Boom!
Just as Yamagon turned to retreat back into the mountain, a deafening explosion erupted behind it.
When it spun around, it saw that the swarm of cursed spirits that had rushed forward moments ago were now nothing more than mangled piles of flesh, already dissolving into dust.
"Sorry, but I sent them on their way."
Mukuro stood calmly among the corpses, his Jujutsu High uniform spotless, not even a wrinkle out of place.
"My children… you dare… all of you, move aside."
Dozens of cursed spirits had been wiped out in an instant. The pain in Yamagon's chest felt like someone had driven a knife through its heart. Its expression darkened as it ordered the other spirits to retreat, then clenched its fists and took slow, heavy steps toward Mukuro.
"Die."
A surge of cursed energy exploded from its fist as it swung down toward his head.
Whoosh!
The air cracked with a sharp sound. The blow missed its target, smashing into the ground instead and leaving a crater more than five meters wide.
"So fast! I can't track his movements!"
It couldn't believe that a human without any cursed energy had dodged its attack so easily.
Worse still, because the opponent had no cursed energy to sense, Yamagon could only rely on its eyes and instincts to follow him.
"Too slow."
Before it could react, a whip-like kick landed square on its face.
Yamagon tumbled across the ground, crashing into a thick tree before coming to a stop.
"It hurts, but… that's all. He didn't actually injure me."
Touching the side of its face where it'd been kicked, it convinced itself that this human was nothing more than just some freakishly strong monkey with good hand-to-hand skills.
It drove its hands into the ground and ripped up a massive sheet of earth like a blanket, hurling it toward Mukuro.
Boom!
But before the earth could fall, Mukuro punched a hole clean through it.
"Again, he's gone…"
Yamagon scanned the area, trying to find him.
"Up here."
Mukuro descended from above, both feet slamming down on its shoulders. Despite his slender frame, the force drove the hulking cursed spirit deep into the pit it had made earlier.
Swish!
A long blade appeared in Mukuro's hand, which he brought down toward Yamagon's head.
Bang!
The strike missed. The cursed spirit's body had vanished, leaving only a deep cut in the ground where the blade had struck.
"A technique, huh…"
He pulled his sword free, resting it on his shoulder, unable to immediately sense the creature's presence.
Rumble… rumble…
The ground began to quake violently. Two enormous stone hands burst from the earth and came crashing toward him.
"You're making this troublesome. I was going to give you a quick death out of pity, you know."
Mukuro swung his sword, severing both hands in an instant. They fell apart, turning into heaps of rubble.
"Spare me your pity! I'll make humanity pay a thousandfold for what you've done to us!"
Yamagon's voice roared from deep within the mountain. The earth around Mukuro began to collapse, the soil rising and closing in to bury him alive.
"You really don't make this easy…" Mukuro sighed, then pushed off the ground with his legs. In one effortless motion, he leapt out of the collapsing pit that was supposed to be his grave.
"Pointless! The whole mountain is me! My cursed energy is endless! Once your strength runs out, that's when you die!"
Yamagon's tone grew triumphant, as if its great ambition was finally within reach.
"Is that so?"
Dragging his sword, Mukuro's figure flickered and disappeared.
A moment later, a spray of dark green blood splattered through the air.
If he couldn't find Yamagon's core, then he'd just slaughter every cursed spirit in its presence and see how long it could stand watching.
"Bastard!"
The effect was immediate. Hidden inside the mountain and manipulating the earth, Yamagon's rage boiled over. Dozens of stone pillars shot from the ground, trying to block Mukuro's path, but they couldn't keep up with his speed.
"There! An opening!"
Finally, when Mukuro leapt into the air to strike once more, Yamagon, unable to contain its fury, burst out of the earth behind him. Its body was encased in thick stone armor as it launched a full-powered attack at Mukuro's back.
At the same time, the ground rose again, forming stone pillars to trap his movement. Even at this speed, dodging midair would be difficult.
"You finally showed yourself." Mukuro turned his head midair, a pure smile on his face that made Yamagon's stomach tighten. In the former's crimson right eye, the number "3" appeared.
Boom!
A gigantic demonic hand burst from the ground, shattering the surrounding pillars and clamping down on Yamagon.
Mukuro landed lightly on the ground as a tall figure emerged from the void behind him.
The man had white hair reaching down past his waist, with two uneven horns on his forehead. Standing nearly two meters tall, his loose kimono revealed his sculpted muscles. His right arm was identical to the giant hand now gripping Yamagon.
"Who are you?! Why are you helping a human?!" Yamagon struggled desperately, but the stone plates on its body shattered and it couldn't budge the hand an inch.
"My shikigami. Special grade imaginary cursed spirit: Ibaraki-dōji." Mukuro patted the man's chest as he spoke, his words pushing Yamagon toward despair.
"Damn it… just one minute. Give me one more minute…"
Cornered, Yamagon gritted its teeth and placed a binding vow upon itself, sacrificing its life to massively amplify its cursed energy for a single minute.
At the instant the vow took effect, its power surged, and it broke free from Ibaraki-dōji's grasp.
"I'll handle it."
When the shikigami was about to move, Mukuro raised his hand to stop him. The long blade in his hand changed shape, turning into a sharp dagger.
"I'll defeat you here!"
Yamagon had no time for strategies. Driven by anger and desperation, it charged toward him with everything it had.
It had to protect its children …
That was the only thought left in its mind.
Whoosh!
Although its strike missed, the sonic boom still swept across the forest like a tidal wave.
"Deep breaths. Feeling dizzy is normal."
As they passed each other, Mukuro's dagger was already planted in his opponent's skull.
Yamagon turned slightly, wanting one last look at what it had tried to protect, but all it saw was darkness. Images of the mountain and forest's natural beauty flashed through its mind, fading one by one.
"Don't be afraid… I'm here…" Even at the end, the powerful special grade cursed spirit thought only of the beasts and cursed spirits it had called its children.
"How long can you stay?" Mukuro asked Ibaraki-dōji.
"A few minutes, maybe," the shikigami answered according to his intuition.
Even with Mukuro's near-peak physical condition, summoning a shikigami like Ibaraki-dōji had limits. It wasn't a matter of strength; it was a natural restriction of the world. Beings this powerful were not freely allowed to manifest.
"There are too many curses here. I'll leave them to you. Keep it quiet; there are still real animals in the mountain." Mukuro waved and turned to leave.
Yamagon was dead, but the cursed spirits born from the resentment along with it remained. Their numbers were huge. He couldn't be bothered to deal with each one.
"Understood." Ibaraki-dōji extended his monstrous right arm and pointed toward the densest cluster of cursed spirits.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rocked the entire mountain. As the curses' energy dissipated, the barrier naturally lifted.
"As expected of Fushiguro-san… you actually cleared a special grade incident this fas—"
The assistant manager, who had been worried sick, broke into a grin and hurried toward him. But after a few steps, his pace slowed.
Behind Mukuro, half the mountain looked as if it had been obliterated by some ultra-high-power weapon.
This level of destruction… a special grade sorcerer?!
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