Domain Expansion?!

As the second round began, Gojo Satoru seized the initiative, firing several bright Blue blasts once more. Meanwhile, Geto Suguru controlled the few remaining cursed spirits, attempting to harass and surround the Flying Succubus from mid- to long-range.

After reinforcing his body with cursed energy, Toho Che slipped into the darkness beyond the reach of the red light.

This was the battle plan the three had worked out in the short time available.

Originally, although the Gojo-Geto duo could have one person hold it down while the other dealt the main damage, the Flying Succubus possessed the advantages of flight and speed. Even when restrained, it could swiftly evade them.

But now, half of one of its wings had been crippled. It could only maneuver at low altitude, and its speed had slowed considerably, stripping away roughly thirty percent of its advantage.

Moreover, Toho Che's arrival had provided a new way to injure it.

In his limit-enhancement state, his physical capabilities could briefly approach those of a Grade 1 sorcerer, allowing him to barely pose a threat to it.

The Flying Succubus could faintly sense this as well.

"Where did that unfamiliar little brat hide?"

As it dodged several brilliant blue flashes, it casually grabbed a cursed spirit and drained it dry. Its damaged flesh wings recovered somewhat, but they were still far from their prime.

But it had no mind to focus on that now. It was only wondering where that brat who had just joined the battlefield had gone.

Although it had begun spreading the mist produced by its technique, the area was too open for it to blanket everything in a short time.

Besides, it had not planted a curse on that brat earlier. Now that he had vanished into the darkness, it could barely sense him at all.

At that thought, it turned its gaze toward the hostages in the distance.

Originally, it could have drained the life force of those rations without restraint to replenish itself. But that little girl who had come with these brats was pulling against it, preventing it from fully draining them to recover its injuries.

If it wanted to end this battle... perhaps it needed to deal with her first?

Just as it was slightly distracted, a cursed spirit concealing its presence suddenly emerged from the right. Its body abruptly transformed and swelled, wrapping around its arm before plunging toward the ground.

A huge, powerful-looking cursed spirit also appeared on the ground. It grabbed that cursed spirit's body and yanked down hard, and the Flying Succubus felt its body suddenly sink.

The Flying Succubus inwardly cursed. It immediately poured dark red mist into the cursed spirit restraining it and began rapidly draining it.

But the next second, azure light struck from its side.

Fortunately, it had already drained the cursed spirit binding it until it was much weaker. With a forceful struggle, it snapped the spirit's body apart.

Just as it breathed a sigh of relief and flew backward, thinking it had avoided the attack, a bone-chilling cold suddenly locked onto its body.

"Wha—?!"

Before it could react, a sharp whistling sound tore through the air behind it. Cold light flashed as a slash wrapped in condensed cursed energy swept out of the shadows at extreme speed.

"Urghhhhh!!!"

Along with its shrill, resentful scream, a long, narrow wound abruptly appeared across her back.

Toho Che, still holding his sword-swinging stance, flickered his gaze before closing in again, intending to end the battle quickly.

But before he could rush forward, a vast amount of dark red mist suddenly burst from the Flying Succubus's wound, obscuring his vision.

The sensation of his cursed energy being drained flooded through his body, but he did not panic. He merely followed the method Gojo Satoru had described and forcibly changed the direction of his cursed energy flow.

The rate at which his cursed energy leaked out immediately slowed significantly. But that brief exchange still cost him the best opportunity to continue his attack.

Taking advantage of the opening, the Flying Succubus escaped from the dark red mist and flew back to a relatively safe position.

"Beautiful cut!"

After firing several more miniature Blue blasts to suppress it, both Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru wore somewhat excited expressions.

The success of that attack meant their approach to the battle had been correct.

With Shoko suppressing and obstructing the Flying Succubus's ability to drain the hostages' life force, if they kept this up, they would eventually wear it to death in a battle of attrition.

After sweeping away the mist with a slash, Toho Che returned to the battlefield and fixed his gaze on the Flying Succubus at the center of their encirclement.

The wounds on its body were healing, but very slowly. It could no longer rapidly drain life force and cursed energy. As long as they proceeded steadily, they should be able to deal with it easily.

The Flying Succubus seemed to realize this as well. The relaxed, pleased expression on its face finally vanished, replaced by silence and deathly stillness.

Seeing that it suddenly seemed unwilling to resist, Gojo Satoru did not rush to attack.

Since this thing had made him feel miserable earlier, he decided to get some verbal payback first.

"If you obediently surrender now, we might give you a quick death.

Say, Geto, do you want to subdue this thing? Your Cursed Spirit Manipulation should be able to do it, right?"

As he spoke, he looked toward Geto Suguru, seemingly wanting to offer some compensation for destroying that Grade 1 cursed spirit earlier with Blue at full power.

But Geto Suguru merely shook his head, with not the slightest hint of interest in his eyes.

"Forget this one. Its intelligence is too high, and it has eaten quite a few humans. The best outcome is to deal with it here."

Watching the two start celebrating before the battle was even over again, Toho Che felt it was somewhat inappropriate but said nothing. He only adjusted his cursed energy and breathing, preparing to launch the next assault.

Upon hearing all this, the Flying Succubus unexpectedly burst into laughter.

"You... think you have this won?"

As its words fell, it stopped smiling and clasped its hands together in a strange seal, its eyes filled with resolve and viciousness.

Suddenly, everyone present sensed that the surrounding space seemed to undergo a strange change. A bad suspicion formed in Toho Che's mind, and he hurriedly shouted.

"Gojo, Geto, something's wrong! Attack now!"

In his urgency, he even forgot the polite way he normally addressed his classmates. The other two, who had also noticed something was wrong, stopped celebrating early and immediately attacked.

Azure light gathered in Gojo Satoru's hand once again. Geto Suguru released his few remaining offensive cursed spirits and sent them charging at the Flying Succubus, while Toho Che closed in once more.

But it was too late.

"Domain Expansion: Blissful Blood Prison."

Accompanied by a shrill, resentful howl, dark red light and mist erupted outward from the Flying Succubus. In an instant, they engulfed everyone present.

None of the three fighting head-on escaped. They all felt the cursed energy within their bodies draining away even faster than before. Even when they actively disrupted their cursed energy flow, the rate of loss remained terrifying.

And the domain seemed to have a paralysis effect as well.

The Blue in Gojo Satoru's hand instantly collapsed because he could no longer control it. He stood there stiffly, and even his gaze gradually began to blur.

The cursed spirits Geto Suguru had summoned did not disappear, but like him, they froze in place, unable to move.

Toho Che, closest to the Flying Succubus, had his forward momentum abruptly cut off. His entire body was immobilized, and Fudōmaru in his hand was planted in the ground.

Shoko Ieiri, who was farther away, also suddenly changed expression.

Although she had not been immobilized like the three in battle, the injured people before her began weakening all at once. The sudden interference also made it difficult for her to maintain the output of Reverse Cursed Technique.

Furthermore, she saw that the wound on the Flying Succubus's back was disappearing, while its damaged wings were healing and restoring themselves even faster than before.

More importantly, its gaze had met hers.

"This is bad..."

she murmured quietly.