"Ember Insects!"
Jogo formed a hand sign. Suddenly, a swarm of purple mosquitoes burst from his volcano-like head. Carrying an astonishing amount of cursed energy, the insects circled above him before violently surging forward. The sheer heat distorted the air in the hallway, leaving visible ripples in their wake. Like miniature heat-seeking missiles, the scorching wave and murderous intent stabbed directly at Kirara Hoshi's eyes.
"Useless!" Kirara shouted.
He remained rooted to the spot, completely motionless, yet entirely prepared for battle. Long before the Ember Insects reached him, he felt their lethal threat—but he still didn't flinch, planted as firmly as a pine tree.
Just as expected, the Ember Insects never reached him. The purple mosquitoes, acting on Jogo's command, suddenly pulled a hairpin turn and rocketed right back at their master. Jogo's single eye widened. He instantly unleashed his next prepped move.
"Ember Insects!"
A second wave of insects erupted from his head, crashing head-on into the returning swarm. The two waves collided mid-air, detonating in a massive explosion!
Kirara and Jogo simultaneously threw their arms up to shield their eyes. A ferocious wave of heat blasted outward. Amidst the deafening roar, the hallway walls finally gave way, exploding outward. Flames and magma spewed through the shrapnel, and the shattered concrete began to melt. From the outside of the multi-story parking garage, it looked like a volley of miniature flaming meteors shooting out into the night—the mere aftershock of the Ember Insects.
The very next second came the flames!
With a furious roar, Jogo unleashed a torrent of fire. This was his most proficient technique. The searing temperatures whipped the surrounding air into a localized storm, pushing the flames forward. Simultaneously, Jogo took a step.
The flames and the Curse advanced at the exact same time—a dual assault!
Jogo's body moved forward. He lifted his right foot, took a step, and confidently planted it. His body maintained its balance as he shifted his weight, bringing his left foot forward to complete the motion.
Both physically and perceptually, Jogo had undeniably taken a step forward.
His flames tracked with him, advancing like an infinite, towering wall of fire. As the outer edges of the inferno kissed the floor and walls, the concrete composite began to liquefy. The heat far exceeded its melting point, breaking down the solid state and rendering it into a glowing, gold-and-red magma. It was as if a volcano were flowing through the corridor, threatening total annihilation!
Jogo carried a suffocating aura of majesty, stepping forward like a sovereign. But suddenly, he froze.
Because both he and his fiery technique were stuck dead in their tracks.
The raging inferno had nearly incinerated all the oxygen in the hallway. A howling wind rushed in through the blasted gaps in the walls—a backdraft feeding the thermal currents, whipping the cursed energy flames into a frenzy. The fire burned silently, illuminating Jogo's twisted, furious face.
"Didn't I tell you?" Kirara said flatly. "It's useless."
"I'm not done yet!" Jogo roared.
He violently swung his fist toward the left wall. Even before his knuckles made contact, the sheer thermal energy melted a massive hole through the concrete. Roaring, Jogo unleashed his cursed technique, sending a colossal pillar of fire geysering from outside the wall, exactly like a volcanic eruption.
Kirara mocked him loudly, "Where are you aiming?"
Suddenly, an astonishing wave of heat hit Kirara from the side. He whipped his head around. A serpentine dragon made of pure fire had materialized outside the hallway window. The immense thermal radiation was already melting the glass. The flaming dragon opened its maw, harboring enough heat to vaporize steel. The slightest touch would reduce anything to ash.
So the flames hadn't missed—it was a flanking attack from outside the building!
If a frontal assault didn't work, he would strike from the side! Even a rare spatial-control cursed technique couldn't be omnipotent; there had to be a blind spot. Jogo had deduced that since he couldn't push through the front, he would tear through the flanks, bypass the defense, and bite the sorcerer in half for a one-hit kill.
The speed of the fire technique exceeded even Kirara's reflexes. It was already upon him before he realized it. In the next fraction of a second, he would be swallowed whole and reduced to cinders—
—Or so it should have been.
The flaming dragon's open jaws did not swallow Kirara. Just as it closed in, it violently violently swerved, crashing into the space right in front of him. With an earth-shattering boom, the entire front section of the hallway detonated. Amidst the roar, the massive fire dragon, radiating terrifying heat, whipped completely around. Its new target—
—The Cursed Spirit, Jogo!
"Wha—?!" Jogo's expression instantly warped in shock.
