Yuta plummeted alongside the fortified tower, the wind whipping at his face and whistling in his ears as he stared down at the two alicorn curses from high above. Sensing a spark, Yuta drew closer to the bricked pillar behind him, pulling his shoes onto the tower. He dragged them along the rough edges of the concrete, slowing his descent down while his eyes were still trained on them.

"They're coming, Rika." Yuta warned.

In an instant, two beams, a hot yellow and an evening blue, shot to their location. The yellow beam missed Yuta by an inch, but it was still wide enough to sever the tower in two directly below him. Yuta was right to slow his fall, and as for the evening blue beam, it went over his head and wisped past Rika.

"Haha!! Bullseye!" Daybreaker crowed, pumping a hoof in the air before strutting over to Nightmare, who was still recovering from the near miss. "You've got to aim better, Nighty." she taunted.

Nightmare hissed, "I've already told you there's something else accompanying that thing! That's why my blast was so off-target!" Nightmare's eyes widened as she snapped over to her sister when she finally registered that last part. "And stop calling me ridiculous nicknames!"

"Of course, of course..."Daybreaker snorts, rolling her flaming eyes with a smirk, "Whatever you say, Nighty~."

Ignoring Nightmare's sputtering outrage, Daybreaker trotted forward, her posture radiating predatory confidence. A fiery red glow emanated from her horn as she closed her eyes, focusing her immense magical power. "The star," she chanted, her voice low and powerful. As she spoke, the light intensified at the tip of her horn, swirling and crackling with raw energy. "Fleeing darkness." The light coalesced, condensing into a blazing orb that mirrored the setting sun in its intensity. "Ignition!"

With a flick of her head, Daybreaker unleashed her devastating attack channelled directly towards Yuta and Rika, "Let's give them a loving welcome to Canterlot, shall we~?" she purred, "Maximum Output: Crepuscular Ray."

Back with the falling human, Rika, defying all logic, had wrapped her enormous, clawed hands around the entire severed section of the tower. With a mighty heave that caused veins to bulge on her forehead and her body to tremble, she hurled the monstrous projectile like a spear, pointed roof first, at the source where the beams of magic were shot from.

Yuta jumped back to the apparition, landing atop Rika's extended arms and allowing her to launch him, volleyball style, at full speed towards Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon. Propelled by her immense strength, Yuta became a human missile and zipped through the air, flying side by side with the tower as he closed in on their location.

Unsurprisingly, the display of power didn't go unnoticed. Below, Daybreaker reacted with characteristic fury. A yellow beam erupted from her horn, tracing a scorching path through the sky. It slammed into the tower with a loud boom, sending a cascade of bricks and debris raining down. The force of the impact shuddered through Yuta, momentarily throwing him off course. But he gritted his teeth, determined not to falter. The tower, however, wasn't as lucky. It wobbled, then, with a sickening crack, split in two. The larger portion continued its trajectory towards the alicorns, while the smaller half careened wildly, threatening to collide with Yuta in mid-air.

A sparkle of blue in the distance made Yuta furrow his brows. With a fast twist of his body and a flip of his legs, a blue beam narrowly grazed past him. The odd coolness from the magic, a stark contrast to the heat of Daybreaker's attack, momentarily sent a shiver down his spine. It threw him off course slightly, but adrenaline propelled him forward. He couldn't afford to be deterred.

As another glitter in the distance ominously shone at him, Yuta reached for a stray brick nearby that flew beside him in the air and flung it forward. Fueled by cursed energy, he sent it a good acre in front of him. Right then, another yellow beam shot at him, this one getting dangerously close to his stomach.

Clap!

In an instant, Yuta found himself a good acre away from the blast, the brick he'd thrown now a smouldering wisp of dust, vaporized in a silent column of light behind him. Yuta whipped his head around, taking in the rapidly approaching cityscape. He was nearing the central district of Canterlot now, the familiar sprawl of houses closing in. Raising his katana above his head, Yuta made sure to time it perfectly. As he closed in on Daybreaker, he swung the blade down with all his might.
The air crackled with a surge of energy and a loud BOOM! that echoed across the city as the force of the impact sent Yuta plummeting towards the ground.

