Chapter 50: Boogie Woogie - Double Black Flash
"Fujiwara was the foremost noble family during the Heian-kyō era."
Mei Mei seemed to recall something and explained to Hikigaya Hachiman.
"Yes, it's the family of that young girl who greeted you at the banquet."
"However, the Fujiwara family has declined significantly compared to a thousand years ago. Now they are mainly active in the surface world's political arena rather than the Sorcery world."
That is to say, they've made a sharp break with the past.
The Fujiwara family fell, and in its place, the current Three Great Families rose up.
Sugawara no Michizane, Hikigaya Hachiman knew, was one of the Four Great Vengeful Spirits in Japanese legend and the ancestor of Gojo Satoru and the entire Gojo family.
It is said that Gojo Satoru's formidable strength is largely inherited from the power of his ancestor, Sugawara no Michizane.
"So, can we confirm that this ancient tomb is the burial place of the Fujiwara family's ancestor?"
Mei Mei shook her head.
"It's not exactly like that."
Although seeing the clan crest is usually enough to determine the identity of the tomb's owner.
"But it's also possible that it's a burial offering given by the Fujiwara family to one of their vassals."
"Was this Fujiwara family very powerful?"
Todo Aoi clenched his fists, his bones cracking, eager for a fight.
"You saw the Cursed Energy covering the mountains when the tomb chamber was opened earlier."
Mei Mei shared all the information she had. A thousand years ago was the Fujiwara family's peak era.
"The Fujiwara family was one of the few at that time with the power to target the King of Curses."
Upon hearing this, Todo Aoi became instantly excited.
"Looks like it won't be boring."
Although the Fujiwara family failed to target Ryomen Sukuna, they were up against the King of Curses, who completely crushed the entire era, so failure was normal.
"Let's go. We'll know everything once we enter the main tomb chamber."
Hikigaya Hachiman felt that speculating wildly here was less effective than going straight in to investigate.
But he thought that if it truly was the Fujiwara ancestor, it felt like digging up Secretary Fujiwara's family grave, and the thought amused him.
"You're right."
A brilliant smile appeared on Mei Mei's face. An ancient tomb from a thousand years ago meant a considerable number of precious burial offerings.
The ancient tomb of the great Fujiwara noble family from a thousand years ago—a massive windfall.
Selling even one item would bring in excessive profit.
"Looks like we'll make a profit this time."
Remembering the profit, Mei Mei also didn't forget that it was a result of Hikigaya Hachiman holding back his Cursed Energy artillery.
If the power released had been slightly stronger, this thousand-year-old ancient tomb would have been completely pierced.
The destructive power Hikigaya Hachiman had just unleashed completely changed the terrain. The terrifying force that shattered the mountains was truly shocking.
Mei Mei didn't even know what level of potent defensive technique would be required to defend against it.
It was simply unsolvable.
If that technique had been aimed at Mei Mei, only Ui Ui's teleportation technique could have saved her; otherwise, it would have been certain death.
At the same time, she was incredibly relieved that Hachiman was on their side.
Mei Mei's own controlled crows almost broke free from Black Bird Manipulation and went completely out of control.
Animals are extremely sensitive to danger, so Mei Mei had to make the crows circle hundreds of meters high to prevent them from losing control again.
These eyes circling in the sky and sharing her vision allowed Mei Mei to maintain vigilance of the surroundings even while speaking.
"Hmm?"
Mei Mei suddenly noticed a severe landslide inexplicably occurring in a mountain area not affected by Hikigaya Hachiman's attack.
This time she observed it directly, and through the crows' eyes, Mei Mei could clearly see a giant figure wriggling beneath the soil of the landslide.
Buried deep underground, Mei Mei could see from high altitude that its coverage area was quite extensive.
It was a big one.
Hikigaya Hachiman and Todo Aoi sensed the Cursed Spirit's reaction from a distance at the same time.
Hikigaya Hachiman perceived that this was the same Cursed Energy he had sensed in the mud earlier; it was the culprit behind the landslides.
