On the other side of the Shibuya Tower rooftop.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Megumi swung his tonfas with the same style he had learned from Nanami. The strikes cut through the air like wind, forcing Ogami's Grandson to dodge repeatedly.
'That old woman… she's suspicious.'
Megumi had already confirmed through several exchanges that the young man in front of him was not very strong, roughly around grade 2 level and not even close to the semi-grade 1 threshold. With a little effort, Megumi could defeat him quickly.
But despite being battered by Megumi's constant attacks and already covered in wounds, the young man kept finding ways to shield the old woman behind him.
And the more he did that, the more suspicious it seemed to Megumi, especially with the strange chanting from the old woman that sounded like some kind of ritual.
'Nue!'
Megumi called his shikigami in his mind.
Nue, which was waiting in the sky, immediately dived down, its target Granny Ogami who was still chanting.
"Grandma!"
Under the moonlight, the huge shadow cast by Nue was impossible to miss.
Even though Nue had deliberately suppressed its lightning aura, its intention was still noticed by Ogami's Grandson. But with the distance and speed involved, there was no way he could make it in time.
"Don't look away during a fight!"
In the instant he hesitated, Megumi's weapon slammed into his face and sent him flying.
However, Ogami's Grandson deliberately used the momentum of the blow to retreat rapidly. Throwing himself in front of the old woman, he forcibly blocked Nue's attack.
Blood sprayed across the ground as several of his teeth were knocked out, and his entire body was charred black by Nue's lightning.
Since the attack had failed and to avoid a counterattack, Megumi commanded Nue to return to the sky, leaving the man collapsed on the ground.
Yet even after such a beating, Ogami's Grandson stubbornly stood up again. His expression remained completely blank, as if he were not the one injured.
"That's enough, grandson."
At this moment, Granny Ogami's ritual was complete. A pale blue cursed energy radiated from her body, briefly connecting with the sky itself.
'The atmosphere… changed?'
Megumi instantly sensed something strange. Ogami's cursed energy seemed to contain something else, something that did not match her own strength.
"I understand, Grandma."
Ogami's Grandson took out a small capsule from his pocket.
To Megumi's surprise, he swallowed it whole.
"Ogi… Zenin!"
With the old woman's shout, the cursed energy surrounding her was transferred to her grandson.
Immediately, the young man's face began to twist and distort, and within two seconds his appearance changed completely.
He transformed into an old man with a long braid, looking even older than Awasaka. Yet despite the aged appearance, the aura around him became heavy and powerful, like a beast ready to pounce.
"Zenin? Someone from Maki-senpai's clan? But I've never heard of him… Could he be an older generation sorcerer?"
Megumi tightened his grip on his weapons and observed the transformed man.
Their technique was clear now: Séance Technique.
The summoned man was not extremely powerful, but far stronger than the young man from before. Probably semi-grade 1 to grade 1 level. In today's jujutsu world, someone like that would certainly not be unknown.
"How is it, grandson?"
"It's excellent. As expected of a combat seat from one of the Big Three Families. I can feel the power engraved into this body."
As they spoke, the old woman tossed him a katana. He caught it smoothly, as if the movement were engraved into the body's memory.
This capsule had taken them a great deal of effort to obtain. It was made from the remains of a combat member of the Zenin clan who had died in the family incident more than ten years ago.
"Hm?"
But suddenly Ogami's Grandson frowned. He tried to draw his sword and charge forward, yet the cursed energy in this body flowed strangely. It felt like the body itself resisted attacking Megumi.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Nue disappeared from the sky. From Megumi's shadow, hundreds of rabbits burst out like a whirlwind and surrounded the enemy.
"Blazing Courage!"
The man swung his sword. A fierce burst of flames shot upward, instantly scattering the entire rabbit swarm.
"Max Elephant!"
After intense training, Megumi could now summon Max Elephant together with other shikigami. The pink elephant had already appeared beside him. The rabbits had only been used to block the enemy's vision and buy time.
