Curse Returns: Eight Extraordinary Skills? I lack nothing.

His eyes were closed, his entire being seemingly merging with the surrounding magical energy. His brow was furrowed, and sweat trickled down his face. A long sword lay horizontally in front of him, the purple magical energy on its blade so concentrated it was almost black. The blade itself trembled slightly under the influence of the magical energy, emitting a low hum.

Rika's curse power output is about to run out.

Her figure began to blur, like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind. But her feet remained firmly planted on the ground, and her arms stubbornly blocked Yigu's path.

She can hold on for a few more seconds.

Yuki took a deep breath, her chest swelling violently. She gripped the bone whip tightly with both hands, pouring all her magical power into it, and dark golden light flowed from her palms into the whip.

"Star Fury - Maximum Output"

Golden patterns appeared on the bone whip, like a golden snake being set ablaze. The entire bone whip radiated a dazzling light, and its mass was elevated to an almost unbelievable level.

This bone whip now weighs over a thousand pounds per inch. Let alone striking a person, even a casual swing can create a deep crater in the ground.

The veins on Tsukumo Yuki's forehead bulged—although the Star Wrath wouldn't burden her, raising the weight of the bone whip to this level required her muscles to withstand immense stretching and inertia. Her right arm trembled slightly, not from pain, but from the vibrations caused by the power itself.

She lashed out with her last whip.

She used all her strength to deliver that lash.

The whip whistled as it sliced ​​through the air, creating a sonic boom that forcibly carved a vacuum in the surrounding airflow. The dark golden light clinging to the bone whip shot towards Rika's chest like a bolt of lightning.

It's not a slap—it's a penetration.

The tip of the bone whip, like a heavy hammer, slammed precisely into the existing crack in Rika's chest.

"boom--!!!"

The dull cracking sound was louder than ever before.

Rika's figure was sent flying. Her massive body tumbled several times in the air before crashing into the barrier wall in the distance, causing ripples to spread across its surface. The sorcerers maintaining the barrier all paled in shock.

A huge gash appeared in her chest—the cursed power there had been shattered and could not be reassembled for the time being. Fragments of broken cursed power drifted out of her body, turning into pale purple phosphorescence in the air before slowly disappearing.

But she did not collapse.

She floated in mid-air, and with her last bit of strength, she raised one hand and gave a thumbs-up towards Yi Gu.

Her mission was accomplished.

She bought enough time for Yi Gu.

Yi Gu opened his eyes.

His sword was imbued with an unprecedented concentration of magical energy—the result of Rika exhausting all her reserves, combined with Otsukoshi's own full power. The purple magical energy on the sword transformed into a dazzling gold the instant it reached its maximum concentration.

It was a blade of light formed from pure golden magical energy, its light overflowing from the blade and illuminating the entire training ground.

Yi Gu held the knife with both hands, raising it high above his head.

The golden light on the blade grew stronger, enveloping his entire body in a golden halo. He took a deep breath, and the surging magical power in his chest flowed like a tide through his veins into his arms, then poured from his palms into the blade. The surrounding air was distorted and warped by this magical power, and the light and shadow flickered in the air as if viewed through a layer of heated glass.

As Jiujiu Yuki looked at the light, his pupils suddenly dilated.

She had never seen such light before. It wasn't an ordinary aura of magical power, but a blazing light refracted from the depths of a blade, as if time and space had been compressed into its very core.

Yi Gu swung the knife down.

His slashing motion was not fast; in fact, it could be described as very slow.

It was so slow that everyone in the stands could clearly see the trajectory of the blade cutting through the air. But that wasn't because it was slow; it was because the magical power carried by the blade was so immense that even the air didn't have time to escape from it and could only be passively cleaved by it.

A golden arc of light pierced through the blade and flew toward the Ninety-Nine Yogis with unstoppable force.

That was Black Flash.

When the error between magical power and physical impact is compressed to near zero, a sorcerer has a chance to trigger this extraordinary phenomenon—at the moment of contact with the enemy, the explosive output of magical power will be internally boosted, and its power will be calculated to the power of 2.5 based on magical power and physical strength, enough to make an ordinary sorcerer's attack instantly soar to an output several times greater than their own.

Meanwhile, the power of the curse in Yigu had reached several times his usual full strength thanks to Rika's transfer and storage.

More importantly, at the moment of unleashing Black Flash, the sorcerer enters a state similar to "selflessness"—after the spell is released, both physical abilities and spell power control will unleash more than 120% of their potential in a short period of time.

This was the result of his months of dedicated practice in honing his physical body and control over his magical power, all in order to seize that fleeting opportunity in battle and maximize the explosive power of Black Flash.

Yi Gu unleashed a black flash.

Moreover, the concentration of magical power in this black flash far exceeded any of his previous attacks.

A golden arc of light, trailing a long tail of flame, sliced ​​through the air. Wherever it passed, the shockwave whipped up a high curtain of rubble and dust, which was then melted into glassy crystals by the heat of the arc itself.

Ninety-nine Yuki had no time to dodge.

