Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

"Freeze!"

Rito's fist slammed into Tanaka, and at the same time, the spell was activated.

Frost spread, and Tanaka's body made a cracking sound.

But Tanaka seemed unaffected; more sharp bone spurs emerged from his body, instantly destroying the covering ice.

boom!

"Damn it!"

Rito staggered back, but was still inevitably hit by a punch.

Bone spurs pierced his body, and blood flowed from the wound, quickly staining his shirt red.

Even so, Rito stood ramrod straight, without wavering at all.

"I'll do it!"

As Rito retreated, several nails imbued with cursed power flew towards Tanaka.

Kugisaki followed closely behind, raising his foot and kicking forward.

Fu Hei didn't fall behind either. Despite Yu Quan's injury, he used his physical skills to rush forward at the same time.

At this moment, Tanaka had stopped struggling, and his face, with its two eyes, one large and one small, was filled with pure coldness.

"die!"

He raised his arms, his fingers spread wide, aiming at Kugizaki and Fushiguro.

Whoosh! !

The next second, countless tiny bone spikes emerged from under Tanaka's skin, shooting out like machine guns at the two charging towards him.

"Oops!"

Liren's expression changed, and he was about to step forward to help.

But the bone spikes were launched too fast. In the blink of an eye, blood splattered on Kugizaki and Fushiguro, and they fell heavily to the ground.

Tanaka did not stop.

He raised his right arm, palm facing the fallen Kugizaki, and slowly pushed out a bone spear thicker than any of the previous bone spurs, aiming it at her brow.

Kugizaki's pupils contracted sharply, and his body instinctively rolled to the side.

boom!

The bone spear grazed her earlobe and pierced the ground, instantly blasting a fist-sized crater in the concrete.

Pebbles splashed on her face, leaving a thin, long trail of blood.

Seeing that Tanaka was about to finish him off, Rito sped up and stepped in front of the two of them.

"Should I use that?" Rito asked himself.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kugizaki struggling to prop himself up, and at the same time, he heard Fushiguro's suppressed breathing.

"No, that won't do!"

Liren immediately dismissed the idea in his mind.

"Although the power consumption of the domain's expansion was controlled at three levels after Principal Moth's last attack, Tanaka's technique seems to be able to counteract this control."

"Furthermore, the low-temperature effect of this field is something I cannot currently control freely. Once it is activated, neither Fushiguro nor Kugizaki will be spared."

"What will happen to them if we fail? We can't gamble, absolutely not with our comrades' lives!"

Without further hesitation, Li Ren pressed forward.

"Spell - Decay!"

His fist struck Tanaka squarely in the chest, but his arm was pierced by a bone spur that suddenly appeared.

Fortunately, the decay did not negate the effect; the spot where Li Ren's fist struck began to crumble into bone dust, as if it had been weathered for hundreds of years.

Tanaka lowered his head and glanced at his disintegrating chest. His half-human, half-ghost face showed no sign of pain.

He simply watched the bone powder falling down, then raised his head and locked onto Rito again with his eye, which was twice the normal size.

Then, he raised his fist and swung it out even faster than before.

"Rito, watch out!" Fukuro's angry voice rang out from behind.

Before Rito could react, he was hit by Tanaka and sent flying backward.

With a thud, it fell heavily to the ground.

But as soon as his back hit the ground, a shadow loomed over him.

Tanaka has already caught up.

His right arm was raised high, five bone spurs protruding from his knuckles, exuding an aura of death in the grayish-white fluorescent light.

Rihito saw the hand, its own blood still wet on the bone spur.

He tried to struggle, but his body had not yet recovered from the severe blow.

The next second, the bone spur fell, piercing his eye.

Ding!

In an instant, a nail flew from the side, struck the bone spur, and deflected it by half an inch.

The bone spur grazed the man's neck and embedded itself in the ground.

Rito felt a cool sensation on her neck, and warm liquid flowed down her skin.

"Rito, are you alright?"

Kugizaki had already gotten up and quickly went to Rito's side to check his injuries.

Fu Hei quickly followed.

"Cough...cough...it's nothing..."

