The moment I stepped into the Barrier, I felt an overwhelming sense of oppression.
Inside the Barrier stood an abandoned building. The Divine Dogs circled it, pacing anxiously back and forth, yet refusing to go any closer.
There was a cursed spirit... inside that abandoned building.
Its presence was incredibly powerful, nothing like the small fry I had seen on the streets.
This Barrier had probably been set up specifically by people from "Jujutsu Headquarters," which my father-by-default had once mentioned.
In other words, someone had been assigned to handle this cursed spirit.
Then... this has nothing to do with me, right?
Bang- A tremendous crash suddenly came from the building's second floor. As though a gale had struck a tower of building blocks, a huge section of wall came tumbling down.
I was just about to recall the Divine Dogs when the dust filling the air blasted me in the face.
Then an ugly mass of flesh appeared.
It was covered in densely packed eyes, writhing grotesquely and making meaningless sounds.
-Well, now I can't leave.
"Don't want... don't want... overtime..."
"Unpaid... wages... overtime..."
"Don't want overtime..."
I fell silent.
I admitted it: for a brief moment, I felt a connection.
Kyoto really was a wicked place. The resentment of working people could actually coalesce into something this powerful.
But after that brief flash of sympathy, I quickly put my guard back up.
After all, if I didn't deal with it soon, I was done for!
This cursed spirit... or whatever it was, was growing stronger and stronger! If I didn't handle it soon, something terrifying might hatch.
"Divine Dogs, tear it apart!"
What was wrong with whoever set up this Barrier?! How could they be so inefficient? Had all this time passed without anyone coming to deal with this thing?!
They were actually making a little kid like me do it!
The battle immediately turned into a fierce deadlock.
As dead weight with absolutely no hand-to-hand combat skills, I had the good sense to run to the edge of the Barrier, far from the fighting, and cheer my two dogs on.
...With cursed energy.
My father-by-default had once told me that I was probably the strongest Ten Shadows Technique user in the Zenin Clan's history, because mine were the only Divine Dogs born at grade one.
I had vast reserves of cursed energy. The Divine Dogs could wander around the house as much as they liked, and I wouldn't feel tired even after ten days or half a month.
So all I had to do was keep myself safe and supply them with cursed energy from the rear.
-Quite convenient.
As long as I was safe, I would win.
The building had been reduced to a heap of rubble. Dust filled the black Barrier, and I inevitably breathed in quite a bit of it.
For now, my Divine Dogs seemed to have the upper hand, and I was relatively safe, but I couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't that simple.
The oppressive cursed energy coming from the center of the battlefield grew heavier and heavier, and a vague sense of foreboding stirred in my heart.
A little later, an immensely powerful surge of energy suddenly erupted, like a summer downpour sweeping in with a roar. The Divine Dogs were caught in its force and slammed hard into the ground, suffering wounds deep enough to expose bone.
A cursed spirit had been born.
"Awooo-"
The Divine Dogs whimpered softly in pain.
"Divine Dogs!"
The damage to the Divine Dogs had suddenly become much worse.
How did this happen?
How did this happen how did this happen how did this happen how did this happen...
My emotions told me to recall the Divine Dogs before they suffered any worse damage, but my reason knew all too well: if I recalled them, their utterly defenseless master would become prey for the cursed spirit... helpless at its mercy.
No! No... I have to stay calm... I have to stay calm!
I have to think carefully. What else can I do?
Shadows... shadows... shadows...
Anything, please.
Suddenly, a mysterious feeling came over me.
Fighting back the tickle in my throat, I raised my hand and shouted, "Nue!"
-A gigantic bird flew out of the shadows.