Encounter

"No wonder they're students of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. In an attack of this scale, they not only managed to protect that precious 'Reverse Cursed Technique user,' but even forced back a semi-grade 1 cursed spirit with the strength of a grade 2 sorcerer. Truly eye-opening."

Lu Ping and Shoko turned their heads at the same time.

Three figures dressed in pure white robes slowly emerged from the darkness, their faces hidden beneath the shadows of their hoods.

The hems of their robes were embroidered with distorted stars, emanating an unusual fluctuation of cursed energy.

"Curse users hired by the Pan Star Religious Group...?"

Lu Ping frowned, recalling the same twisted star symbol printed on the flyers distributed by Pan Star Religious Group recruiters not long ago.

He had noticed the presence of these white-robed curse users among the crowd earlier, but it had not been convenient to make a move in such a crowded place.

Moreover, looking at the curse users before him, Lu Ping had a strange feeling, as though they were strangers he had only just met.

These people had orchestrated this terrorist attack not for simple slaughter, but to destroy the faith surrounding the nearby ancient shrine, so that terrified civilians with nowhere to place their hopes would turn to them for spiritual support. They would then frantically recruit followers, rake in money, and grow stronger.

"We originally thought that the main force of the college had been drawn to the outskirts by that 'specially created' bait, and that this place would be completely deserted tonight."

The leading white-robed curse user let out a cold laugh and slowly raised both hands.

"Who would have thought two little brats would be left behind? Still... we aren't afraid of even grade 1 sorcerers. A grade 2 sorcerer before us is merely here to die. What a pity we can't trade blows with the legendary Satoru Gojo."

At those words, the Three Corpses within Lu Ping began operating frantically, and his vigilance rose to its limit.

Combining the information leaked through the other party's words with his exceptionally sharp perception of cursed energy, Lu Ping's mind completed its logical deduction in an instant, arriving at a conclusion that sent a chill through his entire body:

Something's wrong... The cursed energy frequencies on these three are completely different from the group of Pan Star Religious Group missionaries I secretly locked onto earlier!

They're two separate groups... At least two teams of curse users are working together!

One team went to the rear warehouse to detonate the paper dolls, while the other was responsible for creating chaos on the front line!

Worse still, all three people before us are grade 2 curse users, and based on what they said, there's most likely a grade 1 curse user in the team at the rear warehouse!

"Shoko, the intelligence was wrong. We have to retreat immediately!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Ping lowered his voice. "This is a coordinated operation by a prepared group. If we wait for the rear team to free up and encircle us, we'll definitely die here today!"

These lunatics who had lurked in the shadows for decades were desperate criminals who had even dared send assassins after Satoru Gojo when he was six years old. They would never show them any mercy.

"Do you think you can get away, brat?"

The leading curse user gave a savage grin, his hands rapidly forming a lotus-shaped seal.

In an instant, the surrounding shadows wriggled. Four grotesque octopus shikigami radiating weak grade 2 cursed energy surged from the darkness, forming an encirclement as they lunged madly at the Shadow Wolf ahead.

"Awooo—!!"

Though the Shadow Wolf had become exceptionally ferocious under the enhancement of Three Corpses Manipulation, it faced the fearless assault of four grade 2 shikigami of equal rank. Combined with the enormous expenditure from its earlier clash with the semi-grade 1 cursed spirit, its defenses were torn apart in an instant.

After only several exchanges, sharp tentacles had left wound after wound deep enough to expose bone across the Shadow Wolf's body, tearing away great swathes of dissipating ink-black cursed energy.

In mere moments, the Shadow Wolf's once-solid massive body began to grow increasingly diffuse, even becoming somewhat translucent.

Lu Ping gritted his teeth. The cursed energy within him had already been squeezed to its limit, but faced with three experienced grade 2 curse users and a semi-grade 1 cursed spirit poised to strike, the situation was irreversibly sliding into the abyss.

Seeing Lu Ping locked in a bitter battle and the curse users steadily closing in around them, a trace of resolve flashed across Shoko Ieiri's delicate face.

Without hesitation, she thrust a hand into the pocket of her oversized coat and pulled out a specially made signal pistol, entirely black and covered in dense cursed inscriptions.

"Bang—!!"

With a piercing shriek, a signal flare radiating dazzling blazing-white cursed energy shot into the sky, forcibly tearing through the pitch-black "veil" shrouding the shrine. Against Tokyo's dim night sky, it was like a burning nova, illuminating the skies for several kilometers around as brightly as day.

That was the college's highest-level distress signal.

"Hmph, a dying struggle." The leading curse user glanced at the white light burning in the sky. A trace of apprehension flashed through his eyes, but it was swiftly replaced by ruthlessness.

"Even if that brat from the Gojo clan and Suguru Geto see it, they're held up inside a barrier several kilometers away. It'll take them at least ten minutes to get here!"

"Before they arrive, we'll have more than enough time to tear you two to pieces! Move!"

Roaring cursed energy erupted once more, and the cold aura of the encircling octopus shikigami converged into one, crashing down like an overwhelming tide.

Faced with the octopus shikigami's tightening encirclement, Shoko suddenly stepped forward. Her face, usually carrying a hint of laziness and fatigue, now bore an unusual determination.

She rapidly lowered her voice. "Lu Ping, listen. These lunatics act for money and profit. I'm the only healer at the college who can project the Reverse Cursed Technique outward. To them, I'm a fortune beyond measure. They won't kill me—they'll only kidnap me and demand an outrageous ransom from the college. But you're different. You have no reputation in the jujutsu world right now. If you fall into their hands, they'll simply silence you without mercy! I'll hold them off. Use the cover of night and retreat immediately!"

Neither the Pan Star Religious Group nor most low-level curse users knew anything about the foundation of the Three Great Clans, much less could they recognize the rare inherited Ten Shadows Technique on Lu Ping.

In their eyes, Lu Ping was only an extra they could erase at will.

"Hah? Save the tearful farewell act for hell!"

The leading white-robed curse user sneered, and his figure abruptly vanished from the spot. The next second, he appeared before Lu Ping without warning, his right hand wrapped in dense cursed energy as he threw a brutal heavy punch!

Lu Ping's pupils contracted. In his haste, he only had time to raise his arms and cross them before his chest.

"Bang!!"

A dull impact of flesh against flesh rang out. Violent cursed energy instantly pierced Lu Ping's surface defenses, which had weakened greatly because he had diverted too much cursed energy to keep the Shadow Wolf from dissipating.

The crisp sound of breaking bones was clearly audible amid the chaotic screams. The immense force nearly knocked him off his feet, driving him back six full steps until he almost crashed into Shoko behind him.

"Lu Ping!" Shoko's expression changed. Pure white light instantly flared from both her hands as a high-precision Reverse Cursed Technique immediately enveloped Lu Ping's severely bruised and fractured right arm.

Intense pain swept through his body like a tide, but Lu Ping clenched his teeth tightly and did not let out even the faintest groan.

Deep within him, the dormant Blood Corpse sensed this powerful negative feedback from his body and actually released a greedy, excited shriek, beginning to frantically digest and transform the energy of that pain.

Looking at Shoko Ieiri standing before him, her fingertips trembling faintly yet still protecting him with all her strength, Lu Ping's cursed energy began to boil completely alongside his blood.

In this cruel, twisted world, to have someone willing to wager her life for him—what an unbearably weighty bond that was!

Run? What kind of joke is that... I'll never leave her here!

His fierce desire to survive intertwined with surging rage, becoming boundless flames that completely ignited the Three Corpses within him.

Within the shadows of twilight, the true monster was opening its eyes.