The big fellow seemed quite disoriented after Hikigaya Hachiman changed the terrain, scurrying around underground like a headless fly.
It had been lurking too deep underground before, so neither Mei Mei nor Todo Aoi had discovered it.
It was only discovered when it could no longer contain itself and burrowed to the surface.
After realizing the culprit was trying to escape, Mei Mei immediately activated Black Bird Manipulation.
Black Bird Manipulation is not just a technique for reconnaissance; it can also be used for combat.
Mei Mei releases the Cursed Energy within the crows to give them extreme destructive power.
That is God's Bounty.
Instantly, the crows circling high in the sky
had blue-green flames burning on their bodies, brighter than the flames Mei Mei herself had earlier.
All eight crows charged straight for the ground like dive bombers, completely fearless of death.
As the crows crashed into the surface, they exploded like a series of shells.
A heavy "bang, bang, bang" sound erupted!
Though they were crows, the effect was similar to the destructive power of a bunker-buster against an underground fortification.
This seemingly intact area was revealed to be a mess underground.
Amidst the shaking ground, they could faintly hear the sound of shattering bones and a mournful, beast-like shriek.
In pain, the big fellow gave up on concealing itself, and the object buried so deep underground appeared before everyone.
The first thing to appear was a giant, bare, bone-white arm, which heavily struck the ground, kicking up a large amount of dirt. Before Hikigaya Hachiman was an enormous, gigantic skeletal Cursed Spirit, nearly twenty stories tall, classified as Special Grade.
Massive bones, an empty skeleton with no remaining flesh or shattered meat, leaving only the perfectly clean bone structure.
But in the eye sockets of the gigantic humanoid skeleton, there were a pair of somewhat shriveled, seemingly atrophied eyeballs.
The pupils were golden, and the two large eyeballs darted around erratically.
Due to Mei Mei's God's Bounty, its bones were already covered in cracks, and some parts were even broken, making it look incredibly miserable.
However, the lower half of the great skeleton was not human legs but an organization similar to that of a centipede, with a thick bone-like structure covered in countless dense bony feet.
Although the Cursed Spirit was now exposed in the air, a considerable part of it was still buried underground.
The most striking thing was the symbol on the collar hanging on the great skeletal Cursed Spirit; it was clearly the Fujiwara family crest Mei Mei had mentioned earlier.
It was an old artifact, rusted and green, and the chain connected to the collar was broken.
Judging by its appearance, this Special Grade Cursed Spirit that Mei Mei had blasted out looked very much like the legendary Great Skeleton Demon (Gashadokuro) from Japanese mythology.
Mei Mei clicked her tongue in frustration.
Her original intention was not to blast it out with crows, but to launch a surprise attack to severely damage the great skeleton.
But unexpectedly, the suicidal crow attacks only shattered half of the back of its skull.
The impact marks were clearly visible. There was fresh, bloody, and shredded flesh on the white bone structure, which must have been the remains of the crows.
One must know that Mei Mei's suicidal crow attacks are capable of exorcising Special Grade Curses.
But apart from that, there were no other obvious external injuries, showing just how incredibly hard this bone was.
In terms of hardness, it was definitely stronger than steel.
Furthermore, its regenerative ability was not weak; the cracks in its bones were repairing at a visible rate.
Once exposed to the air, the great skeleton seemed to be howling from its mouth, complaining constantly.
"So tired, so tired.
Why are they forcing me to dig!"
Cursed Spirits that were transformed from humans still retain a bit of their residual consciousness from before death.
This Cursed Spirit must have been transformed from a human, only it was unknown why it was so enormous, like a giant.
What the skeleton said was quite interesting: someone was forcing him to dig.
"There are three crows left."
Although Mei Mei wanted to replenish the crows from the mountains, the nearby wild crows had long ago been incinerated by the Cursed Energy artillery Hikigaya Hachiman had released.
"Hachiman, you rest for a moment. This Cursed Spirit is mine."
Mei Mei removed the bandages wrapped around her giant axe, grasping the handle firmly with both hands, thereby declaring ownership of the Cursed Spirit.
The eye under her braid looked at Todo Aoi.
