No matter who was behind the scenes, whatever he wanted to do was executed through the Crimson Being. Therefore, instead of aimlessly searching, it was best to deal with this Cursed Spirit first.
Perhaps by exorcising the Crimson Being, they could even force the person behind the scenes to show themselves.
The group quickly arrived at the Gymnasium.
"Leave it to me."
Geto stepped forward, one Cursed Spirit after another emerging behind him.
Eichi did not object. On one hand, he trusted Geto's strength; on the other hand, the two Jade Hounds were protecting several ordinary people, which significantly limited his combat power.
"Oni Samurai, Old Hag Fire."
The Oni Samurai, over two meters tall, and a ball of fire continuously emitting eerie laughter, appeared to Geto's left and right.
The Oni Samurai was a Cursed Spirit born from people's fear of the vengeful spirits of defeated samurai, a very common traditional Cursed Spirit.
Old Hag Fire, as its name suggested, was from folklore where a pair of unfilial children, instead of fulfilling their duty to care for their elderly parents, drove them into the mountains. Eventually, the elder transformed into a ghost fire to seek revenge.
"Hands, faces, all stained crimson…"
Sensing the movement at the entrance, the Crimson Being stopped its chilling song, turned its head to look at everyone, and smiled, its mouth almost reaching its ears.
"Go!"
At a command, the Oni Samurai launched the first attack. The Crimson Being ducked, dodging the Oni Samurai's slash, then charged towards Geto.
"Much faster than before."
Geto was somewhat surprised but did not stop moving.
A old woman's face faintly appeared in the Old Hag Fire, then balls of fire flew towards the Crimson Being, completely blocking its path of attack.
Boom.
The sound of fireballs exploding rang out, and the Crimson Being was hit by over a dozen fireballs.
Previously, because they were at Eichi's house, Geto had been somewhat constrained, afraid of demolishing Eichi's house.
Now it was different; the Gymnasium was spacious, and Eichi was protecting the ordinary people, so he could unleash his full power.
A charred figure rushed out of the smoke from the explosion. The Crimson Being used its legs to leap towards Geto's head.
Geto did not flinch, directly clenching his fist to meet the attack.
Fists and feet met, and the Crimson Being found that it gained no advantage in close combat.
Whoosh.
As the two exchanged blows, the Oni Samurai had already returned, striking at the Crimson Being's waist with its sword.
The Crimson Being immediately pulled away, escaping their encirclement.
But no sooner had the Crimson Being left their vicinity than it was surrounded by dozens of fireballs.
Boom!
A massive explosion sounded, shattering the Gymnasium's windows from the intense impact.
"Continue."
Geto, realizing the Crimson Being was not dead, ordered the Old Hag Fire to continue its attack.
The Crimson Being, covered in burns, desperately dodged around.
"So that's it. Within this barrier, the Crimson Being can receive all-around enhancements."
Its speed and strength were greater than when it was in Eichi's house. Before, it was heavily wounded by a few slashes from a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit like the Oni Samurai, but now its Physique could freely move after taking dozens of fireballs from the Old Hag Fire, and its injuries recovered quickly.
"Hair Demon."
A female figure whose face was completely covered by black hair appeared in front of Geto. Her waterfall-like black hair, upon touching the ground, immediately spread outwards.
Soon, the entire ground was completely covered by black hair.
Sensing something was wrong, the Crimson Being jumped onto a basketball hoop. The Oni Samurai immediately followed, chopping down the basketball hoop.
The moment the Crimson Being landed, countless black hairs crawled up its body from its ankles.
"Ah ah ah ah!"
The Crimson Being let out a piercing scream, constantly tearing at the hair on its body, but each time she broke a strand, more hair would entangle her body.
"Eye Competition."
A giant skull appeared and bit half of the Crimson Being's body. The bitten Crimson Being struggled desperately.
At this moment, the Oni Samurai stepped forward and delivered a full-power slash to the Crimson Being.
The heavily injured Crimson Being lost its ability to resist and was swallowed whole by Eye Competition.
The parts of its body that fell to the ground were also taken by the Oni Samurai, Hair Demon, and Old Hag Fire.
"It worked."
"We really dealt with the Crimson Being, that's amazing."
"It's finally over."
After the Crimson Being was swallowed by Eye Competition, the people behind Eichi cried tears of joy.
However, neither Eichi nor Geto relaxed their guard, because the barrier had not been lifted, and the person behind the scenes had not appeared.
Suddenly, Geto spotted a figure in a corner.
