Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

That bastard, he's actually this powerful after falling into the realm of cursed spirits?

Seeing her sister struggling to resist, Zhenyi gritted her teeth, propped herself up, gripped the pistol, aimed, and fired!

They're no longer the tagalongs they used to be, so how can they hold others back again?

By unleashing all his magical power to enhance the bullet, and combining it with the positive energy of his own body, this attack was enough to easily destroy the body of a level one cursed spirit.

Unfortunately, it's useless if you can't hit it. Before it was even human, Naoya already had the level of a first-class sorcerer. Its spells were the "projection spells," which are known for their speed. As long as it doesn't choose to get close, ordinary people really can't catch up with it.

This is why he was able to escape in the end.

Now at the Special Grade level, although he could sense the threat, Naoya used his more skilled "projection spell" to easily dodge the attack, while keeping his eyes on the disheveled Mai not far away.

"Why can't you just lie still on the ground? Why do you have to attract attention? Don't you know you're just causing trouble for your sister? Fine, since you want to die, I'll grant your wish and send you down there!"

Before the words were even finished, her body, like a silkworm cocoon bursting open, hurtled towards Zhenyi with speeds reaching Mach and an exaggerated mass.

"Mai——"

Upon seeing this, Maki roared and threw the cursed tool in her hand, causing an explosion in the air.

Zhenyi tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't obey her, so she could only kneel on the ground, supporting herself with her hands on the rubble, her fingernails digging into the cracks.

Naoya's body was already close, like a compressed spring that had been suddenly released.

Mayu scrambled to the side to avoid it... Mayu, Jurei Naoya, Juju, which of the three will catch up with whom?

The calculation ability of the Heavenly Tyrant made Maki realize that if Naoya did not change direction, he would be hit by her cursed tool. Even if she could not kill him, it should still help Mai gain an opportunity to escape.

What the two sisters didn't expect was that the enormous body suddenly changed lanes halfway through the journey, turning around in mid-air like a race car making a turn, and crashing into Maki.

"Hahaha... You've fallen for it! Now you're weaponless!"

That's right, what's there to care about a tiny Zhenyi? This is the moment it's been waiting for.

Naoya's current power is enough to easily deal with others, but he has been unable to eliminate Maki. Besides her own high quality, the most important reason is the weapon in her hand that makes her feel extremely threatening. Just cutting off her nails caused her unbearable pain from the wound. If it weren't for the extra curse power used to expel it, she might have been directly exorcised while she was seriously injured.

Therefore, it has always had some concerns.

So, taking advantage of the deep sisterly affection before it, it came up with this idea.

Taking advantage of Maki's love for her younger sister, she was tricked into throwing out the weapon. Now it seems the plan has succeeded.

Even if Maya possesses a weapon that can counter her cursed spirit constitution, her personality is what it is, and her combat level is not much, so it can be completely ignored. As long as Maki is eliminated, everyone else is at her mercy.

"Be careful!"

Maki's pupils dilated as she reached for another short sword at her waist, but in that same moment, Naoya had already charged at her.

It moved so fast that its afterimage left a black line in the air.

The girl, who was short on time, instinctively tried to block with her arms, but unsurprisingly, it was not very effective. Her body flew out again, like a soccer ball that had been kicked away, and crashed into an overturned bus.

The car door was dented, and the glass shattered into snowflakes. Maki's body was embedded in the door, her head hanging down, blood flowing down her forehead and covering half of her face.

"sister--!"

Mayi was shouting, but it was no use; she couldn't catch up in a fight of this level.

Although she had already severed ties with Maki at the soul level and possessed the potential to enter the ranks of first-level sorcerers with effort, potential is still just potential. In such a short time, she wasn't a monster like Otsuku or Itadori, and couldn't convert that potential into combat power quickly. In this battle, she was undoubtedly a burden.

Naoya did not continue its attack. It floated in the air, its face looking down at Maki with a mocking and tyrannical expression, its eyes like those of someone looking at a butterfly being made into a specimen.

"Hahaha... weren't you very talkative just now, Maki?"

"Why aren't you saying anything now? Say it... say it again, let me see that look on your face when you were looking at trash again."

