Curse Returns: Eight Extraordinary Skills? I lack nothing.

It saw Yuuto, let out a low growl, and charged towards him.

Yuuto sidestepped, drew his Kikuichimonji, and unleashed a burst of lightning, with blue and white arcs of electricity leaping across the blade.

A slash landed on the cursed spirit's side, the blade cutting into its hard shell and soft tissue, a silvery-gray liquid gushing from the wound. The cursed spirit's body stiffened abruptly, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

When Yuuto emerged from the ruins again, Leroy was waiting outside. He looked at Yuuto's clean clothes and remained silent for a moment.

“Mr. Kasuga, don’t you need our help?” Leroy asked.

“No need.” Yuuto put his hands in his pockets. “You can just wait outside. Your task is not to fight, but to clean up the mess.”

Leroy opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't utter a rebuttal. He had witnessed Yuuto's fighting style and knew the gap between himself and Yuuto.

Those cursed spirits were like paper in front of Yuuto.

He followed Yuuto with the French sorcerer, tasked with surveying the battlefield and confirming that the cursed spirits had completely dissipated. That was all they could do.

The German stronghold was hidden deep in an ancient forest, its location extremely concealed, the entrance obscured by thick vines. It took Yuuto quite a while to find the entrance, and once inside, he discovered that the stronghold was not large, containing only a few level-one cursed spirits and a group of low-level minions, which he easily dealt with.

In the Black Forest of Germania, ancient trees reach for the sky, their branches and leaves blocking out the sun. Yuuto moves among the shadows, with Tsukumo following behind him, the golden light of the Phoenix Wheel standing out conspicuously in the darkness.

"Did you feel it?" Ninety-nine asked.

"Hmm." Yuuto stopped. He fully activated his spell perception and found a stagnant spell energy fluctuation thirty meters ahead.

There weren't many, but their levels were high. There was one near-Special Grade Cursed Spirit, four Level 1 Cursed Spirits, and the rest were all Level 2 or 3.

With a mint in her mouth, Jiujiu asked indistinctly, "Are you going or should I go?"

"I'll go." Yuuto walked into the darkness. Tsukumo leaned against a large tree, watching his figure disappear into the shadows.

Yu Ren walked to the entrance of the stronghold without hesitation. He activated the Spirit Binding Technique at full power, and several black cracks appeared in the void. Dozens of cursed spirits poured out from the cracks and rushed into the depths of the stronghold.

The cursed spirit inside roared, but Yuuto didn't go in; he stood at the entrance and waited.

A few minutes later, the sound stopped. Yuuto entered the cave, glanced at the wreckage, and confirmed that all the cursed spirits had dissipated.

The corpse of the near-Special Grade Cursed Spirit hadn't completely dissipated; its dark red shell had shattered into pieces, and silvery-gray mist slowly seeped out from the cracks. Yuuto didn't look a second time, turned, and walked away.

Ninety-Nine swallowed the mint. "All done?"

"All done. Next."

The Italian outpost was hidden inside an abandoned medieval castle. The castle was built atop a hill, surrounded by barren meadows.

Yuuto climbed over the collapsed city walls, traversed the dark dungeon, and found the near-Special Grade Cursed Spirit in the castle's basement. It was curled up in a corner of the basement, and when it saw Yuuto enter, it slowly stood up and opened its mouth.

Yuuto gave it no chance. He teleported with lightning, disappearing from the doorway and reappearing in front of it. Kikuichimonji plunged the sword into its throat, lightning exploding in his palm, blue and white arcs of electricity shooting along the blade into the cursed spirit's body.

Its body stiffened abruptly, then it collapsed to the ground with a thud. The battle was over in seconds.

It was already dark when she emerged from the basement. Standing atop the castle's ruins, Tsukumo gazed up at the starry sky. The Italian night was clearer than London's; the stars, one by one, were dazzlingly bright, embedded in the celestial canvas.

"How many are left?" Ninety-nine asked.

“Three.” Yu Ren walked to her side. “We’re going to Spain tomorrow.”

