Immediately circulating more CE unto his hands, Hiroyuki tried to block the incoming Piercing Blood that was directed toward his head. 

*pshk!*

*THUD!*

"Ack!"

Hiroyuki groaned as he got his back slammed down to the ground due to the force he received upon catching the attack.

Piercing Blood is an attack that has extreme flesh-piercing capabilities. And when used skillfully, it can even easily reach the speed of sound. So Hiroyuki, catching that kind of attack with his bare hand, and while mid-air, is undoubtedly an impressive feat.

Still, because of his small stature, the impact he just received was strong enough to knock some air out of him and give him light concussions. Had he not blocked it, it would've given him quite a trouble for sure. 

But as much as he wanted to have a breather, he couldn't cause Mamoru saw through his situation and quickly took advantage of it.

"Heh~" That's why, immediately upon touching the ground again, she rushed towards Hiroyuki who was still lying on the ground, and delivered a drop kick toward his head.

Hiroyuki dodged it by simply rolling backward. But Mamoru quickly followed him up and delivered more barrage of attacks. Midway through those attacks, she even conjured up a small blade using her Blood Manipulation Technique, increasing the lethality of each of her attacks. 

Unfortunately for her, none of those lethal attacks landed on Hiroyuki cause at this point, he's already recovered. Using Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist again, he simply parried all those attacks and sometimes, even redirected them back towards Mamoru.

"Tch!"

Causing her to click her tongue as she sees how the situation slowly tilts to Hiroyuki's side once again. Even after using a Curse Technique, she barely made any kind of difference.

'This kid is dangerous.' Mamoru thought to himself as he observed Hiroyuki more closely.

Initially, upon hearing about the rising star of the Gojo Clan for the first time, she thought that he must be quite talented to gather such attention. But that's about it. She didn't think much about him because, in the end, only the Six Eyes are all that matters about the Gojo Clan.

But after seeing and observing Hiroyuki from the Maid's memory, she immediately realized how wrong she was. 

Hence why she quickly made a move and sabotaged him by spreading the information about his HR, most likely to hinder his growth as much as possible. This is also the reason why, when she found out that someone was tracking her and it was Hiroyuki, she decided to wait because, for her, it was a chance to nip him out of the picture.

Well, for sure, she didn't make any trap or plan for their arrival. That could've been a great help in her fight right now. But in her defense, she's only facing two kids who she thought, were pretty deceptible given her appearance.

In any case, when it comes to the combat aspect, she isn't a slacker. Mamoru, or basically whoever is behind Mamoru, is a top-tier fighter. Actually, given the right body, she could most likely dominate anyone in this world.

And a youngling like Hiroyuki, given how talented he is, to an extent, would only cause her a little trouble. Given the disparity when it comes to their experience, there's simply no way he can beat her. 

Or at least, that's how it should've played out. 

'Fine, I'll stop playing around now...'

Mamoru, conjuring a smile on her face, finally steeled herself to give it her all just to kill Hiroyuki. 

Well, it's not like she's actually only playing around up until now, it's more like, that she's playing it more safely. But now, she realized that there was no way for her to win by doing that.

'... I have no use for this body now anyway.' 

That's why, during their current exchange, Mamoru made quite a questionable maneuver. After parrying Hiroyuki's attacks, she suddenly twisted her body forward and then delivered a stab towards his chest.

Quite an effective attack, anyone could say... but if Hiroyuki managed to block this, which Mamoru already expected to happen, then she would surely have a hard time blocking or dodging whatever attack would come after.

'It's fine. He's not trying to kill me anyway. At most, he'll probably just attack my head to incapacitate me. So if I...' Mamoru thought to herself as she conjured another Blood Edge on her other hand in preparation, completely disregarding her defense.

!!!

But unlike what she predicted, Hiroyuki seems to have no plans to block or parry the attack. Instead, before the initial attack landed, a loud noise suddenly reverberated around their area. 

*BADUMM!*

The noise was like that of a heartbeat.

But Mamoru had no time to focus on the noise because she noticed that right after that, Hiroyuki's stance changed. 

"Exploding Heart Release Fist"

... and the next thing she knew.

*VWOOOOM!*

Her entire right arm, which is the same arm she used for that initial attack, suddenly disappeared. The attack that Hiroyuki made caused wind pressure so strong it easily obliterated anything in its way.

'I... almost died?'

If not for Mamoru instinctively using the Flowing Red Scale, allowing her to react much faster, she would've had his entire upper body destroyed by that attack just now. 

!!!

But it seems that Hiroyuki didn't plan to give her any time to process what just happened because right after that, he immediately prepared for another attack. 

"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Binding!"

Seeing what Hiroyuki was trying to do, Mamoru didn't wait any longer and immediately tried to hinder his movement using the blood that was gushing out from her missing right shoulder.

Doing this will immediately make her lose blood faster, she knows, but given the severity of the current situation, she simply doesn't have much choice. 

*CRACK!*

*GUSH!*

Unfortunately, the crimson binding didn't even last a second because Hiroyuki managed to destroy it immediately. But that second gave Mamoru enough time to get away and use the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal her wound and stop the bleeding.

"Reverse Cursed Technique? Blood Manipulation? As expected, Mamoru's gone already."

"..."

"... If you simply possessed her, you would not have cared even if that body died. But the fact that you're trying to survive only leads to one conclusion." Hiroyuki paused for a second as the expression on his face intensified.

"I don't know the exact method you used but... You already killed her and took over his entire body." 

!!!

A large amount of Curse Energy started surging out of Hiroyuki's body right after that. It was only a small amount compared to the overall amount of CE that his Cursed Heart holds, but this 'small' amount, for others, would be astonishing already.

'T- This monster.' Mamoru, all while smiling wildly, grimaced as he observed the current happening. At this point, she did not even try to deny what Hiroyuki just said.

"I would not hold back anymore. For killing my friend..."

After that, Hiroyuki got into the Exploding Heart Release Fist stance. The massive amount of CE around him then started converging toward one of his arms, swirling around it like a tornado. 

"... I will gladly erase you from the face of this world."

Immediately after finishing his final piece, without waiting anymore, Hiroyuki launches himself forward, towards the fake Mamoru.

*sigh*

Mamoru already knows how powerful the attack that Hiroyuki is about to make. Even the weaker version, in just one instant alone, obliterated her entire right arm. So if that charged attack, given how much CE was infused into that, it will indeed erase her from this world.

And given how much blood she already lost at this point, she cannot outpace him, so dodging is not an option. At least not anymore.

'I didn't want to do this but...'

Fortunately, at this point, her missing arm was now fully regenerated. 

'... I cannot die yet. Not until my plans are achieved.'

That's why, as quickly as she could, she brought forth her arms together.

Forming a hand sign, the smile on her face grew. 

"Domain Ex-"

_____ To be Continued...____