This was impossible! A jujutsu sorcerer had to consciously activate their technique. Even innate, passive techniques required it. Jogo was certain Kirara hadn't had the time to react to the fire dragon. It was a sneak attack. It should have been a guaranteed hit! Yet, despite that, the fire dragon completely missed Kirara and lunged at Jogo just like before.
Jogo desperately formed a hand sign to cancel his cursed technique, but the flaming dragon was too fast and too fierce. The practically tangible beast of fire slammed into him, swallowing him in his own cursed flames. It happened so fast that Hanami, who had been watching from behind, didn't even have time to react before crying out in shock.
Kirara threw his hands up to shield his face. The thermal wave expanded outward like a massive tsunami. Even though he had preemptively reinforced his hands with cursed energy, he still felt the searing agony of burns. Despite the massive distance between them, the sheer kinetic heat was enough to damage him.
Forget taking a direct hit—even getting slightly closer would have turned him to ash! Kirara subconsciously licked his lips. The overwhelming, continuous heat radiation had already left them cracked and bleeding. He couldn't even fathom how hot the center of the hallway was. If not for his cursed energy reinforcement, his clothes would have spontaneously combusted, leaving him with full-body burns.
As the shockwave subsided, Kirara lowered his hands, suddenly staring in disbelief.
Because Jogo was completely unharmed.
The earth-born Curse stood rooted in place, hands still holding a sign. Less than half a meter in front of him was a perfectly delineated arc. Outside the arc, the concrete was a molten, glowing red sludge. Inside the arc, the floor was charred black, but Jogo himself didn't have a single scorch mark on him.
"He actually reacted to that? That's completely absurd," Kirara muttered.
[Jogo, let me...] Hanami couldn't help but say.
Jogo took a deep breath. "No, Hanami. You must conserve your cursed energy to deal with the limitless cursed energy."
[But—]
"No buts!" Jogo barked. "Even if I die, you are forbidden from interfering! Let me make this perfectly clear: even if I perish here, you will not waste a single drop of cursed energy on this old human! When I die, you will step over my corpse and keep moving. Every ounce of your cursed energy must be offered to Mahito. You will do nothing else!"
Not just Hanami, but even Kirara—their enemy—was stunned.
A Curse actually declaring its willingness to die for a cause. Kirara couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't help but interrupt, "Are you really a Curse?"
"What's wrong, old human?" Jogo sneered. "Did you think I'd cling to my pathetic life? Or did you think I wouldn't go all out?"
Kirara sighed softly. "I underestimated you, Cursed Spirits."
"Not Cursed Spirit. Jogo!" the Curse roared.
"Well then, Jogo, you should have a general understanding of my cursed technique by now. No matter what you do, you cannot approach me or that security door. Once my technique is deployed, it operates independently of my will. You cannot kill me, and you cannot break my technique. What will you do now?" Kirara flashed a confident smile again.
Yes, what should he do? Jogo didn't immediately attack; instead, he thought critically.
From the very beginning, he had tried multiple ways to break through, all ending in failure.
Moving forward himself: Failed.
Physical projectile attack (Ember Insects): Failed.
Direct cursed energy flame attack: Failed.
Simultaneous attack with himself and his flames: Failed.
A high-speed flanking attack from a blind spot: Failed.
After testing all these variables, the only concrete data was that Kirara seemingly couldn't move from his spot, nor could he initiate an active attack; he could only rely on counterattacks. In other words, as long as Jogo didn't act, Kirara couldn't launch an effective offense against him.
But even this forced conclusion was full of holes.
Because their fundamental objectives were entirely different. Jogo and Hanami needed to rush to Mahito's aid, meaning they were desperate to break through. Kirara, on the other hand, only needed to stall them. He didn't need to waste cursed energy attacking at all. Maintaining the current stalemate perfectly achieved his goal.
It wasn't that Kirara *couldn't* attack; he simply didn't *need* to.
Normally, when facing this caliber of enemy, Kirara would have immediately used Domain Expansion. But he needed to reserve enough cursed energy to back up Kinji against Mahito, so that was off the table.
Therefore, Jogo easily reached a conclusion: He was out of options.
Jogo glanced at the security door. A distinct cursed energy mark glowed on its surface: [Gacrux].
This had to mean something. If he could decipher its meaning, he could break the deadlock. So, what exactly did this mark signify?
Jogo closed his single eye, calmed his mind, and began to think.
Hmm.
Right.
Hah.
Reading.
Jogo's mind was completely blank.
