South...?

"Hi~"

"Waaah!"

Jianxia's eyes snapped open, and he discovered he had fallen asleep in a chair in the airport departure lounge.

The one greeting him was a... strange creature whose entire head was a phone.

"This is ridiculous! Just my rotten luck!"

Jianxia grumbled indignantly.

"How rude. Who starts swearing the moment they meet someone?"

The phone-head plopped down in the chair beside Jianxia, speaking as casually as if they were old friends.

"How was the Heian era?"

Jianxia looked at the phone-head, recognizing it as the system's avatar. "Seriously tough!"

"Even with 'Style' and 'Rogue Face,' I could barely survive."

Jianxia sighed deeply. The system's avatar looked a little surprised by his reaction.

"I never thought I'd hear you say something like that."

At that, even Jianxia, who could watch a mysterious video of Sukuna and Satoru Gojo kissing without batting an eye, completely lost it.

He punched the system's avatar straight in the screen. "Never thought, my ass!"

"Didn't you say she was someone I could lean on?! What kind of powerful ally tries to drag you into a suicide attack the second you arrive?!"

The system's avatar rubbed its screen as it climbed off the floor, looking somewhat aggrieved.

"But Host, I only gave you an objective account of her background. The system didn't know she would summon Mahoraga..."

As it spoke, the system's avatar somehow struck a delicate, helpless pose on the floor despite having a phone for a head, apparently trying to show how harmless it was.

That only made Jianxia clench his fist harder.

"Black Flash!!"

Black lightning erupted around his fist, and Jianxia's Black Flash punched the system's avatar into the wall, leaving it embedded there with its arms and legs spread wide.

"That's what I'm saying! Your service standards aren't remotely up to scratch!"

Rubbing his fist, Jianxia headed toward the departure lounge's exit.

Megumi Zenin was a little nervous.

As a jujutsu sorcerer who had inherited the Ten Shadows Technique, she was considered the best candidate to become the Zenin Clan's next head, despite being a girl.

For a small clan like the Zenin Clan, whose lineage did not stretch back very far, strength was the surest way to gain a voice in Jujutsu Society. As such, aside from time spent resting, Megumi Zenin devoted almost all her time to training and exorcising cursed spirits.

Becoming a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer at such a young age and being able to exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit alone was already an achievement far beyond the reach of most other sixteen-year-olds.

But the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit she encountered today was exceptionally powerful and had nearly defeated her instead... as though everything had been destined to happen.

Just as she was about to summon the legendary strongest shikigami, which no one had ever tamed, and take this Grade 2 Cursed Spirit down with her, something unexpected happened.

"Lady Zenin!!! Don't do it!!"

A man of unknown origins barged onto the battlefield. His shouting not only caught her attention but also distracted the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.

As a jujutsu sorcerer, Megumi seized that opportunity. She stopped summoning Mahoraga and instead formed a hand sign shaped like a little dog.

"Divine Dog: Totality!"

An enormous black-and-white wolf emerged from Megumi Zenin's shadow. Its claws slashed across the four-armed, fishlike cursed spirit, tearing the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit to pieces before it could defend itself.

But the prolonged battle had dulled Megumi Zenin's precision, and she failed to rein in Divine Dog: Totality's attack in time. Those blade-sharp claws struck Jianxia as well.

Jianxia fell out of the air and hit the ground. His eyes rolled back, and he passed out with a gruesome wound across his chest.

"Hey, are you okay?!"

After dismissing Divine Dog: Totality, Megumi Zenin immediately rushed over to check Jianxia's injuries. Blood kept spurting from the wound like a fountain.

At this rate, Jianxia would bleed dry in less than two minutes.

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do..."

At this critical moment, Miss Megumi Zenin chose to pile more pressure on herself.

It was worth noting that the Zenin Clan of the Heian era was not yet as hidebound and bizarre as it would become a thousand years later. In other words, most members of the current Zenin Clan were normal people.

But having grown up burdened with so many expectations and responsibilities, Megumi Zenin had naturally become a pressure cooker.

This was Megumi Zenin, who would choose to summon Mahoraga against a mere Grade 2 Cursed Spirit!

Just as Megumi Zenin stood at a loss, her hands unconsciously taking up positions one in front of the other, Jianxia's body actually moved.

More precisely, for some reason, Jianxia's hand suddenly opened and began emitting bursts of light.

The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, which should have turned to ash, squirmed into his hand like a lump of gluten until it vanished completely.

Under Megumi Zenin's astonished gaze, the wounds on Jianxia's body, deep enough to expose bone, began rapidly healing.

"Is that Reverse Cursed Technique? And at an extremely high level, too..."

As a top student, Megumi Zenin naturally knew about the advanced skill known as Reverse Cursed Technique. Supposedly, several elders in her clan could use it as well.

Was this man I knocked flat with a single attack actually a sorcerer of that caliber?!

Before Megumi Zenin could think any further, however, Jianxia suddenly sat upright. By then, the wounds on his chest had completely vanished, and streaks of black lightning were rising from his hand.

Megumi Zenin was overjoyed. "You're okay! Thank good-"

"Black Flash!"

Before she could finish saying "thank goodness," Jianxia's powerful punch was already upon her.

Megumi Zenin was caught completely off guard, but she still managed to protect her body with cursed energy before the Black Flash struck.

The tremendous impact sent Megumi Zenin flying. Yet rather than feeling angry about being hit by Black Flash, she felt a trace of... excitement?

He can even unleash Black Flash at will. This man... he's so strong!!

As everyone knew, when the time lag between a physical strike and the impact of cursed energy was kept within 0.000001 seconds, it produced "Black Flash," accompanied by a distortion in space.

No jujutsu sorcerer could deliberately unleash Black Flash. Not even the legendary King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, could do it.

Yet the very first thing this stranger did upon waking was retaliate with Black Flash.

That was proof of extraordinarily keen combat instincts and precise cursed energy control!

I must have run into a senior jujutsu sorcerer passing through. He must have taken Divine Dog: Totality's attack earlier to test my strength.

Yes, that must be it!

The newly awakened Jianxia had no idea that Megumi Zenin, whom he had sent flying with one punch, had already talked herself into that explanation.

He was immersed in the state of post-release clarity brought on by Black Flash. Jianxia felt as though the whole world had become clear-even the goddamn system seemed adorable now.

"Host has successfully subdued his first cursed spirit."

"Additional mission objective: Romance the subdued cursed spirit."

His phone vibrated. Jianxia took it out for a glance, then laughed loudly and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"System, right now, all I can think is how wonderful this world is."

It was because of Black Flash. Definitely because of Black Flash, and not because this mission was practically a reward for him.

With that, he pointed one hand toward the heavens and the other toward the earth.

With the mood already set, how could he pass up one of the modern era's most swaggering quotes?

"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone..."

But before he could finish, Megumi Zenin twisted around in midair and landed lightly, then slid across the ground on her knees, stopping right in front of Jianxia.

"Senior!!!!!"