The black sphere cracked.
There wasn't even a process where cracks appeared and spread across its surface—the entire sphere vanished as if instantly evaporated.
So fast that the red-haired girl peeking from the shadows couldn't help but exclaim, "That was ridiculously quick!"
From its appearance to its disappearance, how many seconds had the black sphere lasted?
Probably not even three.
Far inferior to the previous one!
"...What...was that...?"
Mahito's fighting spirit drained away like water from a reservoir after the floodgates were opened. Collapsing to the ground like a Parkinson's patient, his face twisted with terror and confusion, he muttered unconsciously, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
As if every single cell in his body was trembling with fear.
As if fear itself had been carved deep into his genes.
Footsteps tapped softly.
Unconsciously, he looked up and met Roy's gaze.
"That expression—you must have seen it."
Roy looked down at him, his expression icy.
There was no trace of emotion in those eyes, not even the slightest acknowledgment of his existence.
Under normal circumstances, even if he couldn't win, he would have defiantly thrown out some mocking remark at someone who looked at him like that.
But now, not even that thought crossed his mind.
"M-monster!"
Staring up at Roy, his pupils shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined something like that could exist within Roy's soul.
No.
Such an absurd existence had never even been within the realm of his consideration.
That thing was like a deus ex machina in a novel, like a game boss so broken that even stacking all players' attack power together couldn't scratch off a single HP—every inch of it blatantly screamed, "I defy all logic."
"Gah—!"
He suddenly let out a scream.
Roy had drawn a Black Key and plunged it into his chest.
"Dammit, I don't want to die here...!"
Finally snapping back to reality, the terror of Tiamat within Roy's soul momentarily receded in the face of imminent death, replaced by a desperate will to live. Staring at the Black Key embedded in his chest, his face twisted with urgency.
"I shouldn't die here, I refuse... I haven't had my fill of toying with humans, haven't savored enough souls' screams—damn it all! Suguru!!"
His voice tore through the air as if shredding his own throat.
It reached Roy's ears.
And also reached another figure standing hundreds of meters away, atop a building, watching the battle unfold.
"Hmph... I told you not to call me that name outside."
He tied his long black hair into a topknot that cascaded down his back, wearing a five-striped kesa robe that reached the ground. His handsome features carried a hint of androgyny, with narrow, slightly narrowed eyes exuding an intense aura of wickedness.
"Three Special Grade curses ganging up on someone and still getting beaten to a pulp—what a bunch of useless trash. Makes me start doubting my own judgment. But never mind Jogo and Hanami for now... Mahito can't die yet. Fine, I'll lend a hand this once!"
Muttering to himself as if reaching a decision, he opened his palms and formed a hand seal.
Far away.
At the center of the battlefield.
About twenty meters above the two combatants, as if the world itself had opened a pocket, a rift suddenly appeared in midair.
Immediately after, a pair of gigantic hands emerged from within, forcibly widening the gap.
From it crawled out a monstrous creature resembling a colossal statue.
It was an elephant-headed humanoid monster, its obese frame like an elephant that had gained sentience. At a glance, it stood over twenty meters tall, its chest exposed like a Buddhist statue, with two strings of pitch-black prayer beads wrapped around its massive wrists.
The elephant-headed monster leaped from the rift and landed heavily on the ground, its enormous palm tearing through the air as it swung toward Roy with devastating force.
"Geto? Suguru Geto... or rather, Kenjaku?"
As Mahito shouted the name, Roy's mind raced.
Suguru Geto was originally one of Japan's four Special Grade sorcerers before falling from grace and becoming a curse user, obsessed with exterminating all non-sorcerers. He was later killed in the prequel by another Special Grade sorcerer, Yuta Okkotsu, only for his corpse to be taken over by Kenjaku—a centuries-old monster.
His innate technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation, allowed him to forcibly subjugate any curse and wield them like familiars.
After Kenjaku took over his body, this technique became the ancient curse user's as well.
"I let you escape once—I won't make that mistake again!"
In an instant, Roy processed all known intelligence about Kenjaku, recognizing the immense threat of Cursed Spirit Manipulation. The moment the elephant-headed deity appeared, he simultaneously made his move.
He reached out, pressing a finger against Mahito's body.
This proved troublesome.
