Chapter 28

Meanwhile, the view from outside the tent to the inside remained calm and uneventful, with nothing unusual in sight.

The purpose of the [tent] is to hide the existence within the barrier from ordinary people, so it is only natural that it has this effect.

Even if the avalanche stops, no one will find that Kazuma Hatake and Megumi Fushiguro died inside.

Who would notice such a slight change in the snow scene?

Or to put it another way, what can be done once the higher vocational college realizes it? The person is already dead; it's too late to do anything then.

--boom.

The impact from within produced no sound, only a violent tremor like ripples within the tent—as if the momentum of an avalanche had continued, crashing heavily against the dark tent walls.

"Lowering Hu, you can stop now. If you continue, the [tent] will be smashed."

A voice rang out from not far away, sounding as natural as a human speaking: "Although it's a half-baked [tent], it can't last very long, but at least it shouldn't end so soon."

"You summoned me here just to indirectly trigger an avalanche?"

A few sparks flew from the hill-shaped crater, and a sneer revealed its black teeth. The volcano spirit called Louhu was particularly displeased.

"Why go through all this trouble to kill that person? Can't I just take action directly?"

“No, that won’t do,” the young man in the cassock smiled. “I tested him with a regular top-tier cursed spirit, and he dealt with it easily.”

"Do you mean to say he's stronger than me?" Lou Hu sneered. "That's just self-praise from you weaklings. You've never witnessed true strength."

“Of course, it’s not that you can’t beat him,” the young man spread his hands, “but both of them have top-level strength. The remnants you leave behind when you fight him will be too obvious and will attract unnecessary attention from the higher education institution, which will not do us any good.”

The excuse was indeed weak—the young man in the kasaya was worried that a cursed spirit might not be able to kill the cunning head of the Kamo family, so he wanted to use a natural disaster that was difficult for humans to overcome to try to eliminate him.

The Leaky Coral was originally born from humanity's fear of the earth, and the force that triggers an avalanche will not leave much residue.

Moreover, dying from a natural disaster is much more difficult for the higher education authorities to investigate than dying at the hands of a top-tier cursed spirit.

It could be called a murder that leaves no trace—provided the victim actually dies in the avalanche.

However, Louhu did not understand the considerations and concerns behind the young man in the kasaya's words, and only showed extreme impatience with this opportunity to help.

"Don't forget that we are merely partners, Curse Master. I will only tolerate such treatment once."

Lava spewed from the crater above again, and Louhu threatened, "You humans are always afraid of this and that. If you mess with me, I'll kill you all—including you."

"Okay, okay, don't be angry, Louhu. There will be other opportunities in the future."

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, the young man with his black hair half-up and half-tied up smiled and approached the person standing in front of the window in front of the tent.

"Have all the opponents been eliminated?"

"Yes, they all died in accidents."

[Window] became noticeably serious and answered in a tense voice.

“Well done. Remember, absolutely no distress signals can be sent out before the bodies are found. Are you sure the entire Asahidake Mountain has been cleared out after they arrived?”

"Yes, on the way to pick them up, I made sure they hadn't been in contact with anyone else!"

“Very good,” the young man in the kasaya said with a smile, patting [the window] on the shoulder. His voice was friendly.

"Also, please thank the assistant supervisor who helped put down the [tent] in the shadows. But unfortunately, releasing the [tent] leaves behind remnants of cursed power. Remember to silence him later as well."

"Yes...yes!"

Needless to say, he is one of the top three companies, and the fact that even the director's department, which he had long controlled, has begun to be interfered with by the other party is intolerable no matter what.

If even a top-tier cursed spirit can't harm that family head, and the Kamo family and the General Headquarters are also unable to deal with him...

—Then let's see how effective a natural disaster is.

…………

"Kamo..."

In the instant they were swallowed by the surging snow waves, Fushiguro Megumi turned around almost simultaneously and called out to Hatake Kazuma, reaching out to him with all her might.

But that hastily uttered cry was swallowed up by the snow, which seemed to collapse like a building.

Their bodies were swept upside down by the avalanche, their vision was turned upside down, and even their mouths and noses were blocked by snow, making it extremely difficult to even catch their breath. In the face of this drastic natural disaster, it was almost impossible for humans, even sorcerers, to put up any effective resistance.

It's just that it's almost impossible.

——[Crimson Blood Manipulation Technique: Crimson Binding].

Pushed and crushed by snow from all directions, Fushiguro Megumi, whose senses were in complete disarray, suddenly felt a tightness around her waist, as if she were being coiled around by a python-like creature.

Then it tightened even more, and an irresistible force came from its end, forcibly pulling him away from the still surging and terrifying snow tide!

Like a drowning person suddenly rescued and brought ashore, the cold, fresh air rushed into her mouth and nose, making Fushiguro Megumi gasp for breath for a long time. Her hair, soaked by the melting snow, hung down wetly and clung to her cheeks in a particularly disheveled manner.

The heavy coat was also covered with fine snow, and the March wind made me shiver with cold.

It was at this moment that Fushiguro Megumi realized that he was being strangled by a rope made of dark blood around his waist—the other end of which was connected to Hagoromo Kazuma, wrapped around his wrist, and finally disappeared into the shadows hidden by his sleeve.

Kazuma Hatori's other wrist was also tightly bound by the blood rope, allowing them to dangle precariously from a protruding rock on the cliff face, barely escaping the avalanche's range.

"[Crimson Blood Manipulation Technique]...?"

When Fushiguro Megumi opened her mouth, she realized that her voice was much hoarse.

He held onto the blood-red rope with one hand to maintain his balance, looked up at Kazuma Hatake, and found that the other man's hair and clothes were also soaked with snow water, but he looked okay overall, and even had the strength to maintain sharp judgment in the avalanche, which saved him.