"Pfft." A soft snicker echoed out.
Jogo instantly snapped his eye open in irritation, glaring forward. Kirara was covering his mouth, head turned to the side, his shoulders trembling slightly as if fighting to hold something back.
Jogo deadpanned, "If you want to laugh, just laugh—"
"Bwahahahahaha!" Kirara burst into howling laughter.
The volcano on Jogo's head erupted with literal fire. His face twisted into a demonic snarl. "You bastard—! I'll burn you to ashes! I won't leave a single scrap of your corpse!"
"Pfft... but... but seriously," Kirara wheezed, shaking violently as he finally suppressed his laughter. "That completely clueless look on your face... it's just... I know we're in a life-or-death battle right now, but I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just couldn't hold it in! Pfft, hehe, hehehe, hahahahaha!"
"You bastard!" Jogo raged impotently.
[Look closely, Jogo,] Hanami suddenly interjected.
Jogo blinked. "What is it?"
[Observe. Think.] Hanami stared intently at Kirara's body, speaking in an incomprehensible language that somehow bypassed the brain and translated directly to meaning. [Look. Your cursed technique is not entirely useless.]
Kirara's laughter abruptly died.
Jogo focused his gaze and immediately spotted the difference. Minor burn marks. Right on Kirara's skin.
But that didn't make sense. Jogo's flame techniques hadn't hit Kirara once—not even a grazing blow. Where did the burns come from? He should be completely unscathed.
And then, suddenly, it clicked for Jogo.
"—You can only repel my cursed energy, but your technique has absolutely no effect on the pure physical phenomena triggered by my cursed energy. Am I right?"
Kirara sighed. "What a shame. I thought we could just stand here until the end of time."
Jogo violently kicked the floor. A chunk of shattered concrete shot toward Kirara like a bullet. Kirara didn't even flinch; he merely glanced at the rock. Mid-flight, the debris sharply veered off course and hurtled back at Jogo. Jogo casually caught it in his palm, melting the stone down to glowing magma in an instant.
"It's not just cursed energy; it also applies to objects imbued with my cursed energy residue. If an ordinary human threw a rock with zero cursed energy, it would likely hit you. But I am a Curse—a creature of pure cursed energy. Anything physical I touch will inevitably retain my residue, making physical attacks useless against you. What an incredibly troublesome spatial-control technique."
Despite saying it was a shame, a sinister grin stretched across Jogo's face, revealing pitch-black teeth.
Fire Cursed Technique, Maximum Output. Release!
"If physical objects carrying my residue won't work, what about energy transfer? Energy devoid of cursed energy residue... can you control that too?!"
A raging inferno suddenly erupted around him, but this time, he didn't launch it. He let the flames burn steadily in place, and then... he cranked up the temperature.
Kirara felt his eyelids grow heavy. He blinked softly, and a drop of sweat fell from his eyelashes, instantly vaporizing into steam. His mouth went completely dry. His lips felt like sandpaper; when he pressed them together, the dry skin split. The skyrocketing temperature filled the entire hallway with a hazy distortion. Looking through the heat mirage, Jogo's figure warped unnaturally as the light refracted.
Thermal radiation. A pure physical phenomenon!
Human flesh subjected to temperatures exceeding 2,000 degrees Celsius will begin to liquefy before it even catches fire. For some reason, this morbid fact surfaced in Kirara's mind.
His head began to spin. Sweat soaked his shirt, but he couldn't feel the stickiness. Perhaps it was purely psychological, but he felt as though sweat wasn't even allowed to exist in this environment—evaporating the exact millisecond it formed.
He silently ramped up his cursed energy reinforcement.
Noticing this, Jogo smirked. "It's working," he declared.
It was indeed working, and much faster than Jogo had anticipated!
Although Kirara was a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, he was actually quite poor at physical reinforcement. His innate technique excelled at kiting, stalling, and support. He was never suited for frontal brawls. Usually, Kinji handled the vanguard while Kirara restricted enemy movements and provided critical backup.
He was exceptional at kiting. If an enemy couldn't deduce the rules of his technique, they would be reduced to impotent rage, just like the Curse in front of him.
Because of this, he rarely needed high-level cursed energy reinforcement.
But now, this fundamental flaw had pushed him into a fatal corner.
He had a terrifying realization.
