From the moment he arrived in Shibuya, the conditions for awakening had already been in place.
After back-to-back battles against Uraume and the formidable Zenin Toji, he had to keep Black Scale on at all times, a state that demanded intricate control, along with constant transformation.
And then there was the core of cursed energy he had caught glimpses of while experiencing Black Flash.
Plum Blossoms in Snow. The plum blossom that blooms in snow is the most fragrant.
Wasn’t full bloom, brought about by relentless tempering, not something limited to natural things alone?
In an environment where every step was met with struggle, Junpei’s skill had reached its peak.
His [technique] precision and cursed energy control were on par with the famed sorcerers of the Heian era, and each shikigami, under his command, displayed the highest possible efficiency.
Now, after surpassing the previous month’s threshold and raising even Black Scale to a higher level,
the pinnacle of the four shikigami
[Pointing Lamp Jaw] finally revealed itself for the first time.
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Lost in total darkness, Dagon floated aimlessly through empty space.
‘Where is this?’
He couldn’t see anything.
He couldn’t hear a sound, couldn’t smell a thing.
Even when he formed hand signs to use his [technique], the cursed energy that failed to properly condense simply scattered into the void.
‘My domain hasn’t been broken yet. But the neutralization of this [technique]...!’
The only thing he could feel was a nauseating pressure of cursed energy.
He immediately recognized whose it was. It was packed with the presence of the enemy he had been fighting just moments ago.
Through the sticky, unpleasant sensation clinging to his body, Dagon realized where he was.
“A simple domain!”
Only then did the mystery make sense.
Why Yoshino Junpei had survived after being hit by his sure-hit ultimate attack.
Just before the vortex struck him, Junpei had hidden himself here, nullifying the sure-hit effect and enduring the blow with the shikigami’s toughness and the neutralized force of the attack.
To think he had hidden a trump card like that.
Still, as long as cursed energy had limits, he couldn’t use it endlessly.
He had the advantage in total output, so if he could endure this unknown attack, victory was still within reach.
Just as Dagon resolved to smash him with another ultimate attack the moment he got out, a sinister light flashed behind him.
-Blink
“...?”
He turned at the presence, but the light was already gone.
As if mocking him, the light flashed again beyond his field of vision.
-Blink
Blink. Blink. Blink. By now, they weren’t even trying to hide.
The number of flashing lights kept increasing until there were more than a dozen.
As if they had played with him enough, the lights multiplied and were now closing in on Dagon’s throat.
“I won’t be toyed with.”
Facing the approaching lights, Dagon clenched his fist.
The invisible timer was running, forcing him to make a choice.
Instinctively, the escape condition took shape in his mind.
His action was as fast as his judgment.
He caught the flow of cursed energy with his eyes and concentrated his output at a single point.
The punch, packed with certainty, flew toward the nearest light.
-Crack!
The light shattered pitifully under a single blow.
Dagon snorted at its miserable durability.
‘So it’s just human after all.’
It was a shabby attack, far below what he had expected.
The moment Dagon moved, thinking that, all the lights went out at once.
At the same time, a cold voice rang out.
-Wrong answer.
“!!”
With even the only light that had been guiding his senses extinguished, everything returned to the original, absolute darkness.
And then the vicious maw-like shikigami swarmed in and bit into Dagon’s body all at once.
-Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
“Aaaagh!!!”
His senses were thrown into chaos, leaving him unable to resist.
The fatal attack he couldn’t even perceive kept gnawing at him from the darkness.
Dagon’s body, flailing absurdly as he tried to escape, came apart piece by piece.
-Crunch!
One bite, one hand.
-Crunch!
One bite, half a thigh.
-Crunch!
One bite, a third of his side.
Seconds, or maybe minutes.
After an eternity of hell, Dagon’s body had become a ragged mess, like chewed-up gum spat onto the ground.
With a single mistake, more than half of his massive cursed energy had been carved away.
-Grrrk
Fresh flesh surged over the torn wounds, and cursed energy bled away in torrents.
Even so, the regeneration was painfully slow, because of the poison smeared onto the maw’s teeth.
If he had protected himself with a barrier, he might have endured it, but Dagon’s domain was already spread outside.
If he dismissed the domain, the technique would overheat and leave him helpless.
Even if he somehow survived the next attack and made it outside, the sorcerers who had escaped the domain would be waiting for him.
-Blink
In that deadlocked situation, the light flashed again.
So it still wasn’t over.
“........”
At last, Dagon sensed his defeat.
No matter what he tried, there was no way out of this abyss. His body no longer moved as he wished, either.
The only thing he could do in here was wait for death with humility.
-Blink Blink Blink
As the lights drifted closer, flashing serenely, Dagon closed his eyes.
At the end of despair, what came to mind were the faces of his comrades.
Memories of those days, now impossible to return to, flashed before him like a life review.
Mahito.
Jogo.
And Hanami.
“Sorry, Hanami.”
I wanted to see the pure natural world with you.
Let’s meet again in a new world without humans.
“If I’m reborn, then even then...”
I’ll look for you.
Behind Dagon’s bitter final words, the sentence of execution rang out.
-Time over.
-KWA-ZAZAZAZAK!!!
The endless swarm of maw-like shikigami tore Dagon’s body to pieces.
Nothing remained where he had stood.
------------------------------
-Whoosh
As Dagon’s domain vanished, the sorcerers were returned to where it had all begun.
Those who had been flung about by the ultimate attack, Dragon Prison, quickly came to their senses.
