Before the fire could even reach Makima's face, Naoya vanished.
In that instant, she felt it — a hand on her back, and then—
air.
Makima was flying. Upward. Like a ragdoll.
"Oh," Kenjaku murmured, blinking in genuine interest as his eyes tracked the blur.
"That speed…"
Before gravity could pull her down, Naoya was already gone again — and now behind Jogo.
His hand wrapped around the curse's head like a vice.
He slammed Jogo's face into the tile with enough force to shatter the floor.
Jogo's cursed fire erupted involuntarily, blasting outward.
The explosion turned fifteen unlucky diners into instant corpses — tables melted, walls scorched black, and someone's foot landed in the salad bar.
Kenjaku calmly stepped back and adjusted the pizza menu stand so it didn't catch fire.
"We really shouldn't go anywhere in public."
Naoya now stood on a table, Makima fell in his hands.
"Papa, who are these people?" Makima asked, like she hadn't almost died three seconds ago.
"Apparently unregistered Special Grades."
"I didn't know curses could talk."
"Yeah. The easier it is for a curse to communicate, the stronger it usually is."
Kaori, watching Naoya and Makima casually talking while standing in the middle of a massacre, burst out laughing.
"This is why I love humans."
Naoya stood on the table like he owned the world, Makima casually dangling from his arm like a shopping bag.
"So you guys—are you here to steal my pizza?" he asked flatly. "Joke's on you. I already ate it all."
But behind that smug grin, his mind was racing.
This is earlier than it should be. The disaster curses and Kenjaku… gathering now? Must be the butterfly effect.
Mahito hasn't even been born yet. Shame. I wanted to test a theory—if Maki and Mai really share the same soul, and Mahito could split it, giving each her own...
Wouldn't that give me two separate beings? Each one optimized, powerful, and perfectly suited to serve?
A custom-made Toji and Yorozu—loyal, obedient, dressed like maids.
Now that would be interesting.
"Pizza, you say…?" Jogo's voice trembled with fury, embers falling from his jaw like ash.
"I'll kill both of you."
"Jogo, it's not the time for this—" Kenjaku started, but Jogo cut him off, ignoring the warning.
With a sharp snap of two fingers, the air tore open—
PSSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Four volcanic pillars erupted violently, spewing molten fire that swallowed the entire block in a blistering inferno. The heat was suffocating, the ground trembling beneath the sudden explosion.
Naoya was already on another block, Makima on his back, watching the ridiculous amount of destruction unfolding before her eyes.
Suddenly, Jogo appeared near Naoya in a flash step, his molten palm nearly touching him.
But Naoya was faster.
He instantly froze Jogo into an animated frame and shattered the frozen frame with a vicious roundhouse kick, cracking the cursed space like brittle glass. Jogo was sent flying, limbs flailing, steam trailing from his wounds.
Naoya didn't stop.
He vanished again, reappearing mid-air above Jogo, cursed energy coiled around his leg like a spring-loaded blade. The next hit would end it—
But Jogo twisted in the air and spat out a cluster of ember-wasps, each one radiating insane heat. They swarmed like hornets.
Naoya clicked his tongue.
A blur.
He dipped, swerved, and twisted through the swarm like light through shattered glass.
The insects tried to adjust mid-air—
Too late.
"Air Freeze," Naoya muttered.
A massive shockwave erupted.
The ember-wasps were annihilated instantly.
Several buildings collapsed from the force, and hundreds of people died in seconds.
Jogo landed hard, cracks splintering beneath him from the pressure of his cursed energy.
His eye blazed—fury overriding pain.
"You think it's over? I'm just getting started."
The street beneath him boiled.
Then erupted.
Massive pillars of lava burst outward in a cross-pattern, carving molten trenches through the city.
Asphalt hissed. Steel groaned and liquefied.
Buildings collapsed into glowing slag.
The sky turned crimson, stained by the heatwaves and volcanic ash billowing upward.
Tokyo was gone.
At least this part of it.
Everywhere Naoya looked was a sea of lava.
People ran and screamed—some didn't even get the chance.
Bodies turned to cinders in seconds.
Cars exploded like popcorn.
Entire apartments collapsed into bubbling pits of magma.
