"What's happening?"
His heart tightened as he hurriedly looked down.
The monstrous fish gathered on the beach seemed to be impaled by invisible spikes, blood gushing from their bodies in torrents.
From a distance, it looked as though a giant sea urchin had appeared at the center of the swarm, skewering everything that came near like a pincushion!
With a thunderous crash, the swarm of fish was sent flying.
Roy stood with his hands forming a seal, fingers interlocked, his index fingers raised and pressed together like sharpened spikes.
The shikigami fish surged forward again, teleporting right in front of him, their gaping maws filled with jagged fangs opening wide as they lunged mercilessly for his head.
But the moment their teeth touched Roy's skin, unseen spikes abruptly pierced through their mouths—even skewering their heads!
"What is that?"
Dagon's expression darkened instantly.
This unknown technique had caught him off guard once again.
Having only recently completed his metamorphosis, and with Kenjaku deliberately keeping many things from them, Dagon and the other cursed spirits like Jogo had an exceptionally shallow understanding of the jujutsu world.
Their knowledge was limited to the strength of techniques, the power of sorcerers, and the absolute taboo of reverse cursed techniques.
As for the deeper traditions of the jujutsu world—especially the "Three Secret Arts"—they knew nothing at all!
"Falling Blossom Emotion—the most difficult of the Three Secret Arts."
Roy maintained his hand seal, his glassy crimson eyes narrowing slightly.
Among the Three Secret Arts used against domains, the Simple Domain and the Hollow Wicker Basket operate on similar principles, both constructing a rudimentary domain around the user through barrier techniques to negate the guaranteed-hit effect of a domain.
Falling Blossom Emotion, however, coats the body with cursed energy, triggering a reflexive counterattack the moment an enemy's strike makes contact with it.
In comparison, the Simple Domain and Hollow Wicker Basket are relatively easy to learn. Even without prior experience, one could grasp the basics within a year or two. Falling Blossom Emotion, on the other hand, is entirely different—without mastery, the user risks injuring themselves. Nobara didn't dare practice this technique without Roy's supervision, a testament to its difficulty.
But with great difficulty comes unparalleled effectiveness. While the Simple Domain and Hollow Wicker Basket merely allow one to barely withstand attacks within a domain, Falling Blossom Emotion enables counterattacks—its superiority is self-evident.
Roy had previously taught this technique to Nobara, even devising a specialized training regimen for her, which proved instrumental during the Goodwill Event.
If he could teach it to Nobara, it naturally meant he had long since mastered it himself!
Thanks to the three unique properties of his energy—magic, stellar force, and cursed energy—the energy within his body was exceptionally easy to control. This made learning techniques that utilized these energy traits twice as effective.
"Just how many cards does this guy still have up his sleeve...? No matter what tricks you've got left, all I need is to buy enough time!"
Dagon's thoughts raced.
He had to admit that Roy's methods were far more varied than he had imagined—it was as if no matter what predicament he found himself in, Roy could always pull out a solution.
But hardening his resolve, Dagon once again commanded his shikigami to charge forward.
He didn't need to defeat Roy—he just needed to stall long enough for Jogo and the others!
Shikigami surged forward one after another, only to be pierced through by Falling Blossom Emotion.
Roy kicked aside the corpse of a shikigami in front of him, then pushed off the ground, darting through the waves with lightning speed as he charged straight toward Dagon.
"Damn it!"
Dagon cursed under his breath, rapidly flapping his wings to ascend higher into the sky.
At the same time, he continued summoning shikigami without pause. One after another, they materialized like a suicide squad, fearlessly rushing at Roy.
Roy maintained his hand seal stance as shikigami charged at him, only to be impaled one by one. Yet, the larger shikigami acted like massive bricks, obstructing his path.
"In terms of raw power, Jogo's Coffin of the Iron Mountain is stronger. But when it comes to sheer annoyance, this guy's Surging Sea is way worse!" Roy thought to himself.
Coffin of the Iron Mountain was just flames—if he protected his body and pushed through, he could cut Jogo down easily.
But Surging Sea was filled with shikigami. Even when they fell, their bodies blocked the way like stubborn bricks. Though they only delayed him for a short while, the sheer number of them swarming at once was genuinely irritating.
It was like playing a game where collision-heavy rocks kept getting in the way—forcing him to maneuver around the corpses just to reach the summoner.
The worst part was that the shikigami would always teleport right into his face, making it impossible to bypass them. It was beyond frustrating.
Moreover, every time he countered with Falling Blossom Emotion, it drained his cursed energy.
Dagon wasn't particularly strong or skilled, but when it came to stalling for time, he was a master.
"But you should be running out of shikigami by now!"
Roy pushed off the ground again, increasing his speed as he kicked aside or weaved past the shikigami corpses, closing the distance in an instant before leaping toward Dagon.
"Not good!"
Dagon's face paled.
