At a blurring speed, Naoya's figure flashed through the sky at 24 frames a second, covering a massive distance in an instant.
Projection Sorcery.
Projection Sorcery.
Projection Sorcery.
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Projection Sorcery.
With crazy wind pressure, he arrived above the Zenin Clan's residence.
Instantly, his eyes locked onto the bastards below.
Ogi, Ranta, Chojuro, and Jinchi!
All the Zenin Clan bastards were here! They were all in cahoots with each other!
He wanted to summon his domain and finish them all!
But he didn't see Kenjaku, who had an open domain! He couldn't risk getting his domain destroyed!
Placing his hand inside his shadow, he took out a Grade 2 cursed weapon sword.
Then, with a wave of his hand, countless rabbit Shikigami dropped from the sky, right onto the Zenin Clan below.
So many energy signals instantly alerted all of them. They quickly raised their heads at the same time.
"Ten Shadows Technique! He's still alive after all!" Ogi stared at the sky with a hardened look on his face.
Tightly clenching his burning sword, he sent several slashes into the air, cutting and tearing apart the rabbits.
Similarly, the other Zenin Clan members also moved to take action when suddenly a figure flashed at 24 frames a second and bypassed all of their senses, which were disrupted by the rabbits. The figure appeared right behind Ranta.
Before anyone could understand what was happening, Ranta Zenin froze in place. Then 24 vicious attacks tore through his body within a second.
His limbs were severed apart, and his entire head exploded into a pile of gooey blood as his decapitated body fell to the floor.
Silence enveloped the field.
Everyone stared at the figure in shock and disbelief.
Naoya placed a foot on the dead Ranta's torso and crushed it.
"The annoying pest is finally dead! And as for you all...."
He stared at the Zenin Clan members and declared in a voice filled with hatred.
"None of you will leave here alive!"
He shouted in a crazed voice as the shadow at his feet expanded and all of his contracted Shikigami rushed out.
"I've killed you once! I can kill you again!" Ogi Zenin shouted and slashed at Naoya with his burning sword.
As the flame was about to hit him—
A huge white muscular figure jumped out from the shadow and intercepted the attack with a terrifying smile on his face.
"What—?"
Ogi Zenin's eyes widened as he cut off Mahoraga's arm with his attack, only for it to regrow in the very next second.
At the same time, the Sword of Extermination rushed at him, ready to slice him in two.
"Leave him alive!"
Hearing his master's command, Mahoraga retracted his sword and punched Ogi Zenin, who blocked it with his sword, only to be thrown back due to the massive force.
Several members of the Zenin Clan holding swords suddenly rushed at Mahoraga to protect Ogi.
Mahoraga only grinned in response and started turning them all into meat paste.
At the same time, the wheel behind him made a turn.
He had adapted to flame attacks.
Right after Mahoraga arrived at the battle, all of Naoya's other Shikigami started attacking Jinchi and Chojuro.
While they were occupied with the attacks, Naoya kept scanning the place for Kenjaku's presence.
But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't find him.
Instantly, a chilling feeling covered his heart as his anger calmed down.
That thousand-year-old monster was definitely plotting something!
There's no time to waste with this trash!
Projection Sorcery!
His figure flashed at an incredible speed, flying through the air and bypassing all the earth attacks Chojuro Zenin was throwing around him.
Chojuro tried to follow his figure, only to have his neck sliced off in a clean motion.
At the same time he killed the bastard, countless punches rained down on him from above.
Jinchi Zenin!
Before the attack could hit, Naoya slid into the shadow, completely avoiding it.
Simultaneously, the Piercing Ox hit Jinchi, who had given up on defense just to attack him.
The bones in Jinchi's body broke as he was thrown back, only to be met by the sharp claws of the tiger Shikigami, which pierced through Jinchi's back and tore him apart from the middle.
Naoya jumped out of the shadow and commanded the Shikigami to kill every other Zenin soldier.
While the soldiers were dying all around him, Naoya's eyes landed on Ogi, who was pathetically running for his life while being chased by Mahoraga.
*Bam*
A huge punch landed on Ogi's back, breaking his bones and pinning him to the shattered ground.
