"Scary, scary, heh-choo."
Satoru weaved dramatically through the dense horde of Cursed Spirits.
Wherever the Cursed Spirits were thickest, that was exactly where he ran.
Behind him raged a devastating storm, unleashed by the furious Ootengu. It was powerful enough to tear through everything in its path.
The storm continued to suck in and shred all the slower Cursed Spirits in pursuit.
At this moment, Satoru's thoughts were strangely aligned with Toji's.
Since someone else was already handling the hard work of exorcising, why bother doing it himself?
Why not just let Ootengu take care of the Cursed Spirit army?
Still oblivious to the truth, Ootengu watched Satoru "desperately" flee the storm. A look of satisfaction appeared on its face.
Seeing the storm nearly catch up to him, Ootengu increased its Cursed Energy output, intensifying the storm's speed and power.
Then the storm drew closer, Satoru sped up. Ootengu pushed harder, Satoru accelerated again. Ootengu…
Ootengu fell into deep thought as it watched Satoru remain just out of reach, no matter how fast it pushed.
Was it being played again?
Why did it say "again"?
Running ahead, Satoru felt the storm behind him start to weaken.
He looked back and saw Ootengu, frozen mid-air, questioning its own existence.
"Ah, gave up so soon? Even Nanami wouldn't lose morale that fast."
Satoru tapped his chin, deep in thought.
He figured he should give Ootengu a little more confidence.
With that decision, Satoru slowed down slightly, letting the storm almost brush against his back.
Then he raised both hands and waved them dramatically.
"Ah~ Help me~ I can't run anymore~"
Ootengu: …
It finally confirmed it. Satoru was just toying with it.
Ootengu trembled with rage. This was the first time in its long Cursed Spirit existence that it had been so thoroughly mocked.
"GAA!!!"
Ootengu let out a furious roar, then flew toward Satoru at the fastest speed it had ever achieved in its life.
"Huh? What's with this sudden burst of enthusiasm?"
Satoru tilted his head as he looked at the enraged Ootengu charging toward him.
Though he wasn't sure what was wrong, Satoru still prepared for a real confrontation.
"Domain Expansion: Arashi."
The enraged Ootengu pulled Satoru into its Domain.
It wanted to use the sure-hit attacks within the Domain to rip apart the guy who had been running circles around it.
Satoru glanced around with interest.
Ootengu's Domain appeared as a mountain peak shrouded in fog and clouds.
The Ootengu's figure vanished into the mist.
Whoosh.
An attack appeared suddenly in front of Satoru. He batted it away with a casual palm.
The Domain's sure-hit effect finally allowed Ootengu's attacks to connect.
But connecting didn't mean it could inflict damage.
When a sorcerer is drawn into another's Domain, they can still resist using jujutsu, Simple Domain, or other countermeasures.
But for Satoru, there was no need for Simple Domain, Fallen Blossom Emotion, or anything else just yet.
"I see, so this is the feeling of 'Kamikakushi'."
In Japan, legends say that tengu soar through the skies and snatch away children they take a liking to, carrying them deep into the mountains.
The children would vanish without a trace.
This phenomenon was called Kamikakushi—spirited away.
Seeing its attacks fail to damage Satoru, the Ootengu hidden in the mist went all out.
A terrifying storm descended upon him.
"So this is Arashi."
Arashi—a storm or violent tempest.
"It's only this much, I suppose."
Satoru crossed his right index and middle fingers into a hand seal.
"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void."
In an instant, the fog, the mountain, the Domain—everything shattered and vanished.
Satoru's Domain overwhelmed and crushed the Ootengu's Domain in an instant.
Inside the stillness of Unlimited Void, the Ootengu floated like a statue, its empty eyes staring toward Satoru.
Snap.
Satoru placed a hand on its head.
"Welcome to my Domain. This is inside the Limitless. Well, even if I explained it, you wouldn't get it."
"But you're not a bad opponent for my first Domain Expansion."
With that, he applied pressure with his right hand and directly tore off the Ootengu's head.
Satoru looked at the long nose on the severed head. After a moment's thought, he scribbled something on it.
"Yosh, now it's perfect."
The Domain dissipated.
"Now, let me see... ah, found it."
Satoru quickly spotted his next target.
A Rainbow Dragon soaring in the air.
"Geto's location is... there."
He stepped onto the back of a large Cursed Spirit, took aim toward Suguru's direction, and delivered a massive kick.
"Go!"
At the South Gate, Suguru stood face to face with a Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Earlier, Kurourushi had been on the verge of defeat, surrounded and under siege, when Tamamo-no-Mae suddenly dispatched several Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirits to the South Gate.
The surprise attack interrupted Suguru's feast.
It also saved Kurourushi, who was about to be flattened by Suguru and several Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
Now, Suguru and a clam-like Cursed Spirit were trapped inside a Simple Domain formed by a Hundred-Eyed Cursed Spirit.
Similar to the Kuchisake-onna, this Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit's Domain was still incomplete, so it had yet to reach full Special Grade.
The clam-like Cursed Spirit opened its shell, sheltering Suguru inside.
Just moments earlier, several Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirits had ambushed Suguru. If he hadn't prepared for a sneak attack in advance, he might have been seriously injured, if not killed.
Now, aside from the one Cursed Spirit maintaining the Simple Domain, all the other Semi-Special Grade Spirits had been intercepted by Suguru's own Cursed Spirits.
Staring at the multitude of eyes around him, Suguru analyzed the Domain's effect.
'I can't move anything except my right hand. My senses are fading. Some kind of curse...'
'Line of sight.'
Suguru quickly identified the key.
'I see. If an eye sees me, I'm cursed—immobilized and continuously eroded by the curse. My right hand was spared because it was blocked by a Cursed Spirit, huh?'
Now understanding the situation, Suguru began planning his next move.
"Simple Domain."
He activated his own Simple Domain, summoning several Cursed Spirits around him.
They blocked the lines of sight from all directions, shielding him from the countless eyes.
Seeing Suguru rushing toward it, the enemy Cursed Spirit had no choice but to cancel its Domain and flee.
Pfft.
Several Cursed Spirits already waiting outside slammed it back toward Suguru.
"This one's technique isn't bad."
Suguru moved to absorb it.
"Hmm?"
Something shot rapidly into his peripheral vision.
"A head?"
Suguru gave the flying head a strange look.
One of his Cursed Spirits caught it mid-air.
Then he noticed the writing on Ootengu's long nose.
"This is very tasty."
Suguru's mouth twitched slightly.
Cursed Spirits are formed from Cursed Energy born of negative emotions. Can something like that really be... tasty?
He sighed and rubbed his forehead, but still absorbed the Ootengu Satoru had sent over.
"This is..."
As the information from the Ootengu's absorption flooded in, Suguru's eyes widened slightly.
'Thanks, Satoru.'
Then Suguru looked at Kurourushi.
Now armed with the Ootengu's Domain, his expectations for this cockroach—whom he'd been battling for so long without killing—rose dramatically.
Kurourushi, who had just received reinforcements and was preparing to recover, suddenly felt a chill run down its spine.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)