Naobito Zenin narrowed his bloodshot eyes, standing still as his chest rose and fell slightly from his high-speed sprint.
But what truly horrified him now was not the physical exertion. To his astonishment, his Innate Cursed Technique, Projection Sorcery, which should have flowed as naturally as breathing and obeyed him like his own limbs, now felt strangely obstructed, stalled beyond his ability to activate it!
It was as though a handful of iron grit had been forcibly shoved into precision gears. The instinctive sense that some higher-order rule had forcibly cut off his cursed technique tore relentlessly at his nerves as a Grade 1 Sorcerer.
And his battle-hardened instincts told him with absolute clarity that everything that had happened was inextricably linked to the young man standing a few steps ahead, backlit by the headlights.
Facing the dazzling, cold-white headlights, Naobito tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, studying you carefully.
Soon, his sharp gaze caught your clothing: a distinctive dark uniform.
"Jujutsu High's uniform..."
Naobito inwardly tensed.
Then a detail from what he had just witnessed during the pursuit flashed through his mind like lightning.
He was absolutely certain that the shikigami that had caught the exhausted Megumi Fushiguro in midair and brought him safely to the ground had not been summoned by the boy himself!
Because that giant bird had risen to meet him from below, from the shadowy abyss on the ground!
Moreover, the wings of that bird shikigami, which wore a bone mask and was wreathed in lightning, looked exactly like the lightning wings on the back of the winged Black Dog Megumi had displayed earlier. They could even be called a perfect match.
*Could it be... that besides Megumi Fushiguro, there was actually a second person in this world who could use the Ten