"Damn it!"
Utahime Iori kicked away a curse that lunged at her.
Her sole struck the side of the cursed spirit's head with precision; it looked like a stretched-out centipede.
Its entire body spun twice through the air, then slammed into the wall of a nearby low-rise building.
She landed back on the ground and brushed the dust off her trouser legs, the stray hair over her forehead stirring slightly in the heat of battle.
"That bastard Suguru Geto!"
She gritted her teeth.
"What the hell is he doing?!"
After cursing, she quickly scanned her surroundings.
Several students stood around her, each in a combat stance.
"Miwa! Nishimiya! Mai! Kokichi Muta!"
All four figures turned their heads the moment they heard her voice.
Utahime Iori swept her gaze over the four of them.
Confirming that they were all still unharmed for now, she relaxed a little.
But her tone remained tense.
"Be careful, all of you!"
She paused, her gaze lingering on each of them for a moment.
"Don't rush in!"
"Focus on defense and keeping them occupied!"
"Wait until the other teachers and I deal with the bigger curses, then..."
Halfway through, she suddenly realized two faces were missing, and her voice cut off abruptly.
"Wait."
She turned her head and scanned the area.
"Where are Aoi Todo and Noritoshi Kamo?"
Kokichi Muta tilted his head and pointed in another direction with the tip of his blade.
"Teacher, those two already started fighting ages ago."
He gestured toward the distance with his chin.
Looking in that direction, she could see an area at the end of the block shaking violently, with fragments of shattered walls occasionally flung into the air.
It was a sign that a battle of some scale was taking place, and no small one at that.