Heaven has bound me to weakness? I angrily unleash the Eight Gates!

Riko stomped her foot in anger, "Let's just do it tonight!"

I finally took the initiative, and she lost so completely!

That hateful curse! She will tear it to pieces!

Chapter 17 Mountain Demon Curse? A Terrifying Legend

"Let's go to another one."

Still not reassured, Qi Haijian went to another household and inquired about the situation there.

Soon after, Nanami returned with the information.

"According to the villagers, they suspect that wild animals in the mountains come out to hunt at night."

The sound alone was not enough to identify what kind of wild animal it was.

However, some people claim to have seen it firsthand; it was a monster that looked like a human, but that person is currently mentally unstable. That's all we know for now.

"So it's quite possible that the cursed spirit is behind it."

But only going out at night, and treating villagers as food, sounds a bit like...

Riko looked a little scared, as if she had thought of something bad.

"Based on initial assessment, it's a curse. The power probably isn't very strong, but we shouldn't be careless."

Nanami offered a reminder.

He didn't want to lose his companions again due to misjudgment.

"Hey, uncle, is there anything you want to say?" Tennen looked at Zenji Jinsuke.

"Who are you calling 'uncle'? Call me 'teacher'."

Zenji Shinsuke glanced at her, then turned his gaze to the back of the village, where there was a rather large mountain.

The entire village is situated at the foot of this mountain, resembling a small basin.

The guy in the mountains doesn't seem to be a nobody...

"Mr. Shen Jie! Is this alright now? You're our team leader, aren't you going to give your opinion?"

Riko stood with her hands on her hips, pouting, looking somewhat unhappy.

This teacher leading the team seems a bit unreliable.

"What can I say? I have no magical power. Even if we encounter a powerful cursed spirit, I can't help you. So no matter what the situation is, you can only rely on yourselves."

"No magical power? How is that possible?"

Riko looked on in disbelief. Catching a bullet with bare hands without any magical power? Did they think she was a fool?

"Did the teacher really not have any magical power?"

Nanami, standing to the side, suddenly realized something. He had said that he hadn't sensed any magical power from his teacher and had thought that the teacher's strength was enough to completely conceal his magical power.

It turns out that he had absolutely no magical power.

"So, young girls in the prime of their youth, and boys still reeking of school uniforms, good luck to you. I'm only responsible for your safety, not for helping you complete your missions."

"Never mind, it's enough that you can guarantee our safety."

Riko waved her hand dismissively; she didn't care anymore.

At worst, I'll just go up and fight the cursed spirit to the death. Anyway, if my life is in danger, someone will cover for me. As long as I don't die, it's fine.

It doesn't matter if I'm missing an arm or a leg, because Sister Shoko can fix it.

The three of them waited until it got dark.

The countryside is very quiet at night, and everyone stays home and goes to bed early.

The bright moonlight shone down, making the area quite luminous, and the group could even clearly see the country lanes.

However, in comparison, the mountains behind the village seemed rather eerie, as if shrouded in something, pitch black, and even the moonlight couldn't penetrate them.

The three arrived at the back of the village and stood at the entrance to the mountains.

"It's already past midnight, why isn't there any sound at all?"

After wandering around the village for several hours without finding any man-eating monsters, Tian Tian began to wonder if the college had given him the wrong quest.

Could it be that what the villagers said before was a lie?

She knew that every place had stories specifically designed to fool children, and maybe it was the same here, a misunderstanding.

"Whoosh..."

A sound suddenly broke the silence of the night, like something crushing fallen leaves and branches.

Tennen and Nanami immediately became alert and entered battle mode.

A hunched figure appeared at the entrance to the mountains.

It turned out to be an old man, leaning on a cane, who emerged from the darkness.

A strange expression appeared on his wrinkled face, but his eyes were bright and piercing, unlike those of an old man.

"Old man? What are you doing here so late?"

Tian Tian was taken aback. She thought it was a cursed spirit, but it turned out to be just an old man. She subconsciously relaxed her guard.

The old man did not respond to Tian Tian, ​​but instead gave her a strange smile. In the moonlight, the three of them, with eyesight beyond that of ordinary people, immediately noticed the bits of meat stuck to the old man's mottled teeth.

"Heavens! Watch out! He's a cursed spirit!"

Nanami instantly sensed the fluctuations of cursed power within the old man's body and quickly warned him, while simultaneously moving forward rapidly, holding a short sword wrapped in bandages in his hand.

"Roar--!"

However, the old man was one step ahead of him and pounced on Tian Tian. His face looked as if it had been torn apart, covered in downy hair, and he opened his mouth to reveal sharp fangs, biting at Tian Tian.

Tian Tian's expression changed drastically, his pupils contracted, and as he watched the monster pounce on him, he quickly covered his entire body with magical power.

