Having exorcised the cursed spirit with nothing but her fists, Zen'in Kaon watched as the tiger's remains slowly dissipated—and felt utterly unsatisfied.
"Was that thing really Grade One?"
She couldn't help but doubt it. It looked intimidating enough, but it went down far too easily.
Or maybe… her own strength wasn't as bad as she'd thought.
Clap. Clap.
With that realization, Kaon couldn't help feeling a little smug.
"Looks like I'm not weak at all. This kind of mission is no pressure whatsoever," she said cheerfully.
"Co on, Ria—let's go."
She turned around.
There was nothing behind her.
Kaon froze.
"…Ria?"
The absence hit her like a punch to the gut.
From the mont she engaged the cursed spirit to its exorcism, barely a minute had passed. There was no way Ria could have simply vanished on her own.
"Damn it… this mission isn't simple."
Kaon's expression hardened.
Ria would never leave without saying anything. Which ant sothing had happened to her.
Soone capable of abducting Ria silently, in under a minute, was no ordinary opponent.
"No—Ria can't be hurt. I have to find her. Now."
Her first instinct was to regroup with Gojo Kamui and the others and lock the entire area down.
Before she could move—
"Don't be nervous, little girl. We won't kill your friend just yet."
An elderly voice echoed behind her.
Kaon spun around.
Two figures had appeared without her sensing them at all.
One was an elderly woman sitting cross-legged on the ground, her face so deeply wrinkled it looked like dried bark—ancient beyond asure.
The other was a broad-shouldered, middle-aged man dressed in black.
"Who are you people?!" Kaon demanded, eyes blazing.
"Where is Ria?!"
She stared at the two intruders, her body coiled like a spring, ready to explode into motion.
"You an that little extraterrestrial girl?" the man said calmly, as if discussing the weather.
"Soone paid us to kill her—and specifically ordered us to record the entire process on video."
He spoke without emotion.
"For now, she's still alive. We value efficiency, after all. But give it a little ti… and you might get to watch her execution from start to finish."
Behind him, the old woman remained seated, completely still, as though performing so sort of ritual.
"You're dead."
Kaon's voice dropped to a lethal whisper.
The air around her trembled.
The mont she heard that, Zen'in Kaon understood—
This mission had never been simple.
It was a trap.
A trap aid directly at Ria.
They knew who Ria was—and they still dared to do this.
What were they trying to achieve?
To drive a wedge between humanity and the aliens?
To ignite a war?
"No… I can't waste ti here."
Kaon's gaze hardened.
"I have to find Ria and get her out—imdiately."
The two people in front of her were clearly ant to stall her. She couldn't fall for it.
Without hesitation, Kaon turned and bolted in another direction.
She could not be delayed.
Seeing this, the old woman clasped her hands together. Cursed energy surged between her palms as she began chanting in a low, rhythmic voice.
With every syllable, an overwhelming wave of cursed energy poured into the middle-aged man beside her. His aura swelled violently.
"That'll do," the old woman said as she opened her eyes.
"Got it, Grandma," the man replied calmly.
He pulled a small tal vial from his pocket. Sothing murky sloshed inside.
With a casual flick, he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Boom!
Cursed energy exploded outward from his body.
The old woman slamd her hands together and invoked her technique, calling out a na in a rasping voice:
"Special-grade sorcerer—Suguru Geto!"
In the next instant, the man's body shuddered. A terrifying, unrestrained aura erupted from him—
So powerful that it instantly caught the attention of both Gojo Kamui and Okkotsu Kaguya.
---
Elsewhere.
Gojo Kamui halted abruptly, his brow furrowing.
"This presence… that's not a cursed spirit."
He had faced special-grade cursed spirits before. Even they didn't feel like this.
This was sothing else.
Sothing powerful.
Sothing hostile.
Without hesitation, Kamui turned and sprinted toward the source of the aura—
Only to have three black-robed curse users appear directly in his path.
"Sorry, young master of the Gojo clan," one of them said calmly.
"We can't let you pass."
"You think you can stop ?" Kamui replied coldly.
Cursed energy surged into his palm, condensing into a violently attractive mass before he hurled it forward.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
Trees, grass, rocks—everything nearby was dragged screaming into the vortex and shredded into dust.
He didn't yet know what was happening—but an aura like that ant disaster.
And these enemies were proof enough.
The three curse users scattered instantly, launching their counterattack.
Clang!
"Tch… Looks like I'll have to end this fast."
Kamui's eyes turned icy as he stared at the halted fist inches from his face.
---
At the sa ti.
Okkotsu Kaguya found himself in a nearly identical situation—blocked by multiple curse users working together.
"They're not trying to kill ," he realized grimly.
"They're buying ti."
His grip tightened around his sword.
"Then their target must be Ria… Damn it, we have to regroup—now."
That terrifying aura earlier…
He'd only ever felt sothing like it from special-grade sorcerers.
Were there really special-grade curse users involved?
---
Elsewhere in the mountains—
Boom!
Kaon obliterated the cursed spirit blocking her path with a single punch.
But in the very next instant, more cursed spirits surged forward, swarming her.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?!"
She glared at the unfamiliar man ahead of her.
That rough, burly brute from earlier—
Why had he completely changed?
A technique?
"Grandson, how does it feel?" the old woman asked, her deeply wrinkled face splitting into a delighted smile.
"It's incredible," the man—wearing Suguru Geto's face—said blissfully.
"So this is the power of a special-grade sorcerer… I want to have this forever."
The strength was intoxicating.
The only downside was the consumption—he couldn't maintain it for long.
"This is bad… I can't stay trapped here."
Kaon looked around at the sea of writhing cursed spirits, goosebumps rippling across her skin.
"I have to break through—now."
Her hands ford a seal, her eyes resolute.
"So this is how it's going to be."
"Nue!"
Cursed energy surged.
A shadow spread beneath her feet, and with a sharp whoosh, a crimson bird the size of a human burst forth.
Its talons seized Kaon's shoulders and lifted her into the air.
She had planned to save her second technique for a true dead end—
But she'd been forced to use it sooner than expected.
"A Zen'in clan inherited technique…" the possessed man muttered.
"So this girl isn't simple either."
He imdiately summoned a flying cursed spirit and gave chase, the old woman riding along with him.
---
At the sa ti—
Outside the barrier, the assistant supervisor stared at the instrunt in his hands as warning lights went berserk.
His face drained of color.
"This is—damn it!"
Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and called for ergency backup.
Sothing had gone terribly wrong.
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