The Mantis Cursed Spirit's compound eyes glinted with a cold light, meeting Rin's Sharingan head-on. As those seven eyes locked gazes, the air seemed to freeze instantly. A bone-chilling cold crawled up his spine to the back of his neck, making the hair on Rin's body stand on end.
The next second, that "buzzing" sound, like a whisper from the Grim Reaper, rang out once again.
This time, Rin saw it clearly: the sound was emanating from the cicada-thin wings on the Mantis Cursed Spirit's back, the frequency of their vibration so fast they had almost blurred into an afterimage.
His expression turned grave. He gripped the iron rod tightly, his muscles tensing in preparation, staring fixedly at the Cursed Spirit, waiting for the terrifying strike that was bound to come.
The Mantis Cursed Spirit's wings flapped frantically, stirring up dust that surged across the ground like waves. Yet, its body remained motionless, merely raising its scythe-like forelimbs slightly, assuming a stance ready for a slash.
"Damn it! It's charging up!"
This thought exploded in Rin's mind like a thunderclap. His instincts were screaming, "Run! Get out of the way!" But he forced himself to stand his ground, not moving an inch. He knew clearly that running now would be a dead end.
At this moment, he was standing on top of a streetlamp. To escape, he would have to jump down, which would play right into the Cursed Spirit's trap.
In mid-air, he would have no room to dodge; he would be a living target. Given the speed the Mantis Cursed Spirit had shown earlier—a speed even the Sharingan could barely track—he would likely be sliced in two before he even hit the ground.
This kind of attack must have a flaw. Rin forced himself to analyze it calmly: First, it required charging to initiate; second, it could not change direction once the slash was unleashed.
Therefore, he had to wait for the exact moment the Mantis Cursed Spirit launched its attack to dodge; only then would he have a glimmer of hope to avoid this fatal blow.
The Mantis Cursed Spirit on the ground was also watching him, its compound eyes filled with caution. It clearly realized that this human on the streetlamp was a dangerous opponent.
Man and Cursed Spirit stood in a stalemate, the tension in the air almost solidifying.
But the Mantis Cursed Spirit could not maintain the stalemate for long. Every high-frequency vibration of its wings consumed a massive amount of Cursed Energy.
Sure enough, after only a moment, it broke the deadlock first and launched its attack.
With a "bang," the flat ground was blasted into a cloud of dust by the airflow stirred up by its wings. The Mantis Cursed Spirit's figure instantly turned into an afterimage, vanishing from where it stood.
Rin had no time to think. Almost the instant the Cursed Spirit vanished, his body reacted on instinct. He vaulted backward and upward simultaneously. The immense force caused the streetlamp beneath his feet to emit a piercing metallic groan, the pole instantly twisting and deforming.
The moment he left the streetlamp, a gale as sharp as a blade rushed toward his face, carrying a chill capable of slicing through the air.
Rin widened his eyes; his Sharingan finally caught the Cursed Spirit's figure. Those scythe-like forelimbs, flashing with a deep, cold light, grazed past his scalp.
He could even clearly see a few severed strands of hair drifting slowly through the air.
"Snap, snap, snap!" The crisp sound of the lamp pole snapping came from behind him. The twisted, deformed streetlamp, like a fragile bamboo pole, was instantly sliced into several sections. The cuts were as smooth as mirrors, and the fragments were tossed high into the air.
Having missed the attack, the Mantis Cursed Spirit immediately flapped its wings, trying to turn and adjust its posture. However, the immense inertia from its high-speed dash made it difficult to stop instantly, forcing it to continue rushing forward, its speed gradually slowing down.
Now is the time!
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Rin reached out in mid-air, grabbed a falling section of the streetlamp pole, and without a second thought, hurled it at the Mantis Cursed Spirit.
"Clang!" The pole section hit the Cursed Spirit's back precisely. Sparks erupted instantly; the iron rod collided with the Cursed Spirit's shell, emitting a crisp metallic chime.
But this attack caused no damage to the Cursed Spirit. Its shell was as hard as steel armor; ordinary attacks simply could not break through its defense.
This enemy was the most troublesome one Rin had ever encountered.
Rin's heart sank. "Speed, attack, defense—all are superior to mine. Especially that flash-like slash; being even half a second slow means either death or injury."
Thoughts raced through his mind, and a countermeasure formed instantly.
Taking advantage of the Mantis Cursed Spirit just stabilizing its body in the air, Rin spun around the moment he landed and sprinted toward the nearby teaching building.
He pushed his speed to the limit, gravel flying from beneath his feet, his figure moving with astonishing speed.
He needed to create distance, and more importantly, change the battlefield.
The plan was simple: the Mantis Cursed Spirit's flying slash could unleash its maximum power in an open area, but once inside the complex layout of the teaching building, its flight capabilities would be severely restricted.
