Chapter 70: Sudden Anomaly
Watching the Worm Cursed Spirit completely turn to stone, Rin actually breathed a sigh of relief; his heart, which had been hanging, now settled firmly back in his chest.
He stared at the Gargoyle's terrifying face, a knowing smile playing on his lips: "It seems the situation isn't as bad as I imagined. This guy's Cursed Technique requires direct touch to trigger petrification."
As soon as he said this, he turned to Miguel, and sure enough, saw that the other man had also relaxed his tense posture, his hand clutching the black rope slowly loosening, and even the wariness in his eyes faded a bit.
The two exchanged glances, both seeing the unspoken understanding of "it's stable" in each other's eyes; this Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique just happened to fall into their "restraint zone."
"No wonder when the Worm Cursed Spirit lunged at it earlier, it didn't petrify it remotely, but waited for physical contact to activate its ability."
Miguel stretched, a hint of ease in his tone, "This ability might be tricky for others, but for the two of us, it's really not much trouble."
As he spoke, a faint white light emanated from his fingertips, and a gentle yet irresistible Cursed Energy fluctuation quietly spread, which was his Cursed Technique, Hymn of Prayer.
This Cursed Technique not only amplifies his own Cursed Energy and speed, but also forms an invisible "Cursed Energy Barrier" around him, weakening the Cursed Energy of those who approach.
Most importantly, this barrier can directly block Cursed Technique activation caused by physical touch.
The black rope, which he had been clutching tightly just moments ago, was now casually wrapped back around his wrist, clearly no longer necessary.
Rin also mobilized his Cursed Energy, and a similar white light lit up at his fingertips; Miguel's Hymn of Prayer had long been copied by him using his Sharingan, and although slightly inferior in proficiency, the core effects were identical.
Two gentle Cursed Energy fluctuations intertwined around them, like a transparent protective film, completely blocking any potential touch threats.
"Now it's our turn to counterattack."
Rin flexed his wrist, "Its Cursed Technique relies on touch, but we have the Hymn of Prayer blocking it, so we're not afraid of it getting close; conversely, whether it's ranged attacks or close-quarters grappling, we can suppress it."
Thinking this, Rin and Miguel said no more, just exchanged a look; no words were needed, their long-standing tacit understanding had already allowed them to grasp each other's thoughts.
The next second, Rin clapped his hands together quickly, a crisp "smack" echoing clearly in the open space.
As the sound faded, Miguel's figure suddenly vanished from his original spot, replaced by a kneeling worker's stone statue beside the Gargoyle; it was Rin's Boogie Woogie, temporarily triggered with Cursed Energy, using the statue as cover to instantly send Miguel close to the Cursed Spirit.
The Gargoyle clearly hadn't anticipated this sudden change; its black-blue body froze in place, even forgetting to flap its wings.
Before it could react, Miguel's black elbow, imbued with Hymn of Prayer Cursed Energy, had already slammed heavily into its chest, white light seeping from his elbow into the Cursed Spirit's body, carrying a powerful impact that weakened Cursed Energy.
"Bang!" A dull thud sounded, and the Gargoyle's massive body flew backward like a broken kite.
It knocked over seven or eight neatly arranged stone statues along the way, and amidst flying rubble, it crashed heavily onto the open ground, the impact even creating small cracks in the earth.
But after a few seconds, the Cursed Spirit actually propped itself up from the ground; although it had taken a heavy blow, it still bared its ugly wide mouth and let out a chilling sneer:
"Excellent, excellent... your strength is great enough to become the most perfect exhibit in my museum!"
As it spoke, its gaze fixed intently on Miguel, as if confirming something.
But when it saw the white light emanating from Miguel's body and his unharmed appearance, the Gargoyle's smile instantly froze, its voice filled with disbelief:
"How is this possible?! As long as you touch my body, you should be petrified... why isn't your body changing at all?"
Miguel's elbow strike earlier had clearly landed squarely on its chest; normally, the petrification Cursed Technique should have triggered, but the Miguel before it not only hadn't turned into a stone statue but was also standing steadily, and his Cursed Energy fluctuations were even stronger than before.
This completely exceeded the Gargoyle's understanding of its own Cursed Technique, causing it to feel panic for the first time.
Miguel looked at its shocked expression and couldn't help but curl his lips, raising his hand to flex his wrist, the white light of Hymn of Prayer swirling at his fingertips:
"Your petrification Cursed Technique is indeed formidable, but unfortunately, you've met us."
