Encounter Battle

"No wonder they're students of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College. Not only did they manage to protect that precious wielder of the Reverse Cursed Technique during an attack of this scale, but they 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 clad in pure white robes slowly emerged from the darkness, their faces hidden beneath the shadows of their hoods.

Twisted stars were embroidered along the hems of their white robes, emanating strange fluctuations of cursed energy.

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

Lu Ping frowned. He recalled that the flyers handed out by Pan Star Religious Group recruiters not long ago bore the same twisted star symbol.

He had already sensed 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.

And as he looked at the Curse Users before him, Lu Ping had a strange feeling, as though they were meeting for the first time.

These people had orchestrated this terrorist attack not for simple slaughter, but to destroy the long-standing faith in the nearby shrines. They wanted terrified civilians with nowhere to place their faith to turn to them instead, allowing them to crazily gather followers, rake in money, and grow stronger.

"I originally thought Jujutsu High's main force had been drawn to the outskirts by that 'specially created' bait, so this place should have been empty."

The leading white-robed Curse User let out a cold laugh and slowly raised his hands.

"Didn't expect two little brats to be left behind. But... we're not even afraid of Grade 1 Sorcerers. A Grade 2 Sorcerer standing before us is nothing but someone here to die. What a pity we can't exchange blows with the legendary Satoru Gojo."

At those words, the Three Corpses within Lu Ping instantly began operating madly, and his vigilance rose to its peak.

Using the information leaked through the man's words, combined with his extraordinarily sharp perception of cursed energy, Lu Ping's mind completed a logical deduction in an instant and reached a conclusion that sent a chill through his entire body:

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

They're two different groups... At least two Curse User squads are working together!

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

Worse still, all three people in front of us are Grade 2 Curse Users. And based on what they said, there's a high chance that the team at the rear warehouse includes a Grade 1 Curse User!

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

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Ping lowered his voice. "This is a coordinated group operation. If the rear team finishes up and surrounds us from both sides, we're dead today!"

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

"Think you can get away, brat?"

The leading Curse User gave a savage grin and rapidly formed a lotus-shaped hand seal.

In an instant, the surrounding shadows writhed. Four grotesque octopus shikigami, each radiating weak Grade 2 cursed energy, burst from the darkness and lunged at Shadow Wolf in a pincer formation.

"Awoo—!!"

Though Shadow Wolf had become exceptionally ferocious under the enhancement of the Three Corpses Manipulation, it faced the fearless siege of four Grade 2 shikigami of the same level. Coupled with the immense consumption from its earlier clash with the Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, its defenses were torn apart in an instant.

After several exchanges, sharp tentacles left deep, bone-revealing wounds across Shadow Wolf's body, tearing away great clouds of dispersing inky cursed energy.

In only a few moments, Shadow Wolf's once-solid massive body began to grow increasingly diffuse, even turning somewhat transparent.

Lu Ping clenched his teeth. The cursed energy within him had already been squeezed to its limit, but against three experienced Grade 2 Curse Users and a Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit waiting to strike, the situation was irreversibly sliding into the abyss.

As she watched Lu Ping struggle bitterly and the Curse Users steadily closing in around them, a trace of resolve flashed across Ieiri Shoko's delicate face.

Without hesitation, she reached into the pocket of her oversized coat and pulled out a specially made flare gun, entirely black and carved with dense cursed inscriptions.

"Bang—!!"

With a piercing shriek, a flare radiating dazzling white cursed energy shot into the sky. It forcibly tore through the pitch-black Curtain covering the shrine, becoming like a burning nova against Tokyo's dim night sky and illuminating the night for several kilometers around as brightly as day.

It was Jujutsu High's highest-level distress signal.

"Hmph, struggling on the verge of death." The leading Curse User glanced at the white light burning in the sky. A flicker of wariness flashed through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by ruthlessness.

"Even if that brat from the Gojo Clan and Suguru Geto see it, they're tied 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 as the chilling aura of the encircling octopus shikigami gathered together and crashed down like an overwhelming tide.

Facing the octopus shikigami as their encirclement steadily narrowed, Ieiri Shoko suddenly stepped forward. Her face, usually carrying a hint of laziness and exhaustion, now held an unusual resolve.

She quickly lowered her voice. "Lu Ping, listen. These lunatics act for money and profit. I'm Jujutsu High's only healer capable of projecting the Reverse Cursed Technique. To them, I'm a treasure beyond measure. They won't kill me. They'll only take me hostage and demand an exorbitant ransom from Jujutsu High. But you're different. You're still completely unknown in the Jujutsu World. If you fall into their hands, they'll 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 foundations of the Three Great Families, much less could they recognize the rare inherited Ten Shadows Technique on Lu Ping.

To them, Lu Ping was merely an extra they could erase at will.

"Hah? Save your tearful farewell for hell!"

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

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

"Bang!!"

A dull collision of flesh rang out as violent cursed energy instantly pierced Lu Ping's weakened physical defenses, which had been greatly reduced because he had diverted too much cursed energy to keep Shadow Wolf from dispersing.

The crisp crack of breaking bones was clearly audible amid the chaotic screams. The tremendous force nearly knocked him off the ground, sending him stumbling back six steps and almost crashing into Shoko behind him.

"Lu Ping!" Shoko's expression changed. Pure white light instantly flared in her hands as her high-precision Reverse Cursed Technique immediately covered Lu Ping's badly bruised and fractured right arm.

Agonizing pain washed over his entire body like a tidal wave, but Lu Ping gritted his teeth and did not let out even the slightest groan.

Deep within him, the dormant Blood Corpse sensed this intense negative feedback from his body and let out a greedy, excited shriek. It began madly digesting and transforming the energy of that pain.

Looking at Ieiri Shoko standing before him, shielding him even though her fingertips trembled slightly, Lu Ping's cursed energy began to boil completely along with his blood.

In this cold and twisted world, for someone to be willing to gamble her life for him—what a crushing debt of fate that was!

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

His intense desire to survive and surging rage intertwined, transforming into boundless fire that completely ignited the Three Corpses within him.

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