Chapter 188
"Ughhhhhh!!"
The real person who was set on fire immediately let out a terrible scream, as if their soul was being roasted by excessive heat.
The blazing white flames that ignited came so fiercely and irrationally that they illuminated the entire passageway as if the sun had been plucked from the clear sky and hung there.
Megumi Fushiguro and Hisahito Itadori were so pierced by the light that they couldn't open their eyes, instinctively turning their heads away and even raising their hands to block out the light.
They mistakenly believed it to be Kazuma Hagoromo's technique, and they were incredibly shocked.
—In fact, Hatake Kazuma was no less surprised than the two of them.
Even the sudden burst of light made it impossible for him to see anything. He could only wait for the strange flames that appeared out of nowhere to gradually die down—before that, the real man's wails had already subsided and disappeared.
From dimness to extreme brightness and back to dimness, it took Kazuma Hatake a while to gradually regain his sight, only to find that the place where the real man had been had been burned to nothing but a pile of eerie, black embers.
The already smelly sewers now had an even stronger, burnt smell of protein or something else, making it extremely unpleasant.
Not receiving the [Curse Crystal] dropped after the real person's death, Kazuma Hatake immediately looked at the [Social] interface and found that the other person's name did not have "(deceased)" after it.
They weren't burned to death?
Kazuma Hatake was somewhat surprised.
If there's anywhere the creature could escape, then the only place left is this sewage ditch right in the middle of the waterway—could it possibly transform itself into some kind of smaller fish and escape through this sewage ditch?
Water can extinguish fires, and the other party's desperate attempt to crawl into the ditch was an instinctive survival reaction.
However, the fact that the special-grade cursed spirit escaped again reminded him of how Wu had finally managed to bring Louhu to the brink of death, only to have him rescued by another cursed spirit... which made him a little annoyed.
Okay, maybe Wu actually found it easy to hit Louhu, but seeing Louhu successfully escape, the white cat's big tail drooped down in disappointment!
So he was very unhappy.
When Hagoromo Kazuma was about to use his old trick again, selecting a real person as the target of his spellcasting with the [Eight-Syllable Wheel Card], forcibly transforming its mimicry from a small fish into a larger humanoid form—
But then the name [Real Person] suddenly went gray, followed by a (deceased) mark.
Just as he was about to continue his pursuit, Kazuma Hatori slowly stopped, his eyes revealing obvious suspicion and confusion.
Is it already dead?
Having no longer sensed the terrifying aura of the curse, Yuujin Itadori immediately ran towards Kazuma Hatori, his tone and expression filled with excitement.
"Wow, Mr. Ichizane's technique is amazing!"
With a "whoosh," flames suddenly rose out of nowhere and completely burned that guy to ashes! Amazing!
The two sides of Su Nuo inside his body were just yelling that only by giving up his body could everyone survive, and that he wanted to impose some kind of [binding]—Pah, pah, pah, he would never ask this guy for help!
Kazuma Hatake: "..."
He was quite certain that his spells and magical implements had no effect on igniting a top-tier cursed spirit, and besides, ordinary flames shouldn't have that warm white color mixed with a touch of gold and red.
But if you're saying he didn't do it... there was no one else present.
As someone who was involved in the battle just now, Kazuma Hatori could feel that the flames suddenly ignited after the other party touched him.
In short, was it him who started it? How did he do it?
After reviewing the descriptions of his current skills again, Kazuma Hatake was still unsure how he had managed to exorcise Makoto.
Moreover, it is very likely that he did not perform the exorcism.
Kazuma Hatake opened his inventory and found that there was still no extra [Superior Cursed Power Crystal] that had been automatically recycled.
This situation is too bizarre, what exactly is going on...?
"Mr. Kazuma! Mr. Kazuma! Long live Mr. Kazuma!"
Hagoromo Kazuma snapped out of his reverie and found Hisahito bouncing around him while singing a song he'd made up on the spot to celebrate.
Fushiguro Megumi stood silently at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, as if pretending not to know this idiot who was singing and dancing.
"……cough."
The scene was so funny that he couldn't help but cough lightly.
Compared to his black bean Shiba Inu mimicry, Kazuma Hatake felt that Yuujin was simply a large, happy golden retriever, who didn't even need to use the [Eight-Session Wheel Card].
"That top-tier cursed spirit has been exorcised. Let's go."
Kazuma Hatori could only keep this unsolvable mystery to himself for the time being.
"Great!"
Yuujin Itadori followed with great interest, "Ah, should we still talk to Gojo-sensei about Junpei? He's a jutsu master now, so he should be able to enroll in the jutsu academy, right?"
“I will discuss this with Satoru,” Kazuma Hato nodded slightly. “Also, remember not to mention me in the report.”
"Huh? But if we don't mention the teacher, Fukuro and I wouldn't be able to exorcise a top-tier cursed spirit, would we?"
"...Just say it escaped."
"No, we should have been the ones who ran away..."
Finally leaving the stinking sewer, Kazuma Hatori slowly exhaled, only to hear Megumi Fushiguro, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly exclaim "Ah!", causing Hisahito Itadori to turn his head curiously.
"What's wrong, Fu Hei?"
"...Those people are probably still hanging on the horizontal bar at the beach park. I only took the jade dog back before I left, and forgot to tell them they could get off the ground..."
"...!!"
Ignoring the two people rushing to the beach park, Kazuma Hato took out his phone as he walked, intending to report the situation to Satoru first.
—While waiting for the other end of the call to connect, a fleeting thought suddenly flashed through his mind as he relaxed.