For Rin, the teaching building with its crisscrossing hallways was the perfect battlefield to counter this Cursed Spirit.
Without the advantage of its wings, this Mantis Cursed Spirit would be at most a slightly stronger-than-average Cursed Spirit.
Rin ran for his life, and the Mantis Cursed Spirit behind him had also reacted. That "buzzing" sound, like a summons from the Grim Reaper, came from behind him again, a bone-chilling cold making his nerves ache with pain.
He did not dare look back, only calculating the distance in his mind.
Seeing the teaching building within reach, Rin suddenly raised his hand and threw the iron rod in his hand like a javelin. The iron rod, like a dark shadow, shot straight into a first-floor window of the teaching building, shattering the glass with a "clang."
Immediately after, Rin's body, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, crashed through the remaining glass and surged into the classroom.
Amidst the flying glass shards, he grabbed the falling iron rod, then crashed heavily into the desks, hitting the floor with a "bang" and kicking up a cloud of dust.
But before he could even get up, a piercing sound of something breaking through the air suddenly exploded behind him.
"Bang!!" The wall of the classroom where Rin was located was smashed open by a tremendous force, and dust instantly filled the entire space.
A dark shadow walked slowly out from the hole. Its hard shell glinted with a cold light, its scythe-like forelimbs carving streaks of cold light into the air, and its long wings were still vibrating slightly. It was the relentless Mantis Cursed Spirit.
With its ruthless compound eyes, it searched everywhere for Rin's figure amidst the rubble and scattered desks.
Meanwhile, Rin had already circled to the classroom door, carrying the iron rod on his shoulder. He glanced at the Mantis Cursed Spirit in the dust, a cold smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, then pushed open the wooden classroom door and walked out without looking back.
There was nothing left to worry about. From the moment this Cursed Spirit stepped into the teaching building, it was already a turtle in a jar.
Rin walked through the narrow hallway, slowly coating his palms with Cursed Energy. The dark red Cursed Energy surged slightly in his palms like flames.
A "crack" of shattering came from behind; the classroom door, along with its frame, was sliced into fragments by the Mantis Cursed Spirit's scythe.
The Cursed Spirit crawled out from the hole. Its massive body was restricted everywhere in the narrow corridor; its wings could not be fully spread at all.
The iron rod in his hand could no longer keep up with the pace. Rin thought to himself. The Mantis Cursed Spirit's blade could even cut through concrete walls, let alone this already twisted and tattered iron rod. He would just have to gamble.
No sooner had he thought this than the Cursed Spirit, having broken through the wall behind him, swung its massive scythe, hacking fiercely at Rin's back.
"Clang—!" The next second, sparks flew everywhere, and the violent sound of metallic impact echoed throughout the hallway.
Facing that incredibly sharp giant scythe, the iron rod in Rin's hand did not give an inch. The originally twisted and deformed iron rod, wrapped in dark red Cursed Energy, did not show a single crack.
With its first strike blocked, the Mantis Cursed Spirit immediately swung its other giant scythe, sweeping horizontally toward Rin's waist, intending to slice him in half.
But the hallway was too narrow, and the length of the giant scythe far exceeded expectations. With a "click," the tip of the blade got stuck in the wall, and its speed suddenly slowed by a beat.
This is the opening! Rin did not hesitate to pull back, lunging into the Cursed Spirit's embrace. He thrust the iron rod from bottom to top, fiercely stabbing toward the Cursed Spirit's head. With a "bang," the iron rod hit the Cursed Spirit's compound eye precisely.
Immediately after, he turned and kicked the Cursed Spirit in the abdomen. The immense force sent the Cursed Spirit's body flying backward instantly, slamming heavily into the wall at the end of the corridor with a dull, thunderous thud.
These two attacks were forceful and heavy, yet they were still blocked by the Cursed Spirit's armor-like shell.
But even so, the Cursed Spirit was not having an easy time. Fine cracks had appeared on its shell, and the cold light in its compound eyes had dimmed slightly.
In this narrow corridor, Rin's advantage was magnified infinitely.
He knew clearly that defeating this Cursed Spirit was only a matter of time. Moreover, he had already found its weakness.
Taking advantage of the Mantis Cursed Spirit still being in a state of stiffness from the impact, Rin immediately pressed the attack, his body turning into a dark shadow as he rushed toward the Cursed Spirit stuck in the wall.
But just as he was only a few meters away from the Cursed Spirit, his expression suddenly changed. A look of unbelievable surprise flashed across his previously cold and calm face.
He stopped abruptly, standing motionless.
An unfamiliar, cold aura, mixed with nausea-inducing, thick negative emotions, suddenly erupted behind him.
Rin's heart sank abruptly. He clearly felt that behind him, another Cursed Spirit had appeared.