomed over Lynn's head with unprecedented thickness.
Lynn gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms.
Is this... the pinnacle of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer? Just the reversed application of a Cursed Technique is enough to drive a so-called'strong person' into despair.
Cough..."
Lynn spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which was slammed onto the rock by gravity before it could even hit the ground.
But he did not back down, did not beg for mercy, and the light in his eyes didn't dim even slightly.
The corners of his mouth split open, revealing blood-stained teeth.
It was the crazed and greedy smile of a gambler shoving in his last chip for an all-in.
"Mortal?"
Lynn suddenly raised his head.
"Don't be too arrogant, you old fossil."
Lynn ignored the health warning popping up from the system and ignited every drop of Cursed Energy squeezed out of his body at this moment.
Lynn crossed his hands and formed a hand seal never seen before.
"Domain Expansion—"
Buzz—!!!
In the space originally distorted and compressed by gravity, a strange stagnation suddenly appeared.
Immediately after, the dark world was torn apart.
Countless blood-red lines spread frantically in all directions with Lynn as the center.
There was no closed barrier.
However, a giant golden scale emitting an ancient and majestic aura emerged in the void.
And, crisscrossing red lines of death filled the entire space, as if cutting the world into countless fragments.
[Ten Shadows Domain Edict]
"This is..." A crack finally appeared in Kenjaku's originally calm expression, his pupils shrinking slightly.
Domain Expansion?
No, this domain is not yet complete.
"How naive! How many seconds can you hold such an incomplete domain?"
Kenjaku sneered, his experienced mind instantly judging the situation. He didn't intend to give Lynn any chance to perfect the domain, and the "Maelstrom" in his hand fully took shape.
It was a pitch-black, high-density Cursed Energy singularity.
Boom!!!
The black Maelstrom roared out, distorting light and air along the way as it lunged straight for Lynn.
Meanwhile, Lynn slowly stood upright in the gravity field.
His left hand held the scabbard, thumb against the guard; his right hand held a reverse grip, tightly clutching the gold-carved snake-head handle.
"It is incomplete."
The world before Lynn's eyes changed. With the enhancement of [Ten Shadows Domain Edict], all things had 'flaws', and all things had an 'end'.
Even the "Maelstrom" composed of pure energy was full of fragile nodes in front of those crisscrossing red lines of death.
"But to deal with you..." Lynn lowered his stance, assuming the starting position of a quick-draw technique. "It's enough!!"
The massive pressure applied to his body by the Anti-Gravity System was also being absorbed by the cane.
"Click."
The blade unsheathed an inch. That crisp sound actually drowned out the roar of the Maelstrom.
Drawing the blade again. This time, it was a swing of all his energy! Including the ten-thousand-ton force brought by the Anti-Gravity System, the weak-point strikes granted by the domain, and all of his Cursed Energy!
"Zheng—!!!"
A blinding amber-gold light, too bright to look at, instantly illuminated the entire underground cave once more. That was not just a slash. It was a golden storm!
This strike had no fancy techniques, only extreme speed and extreme weight.
In that one slash was hidden the sum of everything accumulated in all the previous rounds!
"Boom!!!"
The golden blade light collided with the black Maelstrom in mid-air. Time seemed to freeze at this moment. Then, the two forces collided frantically, devouring each other.
The mockery in Kenjaku's eyes froze. He saw an incredible scene.
The Maelstrom that represented "absolute violence" and was 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 violent as a nuclear explosion!
The "death line" spanning the center of the Maelstrom was precisely severed by Lynn. The structure collapsed.
That slash was unstoppable!
"!!!"
Puchi—!!!
The golden light flashed past, and the black Maelstrom was split in two, exploding into a sky full of light points in mid-air. Immediately after, blood splattered.
An arm, carrying half of a blood-stained Gojos Kasaya sleeve, 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 rumble rumble—"
...A long time passed. Dust filled the air, and the sound of falling rubble gradually subsided.
Lynn maintained his sword-swinging posture, the light on the long blade in his hand fading as it transformed back into that unremarkable black cane.
"Huff... huff..."
He panted heavily, a sense of total exhaustion washing over him like a tide. His legs could no longer support him, and he sank directly onto one knee with a "clang," relying entirely on the cane braced against the ground to keep from collapsing completely.
And opposite him.
The dust cleared, and Kenjaku's figure appeared. He was clutching the stump of his right arm, blood dripping onto the ground through his fingers. But he wasn't angry; he only looked at the kneeling man with a dark expression.
No sneak attack. No interference. This was a solid... frontal breakthrough.
The power of that slash completely exceeded his estimation of Lynn based on his intelligence.
"What... Cursed Technique was that?"
Kenjaku glanced at the cane in Lynn's hand, then at the gradually dissipating phantom of the golden scale, lost in thought.
Sizzle sizzle... The Reverse Cursed Technique operated rapidly, white smoke rising from the severed arm as granulation tissue writhed frantically.
In just a few breaths, the healing was complete.
"Clap, clap, clap."
The gloom on his face gradually dissipated, replaced by a composed smile belonging to a chess player, even when injured.
"Splendid."
"Truly splendid, Lynn."
Kenjaku looked at Lynn, and there was no longer any contempt in his eyes, but rather a kind of fanaticism.
He spread his remaining left hand, the residual Cursed Spirit energy behind him slowly dissipating, and the oppressive gravity field around them was also lifted.
"You have passed this test."
The moment the gravity disappeared, Lynn felt his body lighten.
He sat on the ground without any pretense of dignity and wiped the blood off his face.
"Ha..."
A slash with all his might, even betting on a domain he hadn't fully mastered, and it had only barely managed to sever one of Kenjaku's arms.
Moreover, seeing the other's nonchalant manner, he obviously still had countless trump cards unused.
Lynn didn't understand why Kenjaku had spent so much effort, even going so far as to personally step onto the field to "test" him.
Lynn's hand trembled as he pulled a bottle of blue-glowing Cursed Energy Recovery Potion from his robes and gulped it down.
"So, Mr. Geto..."
Lynn tossed the empty bottle aside and, in this ruin-like cave, raised his head, looking at the thousand-year-old sorcerer with burning eyes.
"Since I've passed the interview."
"Shouldn't we sit down and have a proper talk?"