Looking at the four temporary Heroic Spirits in the enemy Domain,
and then at the steadily shrinking number of Cursed Spirits on his own side,
Kenjaku knew it was time to run.
Dealing with just one had already cost him half his life, and now there were four more on the other side, with their numbers still increasing?
If he did not run now, he definitely would not be able to hold out.
Having made up his mind, Kenjaku immediately began carrying out his escape plan.
The lumps of earth on the ground suddenly bulged upward.
Several rat-shaped Cursed Spirits, with shikigami symbols on their heads, crawled out from underground.
Low-level shikigami techniques and Barrier Techniques were general-purpose Jujutsu that every Jujutsu Sorcerer could learn.
Before obtaining Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Kenjaku had often caught some low-level, small Cursed Spirits, controlled them with shikigami techniques, and had them help with odd jobs.
The last rat crawled out from underground with a bag far larger than its own body clenched in its mouth.
At the same time, a large amount of murky Cursed Energy also appeared in the distance between the two sides.
These were Kenjaku's collections in the surrounding area.
For Kenjaku, who still had 9 million Cursed Spirits,
no matter how many of these insignificant collections died, he would not feel any heartache.
As long as he did not suffer another loss like Sendai, where he had lost nearly 10 percent of his collection in one go.
The Cursed Spirits within the Domain rushed at Cú Chulainn without regard for their lives.
However, these enemies, at most Grade 1 Cursed Spirits, were no match for Cú Chulainn.
The scarlet spear mercilessly harvested the lives of the Cursed Spirits.
The Cursed Spirits outside the Domain also rushed into the Domain.
Eichi frowned, then Medea flew high into the sky.
Her purple robe spread out like bat wings.
Countless magic bullets rained down toward the Cursed Spirits.
At the same time, Emiya shot another arrow toward Kenjaku.
The crab-shaped Cursed Spirit immediately swung one of its claws, trying to block the arrow.
However, the arrow pierced through the crab Cursed Spirit's large pincer, which was like a shield, without slowing at all.
Clearly, this arrow had an effect like armor penetration or defense negation.
The crab Cursed Spirit's other, shorter pincer snapped toward the arrow, but it was already too late.
Kenjaku heard the sound of rushing air from the front and instinctively turned his head.
The sharp arrow grazed across Kenjaku's forehead.
It gave Kenjaku a free stitch removal.
Kenjaku immediately got up, and a new Cursed Spirit had already appeared beside him.
This Cursed Spirit had no legs. At first glance, it looked a bit like a genie, but upon closer inspection, it was somewhat disgusting.
Its entire head was covered in dense hair, revealing only a row of teeth, with two things, either fangs or horns, growing from the corners of its mouth.
Special Grade Disease Cursed Spirit, Smallpox Deity, also known as Hōsōgami.
It was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit born from humanity's fear of smallpox.
"Alright, now it's time to escape with everything I have."
Hōsōgami quietly moved, hiding its body among the Cursed Spirits beside Kenjaku.
Then Kenjaku began actively leading the Cursed Spirits as he charged into Eichi's Domain.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this scene, Eichi was a little surprised.
There was always a reason for abnormal behavior.
Eichi decided to crush it head-on with force.
Beside Eichi, Emiya had already nocked a projected Caladbolg onto his bow.
Seeing this, Kenjaku did not panic, and instead began to fully activate his Domain.
Eichi frowned. At this moment, was Kenjaku trying to force a Domain clash with him?
In the previous exchange, Kenjaku's Domain had already fallen into a disadvantage. There was no way he could win now.
But since the opponent had made his move, Eichi naturally would not hold back.
The Domains on both sides began a new round of collision.
As Kenjaku rushed toward the center of the Domain, and Emiya's Caladbolg was about to be fired, at the very moment Cú Chulainn broke out of the encirclement of Cursed Spirits and aimed his spear at Kenjaku,
Smallpox Hag, who had been hiding among the Cursed Spirits, appeared.
And the instant it appeared, it used Domain Expansion.
A new Domain enveloped Eichi and several temporary Heroic Spirits.
The only one not included was Kenjaku.
Eichi immediately understood Kenjaku's intention.
Eichi's open-barrier Domain, Throne of Heroes, immediately began aggressively attacking the outer shell of Smallpox Hag's Domain, relying on its advantage in range.
In just a few seconds, the shell of Hōsōgami's Domain was shattered.
However, by the time Smallpox Hag's Domain was broken, Kenjaku had already disappeared.
"As expected of an old fox who has lived for a thousand years. This escape tactic is truly skillful."
Eichi was speechless.
It seemed he could not fight this guy in a normal way next time.
Once he got back, he would immediately have Tengen and Medea create a Curtain that only Kenjaku could not leave, while others could enter and exit freely.
The next time he found Kenjaku, he would drop that Curtain on him directly.
Eichi did not believe Kenjaku would still be able to run then.
No longer dwelling on it, Eichi headed in Mahoraga's direction.
Maki and Toge were still waiting for treatment.
As for Kenjaku, if he ran, then he ran. He still had some use.
After all, flies flying all over the place were annoying.
But when those flies were gathered together, was that not the perfect chance to wipe them out?
Not far from Toge and Maki,
the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Elephant-Headed God, was frantically staring at Mahoraga, who kept grinning at him.
This guy, whom the Elephant-Headed God could not understand, had been wearing a broad smile ever since he first appeared.
During this time, the Elephant-Headed God had tried throwing Mahoraga into the air and slamming him back down.
He had tried flattening Mahoraga.
He had also tried controlling Mahoraga in midair and compressing him into a ball.
But it had all been useless.
And it was already frustrating enough that his own methods were ineffective.
The key point was that every time his attacks failed, that guy would stand back up and dust himself off.
Then he would stand there as if nothing had happened, grinning foolishly at him.
He was a dignified Special Grade Cursed Spirit. He had rampaged through India for a long time and had even been worshipped by people.
Aside from that perverted stitch-face, who else dared insult him like this?
Mahoraga standing there waiting for the enemy to attack, then adding it to his inventory, caused no harm but was full of insult.
After all, Special Grade Cursed Spirits were hard to find.
Many of Mahoraga's adapted inventories came from Grade 1 or even lower-grade Cursed Spirits and Curse Users.
Those inventories often could not be used directly against Special Grade opponents.
At most, there would be some overlapping parts that reduced Mahoraga's adaptation time.
For example, if it would originally take two turns of the wheel, because he had already adapted to several similar Techniques, some parts could be used directly.
So this time, one turn of the wheel would be enough.
Therefore, after Mahoraga discovered that he had no inventory for this guy's abilities and that the opponent posed no major threat to him, he generously let the other side attack as much as he wanted.
He would just wait until the Elephant-Headed God got tired.
"Moo!"
The Elephant-Headed God let out a furious roar.
Then he charged toward Mahoraga on all fours.
Mahoraga looked at the Elephant-Headed God, who had run out of tricks.
Then he silently raised the Sword of Exorcism in his right hand, hesitated for a moment, and switched to his left hand instead.
Mahoraga remembered that Eichi had said earlier that he wanted him alive.
Mahoraga dodged the Elephant-Headed God's trunk, and his left fist slammed heavily into the Elephant-Headed God's head.
Thud.
The Elephant-Headed God's head made a pleasant sound.
Then he swayed and collapsed to the ground.
Before falling unconscious, the Elephant-Headed God saw Mahoraga's signature grin.
(To be continued.)