Ogi Zenin shakily turned his head and said in a trembling voice while staring at Mahoraga.
"M-monster...."
Mahoraga retracted his hand as Naoya's figure appeared beside him.
Barely containing his anger, Naoya grabbed Ogi's head and lifted him up. Staring straight into his eyes, he spoke word by word.
"Where is Kenjaku?"
"You insolent—"
A punch landed on Ogi's face, making several of his teeth fly through the air.
Naoya brought Ogi's ear closer to his mouth and asked again.
"Where is Kenjaku?"
"Heh, kill me....."
Ogi said with a bloodied smile, not taking Naoya's threat seriously.
*Bam*
Another punch landed on his face. Then Naoya dropped him on the ground and summoned countless rabbits along with his healing deer.
Looking down at the half-dead Ogi Zenin, he said in an extremely cold voice.
"All of these rabbits will now start eating you, bit by bit."
Ogi unconsciously clenched his palm.
"As you are eaten, this Shikigami will heal you at the same time."
"Your flesh will regrow only to be consumed again and again and again until you either forget the very concept of pain or go crazy."
"But even then, I will not stop. They will keep gouging out your flesh, eating your eyeballs, and tearing apart your tendons until I die."
Looking down at the shaking old man, Naoya grabbed his neck and lifted him up again.
"So this is the last time I am going to ask. Tell me, where is Kenjaku?"
Ogi Zenin hesitated several times before opening his mouth and revealing Kenjaku's plan.
"He's going to kill.... Suguri Geto."
"Fuck!"
Naoya punched Ogi, then quickly made him do a binding vow to confirm he wasn't lying.
And as soon as it was confirmed, he punched Ogi again before slicing off his arms and legs and throwing him to the rabbits.
Kenjaku was going after Suguri!
That bastard would definitely do it!
Wings spurted from Naoya's back as he took to the skies at 24 frames a second.
*Arggh*
Behind him, Ogi Zenin's blood-curdling screams kept ringing out as he was being eaten alive.
----
Some time before.
After receiving Naoya's text, Suguri changed her clothes and quickly left home, riding on the back of a cursed spirit.
While flying, she remembered Naoya's text.
'Catching a special grade cursed spirit.... he's working hard even though it's so late.....'
Suguri looked at the night sky and controlled the cursed spirit to fly down towards the village.
As she stepped on the ground, she noticed an odd detail.
'Why wasn't any barrier set up?... there are still so many people around.....'
She fell into confusion, sensing people inside the houses around her.
She pulled out her phone and was about to call Naoya when a woman with short black hair suddenly walked out from the corner and walked towards her.
As she came close, Suguri unconsciously furrowed her brows, her gaze fixed on the stitches on top of her forehead.
"Ms. Suguri? Please come with me, Naoya-sama is that way..." Kenjaku said in a polite tone while bowing in a professional manner.
"You are with Naoya?"
"Yes, I am a servant of the Zenin clan."
"I see..."
Kenjaku pointed towards the corner and said,
"Please come this way."
Suguri took several glances at her stitched forehead, then walked ahead.
And right as she walked in front of Kenjaku—
A cursed tool slid into Kenjaku's hand, aiming straight at the back of Suguri's head.
With the miscalculation that happened with Naoya Zenin, Kenjaku wasn't going to take any chances.
She would kill Suguri as fast as possible, then retreat with her body.
As she was thinking that, the blade approached Suguri's head.
And the next moment—
The blade struck flesh.
But not Suguri's.
The grotesque cursed spirit let out a distorted shriek as the cursed tool sank deep into its shoulder. Black blood splattered across the ground.
The cursed spirit dissolved into smoke.
Suguri slightly turned her head and looked back with a cold look in her eyes.
Kenjaku matched her gaze and said with a smile on her face,
"You reacted faster than expected."
"A friend of mine got stabbed before.... so I made preparations to avoid it happening again."
Suguri turned back around, faced Kenjaku head-on, and asked in a calm tone,
"Now, who are you? And what have you done with Naoya?"
"Naoya? Ah, well you see..."
Kenjaku clapped her hands and smiled charmingly before replying,
"I killed him."
