"Ember Insects!"
Jogo formed a seal, and purple insects suddenly flew out of his volcanic head.
These purple insects carried astonishing Cursed Energy as they circled above Jogo's head before rushing forward all at once.
The corridor's air distorted from the extreme heat;
as the purple insects flew past, they left visible thermal ripples like miniature missiles.
Heatwaves and killing intent simultaneously pierced Kirara Hoshi's eyes.
"It's useless!" Kirara shouted.
They remained standing still, but were already prepared for battle.
Even before the Ember Insects reached them, they felt a lethal threat, yet remained unmoved, rooted to the spot like a green pine.
Sure enough, the Ember Insects did not reach them.
These purple insects commanded by Jogo suddenly turned around and rushed back toward Jogo.
Jogo's pupils dilated, and his pre-prepared next move was released.
"Ember Insects!"
A second wave of Ember Insects flew from his volcanic head, rushing toward the returning ones.
Both sides collided in mid-air and exploded at that instant.
Kirara and Jogo both raised their hands to shield their eyes.
A massive heatwave surged violently in all directions.
Amidst the roar, the corridor walls finally succumbed and burst outward.
Flames and magma spurted from the rubble, and the debris began to melt.
If anyone were outside, they would see tiny fire meteors shooting out from the multi-story parking garage;
those were the aftershocks of the Ember Insects.
The next second, it was flames.
Jogo released flames with a roar;
this was his most proficient Cursed Technique.
The high temperature of the heatwave churned the surrounding air into a storm.
The flames advanced with the storm, and at the same time, Jogo took a step forward.
The flames and the Cursed Spirit advanced simultaneously—
a dual assault.
Jogo's body moved forward.
His right foot was raised, stepping ahead.
He was certain he was moving forward.
His right foot landed, his body maintained balance and shifted forward, his left foot rose, following the body's advance, his ankle moved, and finally landed on the ground.
Whether in terms of physical sensation or physical space, Jogo had indeed taken a step forward.
His flames followed him like an infinite wall, pushing forward.
The outer edges of the flames touched the corridor's floor and walls, and the concrete gradually melted.
Heat exceeding the melting point destroyed their solid state, turning them into golden-red lava as if a volcano were flowing, destroying everything in its path.
Jogo carried a massive majesty, stepping like a monarch, but suddenly he froze.
Because both he and his fire technique remained motionless in their original positions.
The blazing flames almost completely consumed the air in the corridor.
A whistling sound came from the gap in the blasted-out corridor;
it was the backdraft phenomenon.
The wind following the heat flow whipped up the Cursed Energy flames.
These flames burned quietly, illuminating Jogo's face—
that distorted face.
"Didn't I say so?" Kirara said indifferently.
"It's useless."
"It's not over yet!" Jogo roared.
He slammed violently toward the left corridor wall.
Before his fist even landed, the thermal energy of the flames melted a large hole in the concrete.
Jogo unleashed his technique in a roar, and massive flames erupted from outside the wall like a volcano spewing lava.
Kirara mocked loudly:
"Where are you aiming?"
Suddenly, an astonishing heat came from the side.
They turned their head immediately.
A dragon-like flame appeared outside the corridor window.
Due to the massive heat transfer, the glass of the corridor had begun to melt.
The dragon formed of intense flames opened its mouth, which contained enough thermal energy to melt steel;
even a slight touch could incinerate everything.
It turned out the flames weren't misaimed;
they were performing a flanking attack from outside the corridor.
Since a frontal attack didn't work, he would attack from the side.
Even a rare spatial control technique couldn't be omnipotent;
there had to be a loophole.
Jogo judged that since he couldn't break through from the front no matter what, he would attack from the side, tear through the defense, bite the sorcerer, and achieve a sure-kill.
The attack speed of this fire technique even exceeded Kirara's reflexes.
It had already approached before they noticed.
In the next instant, they were about to be swallowed and incinerated—
—or so it should have been.
The flaming dragon's open mouth did not swallow Kirara.
Just as it was about to reach them, it suddenly turned and crashed in front of them.
With a roar, the entire corridor in front of Kirara exploded.
Amidst the massive sound, the flaming dragon radiated an astonishing backflow of heat, and its target was—
—Jogo.
"What...!?"
Jogo's expression changed abruptly.
This shouldn't be.