"Well, we were lucky."

Kazuma Hatake replied, "Although I couldn't see where you were just now, I was able to select you as the target of my spell attack."

As long as the name is in the [Social] list and the other party is within the attack range of the technique, he can activate the skill on them.

Fushiguro Megumi was indeed lucky. The moment he noticed the avalanche, he put the [Blood-Containing Fighting Spear] into his equipment slot and opened the skill list of [Crimson Blood Manipulation] with his hands empty.

【Crimson Blood Manipulation (Core) (Level 1): You will gain the ability to manipulate your own blood in combat. You can increase your proficiency through continuous battles, unlocking more related skills.】

Current equipment: None.

Currently activated skill:

: Manipulates the body's temperature, pulse, red blood cell count, etc. During the skill's activation time, it can greatly increase various physical stats and increase attack damage.

: Coagulates the user's own blood into a rope-like form, binding the target. Cannot cause damage.

It was this combination of skills that saved their lives. It allowed Kazuma Hatake to maintain his balance in the surging snow and find a way to escape the avalanche, and it also allowed him to successfully select Megumi Fushiguro through the [Social] interface and rescue him from the avalanche as well.

If Fushiguro Megumi were trapped under several meters of snow, the chances of her being rescued would be extremely low.

"But the problem now is that I don't know how high the cliff is. If you let go directly, you could easily break your bones."

As for himself, Kazuma Hagoromo was not worried at all.

Regardless of whether players experience fall damage, the game's pain feedback is very considerate. Even if you break an arm or a leg, it's basically equivalent to being hit by a massage chair in a shopping mall. Once your health is fully restored, you can continue to jump around.

However, neither Fushiguro Megumi nor he can reverse the spell. If Fushiguro Megumi breaks a bone and loses her fighting ability, the level two mission will probably be canceled as well.

The avalanche overhead continued to rumble, muffled the sound of Kazuma Hatake's words, but at least enough for Megumi Fushiguro, hanging below him, to barely hear them.

"Why do you assume he's the only one who broke his leg?" Fushiguro Megumi paused for a moment before answering.

“I can feel the aura of a cursed spirit coming up from below, so this cliff shouldn’t be that high. I have a way to get us all to a safe landing.”

“That’s good,” said Kazuma Hatake. “You count to three, two, one, and I’ll undo the spell.”

"good."

Fushiguro Megumi arched the back of her hand, bending only her index finger to form a summoning gesture.

three.

two.

one.

The blood-red rope wrapped around their wrists disappeared, and Kazuma Hatori and Megumi Fushiguro plummeted downwards.

"[The Great Serpent]!"

The shadows on the cliff stirred for a moment, then suddenly a gigantic python spirit, tens of meters long, leaped out and easily swallowed the two of them whole.

Then, the giant snake took their place and continued to tumble and fall until it crashed heavily to the bottom of the cliff!

Having withstood all the impact of the fall, it crashed into several trees and compacted a large patch of snow before finally stopping, gradually dissipating its form, revealing the two people inside, who were completely disoriented.

Kazuma Hatori held his head and sat up.

"I've never felt this dizzy even on a spinning teacup ride at an amusement park..."

When Fushiguro Megumi stood up, she couldn't help but make a comment.

"...Your maximum tolerance for spinning speed is only for spinning a teacup?"

He entered battle mode extremely quickly. Before he had even landed, he was already heading in the direction where he had sensed the cursed spirit, and once again made the hand shadow of [Jade Dog].

If this cursed spirit is indeed at the second level, it shouldn't be difficult for Fukuro Megumi to exorcise it.

Kazuma Hatake watched as the cursed spirit, unable to gain the upper hand in several sonic attacks using the recorder, was gradually torn apart and dissipated by the jade dog constructed solely of shadow.

[Current Task: Megumi Fushiguro's entrance assessment.]

[Assisted Fushiguro Megumi in completing the Level 2 Spellcaster assessment mission: 80%/100%.]

He opened the [Task] interface to confirm that the cursed spirit had not been exorcised incorrectly, and that the guy was indeed only at level two.

There is still 20% of the progress to be completed, which means they still need to successfully escape from here.

Kazuma Hatori was pretty sure that the avalanche just now was man-made, and most likely it was aimed at him.

It seems I'll have to sacrifice a few of the old NPCs from the General Manager's Office when I get back, to let those who still dare to oppose me know just how formidable the players really are.

"With the problem of the cursed spirit solved, that should be my original task."

When Fushiguro Megumi returned to Hagoromo Kazuma's side after putting away the [Jade Dog], her expression was solemn.

"[Nue] can carry people, but it's only a shikigami I recently tamed, and it's not fully grown yet, so its current carrying capacity is limited to one person. Moreover, it's highly unlikely it can fly up such a high cliff..."

Before them lay a vast expanse of white snow, everything withered and barren—and they carried no supplies whatsoever.

The signal inside the tent was cut off, and it was impossible to contact the outside world using a mobile phone.

Perhaps we should break the [tent] first, or wait until it disappears, before trying to contact Gojo-sensei... I remember that uncle I met at Sugami Station before. If he really will keep their promise, then we just need to wait until after midnight...

No, we need to figure out how to get through tonight. The temperature is too low at night, and hypothermia could easily kill them first.

We also have to be wary of the enemy coming first to search and confirm their fate...

Fushiguro Megumi frowned, racking his brains for a way to survive, when he suddenly heard Hato Kazuma speak.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Would you like to eat now? It’s on me.”

Fushiguro Megumi: "..."

Fushiguro Megumi: "?"

Now? Invite him to dinner?