Mahito's form was covered in festering boils that looked ready to burst at the slightest touch—finding an unblemished patch of skin was nearly impossible.
Mahito remained unfazed, already celebrating his imminent escape.
He knew Roy's soul-based attacks required preparation time. Even if pinned down here, Roy couldn't instantly kill him.
And this elephant-headed monstrosity before them was a Special Grade curse powerful enough to rival all three of them combined!
This overseas curse, one of the strongest in Geto's collection through Cursed Spirit Manipulation, bore divine-level curses within it. Its innate technique wielded conceptual-level power!
Given the circumstances, his escape was guaranteed.
Roy lacked the time to prepare a soul attack to finish him. Even if more Black Keys pinned him down, he could simply sever the trapped portion of his soul through sheer willpower. At worst, he'd need extended recovery time—no permanent damage done.
And attacks that couldn't target the soul couldn't even harm him!
Then.
Mahito witnessed an utterly unbelievable scene.
He watched as his body gradually transformed—his massive three-meter-tall frame shrank rapidly, quickly reducing to the size of a palm.
At the same time, his brain, torso, and limbs also began to fade away, his body growing increasingly smooth as his form slowly disappeared.
In just a single second, his body had turned into a palm-sized lump of flesh!
The black key remained lodged in him.
The sight of a fleshy lump skewered on the blade looked like it could be headed straight for a barbecue at any moment.
Mahito was instantly dumbfounded.
Had he... been modified by someone else?
He was always the one modifying others—today, he'd actually been modified by someone else!
He tried to speak but found his mouth was gone.
He attempted to revert his body back, only to discover his soul seemed shackled by some force, locked firmly in this fleshy lump state, denying him any chance to restore himself.
BOOM!
Only then did the Elephant-headed God's massive fleshy palm come crashing down.
Roy clenched the fleshy lump in his palm, planted his feet firmly, and assumed a defensive stance, preparing to withstand the blow.
Given his physique, even if this monster stood twenty meters tall, he might still hold his ground!
Just as he thought this, the moment the fleshy palm struck, an unimaginable force sent him flying backwards, slamming him straight into the ruins of a distant collapsed building.
Even as he crashed into the building, Roy's expression remained utterly bewildered.
"Wait, buddy, this cursed spirit packs that much strength?"
During the impact, he hadn't even felt capable of resisting—he'd been effortlessly flung away without pause!
"But I'm barely injured?"
Roy assessed himself.
His clothes were a bit torn, his skin slightly scraped, but not a single piece of flesh was missing, let alone bleeding or broken bones.
The damage didn't match the force.
A blow powerful enough to send him flying without resistance should have at least fractured something.
"Maybe it's not raw strength, but a technique?"
Roy rose from the wreckage, opened his Imaginary Pocket, and tossed the fleshy lump inside.
CRASH!
Suddenly, another massive fleshy palm descended from above, obliterating the building overhead before swatting straight at Roy.
Expression unchanging, Roy's heightened perception allowed him to anticipate the strike. He leaped aside, evading the blow, then sprang upward through the shattered gap in the building, delivering a mid-air kick straight to the Elephant-headed God's skull.
BOOM!
The colossal figure staggered like a roly-poly doll, its upper body flung backward as its massive frame collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.
"See? Its raw strength is nothing compared to mine! That earlier force must've been its technique—probably one that repels anything it strikes?"
And likely not through brute force alone.
Even a Special Grade cursed spirit enhanced with cursed energy shouldn't have made Roy feel utterly powerless. Could it be a conceptual technique—something like "expelling all obstacles"?
Regardless, it was worth studying!
Roy landed, pressed his palm against the Elephant-headed God's body, and activated his modification ability once more, rapidly shrinking the cursed spirit into Fleshy Lump No. 2 before tossing it into his Imaginary Pocket.
Cursed spirits, like humans, could possess innate techniques—known as "Innate Techniques."
The diversity of these techniques spanned all possibilities: simple ones like emission or summoning, complex ones involving rules, or even the unfathomable—conceptual abilities.
Innate techniques are things imprinted on the body, equivalent to a part of one's physical form.
For Roy, every cursed spirit—to be precise, every cursed spirit possessing an innate technique, as well as every human with an innate technique—was a tremendous treasure!