"How is this possible? My Cursed Spirit definitely ate the Crimson Being just now."
The figure in the corner, covered in blood with an eerie smile on its face, was none other than the Crimson Being.
As Geto pondered, the Crimson Being suddenly charged towards the people behind him.
"Oh no."
Realizing the Crimson Being's objective, Geto immediately turned, wanting to return to Eichi's side.
But the next moment, a blood-red figure abruptly appeared in front of Geto.
Puncture.
To Geto's surprise, the Crimson Being's right hand pierced into his abdomen.
Noticing the situation was amiss, Eichi immediately pulled out his katana from his shadow, forcing the Crimson Being back.
After dodging Eichi's attack, the Crimson Being sniffed its blood-stained right hand with its small nose, then put its fingers into its mouth.
"Enka."
After forcing the Crimson Being back, Eichi did not pursue but immediately formed a hand seal to summon Enka to heal Geto.
Geto was not idle either; black hair and fireballs immediately attacked the Crimson Being.
"Are you alright?"
Looking at the slowly healing wound, Eichi breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was enough height difference between them; it would have been troublesome if his heart had been gouged out.
"I'm fine. It's that Cursed Spirit though."
Geto slowly stood up.
"She should be able to teleport in front of anyone who turns their head."
"Hmm, it seems so."
Earlier in the infirmary, Asuka had mentioned that the distant Crimson Being suddenly appeared in front of her. Coupled with what Geto just experienced, the two deduced the conditions for the Crimson Being's teleportation.
The problem now was how to exorcise this Cursed Spirit.
Geto was certain that the Cursed Spirit he controlled had indeed killed the Crimson Being. So what was the deal with this second Crimson Being?
"What do you think?"
Geto stepped forward and asked.
"There are three possibilities I can think of right now: Clones, regeneration, and… it must meet certain conditions to be exorcised."
Eichi shared his thoughts.
The first is easy to understand: if you don't eliminate the main body but only the Clones, it's naturally useless. The second is that this Cursed Spirit has some kind of core; as long as the core isn't destroyed, it can recover even if only a piece of flesh remains.
The third is the most troublesome: it must meet certain conditions to be exorcised.
While thinking, Eichi remembered the comedian Takaba. Even Kenjaku couldn't forcibly defeat that guy's Technique. In the end, Kenjaku relied on its experience to put on a satisfactory comedy show with Takaba, and only then did it "defeat" Takaba.
If it was the third situation, what conditions would need to be met?
Must it be exorcised outside the barrier?
Probably not.
At this moment, Eichi recalled the scene when they were cursed.
"Please help me find my body."
The prerequisite for being pulled into this barrier was being asked by that strange girl to find her body. Rie had said there was a coffin containing a body in the auditorium.
Asuka, on the other hand, found a hand.
A hypothesis emerged in Eichi's mind.
The coffin held the Crimson Being's main body, and the Cursed Spirit in front of them was a Clone of the Crimson Being.
Only when the body parts were all found would the Crimson Being's main body appear. Before that, killing any number of Clones would be useless.
Thinking this, Eichi immediately made a decision.
"Geto, let's catch the Crimson Being together. Then I'll stay to guard the Crimson Being, and you take the others to gather the body parts. We'll meet at the auditorium."
"No problem."
Understanding Eichi's plan, Geto summoned several more Cursed Spirits.
Unlike the previous ones, which each had their own strengths.
These Cursed Spirits all possessed restraint abilities.
Black hair, spiderwebs, hanging ropes… The wide-ranging attacks of the spiderwebs and black hair continuously compressed the Crimson Being's movement space. Whenever the Crimson Being tried to leave the area, a hanging rope would appear and loop around its neck.
Soon, the Crimson Being was cornered.
"Max Elephant."
A pink elephant appeared behind the Crimson Being. Its two pillar-like legs lifted and then stomped heavily on the Crimson Being.
The Crimson Being's screams mingled with the sound of breaking bones.
Seeing that the Crimson Being had lost its ability to resist, Max Elephant curled its trunk around the Crimson Being, restraining it, then set off towards the auditorium.
"I'll go to the auditorium and wait for you first."
"No problem, leave it to me."
As his voice fell, hundreds of Cursed Spirits that had been recalled earlier once again surged from the dark crack behind Geto, their number noticeably greater than last time.
Large Cursed Spirits searched outdoor areas like the playground, while smaller Cursed Spirits went into the teaching building, meticulously searching every room.
For a time, the entire campus became a night parade of a hundred demons, like falling into Hell.