Fists.
One of the oldest and most primitive weapons in humanity’s long evolutionary history.
Long before humanity’s ancestors learned to pick up branches and stones and use them as tools, they had already learned, driven by instinct alone, to clench their hands into fists.
With nothing but flesh and bone, humanity’s ancestors fought for survival against a merciless natural world and savage beasts.
In a desperate battle, a sword could be knocked from your hand, a spear could break, and a bow could miss its mark.
But the two fists attached to your wrists would remain with you for as long as your heart continued beating, fighting until the final moment of your life.
And Black Flash.
In a sense, it was one of the clearest dividing lines between sorcerers of truly exceptional talent and everyone else.
It demanded that the instant of physical impact and the eruption of cursed energy occur within an absurdly precise interval of 0.000001 seconds.
No one could produce Black Flash at will.
Not even Gojo Satoru, the strongest sorcerer of the modern era and bearer of the Six Eyes, could do that.
Rather than calling Black Flash the ultimate display of precise cursed energy control.
It was more accurate to say that it occurred when, in a moment of absolute concentration between life and death, a sorcerer’s body, mind, and cursed energy aligned perfectly, allowing them to glimpse the very core of cursed energy.
The difference in understanding between a sorcerer who had experienced Black Flash and one who had never done so was enormous.
After successfully landing a Black Flash, a sorcerer would enter a heightened state similar to what athletes called being “in the zone,” allowing them to draw out as much as 120 percent of their potential during the battle that followed.
And fists were not the only way to trigger the spatial distortion known as Black Flash.
A sharp elbow strike, a powerful kick, or even a slash delivered with a cursed tool infused with cursed energy could all produce it.
The only requirement was that the attack contain both a genuine physical impact and a burst of cursed energy at almost exactly the same instant.
Even so, there was no denying that attacking with the hands humanity had been born with since ancient times was the simplest and most direct method.
It was also the form of combat most likely to bring a sorcerer closer to the core of their own cursed energy.
That was why Atsushi had cast aside every unnecessary thought and decisively removed the Special Grade Cursed Tool [Dragon-Bone] from his waist.
For the rest of this fight, he would rely on the oldest weapons humanity possessed.
His fists.
System, put the Attribute Point into Cursed Technique Effect Enhancement!
Standing amid the shattered battlefield, Atsushi took one firm step after another toward the enormous Mahoraga, which was still locked in a fierce battle with Itadori Yuji and Todo Aoi as the two constantly shifted positions around it.
At the same time, Atsushi issued a command to the system in his mind.
[Cursed Technique Effect Enhancement upgraded.
Current attributes: Total Cursed Energy Lv.3, Cursed Technique Effect Enhancement Lv.1.]
The system’s usual emotionless voice echoed through his head.
The corners of Atsushi’s mouth lifted slightly.
“Good.
In that case…”
“Let’s try this.”
Atsushi took a deep breath and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Flowing Red Scale: Stack!”
Buzz!
Atsushi briefly closed his eyes.
The next second, an almost unimaginable wave of heat erupted from his previously pale skin like a volcanic blast.
Thick crimson steam poured from his pores, wrapping his entire body in a storm of blood-red vapor.
Flowing Red Scale: Stack was an enhanced form of Flowing Red Scale.
Originally, the technique had only been used by the Death Painting Wombs, beings born from both human and cursed spirit blood.
If an ordinary Blood Manipulation user attempted to forcefully use this technique without mastering Reverse Cursed Technique, they could obtain an explosive increase in physical performance.
But the extreme rise in blood pressure would also continuously damage their blood vessels and internal organs from the inside.
Originally, Atsushi would never have been able to use this technique because of [Glass Cannon].
His fragile body would have begun breaking down within seconds under that kind of strain.
But during the previous battle, Atsushi had successfully equipped [Guardian’s Horn] from the system shop.
With the recovery and resilience provided by the item, the damage from Flowing Red Scale: Stack and his body’s ability to endure it now maintained a delicate balance.