It was hell on Earth, and Jogo was the devil dragging it to the surface.
Naoya and Makima were already two blocks away, but even here, the air felt like it was trying to cook them alive.
Heat shimmered off the pavement. Ash drifted like black snow.
The sky pulsed red and orange, as if Tokyo itself were burning in a volcano's stomach.
Makima clung to his back like a sloth on a bullet train, her small hands gripping his jacket tightly.
Her eyes didn't blink, didn't wander—just stared at the inferno behind them.
"So that's a special grade, huh?" she whispered, almost reverently.
"Yes. As you can see," Naoya muttered.
She watched the sea of lava swallow buildings, cars, and people alike.
Her expression didn't change, but something glinted in her eyes.
"Give him a little more time, and he'll drown all of Japan," Naoya said, tone flat—but with a sliver of interest beneath it.
This version of Jogo is significantly stronger than the one from the show.
Makima tilted her head slightly.
"Is that what it means to be a special grade? You're a special grade too, right, Papa? So… can you destroy Japan too?"
Naoya didn't hesitate.
"I told you. I can erase the world whenever I feel like it—not just Japan."
Makima nodded, clearly still not convinced.
"But," Naoya added, "not all special grades are like him. Some are way weaker. That's why I said the grading system is garbage."
He clicked his tongue, eyes following Jogo's rampage like he was watching a mildly annoying movie.
"There should be grades within special grade. Layers. Tiers. Because lumping someone like me in the same category as every other special grade? That's just disrespectful."
Suddenly, the horizon flashed.
A beam of concentrated volcanic flame—as wide as a train and moving faster than a bullet—ripped through the city.
Naoya's body moved before his mind even finished the thought. He kicked off the edge of the rooftop, shooting across the sky with Makima latched to his back.
The beam tore through four city blocks, punching a hole through buildings like paper. The force was deafening.
Jogo was following. Fast. Too fast.
Flames wrapped around his fists as he lunged, molten eyes locked onto Naoya.
A volcanic claw formed midair, extending like a dragon's mouth, ready to engulf them both.
"Persistent bastard," Naoya muttered.
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Try not to die," he said—mocking, to Jogo.
Then, coldly:
"Maximum Output: Air Freeze."
His fist moved.
His punch looked like it shattered the frozen space itself.
A titanic shockwave erupted—
Raw force compressed into a single direction—
And it screamed toward Jogo like the wrath of a god.
The shockwave slammed into Jogo before he could fully react.
For a heartbeat, there was only silence.
Then—
BOOM.
A dome of pure force erupted in midair, vaporizing clouds and flipping over cars three blocks away.
Jogo's body was hurled backward like a comet, crashing through three high-rises in a line—each one exploding outward in a shower of fire, steel, and shattered glass.
The volcanic claw Jogo had formed disintegrated.
Flames scattered into dying embers.
For a moment, there was only wind.
Naoya landed hard on another rooftop, sliding to a stop, his boots grinding against scorched concrete.
Makima still clung to his back, unmoving—
But inside, she was shocked.
Completely shocked.
The destruction. The raw power. The scale.
Again.
Again and again, the scale of destruction left her in awe.
Not that she showed it.
Naoya moved without warning.
A blur—he vanished and reappeared two kilometres away, standing over the crater where Jogo lay embedded.
Jogo was slowly rising, his charred body healing. Cracks ran down his arms.
He had used Domain Amplification just in time to survive the blow.
"Are you still keeping the child with you?" Jogo asked, his voice hoarse as he pushed himself up.
"You gonna use her as a shield?" he said mockingly.
Naoya tilted his head, then smirked.
"Well, I was going to drop her off somewhere safe... but since we're in a tutoring session, I figured she might as well stay and get a better understanding of the world."
Jogo barked out a laugh. "She's just gonna hold you back."
"Yeah, that's true," Naoya replied, surprisingly agreeable. "She is holding me back. I can't use half my abilities like this."
He laughed casually, as if talking about a minor inconvenience.
Jogo's expression twisted with a mix of amusement and confusion.
"But it'll all be fine..." Naoya added, his tone dropping—cold and sharp.
He looked Jogo dead in the eye, a cruel smile tugging at his lips.
"After all…"
He took a step forward.
"You're weak."