"Overdrive!"
The moment the word left Ren's lips, his cursed energy flared with violent intensity. The sprawling mess of red threads throughout the forest didn't just sit there—they converged.
All the red threads around him moved violently.
The webbing snapped toward the centre like a collapsing star.
It lashed around Hakari, binding him in a suffocating cocoon of red silk, while the remaining threads coiled around Ren's upper body and limbs!
Ren smiled.
THUD!!
Both Ren and Hakari crashed to the ground!
Their bodies were bound together by red threads, braided and tightened until they formed something closer to a thick crimson rope—stretching from the back of Hakari's neck straight to Ren's hand.
Ren stood up slowly.
A calm, triumphant smile crossed his face as he spoke.
"Ah… well. That's one down."
Todo stood frozen, his mind firing at a thousand miles per hour.
'What? He wasn't bluffing?'
'Or… was he?'
His eyes widened as everything clicked into place.
'No—he was bluffing. Just not the way I thought.'
'He didn't want me to swap with Hakari. That was the real bluff.'
Todo's mind raced.
'The massive threads everywhere—also a bluff. Saying the technique name out loud—that had to be part of it. Even his low cursed energy… Was that a bluff too?'
His gaze snapped to Ren.
'Then how did his cursed energy spike at the very end?'
Todo's breath hitched. 'And wait… I can't switch places with them...
Because if I switch with Hakari, I would be stuck in Hakari's place!
And if I swap places with Ren, Hakari would switch places too since they're both connected with those red threads. Those are a part of his cursed technique. If I switch with Ren, Hakari would move with Ren…
For example, "Boogie Woogie swaps A and B."
A = Me (Todo)
B = Takada-chan (the best idol on planet Earth)
If I clap—
A ↔ B
Positions switch. Simple.
Now, a question: "What counts as an A?"
If Takada-chan is just standing next to me
→ She does not move when I swap.
If Takada-chan is holding my sleeve and I clap my hands and swap
→ She still does not move.
Because she is not part of A.
But right now, the things which count as A with me are…
Maintained by my cursed energy
Something created by my cursed technique
What I treated as part of my fighting form, like my clothes.
All of the above count as A.
Then when I swap—
That thing comes with A.
Like:
My own CE reinforcement
Anything bound to my technique
Now applying this to Ren:
A = Ren
B = Todo
Hakari is bound to Ren's technique = A
So when I clap—
A ↔ B
Ren moves because he is A.
Ren's technique moves because it's also A.
And Hakari gets dragged because he would also get counted as A…
'He… did he just create a hard counter to Boogie Woogie? in the middle of a fight? This was the first time he has seen boogie-woogie, right? He can't possibly know about it; he never saw me before today…'
Todo stood there in pure shock.
Ren exhaled softly.
'Ha… it worked. That was risky. If Hakari didn't jump at me… if Todo had switched earlier… it all could've fallen apart. Todo is a genius—and geniuses overthink.'
Ren's smile sharpened.
'But the plan worked. Run away. Make them think I'm trying to trap them because I am low on cursed energy, which I am actually... But I knew Todo would instinctively let Hakari lead—and once Hakari was leading, he wouldn't hesitate to charge me. That's just who he is. Then I spoke, 'Red Stitch: Spider—Weaker Web of Trapping. Shitty name, I know. But I said that out loud just to confuse Todo and make him overthink for a second.
I just want a second where Todo would not switch with Hakari…
That's also why I stopped and performed the attack mid-air—because it would look less suspicious to launch a big move while airborne rather than standing still on the ground and waiting for Hakari to approach.
Once I had the opportunity, I let him get close without appearing suspicious, which is why I chose to act mid-air. Stopping on the ground would have seemed far more unusual.
Plus I knew Ones. We were in the air, and I caught Hakari in red stitch; it would be over, and it is over!'
Hakari remained bound, barely moving.
Ren continued his thought processes, 'Hakari is off the field with a simple plan. If I can't take out Todo, then take out Hakari. Simple. In this way, Todo can't use Boogie Woogie as freely now, plus I can control Hakari just like I did those cops a few days ago!
Actually, I am pretty sure I can control Hakari even better than the cops since I used a tonne of red stitch… Now the only problem is to take out todo before I run out of cursed energy… It should be possible, nah? Especially if I control Hakari like this!'
Ren gave a sharp tug on the crimson rope.