Daybreaker wasn't one to be easily felled. A flash of white light surrounded her as she teleported back a safe distance, the clang of Yuta's blade against thin air echoing through the eclipse. She landed with a heavy thud, a furrow etched across her brow, and a fresh, angry scrape marring her otherwise flawless cheek.

Before she could unleash another torrent of magi, Daybreaker found herself robbed of her next snide remark. Yuta stood a few paces away, his figure something that Daybreaker had never seen before. His katana was held high and dripping with a faint, ethereal glow.

"Hey, now!" Daybreaker finally roared, her voice laced with a dangerous edge, "That's no way to greet a Princess-"

The world seemed to stutter for a moment, the unfinished sentence hanging in the air. Then, with a blur of motion, Yuta vanished again. He reappeared directly below, and his katana, ready, pulled back for an upright strike. Right as he swung, however, Daybreaker launched herself skyward just as Yuta's blade reached her. The katana sliced through the empty air with a sharp hiss, the displaced wind whipping at Yuta's face.

Daybreaker hovered in the air, and her horn crackled with energy as she sneered down at the human. "Why, you little-"

"Plummet!!" Yuta ordered. The markings of the Snake Eyes and Fangs of the Inumaki Clan tattooed on his cheeks. As if her body heeded his call, Daybreaker began to fall by an unseen force, dragging her body helplessly as Yuta leapt up to meet Daybreaker halfway, aiming his katana at her neck. Seeing this, Daybreaker twisted her body ever so slightly so that instead of taking her head off, Yuta only sliced away her left wing and foreleg, spraying crimson blood across the sky.

Daybreaker's shriek was cut short by a strangled gasp as Yuta capitalized on her contorted position. With a swift, brutal movement, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the scruff of her remaining, healthy neck. Ignoring the searing pain in his hand from the magical heat radiating off her fur, he used his momentum and the advantage of her fall to hurl her down towards the unforgiving cobblestones below.

The world seemed to warp around Yuta as he reacted on pure instinct. He was about to launch himself into a divebomb on Daybreaker, aiming to tackle her head-on before she impacted the ground. But the air itself seemed to sing with the approaching danger – a streak of evening blue, a harbinger of Nightmare Moon's destructive magic, hurtling towards his back.

Oblivion stared him in the face.

Then, salvation arrived in the form of a ghastly pale hand. It materialised out of thin air, seemingly detached from anybody, right in the path of the deadly beam. Skeletal fingers outstretched, palm facing the oncoming magic, it met the blue beam with a sickening thud. The hand shimmered and cracked along its ghostly form, taking the brunt of the attack. Yet, despite the visible strain, it held firm, deflecting the beam harmlessly away.

Rika floated midair, allowing Yuta to stand in the middle of her palm as she reached for her chest and dug into her own flesh, ripping it open, revealing an arsenal of weapons at his disposal.

"Yuta," she rasped, "which do you want?"

"Thank you," He pointed towards a specific spot within the gaping wound in her chest. "I'll take... that," his eyes landed on a pair of long, imposing gauntlets. "And those."

With a nod of understanding, Rika reached deeper within. She pulled out the pair of gauntlets and another weapon, one the two sisters couldn't quite make out and swapped it with his katana.

"Careful, Nighty," Daybreaker warns, regrowing her leg and wing. "That monkey has a cursed technique regarding his speech."

With trembling hands, she secured the locks and mechanisms into place. Yuta felt a surge of power as the gauntlets settled onto his arms, the metal seemingly melding with his skin.

The gauntlet wasn't just a simple set of hand protection; it wrapped around his arm, metal encasing him from his shoulders down to his wrists. This continuous metallic sheen was only broken by the palm of his hand and his fingers, which were jet black. A surge of energy crackled around his arm, culminating in his fist. Yuta brandishing the Special Grade Cursed Tool: Coiling Ouroboros; it's effect? The more hits in quick succession the user manages to land, multiplies the cursed energy flowing through the gauntlet.

"Rika."

Rika nodded once more, "Yup."