Meanwhile.
A man clad in a Geto-style kasaya suddenly paused, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"...Is this for real?"
The elephant-headed cursed spirit under the control of his Cursed Spirit Manipulation had just broken free from his command.
"It's not dead. Rather, it feels like I lost contact with it. Did that human do this?"
Even if it had been trapped in a domain, this shouldn't have happened.
Or did he create an incredibly powerful barrier through an extremely harsh binding?
Could it be that human is a barrier technique expert surpassing even me?
"What a troublesome guy."
The man furrowed his brows, rubbing his temples as if suffering from a headache.
After a while, he formed hand seals again, summoning more cursed spirits.
"I'll test the waters a bit. Besides, I need to buy time for retreat."
At the center of the battlefield.
Roy had just dealt with the elephant-headed spirit when the sky-pocket reappeared, dropping thirteen more cursed spirits—each grotesquely shaped and exuding formidable cursed energy.
Roy suddenly halted.
His lips curled into a delighted grin as he charged toward the thirteen cursed spirits.
Touch one, turn it into a meatball, toss it into imaginary space.
Touch another, repeat the process, discarding it into imaginary space.
Roy danced joyfully among the cursed spirits.
Each spirit here possessed considerable strength—though not quite Special Grade, likely just below it—with over half wielding innate techniques.
For an average sorcerer, even a Grade 1, charging into such a swarm of cursed spirits would be suicidal.
But Roy feared no siege! With "Perception" granting 360-degree omnidirectional vision and Art of Empty Tides techniques disrupting enemy awareness, group battles were his forte.
His power overwhelmingly surpassed that of so-called Grade 1 sorcerers.
This spectacle in the city center couldn't escape the notice of countless onlookers. Some even recorded videos—though the cursed spirits didn't appear on camera, Roy's hurricane-like movements still caused an uproar.
Especially footage showing Roy seemingly battling invisible foes, which became a persistently trending topic online.
***
—Jujutsu High.
Officially known as Tokyo Jujutsu High School, it's Japan's premier institution for training jujutsu sorcerers and a pivotal stronghold in the nation's jujutsu world.
Beyond nurturing young sorcerers, Jujutsu High handles mission coordination, support, and even oversees the grading system for sorcerers.
Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical College is located at the foothills of Nobeyama in Tokyo's outskirts.
Though publicly labeled a religious school, it's actually one of only two jujutsu high schools in Japan, holding immense influence in the jujutsu community.
The principal of Tokyo High is a tall, middle-aged man.
His name was Masamichi Yaga, dressed entirely in black with sunglasses always on, giving off the impression of someone constantly trying to look cool. Yet his meticulously groomed beard lent him an air of steadiness.
"Has this footage not been processed yet?"
In the principal's office of Tokyo Jujutsu High, Masamichi Yaga stared at the images on his phone.
The footage had been captured by bystanders during the chaos—grainy and shaky, the camera work extremely unstable.
Even so, Yaga could clearly see the razor-sharp movements of the white-haired youth in the video. Every attack carried thunderous force, with speed and power that couldn't be underestimated. Such performance suggested either extraordinary physical prowess or an immense reserve of cursed energy.
Perhaps even both.
Regardless, this individual's strength far surpassed any currently active Grade 1 sorcerer!
"I heard this happened last night. The higher-ups probably haven't had time to handle it yet. This incident was too big—it'll take more than a day or two to suppress."
The man reporting this information stood before his desk, dressed in a brown trench coat.
"...Do we know his current whereabouts?"
Yaga studied the footage on his phone, lost in thought for a long moment before finally looking up at the brown-coated man with a grave expression.
"He's not from Japan—likely a foreign sorcerer. Normally, he'd be nearly impossible to track down. The higher-ups are still scrambling like headless chickens."
The brown-coated man shrugged with an amused expression as he spoke.
"But coincidentally, the household he's staying with has connections to one of our assistant supervisors. So we've already pinpointed his location."
He placed his phone in front of Yaga.
The screen displayed a photograph.
A picture of a girl with long red hair cascading past her shoulders.
"He's currently staying at this girl's residence."
Yaga flipped through the images.
The back of the photo contained basic information about the red-haired girl.
Name: Kita Ikuyo.