I'm still alive and kicking!

"Huff, huff..."

Kneeling on the ground, Toji Fushiguro panted for breath. The cursed energy pressing down on him was like an insurmountable mountain, leaving him utterly helpless.

If he was right, this had to be the irresistible Cursed Pressure, and the man before him was almost certainly Tsukasa Hatayama, the strongest.

His reputation was clearly well deserved. Toji had been careless this time. He had to find a way out fast, or he would die here.

According to the information Shiu Kong had gathered, hadn't Tsukasa Hatayama gone to the University of Tokyo to take the entrance exam? How had he returned so quickly?

Tsukasa Hatayama silently looked at the unconscious Suguru Geto. When he noticed his best friend's missing right hand, the cursed energy bearing down on Toji Fushiguro grew heavier.

It forced Toji Fushiguro flat on his stomach, slowly driving him into the ground and pressing him face-first into the dirt.

Damp grains of soil filled Toji Fushiguro's mouth. As the Sorcerer Killer, when had he ever suffered such psychological torment and humiliation? He tried to break free and fight back.

But even with everything he had, he remained a puppet on a string, helpless against Tsukasa Hatayama's crushing power. He could not resist his will or his cursed energy at all.

Tsukasa Hatayama stared at his best friend for a while before turning his increasingly icy red eyes toward Toji Fushiguro, who was eating dirt. Then he slowly raised his right hand.

Dense black mist appeared around his five slender fingers. He closed his hand toward Toji Fushiguro's neck, and a suction force born of darkness clamped tightly around his throat.

Under the horrified gazes of the mistress and her servant, Toji Fushiguro's feet gradually left the ground as an invisible force lifted him into the air.

Tsukasa Hatayama held up his right hand, wreathed in black mist. His voice was cold and furious. "You did well. Everything went as I expected. But the one thing you should never have done was tear off Geto's right arm."

"One good turn deserves another. I'll tear off your right arm too."

Toji Fushiguro's face flushed red under the choking force. Suppressed by the Cursed Pressure, he could not even kick his legs. Suffocating, he watched with wide eyes as Tsukasa Hatayama raised his left hand.

The fingers of his left hand closed, and the dark suction force brutally severed Toji Fushiguro's right arm. Blood sprayed through the air in a vivid crimson rainbow.

The sight was cruel yet possessed a haunting, fading beauty. The mistress and her servant collapsed onto the ground. The noble-looking man before them was a sadist who tortured others for fun.

"Tsukasa... come on, at least watch your image a little. Look how badly you've scared Riko and Kuroi. You're seriously inhuman."

A weak, halting voice rang out. Suguru Geto leaned against the stone surface, barely clinging to life. His face was deathly pale, yet he smiled at the best friend avenging him.

Tsukasa Hatayama shot him an irritated look. "You still have the nerve to smile? Two against one, and you ended up like this. You and Satoru should give up being human."

"Tsukasa, you're right. I've decided to stop being human!"

A familiar, frenzied voice came from behind them, accompanied by peals of wild laughter.

Hanging in midair, Toji Fushiguro was in too much pain to make a sound. Hearing that voice, his eyes widened, and he looked toward Satoru Gojo's corpse as though he had heard a ghost.

Satoru Gojo, whom he had slashed into a gruesome mess, actually floated up while lying on his back. He had returned from the dead as though blessed by a god.

Was this some kind of haunting? His belly had been cut open, and his head had been stabbed. How could Satoru Gojo still be alive?

Satoru Gojo spread his arms, his face covered in blood, and laughed maniacally at Toji Fushiguro, whose entire worldview was crumbling. "See that? I'm still alive and kicking!"

"Hahahaha... the moment you stabbed me in the chest, I gave up fighting back and focused everything on Reverse Cursed Technique. I'd never been able to figure it out before, but that stab of yours made it all click!"

"On the brink of death, I mastered it because of you! You helped me grasp the core of cursed energy, and the reason you lost was that you didn't cut off my head!"

"Hahahaha..."

Tsukasa Hatayama shook his head at the deranged laughter and tossed the bewildered Toji Fushiguro down not far from Satoru Gojo.

