Chapter 20. Hyakki Yagyō (Part 3)

How strong is the Curse of Special Grade? Such a question may arise not only for an ordinary person unfamiliar with the world of Sorcerers but also for a Sorcerer, for whom such monsters appear as children beaten by Sorcerers of Special Grade. Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, Tsukumo Yuki, and myself, no matter who you look at, all the strongest Curses are just regular opponents for us.

That's why a comparison was invented, relying on modern reality, namely: Fourth rank — Curse can be expelled with a bat; Third rank — simple firearms will be enough; Second rank — a shotgun or a sniper rifle will be required; First rank — a rank where there is a sudden jump in strength, sometimes even a military tank will be insufficient; and Special rank — the use of tactical weapons is required.

Do you possess the potential for destruction, akin to carpet bombing or an intercontinental ballistic missile? You can challenge the Curse of Special Grade. Not sure? Don't even try, or else the world will have one less Sorcerer.

However, even so, there are daredevils who challenge the very nature of power and sometimes emerge victorious from this confrontation. However, are you ready to put yourself in the shoes of Aoi Todo or Kinji Hakari?

A shockwave spread around, followed by a deafening explosion as my body struck the concrete building. The only reason the building hadn't collapsed yet was that I wasn't a torpedo in the literal sense of the word.

Suddenly, behind me, a tinkling music sounded. Interesting. It turns out I crashed into a gaming machine and accidentally hit the jackpot. Could this be a sign of luck? The opposite of when a black cat crosses your path.

However, in the next moment, I had to immediately retreat from the building because [Sense of Danger — Highest Rank] had triggered. At this level, this ability ceased to be a mere instinct or a subconscious reaction of the brain that analyzed information about my surroundings faster than my conscious self. Now [Sense of Danger] was inseparably linked to the Spiritual World, allowing me to read the intentions of the enemy even without seeing them.

It took me a second to be a hundred meters away from the building with slot machines. Glancing briefly at it, I no longer saw any concrete facade with glass inserts; instead, there was a "gorge" that extended another hundred meters.

"Problematic Cursed Technique" - that's what I thought when I turned my attention back to the Curse with a huge head. This creature absorbs all my attacks and then releases them back in the form of kinetic explosions. Now it turns out they can be directed.

Hmm? I noticed that I couldn't take a step forward. Looking at my feet, they were bound by oil that the frog-shaped Curse had cleverly concealed, and I hadn't noticed.

Sensing that it was not a coincidence, I quickly drop to the ground, avoiding another kinetic projectile. Simultaneously, I burn off the oil with my flame, and as soon as I free myself, I make a sharp leap towards the Curse with the large head, ignoring the fact that another glob of oil is coming at me from behind.

Aspect Three: Conjure Flames.

In my hand appears a fiery spear, which I swing in an instant, hitting the fleshy forehead of the Curse. However, instead of cutting through the flesh, the spear's tip seems to sink into supernatural rubber and gets stuck. Without wasting time, as I was prepared for this, I twisted the spear, smashing the blunt side of the weapon against the creature's chin. Yet, even if this doesn't work, the Curse opens its mouth with a clear intention to strike me with a close-range attack.

Foolish creature. That's exactly what I wanted from you!

Relying on [Sense of Danger], at the last moment, I move behind the Curse and with a sharp lateral movement, turn the creature's head towards another Curse. Neither the big-headed Curse nor the frog anticipated this, so the creature with the huge head fails to cancel its attack, while the "frog" dodges. In an instant, a new trench forms across the street.

However, instead of relieving the situation and easing the pressure from the opponents, a completely different scene unfolds around me. All the oil that the "frog" constantly generated ignited in an orange flame in an instant. Following suit, the Curse with the large head clapped its small hands, and a shockwave spread in all directions, throwing me several dozen meters back and tearing off about four meters of asphalt and soil in parallel.

Fire... everything was filled with it. Did the Curse think it could bind me this way? If so, its naivety gave me a huge opportunity!

"Spell Three: Wall of Fire!" I clapped my hands, bringing them together in front of my chest.

Spiritual spark - concentration - release of Cursed energy.

Two fiery serpents formed around my forearms, coiling affectionately around my fingers. A sharp swing of my hands in different directions, and the two serpents darted forward along a curved trajectory, creating a fiery barrier behind them. In the end, a devastating oval-shaped Wall of Fire, stretching for a hundred and fifty meters, was formed, incinerating everything in its path.

Usually, I use this spell only to deal with incredibly fast opponents or as a delayed activation trap, as it constantly consumes a considerable amount of Cursed energy. Even now, at the Sixth Sequence, I can sustain this spell for a maximum of 10 minutes if it surrounds a small radius. However, the "Wall of Fire" can also use the earth as a conduit and draw energy from it. Normally, the amount of energy is small, but now, with hell breaking loose around me, the "fire serpents" can feast to their heart's content.

Aspect One: Compression.

In my hands, numerous fire spheres formed, swirling around me. At a specific moment, when the speed reached its maximum, I moved all the fire spheres behind my back. Due to the incredible speed, they formed a "fire disc." Taking a step forward and swinging my arm vigorously, I brought my hand behind my back and hurled the "fire disc." It cut through everything in its path, and even the Curse with the large head couldn't stand still and was thrown back.