Rewinding her arm, Rika threw Yuta like a softball toward Nightmare Moon. The force behind her throw split the air as Yuta was up close and personal with the mare. The world exploded in a cacophony of sound as Yuta's fist, clad in the Coiling Ouroboros, collided with a shimmering barrier conjured by Nightmare Moon in a last-ditch attempt at defence. The force of the impact reverberated through the barrier, sending ripples of blue energy outwards like shockwaves. Soon enough, crack lines splinter off from Yuta's fist. The blow caught Nightmare off guard, and a surprised yelp escaped her lips. She stumbled back, and the shield protecting her shattered, her balance thrown off.

"Unblockable Drumming Beat!" Yuta yelled.

"What!?" Nightmare yelped in surprise, but Yuta's fist didn't stop there as it continued straight to her face. Connecting with a crack, his power reverberated throughout her body, sending Nightmare careening off her hooves.

Clap!

A sharp, decisive sound echoed through the air as Yuta vanished from his spot in front of the reeling Nightmare Moon in a flash of blue light. Nightmare turned her head all over but couldn't find the sorcerer. Only when she had turned around did she see Yuta standing with his fist pulled back, ready to receive her.

A sickening thud echoed through the night as Yuta's fist slammed into Nightmare Moon's gut. The blow landed with brutal efficiency, the Coiling Ouroboros amplifying the force and driving the air from the alicorn's lungs. A guttural sound, somewhere between a gasp and a yelp, escaped her lips as she doubled over, a wave of nausea rolling through her.

"Don't move!" His words were punctuated by a flurry of attacks, a devastating combo unleashed with inhuman speed. Three cross-body hooks, empowered by cursed energy, ripped into the sides of her torso, leaving deep welts and sending fresh shrieks of pain echoing through the night.

"Don't move!" But Yuta wasn't finished. With a swift movement, he lashed out with his open palm, delivering a stinging slap across Nightmare Moon's face that sent her head snapping back. The mare stumbled, momentarily disoriented, before Yuta followed up with a brutal back fist to the other cheek, the Coiling Ouroboros resonating with a dull thud. Another punch, this time with his free hand, landed square on Nightmare Moon's jaw, adding to the symphony of pain he was inflicting. Even worse was the devastating high kick that followed soon after, his leg connecting with the alicorn's face in a bone-crunching blow.

"Don't move!" Picking Nightmare off the ground with both hands on her shoulder, Yuta put her standing upright. Then, the onslaught resumed. Yuta's fists blurred into a whirlwind of violence. Punches rained down upon Nightmare Moon's body at an inhuman speed, and a sonic boom echoed with each strike. Nightmare Moon's cries turn into choked gasps, and she struggles a pathetic dance against Yuta's overwhelming power. Seizing an opportunity, Yuta slammed his fist into her chest, sending a tremor through her entire body.

Grabbing her by the horn, Yuta used it to keep Nightmare still with his free hand and sent another flurry of punches to her body. The pressure from all the shaking and wobbling fractured her horn. In due time, it snapped. Pain, raw and unadulterated, ripped through Nightmare Moon. A guttural shriek tore from her throat as she writhed in his grasp. But before she could crumple to the ground, Yuta backspin kicked her into multiple buildings and tossed away the horn in his hand.

Boom, boom, boom, boom. The sound echoed through the air as Nightmare crashed through the multiple buildings. Yuta gave chase, parkouring through the debris, passing through a restaurant and crossing into an open plaza. Nightmare stood in the middle, the hole in her helmet already growing in a new horn. Yet, the offputting thing about this ordeal was that hundreds of ponies of all kinds surrounded the two. However, a much more apt description would be that these hundreds of ponies surrounded Yuta, as their eyes glowed an evil blue.

"Charge my dreaming ponies!" Nightmare commanded, "Fight on behalf of your Princess!"

"Dreaming?" Yuta thought, "So they're asleep?"The once peaceful creatures surged forward, a wave of corrupted magic and blind obedience. Yuta stood alone, echoing a single command that rang against a tide of darkness. "Wake up!"

