Before anyone could collect their thoughts, nearly everyone suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
It was as though something was sweeping toward them.
Yet there was nothing on the mountainside. Instead, it was coming from the other direction...
"Down the mountain!!!"
Fushiguro Megumi shouted. Everyone turned at once and saw chunks of gravel of varying sizes rolling up the mountain toward them.
"...?!"
Kana Shizumi wasn't the only one reacting that way. The others were much the same.
Because this completely defied the laws of nature... Why were these rocks rolling uphill?
There was no time to investigate. The rocks were about to crush them, and letting them continue wasn't an option.
Among the trio, Inumaki tugged down his collar, exposing his entire face as he shouted.
"Shatter!"
Hiss...
The air seemed to reverse for an instant. Something resembling energy gathered briefly before bursting forth, forming a visible shockwave that pulverized every piece of gravel in front of the trio.
Kana Shizumi watched the entire process.
It was his first time witnessing the application of Cursed Speech, and it felt quite novel.
But since he was acting alone, he had to find a way to deal with it himself... After a brief hesitation, Kana Shizumi pressed his left hand against the ground before him. His originally unstable, eroded-looking Simple Domain instantly contracted inward.
Until it covered a range of just over a meter.
The gravel rained down upon Kana Shizumi's body, only to be bounced away as though it had struck an immensely elastic mass of rubber. It didn't harm him in the slightest.
Inumaki looked over, his gaze narrowing slightly as he said,
"Mackerel..."
"Toge says this guy isn't simple. His Barrier Technique is impressive... He can contract his Simple Domain, and