Chaos and Harmony

Maru's reality-bending cursed technique proves more than Tsurugi can withstand. Battered and near death, Tsurugi accepts help from an ally he never expected, turning the duel on its head.

A flashback covers Tsurugi's search for the father who vanished soon after Yuka's birth. With his grandparents and mother unwilling to speak of the man, Tsurugi quietly pressed members of the Gojo Clan and learned his father was diligent but troubled by how weak he felt his generation of sorcerers had become. A maid had once overheard a hooded man tell his father that it did not matter, and learning his father felt his role complete once Yuka arrived, Tsurugi concluded the disappearance was tied to his children inheriting cursed techniques, a truth he kept from Yuka though he believed she had reached it too.

In the present, Maru hurls Tsurugi through the air with Chaos, flipping gravity again and again to crash him into rooftops and pavement. Tsurugi's blade gets caught in the notch of Maru's sword, and to avoid having Honoyagi snapped he spins midair to disarm them both before Maru lands a heavy blow. Suspended upside down, Maru declares victory, but Tsurugi vows to fight on even for a one percent chance to save Yuka. Maru answers with a devastating one-inch punch that blasts him into a building, then hurls vehicles after him, triggering an explosion he believes is fatal.

Buried in wreckage, Tsurugi wishes only for Yuka to live whether he survives or not, and his grandfather's ring begins to glow. He sees Rika in the dark; she laments how much he now resembles her but offers aid if he says the words, explaining Yuta asked it of her. Tsurugi accepts, and Maru watches in shock as Tsurugi emerges overflowing with cursed energy that is not his own. Merged with Tsurugi, Rika throws his demand back at Maru before Tsurugi blitzes him with a building-cracking punch. A 4-koma bonus has the trio drawing their ideas of aliens and scary humans. The chapter features Honoyagi and Yuta Okkotsu's ring and is part of the ongoing Marulu versus Tsurugi battle.