"If it's just a rescue mission, then the danger level isn't too high."
Megumi surveyed the juvenile detention center, weighing the situation in his mind. The task didn't seem entirely unreasonable.
As long as they were careful not to attract the attention of that Special Grade imaginary cursed spirit embryo, there shouldn't be much risk.
From a utilitarian perspective, the lives of sorcerers—who could save countless people in the future—were far more valuable than those of ordinary civilians. But such things couldn't be said outright, or they'd face a massive public backlash, drowned in a flood of condemnation.
For the sake of humanitarian principles, they had to send sorcerers for the rescue.
"Then I'll cast the curtain."
Seeing that the decisive one among them had agreed, Ijichi let out a sigh of relief.
He took a few steps back, formed a hand seal with one hand, and began chanting the incantation.
"From the darkness, darker than black, purify the impurities and cleanse the taint!"
The moment the words left his lips, a pitch-black cloud appeared above the juvenile detention center. Like ink spreading through water, it rapidly expanded outward, forming an inverted bowl that completely enveloped the facility.
"What is this?"
Yuji looked around in amazement, even reaching out to pat the black, dome-like barrier.
"This is a barrier technique called a 'Curtain.'"
After lowering the black veil, Ijichi relaxed completely, offering Yuji a kind smile.
"A Curtain isolates the inside from the outside. Depending on how it's set, it can block different things. Its most basic function is to interfere with ordinary people's perception. Once the Curtain is cast, no matter how intense the battle inside, outsiders won't notice anything unusual."
After all, curses are born from human negative emotions. It's essential to ensure that ordinary people don't widely learn about the existence of curses, so they won't fall into panic, and curses won't be born too frequently.
Barrier techniques are far more complex than reinforcement techniques. Even some first-grade sorcerers don't know barrier techniques. Even at Jujutsu High, it's considered advanced knowledge, far beyond what a newly enrolled student could grasp.
"Let's go. Do your best to suppress your own presence."
Megumi glanced at the two behind him.
He wasn't worried about Nobara, but Yuji, being a complete novice, made him uneasy.
Yuji and Nobara both gave him an OK sign in unison.
Then the three of them moved side by side, stepping as lightly as possible, and rushed into the juvenile detention center in one breath.
"What the hell is this?!"
The moment they entered, the trio intended to head straight for the dormitory area, but the instant they stepped inside, their vision blurred.
When their sight cleared, the entrance of the juvenile detention center had vanished behind them. The massive gymnasium was nowhere to be seen either. All around them were endless rows of dormitory buildings, so densely packed they blotted out the dark clouds. Even the curtain-like barrier was gone.
"This isn't the juvenile detention center at all!"
"Even the entrance disappeared—how are we supposed to get out?!"
"Calm down. My Divine Dogs can sniff out the exit!"
Beads of sweat trickled down Megumi's forehead as his expression darkened while surveying their surroundings.
But seeing his companions panicking, he immediately snapped them out of it. To prove his point, he formed a hand seal and summoned his Divine Dogs.
The snow-white Divine Dogs leaped from the shadows, sniffed around, and then stopped at a spot behind the trio, wagging their tails as if indicating that was the exit.
Seeing the Divine Dogs could indeed locate the exit, Yuji and Nobara finally relaxed a little, managing to calm down somewhat.
"But what's going on here? Why did everything change the moment we stepped in?"
Yuji examined their surroundings, still feeling uneasy.
The architecture around them was bizarre, like the irregular buildings one might see in a dream. The spatial connections were disjointed, unsettling to look at.
"This space is seriously disgusting!"
Nobara nodded vigorously. She shared Yuji's confusion and was equally nervous, but she refused to show weakness, masking her fear with muttered complaints and a look of disgust.
"This is probably the innate domain of that curse..."
Seeing the blank looks on his companions' faces, Megumi sighed and explained in detail.
"When a sorcerer masters their innate technique to the extreme and combines it with advanced barrier techniques, they can spread their technique throughout the surrounding space, creating a barrier domain entirely composed of their technique. That's an innate domain—a mark of strength even among sorcerers. This is likely that curse's innate domain... But this domain isn't complete. It lacks the true power of a full-fledged domain. It's probably just the curse's natural-born domain!"
A true domain not only enhances the sorcerer's condition and amplifies the power of their technique but also has a terrifying guaranteed-hit effect.
