Inside the second curtain.
Outside the Smallpox Deity's domain.
Boom!
Ganesha straightened its massive body. It was now as tall as a multi-story building. It slammed its palms together, and the sound exploded through the air. It stood there like an unmoving Buddha.
A deity Kenjaku had brought from Asia. A special grade cursed spirit. The elephant-headed Ganesha.
Its ability was to eliminate "all obstacles."
"Hm? When did the technique activate?"
Mei Mei sensed something was wrong. She had only been holding her axe and observing, yet both of her feet suddenly left the ground and her body floated into the air.
The gravity around her had disappeared.
Whoosh!
The opponent had never been recorded. Its technique was unknown. That was the most troublesome part.
She poured cursed energy into her axe and hurled it toward Ganesha from midair.
"Huh?!"
Throwing away her weapon so directly was completely unexpected for it. The thick cursed energy wrapped around the axe made Ganesha unwilling to take it head-on, so it dodged awkwardly.
At the same time, when its palms separated, Mei Mei dropped back to the ground.
'The technique doesn't require direct contact. But there's a condition. A hand sign. Or extreme concentration…'
After just one exchange, she already had a guess. Still, if she did not understand the true effect of the curse's technique, she would not use her trump card recklessly.
No matter what, this was a self-aware special grade cursed spirit. It was nothing like the small fry from before.
"Caw!"
The axe she had thrown as a projectile was brought back by a crow and placed into her hand.
Boom!
Just then, Ganesha activated its technique a second time. When its palms came together, Mei Mei bent her knees, trying to resist that strange sensation from earlier.
But this time it was different.
She suddenly stepped into empty space. A terrifying sense of weight dragged her downward. When she looked below, there was a pit over two meters wide and bottomless.
She fell straight down.
"The air resistance around you will disappear. Keep falling into hell."
After separating its hands, Ganesha brought them together again. The target of the technique had changed. It wanted to throw her into an endless abyss.
"Mei Mei!"
Not far away, Gakuganji, who had been firing sound blades to hold back Juzo, grew anxious at the sight.
Todo and Noritoshi were still trapped inside another special grade's domain. Their lives were uncertain. Among the sorcerers present, only he and Mei Mei could still fight. If she fell, Kyoto's side would collapse completely.
The worst outcome would be the near annihilation of Kyoto Jujutsu High's teachers and students, and the Prison Realm that sealed Mukuro being taken away and hidden.
And if the two special grades had been deliberately separated, then there must also be a method prepared to deal with Satoru.
If the loss of both special grade forces caused the upper-tier sorcerers to be caught off guard and suffer heavy losses, then true hell for human society would begin.
"Hey, old man! Your opponent is right here! Looking away in a fight is a bad habit!"
Seeing him distracted, Juzo swung both axes faster, breaking through the wind blades and closing in.
"Damn it…"
Gakuganji was now trapped in a dilemma.
If he dared to turn away to save Mei Mei, the curse user in front of him would break through and take his head in seconds. But if he did not go, once that giant elephant freed its hands, the two of them would pressure him together.
And for the two students trapped inside the domain, the situation would only get worse.
'What am I hesitating for? Is this even something to think about?!'
Gakuganji made his choice.
He struck several piercing high notes that forced Juzo back, then twisted his body and ran, aiming his guitar at Ganesha who was still activating its technique.
He's already an old man. If he dies, so be it.
The future will always belong to the young.
Even though he and Mukuro often clashed over their views, this was one point he completely agreed with.
"Damn old man! You really don't care about your life!"
Juzo hurled one of his axes at him.
Either dodge, or take the hit and fire a perfectly aimed wind blade.
He was eager to see Gakuganji's answer.
Thrum!
The sound rang out.
Then came the wet explosion of flesh and the spray of blood.
Ganesha's arms were almost severed by the wind blades, hanging by threads of flesh. Yet the technique did not stop.
'Just a little more… again!'
Ignoring the axe flying toward him, Gakuganji focused on only one thought.
Saving his juniors.
Slash!
The axe arrived.
Blood burst into the air.
"Huh?!"
But the one who cried out was Juzo.
The axe he had thrown with full force had not struck Gakuganji. A crow had flown in from nowhere and blocked it at the exact moment. Even as it died, the remaining momentum of its flight knocked the axe off course.
It landed on the ground barely ten centimeters from Gakuganji.
Meanwhile, Mei Mei, who should have still been falling, used her axe as a pivot, driving it into the side of the pit and launching herself back out.
"I've figured it out."
A smile spread across the mature woman's face. Her tongue lightly traced her red upper lip. The special grade in front of her had already become prey in her eyes.
After two exchanges, she had grasped most of Ganesha's ability.
It could affect the target of its technique on a conceptual level, and not just living beings.
But the activation conditions were different.
The first time, it treated the gravity around her as the target and removed it. That was why she floated.
The second time, it treated the ground beneath her as the target, then removed the air resistance so she would fall faster.
A powerful technique.
But the weakness was obvious.
To directly affect a living being, it likely required physical contact. And it could only select one target at a time.
But it no longer had a chance.
Now that she understood the ability, there was nothing left to fear.
Mei Mei's figure blurred as she rushed toward it at high speed.
"Hm?!"
Ganesha froze for a moment, still deciding what to choose as the next target. She was already in front of it.
Slash!
The fierce axe cut toward its head, but it raised both arms to block. Dark green blood gushed from the severed limbs, yet it showed a smug grin.
Ganesha opened its mouth wide, trying to swallow Mei Mei at point-blank range and activate its technique. As long as it succeeded, it could treat her as an "obstacle" and erase her.
Boom!
Suddenly, with a deafening explosion, the curse's head burst apart.
It was Bird Strike.
By sacrificing a crow as a binding vow, she removed the limit on its cursed energy output.
Mei Mei's killing move.
Everything she had done before was only to keep Ganesha's attention on her.
Crash!
At that exact moment, another roar echoed.
The Smallpox Deity's domain… shattered.
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