The speed of the light arc was too fast, so fast that even if she had enough time to activate it in advance, she could not escape its attack range.

She could only cross her arms in front of her chest to block, and the highest density of Star Fury's cursed armor appeared on her body. Dark golden cursed patterns covered her entire forearm, chest, and face, increasing the density of these areas to the limit she could bear.

Golden arcs of light struck her arms.

"boom--!!!"

The sound of the explosion drowned out everything at that moment.

Golden light exploded from the point of impact, like a second sun rising in the center of the training ground, the dazzling light penetrating every inch of the barrier.

The spectators in the stands had to close their eyes; even with their eyelids covering them, all they could see was a scorching white light.

The shockwave spread outwards, forming a visible ring of air emanating from Yigu and Jiujiu Yuji, engulfing the entire training ground. Debris and dust from the ground were swept high into the air and then propelled in all directions by the shockwave.

The spectators in the stands used their magical powers to protect themselves from being blown away, but many were still thrown off balance by the blast wave and crashed into the backs of their chairs one after another.

The live stream screen went completely white in an instant, nothing could be seen, and only a dazzling white light filled the entire screen.

The barrage of comments briefly stopped for a moment, then flooded the screen like a burst dam.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit—"

"I can't see anything!!!"

"Is this an attack that a human could possibly deliver?!"

"What kind of monster is Yigu?!"

"Black Flash!! It's Black Flash!!!"

"To see a black flash of this caliber in my lifetime is truly worthwhile!!!"

The light dissipated.

A long trench appeared on the ground of the training ground.

Those were the marks left by the Bone Slash. The ravine stretched from the center of the arena all the way to the edge of the barrier, tens of meters long, two or three meters wide, and deep enough to swallow an adult.

The ground on both sides of the ravine was melted by the high temperature into a glassy black crystal that refracted an eerie glow under the moonlight.

White steam was still rising from the depths of the fissure, like the breath gushing out after the earth was cut open.

The barrier shook violently for several seconds, its surface covered with fine cracks, emitting a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

The sorcerers responsible for maintaining the barrier were all as pale as paper, with veins bulging on their foreheads and their teeth grinding together. They desperately poured their magical power into the barrier to barely stabilize it and prevent it from shattering on the spot.

Ninety-nine is stationed at the end of the ravine.

Her arms hung limply at her sides, blood dripping from her fingertips, falling to the ground and pooling into small pools of blood among the rubble.

The combat suit on his arm was blown to shreds, exposing the skin underneath.

His skin was covered with charred marks from the black flash, and the dark gold Star Fury Armor was mostly broken, revealing large areas of bright red burn wounds underneath.

In some places, the skin even cracked open, revealing the pink muscle tissue underneath.

Her long, golden hair was torn to shreds by the shockwave, strands falling loosely over her shoulders, and a large patch of loose hair on her forehead was soaked with sweat and stuck firmly to her forehead.

A trickle of dark red blood oozed from the corner of her mouth and dripped down her chin.

She kept her head down, her chest heaving violently, her breathing heavy and labored, like a bellows.

Silent for a long time.

She looked up at Yi Gu, who was also kneeling on the ground dozens of meters away.

He had a smile on his face.

"You're really something, kid."

Yi Gu knelt on one knee on the ground, panting heavily, each breath accompanied by the violent rise and fall of his chest.

His white college uniform was soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to his body and outlining his thin shoulders and back. His bangs were damp with sweat, sticking messily to his forehead, and water droplets kept dripping down his chin.

His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, not from fear, but because he could barely stand.

My entire right arm, from my palm to my shoulder, was throbbing with pain from the overload of magical energy. My knuckles were white, as if I might slip from my grasp at any moment.

Rika floated up from behind him and transferred the last bit of her cursed power to him, like injecting the last bit of fuel into an engine that was about to shut down.

But even for her, after that all-out attack, her internal reserves were already depleted.

Ninety-nine Yuki saw through this.

She clenched her fist, though it was a bit of a struggle and her knuckles made a cracking sound, but she could still hold it.

"Next, it's my turn."

Yigu knew that if he didn't end the battle soon, he would really lose.

His magical power was almost depleted, and his body was nearing its limit. Every breath consumed his last ounce of strength, and every heartbeat reminded him how much longer he could hold on.

But he still has one card up his sleeve.

This is a move he's still refining; it's not quite complete yet, and the energy consumption is just too high—but he has no other choice right now.

The field unfolds.

Yi Gu took a deep breath.

He forcibly extracted the last wisp of magical power from the deepest part of his body, like wringing out a towel that could no longer be squeezed dry. He slowly raised his hands, his fingers spread, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"Domain expansion".

His voice was soft and even sounded somewhat tired.

But in the quiet training ground, those four words could be clearly heard.

A pale blue barrier rapidly expanded from beneath his feet, like ripples on a lake stirred by the wind, enveloping the surrounding space for dozens of meters.

The edges of the barrier had a semi-transparent texture, like a huge sapphire carved into the shape of a dome. The air inside was slightly distorted, and light refracted into strange halos within the barrier.