Private transport, door-to-door!
Ijichi said, "Please, it's already the middle of the night. Can we not keep running around like this?"
"Sorry, sorry! It's so late we can't even get a cab,"
—All of that was just Ijichi's inner monologue. In reality, he was completely under Gojo Satoru's thumb, a perfect example of the struggles of a middle-aged corporate drone crushed by the tyranny of capitalist overlords.
Gojo Satoru asked, "I've got something to deal with. Are you heading back to the school, or somewhere else?"
"Just take me back to the school."
They rode in silence for a while until Gojo's expression suddenly turned serious.
"Stop the car."
Ijichi blinked. "What's wrong?"
As soon as the car stopped, Gojo pulled Zephyr out with him and said, "Sorry, I ate too much tonight. We'll just walk the rest of the way."
"Eh?! What the hell!"
The middle-aged corporate drone accepted his fate and left, speechless both coming and going.
Paimon asked, puzzled, "Isn't it better to ride in the car? Why are we walking?"
Zephyr's expression grew serious. "Because someone's coming."
"Someone's coming?"
"As expected of Lumine-chan… or should I say Zephyr? You better be careful now."
Suddenly, a dark shadow dropped from the sky, slamming a punch down right where Gojo had just been standing.
The road shattered into rubble.
Appearing from the destruction was a short creature with a head shaped like a volcano and a massive single eye in the center of its face.
"A Special Grade Cursed Spirit… Who are you?" Zephyr quickly activated his appraisal skill.
Jogo – LV60
Zephyr's pupils contracted slightly. This jar-headed freak is level 60? Thankfully, he was with Gojo. If he had been alone, that punch would've probably killed him instantly.
Wait… Jogo seems to be targeting Gojo, not me. What does this have to do with me? My target's Mahito!
"Damn it, I'm just collateral damage!"
A dark, windy night—perfect for murder and arson. The volcano-headed cursed spirit let out a sinister cackle and didn't answer, simply flicking a finger.
A miniature volcano erupted from the ground beneath them. Gojo looked down just in time for it to explode in a fiery blast of intense flames.
"Ahhhh!"
Paimon shrieked, "T-Traveler, let's run! We need to run right now!"
"Don't panic."
"B-But that cursed spirit looks super terrifying! If we don't run now, we won't get another chance!"
"Relax. That jar freak is after Gojo—it's got nothing to do with us."
Gojo's voice rang out, "Sensei can hear you, Lumine-chan. That really hurts, you know~~"
Lumine said calmly, "Fine, let me rephraseahem—we are currently standing in probably the safest place on Earth."
"As long as that person is here, we won't be harmed in the slightest."
Gojo Satoru gave a big thumbs-up. "Now that's a line I like!"
Paimon whispered, "But didn't you say he's gotten weaker?"
"Yeah, he hasrelatively speaking. Compared to how he used to be, sure, he's weaker now. But when it comes to fighting Jogo, he still makes Jogo call him Daddy."
The volcano-headed curse didn't even notice the two tiny ants whispering on the side. With a sinister chuckle, he said, "So this is Gojo Satoru? Doesn't seem like much to me."
Out of the smoke, Gojo strolled out casually and called back, "Huh? What was that? Couldn't hear you!"
…
"Um, Lumine-chan," Gojo said, "while I do appreciate how highly you think of me, did you really have to just sit there on a tiny stool and watch? Hey—where'd you get the sunflower seeds?!"
Zephyr was calmly munching on seeds, looking like he was enjoying a good show.
"Still alive?" the cursed spirit muttered, his expression darkening. "Persistent bastard."
On the outside, Gojo kept his usual carefree smile, but internally he was already on high alert. A curse that can communicate fluently, and with this kind of cursed energy? Definitely an unregistered special grade. Just like Zephyr said.
In that case… he couldn't afford to hold back.
Gojo said, "The thing about special grades… they're called 'special' for a reason. But now they're just popping out all over the place. Honestly, it's starting to give me a headache."
Volcano-head sneered, "What, your pride's been hurt?"
"Nope," Gojo replied with a grin, "I'm just getting more and more excited."
Jogo let out another cackling laugh—then finally noticed Zephyr still sitting on that little bench, watching the fight like a spectator. "Courting death, are you?! Fire Grubs!"
He unleashed a swarm of giant, grotesque insect-like monsters.
"Eek! Bugs! Traveler, run!" Paimon screamed.
"Stay calm!"
Fire Grub – LV30
"A bunch of level-30 bugs? Tch, not even worth a glance." Wind Pulse!
A surge of wind blasted the strange creatures away, though it didn't deal quite enough damage.
Paimon's eyes suddenly lit upbugs are afraid of fire, right? She quickly tossed over a lighter.
In an instant, flames roared to life and engulfed the swarm.
However, something strange happened—those bugs weren't harmed in the slightest.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"Girl, check Jogo's attribute real quick. He's fire-elemental. You really thought using fire against fire-element summons would do anything?"
"Uh… right…"
The volcano-headed curse was enraged. "You two really aren't taking me seriously at all! And fire? You dare use fire against me? You're just asking to die!"
"Welp, looks like it's time to skedaddle."
Zephyr quickly darted behind Gojo.
"Gojo, good luck! Beat the crap outta him—wait, no! Don't kill him!"
His main quest target was Mahito, not Jogo. Killing Jogo might get him some loot, sure—but it'd definitely change the story, and then he might never find Mahito again.
"No killing, huh? Well, I wasn't planning on killing him anyway. I still wanna squeeze some intel out of this guy."
"..."
"Stop looking down on me, you insignificant pests!!"
Furious, Jogo appeared next to Gojo in an instant and shot a fireball straight at his head.
"I'm not done yet!"
One punch, two punches, three punches—each blow was packed with searing rage and blazing fire, slamming into Gojo's body over and over.
Finally, Gojo collapsed to the ground like he was dead.
Jogo sneered triumphantly. "Hmph. So much for him. Just another overhyped fraud propped up by the weak. Humans these days really are just cheap knockoffs. They live in illusions—pathetic! Let your death be the truth that shatters them all."
He slowly turned toward Lumine.
"You're next."
Paimon panicked. "Ah! Gojo-sensei's dead! He's really dead! What do we do now!?"
Jogo glanced at her.
"A cursed spirit? Doesn't look like it. A cursed corpse maybe? Since you're not human, I'll let you live."
"But you—you can't leave. 'Someone' among us needs you for their plan."
Paimon swallowed her comeback of "you're the non-human one!"
Jogo took one last look at the smoke, saw that Gojo wasn't moving, and smirked. He was convinced Gojo had really died.
"He even said he needed to strategize, to be cautious before fighting. Looks like this ended up killing two birds with one stone. Just another hypocritical human, nothing more than a lying coward."
Suddenly, a calm voice spoke from behind him.
"Who exactly were you calling a liar?"
"No way—!"
Jogo's eyes went wide with shock—Gojo Satoru was still alive!
With a relaxed smile, Gojo said, "Simply put… you missed."
//END
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