His amplified voice resounded through the plaza, a sonic shockwave rippling outwards. Despite being clearly heard throughout the crowd, none of the ponies heeded his call. Rather, they continued their charge. Shooked, Yuta jumped back, but a pair of pegasus slammed into him from behind. The impact sent him sprawling, the air whooshing from his lungs.

Before he could even blink, a wave of earth ponies crashed down on him. The harsh weight of their bodies pinned him to the cold cobblestones. Magic of all kinds – the searing touch of heat, the biting cold of unicorn's freeze spells, the raw concussive force of hooves – burned, scraped, and tore at his flesh.

Right as the hooves reached for him for another blow, their frantic charge slowed to a crawl, hooves pawing at the air mere inches from his face. It was not until they got stuck in the space between them that Yuta slowly got up, his body steaming from the heavy Reversed Cursed Technique Output. Lifting a pointer finger, the air swirled around him, crimson streaks of light diverging on a void just above the extended appendage.

"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."

The effect was instantaneous.

A blinding red light envelops him and every pony else in a wide vicinity; the blowback from the detonation exploded the ponies stuck in Yuta's void into pieces, hooves and other body parts sent everywhere, while the ponies further away from him were sent flying from the imaginary force.

Blood rained down, splattering against the cold, hard floor as organs began to litter the ground. Yuta stared at the dismembered bodies for a while before the limbs and organs began to disappear into a blue smoke. Looking up at the alicorn across from him, a smirk, more a grimace than a genuine expression of amusement, appeared on Nightmare's face.

"How?" Nightmare inquired, tilting her head in a predatory manner. "How did you know they weren't real?"

"...Cursed Speech didn't affect them," Yuta rasped. "When a command is given, my cursed energy overrides and compels the listener to act based on the words. Since my command had no effect, they weren't susceptible, not real ponies in the first place."

A flicker of surprise crossed Nightmare Moon's face, quickly replaced by a chilling laugh. "Have it not occurred to you that it could've been my cursed technique holds much more power than yours? That could've been an outcome as well."

Yuta fan a hand in front of him. "That couldn't be it!"

"...Why's that?" Nightmare Moon challenged,

"You're not that strong!" Yuta gives a goofy smile,

Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed. "...What did you say!?" she shrieked, her voice cracking with fury. "You're calling me weak!?" Lightning erupted around her horn as she channelled a surge of cursed energy. "I'll show you how weak I am!" she roared.

"Satellite." Nightmare chanted, "The tides." her voice echoing with power, pointing her horn at Yuta. "Engulfing darkness!"

Yuta lifts his fingers and begins to utter. "Phase." Taking advantage of this opening, the remaining ponies around him charged at Yuta, clawing, pounding, and jabbing at the infinite space between themselves and the human, but try as they might, they stopped before ever reaching him. "Pāramitā," Yuta whispered, raising his hand into a finger gun and pointing it at the curse charging her attack. "Pillar of Light."

"Maximum Output: Lunar Ray!"

"Cursed Technique Reversal:" In less than a second, Yuta closed the distance between them. Time seemed to slow down, chunks of stone flying in the air as Yuta's eyes locked onto Nightmare's, fingers dangerously close to her horn, ready to spill the attack at any moment. But he held firm, "Red."

The resulting explosion ripped through the plaza, throwing them both backwards. Yuta slammed into a nearby roof, bouncing off the building as he continued his arch.

Yuta roared in pain as he was still flung skyward, "Gojo-sensei's Limitless really is taxing! I can use it as much as he can, but those reds ate up a good chunk of my cursed energy reserves. " he thought, his mind already racing for a new strategy.

A searing pain lanced through his back. Yuta grunted, glancing down to see Nightmare Moon digging her forelegs into his back, using him as a makeshift rocket to propel them both higher into the night sky.

"Tell me!" Nightmare Moon shrieked, her voice distorted by the howling wind. "Am I still weak now!?"

Yuta rolled off the mare, taking hold of her side and using her momentum to fling her forward.

Clap!

Switching places, Yuta forced Nightmare to careen into him from his previous throw. Clapping his hands together, Yuta's arms extended forward, held together with palms flat against each other. A jet of blood soon shot out from between his fingers, piercing through her shoulder entirely.

Clap!

