"Whoa! It's really out in the country, isn't it!"
"Haibara, you shouldn't say such things so loudly, you know? Well, we're inside the car right now, so it's fine, but that kind of lax attitude tends to slip out in public too. Besides... people's attachment to the land where they were born and raised grows stronger when that land is 'lacking in change.'"
"...That's true. If the scenery has stayed the same for a long time, it's easier for attachments and memories to form."
"You're right, that might have been a slip of the tongue! Sorry! Thanks, Nanami!"
Exchanging such words, the three of them—Haibara, Nanami, and Ijichi from Tokyo Jujutsu High—traveled together amicably in a black sedan driven by the assistant director, Kumagai.
Today, they had visited the southern part of Wakayama Prefecture, the so-called Kinan region.
"...Now, Mr. Kumagai, regarding this case, there have been multiple residents suffering from spiritual disturbances thought to be the influence of a cursed spirit. Despite that, there have been no fatalities?"
"Yes. It's believed to be strictly the result of exposure to cursed energy. The victims are all residents living along the river that flows through the village. Based on the scale of the damage, this case has been classified as a Grade 2 cursed spirit, likely residing within the river basin."
"I see. Well, rivers can often become symbols of fear, after all."
"Like the Sanzu River—they're seen as symbols of the afterlife. There's also the image of drowning accidents."
"Since this also serves as practical training for young Ijichi, let's start by tracking the residuals and searching for the cursed spirit."
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"Now, don't get too worked up! Let's all three work together and do our best!"
While exchanging information in the car, they traveled along the mountain path for a while. Upon arriving at the village in question, the group focused cursed energy into their eyes and began searching for residuals.
"Mr. Kumagai, we plan to return here once within about an hour at the latest."
"Understood. Please be careful!"
"We're off!"
"W-We're off."
After that exchange, they visited the basin of the river where the damage had occurred, and residuals flowing along the water became quite vividly visible.
"Whoa... this is terrible."
"It's just as the briefing said. We can confirm that the residents are being harmed by cursed energy from the river. All that's left is to trace the source of these residuals and exorcise the spirit to complete the mission. For now, let's head upstream along the river."
"Let's stay on our toes, Ijichi!"
"Y-Yes!"
With a lead found faster than expected, they moved for a while, pushing through the thickets of the riverbank against the current. When they reached the mountains upstream, what they saw was an 'abyss'—stagnant and heavily contaminated by cursed energy.
"This is... the cursed energy is denser than expected. They said it was Grade 2, but it might be closer to Semi-Grade 1. I won't know the details until I get closer to the pool, but..."
"It feels a bit like a barrier too. If it really is a barrier, then like Nanami said, it might be Semi-Grade 1 or higher."
"H-Hee... is that going to be okay?"
"Discrepancies in cursed spirit grading happen occasionally. Let's see... just in case, let's contact Mr. Kumagai before we cast the veil. Ijichi, you're the one carrying the satellite phone, right?"
"Ah, yes, it's right here."
"Then, contact Mr. Kumagai. Tell him the cursed spirit's grade is likely Semi-Grade 1 or higher and that we are beginning the exorcism now."
"Understood...! H-Hello? Mr. Kumagai? Yes, we've arrived. The grade of the cursed spirit is likely not Grade 2 but Semi-Grade 1 or—huh? Mr. Kumagai? Hello? Hello?"
Ijichi was bewildered by the call that had suddenly cut off without warning. In response to behavior that should be impossible for a satellite phone, it was Haibara who reacted instantly.
"RINPYOTOSHAKAIZINRETSUZAIZEN! Protective Barrier! Nanami!"
"It noticed us!"
A 'domain' of the cursed spirit expanded, originating from the 'abyss' and covering the surrounding mountains. Though it was a simple manifestation of an innate domain, it was more than effective enough to isolate the three of them from the outside world.
Simultaneously with the expansion of the domain, Haibara's barrier clashed against the breath of the cursed spirit, which resembled a black mist. The source of that breath—resembling a 'breath attack' often seen in games—had the appearance of a 'Minotaur' from Western legend.
"Nanami, I'm managing to block this breath with the barrier for now, but isn't this bad?"
"Ten to one, it's poison. The plants and trees touched by the breath are withering. Even so... a bull-headed demon? This is troublesome. It might be a type of local deity. It looks blatantly like it has 'folklore' behind it."
"Yeah. But for that, is its cursed technique only poison breath?"
"No, that hasn't been determined—Ijichi?! What's wrong?!"
As Haibara glanced over at Nanami's voice, he saw Ijichi, who had 'made eye contact' with the bull-headed demon. He was pale, tears were streaming down his face, and his eyes were rolled back as he frothed at the mouth.
When Nanami shook him, the 'eye contact' seemed to break. Despite his blue face and purple lips, Ijichi somehow regained his senses and vomited violently.
"I-I'm sorr..."
"No, it's fine. Don't force your head up; just keep your eyes down for a bit. It's likely an 'Evil Eye' technique that performs a mental attack. Haibara, you shouldn't look into its eyes either."
"Right. I'm focusing only on its feet for now. Poison breath and the Evil Eye, huh? Think we can do this, Nanami?"