He would leave the two of them to settle their fated reckoning themselves.

While the two chatted across the boundary between life and death, Tsukasa Hatayama walked over to Suguru Geto. Under his smiling gaze, he used Reverse Cursed Technique to restore his arm.

Before long, Suguru Geto was back on his feet, full of life. With his hands on his hips, he energetically swung his hips around to warm up.

Once he finished warming up, he gallantly helped Riko Amanai and Kuroi to their feet. They still had not processed what had happened.

When he noticed the dark matter on them and the two bullets on the ground, he could not help recalling the three Small Black Orbs secretly planted earlier.

Suguru Geto gave Tsukasa Hatayama a grateful look. Without the Small Black Orbs, the mistress and her servant might have lost their lives after he passed out.

Tsukasa Hatayama said meaningfully, "Leave the rest to Satoru. Let's enter the Tombs of the Star Corridor and finish the assignment our teacher gave us."

"Tsukasa..."

Suguru Geto opened his mouth, wanting to say something to his best friend, but hesitated. In the end, he sighed and led the mistress and her servant into the entrance to the Tombs of the Star Corridor.

Aside from Tsukasa Hatayama, who walked ahead, the other three followed in silence, their thoughts in turmoil.

A few minutes later, the four reached a Circular Gate. Tsukasa Hatayama pushed it open, revealing a tangle of intertwined trees.

With cursed energy comparable to the Nine-Tails', Tsukasa Hatayama located Tengen like a radar and led the three distracted people behind him toward the target.

After passing countless tangled trees, the four saw a building. It was the Cursed Object Warehouse, where cursed objects and cursed tools were stored.

They continued without stopping. A hundred paces later, they saw an elevator leading to the underground palace.

The four took it down. The incessant rattling of the pulleys made Suguru Geto's feelings-and those of the Star Plasma Vessel and her servant-all the more complicated.

"Ding~"

The elevator doors slowly opened. Tsukasa Hatayama stepped out first, followed by Suguru Geto, then the tearful mistress and her servant, holding hands.

Still without exchanging a word, the four walked silently through a dim corridor resembling the Sunlit Path.

The rows of dull yellow lights above stretched their shadows out long.

What should have been a one-minute walk was dragged out to ten by the Star Plasma Vessel and her servant behind them.

Looking at the countless residences below the stairs, Suguru Geto's conflicted feelings grew heavy. Behind him, the mistress and her servant clung to each other and sobbed, unwilling to let go.

They knew this embrace meant parting forever.

Suguru Geto glanced warily at his best friend, then gritted his teeth. "Tsukasa, Satoru and I don't want Riko Amanai to undergo Assimilation. She's still so young. I'm begging you, could you pretend you didn't see anything and let her go?"

At those words, the mistress and her servant stopped sobbing.

Riko Amanai was utterly stunned. She had never imagined Suguru Geto would defy Tengen's will and choose to save her.

That unexpected delight also kindled hope in Kuroi. With expectant, tear-filled eyes, she looked toward the noble-looking young man ahead.

Tsukasa Hatayama remained silent and turned to look at Suguru Geto, whose face was gradually reddening. After a long while, he suddenly smiled. "Does this count as a personal favor?"

Suguru Geto froze, then caught on and nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's a personal favor. Please do this for your friend."

Though it was something of a betrayal, standing by and doing nothing would surely violate his belief in protecting the weak. That was not what he wanted!

Besides, Tengen had lived for so long that perhaps she had already had enough. If she evolved into a monster, she could only blame herself for assigning him and Satoru to protect the Star Plasma Vessel.

"I can grant your request, but remember to buy me a drink once we're out." Tsukasa Hatayama made the demand half-jokingly, as though refusing was not an option.

"Sure, sure, sure."

Suguru Geto smiled and nodded repeatedly. "Once we're out, I'll buy you a drink every day. Surely that will be enough for you to turn a blind eye?"

"Sure."

"If it's what my best friend wants, how could I refuse?"

As Tsukasa Hatayama spoke, he raised his hand toward Riko Amanai, whose smile was beginning to return, and pulled. A model-like black silhouette resembling her was drawn out of her body.