Dagon.
A Special Grade cursed spirit born from humanity's fear and hatred of the ocean.
He was also one of the four disaster-level cursed spirits in the original plot. He regarded Jogo, Mahito, Hanami, and the others as family, even treasuring family to an extreme degree.
In the original plot, when this guy first appeared, he was in cursed womb form. His face resembled an octopus, the main body of his body was red, black stripes ran along the tentacles on his face, and his height was about 100 centimeters.
He usually wore a piece of white cloth over himself, and when he spoke, he made a "puu~" sound.
In the original plot, after Hanami died, this guy completed his evolution.
After transforming, Dagon's appearance became closer to humanoid, evolving strong and healthy limbs.
His face still looked extremely similar to an octopus, with black spots behind his head.
The main body of his body was red, his abdomen was black, and a pair of black wings grew from his back near his hips.
But now Hanami was not dead yet, and Dagon had already completed his evolution, possessing human limbs as he looked at Rowan with a ferocious expression.
This was normal. Although Hanami had not died, Mahito and Jogo truly had died. They had been killed by Rowan and fed to Mahoraga.
Since Hanami's death could make him evolve, Mahito and Jogo's deaths naturally could as well.
Facing Rowan, Dagon charged forward with killing intent filling his chest. Countless flowing water blades emerged around him and shot toward Rowan.
"Praetor, leave this to me."
Nero, who had long since grown somewhat impatient, drew Aestus Estus and slashed at the incoming water blades. Violent magical energy erupted like a volcano, destroying all of the water blades.
"Umu. A small fry who crawled out from who knows where actually dares act presumptuously toward my Praetor? You truly do not know life from death."
Nero's voice was clear and crisp, like the declaration of an opera's opening.
From the bottom of her heart, she looked down on this strangely shaped cursed spirit.
Faced with Nero's contempt, Dagon said nothing. There was only hatred toward the intruders.
He suddenly roared, and the patterns on his abdomen abruptly lit up. Vast cursed energy erupted in an instant.
Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha.
This was a killing move that belonged to top-tier jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits. The instant the domain unfolded, the world overturned with it.
Beneath Nero's feet was no longer the courtyard of the shrine, but a sunlit tropical beach.
A broad sandy shore, an endless sea—no matter how one looked at it, it was a wonderful place for a vacation. However, Nero could sense that beneath the sparkling surface of the sea, endless killing intent was hidden.
Without question, this was Dagon's innate domain. Here, his attacks would gain a sure-hit effect.
"Umu. Although you are ugly, I did not expect your domain to be quite beautiful."
Nero said that if this place were not filled with killing intent, she would very much like to change into swimsuits with her Praetor and play here for several days, enjoying a romantic and passionate game of beach volleyball.
At the same time, on the surface of the sea, Dagon stared at Nero with killing intent filling his chest.
The calm sea instantly boiled. Countless carnivorous fish shikigami of various forms leapt from the water, opening huge mouths filled with sharp teeth as they bit toward Nero like meteors.
This was Dagon's shikigami…
Death Swarm.
Inside his innate domain, by using the sure-hit effect, the shikigami attacked enemies as if teleporting. Before they hit the enemy, the shikigami did not exist.
However, Nero showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, she was delighted. Her violent magical energy blasted away all the fish shikigami biting toward her.
"Since the stage has already been built, then I shall begin my performance as well."
She raised Aestus Estus high in her hand, and crimson magical energy rose like flames.
"I permit you to witness the true absolute territory that belongs only to an emperor!"
"Behold my talent! Hear the thunderous applause! Hold in your heart the glory of the ruler! Bloom like a flower! Open, Aestus Domus Aurea, the Golden Theater that Invites One to Rapture!"
Along with her high-spirited declaration, another even more overwhelming power swept through this space.
Golden light bloomed beneath Nero's feet, instantly covering, corroding, and even replacing the scenery of the sunny beach.
The horizon, the palm trees, and the endless fish swarms were all replaced by a magnificent, resplendent Roman-style grand theater.
This was Nero's absolute imperial territory, her Noble Phantasm—the Golden Theater.
Here, she was the only law. All factors disadvantageous to her would be corrected, and all favorable conditions would tilt toward her.
However, Nero's Golden Theater did not completely shatter Dagon's domain. After all, the power of a domain was not weak either.
But the sure-hit rule of the domain was greatly suppressed within the Golden Theater, and the shikigami's attacks no longer had the teleport-like effect from before.
After sensing this, Dagon roared angrily, and his cursed energy surged even higher. He controlled the seawater within the domain, forming high-pressure water blades powerful enough to flatten steel, slashing them toward Nero.
At the same time, Dagon summoned giant louse-type shikigami with bodies as hard as steel and appearances similar to real giant isopods, making them attack Nero wildly.
Facing the overwhelming assault, Nero let out a crisp, pleasant laugh.
After summoning the Golden Theater, her desire to perform had risen with it.
