After arranging the Death Paintings, Shin quickly packed his belongings and boarded a plane arranged by the Higher-Ups, flying toward Hokkaido.
While on the plane, he pondered his next move. A fellow like Jogo certainly wouldn't stay in one place waiting to be exorcised after causing such destruction, meaning finding him wouldn't be easy.
However, Kenjaku would definitely be stirring up trouble in Tokyo. That meant he had to resolve everything quickly and return. Thinking about it, it really was a hassle.
—
Shin walked aimlessly through a field of ruins in Hokkaido. Everywhere he looked were traces of high-temperature scorching, and his eyes were filled with residual cursed energy. For a Cursed Spirit of Jogo's level, hiding his residual cursed energy was incredibly simple, which left Shin in a very passive position.
'Let's give it a try. Maybe it'll work.'
Shin took out a compass and began infusing it with experience points, thinking about the additional function he wanted for it.
'Find Jogo... Find Jogo...'
After consuming ten levels worth of experience, the compass suddenly burst into a rainbow of light and pointed straight in one direction.
'Success!'
Shin quickly followed the compass's guidance to search for Jogo. Before long, he arrived in Sapporo, the most prosperous city in Hokkaido. However, due to the recent 'terrorist attacks' and the fact that it was the middle of the night, there weren't many pedestrians on the streets of Sapporo, which was a good thing for Shin.
At that moment, Jogo was hiding in a sewer, using a peculiar Cursed Tool to communicate with Kenjaku.
[Has that strange kid arrived yet? If he's here, my mission should be over, right?]
[Jogo, since when did you become so cowardly? According to the information from my informant, he should have arrived. You can retreat now. Anyway, if he doesn't deal with you, he'll have to stay in Hokkaido to prevent the next attack, so the mission can be considered a success.]
Just as Jogo breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to retreat, a trident emitting a purple glow flew toward him at high speed. Startled, Jogo hastily activated his Cursed Technique, releasing a pillar of lava to block the attack.
Partial Domain Expansion: Genesis!
Since the location of their battle was almost in the city center, Shin couldn't fully expand his domain and could only slightly control its range.
Jogo instinctively wanted to use Domain Expansion as well, but his experience from the previous domain clash told him that his Coffin of the Iron Mountain couldn't beat Shin's domain. Furthermore, Shin's domain wasn't the instant-kill type. Perhaps by conserving Cursed Energy, he could still struggle a bit within it.
Since the domain wasn't fully expanded, the two were placed into a body of water within the domain.
Shin stood firmly on the water's surface with his frost-walking boots. As for Jogo, he summoned several Ember Insects to attach to his back and fly, and he also pulled out the Flame Tempest Fan.
Shin lightly raised a finger, and countless tridents surrounded Jogo. With a single thought from Shin, combined with the Guaranteed Hit effect within the domain, Jogo would be instantly skewered like a hedgehog.
"I'll give you one chance. If you tell me what your purpose is, I can spare your life this time."
"Hmph, in your dreams! Just as I once said, we new humans will never betray our comrades!"
"Comrades? That person doesn't necessarily see you as comrades."
Shin muttered to himself, and with a wave of his finger, the tridents in mid-air flew toward Jogo in unison.
Lava dripped from Jogo's forehead, but he still gripped the Cursed Tool tightly. He channeled Cursed Energy and swung the Flame Tempest Fan. A powerful tornado immediately shrouded his figure, and the tridents flying toward him were blown off course by the intense hurricane.
'The Guaranteed Hit effect of a Domain Expansion simply means it cannot be dodged, but it can be countered with a Cursed Technique.'
Boom!
A fierce wind carrying lava and flames rushed toward Shin. Although there was a neutralization effect within the domain, as long as the output of the Cursed Technique was strong enough, it could ensure that a significant amount of power remained even after being partially neutralized.
If it were anyone else, they might have tried to dodge this attack, but for Shin, who possessed immense defensive power, taking such an attack head-on was nothing more than a tickle.
Seeing that an attack of such intensity couldn't cause even a sliver of damage to Shin, Jogo immediately turned and fled.
He unleashed his Domain Expansion at full power at the edge of Shin's domain.
Domain Expansion: Coffin of the Iron Mountain!
Jogo compressed his domain, controlling the direction of its release to strike directly at the outer wall of Shin's domain. Just as it looked like a gap was about to be torn in Shin's domain, Shin stood still, unmoving.
'Although doing this will definitely lead to the Higher-Ups holding me accountable after everything is over, I can't worry about that now.'
Genesis: Full Opening!
The massive domain broke through the city's surface, forming a hemisphere above ground that attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
Jogo's domain was instantly crushed by the suddenly expanding Genesis. Sinking into Cursed Technique Burnout, Jogo slumped powerless to the ground.
"Heh... it seems I'm going to die here today. It's a pity I won't see the day when we new humans occupy the surface."
Shin originally wanted to reflect and mock Jogo, but he was afraid of any unexpected complications. So, he took out a trident emitting a rainbow glow and threw it at Jogo.
Bang!
The powerful positive cursed energy neutralized Jogo, turning him into nothingness.
That's right, Shin hadn't learned the Reverse Cursed Technique, but he could imbue items with the effect of Reverse Cursed Technique, turning any object into an 'Exorcism' version of itself.
After confirming that Jogo had completely vanished, Shin finally spoke the words he had wanted to say.
"Just a Cursed Spirit, unable to even judge whether others are treating you with sincerity. How could you ever become the rulers of the world? In the end, you were just tools used by someone else."