Maki slid out of the car door, knelt on the ground, and supported herself with her hands on her knees.

Her arms were broken, but she looked up at Naoya, her face covered in blood, one eye blinded by blood, the other still open, staring at him silently.

"You're just a fool who personally trampled the family's honor into the ground. Do you think people will praise you if news like 'the former head candidate of the three major families has fallen into a cursed spirit' gets out? That's all you are, what's there to say?"

Her voice was soft, but every word was clear.

Naoya's face contorted, and his figure vanished once more.

But that situation was far away... Was it trying to escape?

No, it was preparing to use its fastest speed and power to completely eliminate this thing that could so easily puncture its lungs.

The projectile spell makes it faster and faster. At the same time, in this process, the body compresses the air drawn in from the inhaler at supersonic speed through ram air and spell force, and then ejects it from the rear of the body to obtain stronger propulsion.

Its speed reached Mach 5! The grayish-white skin on its surface sparked red from the friction with the air, like a meteorite falling into the atmosphere.

With such a massive mass and such speed, a direct hit wouldn't leave anything behind.

Even the "Heavenly Tyrant," known for its robust physique, might not be able to withstand such an impact and leave any lasting damage.

Kamo Kenki, whose treatment was not yet complete, and Inu-maki and the others instinctively rushed over upon seeing this scene, but they were too far away to arrive in time.

Maki herself, enduring the pain, drew the short sword behind her back, ready to fight back, her eyes revealing a resolve to die.

Despair seems to be descending upon us!

"No—!" On the earth bathed in the crimson light of destruction, Mayi's voice finally rang out.

In that instant, the expectation was met!

A beam of light cut in from the side; it wasn't the fiery light of the meteorite's destruction, but a different kind of light.

Golden, warm, like sunrise, like someone lighting a match in the darkness.

The beam of light precisely cut into Naoya's path, cutting within ten meters of him and Maki.

『Cen——』

The cursed spirit, Naoya, was unaware of what was happening and lost consciousness. Its body was sliced ​​in two by the light, and the two halves flew past Maki on either side due to inertia, crashing into the ruins behind them and creating two large craters.

Black liquid gushed out from the broken end. The new work of Dragon and Serpent is here, updated first on the entire network! It was as if it was thrown up, but was split in half in mid-air, and finally fell to the cement ground and turned into two watermelons, leaving only disgust and nothing else.

Everyone froze at that moment, their gazes fixed on this side, or more precisely, on the boy who had suddenly appeared in front of Maki.

Yue people.

Standing in front of Maki, Yuanhong was still in his hand, maintaining the posture of holding a sword with one hand, and the golden light on the blade was slowly fading.

His trench coat rustled in the lingering wind, making him appear like a god at that moment, while Zhenyi stared blankly at his back.

I have never felt so at ease before.

"Yue Ren... Senior?"

Zhenyi's voice was still trembling when she arrived.

"Hmm, I sensed some magical energy fluctuations here and came to check. I didn't expect it to be you guys... This guy's speed is indeed impressive, no wonder you couldn't handle him. Do you know his background?"

As he spoke, he walked up to Maki, squatted down, and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Positive energy flowed from her palms into Maki's body, her wounds healed, her torn skin closed up, and her shattered bones grew back.

Maki's breathing calmed down, and she finally turned her gaze, but she was still staring blankly at Yueren.

The others fell silent.

"..."

What do you mean by "the speed is acceptable"? Is the despair they face merely a slightly difficult matter in the eyes of this senior?

"That guy is Zenji Naoya!"

Yue Ren was slightly taken aback when he heard the name, and then he remembered a certain arrogant and annoying face.

His memories were stirred up, and after glancing at the disappearing body, he realized that there really was such a thing.

In the original work, Naoya was eventually killed by Maki's mother, an ordinary person, with an ordinary weapon. This caused him to become a cursed spirit out of resentment. In the "Death Returns," he sought revenge on Maki, performing a classic three-stage transformation of a boss. He even learned "Domain Deployment" at the end, but was ultimately killed on the spot in the domain by the unselectable "Heaven and Tyrant." It can only be described as a weak ending, quite unremarkable.

