Akira's physical abilities were already far beyond those of an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer.
His strength was immense, his body could withstand attacks as powerful as Thunderbolt, and his swordsmanship was good enough to keep up with Beedrill, a Pokémon known for its incredible speed and offensive power.
When all that strength and speed were concentrated into his sword, even Rika Orimoto could not completely ignore the attacks.
In just a few exchanges, dozens of cuts appeared across her enormous body.
Rika Orimoto finally turned her head.
The eyeless half of her face seemed to stare at Akira with curiosity, as though she had just discovered another interesting toy.
"Do you want to play with Rika Orimoto too? Rika Orimoto also likes blue."
As she spoke, both of her enormous hands reached toward him.
Her movements looked almost innocent, like a child trying to catch a butterfly. Unfortunately, judging from the strength of those hands, any butterfly she caught would probably have its wings torn off.
Akira watched the approaching hands without showing the slightest intention of retreating.
Instead, he smiled and stopped swinging his sword.
He stood there calmly, allowing Rika Orimoto's hands to close around him.
Just before her fingers touched his body, he finally opened his mouth.
"Gardevoir, Ally Switch."
The space around him suddenly distorted.
In the next instant, Akira disappeared from his original position, and Gardevoir appeared in his place.
At the same time, Akira found himself standing where Gardevoir had been moments earlier.
This was Ally Switch, one of Gardevoir's Egg Moves that she had possessed since birth. It allowed her to instantly exchange positions with an ally, making it one of Akira's most reliable lifesaving abilities.
Of course, Akira had no intention of sacrificing Gardevoir just to save himself.
Before Rika Orimoto could close her hands, Gardevoir used Teleport and disappeared again.
A moment later, she was already back beside Akira.
The entire exchange had taken no more than two instantaneous movements.
"Not bad."
Akira glanced toward Rika Orimoto, intending to examine the results of his earlier attacks.
However, the moment he saw her back, the corners of his mouth twitched.
The dozens of wounds he had worked so hard to inflict had completely disappeared.
Her skin had returned to its original condition, without even the slightest trace of damage remaining.
"Seriously? That fast?"
Akira clicked his tongue.
"Her defense is ridiculous, and her regeneration is even worse. In some ways, she's more troublesome than Gojo-sensei."
This was not an exaggeration.
Satoru Gojo's invincibility came mainly from his Limitless technique and his extraordinary control over Cursed Energy.
Although his physical abilities were exceptional, his body was still fundamentally that of a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
And in the Jujutsu World, there were Cursed Tools and techniques capable of interfering with or even nullifying other techniques.
As long as someone could find a way around Limitless, there was still a possibility of injuring him.
That was precisely why Satoru Gojo had nearly lost his life during his younger years.
Rika Orimoto was a completely different problem.
Her terrifying strength, defense, and regeneration came directly from the overwhelming physical qualities of a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit.
There was no complicated technique to bypass.
Even if an attack successfully landed, it still had to overcome her monstrous durability. And even if it managed to injure her, the wound would disappear almost immediately.
Against an opponent like this, ordinary tricks would accomplish very little.
But that was exactly what made her interesting.
Akira had been looking for an opportunity to test his full strength for quite some time.
The problem was that suitable opponents were extremely difficult to find.
Maki Zenin, Toge Inumaki, and Panda were all talented, but none of them required Akira and Gardevoir to fight seriously together.
Even Principal Masamichi Yaga had admitted that he would be unable to withstand Gardevoir's combination of meditation and psychic attacks.
As for someone like Satoru Gojo, the difference in strength was simply too large.
No matter how hard Akira tried, he had no realistic chance of pushing Gojo into a serious fight.
One side was too weak, while the other was too strong.
As a result, Akira and Gardevoir had rarely been able to test the limits of their combined combat power.
Now, however, a suitable opponent was standing right in front of them.
A Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit with nearly unlimited Cursed Energy, terrifying physical strength, and regeneration that made ordinary injuries meaningless.
Akira tightened his grip on his sword.
"All right, Gardevoir."
He glanced at his partner, and Gardevoir immediately looked back at him.
"Let's go all out for once."
"Gardevoir!"
Akira raised his sword.
Beside him, Gardevoir lifted her hand.
Their movements were almost perfectly synchronized, and even their expressions carried the same confidence.
In the next second, both of them rushed forward.
Rika Orimoto reacted immediately.
After the earlier exchanges, she seemed to have realized that these two butterflies were much harder to catch than the others.
Since grabbing them with her hands was not working, she decided to use her entire body instead.
As a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Rika Orimoto could freely change her physical form by manipulating Cursed Energy.
She could shrink herself to protect Yuta Okkotsu, or expand until her enormous body stood as tall as a two-story building.
Now, facing Akira and Gardevoir, she chose the latter.
Her body swelled rapidly.
Her arms grew thicker, her fingers became enormous, and her already terrifying presence increased several times over.
Then she swung one arm toward the ground.
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath the impact.
A powerful shockwave spread outward, throwing broken stones and debris in every direction.
Before the dust could settle, Rika Orimoto swung her other hand.