Hakari moved. Like a macabre puppet, Hakari's body lurched forward. Even though his mind was clouded, his muscles—still overflowing with cursed energy—responded to Ren's pull. Hakari launched a devastating, puppet-controlled punch at Todo.
Todo dodged instantly, jumping back—
BOOM!
Todo blurred into motion, narrowly dodging. Hakari's fist collided with a massive oak instead.
Hakari's fist—wrapped in Red Stitch—smashed into a tree, bursting it apart.
Ren grunted.
"Ugh…"
His knees bent slightly.
"It's harder than I thought. Controlling a hakari like this… every second drains more and more cursed energy…"
Ren focused his eyes on Hakari.
'But the resistance is dropping?'
The rock-and-roll melody had vanished.
'Did his jackpot run out?'
'I don't hear the music anymore.'
'So that's it.'
Ren dropped to one knee. His hands trembled as he spoke aloud.
"It's pretty much over. Give up, Todo!"
Ren lashed his hand upward again, forcing Hakari's body to leap. The movements were jagged and inhuman, but the speed was still lethal. Hakari swung another massive blow at Todo.
Todo blocked it this time.
THUD!
Todo's mind raced ahead! 'Shit. How do I win? I can't use Boogie Woogie properly—and Hakari still heals. Fighting both of them head-on would be just an easy loss.'
Then—Todo paused.
Todo's mind flashed; he found himself in a classroom, and in his hands were two tickets to Tall Idol Takada – new concerts!
And Todo spoke out loud, 'Ah, this is impossible. I want to go to both of them, but how? I can't do both at the same time!'
Just then Takada-chan walks in the classroom and speaks: "Why do you want to come at both of them? You can! Don't you see the dates?? Both the concerts are held at different times!"
'Not at the same time!'
And everything snapped back…
'Wait.'
'Both of them… at the same time?'
Todo's eyes snapped to Ren.
'Ren should be attacking too at the same time as Hakari, right? then...'
'So why is he… sitting there?'
Realisation struck.
'He's low on cursed energy! Controlling another sorcerer with his red threads must burn an insane amount.'
Todo grinned. 'He's empty. I just need to take him out.'
Todo rushed Hakari again.
Hakari threw another sloppy punch. Todo jumped above Hakari and used Hakari's head as a stepping stone, launching himself high into the air. He was a blur, closing the distance to the kneeling, exhausted Ren in a single leap.
Todo screamed! "HAHA! You can't bluff twice, Ren!"
But as Todo descended, the red threads covering Ren's face parted just enough to reveal a jagged, confident grin.
Todo's heart nearly stopped. "FUCK! HE'S DOUBLE BLUFFING!"
CLAP!
Todo clapped in mid-air! He swapped places with Hakari!
Todo was not shocked when he found himself bound by red threads all around his body because Todo had switched places with Hakari and now was inside the cocoon Hakari was in…
Todo's eyes widened.
But what Todo was shocked by was Hakari's back in front of him…
"What? Hakari was a few feet away from me, right? When did he get behind me?!"
"AHH, fuck, what was that?!" Hakari, who just got out, was falling at Ren; Ren looked at Ren in shock!
Ren pointed two fingers like a finger gun at the line of sight where both sorcerers were now stacked.
Before anyone could react, Ren muttered calmly—
"Red Stitch: Sword. 100% output. 'Combined 2x!'"
Two invisible, razor-thin lines of the "Sword" strings spiralled around each other, weaving into a single, devastating clash together.
They wrapped, twisted—
And fired.
WHOOSH!!!!! SSSSHH—!!
In the blink of an eye, a perfect, circular hole appeared in the centre of Hakari's chest. The attack didn't stop there—it whistled through the air, piercing Todo's chest with surgical precision before continuing on to shred a dozen trees behind them in a straight line.
Silence returned to the woods.
Both Hakari and Todo collapsed, hitting the dirt as their consciousness faded.
Ren exhaled.
"Ha… phew."
He slumped slightly.
"That took all my cursed energy… but hey."
A tired grin crossed his face.
"I didn't even need Rika."
The red strings around him bloomed apart around him and began to glow and flake away like burning embers. He pushed his hair back, looking up at the canopy.
The red strings around him bloomed apart, fading as if they were being burnt away.
Ren pushed his hair back with one hand.
Kenji Hakari — Eliminated
Aoi Todo — Eliminated
Last remaining participant…
Ren Sato.
End of the Chapter