Charles has his own categories for villains, and someone like Shinobu Sensui is a typical chuunibyo-type villain.
He keeps mouthing off about how humanity is guilty and how he's going to wipe out the entire human race, and Charles feels secondhand embarrassment just thinking about it.
Anyone with a slightly more mature mind should understand how complex groups are; using a subset to deny the whole—what kind of logic even leads to that conclusion?
The fact that Charles didn't tell Shinobu Sensui "if you're sick, get treatment," and chose instead to reason with him already showed considerable respect.
Under normal circumstances, Shinobu Sensui is pure-hearted enough to wield Sacred Energy, and Charles's words did make him waver.
Unfortunately, Sensui right now isn't normal. He really is sick.
After a few seconds of silence, Sensui suddenly lowered his head, then raised a hand to cover his face.
When he raised his head again and revealed his face, his expression changed in an instant. It was only a change of expression, but it was as if he had become a different person.
And in fact, it was essentially a different person. Sensui, face full of arrogance, said, "I almost let you trick me with your rhetoric!
No matter what you say, you can't deny the darkness of humanity. So my goal and direction are absolutely not wrong, and that's what matters most!"
Charles sighed and said, "Did you misunderstand something? I have no intention of telling you to turn back and repent. I only want to tell you not to casually see others as the same as yourself.
"As for what you want to do, there are naturally others to stop you. As long as you don't bother me, I can't be bothered to meddle."
In the personality state named Shi, Sensui said coldly, "Are you threatening me?"
Shi's temperament is arrogant and preachy; how could he possibly tolerate Charles's attitude?
Charles had no intention of backing down either. He stepped forward and said, "If you insist on thinking that way, then take it as a threat!"
Sensui's pupils contracted. He seemed to see a red-scaled giant dragon behind Charles, its vertical pupils fixed on him.
Afraid the situation would truly escalate, Shinobu Sensui switched back to his primary personality and said, "I understand. As long as you don't interfere with us, we won't do anything extra!"
With that, Shinobu Sensui turned and left. Charles withdrew his aura and did nothing else.
Is there something wrong with this street? Why is it that every time something happens, it's on this street? How many times has it been now that I've run into story characters on this street!
Forget it. I'm heading to the Demon World soon anyway, so I probably won't come here again.
While his mind was running wild, Charles returned to his place.
Sensui's appearance this time did remind Charles that there wasn't much time left before the Demon World gateway opened.
Sensui had started moving even before the Dark Tournament. According to what Koenma said in the original plot, opening the Demon World gateway goes through four stages.
Judging from the current concentration of Demon World miasma and the number of Demon World insects, it should already be at the third stage.
The fourth stage is when the gateway expands to a scale of 2,000 meters, and B-class demons can pass through freely.
But Sensui's goal is to annihilate all of humanity, so he also wants to lift the Spirit World's seal so that A-class and even more terrifying S-class demons can enter the Human World.
That's why Charles thinks Sensui is unreliable. In the original plot, it was Seaman among the Demon World envoys who attacked Kuwabara, which triggered his awakening of the Dimension Sword.
Sensui began his plan without even confirming whether someone who could use dimensional attacks actually existed.
But this time, Shinobu Sensui doesn't have to gamble, because under Charles's special training, Kuwabara has already mastered the Dimension Sword.
In the final of the Dark Tournament, he even used the Dimension Sword against Elder Toguro.
Although Elder Toguro was sliced to pieces in that battle, he should still be alive given his abilities.
And if, as in the original plot, he was taken away by Sensui, then Sensui should already know this information.
In other words, Sensui will be able to fully open the Demon World gateway within the next few days.
After discussing it with Stella, Charles set out for Mushiyori City the next day.
The main reason Charles dislikes urban worlds is that travel requires using transportation. This time, he found a deserted spot and flew straight to Mushiyori City.
Because of that, Charles also saw just how bad the situation had gotten.
The entire Mushiyori City was suffused with miasma from the Demon World. The miasma itself wouldn't cause much harm to humans, of course, but it's exactly what demons love.
It's foreseeable that even if the Demon World gateway doesn't open, Mushiyori City will become a gathering place for demons.
What's even more disgusting is the Demon World insects swarming everywhere.
Although these bugs aren't as dangerous as the demon worms controlled by Suzaku, they will still parasitize humans with spiritual power and feed on their hosts' spiritual energy. Some can even amplify their hosts' negative emotions.
The losses may not be obvious at first, but over time they'll cause serious problems.
So many issues have already appeared before the gateway even opens; it's easy to imagine what will happen if this continues.
Charles released a trace of magic to shroud himself and Stella, enough to keep those insects from approaching.
Following the source of the miasma, Charles also pinpointed the location of the Demon World cave.
Next, all Charles needed to do was quietly wait for Sensui to bring Kuwabara over, then let the Demon World gateway fully open.
Although Kuwabara had grown under Charles's guidance, he probably still couldn't resist Sensui.
Right now, Kuwabara is barely at lower B-class. Even adding the other three in the main group and the resurrected Genkai wouldn't bridge the gap with S-class Sensui.
And Sensui also has some fairly capable helpers.
Since Sensui needs Kuwabara's ability, he won't go too hard on him, so Charles has no reason to meddle.
That said, including the five humans among the Demon World envoys, why does opening the Demon World gateway awaken special abilities in them? That's indeed worth studying.
Moreover, the abilities these people awaken are especially powerful—some even operate at the level of rules.
So while waiting, Charles planned to do some research.
Research naturally requires materials, so Charles wandered around Mushiyori City, hoping to find someone who had awakened an ability to use as a sample.
But perhaps Charles's luck was bad; after searching for a long time, he found nothing.
In the original plot, Yusuke Urameshi just casually ran into an uncle whose ability was mind-reading, so Charles thought he could easily find a target too.
But by noon the next day, Charles got a hit.
As Charles was passing an intersection that day, he suddenly sensed something off. Instinctively, he looked toward the center of the fluctuation he felt and saw a young man in a jacket.
The youth shot Charles a provocative glance, then turned and walked away.
Charles could tell the other party was deliberately luring him to follow, but he was confident in his skills, and the other party was exactly the target he'd been looking for, so he followed.
Charles didn't quicken his pace, yet he never lost him.
When Charles followed the youth around a corner, no sooner had he turned his head than he tilted it to dodge a glass marble that had been shot at him.
Right then, Charles noticed a target-shaped mark suddenly appear on his chest.
The youth in the red jacket tossed the glass marble in his hand and shot Charles a mocking look.
"So you're the arrogant one who rejected Mr. Sensui, huh? You have nowhere left to run now. Pay the price for what you've done!"
As if to prove his words, he flung the marble in his hand, and it shot straight toward the target mark on Charles's chest.
The youth wore a smug smile. His ability is the so-called guaranteed hit: any ranged attack he unleashes will inevitably strike a mark he's set.
But Charles's response exceeded his expectations, because Charles didn't dodge at all and simply let the marble hit his chest.
The youth knew his own attack—after he infused spiritual power into it, that marble carried more force than a bullet.
Yet after striking Charles, the marble shattered into powder. Through the small hole punched in his clothes, the youth couldn't even see a mark on Charles's skin.
Charles glanced at the marble ground to dust, completely unfazed, and even felt like saying… who threw the knife handle!
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