Boom!
A deafening crash tore through the silence of the forest without warning.
The tremor ran through the ground beneath Atsushi’s feet and straight up his legs.
The instant Atsushi sensed the thunderous approach, like a runaway truck barreling toward him at full speed, he reacted without hesitation.
He reached down, grabbed the unconscious Kasumi, and moved away at once, reinforcing his body with cursed energy as he rapidly opened the distance between himself and whoever was approaching.
Even so, when Atsushi saw the path carved through the forest, the ground looking as though some massive beast had torn straight through it, along with the thick trees shattered simply because someone had run through them at full speed, he could feel the sheer pressure radiating from the approaching figure.
“Oh?”
“You’re a curse user, but you still bothered protecting a girl?”
Amid the thick cloud of dust and splintered wood thrown up by the fallen trees, an enormous male silhouette slowly emerged with heavy footsteps.
“Since you did that, I won’t kill you.”
The voice was deep, rough, and filled with absolute confidence.
As the breeze gradually cleared the dust, a huge shirtless man stepped into view, casually rolling one thick wrist as he approached Atsushi with an intimidating presence.
His physique rivaled that of a professional bodybuilder, every muscle gleaming beneath the bright sunlight.
“First, let me introduce myself.”
“My name is Todo Aoi.”
Looking down at Atsushi, who was carefully setting Miwa aside, the massive man grinned aggressively.
Todo Aoi.
Grade 1 Sorcerer.
During Geto Suguru’s Night Parade of a Hundred Demons in Shinjuku and Kyoto, he had single-handedly defeated five Grade 1 cursed spirits and one Special Grade cursed spirit.
His strength far surpassed Ko-Guy, the Grade 1 cursed spirit Atsushi had fought before.
He was even stronger than many Special Grade cursed spirits.
Of all the sorcerers participating in the Goodwill Event, Todo Aoi was the one person Atsushi absolutely did not want to run into by accident.
The instant Todo entered his field of vision, Atsushi’s mind automatically pulled up everything he knew about him.
Why is he here?
Shouldn’t he be looking for Itadori Yuji right now?
Unless…
Before Atsushi could finish wondering why Todo had appeared here, the man answered the question himself.
“Mechamaru isn’t the type to ask other people for favors.”
Todo’s smile faded.
His eyes sharpened.
“But before the Goodwill Event started, he contacted me privately.”
“He asked me to keep an eye on Miwa.”
The instant he finished speaking, Todo lowered his center of gravity.
Fists raised.
Stance set.
Power gathered.
Thump.
A violent surge of cursed energy erupted from Todo’s muscular body.
It was completely unlike anything Atsushi had felt from a Grade 4, Grade 3, Grade 2, or Grade 1 cursed spirit.
It was even different from the presence Mahito, a Special Grade cursed spirit, had shown him.
Todo’s cursed energy was so dense that the air around him seemed to tremble beneath the pressure, kicking up a violent gust around his body.
“So you’re the guy who managed to make that awkward bastard, the one who won’t even tell me what kind of woman he likes, ask me for help!”
Boom!
The ground beneath Todo’s feet exploded.
A massive crater appeared where he had been standing.
Despite his enormous frame, there wasn’t the slightest trace of heaviness in his movement.
He tore through the air like a runaway train and charged straight at Atsushi.
“Put everything you’ve got into defending yourself, curse user!”
Todo’s roar filled the forest.
In the next instant, his massive figure was already in front of Atsushi.
There was no elaborate technique.
No trick.
Just a fist the size of a mallet, completely reinforced with cursed energy, smashing directly into the flat of Dragon-Bone, which Atsushi barely managed to raise in time.
Gong!
A harsh metallic impact echoed through the forest.
The instant the blow connected, Atsushi felt an overwhelming force he couldn’t possibly resist.
It surged through Dragon-Bone and into his entire body like a tidal wave.
Against that kind of raw power, even gravity seemed irrelevant.
Atsushi’s body was launched backward uncontrollably, like a cannonball.
He tore a straight path through the ground before slamming violently into a huge tree behind him.
Boom!
The impact was followed immediately by the violent crack of breaking wood.
For a moment, Atsushi’s mind went completely blank.
By the time his awareness returned, he was lying beside the wreckage of the enormous tree he had just shattered.
“Is this guy even human?”
Atsushi slowly turned his head.
Reflected in his dark eyes, which barely seemed to understand the concept of fear, was the sight of a massive tree thick enough that it would normally take three adults to wrap their arms around it.
His body had snapped it at the base.
The entire tree had collapsed.
Atsushi slowly raised one pale hand, his skin drained of color from anemia, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of it.
Only then did the pain arrive.
Sharp, overwhelming agony erupted through his entire body as though every part of him had suddenly realized what had just happened.
So the difference between a Grade 1 sorcerer and someone around Grade 2 or Grade 3 really is this ridiculous.
“It felt like getting hit by a train at full speed…”
Atsushi didn’t even need to open his clothes to check.
The blood already seeping through the fabric told him that the blood armor covering his upper body had been completely shattered.
And that was after Dragon-Bone, a Special Grade Cursed Tool capable of absorbing kinetic force, had already taken a large portion of the impact from Todo’s punch.
Even with that protection, several of Atsushi’s ribs were broken.
His organs had been violently compressed by the impact.
He was already showing signs of internal bleeding.
In other words, if Todo had landed that punch directly on another sorcerer with roughly the same cursed energy output as Atsushi…
That person probably wouldn’t have gotten back up.
“You actually blocked it?”
Todo lowered his fist.
Standing in the distance, he watched the black-haired boy in the wreckage tighten one hand around Dragon-Bone, drive the blade into the ground for support, and slowly force himself back onto his feet through sheer determination.
For once, a hint of genuine approval appeared in Todo’s eyes.
“Not bad.”
“You’re pretty good for a curse user.”
Then Todo made no move to attack again.
Apparently convinced that he had complete control of the situation, he simply stood there in front of Atsushi’s blood-tinted vision.
The massive man, with his ridiculous topknot and overwhelming presence, asked the question again with complete seriousness.
“So.”
“What kind of woman is your type?”
(To be continued.)