*If this keeps up, I'll pass out from heatstroke, and my cursed technique will automatically deactivate. Even worse, if I force myself to stay conscious, I won't be able to keep up with the rising temperature... I'll spontaneously combust and roast to death!*
Kirara felt a profound sense of absurdity. No enemy had ever tried to break his technique this way. It was the first time he'd encountered such a purely brute-force method. It was like standing inside an erupting volcano, the entire world acting as a colossal furnace, turning all of creation into ash.
"I see," Kirara rasped. The blistering heat had already scorched his throat; every word sent agonizing spikes of pain into his chest. "So you are... the manifestation of humanity's fear of the earth."
"Begging for your life?" Jogo split his face into a dark, jagged grin.
"No, just an observation," Kirara said quietly. Suddenly, he brought his hands together in a sign.
"My Innate Technique is called 'Love Rendezvous'."
Jogo furrowed his brow. Revealing one's hand—a Binding Vow to boost the technique's efficacy. But at this stage, what could revealing it possibly change?
"I can place markers on the people or objects I touch. There are five markers in total, corresponding to the stars in the Southern Cross constellation. All markers must be assigned before the technique fully activates. What I mark isn't the physical person or object itself, but their cursed energy. Therefore, any cursed technique generated by that cursed energy is treated as part of the exact same entity."
This was why all of Jogo's varied cursed energy attacks were utterly ignored. Because no matter what form the attack took, its foundational building block was Jogo's cursed energy. Any phenomenon triggered by Jogo's cursed energy was legally recognized by the technique as Jogo himself!
Both Jogo and Hanami instantly recalled the moment Kirara had poured drinks for Mahito. He had lightly brushed against them. Jogo had even glared at him back then. That was exactly when the markers had been planted.
Kirara had been preparing for this fight from the very beginning!
"A marked target can interact with unmarked objects, or with targets bearing an adjacent marker. Targets with the *same* marker will magnetically attract one another, while a marked target cannot approach someone with a non-adjacent marker. If you want to reach me, you have to physically touch the markers in the correct adjacent order to close the distance."
Targets with the same marker attract each other. This explained why Jogo's ranged attacks instantly boomeranged back to him the moment they gained a little distance.
Kirara suddenly pointed at Jogo's waist. "Your marker is right there on your waist. Your companion's is on the back of their calf."
Jogo instinctively paused his thermal output and pulled aside his clothes. Sure enough, a glowing cursed energy sigil was branded into his skin: [Acrux].
Hanami lifted a leg and looked at the back of the calf, finding a corresponding mark: [Imai].
"If you know anything about astronomy, you'd recognize my markers at a glance." Kirara waved away a haze of heat and smiled. "These names are all derived from the Southern Cross. A constellation looks flat from Earth, but it has immense depth. The distances between the stars vary wildly.
"You see, you and your companion can approach each other freely because [Acrux] and [Imai] are adjacent stars. You can interact however you want. But if you try to approach a star you aren't adjacent to... like me—"
Kirara held up a hand, revealing a tiny cursed energy imprint on his fingernail. Because he wore brightly painted nail polish, it was completely invisible unless you were looking for it.
With this minuscule trick, he had played them all for fools. Engraved on the nail was [Ginan].
"You might not know this, but [Acrux] and [Ginan] are not adjacent. Therefore, you cannot approach me no matter what you do... unless you can find the connecting star between us: [Mimosa].
"Of course, I've hidden [Mimosa] very, very well. It hasn't been found yet. That's why the technique is called 'Love Rendezvous.'
"Operating on the rules of the constellation, you can only move along designated paths. To reach your destination, you must trace the correct route!"
"And finally," Kirara said softly, "even cursed energy residue is treated as the caster himself."
Jogo already knew this. When he threw the rock at Kirara, it was repelled specifically because it carried his residue.
"This thermal radiation filling the hallway—while it's a physical phenomenon created by raising the temperature of your cursed fire, your cursed energy residue is still irreversibly blended into it. Normally, I wouldn't be able to manipulate residue this microscopic; my precision just isn't high enough. But with the boost from revealing my hand, I can do it!"
Jogo's pupil shrank to a pinpoint. He instantly understood what Kirara was about to do.
Kirara roared, "Feel the heat radiation you created with your own body! This is my—Love Rendezvous!"
In a flash, millions of microscopic [Acrux] sigils materialized in the air. It was the previously invisible cursed energy residue, burning quietly with immense heat. And now, the Love Rendezvous technique synchronized every single trace of that residue, pulling it toward Jogo like a collapsing star!
Heat waves, blinding light, and a catastrophic explosion erupted all at once.