With these words, Gojo wasted no time as he charged toward Lorien launching his attack.

Seeing this, Lorien couldn't help but feel speechless.

'Close-quarters combat? Is he planning to use the sure-hit ability of the domain to avenge the previous beatdown?'

Despite his amusement, Lorien had no choice but to raise his hand in defense against the relentless barrage of strikes coming his way.

However, this time, even with Lorien's superior martial arts and the advantage of divine sense and clairvoyance, he still found himself somewhat suppressed; After all, the sure-hit effect of the domain expansion was not to be ignored.

Yet, even in this predicament, Lorien managed to avoid any damage by activating his scabbard's ability, rendering all incoming attacks ineffective.

Seeing this, Gojo persisted for a while but ultimately still retreated as he realized the futility of his efforts.

"Your ability is annoying." He sighed, addressing Lorien.

"I know, I get that a lot!"

"I suppose I'll have to try something different!" Gojo retorted as he unleashed a new wave of assaults using his abilities.

And with [Red] and [Blue] manifesting in rapid succession, all Lorien could do was brace himself for the relentless onslaught as evading them was impossible.

This went on for a while with Gojo bombarding Lorien from afar while the latter just kept defending while focusing most of his attention on analyzing both the domain and Gojo's abilities.

The exchange continued in this manner until Lorien finally paused, a grin spreading across his face as he then gestured toward Gojo and uttered a single word.

[Red]

Following that, a crimson beam of energy suddenly hurtled toward the shocked Gojo, who barely managed to raise [Blue] in time to block it.

Seeing this attack blocked, Lorien chuckled, having not expected it to connect in the first place.

"Hahhaah, I must say, I quite like your ability; Thank you!"

But upon hearing this, Gojo's just remained silent as his brain boosted by the six eyes worked furiously to sift through thousands of possibilities at an unfathomable speed.

'Did he just copy my ability?'

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

'Given his power, it's not entirely surprising, but why would he even bother to do so?'

'This probably has something to do with his reality-bending ability.'

'Hmmmm.'

Deeply pondering, Gojo's brain worked even faster thinking about all the possible reasons; this lasted for a while until his eyes suddenly shone brightly as if solving the puzzle.

'Aha, so that's how it is.'

'He didn't copy my ability; he analyzed and reproduced it.'

'Every ability has its weaknesses, and for him, it's most likely energy consumption; So, he probably analyzes different abilities and utilizes them to conserve energy and to improve his reality-warping prowess.'

'This may not be completely accurate, but it should be close enough; moreover, this would explain his interest in both my and Yuta's techniques.'

'Heh, it seems that Yuta's ability has very strong potential, otherwise, this guy won't be interested in it.'

'hahahaha.'

With this realization, Gojo grinned, unconcerned that his ability had been (stolen), after all, cultivating a promising student was more important to him.

Moreover, his adversary could achieve similar results with different methods, so there was no point in dwelling on it.

And noticing this reaction, Lorien couldn't help but feel surprised at how calm and composed Gojo currently was.

"I've never seen someone react so calmly to having their ability copied."

"Surprised huh?" Laughed Gojo, unfazed by the situation.

Seeing this, Lorien also smiled a bit infected by the atmosphere, however, this only lasted for a moment before his face turned serious.

'I've already analyzed everything I needed, from the technique to the way he uses domain expansion; right now, I could even create my own domain, however, I should wait until I have more information about open domains.'

'Tsk, what a hassle. I can't wait for the dream path to finally be launched!'

However, just as Lorien pondered this and recalled the effort required to replicate just one ability, an idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

'In fact, I should probably plant a backdoor in 'the path' that allows me to obtain a copy of every ability ever awakened within the dream path!'

'That, coupled with the authority to strip anyone of their power as the (Path Master) will prove invaluable in controlling the worlds I acquire.'

'Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Even if the path somehow turns out to be of little use to me and fails to grant my desires, it'll still be extremely helpful in controlling the world and training subordinates.'

At this thought, a smug smirk crept onto Lorien's face; However, noticing Gojo's weird expression as he looked at him, he cleared his throat and announced.

"We should end this battle! It has already dragged on for far too long!"

As he said this, he raised his right hand, clenching it firmly while uttering.

[Reality: Shatter!]

The moment the words left his lips, an overwhelming force descended upon the domain, enveloping it in an instant.

And as the force activated, it shattered the domain effortlessly, leaving no chance for retaliation or defense.

Moreover, In the process, the power even targeted Gojo, who was standing opposite Lorien, inflicting immediate and unavoidable injury.

*Boom*

With the domain finally popping like a balloon, Lorien landed gracefully on his feet, his gaze fixed on Gojo, who lay sprawled on the ground before him.

Right now, Lorien knew he could easily unsheathe his sword and finish Gojo off before he could recover, however, he still refrained from doing so.

Instead, he waved his hand conjuring a chair upon which he sat as he observed Gojo who slowly managed to sit up thanks to the reverse cursed energy working its magic.

*Cough*

*Cough*

Spitting a mouthful of blood, Gojo adopted a somewhat lazy posture in front of Lorien, leaning on his right knee.

His nonchalant and indifferent expression remained as he even dared to joke around in his current state.

"You wasted an opportunity for a perfect combo just now!"