Rumble!
The terrifying flame-infused slash collided with Tatsumaki's telekinetic barrier, sending her crashing into the ground.
Not only that, but the immense force pushed her along, gouging deep, widening cracks in the earth as she slid.
Yami hovered in the air, a calm expression on his face.
He looked completely unbothered, as if the devastation he caused moments ago had nothing to do with him.
"HA!"
With a soft hum, countless towering buildings were uprooted from the ground, hurtling toward him.
Yami casually swung his sword, slicing through the structures as if they were paper, shattering the telekinetic energy coating them in the process.
Debris rained down from the sky, causing chaos below.
Looking up, Tatsumaki, her right hand raised, slowly floated back into view, panting slightly.
Scarlet blood trickled down from her forehead.
Though the wound wasn't severe, she appeared disheveled. Her clothes were torn further, and a fine layer of dust coated her body.
Yami's attack had struck its mark, and the impact was undeniable.
Flustered and humiliated, Tatsumaki's blood coursed through her veins, her breathing erratic from rage.
"You… you bastard…" Tatsumaki started, but the searing pain coursing through her body, combined with the embarrassment of being overpowered, left her at a loss for words.
The frustration quickly boiled over into another fierce assault.
A deafening roar echoed through the sky.
Simultaneously, massive waves of energy surged from all directions, accompanied by a barrage of meteorites. Each strike was intended to kill Yami—Tatsumaki showed no regard for the toll her powers were taking on her body.
But Yami had grown tired of this game.
A wave of domineering, overwhelming energy burst forth from him, flooding the mirrored space.
Tatsumaki's mind was struck by the sudden psychic shock, her mental power faltering. Her attack completely crumbled.
"Hum!"
With a swift motion, Yami unleashed a sword slash, the enormous wave of energy slicing through the meteorites in the sky, detonating them in mid-air.
The violent shockwaves rippled downward, wreaking havoc on the already-devastated city below.
"The next move will decide everything, Tatsumaki," Yami said calmly.
"You damn pervert! I won't lose!" she snapped.
"It's been a while since I've used my full power. Consider yourself lucky—you'll be the first in a long time to experience it. Prepare to be nothing but a corpse."
Yami's words, meant as a warning, only fueled Tatsumaki's fury.
In an instant, her small figure began to radiate a dazzling green light.
This was far more intense than anything she had displayed before. Tatsumaki's pupils vanished, her eyes turning a chilling, solid white.
She had entered an overclocked state.
This was the last resort for any psychic, a dangerous gambit no one would use unless absolutely necessary.
In essence, it was an overdraw on one's psychic powers, a reckless move that could cause irreversible damage to the brain if not handled with extreme care.
Even if she avoided physical injury, entering this state would render her combat-ineffective for some time.
However, the power unlocked in this state far exceeded her normal limits.
Tatsumaki had long since mastered this technique, but until now, no opponent had ever pushed her far enough to use it.
But that had changed today.
The mysterious man before her was far stronger than she had ever imagined.
He had forced her hand, and now, Tatsumaki was determined to crush him—even if it meant using dangerous, self-destructive power.
"Ahhh!!!"
Her psychic energy, pushed to its limit, surged uncontrollably, bursting forth.
From Yami's perspective, it looked like a massive tidal wave of radiant energy, crashing toward him.
The sheer magnitude of the power was staggering.
Yami had every reason to believe that Tatsumaki's attack could literally tear the earth asunder.
"That's it. That's exactly what I want—the strongest forces clashing head-on. This is a real fight."
"In return, I'll give you my answer."
Raising the Spear of Hephaestus in his right hand, Yami's face grew fierce with concentration.
At that moment, the flames and thunder surrounding his body intensified, burning brighter than ever.
Even the blue sky above was tinted with the vivid colors of his power.
A vortex formed at the tip of the Spear of Hephaestus, as the energy of the Thunder Fruit and the Grace of the Sun converged, swirling together in a terrifying spiral.
Simultaneously, Yami called upon the power of the Space Fruit.
Three distinct forces, each unimaginable in its own right, entwined under Yami's command, compressing at a mind-boggling speed.
Finally, they reached their peak.
"Now... World Shatter!!!"
Having gathered the immense energy, Yami hurled the Spear of Hephaestus with all his might.
The spear broke through the sound barrier in an instant, leaving visible shockwaves in its wake as it hurtled through the air. By now, Tatsumaki's attack had also reached him.
The two forces collided in mid-air.
CLANG!
A piercing, metallic sound echoed through the sky.
A shockwave of unimaginable power, laced with a strange, unknown frequency, erupted in all directions.
Though Yami's spear and Tatsumaki's psychic force never made direct contact, an unstable energy field formed between them, expanding rapidly.
Finally, the critical threshold was breached!
The energies fused together, breaking the fragile equilibrium. The once-still dark halo collapsed inward, only to explode outward in a violent burst.
BOOM!
A cataclysmic explosion rocked the mirrored space, its blinding light engulfing everything in its path.
Yami, Tatsumaki, and even the distant goddesses—Hephaestus, Artemis, and Hestia—were all swallowed by the cascading energy.
The mirrored space quaked under the force of the blast, with cracks rapidly spreading across the sky.