Another tremendous crash followed.
Deep trenches appeared across the ground, and the surrounding terrain was torn apart in just a few movements.
For an ordinary close-combat fighter, this would have been a nightmare.
Even approaching Rika Orimoto would be difficult when every attack destroyed the ground beneath their feet.
Unfortunately for her, Akira was not fighting alone.
The moment the ground beneath him collapsed, an invisible force wrapped around his body.
Gardevoir's Psychic Force.
His falling body stopped for an instant before being pushed forward again.
Akira landed on a remaining piece of ground, took another step, and immediately launched himself into the air.
Whenever his footing disappeared, Gardevoir supported him with her psychic power.
Whenever he needed to change direction, another invisible force pushed him toward his next position.
Gardevoir had always kept part of her attention focused on Akira.
Whether he needed protection, assistance, or an opportunity to attack, she could respond almost immediately.
Although Akira himself could not fly, he was already extremely familiar with moving through the air using psychic power.
Compared to their training sessions in Shikoku, this level of aerial movement was nothing unusual.
With several quick steps and jumps, Akira crossed the ruined ground and landed directly on Rika Orimoto's enlarged body.
His powerful legs carried him upward.
In the blink of an eye, he had already reached the back of her neck.
"Take this!"
His sword descended.
SLASH!
The blade cut deeply into Rika Orimoto's neck.
With the physical strength of a super rookie like Makoto behind the attack, even her monstrous body could not completely resist the strike.
Unfortunately, Rika Orimoto was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, not some ordinary giant whose weakness could be exploited by attacking the neck.
The wound began healing almost as soon as it appeared.
At the same time, an enormous hand swept toward Akira from behind.
The pressure arrived before the hand itself.
The violent wind struck his face, and the enormous palm approached with enough force to crush everything in its path.
Yet Akira's expression remained unchanged.
Compared to the training he had endured in the countryside of Shikoku, this situation was hardly enough to frighten him.
Back then, he had experienced being thrown from heights of several hundred meters and relying on Gardevoir's psychic power to slow his descent before hitting the ground.
If he had panicked every time his life was in danger, he would never have survived that training.
A powerful body was only useful when its owner possessed enough control to use it properly.
The System had certainly helped accelerate Akira's growth, but it was never the sole reason Makoto had become so powerful.
The countless hours of training, repeated battles, and his determination to keep improving were just as important.
By now, his nerves had been trained to remain steady even in situations that would make ordinary people freeze.
As Rika Orimoto's enormous hand closed in, Akira immediately calculated the opening between her fingers.
There was no time to dodge normally.
Instead, he gathered the remaining Psychic Force Gardevoir had left around his body and directed all of it behind him.
Whoosh!
His body shot forward.
The huge fingers closed, but Akira slipped through the narrow gap between them at the very last moment.
And since he was already passing so close to her arm, he naturally had no intention of leaving empty-handed.
His sword flashed.
A long wound appeared along Rika Orimoto's arm as Akira dragged his blade across it.
By the time her fingers completely closed, he was already outside their reach.
From beginning to end, every movement had been carefully controlled.
Where to step, when to jump, how much psychic power to use, and which direction would allow him to escape without wasting momentum.
Fighting an enormous opponent required an entirely different approach from fighting someone his own size.
The difference in reach and strength meant that a single mistake could result in being crushed.
Fortunately, Akira had spent years training for situations that most people would have considered impossible.
Things that had once existed only in fantasy were now techniques he could perform with his own body.
Still, there was one problem he could not solve through swordsmanship alone.
He lacked the destructive power needed to seriously threaten Rika Orimoto.
No matter how many times he cut her, the injuries would heal before they could accumulate.
Even his strongest physical attacks were not enough to overcome her regeneration.
If he wanted to defeat her, he would need something far more powerful.
Fortunately, that was why he had Gardevoir.
While Akira kept Rika Orimoto occupied, Gardevoir had been preparing her own attack.
Meditation allowed her to concentrate and strengthen her psychic abilities, and the longer she maintained that concentration, the more powerful her next attack would become.
Akira's job was to give her enough time.
And now, that preparation was finally complete.
"Gardevoir!"
A powerful wave of psychic energy spread from her body.
Akira immediately understood.
He looked toward Rika Orimoto, who was already preparing to attack him again, and smiled.
"Let's see if you can regenerate from this."
"Skill, Dazzling Gleam!"
"Skill, Psychic!"
Gardevoir raised both hands.
In the next instant, an enormous amount of power erupted.
Brilliant light burst outward, accompanied by psychic energy so dense that it seemed almost solid.
The surrounding sunlight was distorted by the overwhelming force, creating waves of color that spread across the battlefield.
For a moment, the entire area was illuminated by a radiance even more dazzling than an aurora.
Then the attack struck Rika Orimoto.
BOOOOM!
The impact shook the entire battlefield.
Even Rika Orimoto's enormous body was unable to withstand the attack without suffering damage.
One of her massive arms was torn apart, nearly half of it disappearing beneath the combined force of Gardevoir's attacks.
The sight left everyone watching stunned.
They had already understood that Akira possessed extraordinary strength.
