The swarm continued.
Thousands of cursed spirits surged toward Takeru from every direction.
The air was filled with screeching.
Wings beat against the sky.
Claws scraped through the sand.
Massive bodies crashed into one another as they all tried to reach him at once.
Then they reached Takeru.
FWOOM!
The entire swarm engulfed him.
Takeru disappeared beneath the mass of cursed spirits.
Yuji's eyes widened.
"Takeru!"
Maki stepped forward.
"Can he get out of that?!"
One of the Gojo's stared through the swarm.
"…I can't see him."
The god-guy watched silently.
Then—
Piano.
Everyone froze.
A piano note echoed across the beach.
Ding.
Another.
Ding…
Then a beautiful melody began playing.
Soft.
Melancholic.
Almost peaceful.
It was "If I Am With You" by Yoshimasa Terui.
Yoshimasa Terui
The melody drifted across the beach.
Nobody knew where the piano was coming from.
There wasn't even a piano in sight.
Yet the music was unmistakable.
Yuji slowly lowered his hand.
"…What?"
Another note played.
Then—
BOOM!
A cursed spirit inside the swarm suddenly exploded.
Then another.
BOOM!
Another disintegrated into nothing.
FWOOM!
The swarm began collapsing.
"What is happening?!"
The god-guy's eyes widened.
He could barely see Takeru through the mass.
But then the cursed spirits began getting blasted away from him.
A faint glow surrounded Takeru.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
Not just a little.
An enormous amount of it.
Takeru had surrounded his entire body with powerful Reverse Cursed Technique.
Every cursed spirit that touched him was being overwhelmed.
Their bodies warped.
Cracked.
Then disappeared.
BOOM!
Another cursed spirit vanished.
Takeru finally became visible.
He stood in the center of the swarm.
Completely surrounded.
His body glowing with RCT.
His expression calm.
The piano continued playing.
Ding… ding… ding…
More cursed spirits rushed him.
They died.
More came.
They died too.
The god-guy stared.
"…They're not even hurting him."
Takeru looked up.
A giant cursed spirit descended toward him.
It touched the RCT surrounding his body.
FWOOM!
Gone.
Takeru didn't even move.
The swarm continued pouring toward him.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Still coming.
And still—
They died.
One after another.
BOOM.
FWOOM.
CRACK.
BOOM.
The beautiful piano melody continued over the destruction.
It was almost peaceful.
Almost serene.
As if the music and the battle belonged to two completely different worlds.
Yuji stared.
"…This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen."
Hakari nodded slowly.
"Same."
Kenjaku watched Takeru carefully.
"He isn't attacking them."
Nanami looked toward the swarm.
"They're destroying themselves by touching him."
The god-guy clenched his fists.
The swarm kept coming.
And Takeru simply stood there.
Waiting.
The piano continued.
And the cursed spirits continued to disappear.