Fiery Teleportation.

While the unpleasant sounds of pain echoed from the cursed mouth of one, I shifted slightly to the side of the "frog," which managed to evade the attack.

Aspect One: Compression.

Once again, I compressed the fire into a small, egg-sized white fireball.

I can control the direction of my attacks too!

Aspect Five: Area of Effect.

Releasing control over the highly compressed fireball, it instantly exploded like a tank shell. However, [Aspect Five: Area of Effect] allows me to direct the explosion in the desired direction or even create a mass explosion with a safe zone at its center.

In the next moment, the bright white fireball exploded into a plasma beam, annihilating the frog-shaped Curse.

Meanwhile, the Curse with the large head regained its balance and, opening its mouth, released a kinetic bomb towards me.

Aspect Two: Fire Armor.

Raising my hands, enveloped in crimson flames, I boldly faced the attack head-on. A momentary tremor shifted my insides, and the flames engulfing the upper part of my body disappeared. The armor created by the "Second Aspect" could withstand only one attack from the Curse... Remarkably, the destructive power of this Curse seemed to rival even the formidable Gojo.

"No camaraderie... I even feel a bit sorry for it," I commented, looking at the remnants of the frog, which gradually disintegrated into nothingness. From the Curse, there was a growl, as if it was dissatisfied that it couldn't exchange its "comrade's" life for mine.

"You know, meeting any Sorcerer below Special Grade, they would consider you invincible," I continued, cracking my fingers. "However, as one guy said: 'Every technique has a flaw,' and the flaw of your technique is Sorcerers of Special Grade."

It has become a convention that all Sorcerers of Special Grade possess incredibly destructive "special techniques." This is precisely what should surpass the Cursed Technique of this Curse.

Energy Absorption — this technique can absorb energy in all forms, and the user can use the absorbed energy as they see fit. For example, shooting condensed kinetic energy or enhancing oneself to the point where my spear cannot pierce its skin. The only weaknesses of such a technique would be the volume the user can absorb and the speed at which the user absorbs energy.

Remember what we said about carpet bombing with ballistic missiles?

"Calamity of Destruction: Origins of Disaster. City of Calamity!" I formed the "horse" seal with my hands.

In the next moment, the surroundings around me and the Curse changed: the flames extinguished, the trenches disappeared, and the world turned gray.

Last time, when I reached the Domain Expansion after meditation, I tried to summon the entire "City of Calamities," which would have taken up to thirty seconds. But now, I narrowed the radius of the summoned city to just a hundred meters, which took less than a second.

"Spell Four: Giant Fireball!"

The clouds above the "City of Calamities" parted, revealing a thirty-meter red-hot fireball. Like a meteorite, it began to descend towards the Curse. Although its speed might have seemed slow, regardless of how the Curse tried to deviate from the falling trajectory, it seemed impossible. This was a manifestation of one of the features of Domain Expansion — guaranteed hit.

Realizing that avoiding this was impossible, the Curse growled, as if accepting the challenge. Within a moment, the "Giant Fireball" fell directly onto the forehead of the Curse, but instead of exploding, it actively tried to sear through it. However, a second passed, then two, five, but the Curse still stood unyielding, and it seemed like its power was only growing.

"So, you can withstand this as well," a smirk appeared on my face. "Then, how will you deal with the second?"

After my words, another "Giant Fireball" appeared in the sky, precisely landing on the first one and starting to merge with it, creating something much more powerful. The body of the Curse sank into the ground, and, expressing its dissatisfaction, it roared angrily, embracing the molten sphere with its entire being, beginning to utilize its Cursed Technique to the maximum. Under the influence of this magical process, the body of the Curse began to swiftly and almost sporadically change, sometimes enlarging, sometimes diminishing, changing the color of its skin, and occasionally, cone-shaped growths appeared on its head.

Of course, I assumed that the "Giant Fireball" wouldn't banish this Curse since it was a spell for mass destruction, and therefore, it wasn't as effective on a single target. However, this situation still surprised me. Regardless, the Curse had put itself in a deliberately disadvantageous position, which was my goal.

At the moment when the turning point should have come, and the Curse could overcome the obstacle of the two "Giant Fireballs," a shrill screech of something red-hot sounded from both sides of it. The creature hadn't had time to realize what was happening when two white "Fire Spears" protruded from it, beginning to sear it from the inside.

Two Curses of Special Grade: one needed a serious attack, the other four at once... What does this mean for a Sorcerer? It means that even within the Special Grade, there is a significant power gap, as seen between Geta Suguru and Satoru Gojo, for example. Now, try to rank such characters. Although, shortly, everything will likely come down to Sukuna, or more precisely, his fingers.

"Your Cursed Technique impresses with its magnificence," I uttered, deactivating the Domain Expansion. "At the moment of absorbing an attack, you gain immunity to its type. It was thanks to this that I couldn't pierce your defense with my spear, but I managed to take you out of the fight with a "blunt" attack to the chin for a few seconds. Now, you have successfully adapted to the "blunt" damage of the fireball and the heat of crimson fire, remaining vulnerable to the "sharp" attack of the spear with more intense white flame."

I don't know if the Curse understood me, but in the last seconds of its existence, it smiled... Smiled, as if acknowledging defeat.