The battle continued.
Jin loosely closed his right hand, and a short spear condensed from flames appeared in his grip.
Kuroki moved his sore right arm, then tightened his grip on the katana again.
The next moment, he kicked off the ground.
Man and shikigami charged at the same time, their speeds unexpectedly almost identical!
The coldly gleaming blade and pitch-black claws tore through the air as they rushed forward with ferocious momentum.
Jin raised his head toward Kuroki and Yukino, lifted the short spear in his hand, and hurled it with all the strength of his arm.
Firelight traced an arc through the air and landed precisely along the path the two were taking.
Kuroki and Yukino almost simultaneously dodged to one side, without slowing their forward momentum in the slightest.
The flaming spear buried itself in the ground behind them.
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted.
Circular flames burst outward, illuminating the dark night.
Countless pieces of shattered stone and sparks scattered in every direction.
Yukino moved behind Kuroki and used her long body to shield him from the minor damage.
At the same time, Kuroki crossed more than ten meters and reached Jin.
Gripping his katana with both hands, he brought it straight down toward Jin’s head.
The blade split the air, producing a low wailing sound.
A faint sense of danger rose in Jin’s heart, instantly sharpening his concentration.
Unlike an ordinary shikigami user, Kuroki’s own strength couldn’t be underestimated either.
His swordsmanship had clearly undergone systematic training.
Jin stepped backward, the long blade passing close enough to brush his hair.
The cold gleam reflected in his golden pupils.
The instant Kuroki’s slash missed, Yukino behind him swept her remaining claw horizontally toward Jin.
Facing a coordinated husband-and-wife tag-team assault from his enemies, Jin’s expression remained unchanged.
He raised one palm toward Yukino, and a cylindrical pillar of fire immediately erupted from it.
BANG!
Yukino’s claw collided with the pillar of fire, halting her attack.
Kuroki had already seized the opportunity and thrust his blade forward.
The fire pillar’s recoil pushed Jin back one or two steps, perfectly allowing him to avoid the stab.
Taking advantage of the moment Yukino was restrained, Jin rapidly closed his palm into a fist, twisted his body, and punched toward Kuroki.
Kuroki released his left hand and lightly pulled back with his right.
He withdrew the katana and raised it in front of himself, while his free hand was already pressed against the flat of the blade.
CLANG!
A crisp metallic collision rang out, scattering sparks everywhere.
Terrifying force traveled through the blade and numbed both of Kuroki’s arms.
He used the impact to retreat, while Yukino, who had already broken through the pillar of fire, immediately followed up.
Two fists were no match for four hands.
Kuroki and Yukino’s coordination was extremely smooth, and with the two taking turns attacking, even Jin found himself getting a headache for a moment.
“AAAH-WOOO!!!”
Yukino’s crying suddenly rose in pitch, the sharp note becoming loud enough to rupture eardrums.
Jin instinctively reinforced his ears with cursed energy and only experienced mild ringing.
That was secondary.
More importantly, an extremely powerful wave of irritation and anger rose in his heart again.
There was no doubt about it.
Yukino’s technique was taking effect.
Jin shaped both hands into finger guns, and countless fire bullets shot from his fingertips.
The barrage covered Kuroki like a curtain of rain.
Kuroki stared closely at the incoming shots and swung the katana repeatedly, drawing white streaks through the air.
One after another, the fire bullets were cut apart and fell to the ground behind him.
Yukino didn’t have enough time to retreat.
She seized the opening created by Jin’s attack and brought one claw down.
Jin violently kicked off the ground and leapt backward.
“I’ll deal with one of you first!”
He raised both hands and crossed his index fingers into the shape of a cross.
“Cross Fire!”
A cross-shaped blaze instantly ignited and descended toward Yukino with scorching heat.
There was no way to avoid an attack covering such a wide area.
The tidal wave of flames exploded the instant it hit the ground.
Inside the sea of fire, Yukino was completely swallowed.
Her shrill screams tore through the air and echoed across the night sky.
“AAAH!
AAH!
AAH!
AAH!”
“Yukino!”
Seeing Yukino engulfed by flames, Kuroki shouted instinctively.