"Todo, use your technique to transport me over."
Upon hearing this, Todo Aoi instantly realized what she intended to do.
"Anytime, Ms. Mei."
Mei Mei immediately manipulated one crow to fly towards the great skeletal Cursed Spirit's head at extremely high speed, like a cannonball.
But this time it wasn't God's Bounty.
Just as the crow was about to hit the skeleton's head, Todo Aoi clapped his hands together.
Almost instantly, Mei Mei vanished from beside the three of them, replaced by a diving crow.
Mei Mei canceled the technique the moment she felt the swap, so the crow had no offensive power whatsoever. The vanished Mei Mei, however, appeared directly above the Cursed Spirit's forehead.
This was the effect of Todo Aoi's Cursed Technique, Boogie Woogie, which can swap the positions of two objects or individuals imbued with Cursed Energy.
Activation requires only a clap of the hands.
The crow controlled by Black Bird Manipulation was itself imbued with Mei Mei's Cursed Energy, thus meeting Todo Aoi's technique requirements and serving as a stepping stone.
Mei Mei's braid completely streamed backward due to the air, but she remained like a female berserker.
The giant axe in her hand was her Cursed Tool.
Mei Mei, gripping the axe with both hands, brought it down heavily with the momentum to cleave a mountain, truly proving that women are no less capable than men.
She coated the entire axe in Cursed Energy, and the blade shimmered with a brilliant light.
A booming vwooom sound was heard; the sharp axe striking the hard bone produced the clear clang of weapons clashing.
Amidst a shower of Cursed Energy sparks, with her braid flying, Mei Mei's axe blade directly split the great skeleton's head in two, and without losing momentum, it plunged straight into the mid-section of the skeleton's spine before finally stopping.
"As expected of my sister." l
Ui Ui's face lit up with joy, and he couldn't help but cheer for his sister.
With the swing of the giant axe, a single blow severely wounded the colossal skeleton; the visual effect was maximized.
But Hikigaya Hachiman, as an observer, spoke to Todo Aoi at this moment.
"Todo, quickly swap Mei Mei out."
Hikigaya Hachiman discovered a clue; something was wrong.
He visually observed a section of the skeletal Cursed Spirit's Cursed Energy suddenly vanish.
Most people might have assumed Mei Mei had instantly killed the Cursed Spirit, causing the contained Cursed Energy to be released.
But that wasn't it. Hikigaya Hachiman determined it was a highly concentrated Cursed Energy reaction.
Trusting his brother's words, Todo Aoi did not hesitate and gave a crisp clap.
Instantly, Mei Mei, still in her cleaving stance, swapped positions with a crow in the sky.
Immediately after the crow swapped position, a massive amount of Cursed Energy reaction suddenly erupted from inside the skull that had just been split open.
"Todo?"
Although Mei Mei was surprised, the sight that followed made her scalp tingle.
A golden flash passed, and a violent, thick beam of golden light shot straight up into the sky from the mouth of the roaring Cursed Spirit.
Even the crow, protected by Mei Mei's Cursed Energy, was instantly burned to ashes before it could even cry out.
If she had remained in her previous position, it was likely Mei Mei who would have been reduced to ashes.
The Curtain in the sky, which Hikigaya Hachiman had imbued with extremely strong defense, managed to intercept the destructive Cursed Technique of the spirit.
The Great Skeleton Demon, with its mouth wide open, had steam rising from its split halves.
At the same time, hundreds of slender bone spikes brutally grew out from the cross-section cleaved by Mei Mei. These spikes acted like sutures, forcibly pulling the split marks back together.
The repair time was less than two seconds. The skull, which had been split in two, was restored to its original state, and it even felt like its hardness had increased after the recovery.
"Such powerful regeneration."
Frowning, Mei Mei used Black Bird Manipulation with a crow as a stepping stone and, using her agile physique, returned gracefully to the ground.
"What a damn monster."
With its wounds healed after being severely damaged, the Great Skeleton Demon's large eyeballs darted even faster, and the madness revealed in its gaze was frightening.
