Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward.
Just ten minutes after the Pillar of Heaven grew out of the Netherworld Barrier, Eichi arrived at the scene with Artoria.
"So this is how Abe no Seimei plans to seize control of all the nation's Barriers?"
Eichi looked at the beautiful giant tree, something that should only exist in a fairy-tale world, with a touch of emotion.
"It is indeed very beautiful, but unfortunately, we must destroy it."
With that, Artoria drew her Holy Sword.
"If you like it, I'll plant a few for you later."
Noticing the regret in Artoria's tone, Eichi immediately spoke.
Beautiful things always evoked affection.
"No need. Such pastimes will make one complacent."
Artoria shook her head, then held the Holy Sword upright in front of her.
Eichi said no more upon hearing this, but in his mind, he was already thinking about where to plant trees for Artoria later. He could also consider planting some pretty flowers.
Countless golden rays of light converged on the Holy Sword from all directions, and the dazzling light illuminated Artoria's face, making her appear even more sacred.
"Excalibur!"
Light surged, and light roared.
The pillar of light that shot into the sky utterly destroyed the giant tree that had sprung from the ground.
Half of the Imperial Palace was also destroyed along with it.
This was still under Artoria's full control. If the power had not been controlled, then let alone the Imperial Palace, a large number of surrounding buildings likely would not have been spared.
The golden pillar of light quickly disappeared, and in the next second, countless colorful sparks shot into the sky.
Bang, bang, bang.
Beautiful fireworks bloomed in the sky, and countless people, attracted by the golden pillar of light, happily admired the fireworks while discussing whether there was another large event tonight that they did not know about...
Shibuya Station.
After a perfect opening ceremony, Satoru leisurely walked into the station with his hands in his pockets.
After casually exorcising a group of Cursed Spirits on the way, Satoru entered the fifth basement level of the station.
"Oh? Someone came in."
The people trapped on the fifth basement level looked at Satoru in surprise as he walked down the stairs.
"Can we leave now?"
The people who had been trapped on the fifth basement level by the Barrier for a long time immediately surged toward the stairs.
As expected, everyone once again crashed into the invisible Barrier.
"It hurts. Why still can't we get out?"
"Exactly. He got in, so why can't we get out?"
"Could it be that this damned place only allows people in but not out?"
Everyone immediately began discussing the strange situation before them.
"Hey, do you know what's happening outside right now? When will rescue arrive?"
Suddenly, a person reached out to grab Satoru's shoulder, but he quickly discovered in surprise that he could not touch Satoru at all.
"So noisy. You'll be fine soon, just wait quietly for now."
With that, Satoru took off his blindfold and carefully surveyed his surroundings.
He quickly found his targets.
Jogo and Hanami stood openly on the tracks, as if afraid Satoru would not see them.
"Only two? Impossible."
Satoru's Six Eyes immediately scanned the entire area.
Even though there were many ordinary people here, severely interfering with the Six Eyes' vision, Satoru still noticed some out-of-place details.
"These strange traces of Cursed Energy. So that's it, are they Curse Users?"
Satoru immediately made a judgment. He already understood what these people wanted to do.
Jogo and Hanami in front of him were merely bait, the ordinary people were hostages, the trap had been set here in advance, and the Jujutsu Sorcerers hidden among the hostages were the real killing blow.
"Interesting. What exactly gives them the confidence to defeat me?"
Satoru thought with interest, but all of that was irrelevant.
Although Satoru really wanted to see what methods these people had prepared, there were still many ordinary people here after all. If he truly fought them here, many people would likely die.
Satoru still knew what was more important.
In the original story, the enemy was hidden while he was in the open, with the old geezers adding insult to injury from the outside, and Satoru lost the initiative internally.
Under those various circumstances, Satoru could only step into the trap.
It was also for this reason that Satoru had tacitly allowed the sacrifice of some ordinary people to avoid a greater disaster.
But this time, Satoru did not need to, because Eichi had already formulated a complete plan in advance.
"What? I'm here, and you're just going to watch?"
Satoru jumped off the platform and looked at Jogo and Hanami in front of him.
"What methods have you prepared? Hurry up and show me."
"Heh heh, you'll know soon."
Jogo looked at Satoru with a sinister grin.
The next second, the ticket gates on the platform suddenly opened, and a large number of ordinary people cried out as they fell onto the tracks.
"What's going on?"
"Hurry up and get up. What if the subway comes?"
Just as everyone fell into panic, Jogo moved.
Flames ignited in Jogo's hands, and he launched an attack toward Satoru.
However, before Jogo's flames could touch the ordinary people in front of him, Satoru had already grabbed his hand.
Jogo was then thrown far away by Satoru.
"So fast, but I can see him."
Although he suffered a heavy blow, the smile on Jogo's face became even more rampant.
At first, he had only hoped these ordinary people could somewhat restrict Satoru's movements.
However, Satoru's action of actively protecting ordinary people just now surprised Jogo.
Satoru's fighting style was broad and unrestrained.
Both Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red had extremely high lethality.
This made it difficult to use Blue and Red now that the surroundings were full of ordinary people.
Combined with Satoru's action of protecting those ordinary people just now, as well as the speed he had deliberately lowered to prevent ordinary people from being smashed by him, all of it proved that the role of these hostages far exceeded Jogo's expectations.
Undoubtedly, this was the most unfavorable battlefield for Satoru, and also the most suitable battlefield for them.
"It'll work! Now we just need to stall for time."
Jogo flipped through the air and landed, then rushed toward Satoru again.
In front, Hanami had already begun enduring Satoru's attacks.
Their mission was not to kill Satoru, but simply to stall for time.
When Kenjaku met the person he wanted to see, he would immediately return to basement level 5 to seal Satoru.
"It's almost time."
After suppressing Hanami and Jogo with superb combat skills, while incidentally protecting ordinary people for a while, Satoru whispered softly.
"Time?"
Jogo's heart tightened, and the excitement he felt from restraining Satoru was replaced by a chill.
The next second, window-like openings appeared beneath everyone's feet.
"What is this!"
Jogo shrieked, using his legs to try to dodge.
"Oh my, little volcano is still so cute. Don't be shy, go in and play."
Satoru's voice suddenly appeared behind Jogo.
"Off you go!"
The next second, a powerful kick landed on Jogo's volcano-like head, which resembled a football.
Hanami, seeing that the situation was not right, tried to rescue Jogo, but Satoru seized the opportunity and slapped her into a window.
(To be continued.)