The Spanish outpost was hidden within the sewer system. The Barcelona afternoon sun was scorching, and the air was thick with the salty smell of the sea. Yuuto stood in a narrow alley, right below the sewer entrance, the iron railings rusty and worn.

Leroy stood behind him, his expression hesitant. "Mr. Kasuga, the environment down there is rather complicated. Should we bring a few more people?"

"No need." Yuuto lifted the iron fence and jumped down.

Ninety-Nine followed behind him. The sewers were dark and damp, filled with a putrid stench. Yuuto's magical perception was fully activated; the base wasn't large, but the magical spirits inside were of a high level.

Two were level one cursed spirits, and the rest were all level two or three. He used the Tongtianlu talisman to seal all the exits, and then released the swarm of cursed spirits to annihilate them one by one.

Ninety-nine stood at the exit, with the Phoenix Wheel hovering beside her.

A level-one cursed spirit tried to escape from her side. Phoenix Wheel flew over, and golden light slammed into the cursed spirit's head, knocking it back into the depths of the stronghold. Yuuto glanced at Tsukumo but said nothing.

A dozen minutes later, the cursed spirits in the stronghold were cleared out.

The Dutch outpost was hidden inside an abandoned windmill.

The mill was built in the open field, surrounded by golden wheat fields, and in the distance, the blades of a windmill turned slowly in the wind.

Yu Ren pushed open the door and saw that it was crowded with level two and level three cursed spirits.

Without even drawing his sword, he used the Five Thunder Talisman to blast the entire mill into the sky.

With a deafening roar, the mill's roof was ripped off, sending splinters of wood and tiles flying everywhere. Ninety-Nine stood at a distance, covering her ears.

“Yu Ren, what you’re doing is demolishing a house, not exorcising a cursed spirit.”

"As long as it works well, that's fine."

Within seven days, Yu Ren and Jiu Jiu swept through six countries: England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands.

At each location, Leroy would send intelligence in advance. After reading the intelligence, Yuuto would immediately set off, killing and leaving without lingering in any place. He killed very quickly, so quickly that Leroy couldn't keep up with his pace.

Leroy later tallied the results: three near-Special Grade Spell Spirits, several First Grade Spell Spirits, and countless Second and Third Grade Spell Spirits. He held the thick report in silence for a long time before putting it into his file folder.

Leroy was waiting for him in the hotel lobby, holding a thick report. "Mr. Kasuga, this is a summary of the results of the cleanup operation over the past few days. Please take a look."

Yuuto took the report and opened to the first page. It was filled with detailed records of the time, location, number, and level of cursed spirits killed in each cleanup operation. He closed the report and placed it on the coffee table.

"You can handle the rest yourselves."

Leroy nodded. He knew Yuuto was leaving. The European strongholds of cursed spirits had been mostly cleared out, and the remaining scattered low-level cursed spirits could be handled by the manpower of the various national sorcerer associations. He stood up and bowed to Yuuto. "Mr. Kasuga, thank you for everything you've done for us."

"You're welcome. We each get what we need."

It was drizzling the day I left London.

Yuuto stood in the hotel lobby, looking at the gray London through the rain. The streets were deserted, with only a few black taxis slowly driving by in the rain. He didn't use an umbrella, pushed open the door, and stepped into the rain.

Behind me, the rain in London is still falling. Tomorrow will also be cloudy.

Eleven hours later, the plane landed at Tokyo Haneda Airport.

The sun was shining brightly, the sky was a beautiful blue—completely different from London. Yuuto stepped out of the terminal and took a deep breath.

The air was filled with the salty smell of the sea, mixed with some indescribable floral fragrance.

Qiong stood at the exit, wearing a creamy white dress, her long, creamy white hair cascading over her shoulders, shimmering softly in the sunlight. She saw Youren, but didn't wave or speak; she simply stood there, watching him approach.

Yuuto walked up to her and looked down at her.

"I'm back," Qiong said.