And that posture just now should be his second stage. So, he was cut down by himself before he could even reach the third stage of his domain expansion?

Poor Naoya, in the end he probably didn't even know how he died.

It can only be said that it is really bad. It is a pure straight-line attack without any variation in moves. Although it is very fast, in the eyes of the Yue people, it is no different from a professional player hitting a baseball.

...The evaluation remains the same: just another roadside stall.

"I see, but how did he become a cursed spirit? Didn't they say he had already escaped?"

The Zen-in family had already undergone a second purge before the war began, eliminating those greedy individuals. I remember that Naoya escaped by using the characteristics of his spell. Normally, a sorcerer needs to be killed by an attack that does not contain spell power in order to become a cursed spirit. Could it be that this guy was killed by some ordinary person on his way to escape? That would be too unlucky.

"According to his own account, he was involved in some evil transformation plan by Lu Suo in order to take revenge on us."

"...I see, no wonder!"

Yue Ren nodded unconsciously. This made sense. Lu Suo had always been knowledgeable in this area, and it wasn't unimaginable to turn a sorcerer into a cursed spirit.

This also explains why its strength suddenly increased so much.

I remember its fastest speed in the original work was only Mach 3, but that attack just now was obviously much faster, meaning it was enhanced.

Furthermore, Maki didn't undergo a second transformation like in the original work, so it's normal that she couldn't win.

It seems that fate has been changed after all; the two flesh-eating sorcerers who caused Maki's second transformation did not come.

If I hadn't come to their aid, they might have been in danger. We really can't afford to be careless.

"Is it really alright for you to rush here? Your business is more important."

Maki suddenly spoke up, saying that powerful people like Echigo often have greater responsibilities in war, and she was worried that if he tried to save her and the others, it would cause problems.

The Yue people simply waved their hands.

"It's alright. You should be thankful that I happened to be nearby, otherwise you might not have made it in time."

Yes, Maki and her friend are currently not far from the high school. Yueren arrived after sensing Naoya's unusual curse power.

Although he had decided to wait for the trouble at the Hongxing Palace, it didn't mean he had to stay there. With his current perception range, he could sense if something happened at the Hongxing Palace, and at his current speed, it would only take him a minute or two to get there.

Moreover, he also provided Tianyuan with means to protect his life and transmit messages, so he was not afraid of being suddenly attacked.

"Well, that's really... he was just unlucky."

Seeing the fallen cursed spirit, now nothing but a desolate environment, Zhenyi couldn't help but sigh.

After treating Maki, who was the most seriously injured, Koshito turned around and walked to Panda, Noriyuki Kamo, and the others.

The panda has found its missing parts.

"You look terrible. Do you need any help?"

"It's alright, I just need to go back and have the principal stitch it up. My injury isn't serious, but perhaps Xianji will need some help."

"No, no need. I've recovered, though it's still thanks to you."

As he spoke, Xianji brandished the short sword in his hand, the latest model "Tenseiga". His body had indeed been treated and there were no problems. As for the last dog roll, he also raised his hand to indicate that he was fine.

The regret in everyone's hearts now is that they didn't help much in the battle just now. Maki and Naoya Jurei were too fast for them, and with their injuries, they could only dodge and heal their wounds first.

When they had almost recovered from their injuries and were about to find an opportunity to help, they were already under the influence of the Yue people's "deus ex machina".

Yue Ren turned around, looked at the ruins, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with the surroundings, he decided to go back. He couldn't forget his important business.

"I'll be going now. You guys should go back to school after you've packed up."

"What's wrong?"

Maki asked.

"Lu Su might take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the high school; I need to keep an eye on it."

"Then I'll go back with you."

Looking at Maki who volunteered, Yue Ren recalled the characteristic of "Heaven and Tyrant" having zero magical power. In the perception of sorcerers, she does not exist and is no different from a building. If arranged properly, she should be of great use in the battle against Lu Suo.

"Alright."

No one had any objections. Maki and Echito were stronger than them, and sometimes not being a burden was the best help they could receive.

Afterwards, Yue Ren and Maki returned to the high school first, while the rest of them packed up the remaining cursed spirits before going back.