Chapter 120: Piercing Ox
After setting up the rocket launcher, Megumi once again summoned the shikigami Round Deer.
The moment the giant four-eyed stag emerged from the shadows—
BOOM!
The rocket streaked forward, dragging a blazing tail of fire behind it.
A deafening explosion shook the earth.
As the mushroom cloud that engulfed the training field slowly dissipated, visibility gradually returned. Where Round Deer had been standing moments ago, there was now a gigantic crater, as though a meteor had slammed into the ground.
As for the one-and-a-half-meter-tall shikigami itself—
it had vanished without a trace.
"It worked...!"
Megumi felt the changes within his Ten Shadows Technique and couldn't suppress his excitement.
At the same time, however, a strange sense of absurdity crept into his heart.
That's it?
Just like that?
The shikigami he had struggled endlessly to defeat...
had been subdued by a single rocket from his sister.
A flicker of frustration, disbelief, and wounded pride surfaced briefly before being completely overwhelmed by the joy of successfully taming another shikigami.
A smile spread across Megumi's face once more.
"Excellent."
Tsumiki planted her hands on her hips proudly.
"Then let's keep the momentum going and tame the rest while we're at it."
"Huh?"
Megumi blinked.
"We're continuing?"
"Of course."
Tsumiki tilted her head.
"Or are you exhausted from using too much cursed energy?"
"Not really."
Megumi shook his head.
"Besides, taming rituals aren't the same as maintaining and controlling summoned shikigami. They only require a small amount of cursed energy to initiate."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Well..."
Megumi hesitated.
"It just feels a little too sudden."
That strange feeling returned.
He had trained under Gojo Satoru since he was a child.
Ten years.
Ten full years of effort had only allowed him to tame five shikigami.
And now, in a single day, he was about to tame three more.
If that was the case...
then what exactly had those ten years of hard work been worth?
"You dummy."
Tsumiki burst out laughing, cutting off his thoughts.
"Who complains about getting stronger too quickly?"
"I-I'm not complaining..."
Megumi awkwardly scratched his cheek.
"It just feels... strange."
"Then let's keep going."
He quickly corrected himself.
Tsumiki was right.
Who in their right mind would dislike becoming stronger?
Besides, when he thought about it carefully, both Senior Ren and Tsumiki had grown at speeds that completely left him behind. Neither of them seemed troubled by strength arriving too suddenly.
Perhaps the real reason was simply that he had been weak for too long.
Maybe he had become too accustomed to weakness and was now uncomfortable with rapid growth.
That wasn't acceptable.
He couldn't afford to think like a weakling.
He had to become stronger as quickly as possible.
At the very least...
he couldn't continue dragging Tsumiki down.
Looking up at his sister's smiling face, Megumi silently steeled his resolve.
Tsumiki raised her hand.
Another rocket materialized in her palm.
A short while later, everything was ready once more.
Closing his eyes, Megumi carefully sifted through the instinctive information granted by the Ten Shadows Technique.
Then he formed a hand sign resembling a bull's head.
"The Eighth Shikigami—"
"Piercing Ox!"
A long, thunderous bellow echoed across the field.
"MOOOOOOO—!"
From the ink-black shadows emerged a massive bull covered in blood-red fur, its enormous horns curving menacingly skyward.
The instant it appeared, it lunged forward.
Its hooves pounded the earth as it charged directly at Megumi with unstoppable momentum.
Although its size was comparable to Round Deer's, the force behind its charge was several times more terrifying.
And even stranger—
its momentum seemed to be continuously increasing as it ran.
With every step, the aura surrounding it grew heavier and more oppressive, carrying the horrifying sensation that anything standing in its path would be crushed and obliterated without resistance.
Megumi didn't hesitate.
He immediately slammed the launch button.
The rocket launcher roared to life.
The missile shot forward, trailing a blazing tail of fire. Its silver body sliced through the air like a gigantic spear aimed directly at Piercing Ox.
BOOOOOOM!
The earth shook violently.
Dust and debris exploded outward in every direction, swallowing the entire training ground and forming another enormous mushroom cloud.
But then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Through the thick haze came another series of earth-shaking sounds.
Not explosions.
They were hoofbeats.
The thunderous footsteps of something charging closer at incredible speed.
Megumi's pupils contracted sharply.
There was no time to think.
He immediately turned and sprinted, his fingers flashing through hand signs at lightning speed.
The instant Nue's talons seized his shoulders and lifted him into the air, Megumi felt a violent gust brush beneath his feet. The shockwave swept past his soles, throwing his lower body upward before dropping it again.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of deafening crashes erupted ahead.
As the dust slowly settled, Megumi—still dangling from Nue's claws—stared downward in utter disbelief.
The iron fence bordering one side of the training field had been completely obliterated.
Piercing Ox had smashed straight through it, leaving behind a massive crater.
But that wasn't what made his scalp tingle.
The truly horrifying sight lay beyond.
A huge stretch of ruins.
That was—
the school building.
One of the academic buildings nearest the athletic field had been completely demolished by the crimson bull's charge.
Now the gigantic beast stood amidst the wreckage, raising its head and letting out a thunderous bellow.
Such terrifying destructive power...
There was absolutely no way the current Megumi could tame something like that.
"A shikigami specialized in impact force, huh?"
Not far away, Ren stood beside Tsumiki, both observing the aftermath.
"Not just impact force," Tsumiki added.
"It also possesses a body durable enough to withstand that same impact."
"The rocket only managed to scorch its fur. It didn't inflict any meaningful damage."
She paused thoughtfully.
"Looks like we'll need to increase the firepower."
With a flap of the transparent wings on her armor, she descended to the ground.
Then she casually waved a hand.
A gigantic white bomb suddenly appeared on the field.
The towering warhead stood over six meters tall. Its streamlined white body was fitted with fin-like stabilizers and propeller-shaped tail fins.
"What... is that?"
The familiar silhouette made Megumi's heart skip a beat.
Through the swirling dust, Tsumiki leaned against the colossal bomb and proudly announced:
"The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator."
"Length: 6.2 meters."
"Diameter: 0.8 meters."
"Weight: 13.6 tons."
"Explosive payload: 2.4 tons."
"It can penetrate sixty meters of reinforced concrete before detonating."
"Hold it."
Ren's eyebrow twitched as he watched Megumi descend beside Tsumiki, looking increasingly eager to proceed.
In a blur, he appeared between the siblings.
"Sorry to interrupt your enthusiasm," he said, glancing at the bomb, "but we can't use that here, can we?"
"Huh?"
"If that thing goes off, then sure, Piercing Ox might cease to exist."
He pointed around them.
"But so will Jujutsu High."
"...Ah."
Megumi blinked.
"...That's true."
Tsumiki looked at him.
The siblings exchanged awkward glances.
"Sorry, Senior."
Tsumiki immediately apologized.
"I was too focused on helping Megumi and didn't think it through."
"It's fine."
Ren turned around.
At that exact moment, Piercing Ox charged toward them again with earth-shaking momentum.
Without even looking back, Ren casually swung a hand.
"Ryūjin Jakka."
A blazing arc of fire flashed through the air.
The charging bull was instantly cleaved cleanly in half.
Only then did Ren turn back toward the siblings.
"We'll just change locations and continue there."
(KEEP SUPPORTING THE STORY)
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