The beach below was littered with shikigami corpses—at a glance, there were no fewer than fifty!
In theory, with this many shikigami and their guaranteed-hit effect, even three or four Grade 1 sorcerers could be overwhelmed and crushed.
Yet against a freak like Roy, they had barely bought him a minute.
Summoning so many shikigami in such a short time had taken a heavy toll on him, and his cursed energy reserves were dwindling fast, struggling to keep up with the expenditure.
"Then how about this?!"
Dagon hurled the last of his remaining shikigami at Roy in one final barrage.
With the guaranteed-hit effect, they instantly teleported around Roy, biting at every part of his body—
Only to be impaled once more by Falling Blossom Emotion.
Roy kicked off the corpse of a shikigami, using the momentum to leap upward. Repeating the maneuver three times in succession, he bypassed the shikigami remains and soared high into the air, coming face-to-face with Dagon.
"Gigi-gigi!"
Dagon's entire body tensed as he flew backward, summoning the most powerful shikigami he could conjure.
Two giant giant isopods materialized before Dagon, their obsidian carapaces forming a shield-like barrier between him and Roy. The armor looked impenetrably tough.
"Ha!"
Roy scoffed and lashed out with a kick.
BOOM!
The isopod's head exploded like an overripe watermelon, obliterated by a single flying strike.
"Impossible!"
Dagon gasped in shock, his voice trembling with instinctive disbelief.
These two isopods were his strongest shikigami—their defenses and offensive power far surpassed any others. How could they be destroyed in one kick?!
Roy pivoted midair, spinning into another devastating kick that shattered the second isopod just as easily as the first.
"Time's up. You're next!"
Roy stomped against the air, the resulting shockwave propelling him straight toward Dagon.
"GAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!"
In that split second, Dagon had no options left.
He couldn't summon more shikigami in time—even if he could, one or two more wouldn't stop Roy.
With a roar of despair, he channeled all his cursed energy into his body and charged at Roy in a last, desperate struggle.
...
The black sphere faded like a withered leaf, its color draining away before shattering with a crisp crack, dissolving into countless fragments of cursed energy that scattered into the wind.
Jogo watched coldly, his single eye unreadable.
The moment Dagon had dragged Roy into his domain, he'd already foreseen this outcome.
Dagon wouldn't survive.
Against a monster like Roy, his death was inevitable.
Jogo accepted this fact with icy clarity and swiftly formulated his next move.
He couldn't let Dagon's sacrifice be in vain—he had to exploit the opening Dagon had bought with his life and inflict as much damage as possible on Roy!
Then—
A headless corpse of an octopus curse appeared before him.
Its skull had been obliterated as if crushed by a brutal kick, blood gushing from the ruined stump.
The decapitated body swayed before collapsing with a heavy thud, dissolving into black smoke.
Jogo finally shut his eye, unable to suppress the agony any longer.
Grief and fury surged through him like a tsunami, consuming every cell in his body, each one screaming for vengeance.
"...In the end, am I the only one left?"
His voice trembled with anguish.
"That's right. You're the last curse standing."
Roy flicked his wrist, closing the void pocket.
He turned to Jogo, whose entire being radiated sorrow and rage, and grinned—without a shred of sympathy.
A wild, merciless grin.
"Families should stay together. Why don't you join them?"
The four of them—
A family of curses.
From Mahito, to Hanami, to Dagon—all had fallen to this human's hands.
Without exception, every single time, it was this human standing in their way!
"...Let me die, fine."
Jogo opened his eyes.
His gaze was utterly indifferent, a frigid killing intent spreading within them before overflowing throughout his entire being.
He seemed to have become the very embodiment of slaughter, immense cursed energy boiling from his body. Even if a god stood before him now, his current rage would reduce that deity to ashes.
"I never thought I'd survive till the end anyway. As long as we achieve our ideal—letting cursed spirits replace humanity—my death wouldn't matter. After all, a hundred years from now, whoever stands upon the wilderness doesn't necessarily have to be me."
"—But Roy, before that happens, I'll do everything in my power to kill you! Even if I die, I'll drag you down to hell with me!"
At that moment.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
The enormous slug-like monster strode forward step by step, causing the earth to tremble violently as it arrived at the scene, letting out a silent roar.
"Yo, looks like you're having quite the fight down there! Got any tasty snacks to share?"
On the rooftop of a nearby high-rise, a burly man with a pompadour hairstyle stood with his biker jacket draped over his shoulders, his chest bare, grinning broadly with exhilaration as he looked down at the human and cursed spirit below.
"Whoosh!"
At the same time, a crimson arrow of blood shot forth with astonishing speed, its razor-sharp tip aimed straight at Roy like a blade!
"Seems like everyone's gathered now."
Roy casually flicked his hand, swatting away the blood arrow as if it were nothing more than a mosquito.
A wide grin spread across his face, brimming with predatory malice.
"So, have you all decided who'll be the third to die?"