For a moment, silence enveloped the place.
Then cursed energy exploded from Suguri's body.
"You lie....."
Instead of replying, Kenjaku simply shrugged her shoulders and pulled out a bloodied cellphone.
The cellphone..... it belongs to Naoya....
And that blood...
Suguri gritted her teeth and said in a cold voice,
"Die."
The moment Suguri's voice fell, the ground split open and a rainbow dragon rushed out.
Kenjaku's smile faded slightly.
"So impulsive."
Before the rainbow dragon could bite her, it crashed down onto the floor under a tremendous force, breaking its entire head into bloody mush.
Suguri's pupils constricted as she quickly took several steps forward and observed Kenjaku.
'My Rainbow Dragon was crushed as soon as it came near her...'
A gravity manipulation technique?
Suguri quickly summoned her expandable cursed spirits and sent them straight at Kenjaku to confirm her doubt.
Kenjaku calmly stared at the approaching spirits, then took a step forward and moved in a fluid manner.
The lead spirit's head separated from its body.
The rest who crashed into her position—
Were slammed into nearby houses, reducing them to splinters.
Suguri's eyes sharpened.
Kenjaku brushed dust from her sleeve.
"Not bad," she said calmly. "Unfortunately, I am in a hurry."
Kenjaku brought her hands together.
An intense danger premonition hit Suguri.
"Domain Expansion: Weightless Cradle."
Behind her, an inverted, spinning spire appeared, hovering just above the ground.
Weightless Cradle was a domain based on Kaori Itadori's Anti-Gravity technique.
Its effect was simple and straightforward.
Within the domain, Antigravity System's lapse and reversal are applied simultaneously to the target's internal organs.
Resulting in a gruesome and cruel death.
*Crush*
The entire village covered in Kenjaku's domain was filled with unsettling crushing sounds. Within but a single second, every living resident had been affected by Kenjaku's domain's effect and crushed into meat paste.
Suguri tightly held her hands together, forming a sign, doing her best to maintain her simple domain.
At the same time, she released tens of cursed spirits, only for them to turn into meat paste as soon as they appeared.
Suguri's fingers trembled.
'My attacks… are useless…'
And that wasn't all.
Under Kenjaku's open domain, her simple domain was being corrupted at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Blood started flowing down from her eyes and ears.
She was going to die.
Her barrier was quickly diminishing.
It was flickering.
'I… can't hold it…'
She would turn into meat paste like the others.
... is this how it was going to end?
It was happening so quickly.
She couldn't think of a way to save herself.
Unknowingly—
A thought appeared in her mind.
'...Did you really die? Naoya.....'
Something painful tightened in her chest.
'I didn't even get to tell you how I felt...'
Her vision cracked.
But still—
A stubborn hope remained.
'Hey Naoya.....'
'If you are alive...'
Then like he did for Satori—
'Will you come to save me too?...'
*Crack*
Without any suspense, her simple domain broke and she was hit by the domain's sure-hit effect.
Her internal organs churned under the effect of two opposing forces.
'It hurts—!'
Her body collapsed onto the ground.
Kenjaku deliberately controlled the effect of her domain so as to not badly hurt Suguri's body she would be taking over.
With her red eyes, Suguri saw Kenjaku take back her domain and approach her at an unhurried pace with a weapon in hand.
Fear.
Real fear...
Finally crept into her heart.
Whenever she went on missions.
No matter how dangerous.....
He was always there.
Ready to support her.
She had almost started taking him for granted.
But now he wasn't here.
The blade in Kenjaku's hand moved, ready to cleanly end her life.
Suguri's eyes grew blurry as she muttered his name one final time.
"Naoya..... please help....."
Then she closed her eyes and waited for her end.
She waited.
And waited.
...? But nothing happened?
Slowly opening her eyes, through her blurry vision, she saw a familiar face.
Unknowingly—
A drop of tear slid down her face.
Naoya caught her tear and silently wiped it off, saying in a calm tone,
"I am here."
At the same time—
Right behind Naoya.
The Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General, Mahoraga looked down at Kenjaku with a menacing smile on his face.