Chapter 106: The Celestial Erosion Field
"T-Then what do we do now?"
Ren stared at the empty space before him for a long moment before drawing a deep breath.
"There are two options."
"Two?" Mei Mei blinked in surprise.
"You still have two options?"
Ren nodded.
"The first is the same as before."
"I keep using Black Flash."
"But—"
He raised a hand, stopping her before she could interrupt.
"Remember what I said earlier?"
"My Black Flash can literally continue forever."
He pointed at the surrounding space.
"But this curse's cursed energy isn't infinite."
"Repairing space consumes cursed energy."
"Which means that if I keep throwing Black Flashes without stopping, eventually its cursed energy will run dry."
"And when that happens, I'll still be at full strength."
Mei Mei stared at him as though he were speaking a foreign language.
"Y-You can actually do that?"
Using an endless stream of Black Flashes to exhaust an enemy's cursed energy reserves sounded utterly absurd.
Like something out of a fantasy.
Yet the more she thought about it, the more terrifyingly plausible it became.
"Theoretically, yes," Ren replied.
"But there are several problems."
"First, we have no idea how much energy it actually costs this curse to repair damage caused by Black Flash."
"Considering its innate ability revolves around creating space, I doubt the burden is particularly heavy."
"So even if I win this contest of endurance, it could take an extremely long time."
"Far longer than we'd like."
He paused before continuing.
"And there's an even worse possibility."
Mei Mei's expression stiffened.
"What possibility?"
"That the energy required to repair the space is so insignificant that its natural recovery rate completely offsets the expenditure."
"In other words…"
Ren glanced around the endless corridor.
"Our tug-of-war could continue forever."
Mei Mei's face darkened.
That scenario was disastrous.
If the curse could endlessly regenerate the space faster than it consumed energy, then they would effectively be trapped forever.
It would be no different from sitting here and waiting to die.
"I don't have any interest in finding out which possibility is correct," Ren said, shaking his head.
"And even if it's the first scenario, spending days, weeks, or even longer grinding it down isn't exactly a good outcome for us."
"So—"
A sharp gleam flashed across his eyes.
"I'm going with the second option."
Mei Mei stared at him.
"The second option?"
"Yes."
Ren's voice grew calm.
"Simple."
"Direct."
"One strike."
Mei Mei's eyes widened.
"Simple? Direct? One strike?"
For the first time since entering the manor, genuine anticipation appeared on her face.
Because judging from Ren's tone—
Whatever he was about to do was clearly something entirely different from the endless barrage of Black Flashes.
And judging by the name that had suddenly surfaced in her mind...
It was likely the trump card he had never shown anyone before.
A technique meant not to crack open space little by little—
But to destroy it outright.
"The technique I've been developing..."
Ren slowly raised his hand.
Dark cursed energy began gathering around his fingertips.
His black eyes reflected the endless corridor stretching before them.
Then, in a low voice, he spoke the name of the technique.
"Heavenly Erosion Field."
She felt as though she had already been shocked too many times today—so many that she was becoming numb to it.
And yet, every time she thought that, the boy would casually say or do something that shattered her expectations all over again.
"Simple and direct."
"One strike."
Were those really the words of someone trapped in a desperate, life-or-death situation?
His tone sounded as relaxed as if he were talking about buying groceries at a market.
"I still haven't used my trump card," Ren said with a slight smile, noticing Mei Mei's bewildered stare.
"But why—?"
He immediately understood her confusion and explained calmly:
"A trump card is something you save for the very end."
"For the final moment."
"And that moment is now, Mei Mei."
He extended his hand.
"So, give me your hand."
"What?"
Mei Mei found herself confused yet again.
What did his trump card have to do with her hand?
Nevertheless, she instinctively followed his instructions and placed her hand in his.
This time, it was Ren who held her hand.
His fingers were slender, but his grip was firm and steady. There was a reassuring strength in it, a sense of reliability that made her heart skip unexpectedly.
"Because," Ren explained, noticing only confusion and uncertainty beneath the silver hair covering part of her face, "this will prevent me from accidentally hurting you."
"Hurting me?"
"Mm."
Still holding her hand, Ren turned and gently patted Divine Dog: Totality's lowered head.
The massive shikigami had crouched as low as possible in the narrow corridor.
"Well then."
He smiled softly.
"See you in a moment, old friend."
Divine Dog: Totality let out a long howl.
Its enormous body dissolved into shadows and vanished into the corridor.
Ren formed a hand seal with one hand.
The next instant, symmetrical crimson markings appeared across his forehead—
The Michikaeshi no Tama and Tarutama sigils, glowing red as fresh blood.
Then his voice rang out through the corridor.
"Domain Expansion—"
A violent pressure erupted outward.
"Heavenly Erosion Field."
Black and crimson spread in every direction.
The colors were impossibly strange.
Dark as shadows.
Red as the dying sun.
It was impossible to tell whether it was darkness consuming daylight or the last crimson glow of sunset devouring the world.
In an instant, the black-red tide engulfed everything.
The entire space transformed into a realm of blood-red darkness.
Wherever the colors passed, the endless corridor, the white-painted walls, the dark wooden paneling—
All of it crumbled away and vanished.
As though it had never existed.
At the same time, another corridor emerged.
Another set of white walls.
Another series of dark wooden panels.
The true manor.
The real space that had been concealed beneath the curse's fabricated dimension.
Domains nullified techniques.
The moment the Domain Expansion unfolded, the curse's painstakingly constructed looping space shattered like an illusion.
Gone in an instant.
There could be no mistake.
This was a Domain.
A true Domain.
A complete Domain Expansion.
Mei Mei stared wide-eyed at the manor now submerged beneath the black-red world.
She examined every inch of Ren's domain, unwilling to miss even the smallest detail.
The manor itself appeared largely unchanged.
The furniture and architecture remained the same.
Only now everything was dyed in an apocalyptic mixture of black and crimson.
Except for one thing.
One overwhelming exception.
Above them.
An inexplicable force compelled Mei Mei to raise her head.
The ceiling was gone.
The roof had vanished.
In its place stretched a sky the color of coagulated blood.
And at the very center of that dark-red heaven—
A black sun hung motionless.
Majestic.
Silent.
Terrifying.
Only then did Mei Mei realize the source of the strange attraction.
A sudden rush of blood surged through her body.
It felt as though every drop within her veins was being pulled toward that black sun.
"Don't look at it."
Ren's cool voice snapped her back to reality.
She immediately lowered her gaze.
"What... is this?"
After finally suppressing the unsettling sensation, she looked at him in astonishment.
"This," Ren replied, "is my domain."
Noticing her gaze drift toward the crimson markings on his forehead, Ren inwardly sighed.
As expected. She really does know her stuff.
"Strictly speaking, it isn't actually my domain."
"What?"
"It belongs to Divine Dog: Totality."
Mei Mei's eyes widened.
Ren continued calmly.
"My Divine Dog was already comparable to a Special Grade Curse."
"After absorbing one of Sukuna's fingers, its power increased even further."
"And eventually, it awakened its own domain."
He paused.
"However, it wasn't a complete domain."
"It couldn't deploy itself independently."
"It required an external environment to take shape."
"And even when activated, it lacked the guaranteed-hit effect granted by a proper barrier."
"In other words—"
"It was missing a sufficiently strong and complete shell."
Ren's lips curved upward slightly.
Maintaining the hand seal for Heavenly Erosion Field, he continued:
"Coincidentally…"
"I'm rather talented when it comes to barrier techniques."
"The shell of a domain."
"And so, I supplied the part it lacked."
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