At least for a short period of time, the technique would no longer immediately destroy him from within.
Compared to ordinary Flowing Red Scale, the almost suicidal Flowing Red Scale: Stack did far more than simply push the user’s basic physical abilities to a much higher level.
More importantly, Atsushi could now consciously direct the surging blood toward specific parts of his body and reinforce them even further.
The violent blood flow seemed to roar through his veins.
Without hesitation, Atsushi concentrated that overloaded circulation into the muscles around his eyes and throughout both arms.
In an instant, his eyes became densely bloodshot.
But at the same time, his ability to track rapid movement and the striking power of the fists he was about to throw rose to a level he had never experienced before.
And this activation of Flowing Red Scale: Stack was being further enhanced by the point Atsushi had just invested into Cursed Technique Effect Enhancement.
His physical performance rose another step.
I can’t maintain this for long…
But right now, my close-quarters physical ability should be somewhere around the level of a Grade 1 sorcerer.
Then there was only one thing left to do.
“Todo Aoi!”
Atsushi’s eyes snapped open.
His blood-red gaze burned with fighting spirit as he locked onto the center of the battlefield.
Then he shouted Todo’s name toward the two sorcerers locked in a desperate battle with Mahoraga.
No further explanation was necessary.
Clap!
A perfectly timed clap cracked across the smoke-filled battlefield.
Standing directly in front of Mahoraga’s enormous body and bearing the pressure of its assault, Todo understood Atsushi’s intent through sheer combat instinct.
Boogie Woogie activated.
Space twisted beneath the effect of the Innate Technique.
Atsushi’s figure at the edge of the battlefield vanished instantly.
In the same moment, he switched places with Todo, appearing directly in front of Mahoraga’s face in the perfect position to attack.
Todo appeared where Atsushi had been standing.
He said nothing.
But a satisfied grin spread across his face.
Atsushi didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
Under the violent enhancement of Flowing Red Scale: Stack, he faced the towering Mahoraga at point-blank range and threw his first full-power punch since abandoning Dragon-Bone.
How should Atsushi’s punch have been described?
A stance filled with openings and flaws.
An inefficient way of generating force from someone who had never received systematic martial arts training.
An awkward strike thrown almost entirely through brute strength.
To Todo and Yuji, both of whom had undergone extensive close-quarters combat training, Atsushi’s punch might have looked exactly like that.
And yet…
SPLURT!
That crude, unrefined punch slammed into Mahoraga’s seemingly indestructible pale abdomen.
A dull sound of flesh being violently torn apart echoed across the battlefield.
Atsushi’s relatively slender fist ignored the absurd durability Mahoraga had gained after adapting twice and smashed straight through its skin.
His entire fist sank deep into the pale flesh composing the shikigami’s body.
True damage.
It wasn’t limited to Atsushi’s cursed technique or cursed tools.
As long as he released cursed energy directly through an attack, his own body could serve as a medium for true damage as well.
However…
Compared to the massive, elongated Special Grade Cursed Tool [Dragon-Bone], or Piercing Blood, whose effective range could easily reach dozens of meters, Atsushi was still human.
His arms could only reach so far.
The violent punch forced its way through Mahoraga’s skin and muscle through the effect of true damage, but once Atsushi’s forearm had sunk into its abdomen, the strike could travel no farther.
The immense physical force and cursed energy carried by his fist were swallowed by Mahoraga’s mountain-like mass.
The deeper the blow penetrated, the more its force was dispersed and absorbed by layer after layer of flesh.
It failed to produce the devastating penetration Atsushi had hoped for.
So this still isn’t enough.
It’s different from concentrating cursed energy into a hard cursed tool or using a long-range technique like Piercing Blood.
When cursed energy is applied directly through the human body, the physical impact happens first.
After that initial contact, the target’s resistance rapidly disperses the remaining force and cursed energy.
So even with true damage, an ordinary punch can’t completely destroy a body this huge.
Atsushi raised his head.