If this had been a complete domain, the three of them would have died the moment they stepped inside.
Upon hearing Megumi's detailed explanation about domains, Yuji and Nobara both shuddered.
In other words, they had just brushed shoulders with death?
Special-grade cursed spirits were way too dangerous!
"It's hard to imagine how Roy-sensei fought against three special-grade cursed spirits and still held an overwhelming advantage..."
Yuji murmured in admiration, recalling Roy's most famous battle record.
They didn't even dare to confront a cursed womb of a special-grade cursed spirit before it fully hatched, yet Roy had already been able to take on three fully-formed special-grade cursed spirits head-on. Truly worthy of being one of Japan's only four special-grade sorcerers!
"Let's go further in. At the very least, we need to find traces of those people."
"...No choice."
"This is a sorcerer's fate."
After Yuji made the suggestion, Megumi and Nobara exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.
A sorcerer's duty was to protect ordinary people.
It was written right into their employment contracts.
From the moment they set foot on this path, they knew they would constantly be walking the edge of danger. Right now, they hadn't even encountered any real threats yet, and they still hadn't ascertained the condition of the trapped people inside. For both duty and reason, they couldn't back down.
"Divine Dogs!"
Megumi formed another hand seal, summoning both the black and white Divine Dogs.
He sent the two dogs ahead to scout while he, Yuji, and Nobara followed cautiously behind, step by step, moving deeper into the area.
Before long, the trio and the two dogs arrived at a vast open space.
The ground was covered in smooth white tiles, and the surroundings resembled the interior of a room—yet it was inexplicably outdoors, the space distorted beyond comprehension.
On that open ground lay several figures.
Three in total, all wearing the uniforms of the juvenile detention center, sprawled unconscious on the floor.
But there was no blood around—were they still alive?
"It's the trapped people!"
Yuji's spirits lifted at the sight.
He was about to step forward when Megumi quickly grabbed his arm.
"Wait! Don't go over there. Let the Divine Dogs check first!"
Megumi glared at Yuji angrily.
Couldn't he even consider the possibility of a trap ahead? Did this guy even value his own life?
"Sorry, sorry!"
Yuji glanced at the black and white Divine Dogs and immediately realized his mistake, offering an apologetic grin.
Megumi sighed before directing the dogs forward.
But at that moment—
"What a shame."
Before the Divine Dogs could reach them, an aged voice suddenly echoed from all around the open space.
"If the black-haired boy hadn't stopped you, it might already be over by now."
The moment the voice spoke, Megumi's scalp prickled, his face twisting in horror as he whipped his head toward the source of the voice.
Yuji and Nobara both tensed, following Megumi's gaze upward.
On top of a low building about ten meters high sat a hunched, white-haired old woman.
Her back was bent, her face covered in wrinkles and age spots—she looked as if a gust of wind could knock her over. Yet, her entire body radiated a dense, restrained cursed energy, exuding an overwhelming presence that made the trio instantly wary.
"Who are you? A sorcerer or a curse user?"
Megumi eyed the old woman warily, his hands subtly coming together to form a hand seal, ready to summon another shikigami at any moment.
"Jumping straight to questions—kids these days have no respect for their elders."
Granny Ogami peered down at the three of them with aged, clouded eyes, her gaze imposing.
"Raise your hands and surrender now, then come with me. I won't harm you. But if you refuse to listen to an old woman's advice, I'll have to teach you a painful lesson."
"Old hag, has your brain rotted along with the wrinkles on your face?"
Nobara bared her teeth in an undisguised sneer.
"Just sitting there and expecting us to surrender with a single word? Even in dreams, things don't work that way!"
Yuji and Megumi remained silent.
But their unrelenting stances made it clear they agreed with Nobara's words.
"Such a sharp-tongued little brat. This old woman will make sure you suffer the bitterest lesson later!"
Granny Ogami's expression darkened, visibly angered by the remark, her features twisting into greater ferocity.
What she hated most was being called old.
The loss of longevity and beauty—these were the words she most despised hearing in her twilight years.
"Since you refuse to surrender, I'll give you another choice."
Granny Ogami remained seated, unmoving.
But the moment she finished speaking, a young man with a mohawk and vacant eyes appeared in the clearing.
He stood beside the three unconscious bodies on the ground, gripping a short knife as if ready to strike.
"Now, choose. There are three lives here, and three of you. As long as one of you comes with me, I'll spare one life."