Curse Reply: After choosing Nawa, the cursed spirit cursed me for being cruel.

He nodded: "Okay, it's settled then. I'll go say hello to Teacher Moth and arrange transportation. You guys go to the school gate and wait for the assistant supervisor. Tell him that the situation has changed and that we're adding a special-grade mage to accompany us. Ask him to readjust the mission briefing permissions and resource requests. I'll be there soon."

"Yes!" the two replied in unison.

Watching Haibara Yu and Nanami Kento run confidently toward the school gate, Duanmu Yan's calm gradually faded, replaced by a solemn expression.

"Land God"...no matter if you're level two, level one, or something more complicated...

With me here, no one is allowed to go astray.

……

Inside the dilapidated temple, three figures gathered under the eaves of a roof that had collapsed halfway.

It was just past noon outside, and the sunlight was filtered into a grayish-white color by the two layers of barriers.

The water clock sat cross-legged on a broken beam, its one eye fixed on the loach. The loach, its head bowed low, seemed to be caught in a daze. The water clock whistled through the air, its head bowed low, and the loach seemed to be caught in a daze. The water clock whistled through the air ...

The text appears to be a jumbled collection of characters and symbols, possibly from different sources. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context or clarification.

She smiled faintly and said, "Don't worry, I have an informant in the Elders' Council. I have already designated Nanami Kenji and Haibara Yu, both first-year students at the college, through him. This is a designated task that can only be carried out by the two of them."

Hanami stood in the shadows at the corner of the wall. Instead of questioning whether the mission could catch Haibara and Nanami, it turned its gaze to the small barrier surrounding the dilapidated temple.

"Why use it to trap us? Just prevent the magic power from leaking out, why go to such lengths?"

The text appears to be a jumbled mess of characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted or garbled message. It doesn't form coherent sentences or paragraphs. A direct translation isn't meaningful without further context or clarification.

She held up one finger. "The large barrier that's currently in place will activate a second barrier when the two of them step inside, preventing Duanmu Yan and Wutiao Wu from entering, and at the same time dispelling our small barrier. That's the arrangement."

Louhu waved his hand, a plume of smoke rising from his head: "I know, I know. It means we'll just wait here, and Xia Youjie will come to us of his own accord."

The text appears to be a jumbled mess of characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted or garbled message. It doesn't form coherent sentences or paragraphs. A direct translation wouldn't be meaningful.

"Understood," Louhu said without turning his head, "I won't let him die too horribly."

Hua Yu didn't reply and looked towards the outer layer of the barrier.

As a result, all sounds and smells from the outside world were filtered out, locking them in and blocking their vision. They couldn't see outside, nor could they hear the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves or birds chirping.

This is really bad; it's like a cage here.

"Perhaps I'm overthinking it. Even if I'm not comfortable sending a strong person to accompany a low-level cursed spirit, I wouldn't send its strongest combat power directly, would I?"

……

After driving for nearly ten hours, the vehicle finally stopped outside a small, seemingly isolated and impoverished village nestled deep in a mountain valley.

As soon as the car came to a stop, the three assistant supervisors who had been waiting there immediately came to greet it.

They were dressed in uniform, their expressions a mixture of respect and tension, clearly feeling pressured by the sudden arrival of a top-level officer on this low-level mission.

The supervisor quickly relayed the known information to Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu, and, following procedure, handed them a prepared simple map, supplies, and a communicator.

Duanmu Yan stood a little distance away and did not participate in these procedural handovers.

He simply looked around the village and the surrounding mountains in silence, his sharp gaze behind his sunglasses sweeping across every mountain and forest outline, his senses spreading out silently.

The atmosphere here... is indeed somewhat stagnant, and the magical energy reaction deep in the mountains and forests is relatively concentrated, which is consistent with the characteristics of earthbound magical spirits like the Earth God.

Apart from that, no particularly strong or strange fluctuations have been detected so far.

He breathed a sigh of relief. This was for the best. If it really was just an ordinary cursed spirit, like in the original story, then the two of them working together could definitely put up a fight.

He stayed behind to provide cover, his job being to ensure the two of them weren't seriously injured.

The briefing and greetings were quickly over. The three assistant supervisors bowed deeply to Duanmu Yan, offered the standard blessing of "May you have great success in your military endeavors" to Nanami and Haibara, and then quickly withdrew.

"Let's go." Duanmu Yan withdrew his gaze, nodded to the two of them, and took the lead in walking towards the path deep in the mountains.

Nanami Kento and Haibara Yu immediately followed.

Chapter 124 Was it all just a coincidence...?

Once you leave the village and enter the real mountains and forests, the air seems to become even cooler.

Haibara Yu held a map in one hand and a spirit detector in the other, his eyes practically glued to the screen. He walked around excitedly, looking around: "Nanami, look! Here, there! There are red dots! But they're just level three or four weaklings! Too weak! Not even enough for us to warm up!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a clump of dense ferns next to him suddenly shook, and a centipede-like level three cursed spirit, which looked as if it had been magnified dozens of times and was covered with compound eyes and mouthparts, screeched and pounced straight at Haibara Yu's face!

"Ha! Well done!"

Instead of being surprised, Haibara Yu was delighted, and his enhanced right fist directly met the cursed spirit's open, ferocious maw!

With a whooshing sound, the level-three cursed spirit was blasted apart by the punch, turning into a small wisp of dissipating black smoke.

Haibara Yu shook off the few drops of slime that were stuck to him. His face showed unsatisfaction and disgust as he complained, "Couldn't you have someone stronger? I could take on ten of these! Senior Duanmu is watching, can't you let me show off my true strength?"