He gripped his katana with both hands, sweat pouring from his palms and running down the scabbard.
After several waves of Jin’s large-scale attacks, the temperature across the battlefield had risen drastically.
An ordinary person probably wouldn’t survive more than a few minutes in such an environment.
The air beside Kuroki suddenly distorted.
Scorching heat washed over him.
He turned his head, every hair on his body standing on end as an intense sense of danger surged through him.
Almost the instant he saw Jin closing in, Kuroki instinctively raised his katana in front of himself.
CLANG!
Sparks scattered, then instantly blossomed into tiny flames beneath the extreme heat.
Kuroki’s body bent backward, and the katana flew straight from his hands.
Jin reached out and caught the weapon in midair.
At the same time, he raised one leg and whipped it outward, the long limb wrapped in blazing fire.
Kuroki’s lips were dry.
His body was so dehydrated he didn’t even have enough moisture to swallow.
He curled himself inward as quickly as possible and used a large amount of cursed energy to reinforce the side about to be struck.
Flames swept sideways, creating a curtain of fire through the air.
BAM!
Kuroki screamed as his body flipped over and rolled across the ground like a gourd tumbling down a hill.
The flames tore through his defenses and mercilessly ignited his black coat.
The smell of charred meat spread through the air.
Through the damaged coat, blackened flesh could vaguely be seen beneath it.
Kuroki had only just stopped rolling and was preparing to stand when—
WHOOSH!
A sharp whistle had already arrived.
The katana’s tip pierced through the air and flew directly toward him.
Kuroki had no room to think about anything else.
Only a single thought remained in his mind—survive!
He explosively pushed off the ground and jumped to one side.
Unfortunately, he was still a step too late.
Blood sprayed through the air.
The long blade cut through half of Kuroki’s lower leg before burying itself deep in the ground.
While Kuroki was still in midair, an enormous shadow suddenly fell over him.
Jin appeared directly along his path of escape.
Molten-gold eyes stared firmly at him, as though looking at prey that had fallen into a trap.
The moment Kuroki noticed that gaze, he felt as though he’d been plunged into an icy cave.
Even the sweat on his face seemed to freeze.
The scent of death was constantly drawing closer.
He hurriedly shouted,
“Why don’t you look behind you?!”
From inside the sea of fire, a much smaller Yukino suddenly burst out and charged directly toward the nearby convenience store.
Cursed energy erupted from her body, which was surrounded by an ominous black aura.
Jin didn’t even need to turn around.
Observation Haki had already detected it.
“Self-destruction?”
A simple, easy-to-understand diversion.
Jin didn’t hesitate for even an instant.
His hand shot out like lightning and clamped around Kuroki’s throat.
Kuroki grunted as Jin lifted him like a broken doll.
The muscles in Jin’s arm bulged, and he hurled Kuroki toward the distant sea of fire.
The flames changed shape, instantly transforming into countless sharp spikes.
“Now then, what are you going to do, shikigami?”
Jin turned toward Yukino, absolute certainty filling his gaze.
The instant she noticed that her summoner’s life was in danger, the shikigami named Yukino immediately changed direction without even a moment’s hesitation.
“Kuroki-kun!”
Yukino exploded with astonishing speed.
In an instant, she caught Kuroki in midair with her one remaining arm and held him tightly against herself.
The towering flames nearly drove all darkness from inside the Curtain.
The corner of Jin’s mouth lifted.
Exactly as he’d expected.
At the deepest level, Yukino’s highest priority was still protecting her summoner, Kuroki.
Watching the touching scene, Jin sighed emotionally.
“What a pair of ill-fated lovers.
But it’s time to end this.”
Jin slowly tightened his right fist.
Flames coiled around his arm like a giant python.
The surrounding air burned beneath the intense heat, distorting the light into rings of transparent ripples.
Jin twisted his waist and threw a punch, his entire arm instantly transforming into flames and rapidly expanding.
“FIRE FIST!!!”
A gigantic flaming fist blasted forward like a falling sun.
Yukino and Kuroki, along with the sea of flames surrounding them, were completely swallowed by the punch.