Chapter 179

Sendai's strongest players each fire off a Domain Expansion in the same instant. With their triple bout climbing toward its peak, Ryu and Uro plot to gain ground on Yuta, only for an unexpected intruder to breach the barrier and plunge the scene into deeper disorder.

Since stacked domains void one another's sure-hit property, Ryu and Uro have to bar Rika from the barrier so Yuta cannot grab the lead. Uro worries Rika may push her way in later while Ryu hurries to lock down his domain; having already hurled Rika beyond twenty meters, he figured she could not return in time. The last of Orimoto's will within Rika cannot stomach failing to shield Yuta, and her power notches upward. Then Kurourushi resurfaces and forces its way into the barrier as its roaches swarm and tie up Rika.

Before it went dormant, Kurourushi had bred through parthenogenesis, so when the parent was exorcised by Yuta, the nation's fear-born cursed energy passed down to its offspring; the player itself died, yet the cursed spirit endures. Three overlapping domains, and the conditions woven into them, prove far more unstable than two, and the newcomer's entry caves in every barrier. Catching that Uro is wholly fixated on the curse she fares poorly against, Yuta kicks her into Kurourushi's reach. As she moves to retaliate, her technique refuses to fire, since a cursed technique is hard to summon right after a domain, and her power crumbles in her grip. Kurourushi rakes her left arm, spawning insect curses that sever it whole; Rika swiftly devours the limb, impressing Ryu, who reckons even reverse cursed technique probably cannot rebuild the entire arm.

Livid at losing her arm, Uro hollers toward the Fujiwara descendant, but Ryu tells her that neither she nor Kurourushi has a seat at his table. The narration names his power Cursed Energy Discharge, singular for holding the same output whether or not the technique is engaged, and he strikes both with Granite Blast, dropping Uro and shredding much of the curse so Yuta can purge it with positive energy. With his dessert in sight, Ryu smooths back his hair and invites Yuta over to the table, gathering his energy and taking aim while Yuta's technique has yet to come back; with Yuta and Rika braced to counter, the board is set for their final clash. Akutami's note muses that Uro's transparent censoring might pop even more in color and confesses a touch of regret.