In its rage, the entire body of the great skeleton, which was buried deep underground, was completely exposed to the air in a massive earthquake.
It was a full two hundred meters long, with segmented bone structures and wriggling small feet, looking like an oversized giant centipede. The movement of its body caused violent tremors.
Under the shaking ground, the slender Ui Ui couldn't even stand steadily.
The Great Skeleton Demon kept repeating the same few phrases.
"I don't want to dig!"
After the slender bony hand slammed the ground, a Cursed Technique was released. Suddenly, giant, slender bone spikes inexplicably sprouted from the ground across the entire surrounding area, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Released outwards with the great skeleton as the center, this was a wide-range area technique that immediately affected the ground beneath Hikigaya Hachiman and Todo Aoi's feet.
Sensing an anomaly surging beneath his feet, the moment the sharp bone spikes shot out, Todo Aoi immediately unleashed a punch with immense force, shattering the spikes into fragments.
Hikigaya Hachiman, even more impressively, shattered most of the bone spikes while they were still underground, inhibiting their growth.
It was just that the thing before them was larger and had astonishing regenerative abilities.
Hikigaya Hachiman figured that to kill this thing, they would need the ability to one-shot it, ideally not even allowing it to use its regenerative ability.
"It's my turn."
Todo Aoi was a master of martial arts. After seeing Mei Mei's spectacular move, he could no longer contain the surging fighting spirit in his heart.
With a single grab, his suit was instantly ripped apart, turning into shredded rags.
Revealing Todo Aoi's entire body of massive, muscular build, all pure sinew.
When Todo Aoi fought a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, he relied solely on pure physical strength; it was only when facing a Special Grade Cursed Spirit that he would use a Cursed Technique.
With a fervent smile on his face, he laughed and immediately rushed forward. His speed was so fast that only an afterimage could be seen, and after two deep footprints were left on the ground, he
instantly vanished from the spot.
Any bone spikes that blocked him were immediately shattered by Todo Aoi using his forehead; they couldn't stop him.
The Great Skeleton Demon also noticed this approaching 'insect,' and its original bone spikes began to undergo secondary growth one by one.
Facing the extending bone spikes, Todo Aoi met them with only fists and feet, neutralizing the incoming spikes with elbows, punches, knees, body blows, and other means.
He rushed to the Cursed Spirit's face at extreme speed.
The enraged skeletal Cursed Spirit immediately raised a fist the size of a heavy truck and smashed it towards Todo Aoi. At its size, shattering a small mountain would be no surprise.
Looking at the sky-darkening fist in his view, amidst the airborne bone fragments, Todo Aoi's mood, with his ferocious, maniacal smile, surged even higher. Without dodging or blinking, he rushed straight
Red light erupted from Todo Aoi's clenched fist, accompanied by a scarlet bolt of lightning.
"Black Flash!"
Black Flas is a phenomenon in jujutsu that greatly amplifies the user's physical strike when cursed energy is applied to it within one-millionth of a second.
The seemingly tiny Todo Aoi, insignificant as an ant, punched a large hole right through the great skeleton's fist.
It was just the purest, most concentrated heavy-punch strike, yet it made the great skeleton lose its footing, its entire body tilting backward.
However, this Cursed Spirit's super-regeneration ability was a major headache. The bone spikes shattered by Todo Aoi and scattered everywhere ironically became tools for the Cursed Spirit to use against him.
The Cursed Spirit needed to reattach these bone fragments to regenerate, which resulted in the previously harmless bone fragments being individually imbued with Cursed Energy and given the terrifying kinetic energy of a howitzer shell.
Furthermore, although the monster's body was currently falling backward, its colossal, skyscraper-sized tail immediately twisted and lashed directly at Todo Aoi!
This scene of certain death had actually been anticipated by Todo Aoi long ago.
After all, Mei Mei had suffered a similar experience earlier. Sorcerers wouldn't be fooled by the same move twice.
"Cursed Spirit, my attack was merely an appetizer. The real main course is yet to come.
Let me show you. This is the Double Black Flash of me and my brother."
Todo Aoi grinned ferociously.
