The brave Simmel wants to resign

A hell on earth.

A world of demons outside human beings.

Only these words can depict the devastation of the city clusters near the ten barriers.

The exorcism of Xia Yue had long ended, and the government had no choice but to use coercive measures to keep people who had left the barrier outside of it, using excuses such as 'the spread of plague' to cover it up.

Of course, this explanation is unlikely to be adopted; it is merely an attempt to slow down the rate at which people accumulate fear and panic, and to prevent the further emergence of cursed spirits.

everything......

All we can do is hope that the world of sorcery will quickly end the [Death Return].

External chaos, internal demonic realm...

The world is in this situation...

Twelve days have passed.

...............................

.............

Boom... Rumble...

The abandoned modern building has rows of floor-to-ceiling windows with cracks left by external forces, glass shards, and gravel that fell from the roof cracks and is scattered on the ground, bouncing slightly up and down with the tremors.

Snap, snap snap—!

It's like putting a few sesame seeds in a pan without oil; after a slight bounce, they suddenly shoot up high!

tread!

The shoe quickly stomped across the ground, and the camera panned rapidly from bottom to top, capturing the boy's entire figure.

Brownish-red sneakers, black fitted clothing, and a matching red hooded sweatshirt.

Yuji Itadori swung his arms and sprinted through the building in a fairly standard track and field running style, while behind him, the sound of vibrations approached.

【AAaaa! ! ——! ——! ————】

As Huzhang approached the window, the light from outside illuminated the darkness inside the building, revealing the complete forms of Huzhang and the enormous creature chasing him from behind.

A twisted, bloated purple body, dense teeth sandwiched between fleshy crevices, and arms and legs misaligned in all directions.

It is a cursed spirit.

Judging from the power of the spell, it is at least at the quasi-level one.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

The wind whistled past his ears as Itajima, using his physical strength, shook off the cursed spirit and, in the instant he reached the window, yanked the curtains shut—

【AAAAaaaa!! ——!】

The cursed spirit lunged forward and tore through the window frame with a single claw.

However, Itsugi gripped the curtain tightly, and the immense inertia caused the curtain to swing open in a semi-circular arc outside the building, carrying the boy back into the building from another direction.

boom!

Quickly adjusting his position, the boy unleashed a second burst of power, raising his body and tensing his feet to deliver a powerful forward kick, striking the cursed spirit squarely in the face.

As the flesh caved in, a purple liquid resembling blood splattered out. The cursed spirit screamed and flew backward, crashing heavily into a distant wall, raising a cloud of dust.

The cane landed, and he lunged forward, gathering his strength to accelerate.

【————————！！】

At the same moment, shadows covered the sides of the face.

The camera pans from the side, revealing that the once bright view outside the window is now filled with some kind of creature.

Uruga's pupils contracted slightly, and he subconsciously turned his head to the side.

With this movement, Itsuki saw clearly... it was an eyeball, a huge eyeball that was rolling around, its diameter equal to the distance between buildings.

"!!"

The next instant, a violent explosion erupted without warning!

The cursed power exploded with a deafening roar, blinding flames mixed with thick fog shooting into the sky. The shockwave slammed into the building's exterior walls, causing the entire building to tremble violently once again, with patches of plaster peeling off.

The camera pans to a panoramic view of the building's exterior.

Finally, we were able to see the full appearance of the giant cursed spirit.

It stands between city streets and alleys, its towering body level with high-rise buildings, its flesh uneven and covered with countless deformed tumors.

He gripped the building with both hands, reaching inside.

And behind him...

The sky was dark, and strange creatures with wing membranes hovered overhead, while in the pool, mollusks resembling lampreys swam and thrashed about.

The modern buildings were gnawed into dense holes, and everywhere there were clearly distorted monsters.

[The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons]

This is the current "Tokyo First Barrier".

Normal humans could hardly survive there, and even sorcerers could easily run into a level one cursed spirit and fall into danger.

but......

【Ф?????????v?зщ.....】

A sharp whistling sound, like bubbles being exhaled.

Like a fountain splashing and bursting forth.

The skull was torn open from the top of the head, and a thick, purplish-red line of blood, as thick as a bucket and tens of meters long, gushed out along the line from the head to the spine!

Blood splattered and mingled in the air as the enormous cursed spirit swayed and began to fall. A red mist enveloped half the block, staining street signs and abandoned vehicles a dark red.

boom!

An innocent car parked on the roadside was caught in the crossfire. The force of the tiger's foot landing on the ground slammed directly onto the car's roof, instantly denting the car and emitting intermittent alarm music that sounded like a protest.

Huzhang apologized, quickly jumped off the roof of the car, and then shook the blood off his hands.

"Don't make such a big commotion next time."

As soon as I got out of the car, there were already Huzhang's companions waiting by the roadside.

Fukuro Megumi tossed a towel to Itadori.

Thanks!

Huzhang quickly wiped his face.

"Ugh... this is really tiring."

“Tokyo is a demonic realm now, so this is normal,” Fushiguro said coldly.

After a week.

As the first members of Tokyo's First Barrier, they have established a safe base.

Although Wild Rose was unhappy, she maturely took the initiative to occupy the rear protection point, while Fukuro and Itajō went out to exorcise the cursed spirits and protect the residents still in the barrier.

The main reason why things are progressing so slowly is—

There are too many cursed spirits.

Even though the barrier itself filters out some of the cursed spirits, it will still become an obstacle.

Fortunately, top-tier cursed spirits are extremely rare, otherwise they would truly be unable to move an inch.

In a week, the two cleared out hundreds and thousands of cursed spirits, but it was still a drop in the ocean.

"Grades are what matter."

"Ah."

"However, the barrier itself is very large, so it's hard to encounter it."

"Cursers will avoid us, it's all your fault for being too conspicuous the other day."

"Huh?! My fault!?"

"Ah, it's all your fault. Who told you to knock that guy named Reggie unconscious with one punch? Now all the curse masters are avoiding us."

Upon entering the [Tokyo First Barrier], the two encountered a team of curse masters targeting normal sorcerers. Some were modern curse masters, while others were ancient sorcerers who had been reborn.

One of them, Reggie, is quite strong.

However, it had very poor compatibility with Japanese knots, and was sent flying by the boy's powerful brick, falling into a peaceful sleep.

[After another month of training and exchange activities.]

Hisahito Itadori's strength...

[Evolving Again]

As they walked and talked, Fushiguro Megumi opened the plastic bag that was tied to her arm, revealing bento boxes she had taken from the Lawson convenience store on the roadside.

—They didn't pay for anything, including the towels.

"Awoo."

Urokodori is eating a rice ball.

"What's next? Should we keep farming cursed spirits?"

"No, that's too inefficient. We can't waste our energy on this. We can rely on Teacher Xiayou to take care of the cursed spirits afterward. Our goal is to solve the problem of the Death Return."

“There must be other powerful beings inside this barrier.” Fu Hei took a bite of the seaweed on his rice ball. “The behavior of the cursed spirits inside the barrier is too strange.”

"If there were a curse master present, the movement trajectory of the cursed spirit should not be like this."

"So I suspect that the curse masters and curse spirits inside this barrier are either hiding or have been dealt with."

“I had my shikigami investigate. The number of cursed spirits in the west is relatively small, but they move around freely. Based on what I just said, it’s highly likely that there is a powerful sorcerer who has dealt with a large number of cursed sorcerers without moving himself.”

"Or rather, he hasn't moved much since he appeared in this barrier, leaving the outside world undefended, which is why he attracted a large number of curse masters and curse spirits."

Mm-hmm.