Clap, clap.
Inside a sea cave-like cavern, Eichi and Artoria were walking towards its deepest part.
The bottom of the cavern was entirely seawater.
And the cave was very deep, not appearing to be naturally eroded by the sea.
Artoria, having been blessed by the Lady of the Lake, could walk directly on water.
Eichi, on the other hand, summoned a toad.
The toad moved slowly through the water, with Eichi standing on its back.
'I wonder if the water walking and wall climbing methods from Naruto are useful. I should find a chance to try them.'
Previously, when encountering water surfaces, he would just ride on Qiongqi's back, but this cave was too narrow for Qiongqi to move.
"It seems we're almost there."
Looking at the faintly lit opening ahead, Eichi became fully alert.
Artoria was the first to enter the opening.
In this situation, Artoria, who could walk freely on water, was more adaptable to sudden changes than Eichi, who needed a toad for support.
However, not long after the two entered.
An extremely hidden barrier at the entrance began to change, eventually sealing the entire opening.
"That takes care of it. Next is the High School, I suppose."
A woman with a stitched scar on her head silently left the island.
From beginning to end, no one knew she had been there.
Eichi, who had entered the cave, was looking strangely at everything before him.
What greeted Eichi and Artoria's eyes was a dreamlike underwater world.
A kaleidoscopic space, seemingly glowing corals, colorful fish, and a huge palace.
"Ryugu Castle?"
Eichi uttered the palace's name.
"What's wrong, Ria?"
Eichi looked at Artoria with surprise; honestly, for a moment, Eichi thought he had transmigrated again.
"Something's wrong; there isn't a trace of Life Qi here."
Artoria's gaze sharply swept across her surroundings.
"I can't feel the Qi of life from those fish swimming around, and my intuition tells me that everything here feels very out of place."
Artoria swung her sword forward.
The Invisible Blade in her hand cut through a coral, and the coral was immediately severed.
Artoria frowned; she had initially thought everything here was an illusion, but the feel of swinging her sword just now made her feel that these things were real.
Ding.
At this moment, the Mahoraga's wheel, which Eichi had placed in his shadow, began to turn.
The world in Eichi's eyes began to undergo a huge change.
The kaleidoscopic space disappeared, turning into a desolate gray-blue filled with Death Qi.
The sparkling corals also vanished, replaced by something eerie, like twisted bones.
The fish swimming in the air also transformed into masses of vile Cursed Energy.
"Your intuition is correct, Ria."
Eichi's words made Artoria, who was ahead, stop in her tracks.
"Did you find anything, Eichi?"
Artoria's emerald green pupils focused on Eichi.
"Yes, everything here is an illusion, an illusion attached to real objects. Let's wait a moment; once Mahoraga further adapts to this environment and can make you immune to the illusion's effects, we'll move forward."
Eichi stood in front of Artoria, ensuring her safety while she was still affected by the illusion.
"An illusion attached to real objects, no wonder the feel of swinging my sword just now was so real."
Artoria nodded.
Time passed minute by minute.
Mahoraga finally provided a method for Artoria to ignore the illusion's effects as well.
Having broken through the illusion in the cave, the two began to investigate this desolate Ryugu Castle.
On the other side, Geto and Gojo Satoru, who had arrived at Amanai Riko's side, easily defeated the Curse User organization Q that had attacked them.
This fledgling organization, ignorant of its own limitations, was thus forced to disband due to its strongest combatants and core cadres being captured.
"What should we do about this? See a doctor?"
Gojo Satoru carried the unconscious Amanai Riko into an intact room.
"If only we could use Reverse Cursed Technique like Shoko and Eichi."
Geto also had a headache looking at the unconscious Amanai Riko.
"How is that possible? We completely don't understand what Shoko is talking about!"
Gojo Satoru's mind conjured an image of Shoko Ieiri pointing her finger at the sky, then making whooshing and swooshing circles in the air.
At the time, the two almost had their CPUs burned out by Shoko.
"And that Eichi guy, saying you'll comprehend it if you nearly die once."
This time, the image that appeared in his mind was Eichi holding a chicken roll.
"Reverse Cursed Technique, huh? Find someone you don't know, someone who can beat you up to the brink of death, and you'll comprehend it."
The recollection ended.
"We're the strongest, though! Where are we supposed to find someone who can beat us to the brink of death?"
"You're right."
The two exchanged smiles; young men are free and wild, and both had sufficient confidence in their own strength.
"Mm, ugh."
Just as the two were looking at each other, Amanai Riko's body in Gojo Satoru's arms trembled slightly.
"Ah, she's awake."
Their gazes immediately turned to Amanai Riko.
"Yo, feeling alright?"
Gojo Satoru flashed Amanai Riko what he considered a handsome smile.
However, Gojo Satoru did not receive the adoring gaze of a young girl as he expected, but rather... "Oh, la!"
A full-force slap from a young girl.
Amanai Riko easily achieved something Jogo never managed in his entire life.
Leaving a mark on Gojo Satoru's handsome face.
"Shameless scoundrel, how dare you lay hands on this Young Miss! I'll take you down first."
Gojo Satoru covered his reddened face with one hand, glaring through gritted teeth at Amanai Riko, who was striking a pose like an excited villain.
His inner voice kept repeating: 'Hold it in, hold it in. This is a protected target. Don't get angry with a brat.'
Geto, suppressing the corners of his mouth from wildly curving upwards, stepped forward to soothe Amanai Riko.
"Don't worry, we're not the group that attacked you earlier."
The next moment, Geto also received a heavy blow from Amanai Riko.
"Liar! Absolutely a liar, you weird bangs!"
How could a perverted squinty-eyed guy dressed like an emo be a good person?
Amanai Riko thought to herself.
Geto's smile froze; this time it was Gojo Satoru's turn to wildly suppress the corners of his mouth.
The next moment, the two best friends exchanged smiles, and then... Kuroi Misato, arriving in the room on a Cursed Spirit named'Sea Ox' by Eichi, witnessed a shocking scene.
Two male High School students, over 180cm tall, were each grabbing Amanai Riko's limbs and twisting them in opposite directions.
'Are they...wringing a bedsheet? No, that's not a bedsheet, ahhh!'
"Kuroi, help!"
Seeing someone arrive, Gojo Satoru and Geto also let go.
Yes, they just let go, and Amanai Riko fell face-first to the ground.
"What are you riding, Kuroi?"
Amanai Riko's gaze was quickly drawn to the somewhat cute Sea Ox.
There aren't many Cursed Spirits that can look so refined.
"This is... that guy with the tuft of hair on his forehead's Technique."
Kuroi Misato elegantly waved at Geto.
Tuft of hair... on his forehead.
Geto was completely flustered.
"Puh-ha!"
This time, Gojo Satoru couldn't hold it in.