-592- The start of an imminent battle

The chaotic onslaught of jujutsu attacks slowly subsided, causing various spiritual energies representing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth to vanish. The diverse effects of jujutsu generated by the five elements dissipated.

"Ah..."

"Ow..."

Each Mystical Investigation agent who had attacked Rozen lay sprawled on the ground, not a single one able to stand intact. They even collided with their comrades who had set up barriers behind them, falling to the ground and letting out muffled cries of pain.

Hovering in mid-air, Rozen watched this scene with hidden delight.

"I didn't expect Kinu's resistance to jujutsu to be so high, actually rebounding such a large number of jujutsu."

This was truly a great surprise.

Kinu, as a curse tool, had effects similar to Raven's Wing. After all, both were Shikigami developed using the same method, so their abilities naturally wouldn't differ.

In other words, Kinu's coat form possessed "external" abilities such as flight, spontaneous jujutsu, physical attacks, automatic defense, counterattack capabilities, and enhanced assistance to magic and jujutsu.

However, Raven's Wing was only a Shikigami modeled after Kinu, so while their abilities were the same, the levels of these abilities were naturally not on the same scale.

Even though Rozen couldn't fully unleash Kinu's power yet, even now, the abilities of Kinu's coat surpassed Raven's Wing by more than one level. Not only was the flight speed much higher than Raven's Wing, but the power of spontaneous jujutsu and physical attacks was also far greater. Even the protective abilities were exceptionally high.

Faced with a massive jujutsu onslaught and rebounding them all, one could imagine how formidable the coat's defensive capabilities were.

Moreover, Rozen could feel that after wearing the coat made from Kinu, the power of his magic and jujutsu was enhanced, and even the consumption of using magic and jujutsu had decreased significantly. This was truly a great surprise.

"And this is still the situation where I haven't fully unleashed Kinu's power."

If Rozen could fully unleash Kinu's power, then at that time, how high would this coat's abilities go?

Just thinking about it a bit, Rozen felt eager.

Naturally, as a curse tool, the effects of Gyokuto were similar to Moon Wheel. It had "internal" abilities such as sensing, mental interference, spiritual body protection, curse resistance, and autonomous rebound of illusions.

However, similar to the situation with Kinu, the effects of Gyokuto were considerably higher than the imitation product.

In the current situation, facing the Mystical Investigation agents who were casting illusions from behind, their jujutsu was all immunized by the Gyokuto's ring, and even rebounded. This left several Mystical Investigation agents stupefied, standing there with no reaction.

In this situation, Rozen also found that under the amplification of the Gyokuto's ring, his abilities used for sensing in various directions, such as "Spirit Vision," "Heaven's Eye," and even "Mind's Eye," had all been raised by several levels.

Furthermore, the ring also seems to enhance the spirit and stabilize the mind, even having a warning effect similar to the former Saichou and Hanachou.

These two curse tools, one for external use and one for internal use, have surprisingly potent effects.

"With these two curse tools, it will be difficult for me to get injured or be attacked in the future."

Feeling the help brought by Kinu and Gyokuto, Rozen's mood seemed uplifted.

What made Rozen even happier was that their abilities were far from reaching their limits. As long as Rozen continued to improve himself, their effects would improve and provide even greater assistance to him.

Although Rozen had once fallen into an extremely weakened state to complete these two curse tools, even leading to his arrest by the Onmyou Agency and being imprisoned, feeling their effects, Rozen had only one thought.

"It was worth it."

No wonder so many people pursued godhood.

No wonder so many wanted to summon gods.

"This is the power of a god."

Rozen was almost intoxicated by the thought.

But after a while, Rozen's eyes cleared again.

"Since I've obtained such rare power, I need to make good use of it."

This was the difference between Rozen and Soma Takiko and others. He pursued power but wouldn't lose himself, nor would he be consumed or tempted, sticking to his own bottom line and principles, all for the sake of being worthy of himself and others.

"Now, let's go and rescue Natsume and Suzuka. I'm counting on you, Kinu, Gyokuto."

Rozen's words were met with the coat on him responding with a dance, sprinkling a lot of fire powder, and the delicate ring on his finger emitting a brilliant light, exceptionally beautiful.

Then, Rozen's figure soared again, flying towards the direction he sensed, so fast that it was like a bullet, causing the fire powder to fall continuously from the air, exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

On the way, Mystical Investigation agents continued to emerge from all directions.

"Halt!"

"Stop!"

"Stop right there!"

One by one, Mystical Investigation agents shouted loudly, and then either threw the talismans in their hands, performed spells, or chanted incantations, launching jujutsu attacks at Rozen.

Facing them, Rozen didn't even need to move a hand. Kinu autonomously launched attacks and defenses, either rebounding all the jujutsu or sweeping away approaching Shikigami with the swing of his coat, making all the attacks futile.

As for those invisible attacks, such as illusions, Kotodama, and even curses, they were all intercepted by Gyokuto, not harming Rozen in the slightest.

Rozen completely ignored all the attacks from the Mystical Investigation agents and flew towards the direction he sensed.

The reason there were only Mystical Investigation agents and no Exorcism Division members was probably because the Exorcism Division was not in the Onmyou Agency, but in another place, right?

However, as the distance got closer, Rozen gradually felt the contract link between himself and Natsume and Suzuka becoming clearer.

"Is it just ahead?"

Rozen's heart moved, and Kinu's coat on him fluttered, rushing into a spacious corridor.

Just then...

"————————"

A cold and stern voice suddenly rang out, causing a layer of barrier created by a jujutsu technique much stronger and larger in scale than the previous ones used by the Mystical Investigation agents to rush through the entire corridor like light and wind, enveloping the entire corridor.

"—!"

In the next second, a simple and fast mantra turned into a substantive force, like a flash of jujutsu lightning, heavily impacting Rozen's body.

"Bang!"

Rozen, flying in mid-air, suddenly came to a halt, and Kinu's coat on his body automatically surged up, the hem of the coat turning into a barrier, deflecting the incoming jujutsu lightning.

"Clang!"

At this moment, another immensely powerful curse force slashed through the air, carrying an clear hum, heading towards Rozen's direction.

This time, Rozen didn't let Kinu autonomously counterattack. Instead, he used his Mind's Eye to perceive the incoming attack, allowing Kinu to descend and avoid the slashing attack.

"Thud!"

Rozen finally stood firmly on the ground once again.

And before him, three figures walked slowly.

"Hey, nice to see you again, you little brat," Kagami Reiji, with both hands in his pockets, said insolently.

"Look at the mess you've caused!" Yuge Mari reproached with precision.

"...It's truly regrettable, Akikan."

Kogure Zenjiro gripped his divine sword, his face serious.

Three independent exorcists had arrived.