Li Ren coughed a few times, and a metallic sweetness welled up uncontrollably in his throat.

He glanced at the two people who cared about him and forcefully suppressed the blood.

"It's okay." After saying that again, Rito forced himself to stand up.

Having seemingly confirmed that Rito was alright, Kugizaki and Fushiguro turned their attention back to Tanaka.

"He's a tough opponent. It seems we can only hold out until Mr. Nanami arrives."

Fu Hei said in a low voice, glancing back at the passage he had come from.

The passageway was deathly silent, with no sign of Nanami arriving.

"I can't wait for Mr. Nanami, I'm not going to lose to something like this!" Kugizaki wiped the blood off his face, looking fierce.

"The Jade Dog won't last much longer; we must deal with it as soon as possible!" Fu Hei straightened up, looking ahead with a grave expression.

"roar--!!"

Seeing the three regain their fighting spirit, Tanaka let out a roar.

The next second, bone spurs pierced out from their arms, extending to a meter in length, like two long knives, slashing towards the three of them.

"Go to hell!!"

Ding!

A nail, imbued with even stronger magical power than before, shot out instantly.

Fu Hei remained silent, following closely behind with the two jade dogs whose speed had noticeably slowed down.

Rito's eyes were resolute as he watched the two figures walk away.

"I can't fall behind, I have to do something."

With this in mind, Rito's thoughts gradually calmed down.

"Currently, although I am able to expand my domain, my usage is still too rudimentary."

"If it were Mr. Gojo, what would he do?"

Suddenly, the image of Gojo Satoru appeared in Rito's mind.

The technique can be applied in a positive direction or operated in a negative direction, focusing on internal convergence and external release.

Every movement in combat is like a work of art. If only I could do that...

Time slows down at this moment.

On the battlefield ahead, Fushiguro was kicked by Tanaka and curled up on the ground like a cooked shrimp.

The two jade dogs also disappeared due to their severe injuries.

Kugisaki was grabbed by the throat, his feet left the ground as he struggled desperately, and the hammer in his hand fell somewhere.

In just two seconds, the two companions faced such a crisis.

Li Ren knew that he could no longer hesitate.

"Hot!"

With a loud bang, a massive surge of heat slammed into Tanaka, allowing Kugizaki to break free and instantly create distance.

"Cough cough cough..." Kugizaki's face turned red, and he coughed incessantly, unable to utter a complete sentence.

"As Gojo-sensei said, it's not about spreading out the magical power, but about containing it."

Looking at Tanaka charging towards him, Rito muttered to himself.

Fu Hei knelt on one knee, his chest heaving violently.

He looked up at Rito, his breath catching in his throat.

Rito stood there, his center of gravity slightly lowered, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his whole body resembling a knife plunged into the ground.

The cursed power covered his body like mercury, like a layer of transparent flame.

"……monster."

Beside him, Kugizaki pressed his palms against the gravel, supporting himself with both hands, trying to stand up from the ground.

After failing twice, she finally managed to steady herself on the third try.

Then, she saw Rito's profile.

Kugizaki stopped moving. She seemed to have forgotten the pain in her body and just knelt down, staring intently at Rito.

"ha!"

She chuckled, then broke out in a cold sweat as the pain aggravated her wound.

"Ahem, there's going to be a good show."

boom--!

Suddenly, the rusty iron gate was violently smashed open from the outside.

The next second, Nanami appeared in front of them.

His suit was torn, and there was a rip on the shirt on his left shoulder, revealing the bleeding skin underneath.

The spell implement in his hand was still dripping with some kind of sticky substance.

"Sorry I'm late—"

The moment Nanami entered, Rito's gaze was instantly drawn to her.

He had only ever seen that look in his eyes, that posture of impending transformation, on Gojo Satoru.

His expression, which had remained unchanged for ages, finally changed at this moment.

"It seems that Mr. Gojo has produced another outstanding student."

In the center of the group, Li Ren's gaze changed.

As he watched Tanaka rush towards him, the last layer of confusion in his mind was slowly dispelled.

It reveals something deepest, most essential.

"Mr. Gojo, I can do that too!"

"Domain Expansion—Static Universe!"