Chapter 84 — Instant Kill: The Special Grade
"So fast!"
Dagon's expression tightened as he staggered backward from Naobito's punch. The other two were manageable, but this old man—his speed was unreal.
He might even be faster than Jōgo.
And his power… was terrifying.
While Dagon found the situation troublesome, the sorcerers were equally frustrated.
"Two First-Grades can't bring down one cursed spirit? How ridiculous." Naobito clicked his tongue.
A typical Special Grade could usually be exorcised by one high-tier First Grade alone.
Yet the three of them—two First Grades and one quasi-First—had been fighting for minutes without making a dent.
This wasn't an ordinary Special Grade.
Still, so far Dagon was on the defensive. If they could just exhaust its cursed energy, they might actually win.
But Dagon wasn't planning to let that happen. Its hands weaved a seal, cursed energy surging wildly.
"Remember this—we have names!"
"Bang!"
Naobito appeared before Dagon in a blur and drove his fist into its gut, splattering violet ichor across the ground.
"Stop muttering nonsense and just take the beating," Naobito scoffed. "You're not getting the chance to use a technique."
That was his strategy: overwhelm the cursed spirit with pure speed, never giving it time to activate its abilities—just keep it locked in the rhythm of taking hits.
Clang!
But he'd underestimated his opponent.
Dagon wasn't trying to form a simple technique—it was opening its Domain.
Its clasped hands spread apart, revealing a black sigil on its abdomen.
In an instant, the entire environment shifted.
The underground platform vanished, replaced by a blinding seascape—blue skies, white clouds, and a golden beach stretching to infinity.
The three sorcerers froze for half a second, dread crawling up their spines.
"This cursed spirit…"
"Domain Expansion — Horizon of the Captivating Skandha!"
Half of Dagon's massive body rose from the sea, eyes gleaming with feral intelligence.
Inside a Domain, everything changes. Now, fighting these humans would be easy.
"Shhkk!"
Before they could react, two gashes opened across Nanami and Maki's bodies—strikes they hadn't even seen.
The Domain's guaranteed hit effect.
They couldn't even perceive the attack before it landed.
"Secret Art—Falling Petals of Indifference."
Naobito unleashed one of the Zen'in clan's secret anti-domain techniques.
Unlike a simple counter-domain, this art let the user release cursed energy at the exact instant the Domain's attack connected—nullifying the guaranteed hit.
"As expected," Dagon muttered, watching the old man's defense hold. "That bearded human isn't ordinary."
Analyzing his opponents, Dagon adjusted his cursed energy, calibrating the power of his next strike.
"Then… seventy percent to the old man. Thirty to the one in the suit."
As for Maki? He didn't even consider her a threat.
"Clap!"
Hands pressed together, Dagon bellowed:
"Technique Release — Death Swarm of the Endless Sea!"
"Boom!"
From the ocean surged countless marine式神—monstrous sea beasts of all shapes and sizes—rushing the trio with gnashing jaws and roaring waves.
At the same time, Dagon's own body blurred, diving in for the kill.
"The ocean is the cradle of all life. Tell me, humans—are you ready to face its terror?"
---
Outside, Zen'in Shinsuke followed the overwhelming cursed energy trail and descended to the fifth level.
Seeing the shimmering sphere of the active Domain, he instantly understood.
"Ah. So that's where the little takoyaki went."
"Uncle!?"
Fushiguro Megumi arrived in a rush, his eyes widening.
"Uncle—Gojo-sensei has been sealed!"
"I know," Shinsuke replied calmly. "We'll deal with that later. First, let's take care of what's in front of us."
He looked at the barrier shimmering before them.
"I'll leave this to you. Show me your Domain."
Originally, Shinsuke had intended to slice the barrier apart with one strike—but now seemed like a good opportunity to see what the kid could do.
It was time to let the next generation prove itself.
"Understood!"
Megumi didn't know how his uncle had guessed he'd been working on Domain development, but there was no room for hesitation.
Forming hand seals, he stared down the enemy Domain before him.
He would break through it with his own.
"Chimera Shadow Garden!"
Instantly, a swarm of black shadows spread from beneath his feet, expanding like a living sea of ink—forcing their way into the opposing Domain and tearing open a rift in the boundary.
The next second, both of them stepped into the bright-blue expanse of sky and sea.
Fushiguro Megumi's Domain clashed against Dagon's, canceling out the enemy Domain's guaranteed hit effect.
"Megumi! And—Master!"
Maki's eyes lit up as she spotted her student and, right behind him, Zen'in Shinsuke entering the Domain.
"Not bad, Megumi," Shinsuke said casually, as though they weren't standing in the middle of a battlefield. "Keep refining it. Once you perfect the full version, this technique will be a monster."
He didn't immediately move to help; instead, he took a moment to observe Megumi's Domain.
Interesting, he thought.
Within this space, the boy could summon any shikigami he'd tamed, without limit. Once he subjugated all ten, and combined them within a perfected Domain… that power would be absurd.
"Mm."
Megumi gritted his teeth, maintaining his half-formed Domain as it wrestled with Dagon's.
"Uncle, I can't hold this for long—please finish it quickly!"
He wanted to learn, sure—but now was not the time for a coaching session! Still, he didn't dare say it aloud.
"No problem," Shinsuke replied calmly, cracking his neck. "It's just a cursed spirit. Won't take long."
He glanced from the monstrous figure standing atop the waves to the three battered sorcerers nearby.
"Nanami, you really should hurry up and learn Domain Expansion," he said in mock seriousness. "And old man—what's with the missing arm? All that drinking finally caught up to you?"
Nanami sighed. "Zen'in-sensei, mastering a Domain isn't exactly simple." He wiped the blood from his cheek, lowering his stance slightly now that reinforcements had arrived.
Naobito let out a wheezing laugh, wrapping his severed arm in the tattered remains of his shirt. "Took you long enough. Another minute and you'd be cleaning up our corpses."
"Master! Be careful!" Maki shouted from the shore. "This cursed spirit isn't simple!"
They were still inside its Domain—one careless move could mean death.
Dagon's many eyes swiveled toward Shinsuke. "No cursed energy? Worthless human—wait!" Its tone shifted, realization dawning. "Hanami… it was you! You're the human who killed Hanami!"
It had assumed earlier that Maki was the killer, but after their brief clash, it knew she couldn't possibly have done it.
That left only the man before it.
"You mean the one with the horns on its head?" Shinsuke tilted his head. "Yeah, that was me."
He reached out and grabbed the hilt that Inventory Curse—his cursed tool spirit—vomited forth, slowly drawing it free.
A broad, dragon-whiskered blade gleamed in his grip.
"You dare kill Hanami!?" Dagon's voice cracked with fury. Its hands clasped together; a gash opened on its abdomen, and two massive sea-serpent slithered out, ready to strike—
But before they could even lunge, Shinsuke was there.
He appeared in front of Dagon so fast that even its instincts failed to register it.
"You wanted me what?" he asked mildly.
The blade swept through the air in a clean, whistling arc.
For a split second, the world seemed to freeze—then a web of thin red lines blossomed across Dagon's body.
Purple ichor oozed out like ink bleeding through paper.
"Shhhk—shhhk—shhhk—"
By the time Shinsuke resheathed his blade, the sound reached the others' ears.
And then—
Dagon's body collapsed, falling apart into dozens of quivering chunks of seafood.
The sky and ocean shattered like glass, the illusion of the Domain dispersing.
In the blink of an eye, they were back in the subterranean fifth level of Shibuya Station.
Silence filled the space.
The once-terrifying Special Grade was gone—slain so fast that even its death cry had been cut short.