Whoosh!
At the sudden voice beside his ear, Mo Bai did not hesitate. He wrapped his fist in Cursed Energy and swung hard behind him.
Bang!
From the impact against his fist, he knew his opponent had blocked the punch with an arm. Mo Bai immediately leaped backward.
"Follow the Divine Dogs out!"
Bang!
"Ugh!"
Mo Bai had barely shouted the warning to the students behind him when an attack struck his waist and sent him flying sideways into a wall.
"You still have time to worry about other people in a fight? Haven't you improved at all in this world?"
The flippant female voice rang out again. Only then did Mo Bai get a clear look at her.
She looked like him. Very much like him.
Apart from her long hair, features softer than his, and white clothes that were the exact opposite of his black outfit, she looked just like another Mo Bai.
"So what is this supposed to be? Two different personalities fighting? I thought my mind was pretty normal."
The Divine Dogs are still with those students, so I can't recall them. That leaves me two Shikigami short...
Mo Bai talked nonsense with an air of indifference, but inwardly he was tallying every bit of fighting strength available to him.
"Well, you're more or less right about the first part. Novels and anime love a classic black-versus-white fight these days. But you're wrong about the second part."
The feminine-looking "Mo Bai" pointed to her head as she finished speaking.
"You used to be perfectly normal. But after you took on Cursed Energy and had those heart-to-hearts with Lynae and Rover, things changed. You were affected."
As she spoke, "Mo Bai" extended a hand. Cursed Energy surged over it.
Seeing that, Mo Bai was now certain that all the Cursed Energy he had lost earlier had gone to her.
It was even possible that the half he had lost had condensed directly into the person before him.
But what exactly had happened in between? Why had she appeared only here, inside this Sonoro?
Was this Sonoro the root cause?
"Looks like you're not bad at figuring things out. Then again, if you were a little dumber, I might've turned out even smarter."
As "Mo Bai" spoke, she raised her hands slightly, then lowered them. The maze inside the classroom vanished.
"Hee hee hee!"
"Early to bed, early to rise... keeps you... healthy!"
"I failed... my finals!"
In its place, the space became a broad plaza resembling an arena, packed with Cursed Spirits.
Mo Bai noticed, however, that she did not attack right away.
By this point, he no longer needed her to explain.
She had been born from this Sonoro's properties combined with his Cursed Energy.
Because of the influence of Cursed Energy, Mo Bai's emotions fluctuated more sharply than other people's, and negative thoughts came to him more easily.
The Sonoro known as the Dark Side of the Academy had absorbed those thoughts completely.
Then, when Mo Bai entered this space, it mimicked his energy fluctuations and ultimately formed the woman before him.
In short, she was Mo Hei, Mo Bai's complete opposite.
Whoosh...
Have the Divine Dogs led those students out?
Whoosh!
Mo Bai had only just sensed that the students were safe when Mo Hei arrived in front of him like a bolt of lightning.
So fast!
This time, Mo Bai was the one forced to defend.
And he realized her earlier attacks had been nowhere near her full strength.
Neither her speed nor her power.
Boom!
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Eat! Eat! Eat!"
Mo Hei punched Mo Bai into the horde of Cursed Spirits.
"You know, there's so much negative emotion in this space that I only need to let out a trace of Cursed Energy to get a whole crowd of Cursed Spirits at my command."
Mo Hei lifted her head proudly as she spoke.
Like a child showing off a toy to an adult.
"Great Serpent!"
Boom!
Mo Bai summoned Great Serpent's tail and wiped out the Cursed Spirits around him, then looked toward Mo Hei a short distance away.
Something's very wrong.
With their Cursed Energy split evenly, the gap between him and his other self should not have been this large.
He could create Cursed Spirits too. The real issue was physical strength.
When she got serious, he could not match her in a physical fight...
What about her Cursed Technique?
Since she was his opposite, had the Ten Shadows Technique been engraved into her as well?
Rumble!
To test her, Mo Bai ordered the enormous serpent's tail to strike.
"Hah. Trying to overpower me with brute force?"
Mo Hei merely stepped aside, avoiding the attack.
"Hm?"
But then she felt Mo Bai's Cursed Energy signature vanish from the space.
Not good!
"Nue!"
Hissss!
Wrapped in violet lightning, Nue emerged alongside Mo Bai from the shadow cast by Great Serpent's tail. Together, they attacked Mo Hei.
"Not a chance!"
Whoosh!
After Mo Hei's indignant shout, both Mo Bai and Nue struck empty air.
Just as I thought...
Mo Bai studied the spot where she had stood, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Mo Hei's physical strength was frightening, but a dazzling light had flashed when she moved.
Because this space was so dim, the light produced by her movement had been especially noticeable.
There was no doubt it had come from her.
Had she gained a new Cursed Technique?
Mo Bai shrank Nue to the size of an ordinary owl and set him on his shoulder, watching Mo Hei warily from a distance.
"Tch!"
Realizing Mo Bai had noticed something, Mo Hei rushed at him, looking thoroughly irritated.
"Nue."
"Get lost!"
Mo Hei knocked the lightning-wreathed Nue away with an elbow. In the next instant, she was right in front of Mo Bai.
So it was her Cursed Technique that made her so fast.
Clap!
After watching Mo Hei's attack, Mo Bai remained unhurried and formed a hand sign.
"Piercing Ox."
"Moo!"
A huge black ox emerged from the shadow beneath Mo Bai's feet and charged at Mo Hei.
The impact of the untamed Piercing Ox was far stronger than that of Nue, whose Cursed Energy Mo Bai had deliberately reduced.
"Tch!"
Skrrr—!
The ox shoved Mo Hei back a considerable distance. She was about to use her Cursed Technique to break away when she spotted Mo Bai watching closely from nearby.
Damn it. He's standing there watching just to learn how my technique works.
But...
Screech!
While Mo Hei struggled against Piercing Ox, Nue came at her again from behind.
"Radiant Light!"
Hummm—!
With Mo Hei's shout, a burst of blinding light exploded outward from her, filling the pitch-black space.
Mo Bai, who had been watching the battlefield closely, immediately stopped his attack and recalled Nue.
As for Piercing Ox...
"Moo!"
The untamed Shikigami, beyond Mo Bai's control, disappeared straight into the light.
By now, Mo Bai had more or less worked out what her Cursed Technique did.
The glow that appeared around her when she moved, and the light that had just exploded outward...
It was most likely a technique that enhanced her physical abilities and Cursed Energy output.
"My Cursed Technique is the Ten Shadows Technique. It lets me fight using ten specific Shikigami. I can also merge into shadows and store things inside them."
Having tested her technique, Mo Bai plainly explained his own abilities.
Mo Hei bared her teeth at him.
"Huff."
The next moment, she steadied herself and let out a small breath. She drew back all the Cursed Energy she had given the surrounding Cursed Spirits and said:
"Mine is the same."
Whoom!
As soon as they had both spoken, the Cursed Energy around them surged sharply.
Before you continue