Chapter 191 The Great Serpent
“What is this?! When did this happen?!”
Looking at the small cloth bag handed over by the young girl, Mai Shinomiya’s expression became even more solemn. She extended her finger and gently picked up a bit of ash, examining it closely. The questions in her eyes grew deeper.
“Shinomiya, Kazumi was attacked too?!”
Seeing Mai Shinomiya’s sudden change in expression, Shinichi Sato’s heart sank. He ignored the dull feeling in his chest and anxiously asked Mai Shinomiya beside him.
“She must have been. Otherwise, I can’t explain why the amulet spontaneously combusted, and it was an attack I didn’t perceive. Is it the ‘Mokuya Curse’? Or a method outside of psychic abilities?”
Nodding in response to Shinichi Sato’s question, Mai Shinomiya regained her usual composure as she considered the matter. She lowered her head and began to ponder the other party’s reasons for arranging all of this.
“I know! It must be a curse-type ability! A psychic wants to attack this school, or cause some kind of commotion?!”
After a moment of thought, as if she had recalled a crucial point, Mai Shinomiya suddenly raised her head and looked at Shinichi Sato with a solemn expression, speaking.
After all, judging from the ashes in the amulet handed over by Kazumi, the young girl should have been attacked a few days ago. But that was when Mai Shinomiya had just transferred to the school. The only people who knew she would come to this school, besides Uncle Shoji, was Tsukasa Hamano.
And the previous events had proven that this former number one hero firmly stood by her side, so there was no leakage of information.
Therefore, the only explanation was that the other party had been planning something in the school all along, and was just unfortunately caught up by her apology gift. The reason the amulet in Kazumi Shimizu’s hand burned was likely due to the cancellation of some delayed curse or spell.
Coupled with Shinichi Sato being attacked by an evil curse today, it meant that her arrival at this school to investigate as a psychic had been exposed. Just as Tsukasa Hamano had said, there were spies from enemy organizations within the school.
“Curse ability? Kiyomizu-san, is Kazumi alright?”
Recalling the lingering cold energy within him, Shinichi Sato frowned and looked at his girlfriend opposite him with some concern, asking.
“Yes, she should be fine. Amulets are quite strong against non-lethal curses.”
Nodding in response to Shinichi Sato, Mai Shinomiya then looked at Kazumi and asked with a smile.
“Kiyomizu-san, let me check if you’ve been harmed.”
“No!”
To Mai Shinomiya’s surprise, a cold voice came back without mercy. The short-haired young girl looked at her with a cold expression, as if she were looking at a dead person…
Kazumi looked coldly at the tall young girl in front of her. Although she had heard from her description that Riku seemed to have gotten caught up in something serious, which was why she had temporarily let her off the hook in her heart.
But that didn’t mean Kazumi wanted to be touched by this disgusting person. Even if she could overcome the physical discomfort, if she were touched by Mai Shinomiya’s energy within her body, Kazumi couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t be directly identified as having the death aura within her.
Although Kazumi had never cared about such things as identity, and while campus life was nice to have, its absence wouldn’t significantly impact her life.
However, she felt that it was still better not to be exposed and to have an overt identity.
Especially in front of him…
“Kazumi! At a time like this, it’s better to let Shinomiya-san examine you.”
The young girl’s response also shocked Shinichi Sato. The young boy hadn’t expected his girlfriend’s dislike for Mai Shinomiya to be to this extent. Although Kazumi had always been unyielding to others, such obvious dislike for someone was rare.
“No, you do it.”
Casually tilting her head away, Kazumi directly offered her hand. Although she didn’t know what Mai Shinomiya’s analysis was all about, Kazumi believed her current physical state was fine. After all, being half-undead meant she was immune to some curses and other damage. Now, she just didn’t want to give Mai Shinomiya a chance to examine her.
“Uh… alright.”
Looking at his girlfriend’s little temper tantrum with some helplessness, Shinichi Sato finally understood that his cute little girlfriend hadn’t gotten over her jealousy from earlier.
However, it was fine if she didn’t want Mai Shinomiya to examine her. Even psychic curses would affect the physical body, so it wasn’t impossible for him to examine her.
