The Price of Power - Chapter 121
Chapter 121 – The Price of Power
"What? Is he aiming at me?"
Ren's heart thudded, his thoughts spinning as fast as the vortex charging toward him.
"Wait, no—I still should have Rika, right? For at least one more minute… then why… why is she going away?"
His eyes darted to the flickering aura that had once been Rika, now dissipating like mist.
"Ah, no. NO… not that fucking domain! Tamamo-no-Mae… She messed up my sense of time. She even messed up my internal timer! Fuck—I'm dead."
His legs felt weak. His vision blurred slightly. Blood dripped from his shoulder. His entire body burned with fatigue.
"There's nothing I can do. I already have low cursed energy, my shoulder's bleeding, my body's already tired… I'm not going to make it."
The Maximum: Uzumaki—a monstrous spiral of curses and death—was already halfway to him.
"No way I can block it. No way I can move out of the way. If I had just a little more cursed energy… maybe I could dodge with Red Stitch… or trigger Overdrive…"
His fists trembled.
"But I—I have nothing."
Time slowed.
On the other side, Mahoraga rushed Geto.
Geto grinned like a lunatic.
"Ahaha… I might die. But if Ren dies first, and I survive by some miracle… I could take Rika. I started a war I couldn't win—this? This is nothing!"
A final gamble.
Mahoraga's Sword of Extermination came crashing down at Geto, who tried to guard with Playful Cloud but failed.
CRASH!!
Geto was slammed into the ground.
But for Ren—
It was just light.
A blinding white mass racing straight toward his face.
He opened his mouth.
"Binding vow."
"I can't use Rika for the next five months… but the timer on Rika will reset right now…"
Nothing.
It didn't work.
His cursed energy was too low—too fractured—his will not enough.
Ren gritted his teeth.
"Again."
"Binding vow: I can't use Rika for the next six months. And my cursed energy pool also gets lowered by half! BUT—"
"—in turn, right now I'll have full access to Rika for ten minutes!!!"
Silence.
Then—
FWOOMP.
A black portal opened behind him. And Rika emerged, full-bodied. Her monstrous form glowed with fury.
Ren exhaled. "There you are…"
He didn't hesitate.
He lifted a shaking finger and pointed it directly at the incoming Uzumaki.
"Mirror Reversal."
A mirror, perfectly polished and ethereal, formed midair between him and the blast.
BOOM!!!
The Uzumaki struck it dead on.
The mirror shattered—dozens, hundreds of reflective shards raining through the sky.
But then—
The blast reversed.
It turned back.
It went flying in the opposite direction—toward the place it had been launched from.
Right where Mahoraga now stood.
Mahoraga turned just slightly—his body tensing.
Ren's eyes widened.
He pointed.
And he screamed—
"DON'T MOVE!! DON'T MOVE!! DON'T MOVE!!"
Cursed Speech.
The words ripped through the air like a curse of their own.
Mahoraga froze, but only for a moment. His wheel ticked—tick tick tick—adapting.
Still, it was enough.
The Maximum: Uzumaki collided into Mahoraga's body.
BOOOOOMMMM!!!
A massive explosion tore open the landscape. Dust and cursed energy swallowed the world.
Ren didn't waste the moment.
He coughed—blood pouring from his mouth—and whispered:
"Love cannon…"
THWOOOOM!!
From Rika's chest came a blinding beam of concentrated cursed love—piercing the swirling explosion and hitting Mahoraga directly, a blast so intense the sky cracked.
Light erupted.
BLAAAMMM!!!
Everything vanished in the shine.
Mahoraga's figure was blown into ash.
And Ren?
He fell, shaking, barely holding himself upright.
He turned slowly to where Geto had fallen.
Smoke.
Geto's arm was gone—blown clean off from Mahoraga's earlier strike.
He was barely conscious.
Without pause, Ren moved.
CLANG!
Ren used Iron Ruler, his technique humming weakly.
A single iron rod hovered in the air, sharpened, cold.
It darted forward.
SHUNK!!
It pierced Geto's chest—clean through.
Ren stared.
Sweat and blood poured down his face.
And finally—he spoke.
"Fuck…"
His knees hit the ground.
Mahoraga was nothing but embers.
Geto was dead.
And Ren, the last one standing, had lost the most.