Inside the curtain of the Tokyo Jujutsu High competition venue.
Maki moved swiftly and flexibly through the forest, constantly closing the distance between herself and Dagon.
Dagon spewed a large torrent of water toward Maki.
Maki changed her footwork, shifting from a frontal charge to moving toward her front left.
Dagon redirected the water to pursue her, but it was blocked by a large tree.
The water successfully snapped the tree, but it was also momentarily obstructed by it.
Seizing this opportunity, Maki once again closed the distance between them.
Seeing the distance between them constantly shrink, Dagon also made preparations.
A large amount of water gathered around Dagon, finally forming a ring of water.
Maki once again used the cover of the trees to switch the Thousand Machine Umbrella in her hand to rifle mode. As she emerged from behind the tree, the rifle's muzzle immediately locked onto Dagon.
Bang bang bang!
Several bullets shot toward Dagon's face, but the water ring around him suddenly surged, forming a protective barrier that blocked all the bullets.
Maki's eyes narrowed.
She had already figured out the release speed, volume, and damage of Dagon's water flow.
What she needed to do now was drag the opponent into her strong range, then exorcise it.
Maki landed steadily on a tree, then crouched down and pushed off with both feet.
Click, clack.
The Thousand Machine Umbrella in her hand switched into the form of a double-edged greatsword, like a door panel. Then her entire body shot out like a cannonball.
Dagon immediately manipulated the water to meet her.
Several octopus-tentacle-like streams of water lashed out at Maki.
Compared to the previous straightforward water flows, these attacks covered a wider area and were more likely to hinder Maki's movements.
The greatsword in Maki's hand danced continuously, the heavy weapon seeming weightless in her grasp.
Fifty meters, thirty meters, ten meters...
Splash.
"Roar!"
Just as Maki was about to reach Dagon, several giant fish-like shikigami emerged from beneath the water.
These fish-like shikigami opened their bloody mouths, attempting to swallow Maki whole.
"Tsk."
Maki let out an annoyed click of her tongue, then spun the greatsword in her hand and hacked at the fish-like shikigami below.
While Maki was slaying the shikigami, the water ring around Dagon began to gather, and another stream of water rushed toward Maki.
Whoosh.
The water stream struck Maki, its immense force and impact nearly crushing and tearing her body apart.
But soon, Dagon was forced to stop its attack.
Thud.
A katana fell from the sky and pierced Dagon's body. The sudden, intense pain caused it to instinctively stop its attack and pull out the katana embedded in its body.
It turned out that just now, when Maki saw Dagon's defensive water ring being used for offense, she immediately drew a katana from the bottom of the Thousand Machine Umbrella and threw it into the sky.
This was also why Maki had been unable to dodge Dagon's attack.
Finally, the katana arced through the air and pierced Dagon's head.
The moment she sensed the attack weakening, Maki immediately cut through the water and rushed to Dagon.
Thud.
The double-edged greatsword struck Dagon, leaving a huge gash on its octopus-like face.
Thud thud thud.
Maki continuously swung the double-edged greatsword, intending to exorcise Dagon in one go.
"Ah ah ah!"
The water beneath them suddenly shot skyward. Driven by a strong will to survive, Dagon unleashed an indiscriminate, wide-range attack at all costs, sending Maki flying into the sky.
"It's over!"
After being launched into the air, Maki immediately adjusted her posture. As she descended, she sliced Dagon in two with a single strike.
'The feeling is off!'
Maki realized something and continuously scanned her surroundings.
"I'll kill you!"
A dark red figure suddenly burst out from the side.
Clang!
A fist struck the double-edged greatsword, and the immense force sent Maki flying like a cannonball.
"So that's it. The previous form was just a Cursed Womb."
Maki smiled as she looked at Dagon in the air, transforming from an octopus into a humanoid with two small wings on its back.
"I feel like this form of yours looks familiar. Hey, Cursed Spirit, do you have any relatives or anything?"
Maki had always felt that this Dagon, with an octopus-like head and tentacles on its chin, looked somewhat familiar.
"Cursed Spirit?"
Dagon looked at Maki with a displeased expression.
"We have names!"
Dagon roared toward the sky, then clenched his fists and formed a hand seal in front of his body.
"Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha!"
...
'Everyone is so strong!'
Kasumi, holding her katana, was momentarily unsure what to do.
'I am, after all, useless Miwa.'
Time rewound a few minutes.
Aragokurō's giant skeletal palm descended from the sky, and Kasumi, with no way to avoid it, decided to take the blow head-on.
"Get your dirty hands off her!"
Just then, Kokichi arrived while piloting Unit Zero.
The dozens-of-meters-tall Unit Zero blocked Aragokurō's giant palm, standing in front of Kasumi.
Then, a battle like something out of a sci-fi movie began.
The dozens-of-meters-tall mech and the equally dozens-of-meters-tall monster engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with intense impact.
Seeing that the terrifying enemy had been stopped by her companion, Kasumi immediately turned around to continue exorcising other Cursed Spirits.
There were more than just these three enemies emerging from underground.
Instead, there was a dense swarm of them.
It was a pity that Kokichi did not know the location and time of the enemies' appearance.
Otherwise, if he had deployed Unit Zero in advance to block the entrance, a few blasts would probably have left only a handful of enemies remaining.
"Haa!"
Kasumi let out a delicate shout, and Dance of Fine Snow sliced through the three Cursed Spirits in front of her.
A thin layer of frost completely froze their wounds, preventing the Cursed Spirits from recovering.
Kasumi pressed her advantage and exorcised all three Cursed Spirits.
Whoosh, clang!
A scorpion-tail-like attack stabbed toward Kasumi, which she blocked in time with Dance of Fine Snow.
"Grade 2 Cursed Spirit!"
Perceiving the enemy's condition, Kasumi immediately prepared to respond.
Although a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer facing a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit had an almost one hundred percent win rate, that was no reason for a Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer to be arrogant.
Especially not on such a chaotic battlefield.
Just as Kasumi was about to lead her shikigami, Yuki-onna, to attack, three artillery blasts landed on the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit first.
"Ultra Cannon!" x3
Three Mass-Produced Mechamaru appeared beside Kasumi. The Ultra Cannons sealed off every angle of escape for the Cursed Spirit.
Boom.
After the Ultra Cannons hit, the Mass-Produced Mechamaru did not stop their attack. They continued bombarding it until the Cursed Spirit turned to ash.
"Thank you. Kokichi really is reliable!"
Seeing the enemy defeated, Kasumi immediately went to support the others with her sword.
"Another Grade 2 Cursed Spirit?"
Looking at the lizard Cursed Spirit rushing toward her, Kasumi stopped and adopted an iai stance.
"Shinkage-ryū, Draw..."
"Ultra Cannon!" x4
Before her sword was even drawn, several Cursed Energy blasts flew past Kasumi and struck the Cursed Spirit.
"Huh?"
Kasumi tilted her head cutely, feeling as if she could probably find a place to rest.
Then Kasumi shook her head vigorously, casting that thought out of her mind.
"The battle isn't over. I need to do my best to help."
Kasumi clenched her fists and held them to her chest, cheering herself on, then set off again.
"Shinkage-ryū..."
"Ultra Cannon!" x5
"Shinkage..."
"Ultra Cannon!" x6
Kasumi's eyes went blank, and she stood rooted to the spot as if all color had drained from her body.
'Sorry, I really am still useless Miwa.'
(To be continued.)