Placing his hand on the girl’s small, white wrist, the cold and soft touch made the young man’s heart flutter for a moment.
Although they occasionally held hands or had other contact, this direct contact with his girlfriend’s body seemed to be the first time. Forcing his wandering thoughts back, Shinichi Sato began to use his “chi” to sense the girl’s body from within.
Looking at the young man who looked embarrassed but was hard-pressed to hold the girl’s hand, and the icy girl who bashfully turned her head, with her expression gradually softening, Mai Shinomiya’s state of mind was truly not good.
So, she was truly the only extra one, the third wheel? Not only was she disliked by Kazumi, but she also had to eat dog food alone here.
With a helpless sigh, the young girl tidied up her things and planned to return to the classroom first, looking at the two people whose atmosphere was becoming increasingly ambiguous.
But her previously relaxed gaze suddenly sharpened. Before she could even think, three yellow talismans shot towards Shinichi Sato’s head in a “品” formation.
“Hiss—” “Careful!!”
Shinichi Sato’s reaction was equally quick. The moment Mai Shinomiya made her move, he realized it and immediately pulled Kazumi into his arms, retreating to the side.
Along with a subtle hissing sound, the three talismans turned into three golden long ropes, binding them directly in the air.
At the same time, a half-giant python made of purple energy appeared?
“Great Serpent?!”
The familiar aura that appeared in an instant raised Mai Shinomiya’s vigilance to the highest level. With one hand, she manipulated the talismans to control it tightly, while with the other hand, she formed a hand seal for a certain incantation.
“Sato, you take Kiyomizu-san and leave first. Contact Grandpa Hamano. I’ll hold them here!!”
The turn of events had truly exceeded Mai Shinomiya’s expectations. She had initially thought they were fanatics coveting the “[Underworld],” but why had the sealed Great Serpent reappeared now?!
The pressure from the incantation in her hand was increasing, and the terrifying aura brought by the giant python was becoming more real, as if she had returned to that night in her childhood, that tragic night when the world seemed to have been destroyed.
[No, at the very least, I can’t let others be implicated!]
She cast a few more talismans, temporarily suppressing the struggling purple giant python, but Mai Shinomiya also realized that she might not even be able to suppress it and could only pray that the two could leave quickly to deliver the information.
The psychic world was different from the real world. Although the direct destructive power might not be as strong as that of heroes, without experience in dealing with it, even powerful heroes could lose their lives. Therefore, Mai Shinomiya’s only hope now was Tsukasa Hamano, who controlled the lightning that could restrain evil energy.
If their purpose was truly to revive the Great Serpent, then only he could resolve it if he came.
“Hiss!!”
As if angered by the annoying lines around it, the purple giant python let out a silent roar, its body suddenly expanding, directly breaking open the golden lines, Unleashing its terrifying aura without reservation.
[It’s over!]
The last hand seal for the incantation was ultimately not released. A trace of despair flashed in Mai Shinomiya’s eyes. This terrifying, bone-chilling aura directly triggered the memory she was most unwilling to face.
The appearance of her parents seemed to reappear before the young girl’s eyes, with the only difference being that she had grown much taller.
[Is this the fate that cannot be escaped…]
With a sigh of inevitability in her heart, she looked at the giant python shooting towards her. The energy within her body seemed to freeze, unable to circulate at all. In the end, she could only silently close her eyes.
[It’s over.]
“Boom!!”
The anticipated pain did not arrive. Instead, a terrifying gust of air swept past her face, scattering the fragments of memory in Mai Shinomiya’s vision.
Opening her eyes, the appearance of the real world reappeared in her sight. However, standing before her was that somewhat familiar, sturdy figure.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow—”
The blond young man grinned, shaking his hand exaggeratedly as if in pain from something.
Seeing Mai Shinomiya turn her gaze towards him, Shinichi Sato hurriedly wiped the back of his hand, which was stained with a pile of disgusting purple liquid, on his clothes. Then, he extended his hand, wanting to pull the girl on the ground up.
“Are you okay, Shinomiya?”