“The domain...”
The domain had been dispelled.
That meant the special-grade cursed spirit who owned it had been exorcised.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Junpei, the only one still standing firm.
“We won...”
With his arms spread wide, savoring the freedom of liberation, the sorcerers shuddered.
They had fought together, but in the end he had practically exorcised that octopus all by himself.
They were still marveling at that absurd presence when they hurried to check their own injuries.
“Huff, huff!!”
“Fushiguro, are you all right?”
“For now...”
Nanami supported Megumi, who was gasping for breath from the aftereffects of the domain tug-of-war.
Naobito, who had lost his right arm, and Maki, whose injuries were relatively light, both collapsed as the tension of battle finally left them.
As Nanami looked over everyone, he let out a relieved breath.
‘If Fushiguro and Yoshino hadn’t come, we would have been wiped out for sure.’
They had won somehow, but the opponent had been truly formidable.
Even with enough manpower gathered to exorcise a special-grade cursed spirit, it had been nearly even.
Their cursed energy was nearly exhausted, and they had no strength left to keep fighting.
“...So this is as far as we go.”
“Nanami, are you okay?”
“Yoshino.”
Nanami gazed steadily at Junpei as he approached.
There was no trace of the feral aura from earlier, but even standing near him, one could feel his strength.
He’s gotten stronger.
Their positions had reversed from when they first met. The boy who had learned from him, who had once relied on him, had grown so much that now he could save his life.
He had thought Junpei would catch a glimpse of his talent and eventually step into this world.
But to think he would grow this strong, this fast.
He was glad his own choice to give him a chance had not been wrong.
He was proud of him.
“Thank you.”
A faint smile touched Nanami’s lips.
Everyone there was stunned by the sight of Nanami smiling for the first time.
“Nanami...”
“He smiled?”
“So even you know how to smile, first-grade sorcerer.”
“I am a person, too.”
Naobito patted Nanami’s back a few times, and Nanami returned to his usual stiff expression.
He was hard to like, but even so, Naobito had made a major contribution in this battle.
A little teasing like this was more than acceptable.
“Anyway, it’s a good outcome. Though I don’t think we can keep fighting.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“I think we’ll all have to return to camp together. Yoshino-kun must have already spent a great deal in that battle, so let’s leave the rest to the other sorcerers and withdraw for now. I’ve already requested backup from headquarters.”
“Once we get back, I’m going to leave the work to the underlings and drink myself stupid.”
Maki snorted and scolded Naobito for immediately reaching for alcohol again.
“Old man, keep that up and you’ll die of liver cancer early.”
“If I die, that benefits you, doesn’t it? One obstacle out of the way. If you want the clan head position, then do your best.”
“Still, you’re the best one in that family. I’ll come to the funeral.”
“You insolent brat.”
They had saved each other’s lives more than once, and the old resentment between them had eased somewhat.
At the end of the day, they were comrades who had fought together. There was barely room for complicated family matters when they had more than enough reason to savor the joy of surviving.
The disgraced Maki and the old fossil Naobito looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Hey, Yoshino first-grade sorcerer.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I’m talking about you.”
When Naobito called out to him, Junpei made a reluctant face.
He had been increasingly bothered by Naobito’s repeated attempts to get him to become a son-in-law.
“If you tell me to become a Zenin again, I’m leaving.”
“Forget that... Come visit the Zenin clan sometime later. We’ll treat you properly.”
“Uh...”
Startled by the unexpected offer, Junpei’s shoulder was patted by Naobito’s wrinkled hand.
“You saved the lives of the current clan head and the next one. You’re a benefactor to the Zenin clan. Don’t refuse.”
“You don’t have some other scheme, do you?”
“Has this kid been living his whole life getting tricked...?”
“Bwahahahaha!”
Even so, Junpei didn’t dislike the old man’s goodwill.
And Maki, who had been the one he worried about most, didn’t seem to hate him that much either.
That was because he had realized that among a clan full of personality disasters, this old man was actually one of the more normal ones.
“Let’s save the celebration for later and head back.”
“Right...”
After laughing and talking for a while longer, they finally finished preparing to leave.
Just then, as Nanami clapped his hands a few times to get everyone’s attention,
“Has he passed on... Dagon.”
A vast power far beyond that octopus from earlier was felt from behind them.
The warm atmosphere froze solid, and when the sorcerers turned, they saw it.
A dwarf in a haori.
A single eye set in the center of his forehead.
A volcano perched on his crown.
‘No way.’
‘He’s far stronger than that cursed spirit Dagon!’
‘What the hell is with that volcano head!’
They knew they had to run, but none of them dared move a step. Not even Junpei, the strongest one there.
The terror of meeting a starving beast in the mountains had locked their legs in place.
Ignoring them with the ease of someone who knew his own strength, the earth-born cursed spirit slowly walked toward his shattered friend’s remains.
“Leave the rest to me. We don’t need to rely on humans; our souls keep turning, round and round.”
Let us meet again in the wasteland one hundred years from now.
The cursed spirit, having paid his own form of respects, slowly rose to his feet.
His cold, furious gaze swept over them one by one, and only then did Junpei remember who he was dealing with.
‘The earth-born cursed spirit...!’
What they faced, after cutting down forests and filling in seas, was the earth, brimming with heat.
The oldest cursed spirit, born from humanity’s fear of the earth.
Jogo.
“I’ll make you pay.”
The final trial was about to begin.
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