The scene shifts to the basement of Kanagawa City's First General Hospital.

The darkness of the basement is illuminated by the flames, as the fire transforms into a fiery serpent that lunges towards Bloodbath, but in a brief moment of stillness, the flames explode, sending Bloodbath's body flying against the basement wall with great force, followed by...

"Boom!"

A dull thud resounds, accompanied by a cloud of dust and a massive dent in the wall.

"Huff..."

Hiyori gasps for breath, and then, the flames suddenly disappear, signaling the end. Hiyori closes her eyes and waits for her breathing to steady before turning around and heading towards the basement entrance.

But...

"It's not over yet."

Taken aback, Hiyori quickly turns around.

Bloodbath charges toward her at lightning speed, and although she instinctively tries to defend herself with her longsword, the impact proves overpowering. Her body is sent flying, but even so, the impact isn't severe enough to be unable to withstand it. It must be because her magic power was depleted by her previous attack.

"Thud!"

Her body slams heavily against the wall near the exit. Although she tries to mitigate the impact with her technique at the last moment, it has limited effect.

"Ugh..."

Hiyori lets out a muffled groan as she falls to the ground.

"How is this possible? Didn't it work?"

Hiyori struggles to stand up quickly, but her steps have already become unsteady.

Oh no, her consciousness is beginning to fade. Hiyori realizes the dire situation with alarm, and she feels cold sweat starting to form.

Bloodbath looks at her with an admiring expression.

"Ah, yes. That move earlier was certainly effective. Originally, it should have ended there."

"But..."

"It's because of this, just like yours."

Saying this, Bloodbath pulls something out from their pocket, which happens to be Jujutsu Paper, just like Hiyori's.

Seeing this, Hiyori seems to have an inkling of what's coming.

"Could it be...?"

"You're right. The Sword Sorcerer of the Far East, this is a water-based curse technique."

"..."

"Because I possess this ability, I know better than anyone that my greatest fear is fire. It can be said to be my only weakness."

"But wouldn't it be difficult to activate the curse technique in that situation?"

"Yes, it's indeed difficult. After all, I need to cover my body with a layer of water, not for attacking, but for self-protection. It's a challenging task, and I spent a long time honing this technique."

"So, it was at that moment?"

Upon hearing this, Hiyori seems to have a realization.

"Yes, right before you hit me, I activated it by touching the Jujutsu Paper with my right hand. I covered my abdomen with a layer of water. Of course, it's only a partial coverage, but it's enough. As long as I find a way to reduce the damage from your fire, the rest is just a normal impact. I can withstand it with my own abilities."

"Tsk..."

Unexpectedly, the final move was neutralized, and...

The situation has become even more unfavorable.

"What's wrong, Sword Sorcerer from the Far East? Did you exhaust all your strength with that last move?"

"......"

Bloodbath observed Hiyori's reaction and got his answer.

"I was hoping things would finally get interesting, but it seems we've ended up with this result. Although that last move was interesting, it would be terrible if you were to try it again. In that case, let's finish this quickly."

As he spoke, Bloodbath forcefully pushed off the ground again, closing the distance in an instant, and delivered a straight punch with his right fist.

Hiyori managed to dodge it with her clairvoyance, but then came a kick from Bloodbath's right leg, which followed closely behind.

Although she had anticipated it beforehand, her body was no longer able to move as agilely as before. Even if she knew the direction of the enemy's attack, her stamina was now struggling to keep up.

In this situation, her only choice was to use her longsword to block. However, even if she managed to avoid a direct hit, she couldn't cancel out the impact of Bloodbath's attacks. Her body was sent flying again and rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

Her vision began to blur gradually, and her strength was almost depleted. Even if she tried her hardest, she couldn't drive this exhausted body anymore, not even to breathe.

Is this the end?

As she thought this, Hiyori's train of thought was interrupted.