"I never thought you could pull off something like this, Megumi!"
Knowing she could not stop him from summoning a shikigami while recovering from a successful attack, Megumi Zenin had chosen to take Jianxia's attack head-on to create an opening.
Jianxia had not held back with the punch that struck Megumi Zenin, and while summoning her shikigami, she had no time to defend herself with cursed energy.
In other words, Megumi Zenin had summoned Nue at the risk of being knocked out of the fight by a single punch.
Nue caught Megumi Zenin after she was sent flying into the air, then slowly carried her back to the ground.
She wiped the dust from the corner of her mouth and flashed the same confident smile Jianxia had worn earlier.
"After all, against you, I'd lose horribly if I wasn't prepared to put everything on the line."
In truth, Megumi Zenin had never expected to beat Jianxia in their sparring match.
To her, this was another form of instruction from Jianxia after he had refused to teach her Reverse Cursed Technique.
Her goal had always been to last a little longer against Jianxia, rather than suffer an embarrassing defeat.
Even when Jianxia mercilessly beat her in close combat, Megumi Zenin believed he was still holding back.
"My father's watching. Let me look cool a little longer!"
At Megumi Zenin's command, Nue swooped down at Jianxia, wings wreathed in purple lightning.
But for Jianxia, whose body was reinforced with cursed energy, that speed was hardly beyond his ability to react.
With just a slight twist, he let Nue streak past one side of his head in a flash of purple light, leaving only a few strands of his hair singed.
"After fighting me for this long, you still haven't figured it out? You can't hurt me at that speed, Megumi!"
Yet Megumi showed no irritation at Jianxia's trash talk, as though everything were still under her control.
No, she knew perfectly well that this speed could not hit him, yet she had ordered Nue to attack anyway.
In a fight between jujutsu sorcerers, even a moment's distraction could completely change the course of battle.
During the Shinjuku Showdown, their GOAT had become Gojo in two halves precisely because he had gotten careless and failed to dodge Sukuna's World-Cutting Slash.
As a jujutsu sorcerer from the Heian era, Megumi Zenin would never waste cursed energy on a pointless move.
Which meant...
Jianxia whipped his head around, looking at the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit holding Divine Dog: Totality firmly behind him-and at Nue drawing ever closer.
Nue's target had been to rescue Divine Dog: Totality from the very beginning!
Jianxia was already too late to stop Nue's attack. As purple lightning crashed into the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, the paralyzed spirit involuntarily loosened his four-handed grip.
Divine Dog: Totality seized the opening and broke free from the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit's embrace, leaving three deep claw marks in the spirit's side for good measure.
The tide turned in a single second.
At the edge of the courtyard, Shenji raised an eyebrow, apparently not expecting his daughter to manage this much either.
"Jianxia, it's three against two now."
Divine Dog: Totality and Nue guarded Megumi Zenin on either side, while Jianxia had already retreated to the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit's side.
Things really had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
Megumi Zenin seemed to have no intention of summoning any more shikigami. "If I can make you summon another cursed spirit, I'll have achieved my goal."
Yes, Megumi Zenin had taken Jianxia's punch head-on to summon Nue precisely so she could gain an advantage in numbers.
That way, if Jianxia wanted to erase that disadvantage, he would have to summon another cursed spirit.
To Megumi Zenin, forcing Jianxia to use power he had not originally intended to use was already a victory for someone weak challenging someone strong.
Even if she was a rabbit, she would make the tiger take her seriously!
"So that was your plan. You paid quite a price for it."
The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit stood behind Jianxia, his wounds healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Megumi Zenin did not attack immediately either, apparently waiting for Jianxia to summon a cursed spirit.
At this point, I can't exactly admit I only have one cursed spirit...
With that thought, Jianxia spoke.
"Megumi, I told you at the start of the fight, didn't I?"
The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit roared and charged at Megumi. Jianxia hid behind him, only darting out once they drew close to Megumi Zenin.
"You're the challenger!"
"Fes... festival...!"
Jianxia's cursed-energy-coated fist shot forward. In perfect sync, the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit reinforced both fists with cursed energy as well, and human and curse attacked Megumi Zenin in the middle at the same time.
"Divine Dog: Totality! Nue!"
At Megumi Zenin's command, both shikigami moved-but this time, they switched opponents. Jianxia faced Divine Dog: Totality, while Nue fought the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
Sharp wolf claws slashed toward Jianxia's chest like blades. The aftershock of that attack had nearly sent him off to start a new life earlier, never mind taking it directly.
Blocking was out of the question. Jianxia did not think his cursed-energy-reinforced body was tougher than Hanami's.
Just as the claws came within five centimeters of him, Jianxia dropped straight backward and landed flat on the courtyard ground.
His punch did not stop, either. Instead, its tremendous force dragged him sliding across the ground.
With a sliding tackle, Jianxia evaded the attack and slipped beneath Divine Dog: Totality.
"You're just a big dog! No matter how tough you are, you're still afraid of a blade!"
Jianxia opened his cursed-energy-filled right fist into a knife hand, then drove it straight into Divine Dog: Totality's soft belly.
Rrrip!
With the sound of flesh tearing, Divine Dog: Totality collapsed to the ground. Blood pouring from his abdomen made it clear he could no longer fight.
Jianxia stood and brushed off the dust without so much as a backward glance, then swept the hair off his forehead and rushed toward Megumi Zenin.
Once a Ten Shadows animal was gone, they were gone for good. He had held back.
Sure enough, seeing that Divine Dog: Totality could no longer fight, Megumi Zenin promptly returned him to her shadow.
"Well? Now we're back to two against two."
Jianxia glanced at the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit playing hawk-and-chicks with Nue in the distance, then turned his gaze back to Megumi Zenin.
For once, Megumi Zenin did not answer him. Instead, she recalled Nue, and the shikigami landed steadily in front of her.
As she placed her right hand on Nue, the strange bird grew even larger, and the purple lightning surrounding him shone ever more brightly.
Jianxia saw what she was doing. She was pouring cursed energy into her shikigami, intending to settle the fight with one full-powered strike.
Her intent was so obvious that if Jianxia stepped forward and interrupted her now, everything she had done would be wasted, and he would win in the end.
But Jianxia did not do that.
The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit seemed to read Jianxia's mind and returned to his side at that moment.
Although Jianxia's control over cursed energy was absurdly good, he only had so much of it within his body. Some things were simply beyond him.
Like a beam clash.
But cursed spirits were made of pure negative energy-in other words, cursed energy.
By drawing on the cursed energy within the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, Jianxia could unleash a high-powered blast of cursed energy too.
At that moment, Jianxia and the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit answered Megumi Zenin's blazing resolve together.
"Just this once."
On one side was raging purple lightning; on the other, pure azure cursed energy.
Ten seconds later, the two torrents of energy collided violently.
Light engulfed the entire Zenin Estate.
Before you continue