Boom! Boom!
The originally pitch-black cave was illuminated by explosions of flame again and again.
"Incinerate!"
Flames gathered in Yamamoto Kuma's hand, then spread in a cone shape, incinerating the ground.
More than a dozen Cursed Spirits Shadow Crocodiles swimming on the ground were all burned to ashes by the sudden fierce fire.
"Damn it, how many more are there?"
"There shouldn't be many left."
Behind Yamamoto Kuma, Kanzaki Shingo was continuously strengthening Yamamoto Kuma's power with blessings.
Crackling.
The sound of burning flames rose, and Yamamoto Kuma's left hand held up a small ball of fire.
"Heh heh, it really is endless, can you hold on, Kanzaki?"
Looking at the still dense Cursed Spirits Shadow Crocodiles surrounding him, Yamamoto Kuma felt it was very troublesome.
"Heh heh, I won't fall before you do."
Kanzaki Shingo's words gave Yamamoto Kuma a glimmer of confidence.
In dangerous times, having someone behind you whom you can trust your back to is truly a joyful thing.
"Hiss hiss."
A hiss much louder than before appeared, and a figure that brought despair to both of them emerged in the cave.
A figure dozens of meters long, with countless fins growing like petals from both sides of its lower body.
Its body was covered with dense eyes.
Unlike the other pitch-black Cursed Spirits Shadow Crocodiles.
Although this giant Cursed Spirits Shadow Crocodile was also black, if one observed carefully, other colors could still be seen on its body.
It was a very strange feeling, like the 'colorful black' that some bosses would ask for.
"Is this the true body of the Cursed Spirits Shadow Crocodile?"
Yamamoto Kuma felt a little despair.
"Hey, Yamamoto, look there."
Kanzaki Shingo pointed near the Shadow Crocodile's true body's tail.
There, a bulge was forming.
Pop.
The sound of a pustule bursting rang out, and another eye appeared on the Shadow Crocodile's true body.
Both of them recognized that eye.
It was the eye of the Cursed Spirits they had been tracking for several hours.
"Hey, Kanzaki."
"What?"
Kanzaki Shingo looked at Yamamoto Kuma, trembling all over.
"We need to run."
"Huh?"
"What 'huh'? Exorcising this kind of monster is a monster's job. We've already gotten enough intel. Do you want to die here?!"
Yamamoto Kuma's roar suppressed the fear in Kanzaki Shingo's heart.
"What should we do?"
"I remember one of your Techniques has very high lethality against Cursed Spirits, right?"
"Yes, but it can only hit one enemy, and the consumption is very high. I can only use it once a day."
"Now's the time. Hit that big guy hard with it, then I'll use Incinerate to clear a path. You follow me closely and run for your life, understood?"
"Mm."
Kanzaki Shingo nodded. With a plan, much of the fear in his heart dissipated.
Looking at the constantly approaching Shadow Crocodile Clone, the flames in Yamamoto Kuma's hand grew even brighter.
"It's really afraid of light, huh? I guess being illuminated by light, while not fatal, must be very uncomfortable. That makes sense, after all, it's a shadow."
Yamamoto Kuma muttered to himself, trying to cheer himself up this way.
Yamamoto Kuma knew that in the eyes of these Shadow Crocodiles, the two of them were already within their grasp, needing only to be slowly dealt with.
"Divine Revelation."
..."Spirit Radiance."
..."Heaven's Punishment."
While Kanzaki Shingo chanted the incantation, Yamamoto Kuma once again repelled the Shadow Crocodile Clone's attack.
"Judgment!"
Blinding lightning appeared in Kanzaki Shingo's hand. The next moment, the lightning shot out, hitting the Shadow Crocodile's true body.
"Run!"
Yamamoto Kuma waved his hand, and raging flames burned a safe path.
Kanzaki Shingo followed behind Yamamoto Kuma, running with all his might, dragging his exhausted body.
The next moment, to their despair, the entrance to the cave was covered by pitch-black shadows.
"This can't be real."
Kanzaki Shingo let out a desperate cry.
Behind them, the Shadow Crocodile's body began to split vertically from its head, opening into a huge mouth that completely enveloped the two.
Squelch.
The cave returned to tranquility once more... In an abandoned village, a battle was also taking place.
One side of the battle was a Cursed Spirits with twisted limbs, crouching on the ground like an insect, its neck resembling a death worm.
A pained human face emerged from the Cursed Spirits' fanged mouth.
The other side was a young girl dressed in blue ethnic clothing.
"Damn it, my tuning fork."
Shijima Naji uttered a sound of regret.
This was an abandoned village. Shijima Naji was ambushed by the Cursed Spirits while resting here, causing her ancestral cursed tool to fall to the side.
Wielding her long sword, she constantly fended off the Cursed Spirits' sharp teeth and claws, Shijima Naji was steadily pushed back.
In contrast was the Cursed Spirits.
Its insect-like limbs moved constantly, and its death-worm-like head bit at Shijima Naji from various angles.
"This can't go on."
Shijima Naji began to think of a way to break the deadlock.
After dodging another attack from the Cursed Spirits.
Shijima Naji ran towards a nearby house.
Rumble.
The Cursed Spirits' long neck, like a wrecking ball, directly demolished the two-story house.
In the dust of the ruins, Shijima Naji Broke Through the Cursed Spirits' insect-headed obstruction and rushed to the Cursed Spirits' front in one breath.
She rolled to avoid the Cursed Spirits' segmented leg.
Shijima Naji took her ancestral cursed tool, the tuning fork, into her hand.
Ding-mm~
The tuning fork collided with the back of the sword.
A strange sound rang out, and the Cursed Spirits' movements paused.
"Huff, huff, I won."
Shijima Naji gasped for breath as she stood up, walking step by step towards the Cursed Spirits, her long sword raised high.
However, something unexpected happened to her: in the few seconds she took to catch her breath, the Cursed Spirits actually broke free from the control of the cursed tool tuning fork.
Its death-worm-like head attacked her again.
"Ah!"
Shijima Naji was sent flying by a headbutt.
If not for the timely defense with her long sword, Shijima Naji's body would likely have suffered significant wounds from the sharp teeth.
"Damn it, why?"
"Probably the Rank."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind Shijima Naji.
"Eh?"
Shijima Naji looked behind her in confusion.
What appeared in her sight was a young man in a black school uniform.
"The higher the Rank of the Cursed Spirits, the higher its defense and resistance to Techniques. That's common sense, isn't it?"
Eichi looked at Shijima Naji, who was lying on the ground, with a strange expression, then Eichi extended his hand.
Shijima Naji instinctively reached out her hand.
The moment their two hands met, the Cursed Spirits nearby seized the opportunity to launch an attack.
"How unromantic."
Eichi complained to the Cursed Spirits.
The next moment, a Vicious Beast from ancient times descended from the sky.
Qiongqi directly stepped on the Cursed Spirits, remaining indifferent no matter how the Cursed Spirits struggled.
"Deal with it."
Eichi's words fell.
Qiongqi opened its mouth wide and bit off the Cursed Spirits' head.
Shijima Naji stared blankly at the scene before her.
She felt as if she had encountered a plotline that only existed in stories.
"Don't just stand there, keep up."
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"To take a bath and change clothes, or do you want to go home like this, tattered?"
Upon hearing 'bath' and 'home', Shijima Naji seemed to think of something and blushed, but after thinking about it, she felt Eichi had a point, so after a moment of hesitation, Shijima Naji still followed along.