At this moment, Nero was like an actress dancing at the center of the stage, moving freely through countless water blades and shikigami attacks.
Each swing of Aestus Estus in her hand brought out a dazzling trail of flame, accurately slashing into the bodies of those shikigami.
Her attacks easily tore apart the hardness they were so proud of, turning them into masses of cursed energy residue.
But Dagon's shikigami seemed endless, continuously emerging from every direction.
From the very start, the battle entered a white-hot state.
Nero knew well that a clash between domains was a contest of consumption.
When it came to consumption, she would not be afraid of a mere cursed spirit.
She could completely push her magical energy to its limit, making the golden light of the theater even more dazzling, thereby dissolving Dagon's domain and continuously compressing the boundary of that artificial ocean.
But how should one put this kind of contest?
It was not dazzling at all, and even less imperial.
Using powerful magical energy to wear away the other party's cursed energy and defeat him that way had far too little value.
As an emperor, Nero could not accept such a presumptuous method of defeating an enemy, because in her eyes, it was far too un-emperor-like.
It simply disgraced the dignity of an emperor.
What an emperor needed was not consumption, but decisive victory—a victory that settled everything with a single blow.
So Nero decided to fire a beam cannon.
After all, since she had descended into this world as the Saber class, how could she not know how to fire a beam cannon?
Nero's figure stood still at the center of the stage, her eyes like burning stars.
On the blade of Aestus Estus—no, the energy of the entire theater—began gathering toward the sword's tip.
Dagon sensed something was wrong. All the cursed energy in his body was released almost frantically, and massive numbers of shikigami appeared like a storm covering the sky and earth.
However, it was useless.
"Appreciate my talent! Listen to the thunderous applause! Then praise it, praise this golden theater! Laus Saint Claudius!"
As her words fell, Aestus Estus in Nero's hand released a surging light, turning into a massive pillar of flame powerful enough to pierce the heavens, crashing down toward Dagon.
This power not only contained destructive high heat, but also carried effects that ignored defenses and weakened the enemy.
Dagon's seemingly indestructible body was like paper before this power. He did not even have time to let out a final roar before he, along with the remnants of his extremely compressed domain, were turned into nothingness within the crimson flames.
When the light dispersed, the Golden Theater slowly faded away. Only the scorching heat lingering in the air and a huge charred black crater on the ground proved that an extraordinary duel had just taken place.
Nero lightly landed beside Rowan, the light in her eyes even more brilliant than before.
"Praetor, I have won."
"Nicely done."
Rowan raised his hand and rubbed Nero's head. Amid Nero's expression of "That feels so good, do more," he turned his head to look at the battlefield on the other side.
The battle between Medea and Hanami had also entered its final stage.
In the sky, enormous purple magic circles unfolded layer upon layer, each exceeding fifty meters in diameter.
The magical energy surging out from them gathered into an invisible giant mountain and pressed down toward Hanami with overwhelming force.
The ground beneath Hanami's feet instantly cracked and collapsed. Its body was smashed heavily into the earth, and the tree branches forming its arms made cracking sounds under the unbearable pressure.
Hanami let out a silent roar. Cursed energy erupted from its entire body as it tried to neutralize and resist this terrifying pressure.
"Oh? You can still move?"
Medea's tone was so calm that it contained not the slightest ripple. Seeing that Nero had already ended her battle, she no longer intended to keep playing.
She raised her right hand and spread her five fingers.
Countless purple beams shot from her fingertips, like spears of judgment from the ancient Age of Gods.
Every beam accurately pierced Hanami's body—left shoulder, right leg, chest, abdomen.
The intense pain drove Hanami nearly mad. Its cursed energy boiled, and it prepared to expand its domain.
But at that moment, Medea suddenly snapped her fingers.
"Forbidden."
In an instant, the air around Hanami was forbidden.
It could not breathe, could not move, and even the flow of its cursed energy was cut off.
At this moment, it was like an insect pinned inside a specimen frame, unable to move at all.
Medea slowly floated before it. Beneath her purple hood, those eyes calmly watched this Special Grade cursed spirit.
"Do you know? In the era I came from, existences like you did not even have the qualifications to be called magical beasts."
"You are merely residue seeping out from humanity's collective unconscious, phantoms clinging to life by relying on fear and hatred."
Her voice was very soft.
"I do not even need to use true magecraft. Merely a basic spell used during magecraft practice to test magic circuits is enough to crush you into powder."
She extended her index finger and gently tapped Hanami's forehead.
A cluster of purple flame ignited from her fingertip and spread along Hanami's body.
Hanami's body twisted in the flames, collapsed, and turned into ash.
When the last wisp of flame extinguished, only a charred mark and a few remaining petals were left on the ground.
Hanami, dead.
At this point, all four disaster-level cursed spirits had been completely destroyed.
"Are you still not coming out?"
Rowan suddenly looked toward the shrine's main hall and asked.
~~~
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