As soon as they exited the cave passage, the three saw a gigantic tentacle smashing down towards them.
Maki immediately let go of the katana in her left hand.
The katana, with a blade length of only 60 centimeters and a very narrow body, was clearly not suitable for cutting a tentacle dozens of meters long with a diameter exceeding 1 meter at its end.
Adjusting her grip with her right hand, she grabbed the middle and lower umbrella disks with her left hand and pulled down forcefully; the Thousand Machine Umbrella transformed from its battle spear form into a massive double-edged greatsword.
"Haaah!"
Maki roared, swinging the greatsword horizontally with both hands.
The enormous tentacle smashing down towards them was instantly severed.
The next second, several more tentacles whipped towards the three.
"Explode."
"Fire!"
Faster than the tentacles were Inumaki Toge's Cursed Speech and Panda's rocket launcher.
After Maki severed the first attacking tentacle, the scene inside the cave unfolded before their eyes.
Inumaki Toge and Panda immediately locked onto the Cursed Spirit, which was unfurling its massive, octopus-like body.
Then, according to their plan, they attacked simultaneously.
Splat.
Boom.
Under the effect of Cursed Speech, the Cursed Spirit's rising upper body suddenly exploded.
Its upper body instantly became a bloody mess.
Soon, the rocket fired by Panda detonated in the Cursed Spirit's wound.
A large hole was blown into the Cursed Spirit's body.
"It worked."
Seeing the huge wound on the Cursed Spirit's body, Panda immediately pulled out several more rockets, ready to continue the attack.
"Cough, cough."
Behind him, a dry, unpleasant cough sounded.
Panda turned around and saw Inumaki Toge clutching his throat with one hand, while with the other, he pulled out a throat lozenge and put it in his mouth.
'Such a big side effect?'
Panda was surprised.
Inumaki Toge was a semi-Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer; even a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit couldn't withstand a few words of Inumaki Toge's Cursed Speech.
However, Panda hadn't expected that just one highly aggressive Cursed Speech would cause Inumaki Toge such a severe backlash.
'Is it accumulated from when he woke us up in the dream? Or is it…'
Panda's expression grew serious as he looked at the massive figure in the cave.
"Is this Cursed Spirit a Special Grade?"
The Cursed Spirit's injuries were rapidly recovering.
A large hole in the body would be a fatal injury for a normal creature.
But for a Cursed Spirit, an existence composed of Cursed Energy, it was not serious.
Carefully sensing the increasingly immense Cursed Energy emanating from the Cursed Spirit.
Panda confirmed his judgment.
He hadn't noticed it before because this Cursed Spirit was like it was in a deep sleep, with its Cursed Energy relatively contained.
Now, the continuous injuries had awakened the Cursed Spirit's ferocity, and its massive Cursed Energy began to press down on them.
"At this point, we can only go all in."
Panda left the rockets to Inumaki Toge, then quickly moved forward to rendezvous with Maki.
"The support is up to you."
After speaking, Panda immediately activated the Gorilla Core within him.
The entire Panda became incredibly wild.
"Vibrating Palm!"
Panda's enlarged palm slammed forcefully onto a tentacle.
The tentacle, which had been attacking Maki, was instantly swatted away.
Panda was also shaken backward by the immense force of the tentacle.
"It's so slick."
Panda carefully recalled the feeling of their brief exchange, then made a judgment.
"Maki, I'll take the front to hold it off; you and Inumaki find an opportunity to take it down."
After Panda spoke, he directly faced the attacking tentacles.
Panda already knew that this enemy's compatibility with him was not good.
Perhaps it was because he was a Cursed Corpse.
The mental fogginess and desire to sleep that Maki and Inumaki Toge occasionally felt had never appeared in him.
Moreover, the symptoms of being cursed after Maki and Inoue Hao were affected by the enemy's Cursed Technique had also not occurred in him.
Therefore, Panda felt that this Cthulhu-esque Special Grade hypothetical Cursed Spirit, as described by Inoue Hao, was precisely countered by him.
So, even though his ranking as a Jujutsu Sorcerer was only semi-Grade 2.
He was still far from being a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, which was on par with a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
But Panda felt he could handle the task of directly holding off this Cursed Spirit.
"Alright."
Maki didn't waste words, nodded at Panda, and began to circle the Cursed Spirit.
The battle with this Cursed Spirit made Maki feel somewhat stifled.
After understanding the characteristics of this Cursed Spirit, Maki had deliberately avoided observing the Octopus People and this gigantic Cursed Spirit, which was half-human and half-octopus.
For example, when fighting the Octopus People, Maki would only glimpse their feet before closing her eyes.
Then, based on past combat experience, she would instinctively extend her battle spear.
She killed the Octopus People by relying on the length advantage of her battle spear.
Thus, she avoided further infection and curses from the enemy.
And the slight curse Maki had previously suffered was dispelled by the Cursed Cursed Technique resistance and recovery abilities brought by her reverse Heavenly Restriction.
Therefore, Maki was now fighting in perfect condition.
But even so, Maki was having a very, very hard time.
Whoosh.
A huge tentacle whipped towards Maki.
The air roared as the tentacle lashed out.
Upon hearing this sound, Maki immediately leaped up, dodging the tentacle's attack.
Whoosh.
Another whooshing sound came.
Maki, suspended in mid-air, could not use her eyes to observe this Cthulhu-esque Cursed Spirit to avoid being cursed.
Nor could she accurately simulate the Cursed Spirit's image in her mind.
This prevented Maki from making precise countermeasures.
Therefore, Maki could only raise her greatsword vertically to block her side.
Thud.
Maki was flung away by the tentacle, the immense force directly slamming her into the cave wall.
"Maki!"
Panda glanced at Maki worriedly, then immediately fully immersed himself in holding off the Cursed Spirit.
Panda realized that this Special Grade Cursed Spirit was clearly more interested in Inumaki Toge.
Although Panda was already giving his all, the huge disparity in power made it seem like he was the one being held back.
Thus, constrained and unable to act freely, their battle against the Special Grade Cursed Spirit fell into a decisive disadvantage.
"Stop."
Inumaki Toge, who had just recovered some of his condition, saw the Special Grade Cursed Spirit attacking Maki, who was embedded in the wall, and immediately used Cursed Speech to stop it.
The three tentacles stabbing towards the wall halted.
Maki, with burning fury in her eyes, immediately rushed out and severed the three tentacles.
"Damn it."
The moment her blade cut the first tentacle, Maki felt a familiar dizzying sensation.
This caused Maki to immediately close her eyes, focusing all her attention on the double-edged greatsword in her hands.
Fortunately, these three tentacles had already been stopped by Inumaki Toge's Cursed Speech.
Therefore, even with her eyes closed, Maki successfully severed them.
Upon landing, Maki nimbly dodged tentacles attacking from all directions while pondering a solution to break the deadlock.
This battle was arguably the most frustrating one Maki had ever fought.
She couldn't use her eyes to see, nor could she even clearly imagine the enemy's form in her mind.
How was she supposed to fight like this?
If it were an ordinary person, they might already be thinking of retreating at this point.
But Maki didn't; this stubborn and rebellious girl would always forge ahead, no matter what difficulties she faced.
Even if it meant getting severely injured.
------------------------
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