All Jujutsu Sorcerers must use their will to activate techniques, even passive ones.
Just now, Jogo was certain Kirara hadn't been able to react to the flaming dragon.
It was a sneak attack that should have hit.
Yet, the flaming dragon still missed Kirara and instead lunged toward him as usual.
Jogo formed seals with his hands to cancel the technique as fast as possible, but the flaming dragon's speed was too fast and urgent.
The seemingly solid flaming dragon crashed into—
Jogo's body.
He was swallowed by his own Cursed Energy flames.
Not only Jogo, but even Hanami, who had been watching from behind, failed to react and let out a startled cry.
Kirara held up a palm to shield their face.
The heatwave from the flames spread in all directions like a massive tsunami.
They had clearly applied Cursed Energy reinforcement to their palm, yet still felt the stinging pain of a burn.
Despite the significant distance between them, the thermal impact still injured them.
Forget being hit;
even being slightly closer would surely lead to incineration.
Kirara unconsciously stuck out their tongue to lick their lips.
Due to the constant spread of excessive thermal radiation, their lips were already cracked.
They could hardly imagine how hot the corridor was now.
If not for the protection of Cursed Energy, they suspected their clothes would have spontaneously combusted, and their whole body would be covered in burns.
The impact weakened, and Kirara lowered their palm, suddenly dazed.
Because Jogo was completely unharmed.
This spirit of the earth stood right there, hands in a seal.
Less than half a meter in front of him was a clear arc.
Outside the arc was golden-red melted concrete;
behind the arc was charred floor.
But Jogo himself showed no signs of charring.
"He can even react to that? This is too exaggerated," Kirara whispered.
Hanami couldn't help but say,
"Jogo, let me also—"
Jogo took a deep breath.
"No, Hanami. You must preserve your Cursed Energy to deal with the Infinite Cursed Energy."
"But—"
"No buts!"
Jogo shouted.
"Even if I die, you are not allowed to step in!"
"I'll be blunt: even if I die here, you cannot waste a single bit of Cursed Energy on this old human!"
"After I die, you will step over my corpse and move forward."
"All your Cursed Energy must be contributed to Mahito."
"You are to do nothing else!"
Forget Hanami;
even Kirara, as an enemy, was stunned.
A Cursed Spirit had actually spoken words of such resolute sacrifice.
Kirara could hardly believe their ears.
They couldn't help but interject,
"Are you really a curse?"
"What's wrong, old human?"
Jogo gave a mocking smile.
"Did you think I would cherish my life, or did you think I would be reckless?"
Kirara sighed softly.
"I underestimated you, Cursed Spirits."
"Not Cursed Spirits."
"It's Jogo!"
Jogo shouted.
"Well then, Jogo, you should have a general understanding of my technique by now."
"No matter what you do, you cannot approach me or the security door."
"As long as my technique is active, it continues to function even without my will."
"You can't kill me, and you can't break through my technique."
"What are you going to do?"
Kirara grinned again.
Indeed, what to do?
Jogo did not launch an attack but thought seriously.
Since a moment ago, he had tried different ways to break through, but all had failed.
Moving himself over:
failed.
Physical Ember Insects breaking through:
failed.
Cursed Energy flames surprise attack:
failed.
Simultaneous assault by himself and Cursed Energy flames:
failed.
Sneak attack from the side at a speed the sorcerer himself couldn't react to:
failed.
From the many actions taken, the only thing that could be certain was that Kirara Hoshi seemed unable to move, forced to stand rooted to the spot.
They also could not perform any active offensive actions, only able to attack through counterattacks.
In other words, as long as Jogo himself did not act, Kirara should be unable to launch any effective offensive.
Yet even this barely reached conclusion was riddled with flaws.
Because the goals of the two sides were fundamentally different.
Jogo and Hanami hoped to rush over to help Mahito and were thus eager for a breakthrough, but Kirara was the exact opposite; they only needed to stall them here and had no need to expend Cursed Energy on attacks.
As long as the current state was maintained, their goal would be achieved.
One could even say that it wasn't that Kirara couldn't attack, but that there was no necessity to do so.
Normally, if he encountered such an enemy, he would have directly used Domain Expansion, but now he had to preserve enough Cursed Energy to support Mahito, so he naturally couldn't use it.
Therefore, he easily reached a conclusion:
he was at his wit's end.
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