Clapping his hands together, Boogie Woogie activated!
"The rest is up to you, brother."
Todo Aoi's Boogie Woogie was inherently the best technique for teamwork.
Todo Aoi himself disappeared, and the one who appeared on the scene in his place was Hikigaya Hachiman from the rear.
"Hm."
Hikigaya Hachiman, appearing in mid-air, did not condense his Cursed Energy artillery which requires charging, nor did he pick up his Chainsword this time.
Instead, it was purely barehanded combat.
Before Sanguinius's return, the entire Blood Angels Legion was renowned for its bloody, close-quarters combat and slaughter.
Before developing his Librarian abilities, Hikigaya Hachiman had encountered countless situations where his Chainsword was unusable due to operating overload or being jammed with the flesh and blood of aliens.
So, what weapon was more powerful than his own fist?
In his previous world, he had Power Fists, which could directly crush the enemy's external armor and internal skeleton, smashing the enemy's head.
In this world, Hikigaya Hachiman found an equivalent: the Black Flash.
Black Flash has a very high limit, allowing a normal attack to deal damage amplified by a factor of 2.5.
In Hikigaya Hachiman's hands, this was even more terrifying, surpassing the Power Fists he wielded.
Facing the colossal, sky-darkening tail that smashed down like a skyscraper, Hikigaya Hachiman's originally empty fist was coated in a red light far more dazzling and brilliant than the one Todo Aoi's fist had just flashed, like a miniature sun.
Hikigaya Hachiman unleashed a simple punch, yet it possessed the most terrifying destructive power since the three of them began fighting the Cursed Spirit!
The leading edge of the punch caused the atmosphere to ripple layer by layer, like waves on a water surface.
The shockwave that erupted when the fist made contact instantly blew away the fragments created by the shattering of the large bone spikes at the point of impact!
The tail, into which the Cursed Spirit had poured its full body strength, instantly developed a massive indentation upon contact, and this indentation continued to collapse inward, as if struck by continuous punches.
A colossal sound, accompanied by a series of massive explosions, caused the entire tail to practically disintegrate instantly.
But the fragments from the disintegration did not remain as bone fragments; they were instead instantly turned into dust.
And that wasn't all. The point of contact with Hikigaya Hachiman's Black Flash was merely a fuse; the destructive force of his punch quickly spread throughout the Cursed Spirit's entire body.
This led to a spectacular sight: the Cursed Spirit's body began to collapse section by section, starting from the tail, rapidly turning into dust like falling dominoes. During this process,
it was accompanied by fierce explosions and booming sounds.
The entire 200-meter body vanished forward in continuous bursts, like exploding firecrackers. Forget bone fragments; even the dust was blown away. It took less than four seconds for the destruction to reach the great skeleton's head.
Even the collar tied around the Cursed Spirit's neck, which was actually a Cursed Tool from the Fujiwara family, was affected and instantly turned into fragments.
Not to mention the hard rocks that originally covered the sides of the Cursed Spirit; the sturdy mountain stones all cracked open like blocks of tofu!
Hikigaya Hachiman casually retracted his punch. After killing the Cursed Spirit, a memory fragment that did not belong to him inexplicably appeared before his eyes.
The perspective was that of the great skeleton.
On a cliff above lush green trees, a man with fox-like eyebrows, wearing a white kariginu (similar to a Heian-era court or Yin-Yang Master's outfit), was holding a golden talisman between two fingers.
And in a massive pit was the great skeletal Cursed Spirit that Hikigaya Hachiman had just killed.
This great skeleton was diligently digging in the mountains like a laborer. The collar on its neck, bearing the Fujiwara family crest, was not in the rusty state Hikigaya Hachiman saw.
Instead, it was golden and glistening with extremely strong Cursed Energy fluctuations. The chain behind the collar was not broken; the end of that golden chain was tied to an enormous spike, resembling one made from an entire Sacred Tree.
The dignified Special Grade Great Skeleton Demon Cursed Spirit was actually being used merely as a slave, relying on its colossal and convenient body to excavate the mountain.