"We have to, don't we? Haibara, how long can your barrier hold?"
"I think it'll be fine if it's just that poison breath. I've shifted the anchor of the barrier to Ijichi and switched the cursed energy supply to him, so I can go out too."
"What about poison countermeasures?"
"I'm copying Naoya—if I treat my insides as a kind of domain and set up a barrier, I should last for a little while."
"Understood. It seems we have no choice but to end this quickly."
Immediately after that exchange, the two of them reinforced their entire bodies with cursed energy. Keeping their eyes focused on the bull-headed demon's legs, they leaped out of the barrier and ran toward the demon.
Haibara was strictly the diversion; Nanami was the main attacker. Without needing to voice the formation, they understood each other perfectly. Naturally, it was Haibara who struck first. The slash from the short sword he drew from his school uniform, imbued with cursed energy, was blocked by the demon's reinforced fist, and the toxic breath surged toward him.
However, Nanami hacked through one of the demon's legs at the '7:3' point, causing the breath to veer wildly off course and preventing Haibara from being covered in poison.
"Nice, Nanami!"
"No, it seems it wasn't enough. The leg is already growing back."
"You're kidding?! It's just like Naoya!"
"No, it's slower than Naoya, at least. Why is his regeneration faster than a cursed spirit's, anyway?"
They intentionally kept their conversation light, but cold sweat dripped from their brows. Powerful regeneration, a massive physique, poison breath, and an Evil Eye that induced madness.
No matter how you looked at it, this was top-tier even among Grade 1 spirits—high enough specs that it could potentially be classified as Special Grade. It reflected the depth of the 'fear' at the core of this spirit's existence.
"Shall we go again?"
"Yeah. We won't win unless we keep attacking."
Exchanging brief words, this time Nanami led the charge, slamming his favorite Blunt Sword into the spirit's thigh. In response to that strike aimed at the '7:3' point of its 'height', the spirit chose to intercept with its knee.
Against that counter, which was executed with maximum efficiency, Nanami swung his own fist—the one gripping the hilt of the Blunt Sword—as a counter-counter.
"CURSED TECHNIQUE REVERSAL: TRANSLUCENT CORE SORCERY!"
Kento Nanami's cursed technique reversal. The absurdly unfair parrying technique that created an 'invincibility frame' at the 7:3 position successfully intercepted the demon's knee strike. While the demon lost its balance as the entire impact of the kick was forced back into its own knee, Haibara's powerful dropkick struck. The demon's massive body was blown through the forest, snapping several trees as it went.
"...Haibara, what was with that power just now?"
"I put a binding vow on myself to crack the bones in both my legs after the move to kick with full power!"
"Are you an idiot? You can still walk, I assume?"
"I'm using the barriers inside my body as makeshift splints. It hurts like hell, but I can manage!"
"Then it's fine. We've gained some distance; let's retreat for a moment. We need to prepare more to—Haibara!"
Immediately after Nanami shouted, a giant cedar tree, ripped out by its roots, came flying toward them. Although Nanami neutralized the momentum of the throw by punching it with Translucent Core Sorcery, his technique couldn't negate the massive weight.
However, his reliable partner took care of that.
"PROTECTIVE BARRIER! You've got to be kidding! That thing is still full of energy!"
"It's still throwing things! Ratio Technique—COLLAPSE!"
Using Nanami's 'Collapse,' they destroyed the previously thrown tree to intercept the new incoming trunk. Forced into such recklessness, Nanami was entirely on the defensive. With his legs broken, Haibara could do little more than maintain the barrier. As the debris of the thrown trees slowly threatened to crush the barrier, the opening for their escape was created by the quick thinking of the boy who had been gasping until a moment ago.
'At this rate, everyone will die.'
'Isn't there anything? Isn't there something I can do?'
Struggling and thinking, the action output by Kiyotaka Ijichi was—!
"Emerge from darkness, blacker than black. Purify that which is unclean—SENPAI!"
"Ijichi! No, nice one!"
"Temporary isolation of the cursed spirit via a Veil... clever thinking. That helped."
The split-second opening created by Ijichi. Using that, they retreated into the original barrier Haibara had deployed to protect Ijichi, but the situation was becoming a war of attrition. Since they could see from a distance that the enraged cursed spirit had already torn through the Veil from the inside, they had to exorcise that 'Ushi-Oni' here and now, or there would be no tomorrow for the three of them.
Having completely healed the injuries from being blown away by Haibara, the massive body came charging toward them, scattering poison breath and fixing its cursed gaze straight ahead. Nanami and Haibara stood ready with death-defying resolve—
Right before their eyes, a 'bolt' falling from the sky stepped heavily onto the Ushi-Oni and kicked it away.
"Sorry! Did I make it in time?!"
Clad in purple lightning, the owner of that 'thunderbolt' who questioned Nanami and Haibara was a fourth-year from the Kyoto school, Grade 1 sorcerer Azuki Sakata.
The reinforcement, summoned by the quick thinking of Kumagai who sensed the situation after the communication loss with Ijichi, had appeared before them with the speed of literal lightning.
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