He took a step forward, a hint of playfulness in his tone:
"That last strike was just a reminder. Next, I'll let you truly see what real strength is."
Facing the Gargoyle's shock, Rin gave it no extra time to react; black and red Cursed Energy suddenly erupted from his fingertips.
The phantom of "Rifle" formed a continuous stream in his palm, and dense Cursed Energy bullets poured out like a torrential rain, striking the Cursed Spirit with sharp whistling sounds.
"Puff, puff, puff!" The sounds of bullets penetrating the Cursed Spirit's black-blue body rose and fell, and its body was instantly covered with dense bullet holes, black-purple Cursed Energy fluid flowing from the wounds, pooling on the ground.
The intense pain made the Cursed Spirit let out a hoarse roar, but before it could recover from the suppressive fire, Miguel's figure had already pounced close like a leopard.
"What are you still standing there for?" Miguel's roar accompanied his iron fist falling, the white light of Hymn of Prayer wrapped around powerful Cursed Energy, slamming heavily into the Gargoyle's side face.
With a muffled "bang," the Cursed Spirit's head was knocked to one side, teeth mixed with Cursed Energy fluid splattering out. The continuous heavy blows completely sobered it up; these two people were far more troublesome than it had imagined.
It had to create distance, and the Gargoyle suddenly spread its wings, pushing off the ground with its legs, wanting to fly into the sky to escape.
Rin's eyes narrowed, and he quickly moved closer to Miguel.
As their palms clapped together, a crisp "smack" echoed across the open space.
The Gargoyle's body, which had just flown halfway into the air, suddenly paused, extreme terror flashing across its face—it was Boogie Woogie!
In the instant of spatial distortion, its figure was forcibly pulled back to the ground; before its wings could even spread, Miguel's elbow strike, imbued with all his Cursed Energy, had already slammed into its chest again.
With a "crack," the black-blue "bone" on the Gargoyle's chest snapped, and its massive body crashed heavily to the ground, scattering stone fragments everywhere.
Although Special Grade Cursed Spirits have astonishing regenerative abilities, and the wounds caused by Rin's bullets were healing at a visible rate, the continuous suppression made it realize that if this continued, it would eventually be worn down to death.
Meanwhile, Rin and Miguel already had expressions of victory in their grasp; with the Hymn of Prayer countering the petrification Cursed Technique and their cooperation suppressing its movements, this battle would last at most another ten minutes.
Rin had even begun to gather stronger Cursed Energy, preparing to use a large-scale attack in Tank form to end the battle.
But just then, a sudden anomaly occurred.
The Gargoyle's body, lying on the ground, suddenly trembled violently, and Cursed Energy erupted from within it like a volcanic eruption, instantly enveloping the entire open space.
"No!" Rin's pupils constricted, and a terrifying thought flashed through his mind: this guy is going to expand his Domain!
Miguel also reacted extremely quickly, flicking his wrist, and the black rope shot out like a venomous snake, its cold-glowing body pointing directly at the Gargoyle's head, wanting to interrupt the Cursed Technique before its Domain could fully form.
But just as the black rope was about to coil around the Cursed Spirit, the shattered stone statues on the ground suddenly moved.
The worker stone statues that had fallen all around now rose from the ground in twisted postures, their broken arms and cracked stone faces exuding a bizarre savagery; they ignored the Cursed Energy impact and lunged madly at Miguel's black rope.
"Bang!" The first stone statue hit the black rope, instantly shattering into powder, but then, the second, the third... dozens of stone statues followed one after another, forcefully blocking the black rope's trajectory.
It was this brief delay of a few seconds that allowed the Cursed Energy around the Gargoyle to solidify into a tangible barrier; the sky suddenly darkened, and the original mountains and open ground instantly vanished, Rin and Miguel having been pulled into the Cursed Spirit's Domain.
The sight before them made their scalps tingle; inside the Domain was an endless "stone sea," with countless solidified stone statues densely packed on the ground and in mid-air.
Each statue maintained a terrified posture from their moment of death; some extended stone hands as if asking for help, others had wide-open mouths as if screaming, and Cursed Energy continuously seeped from the cracks in the statues, the air filled with a strange smell of rock mixed with decay.
The Gargoyle's figure floated in the center of the stone sea, its black-blue body completely enveloped in Cursed Energy, its terrifying face filled with madness:
"Welcome to my 'Eternal Exhibition Hall'... This time, you won't escape again!"