Sendai Colony

"By the way, Lu Yun, how did you get all this information?"

Angel was genuinely curious about how Lu Yun had obtained such precise information about the Sendai Colony.

This was only the first day of the Culling Game. Could he be in league with Kenjaku?

As far as Angel could see, the only person who could possess such information was probably Kenjaku, who had organized the Culling Game himself.

If Lu Yun was working with Kenjaku, and Kenjaku had told him everything about the colonies, then it all made sense.

Lu Yun froze for a moment, then immediately understood what Angel meant.

He spread his legs, bent forward slightly, and braced his hands on his thighs, his expression brimming with confidence.

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network! You're wondering if I'm in league with Kenjaku, aren't you?"

Startled that he had seen right through those suspicions, Angel had yet to offer a rebuttal when Lu Yun continued.

"Kenjaku and I aren't on the same side. As for where my information comes from, all I can say is that it's an ability I've had since I appeared in this world. If you can't trust me, I'll just have to go alone."

Lu Yun wasn't lying to Angel. He really had known all this from the moment he arrived-no, even before he came to this world. He had merely withheld part of the truth. He couldn't exactly say he had read it in a manga. Not only would no one believe him, they would probably take him for a lunatic.

He's had it since he appeared in this world? Was he born with it? Could it be the effect of a cursed technique?

Angel racked their brains over the meaning of Lu Yun's words.

Considering how Lu Yun's behavior throughout their journey had differed completely from Kenjaku's willingness to do anything to achieve his goals, he really didn't seem like Kenjaku's accomplice.

Since they had already formed an alliance, Angel chose to trust Lu Yun for now and had Hana Kurusu follow him.

Taking a random car parked by the roadside, Lu Yun and Hana Kurusu set off together for the Sendai Colony.

"Go, go, go! We're off!"

Sendai was anything but peaceful at that moment.

Since the Culling Game had only just begun, the Sendai Colony had yet to settle into its later four-way standoff. After taking some time to adjust, the ancient powerhouses awakening one after another wasted no time going after points.

Inside the colony, several giant rodent shikigami, each over ten meters long, continuously patrolled around a stadium. Their paths formed slashing domains, and any target that crossed those paths would be struck by the domains' slashes.

Overhead, large numbers of Pterodactyl shikigami circled through the sky, occasionally diving at high speed to earn points for their master.

Elsewhere, dense armies of cockroaches crawled out of buildings and sewers, gathering into a black torrent that swept through the colony like a tide. Every living thing in their path was devoured, leaving not even a blade of grass behind.

Atop a building, a tall man with a pompadour stood with his hands in his pockets. Streams of blue light brimming with cursed energy burst from the cannon muzzle on his head, firing toward a seemingly empty patch of sky.

Just as an observer might have thought the Cursed Energy Cannons had missed, the sky abruptly warped, and a pink-haired woman appeared in the previously empty space. With her hands loosely curled as though gripping space itself, she violently hurled the incoming Cursed Energy Cannons in another direction.

The tall man smiled at the sight.

"Hey, hey, that doesn't count as sweet. Come on, give me something to savor."

After driving for several hours and taking a short rest, Lu Yun and Hana Kurusu successfully reached the colony in Sendai.

Looking at the black curtain before him, sealing off space and blotting out the sky, Lu Yun couldn't help marveling.

"Cursed energy really is amazing. It can even do something like this?"

"Lu Yun, is this your first time seeing a barrier technique?"

Angel hadn't expected Lu Yun, who knew so much, to find barrier techniques novel.

"Yeah. Before the Culling Game started, I was just an ordinary person."

"Oh? Really?"

Seeing how skillfully he used cursed energy, Angel had assumed Lu Yun had spent at least several years in the Jujutsu Society. It had never occurred to Angel that he was a rookie just like Hana.

"It's all thanks to the Deer God's teaching."

Lu Yun scratched his head sheepishly.

"That's certainly true."

Hajime Kashimo agreed as well.

"You really don't have a modest bone in your body."

Angel pursed their lips, clearly displeased with Hajime Kashimo's arrogant attitude.

"All right, let's get ready to enter the colony."

Lu Yun reminded her,

"The moment you enter, the barrier will teleport you to a random area. Kurusu, be careful not to provoke any monsters."

Because the barrier's teleportation was random, even if Lu Yun and Hana Kurusu entered at the same time and place, they were very likely to end up in different areas. He therefore couldn't guarantee Hana Kurusu's safety.

"Don't worry. With me here, Hana's life won't be in danger."

Although Angel lacked fighting strength, keeping Hana alive was still within their capabilities.

Without further hesitation, Lu Yun stepped into the Sendai Colony.

The scenery before him changed in an instant, and an intense sensation of weightlessness swept over him. One moment, Lu Yun had been standing firmly on the ground; the next, he was suddenly in midair.

His hair whipped about as gravity sent him plummeting, the wind roaring in his ears, but Lu Yun didn't panic in the slightest.

Tucking his stun baton under one arm, Lu Yun folded his arms across his chest and looked utterly unruffled.

"A real man makes the most thunderous entrance."

Before he could show off his thunderous landing, a group of uninvited guests came looking for Lu Yun.

"What the hell are those?"

A swarm of black dots in the nearby sky was heading toward Lu Yun.

As the distance closed, Lu Yun finally got a clear look at his attackers.

"Are those... Pterodactyls??"

For a moment, Lu Yun almost thought he had traveled to the Jurassic period, but he quickly caught on. These things that resembled Pterodactyls weren't actually prehistoric creatures from the Jurassic. They were shikigami belonging to Dhruv Lakdawalla, one of the Sendai Four Heavenly Kings.

"Bring it on!"

Lu Yun drew his stun baton.

If the Pterodactyl shikigami were here, Dhruv Lakdawalla presumably wasn't far away.

Lu Yun had been agonizing over how to handle Dhruv Lakdawalla's absurdly broken ability. He hadn't expected to encounter it the moment he entered the colony.

As it happened, Lu Yun wanted to test his current strength, and Dhruv Lakdawalla would make a decent test subject.

Covering his entire body in cursed energy, Lu Yun steadied his breathing and focused, ready to fight.

"So fast!"

The first Pterodactyl shikigami to reach him attacked with such speed that Lu Yun nearly lost track of it.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle cut past his ear, and the air stirred up by its high-speed flight stung Lu Yun's cheeks.

Fortunately, the Pterodactyl's aim wasn't great, and its first charge missed.

The Pterodactyl shikigami wheeled around after its failed strike and attacked again.

After that first probing attack, Lu Yun gradually grew accustomed to the shikigami's speed. He held the baton in both hands before his chest, his eyes precisely tracking the Pterodactyl's flight path.

"Right here!"

Predicting the Pterodactyl's position, Lu Yun swung his baton with all his strength.

Splat!

Flesh collided with the cursed tool, and the tremendous force blasted the Pterodactyl into a mist of blood.

"Not so tough after all."

Having easily dispatched the first Pterodactyl, Lu Yun felt rather pleased with himself.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

An endless chorus of whistling filled his ears. Lu Yun looked up again, only to see a dense, dark swarm of Pterodactyls stretching across his field of vision.

"Uh, can we talk this out?"