Reappearing directly in front of Nightmare Moon, Yuta reared a punch made for the mare, intending to send her back to the ground. However, a scream pierced through the din of battle.

"Yuta!" Rika warned.

Trusting the call, Yuta twisted his body at the last moment, throwing his arms up in a mock defence. It wasn't a second too soon. A blinding flash of white and gold erupted as Daybreaker streaked down from the sky, wreathed in celestial fire. With a thunderous crash, she slammed into Yuta, sending them both hurtling back down towards the Canterlot's housing district.

"Let's switch, sis!!" Daybreaker announced, head deep into Yuta's arms.

Crashing into a house, Daybreaker had Yuta pinned against the wall, the force she applied enough to crack the support behind him. Groaning in exertion, Yuta freed one hand and launched a punch at the curse, creating enough space to lunge towards a toppled chair beside her. Grabbing it, he swung it over his head and onto Daybreaker's helmet Before she could react. Yuta followed through with a brutal spartan kick, aiming for her midsection and sending her staggering back.

Capitalizing on the momentary advantage, he slammed his palms together, planning to let out another Piercing Blood, but the alicorn was faster than he anticipated. With a powerful hoof strike, Daybreaker slammed him headfirst into the wooden floor. Not letting him breathe, she lit her horn and cast an explosion spell directly above him.

The blast rocked the house, sending debris flying and collapsing the ceiling. Yuta and Daybreaker were propelled downwards, crashing through the floor and landing in a heap in the bathroom below. Yuta pulled on the hoof, pinning him down. With a tug and twist of his body, he was back on his feet. This time, strangling Daybreaker by the neck and smashing her face into the hanged mirror on the wall.

Yuta pulled back a little, letting Daybreaker groan momentarily before smashing her face into it again, this time with enough force to send her flying across the street and into another house.

From the skies, as Nightmare began her brawl with Rika, she could see the destruction of various houses from the corners of her vision as Yuta and Daybreaker barreled through them as if they were nothing. Occasionally, explosions and stray beams would be fired in new, setting off billows of smoke at random locations that weren't close to the previous detonations.

Back onto the streets, Yuta skidded backwards, his shoes and fingers scraping against the rough cobblestones for purchase. Dust swirled around him, momentarily obscuring Daybreaker's feral form. A choked cough escaped his lips, the taste of blood metallic on his tongue. It seems the earlier fights had taken their toll.

"SHOW ME MORE, MONKEY!!" Daybreaker yelled excitedly, charging at Yuta, "BLOOD CONTROL, INSTANTANEOUS TELEPORTATION, BODY-RESONATING ATTACKS, COMMAND-INDUCING SPEECH!!! YOU'RE FULL OF SURPRISES, AREN'T YOU !?! I WANT TO SEE IT ALL!!!"

Yuta quickly got back on his feet, staring at the oncoming alicorn. Raising his palm, Yuta performs a slicing motion through the air in front of him with his fingers outstretched. Suddenly, the air around Daybreaker, seemingly understanding his command, tore her flesh open, slicing her wings clean off.

Now, without the limbs that allowed her free reign of the skies, Daybreaker tumbled and rolled uncontrollably across the rough floor. This allowed Yuta to pull his fist back, his other hand palming over it.

"I can't drag this any longer." Yuta thought, a sweat beading down his brow as his eyes dilated. Time seemed to slow, the world around him fading away except for the tumbling alicorn curse now directly in front of him. Yet, he didn't move an inch, his focus drowning out the noise of burning wood and collapsing buildings. "If I don't end this here, many more families will die." He flared the cursed energy in his fist. "I'll protect them..." His mind wandered to Rainbow Dash... Then, to Flurry Heart before washing away the thoughts. Yuta was focused, so focused that he hadn't realised his fist had already left his side. It came naturally to him. As naturally as breathing. "Because I'm blessed."

Once his fist connected, an immense surge of cursed energy flowed through him, and everything felt so... right. The air crackled, and the sparks of black rippled through the entirety of Daybreaker's body.

"『黒閃』: Kokusen."

2 minutes and 30 seconds are left for the sustained connection between Yuta and Rika