When the bite failed, a sharp claw knocked Tian Tian back, leaving a blood-red scratch on his smooth arm.

Just as the cursed spirit disguised as an old man was about to attack Tian Tian again, Nanami had already arrived beside the cursed spirit.

The cursed power wrapped around the short sword, cutting the opponent into seven-tenths, and then swung the sword to send him flying.

"Tear-!"

Blood gushed from the wound; a large gash had been slashed across the cursed spirit's chest, and it collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.

Only then did everyone realize what the other person looked like—it was a monkey!

To be precise, it should be a mandrill!

Zenji Jinsuke was somewhat surprised. Red nose and white face, isn't that a mandrill?

This place still has this thing.

"Is this the man-eating cursed spirit?"

Tian Tian ignored the wound on his hand and carefully examined the cursed spirit that had reverted to its original form.

"This strength isn't that great? A level three cursed spirit?"

If she hadn't been careless, she could have easily dealt with someone of this caliber.

Just then, the dying mountain demon on the ground let out a long howl, and its body gradually turned into cursed power and disappeared.

At the same time, long howls echoed throughout the entire mountain, instantly sending chills down Tian Tian and Qi Hai's spines.

They've stumbled upon a den of cursed spirits!

"We can't let them out, or these villagers will be in danger!"

Nanami gripped the hilt of his sword, his brow furrowing slightly. So many curses had gathered together, yet he hadn't noticed them before.

It's truly a miracle that these villagers have survived to this day.

What he didn't know was that the reason there were so many curses was because of the stories that the village had used to deceive children for generations.

It is formed by the accumulation of negative energy from generation to generation.

"Seriously, could there be a level one cursed spirit?"

Tian Tian felt the fluctuations of magical energy emanating from within the mountain, and his expression became solemn.

"Looks like it's time for this genius sorcerer to step in!"

Within a day, his entire body erupted with considerable magical power, and he rushed into the mountain.

She understood that if so many curses were not eliminated, they would cause a great disaster if they were allowed to spread.

Seeing this, Nanami Kento followed closely behind.

There was no other way; since we'd already alerted them, we had no choice but to bite the bullet and go through with it.

"Teacher Jinsuke, please be careful!"

After giving a reminder, the two disappeared into the forest.

"A cursed spirit, come to think of it, I've been in this world for so long, and I've never killed a cursed spirit yet."

Zen-in-shiki slowly followed him inside.

Looking back on his experiences so far, apart from being thrown into the room where the cursed spirits were imprisoned by the man who had died many years ago when he was a child, he has not encountered any powerful cursed spirits.

Chapter 18 Quasi-Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirit!

As I walked deeper into the mountains, I heard the sounds of fierce fighting ahead.

Seven Seas and Heaven were locked in battle with more than a dozen mountain demons, while at least a hundred of their own kind of cursed spirits, clapping their hands and emitting long howls, stood on the surrounding trees.

Their strength isn't great; most of them are probably only at the level of a level four or three curse.

At least a handful have reached level two.

Given the strength that Nanami and Tennen have demonstrated, if the curse is only this level, they are likely to be able to handle it.

"You stinky monkey! Try my magic!"

Instead of directly fighting these cursed spirits, Tian Tian kept dodging them, gathering cursed power in his palms.

The cursed power within his body was compressed, compressed, and compressed again in his palm.

He then arched his body and hurled the compressed spell power in his hand at the approaching cursed spirit.

"boom--!!"

The compressed ball of cursed power exploded like a bomb the moment it touched the cursed spirit.

The immense power blasted two level-four cursed spirits and one level-three cursed spirit into ashes.

A smug look appeared on Tian Tian's face.

This is the technique she awakened, compressing magical power, which she calls "Star's Extreme".

As long as she is not interrupted, she can compress her magical power without limit until her body can no longer bear it.

In a sense, as long as her body can hold on, she can compress magical energy comparable to the power of a nuclear bomb.

With this potential, he will at least reach the level of a first-level mage in the future. If he can strengthen his physical strength, reaching the level of a special-grade mage will not be difficult.

After all, if they can manufacture mushroom bombs, influencing a country is no easy task.

No wonder the Star Magma Body couldn't awaken its spells on its own; it's just too abnormal.

As Tennantō threw his cursed power like a bomb, Zenji Shinsuke, who was watching the show from afar, twitched his lips slightly.

A perfectly healthy young girl in the prime of her life has unexpectedly chosen the path of art.

I hope the other person can surpass the predecessors on this path.

"Ow—!"

A long howl came from the depths of the mountains, carrying a terrifying pressure of magical power.

This aura made Qi Hai and Tian Tian feel uneasy. This level of spell power was definitely at level one, or even higher!

Is this happening again?