He stared up at Mahoraga, towering over him like an unstoppable war god.
The pale shikigami showed no emotion on its empty face.
It acted as though pain did not exist.
It completely ignored the fact that Atsushi had just punched a hole into its abdomen.
Then a violent gust swept across the battlefield.
Mahoraga raised both enormous arms overhead.
With enough power to crush everything beneath them, the hands came down toward Atsushi, who had nowhere to evade.
“Black Flash!”
Yuji moved.
At the last possible moment, the space in front of Atsushi seemed unable to withstand the concentration of cursed energy.
It distorted violently.
Black lightning, so dark it seemed to swallow the surrounding light, exploded directly in front of Atsushi’s contracted pupils.
Yuji’s second Black Flash struck Mahoraga’s descending right arm with perfect accuracy.
BOOM!
The resulting impact exploded against Mahoraga’s rock-hard body with a deafening roar.
Its enormous pale frame, which had seemed impossible to move, was forcibly driven several steps backward by the overwhelming impact.
The crushing strike it had been about to bring down on Atsushi was instantly broken apart.
“This is…”
“Black Flash.”
The black lightning reflected in Atsushi’s eyes.
For a single instant, even the blood and cursed energy racing wildly through his fragile vessels under Flowing Red Scale: Stack seemed to stop.
It was completely different from the Black Flash he had witnessed earlier from dozens of meters away.
This time, the phenomenon had erupted less than a meter from him.
The unique distortion of space.
The movement of cursed energy.
The precise relationship between physical impact and cursed energy.
Every detail was burned deeply into Atsushi’s mind.
“I saw it…”
“The physical impact…”
“The cursed energy…”
“And…”
“The core of cursed energy.”
Atsushi didn’t waste the opening Yuji had risked his life to create.
While Mahoraga was briefly staggered by the Black Flash, Atsushi pulled hard.
SPLURT!
His arm tore free from Mahoraga’s abdomen.
Atsushi took half a step backward.
His knees bent slightly.
His center of gravity dropped.
Once again, he clenched his right fist as tightly as possible.
Muscles tightened.
Blood and cursed energy surged toward his knuckles like a whirlpool.
He drew back his fist.
Then…
He stepped forward and punched Mahoraga again.
Until moments ago, Atsushi had still been a complete amateur with no real close-quarters combat experience and no formal martial arts training.
But this time was different.
When Atsushi threw that second punch, something changed.
His previously loose coordination between muscle, bone, stance, and movement suddenly aligned.
In a single instant, his punch seemed to undergo a complete transformation.
It no longer resembled the crude, brute-force strike of an amateur.
The Black Flash burned into his memory.
And the combat instincts awakened by witnessing it.
Were beginning to change Atsushi as well.
BOOM!
Another heavy punch landed with a sound like muffled thunder.
Fueled by violent cursed energy and the overwhelming physical enhancement of Flowing Red Scale: Stack, Atsushi’s fist struck Mahoraga directly beneath the jaw that had already been lifted slightly by Yuji’s previous attack.
A sickening impact of flesh and bone rang out.
Crack!
A massive chunk of pale flesh was torn violently from Mahoraga’s body and spun through the air like a cannonball before crashing into the distant ruins.
It was half of Mahoraga’s lower jaw.
As a shikigami, Mahoraga did not possess conventional vital points.
Whether its head or torso was struck, damage was still simply damage to its body.
Even so, losing parts of its body could still disrupt its movement and coordination.
Its abdomen had been pierced.
Half its lower jaw had been completely destroyed.
Damage on that scale inevitably slowed Mahoraga’s movements.
Its regeneration was still extremely fast.
But compared to the almost instantaneous recovery it had displayed against slashing attacks.
Its response to this kind of crushing blunt-force trauma, especially when combined with true damage, was noticeably slower.
Atsushi watched Mahoraga’s damaged body finally begin to regenerate after enduring two consecutive punches from him.
Then…
A sudden clarity settled over his mind.
(To be continued.)