"Hmm." Yuuto reached out and ruffled her hair. Sora didn't flinch or say anything, she just put her hands in his coat pockets.

Chapter 138 Mission 1

In the afternoon in Roppongi, sunlight filters through the gaps between the tall buildings, casting sharp beams of light onto the wide road.

This is one of Tokyo's most bustling areas. The glass curtain walls of skyscrapers reflect blinding white light, pedestrians hurry along the street, and office workers in suits brush past stylish young men and women. No one notices a black sedan slowly driving into an inconspicuous side street.

No one noticed that beneath this glamorous urban facade, something was rotting.

"Roppongi again." Yuujin Itadori pressed his face against the car window, watching the city scenery rushing past outside, his tone carrying a seasoned casualness. "Didn't we just do a mission in Roppongi last month?"

“That time it was Minato Ward, this time it’s Roppongi.” Sitting next to him, Nobara Kugisaki corrected him without looking up, carefully wiping the hammer in her hand with a suede cloth. “Minato Ward and Roppongi are close to each other, but they are not the same place.”

"What's the difference?" Huzhang tilted his head.

“There’s a huge difference.” Kugizaki finally looked up and rolled his eyes at him. “It’s like the difference between Sendai and Tokyo—to someone like you who has no sense of direction, they might be the same, but to a normal person, they’re worlds apart.”

Itachi opened his mouth in protest, but couldn't think of anything to say in response, so he reluctantly shut his mouth.

Yoshino Junpei, sitting on the other side of Itadori, smiled slightly.

He leaned against the car window, holding a paperback in his hands, seemingly reading, but the pages hadn't been turned in a long time. His gaze was actually fixed beyond the pages, on the thin layer of city reflections that covered the car window.

Shunping has delicate and gentle features, with black, medium-length hair hanging down his forehead. He looks refined and cultured, but the sharp glint that occasionally flashes in his eyes reminds others that he is not an ordinary student.

"Junpei, are you reading Dazai Osamu again?" Itadori leaned over and glanced at the cover.

"Hmm." Shunping closed the book and nodded. "This time it's 'Villon's Wife'."

"Can't you look at something cheerful?" Kugizaki glanced at the book cover and shook his head.

"Something fun?" Shunping thought for a moment, "Then let's watch 'Run, Melos!' next time."

"Isn't that also by Dazai Osamu?!" Kugizaki couldn't help but raise his voice.

Fushiguro Megumi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, did not participate in the noise in the back.

He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if he were resting.

Fushiguro Megumi's fighting style is mainly based on the control of shikigami. Before entering the mission location, he is used to letting his magical power circulate in his body several times to adjust his condition to the best.

"Hui, are you asleep again?" Itachi poked his shoulder from behind.

"No." Fukuguro Megumi opened her eyes, her tone flat. "I was just thinking about something."

What are you thinking about?

"Why are you making so much noise?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the back row.

Itadori pretended to be injured and clutched his chest, Kugizaki laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, and Junpei also smiled.

Fushiguro looked at the reflections of the three people in the rearview mirror, and the expression in her eyes softened slightly.

This is their daily routine.

In the first year of the Tokyo Metropolitan Higher School of Cursed Arts, there are a dozen or so students. Some are skilled in barrier techniques, some specialize in the creation and repair of cursed items, and some are responsible for intelligence gathering and distribution.

—Everyone has their own unique position and talents.

The dozen or so people were neither too old nor too young. They attended classes and trained together, and their relationships included both deep friendships and subtle competition.

Among these dozen or so people, Itadori, Kugizaki, Junpei, and Fushiguro Megumi formed a unique small group.

They often worked together on missions, and with each collaboration, their tacit understanding far exceeded that of ordinary classmates.

The car slowly came to a stop in an open space.

Yuuto, in the driver's seat, turned off the engine and turned around.

"We've arrived," Yu Ren said, his voice soft but clear. "There are three cursed spirits in this building. Their levels range from level two to near level one. The four of you go in, exorcise them all, and then come out."

Kugizaki raised an eyebrow: "You're waiting outside?"