That Yoshino Junpei, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before...?
Before Kazuma Hatake could take a further step in appreciating this subtle sense of familiarity, Satoru Gojo had already answered the phone instantly, his tone extremely serious.
"Do you need me to come over?"
If the black Bean Shiba Inu's mimicry of Isshin can be transformed back into a human, it means that Hisahito is facing a crisis that he must confront.
Based on the information that Shoko had previously inquired about over the phone, Gojo Satoru did not delve into the specifics of the situation. Instead, he simply asked Hatori Kazuma if he needed him to use [Azure] to come and provide support.
"No need, that top-tier cursed spirit has already been exorcised, and no one was hurt."
Well, except for some people's butts.
Hagoromo Kazuma's words immediately put Gojo Satoru at ease, and his tone even returned to its usual light and cheerful tone, "Oh my, as expected of our Kazuma, he solves any problem so easily—"
Gojo Satoru deliberately used a sweet and soft voice to praise Hatori Kazuma, making the latter's health bar instantly drop to zero and his brain feel lightheaded.
Adult big cats being cute is almost too much, but it's undeniably effective.
"Cough...cough, hmm,"
Kazuma Hagoromo was very susceptible to this. He was easily charmed by a few words and couldn't help but smile. He coughed twice before continuing to ask his lover.
Would you mind taking on another student?
Gojo Satoru: "..."
Gojo Satoru: "Hmm??"
…………
Rewind a moment, and as the real person was being burned to the brink of death by the blazing flames, he finally managed to use his remaining magical power to transform his soul into a small fish. With the flames still burning his entire body, he slid with difficulty into the sewage-filled ditch.
Taking advantage of the moment when the three sorcerers were unaware that it had escaped, Zhenren swam towards one of the drainage inlets upstream—Xia Youjie was waiting there, ready to assist him at any time.
Just like Hua Yu took Lou Hu away, he will also rescue it.
Although I don't completely trust this curse master, the situation is urgent, and I don't have a better solution right now.
Especially this damned flame—unlike the flame lit by the leaking coral, it refused to go out even when it fell into the water, determined to burn the soul to ashes!
And that guy's soul, that guy's soul actually...!
The human could feel itself growing weaker and weaker. Before its last bit of strength to swim disappeared, it finally reached the exit and used its hand, which had returned to human form, to push open the sewer opening.
On that hand covered in stitches, a few wisps of white flame, shimmering with tiny golden-red sparkles, still lingered.
Xia Youjie was indeed waiting there, his face mostly hidden by a hooded jacket and a mask.
Upon seeing the dying human, he didn't seem particularly surprised; he even greeted it with a smile.
"You look like you've had a tough battle. Are you alright, Zhenren?"
"Stop making sarcastic remarks, come and help me...!"
The man struggled to climb out of the sewer, panting in pain, "This flame, this flame won't go out, it won't stop until it burns me to ashes!"
Even with its voice hoarse from shouting, it grew weaker and weaker, almost losing all "vitality"—if the cursed spirit had that.
“I don’t understand,” Xia Youjie said slowly and deliberately. “Logically speaking, your spells should be able to counter most spellcasters, so how did you get beaten up like this? Was it done by Ryoumen Sukuna?”
Seeing that the curse master was determined to find out the truth before he would help, Zhenren gritted his teeth inwardly, but could only answer the other party's question verbally.
If it weren't for Hua Yu guarding Lou Hu, and if it weren't for this strange flame, it wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state...!
“I did encounter the vessel for Ryomen Sukuna, but Kazuma Hatori was also there. I had no chance to touch Hisahito Itadori to release Ryomen Sukuna… Moreover, Kazuma Hatori’s soul… his soul is too special to be touched at all…”
The real person spoke intermittently, but Xia Youjie keenly grasped the last sentence.
"What do you mean by 'Hatori Kazuma's soul is too special'? How is it different from an ordinary person's?"
"I don't know, I didn't sense anything."
The real person raised Xia Youjie's head—its appearance was extremely tragic at this moment. The blazing white flames seemed to be alive, leaping on its body and slowly gnawing at this body made of cursed power until the fuel was completely exhausted.
"I felt as if I had touched a flame, boundless and limitless, as if the whole world was burning before my eyes..."
Then, his soul was continuously scorched by the scalding flames, which had not been extinguished even now.
As a newly born human, he had no idea what was going on with him and could only plead with the curse master before him, "Please help me...!"
Faced with his colleague's cries for help, Xia Youjie hesitated for a moment before giving it a seemingly gentle smile.
"Thank you for the information. Don't worry, of course I'll help you, after all—"
He reached out to the dying super-grade cursed spirit, and [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] was silently activated on it.
"You were my original target."
………
When he returned to the territory of the Thögen, the Louhu, who was still recovering from its injuries, the Huayu who was with it, and the Thögen, who was leisurely swimming in the sea, all turned their gazes toward him.
"I'm sorry, everyone."
Xia Youjie spoke with a heavy tone, and his expression was extremely solemn as he looked back at the three top-tier cursed spirits.
"When Makoto was designing the way to contact the Sukuna container, he encountered Kazuma Hatori... I was unable to save him."
Upon hearing the news of the real person's death, Louhu could no longer sit still.
"What?! How could this be...?!"
Xia Youjie shook his head slightly, adopting a mourning posture.
"Sigh... That's why I said, don't underestimate Kazuma Hagoromo and Satoru Gojo. They are both very dangerous and must be treated with caution. We must make sure that we can successfully seal one of them by October 31st."
"Yes, that's right, the location is Shibuya."
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