However, understanding something in theory and witnessing it with their own eyes were two completely different experiences.
Rika Orimoto was a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit.
According to the Jujutsu World's classification, an entity of her level possessed enough power to cause a disaster capable of destroying an entire town.
Yet Akira was moving across her enormous body with astonishing ease, repeatedly avoiding attacks that could have crushed ordinary sorcerers.
And Gardevoir, who had appeared so gentle and harmless earlier, had just unleashed enough power to tear away half of Rika Orimoto's arm.
What kind of strength was this?
More importantly, the two were still fighting together as though they shared the same mind.
Akira attacked, and Gardevoir supported him.
Gardevoir prepared her techniques, and Akira created opportunities for her.
Psychic Force, Ally Switch, and Teleport were used at exactly the moments they were needed.
Whenever Akira encountered danger, Gardevoir would immediately pull him out.
Whenever Gardevoir needed protection or time to prepare a powerful attack, Akira would take over the battle without hesitation.
The instant one of them escaped an attack, the other would already be preparing a counterattack.
There was almost no delay between their actions.
Even among Jujutsu Sorcerers who had fought together for many years, such cooperation would have been difficult to achieve.
It was as though the two had reached the state of One Body, One Mind.
At one point, Akira even picked Gardevoir up in his arms and ran across the shattered battlefield while she focused entirely on meditation.
Rika Orimoto chased after them, smashing the ground with her enormous hands.
Akira continued dodging while carrying Gardevoir, occasionally using his sword to deflect debris or create an opening.
Meanwhile, Gardevoir remained in his arms, trusting him completely as she gathered power for another attack.
The sight left more than one of the spectators deeply moved.
This was what true cooperation looked like.
There was no need for complicated instructions or constant communication.
They understood each other's intentions and knew exactly what the other needed.
Among the spectators, the one most affected was Yuta Okkotsu.
He had only enrolled at Tokyo Jujutsu High yesterday.
Until now, he had spent most of his life fearing the power of Rika Orimoto and worrying that she would hurt the people around him.
But as he watched Akira and Gardevoir fighting together, a strange thought appeared in his mind.
What if he and Rika could have been like that?
For a brief moment, Yuta imagined himself in Akira's position.
The person in his arms was no longer Gardevoir.
Instead, it was the Rika Orimoto he had known since childhood.
They could have stayed together, supported each other, and faced whatever difficulties appeared in their lives.
That was how things should have been.
If only that accident had never happened.
Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto had known each other since they were very young.
The two had practically grown up together and were almost inseparable.
Their relationship was so close that even Eriri would sometimes become openly jealous whenever she saw them together.
And as children, they had already made a promise about their future.
One day, Rika Orimoto secretly took her parents' wedding rings.
She brought the rings to Yuta, gave one to him, and kept the other for herself.
"When we grow up, let's get married."
That was the promise she made.
They would grow up together, get married, and stay by each other's side forever.
For two young children, it was a simple and sincere wish.
Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans.
The very next day, Rika Orimoto was involved in a terrible traffic accident.
A runaway truck, the kind that seemed specially designed to send people into another world, struck her.
Only this time, there was no transmigration waiting on the other side.
By the time Yuta arrived after hearing about the accident, everything was already over.
His childhood friend lay motionless in a pool of blood.
Her injuries were horrifying, and her head had been crushed so badly that it was almost impossible to recognize her.
For a young boy who had never experienced anything like this before, the sight was far beyond what he could endure.
Yuta stood there trembling.
He wanted to approach her, yet his legs barely obeyed him.
The girl who had promised to marry him just yesterday was now lying on the road, covered in blood.
He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Eventually, Yuta forced himself to walk closer.
He thought Rika was already dead.
However, just as he reached her side, something unexpected happened.
A bloodstained hand suddenly moved.
Before Yuta could react, Rika Orimoto's fingers closed around his ankle.
"Ah!"
Yuta froze.
The girl lying in front of him slowly opened her mouth.
Her crushed body should not have been capable of moving, much less speaking, yet broken sounds still escaped from her throat.
"Yu... ta..."
"Yu... ta..."
Yuta stared at her in horror.
Rika Orimoto continued struggling to speak, her fingers gripping his ankle tightly.
"When... we... grow... up..."
"We're... going... to... get... married..."
"We... promised..."
Those were the words she desperately tried to say.
Even at the moment of death, Rika Orimoto had not forgotten the promise she had made to Yuta.
And it was that promise, together with Yuta's desperate refusal to accept her death, that eventually resulted in the birth of an extraordinarily powerful curse.
A Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit.
Rika Orimoto.
"And that's more or less how Yuta ended up being cursed by the person he loved most."
Satoru Gojo finished recounting the story with a bright smile.
There was not the slightest trace of seriousness on his face, despite having just described a childhood tragedy that could easily have served as the beginning of a horror movie.
He even seemed quite pleased with the story he had told.
"So you'd better be careful in the future. Otherwise, you might accidentally trigger Rika Orimoto's curse too."
His cheerful tone made it sound as though he had just finished sharing an amusing story rather than explaining the origin of a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit.