October 24th, on Christmas Eve.

A large-scale group Curse Spirit incident centered around Shibuya was settled by the sorcery group led by Duanmu Ai, Special Grade Curse Master. Three Curse Masters were arrested, three Special Grade Curse Spirits purified, and thousands of lower-grade spirits cleansed. The former Special Grade Curse Master Xia Youjie was confirmed alive but has been eliminated by the current Special Grade Curse Master, Duanmu Ai.

The sealed Gojo Satoru has been reclaimed by Duanmu Ai.

The Two-faced SuNu and his host Kotetsu Yurei have been executed by Duanmu Ai.

But for the Magic World, this is only the beginning.

"Exactly, hmm... you guys are really unlucky..."

Sitting in the chair by the window, Duanmu Huai tossed the Rubik’s cube back and forth in his hand while talking on the phone.

"Hahaha, can you sleep tonight? If not, I have something interesting to tell you..."

At this point, Duanmu Huai lowered his voice, but the sound of sirens whistling past outside the window drowned out his voice, though it wasn’t important.

"Yes, that’s right, hmm, I’ll take care of it, wait for my good news."

After ending the call, Duanmu Ha stood up. Just then, the bedroom door was knocked, and Ruby curiously poked her head in.

"Sis, what are you doing? Everyone’s waiting for you."

"Hmm, I’m coming now."

Duanmu Huai casually tossed aside the Rubik’s cube, stretched, and walked out of the bedroom.

In any case, let’s enjoy this Christmas Eve.

There will be plenty of things to do tomorrow.

For most people, this Christmas Eve is no different from before—no, it’s not like that. Just seeing the continuous news coverage of the Shibuya Station explosion and terrorist attacks on TV makes it clear that things aren’t exactly pleasant. But this has nothing to do with Duanmu Huai; he enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas dinner, exchanged gifts with everyone, and then slept soundly.

Then, early the next morning, Duanmu Huai returned to the Magic High School.

There, Principal Yegao Zhengdao and a group of Curse High students were waiting for him.

"Sorry, things got a bit out of hand yesterday, so I’m late."

Facing everyone’s gaze, Duanmu Huai waved his hand with a smile, but before he had taken a few steps, he saw a male and female student come out and block his path.

"What do you want?"

Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow, looking at the two people before him. The black-haired boy glared fiercely at Duanmu Huai, lowered his voice, and asked.

"Did you kill Kotetsu Yurei?"

"Yes, I killed him."

"You... why did you kill him!"

"Because he became Two-faced SuNu."

Duanmu Huai shrugged.

"So I killed him, any problems?"

".........."

The black-haired boy and the girl clenched their fists tightly, glaring at Duanmu Huai.

"Kotetsu Yurei was our companion!"

"That has nothing to do with me."

Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.

"I only know that he was a vessel possessed by the evil Subspace Creature, and his awakening would lead to countless deaths. Therefore, I had to kill him, it’s that simple."

"Kotetsu Yurei isn’t that kind of person!"

"That is irrelevant to me."

Duanmu Huai’s cold eyes showed no emotion.

"I don’t care what kind of person Kotetsu Yurei is, what relationship he has with you, I only know that the Two-faced SuNu within him poses great danger and destruction to humans. In fact, I’m quite surprised you didn’t kill him immediately and let him play house with his classmates. Could it be..."

At this point, Duanmu Huai’s voice lowered slightly.

"In your view, is one Kotetsu Yurei far more important than hundreds or thousands of ordinary citizens? If that’s the case, then you’re rather disloyal..."

"——————————!"

At this moment, both of them tensed up. They could feel the killing intent emanating from Duanmu Huai, turning into sharp blades that completely surrounded them. If they dared to make any move, Duanmu Huai would mercilessly slaughter them!

"If you truly miss that guy named Kotetsu Yurei—"

Duanmu Huai extended his hand to press the guitar case behind him.

"I’ll do you a favor and send you to see him."

"Stop."

Just then, Principal Yegao Zhengdao stepped out.

"We’re all Curse Masters here, don’t kill each other."

"Kill each other?"

Duanmu Huai looked at Yegao Zhengdao.

"Isn’t the job of Curse Masters to protect humans from the threat of Curse Spirits? As far as I’m concerned, these two have completely lost that concept. To them, Kotetsu Yurei is far more valuable than the thousands killed by Two-faced SuNu. Clearly, this is a heretic ideology, isn’t it?"

"Kotetsu Yurei was their companion."

"If friendship, love, and bonds could solve the problem, then Kotetsu Yurei wouldn’t have been killed by me, but unfortunately, they can’t."

Duanmu Huai stared at the two, his right hand still pressing the guitar case.

"Absolute loyalty means absolute disloyalty. You wouldn’t want to stop me, would you, Yegao Zhengdao?"

"That won’t do."

However, before Yegao Zhengdao could respond, two more people came out and stood in front of Duanmu Huai. One was a skinny, weak, dark-eyed boy who looked like he’d be yelled at to "get out of EVA," and the other was a tall, blonde woman. They stood before Duanmu Huai, staring at him without any intention of retreat.

"Which side are you on?"

Duanmu Huai squinted his eyes, staring at the two, and then Yegao Zhengdao spoke.

"They are, like you, Special Grade Curse Masters, Otonashi Youta and Jiushiji Youji."

"Oh, so you’re standing up for them!"

Duanmu Huai opened the guitar case with his right hand.

"Great, let’s see how you compare to Gojo Satoru!"

"Boom!!!!"

The killing intent surged like a fierce storm, flinging the surrounding houses aside as if swept by a hurricane. Feeling such insane murderous aura, Otonashi Youta and Jiushiji Youji’s expressions changed drastically. They hurriedly raised their hands, trying to brace for the imminent battle that promised to be as violent as a raging storm!

"—————"

However, in the next moment, the killing intent vanished.

It was as if it had never existed; Duanmu Huai stood again in his original spot, the guitar case behind him snugly closed once more. If not for the remnants of overturned houses nearby, everyone might have believed it was all just a dream.

"Though I’d like to say that, now isn’t the time. Let’s get down to business."

After saying this, Duanmu Huai paid no attention to the two special-grade Curse Masters, who were momentarily stunned by the rapid turn of events, and turned to face Yegao Zhengdao.

"I want to see Tianyuan."

Faced with Duanmu Huai’s demand, Yegao Zhengdao was silent for a moment. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Before that, let me see your forehead."

"?"

Though unsure of his intent, Duanmu Huai lifted his hair to let the counterpart take a look at his forehead. After a careful examination, Yegao Zhengdao nodded.

"Follow me."

Led by Yegao Zhengdao, the group ventured deeper into the Magic World. Watching Duanmu Huai’s back, Otonashi Youta and Jiushiji Youji exchanged a grave glance.

They were entirely unfamiliar with this new special-grade Curse Master, but from his previous actions and words, they could sense an unmistakable brutality and tyranny. Moreover, their greatest worry was that even though Gojo Satoru was in Duanmu Huai’s hands, he hadn’t been released, clearly intending to use Gojo Satoru as a hostage.

Yegao Zhengdao understood this point as well, which is why he didn’t refuse Duanmu Huai’s request.

But what exactly does he intend to do?

Until now, they had no clues.

But as special-grade Curse Masters, their intuition told them that something terrifying was about to happen.

The group continued downward, and Yegao Zhengdao pushed open a door to reveal an underground forest. Then they took an elevator, proceeding further into the depths.

No one spoke along the way, until the elevator halted at the lowest level, where Jiushiji Youji gazed at the tunnel before them and spoke the first words.

"Up ahead is the main hall."

They pressed onward through the tunnel only to be met with an entirely unexpected sight: a space of pure white.

"What’s going on?"

The black-haired youth looked at the white space in shock.

"Is this the main hall?"

"No."

Jiushiji Youji’s expression was grave.

"He’s refusing us entry."

"Oh ho."

Upon hearing Jiushiji Youji, Duanmu Huai snorted coldly.

"Such arrogance; I come to meet him, and he dares not meet me? But... it’s not his say!"

With those words, Duanmu Huai swiftly drew the blade hidden in the guitar case, grasped the hilt firmly, and stabbed it downwards with force!

"Crack———bang!"

In an instant, the surrounding white world shattered completely, breaking apart like a smashed mirror into fragments. Duanmu Huai raised his head, staring ahead with a menacing grin.

"Finally, I get to see you. You are Tianyuan, right."

At the same time, the others also saw a creature stand behind the shattered barrier, enveloped in robes with four eyes on its head, resembling a curse spirit monster.

"Hello, I actually didn’t want to meet you, hunter of evil spirits."

"But I did want to meet you."

Duanmu Huai glared coldly at Tianyuan.

"As I expected."

Saying this, he raised his sword, pointing it at Tianyuan. The crowd was utterly shocked at his reaction.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Oh, right, I forgot this."

Hearing the cries, Duanmu Huai seemed to recall something. He stretched out his hand, took out, and tossed a cube-like object before him. Then, gripping the Sharp Blade tightly, he swung it down on the cube.

"Slash!"

With the blink of a sword light, the cube was cleaved in two, and a familiar figure appeared before everyone.

"Gojo Sensei!"

Seeing the familiar figure, everyone instantly exclaimed, while Gojo Satoru sheepishly waved at them.

"Ah, sorry, I didn’t expect to be sealed... Uh, apologies for the trouble."

"I never thought you could be so foolish."

Duanmu Huai shot him a cold glance.

"Clearly, you could’ve easily destroyed all special-grade curse spirits by unfolding the barrier, yet you chose to act for the mortals’ sake, adding drama to yourself, and ultimately failed. How do you feel now?"

"But that’s the only way I could act."

Gojo Satoru spread his hands, gazing at Duanmu Huai.

"Besides, I believed you would save me."

"Stop with the nonsense. Anyway, I’m not here to chit-chat with you."

Duanmu Huai turned his gaze to Tianyuan instead of Gojo Satoru.

"I saved you just to make you choose."

"Choose?"

"Exactly, Gojo Satoru, Otonashi Youta, Jiushiji Youji."

Duanmu Huai raised his blade, pointing it at Tianyuan.

"If I told you that by killing Tianyuan, no new Curse Masters or curse spirits would be created, what would you do?"

He then asked them directly.