Almost simultaneously, from the shadows of the trees on the other side, two extremely fast level-three cursed spirits silently darted out and attacked Qi Hai from the left and right.

As the two spirits charged at him, Nanami Kento gripped his short sword and unleashed two ten-stroke spells.

The two cursed spirits froze abruptly. Then, two cracks appeared on their bodies, and their bodies disintegrated without even a scream.

Duanmu Yan nodded as he watched this scene. Both of their techniques were the kind that were well-suited for direct combat.

If Haibara's enhancement increases all her attributes by 20%, then Nanami's technique grants her unparalleled attack power, ensuring that every attack she launches achieves a 200% effect.

Nanami Kento sheathed his sword and reminded her, "Haibara, even if the detectors provide early warnings, don't rely on them too much, and don't be careless. The mountain forest environment is complex, and the angle and method of the cursed spirits' attacks may exceed the detectors' immediate reaction range. Staying vigilant at all times, observing the surrounding environment, and combining it with your own senses is the safest approach."

"I know, I know, Nanami, you're just too cautious!" Haibara Yu waved his hand dismissively, but his eyes still subconsciously scanned his surroundings more carefully.

"The detector has never made a mistake! Besides, Senior Duanmu is here!"

He turned around and gave Duanmu Yan, who was walking at the very back, a bright smile. "Right, Senior Duanmu? With you here, we can really go all out and have a good fight!"

Duanmu Yan simply nodded slightly, saying nothing, his gaze remaining calm as he observed what lay ahead and to the sides.

His very existence is an invisible tranquilizer.

Nanami Kento shook his head helplessly and said no more.

He knew Haibara's personality: passionate, straightforward, trusting of her companions, and sometimes overly optimistic.

But he himself must admit that with senior Duanmu Yan backing him up, the sense of security he felt was completely different.

As he continued forward, his gaze couldn't help but occasionally drift towards the composed figure behind him.

Senior Duanmu... is the only senior who is truly trustworthy and deserving of heartfelt respect.

Nanami Kenji confirmed this in his heart once again.

He is powerful yet unassuming, acts with composure and reliability, and always stands at the forefront in critical moments. Compared to a certain unreliable white-haired guy and a certain black-haired senior who has too much inner monologue, Senior Duanmu is simply a model sorcerer.

He longed for the senior's approval and hoped to become a powerful and reliable sorcerer like him.

The three continued deeper into the area, encountering several more waves of low-level cursed spirits along the way, all of which were easily dealt with by Haibara Yu and Nanami Kento.

Duanmu Yan followed behind, mostly just watching, occasionally offering a brief word of advice.

Everything seemed normal.

But the alarm bells in Duanmu Yan's heart grew louder and louder.

From the moment I stepped into this mountain forest, an indescribable malice began to emerge, and this feeling grew stronger the closer I got to the mission center.

Not right.

There's definitely something wrong.

Duanmu Yan's mind was working at an unprecedented speed. One by one, the doubts and previously scattered fragments began to connect under the increasingly strong stimulation of malice.

First, there's the land god quest itself. In the original work, it's Haibara Yu's death quest.

He had thought his intervention and increased strength would be enough to change things. But now it seems that the timing of this mission and the way it was assigned were themselves strange.

Secondly, the source of this unknown malice is something that could give him such a sense of oppression and manipulation; it couldn't possibly be a mere level-two cursed spirit. Thinking back to the original work…

A picture flashed through Duanmu Yan's mind—Xia Youjie's body, his face with stitches, and that inhuman smile.

Could it be that……

A guess came to mind.

Is this... a setup targeting Jay?

If Haibara and Nanami get into trouble or are in danger here, who will they ask for help first?

My fellow students at the vocational college.

Gojo Satoru's whereabouts are unpredictable, and his mission locations are often extremely far away. Shoko is a medic and usually does not directly participate in frontline rescue operations.

If things had gone according to plan, Duanmu Yan himself would probably still be traveling or on a mission elsewhere right now.

So, who would be the one who stayed at the vocational college, most likely to receive the distress call, and most likely to rush over immediately out of concern for their juniors?

It was Xia Youjie. It was Xia Youjie who had just gone through an inner struggle, who cherished his classmates and his college all the more, and who was in a vulnerable period.

The reason Duanmu Yan is here now is purely because he knows the original story and the variables of this mission.

Otherwise, based on the normal task allocation and his previous course of action, he should never be here at this moment.

What if... this land god quest was actually a trap? Was the purpose to lure Xia Youjie here?

Once this idea took hold, even more doubts emerged like a tidal wave.

How could the Panxing Cult, an extreme non-magic sect that worships "pure Tianyuan," be so well-informed about top-secret information such as "Tianyuan assimilation of the Starmash Body," which even most sorcerers are unaware of? And how could they even accurately know the assimilation date and the identity of the Starmash Body?

The Panxing Cult has existed for over a thousand years, and its members have been involved in various activities, including the worship of Tao Caiqiang and Songshan. However, these activities have not been fully realized.

Could there be a connection between these two things? Perhaps... the Panxing Sect is actually a cult of cults?

The mysterious cult leader who has never shown his face...

Furthermore, their usual task assignments are usually assigned by name.

He and Gojo Satoru usually undertake missions that are extremely far from Tokyo.

Xia Youjie's tasks are mostly concentrated in Tokyo and the surrounding area.

I used to think it was just about the characteristics and efficiency of the technique, but now I realize... isn't it easier for the mastermind to track his whereabouts and even tamper with his missions to lead him to certain locations?

A prison mission... could it really be a coincidence?

Chapter 125 Hua Yu: I have a bad feeling