The moment Luo Shu focused his gaze, pale blue-white lightning manifested out of thin air in the void of space.
Countless streaks of blue-white lightning instantly wove into a dense electric net, enveloping the surroundings—Mukuro Hoshimiya included.
Unlike Elite Rank Calamity Bringers, who could only passively endure misfortune, Hero Rank Calamity Priests possessed the preliminary ability to summon natural disasters at will.
And the thunderstorm before them was the calamity Luo Shu had summoned through his abilities as a Calamity Bringer.
For Luo Shu, who had personally elevated Kurumi Tokisaki to Demigod status, the limits of a Spirit's endurance were no mystery.
Thus, the moment he decided to act, he unleashed violence sufficient to grievously wound a Hero Rank Spirit.
"Gah—!!"
BOOM—!!
A scream and thunderclap resounded simultaneously.
Just as Mukuro Hoshimiya cried out in pain, Luo Shu felt a surge of dread.
He swiftly manipulated the winds he had summoned earlier, executing an evasion manoeuvre in the vacuum of space.
The instant he dodged, a black-purple circular vortex materialised where he had been floating. A sceptre with a blade-like tip thrust out—only to strike empty air.
When the sceptre missed, Luo Shu keenly noticed that the winds at the point of impact had severed their connection to him—as if they had been erased.
Seeing this, his brow twitched.
At that moment, the summoned thunderstorm abruptly vanished.
Standing at its centre was Mukuro Hoshimiya—her body charred, her clothes in tatters—her icy gaze stabbing at Luo Shu like a blade.
"—Master of Seal and Unlock!"
Mukuro Hoshimiya withdrew the sceptre from the void before her, its blade-like tip reverting to its irregular key-like form.
Twisting it in her right hand, she reversed her grip and pressed the tip against her own chest:
"Master of Seal and Unlock, seal!"
With a click.
The staff rotated 90 degrees to the right.
Mukuro Hoshimiya's wounds and tattered clothing vanished as if by magic at this motion.
Witnessing this phenomenon, though surprised, Luo Shu wasn't entirely taken aback.
He had long known that the Master of Seal and Unlock possessed such a conceptually overpowered ability to seal things, so he was somewhat mentally prepared for Mukuro Hoshimiya being able to seal her own injuries.
"Still want to fight?"
Luo Shu floated in space, calmly gazing at Mukuro Hoshimiya:
"That was just a warning. If you persist in your delusions, I won't hold back next time."
Hearing this, Mukuro's expression didn't change at all as she suddenly leapt backwards.
At the same moment she jumped, a human-sized black-purple void appeared out of thin air.
The next instant, a sceptre with a key-like tip extended from the void, thrusting towards Luo Shu's heart from the right.
"No communication possible?"
Luo Shu snorted coldly, swiftly sidestepping while his right hand grabbed the sceptre in reverse grip. His left hand coiled with the Concept of Calamity as he punched straight towards Mukuro's head.
Mukuro, who had just emerged from the void, suddenly felt a chill shoot up her spine to her brain and couldn't help shouting:
"—Master of Seal and Unlock!!"
In that instant, Luo Shu felt the Concept of Calamity freeze as if bound by something. Acting on instinct, he immediately released the sceptre with his right hand - just as the Concept of Calamity absorbed the sealing power that had frozen it.
Simultaneously, Mukuro opened another passage to leap back while Luo Shu manipulated gale-force winds to forcibly drag himself hundreds of metres sideways.
Like startled birds, both parties instinctively created distance between them.
After creating this distance, Luo Shu was astonished: "The Master of Seal and Unlock can even seal my Calamity?"
As Luo Shu was reeling from this realisation, Lacus's urgent warning came through the communicator:
[Look up quickly! She's escaping!]
Hearing this, Luo Shu looked up to see Mukuro no longer using the Master of Seal and Unlock's ability to open a space channel, but instead summoning an otherworld passage.
An invisible spatial ripple flashed, and Mukuro disappeared into the passage.
At that moment, with a whoosh, Natsuki Minamiya appeared beside Luo Shu in a black form-fitting spacesuit, smiling as she said:
"Our god seems to need assistance."
"You're arrival is quite timely," Luo Shu chuckled while immediately placing his hand on Natsuki's shoulder.
The moment they made contact, Natsuki activated her ability, chasing the coordinates exposed during Mukuro's escape to jump into the otherworld.
...
In the otherworld, amidst azure cloud seas.
A panting Mukuro suddenly saw Luo Shu and Natsuki materialise before her.
Her pupils contracted sharply before she unhesitatingly opened a void to put a kilometre between them, then summoned an otherworld passage again to jump back to reality.
The speed of these actions left Luo Shu no time to even look at Mukuro.
Natsuki, startled by this, immediately activated her ability again to pursue.
Emerging in the starry sky, Mukuro didn't hesitate for even a second - not even checking if her pursuers had followed - before activating her ability to traverse space again.
"This girl..."
Natsuki, having caught up, felt her scalp tingle at Mukuro's excessive decisiveness, without the slightest hesitation.
"What now?" Natsuki asked Luo Shu.
At this moment, Luo Shu's expression was grave as he said in a low voice:
"It seems Mukuro is aware that appearing in my line of sight would trigger my ability."
"So quickly?" Natsuki Minamiya was startled, unable to imagine that the seemingly fierce yet innocent Mukuro Hoshimiya possessed such sharp judgment.
"It must be an intuition-like ability. Kurumi, being a Spirit as well, has similar capabilities."
Luo Shu pondered for a moment before continuing:
"Without using instant-death abilities, I can employ Concept Entanglement to knock Mukuro unconscious, but that relies entirely on close-range attacks."
Currently, Luo Shu's Concept Entanglement could only manifest on his body's surface, with an effective range under two metres—hence his earlier attempt at close combat.
"And Mukuro's Master of Seal and Unlock can disperse molecules, so I must attack her at close range without touching her weapon to ensure she's knocked out before she can activate her ability to seal her injuries."
"In other words..." Natsuki's expression froze momentarily.
With a sigh, Luo Shu concluded:
"We have no choice but to pursue!"
"A Spirit's power isn't infinite. If Mukuro reacts just half a beat too slowly and appears in my sight, victory is assured."
"...Understood."
Natsuki took a deep breath before activating spatial displacement again, giving chase.
Almost comically, their pursuit unfolded across dimensions—through the sea of clouds in the adjacent realm and the starry cosmos of reality.