Furube Yurayura...

"..."

Kana Shizumi slowly rose from the ground.

Though he did not understand the situation, this shift in the external environment, coupled with an atmosphere saturated with cursed energy... without a doubt, this was a literal "domain."

Just as had been mentioned before.

A domain was a completed construct born from the combination of Barrier Technique and an innate technique. Under normal circumstances, it came equipped with a Sure-Hit effect.

So almost immediately, Kana Shizumi activated his cursed energy for protection.

At the same time, he pressed his hands together and, following Kenjaku's deliberate guidance from some time ago, constructed a completed technique in a short span of time.

"Simple Domain!!!"

Using Kana Shizumi's feet as its boundary, a circular vacuum zone roughly three meters wide suddenly appeared.

This was a simplified application of Barrier Technique, a special method specifically devised to counter domains... its effect was to neutralize the Sure-Hit effect within a domain, giving the caster time to consider countermeasures and make further judgments.

However, the expected attack never came.

Even after Kana Shizumi completed his movements, the surrounding environment showed no change.

It was as though the other side had acted solely to achieve the result of "pulling him into the domain"... but what was the point of doing that?

He did not know why, but there was even less reason to lower his guard over something like this.

Kana Shizumi merely continued maintaining Simple Domain while quickly surveying his surroundings.

All he could see was a landscape of muted colors. Other than grass, there were only sparse patches of greenery and trees.

Since the fog had thinned considerably, visibility extended to nearly thirty meters... Kana Shizumi looked around, but found nothing else worth using as a reference.

It was a domain.

But it seemed the other side had yet to launch an attack?

Waiting helplessly for death had never been his style. Kana Shizumi quickly began to move.

He first confirmed that he was halfway up a mountain. He looked toward the summit, but found nothing...

He tried heading down the mountain.

The reason was simple. The clusters of cursed energy were concentrated around the summit. If his senses were not wrong, the enemy was directly above him.

Then getting away from the enemy was his only goal, and going downhill was naturally the right choice.

Yet after taking only two steps, Kana Shizumi suddenly stopped...

Frowning, he looked down at the glowing circle beneath his feet.

The range representing Simple Domain was gradually being "eroded," slowly being "dissolved."

The appearance of such a phenomenon directly meant that Simple Domain was resisting something.

In other words.

He was under attack...

"I've been locked onto? No, if that were the case, the attacks should be much more frequent..."

He knew his own standing well. As a Grade 2 Sorcerer, once he was targeted by the other side, the extent of what Simple Domain could do was quite limited.

Kenjaku's teachings played a crucial role at this moment.

"I must have triggered some kind of curse within the domain and suffered an attack that activated automatically..."

Kana Shizumi stopped walking, silently turned around, and looked toward the mountaintop.

Going downhill would trigger a curse, causing an automatic attack.

That meant he could only choose to "go uphill."

What exactly was the other side trying to accomplish?

As his thoughts churned, Kana Shizumi heard faint rustling not far away.

His expression shifted slightly. By reflex, he put on the mask and hat he carried with him.

—Based on his previous encounter with Mai Zenin, Kana Shizumi now carried items that concealed his identity whenever he went out.

It was to prevent exactly this sort of situation... he was not Mahito. What if people remembered him after seeing his face too many times?

Before long, three overlapping figures appeared in the distance.

The voices gradually drew closer as well.

"This is a domain?!"

"Bonito flakes!!!"

"Toge says it looks like one, but it should be different! We haven't been attacked inside it, which means there's probably something wrong with this domain itself... huh? Wait, wait, wait."

A Panda poked his head out of the fog and met Kana Shizumi's eyes.

"There's somebody hereeeee!!!"

Kana Shizumi could not help choking up.

—That was exactly what I wanted to say.

What normal person casually ran into a Panda on a mountain?!

But Kana Shizumi quickly calmed down.

After all, he had even seen a thousand-year-old monster. Was one Panda really that surprising? Of course... more importantly, he had more or less realized who these arrivals were.

"Panda, Toge... that's Inumaki's name, right? And there are three figures. Are you people from Tokyo Jujutsu High?"

Inumaki and Fushiguro broke through the mist together, briefly meeting Kana Shizumi's gaze.

"Fried chicken!"

Almost immediately, Inumaki lowered his body, gripping the collar covering his mouth with his right hand, his expression full of vigilance.

Fushiguro beside him was still out of the loop, but Panda had already assumed a stance to meet an attack.

"Fushiguro! Toge says this guy is a sorcerer... that thing under his feet is Simple Domain!!!"

That thing had exposed his identity...

But it was understandable. This had never been something he could hide for long.

Watching Fushiguro Megumi belatedly assume the opening stance to summon Divine Dogs, Kana Shizumi, who had been calm and thoughtful until then, reacted as if he had stepped on a mousetrap.

Hiss... fuck, don't!

If it were only Inumaki and Panda, they would be troublesome for Kana Shizumi, but nowhere near enough to prevent him from "getting away."

But adding a Self-Destruct Kid was truly too much.

He was genuinely afraid this kid would suddenly lose it and start Furube Yurayura, then smile and say, "I'll go die first," leaving him to solo Mahoraga...

Then what was he supposed to do? All he could do was die for them!

Backing away and raising both hands, Kana Shizumi opened his mouth.

"Calm down. We aren't enemies."

"Salmon roe!"

"Toge says no good person would act so covertly. Anyone too afraid to show their real face definitely has a problem!"

—How did you two manage to communicate so efficiently? How could you get so much information from two or three words?

Forcing down the urge to complain, Kana Shizumi racked his brain, intending to say something else.

Bzzzz...

A humming resonance descended from above, causing the three people and one Cursed Corpse present to turn their heads in unison.

Something had happened on the mountain... what was the one who had constructed this domain about to do?