Just as the rabbits were cut apart, Max Elephant blasted a powerful stream of water from its trunk.
Boom!
Caught off guard, Ogami's Grandson was blasted several meters back, drenched from head to toe.
At the same moment, Megumi rushed forward with his weapon.
"You brat…"
The man tried to swing his sword again, but that strange resistance returned. His cursed energy would not flow properly. Megumi was getting closer, yet he could not initiate an attack.
What was this feeling of fear?
"Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion!"
Helpless, he used the defensive technique of the Big Three Families, guided by the body's instinct.
Clang!
When Megumi's weapon struck the blade, the counterforce of Falling Blossom Emotion knocked him back.
But that strike had only been a feint.
"Nue!"
From the shadows below, the prepared shikigami charged forward at point-blank range. The lightning-covered impact blasted the man away.
Still soaked with water, Ogami's Grandson was engulfed by Nue's lightning. Together with the old woman, he was knocked off the rooftop and sent flying down the building.
Meanwhile, on Nanami's side.
'So that's it… inversion.'
When Megumi's rabbits were scattered, one of them was blown by the shockwave and accidentally struck Awasaka. That tiny impact, almost negligible, actually forced Awasaka back several steps and disrupted his breathing.
In that instant, Nanami understood the enemy's technique.
During activation, the technique reverses damage. The stronger the attack, the weaker its effect. Conversely, the weaker the attack, the stronger the damage.
Now Nanami understood the strange feeling from earlier. The more cursed energy he used, the stronger Awasaka seemed to become, because the technique was reversing the damage.
But from that small clue, Nanami had already figured out the weakness.
Since weak attacks had not severely injured Awasaka, the technique clearly had a lower limit. And the fact that Awasaka only dared appear after the special grade sorcerers were sealed meant there was also an upper limit.
So…
"Ratio Technique: Collapse!"
This time Nanami held nothing back. His cursed energy surged like a physical force as he struck toward Awasaka.
"You're finished!"
Awasaka nearly laughed out loud. Aside from special grade sorcerers, he believed no one could surpass the upper limit of his technique. With such a powerful strike, the rebound should severely injure Nanami.
But reality proved otherwise.
"Black Flash!"
Nanami divided the opponent's guard using the Ratio Technique and struck precisely at the weak point. Then his second Black Flash of the day exploded forward.
"Pffft!"
Space twisted, and the impact, like a speeding train, blasted straight through Awasaka's arms and into his chest. Blood sprayed from the curse user's mouth, and the two wooden stakes in his pocket were shattered by the shock.
A moment later, Awasaka was blasted off the rooftop, following the grandmother and grandson duo.
In the sky, the curtain that blocked sorcerers from entering began to dissolve.
"Huh? I thought there were three earlier…"
Megumi looked around. Only this one had disappeared. Maybe another one was underground?
"No matter. Sorcerers can move freely now. Let's go."
Perhaps the extra stakes had been decoys, or perhaps multiple anchors formed one curtain. Either way, the immediate problem was solved.
Nanami checked his watch. The fight had not taken long.
"Yes!"
Megumi summoned Nue again.
* * *
At the bottom of the Shibuya Tower.
"That sorcerer… just wait…"
Awasaka had activated his technique before landing, so the fall itself caused little damage. But Nanami's previous blow had nearly shattered his arms. They still trembled uncontrollably, and his chest throbbed with pain.
"So what now? That kid is strange. Even with Ogi Zenin's body, I can't fight him properly."
Beside him, the grandmother and grandson duo had only minor injuries. The grandson had saved themselves by stabbing the blade into the building wall during the fall. Now wearing Ogi's face, he asked the question.
"Let's meet up with the two outside first. Aren't they hunting the assistant managers? That damn sorcerer will pay for that punch!" Awasaka grinned viciously as he responded.
The three of them left together, each harboring their own schemes.
None of them realized they were heading straight toward an unprecedented terror.
**
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