Chapter 170: The Principal's Old Friend
"Ria!"
High in the air, Zen'in Kaon shouted Ria's name again and again, hoping—desperately—for even the faintest response.
Instead, she was quickly surrounded by a swarm of flying cursed spirits.
Individually, they were weak.
But their sheer numbers made them dangerous.
If she was delayed for too long, Ria's situation would only grow more perilous.
Whether as her friend—or as the bridge between humanity and extraterrestrial coexistence—Kaon could not allow Ria to be harmed.
"Great Serpent!"
Forming seals midair, Kaon activated her technique.
A massive white serpent erupted into existence, rearing up over ten meters tall, and the moment it appeared, it lunged into the sky, tearing into the cursed spirits with savage force.
The densely packed spirits were utterly helpless before it.
Even Grade-1 cursed spirits couldn't withstand a single bite from its venomous fangs.
This wasn't simply because the serpent itself was powerful—
It was because after summoning it through the Ten Shadows Technique, Kaon immediately activated Star Rage, layering imaginary mass onto the serpent's body.
Star's Rage didn't only enhance her own physical power.
It could also be applied to her summoned shikigami.
The fusion of two techniques caused an explosive increase in destructive power—
At the cost of tremendous cursed energy and mental strain.
With two shikigami active at once and Star's Rage reinforced onto the serpent, Kaon's face had already gone pale.
"I can't worry about the cost right now," she muttered, eyes sharp.
"I have to find Ria—now!"
She urged Nue forward, violet lightning cascading down as it blasted apart the cursed spirits blocking her path, carving out a narrow escape route through the sky.
"What an impressive little girl."
Behind her, "Suguru Geto" stood atop a flying cursed spirit, his expression calm—almost amused—like a man leisurely watching a cat chase a mouse.
"Two bearers of both the Six Eyes and Limitless have appeared in the same era," he said softly.
"And now the Zen'in clan has produced another Ten Shadows user… and a child, at that."
"The balance of the jujutsu world is completely broken," the old woman beside him rasped.
"This alien visitation won't end quietly."
"Once this is over, we'll withdraw from the jujutsu world entirely," she continued.
"Let the sorcerers and the aliens tear each other apart. I'd like to see whether Gojo Satoru can still hold everything together."
Ever since Gojo Satoru's rise, curse users like them had lived like rats in the shadows—scraping by with petty dealings, terrified of being discovered.
They'd lived like that for years.
Even the incident eighteen years ago hadn't destroyed jujutsu society—if anything, it had made it stronger.
They'd thought this was how their lives would end.
Then the aliens appeared.
And suddenly… opportunity.
"Grandma," the man asked casually,
"Do you think Gojo Satoru will send someone after us once this mission is discovered?"
"Relax," she replied.
"No special-grade sorcerer will arrive within half an hour."
"That's a shame," he chuckled.
"I was hoping to use this man's power to test myself against Gojo."
A grin curved across the face wearing Suguru Geto's features.
His gaze locked onto Zen'in Kaon ahead.
Raising one hand, he tore open space itself—
A crack opens in midair.
From within, a colossal dragon-type cursed spirit thrust its head forward and charged.
"ROOOOAR—!!"
The sky trembled.
The dragon-shaped cursed spirit moved with terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, it caught up to Nue beneath Zen'in Kaon's feet.
"Damn it—!"
Sensing an overwhelming presence closing in from behind, Kaon instinctively turned her head.
BOOM!!
Before she could even make out the cursed spirit's shape, a devastating impact slammed into her back. The sheer force sent her flying like a cannonball, smashing into the ground, plowing through several trees before finally skidding to a halt.
She spat out a mouthful of blood, her face twisting in pain as her insides felt violently displaced.
"Shit… am I really going to die here?"
Struggling to her feet, Kaon stared at the countless cursed spirits converging on her from all sides.
Her cursed energy reserves were nearly exhausted.
Unbidden, her father's earlier warnings echoed in her mind.
"So this is the jujutsu world… I knew sorcerers were dangerous, but I didn't expect a random curse user to push me this far."
This was only her second mission—and she had already encountered an enemy of this caliber.
How many monsters like this were waiting in the future?
Was she really going to fall here?
"Little girl, you're from the Zen'in Clan..."
The old woman spoke slowly, her wrinkled face stretched into a grotesque smile.
"We won't kill you—or your other two companions either. Each of your backgrounds is more terrifying than the last. We can't afford to provoke the people standing behind you."
She understood perfectly well that some people simply couldn't be killed.
If someone like this—young, talented, and from one of the Three Great Clans—were murdered, the Zen'in would hunt them to the ends of the earth.
But aliens were different.
Kill an alien, and the retaliation wouldn't come from them—it would fall upon humanity and the jujutsu world instead.
And besides—
Their employer this time was also an alien.
Once aliens and sorcerers turned on each other, no one would have the time—or resources—to chase after a few curse users.
"You only need to wait here for a moment," the old woman continued softly.
"Soon enough, we'll bring you the corpse of that alien girl."
"You're trying to start a war between aliens and Earth!"
Kaon glared at them, fury blazing in her eyes.
"If Ria dies, none of you will escape. Not a single one!"
"That has nothing to do with us," the old woman replied indifferently.
"I'm old. I don't have many years left. I just want to use this money to retire in peace."
"Is that so?"
A cold voice cut through the air.
"Then I think today is the day you die."
Two figures appeared beside Kaon in a flash—Gojo Kamui and Okkotsu Kaguya.
Kaguya immediately turned to Kaon, concern evident in his voice.
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Kaon replied quickly.
"But they took Ria. They said they're going to kill her. We have to save her immediately—if we're too late…"
Her words trailed off, but the implication was clear.
Kaguya's gaze shifted to the enemies ahead as he spoke calmly:
"This was a setup. They planned this from the beginning, waiting for us to take the bait. The mountain is layered with multiple barriers that suppress cursed energy signatures—we can't track their movements."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"If we want to find Ria, the only way is to force the information out of these two."
The curse users who had intercepted them earlier had already fled after realizing they couldn't win, disappearing into the forest without a trace.
"…That man."
Gojo Kamui stared at the figure wearing Suguru Geto's face, his brows knitting together.
"I've seen him before. In my father's bedroom."
"What?!"
Kaon and Kaguya both stared at him in disbelief.
"There's a photo," Kamui clarified quickly.
"A photo of that man standing beside my father."
Realization dawned on their faces.
"So… that means he's a friend of the principal?"
"I don't know," Kamui shook his head.
"My father never told me the details. But whatever he was before—right now, he's our enemy."
"If we want to save Ria," Kamui continued coldly,
"we have to defeat him."
These curse users were in it for money—not martyrdom.
Beat them, and they could be forced to lead them straight to Ria.
Kaon clenched her fists, her gaze hardening.
"I don't know how strong Ria really is," she said grimly.
"But she told me herself—she's not a fighter."
"So we don't have time."
"We end this—now."