-480- Misunderstood something

"Gudo?"

Looking at the pitch-black black mist approaching like a swamp towards him, Rozen's expression was surprisingly calm.

The so-called "Gudo" generally refers to using venomous insects like spiders and centipedes as carriers, placing a large number of similar poisonous insects in a vessel, allowing them to mutually kill each other. The one left in the end is the strongest and the most poisonous, far more terrifying than ordinary poisonous insects.

The curse shikigami controlled by the opponent is likely made by using these insects as sacrifices and imbuing them with cursed power.

And it's easy to see that if touched by such a thing, the ultimate outcome would definitely not be good.

However, there are also various ways to deal with a curse. Rozen, with his intellect, instantly thought of dozens of methods to deal with the enemy.

However...

"Too troublesome."

That's right.

Too troublesome.

If there were only the enemies before him, Rozen could slowly dispel the curse. But the main course hasn't had its turn yet, and wasting too much jujutsu power now definitely wouldn't be a good thing.

Might as well...

"I'll sweep you all at once."

The jujutsu power all over Rozen's body surged explosively.

"Come out! Hokuto!"

Rozen finally summoned his own shikigami.

The immense Reiki instantly converged in the sky, turning into a dazzling band of light that shot straight up.

In the end, a dragon with dazzling golden scales appeared in the light, opening a pair of pure eyes, gazing down below.

"Ah... Ah..."

The summoner of the curse shikigami, staring wide-eyed at the dragon appearing in mid-air, seemed stunned, unable to say a word out of astonishment.

"Oooh..."

"Ah..."

Around, the Onmyoji who had been swept away by the water streams and barely struggled to get up were also similarly gaping, unable to utter a complete sentence for a while.

Even in the nearby streets, the ordinary people who accidentally saw the radiance here all started to get astonished.

"That... What is that...?"

"A dragon?"

"An... An actual dragon...!?"

"It's a dragon!"

"A dragon!"

In the streets, one after another, the people started exclaiming in astonishment, their voices becoming a clamor.

Naturally, among these many people, there were also numerous Onmyoji.

"That dragon...!"

"Could it be...!?"

The Onmyoji were all either rushing to report to the Onmyou Agency or going straight there.

In this era, a genuine dragon appearing alone was enough to cause such a commotion.

However, the dragon causing such a commotion was not pleased and glared down below.

The poison mist, resembling a pitch-black swamp, surged towards Rozen as if it were a helpless creature targeted by a fearsome monster, halting the attack on Rozen and seething in place.

Though the curse shikigami was very powerful, its strength and risks led it to be classified as taboo by the Onmyou Agency, not allowed to be created or used. Faced with Hokuto's pure dragon aura, this abomination was like meeting its nemesis, falling into fear.

On the other hand, Hokuto felt an unpleasant sensation, as if swimming freely in the ocean had been tainted by polluted water.

Rozen keenly sensed Hokuto's emotions and a slight smile curled up at the corner of his mouth.

"No problem, Hokuto."

In that moment, Rozen spoke with a devilish smile.

"Go ahead and rampage, sweep away anything that annoys you."

Rozen issued such an unabashed command.

Immediately, Hokuto let out a triumphant dragon roar, then twisted its body, transforming into a flash of light, shooting straight towards the poison mist below.

"————!"

The curse shikigami sensed the imminent threat of death and seemed to let out a chilling scream, exploding like a wave of black mist.

Yet all these actions were nothing but struggles before death in front of Hokuto.

The dazzling flash carried with it dense dragon aura, crashing into the black mist.

"Boom————!"

A thunderous noise made the air tremble.

Pure dragon energy collided with the malevolent dark aura, and there wasn't even a moment of stalemate. It disintegrated instantly.

Of course, it was unquestionably the malevolent side that disintegrated.

The jet-black curse, under Hokuto's collision of dragon energy, shattered as if it were torn into pieces.

And that dazzling flash seemed as if it had just taken a turn in mid-air, rising back into the sky from the dissipating black aura, revealing Hokuto's full form.

A single strike.

Facing the curse shikigami classified as forbidden Jutsu, Hokuto only needed one strike to deal with it.

It was only now that Rozen slightly restrained the Jutsu power he had infused into Hokuto, allowing Hokuto to freely soar in the sky.

"As expected, even the appetizer isn't enough."

Rozen stood beneath Hokuto, who was soaring in the sky, and showed an indifferent expression to the attackers.

That appearance, it was like an unsatisfied child who had just played a lousy game.

Looking at Rozen like this, the surrounding Onmyoji involuntarily retreated.

Even the handsome man who was leading them was shivering, his face pale, but he managed to force a smile.

"Tru... Truly worthy of being our king. Passing such a trial effortlessly and even being able to command the legendary true dragon. You are indeed the greatest figure in this world, a genius of Onmyoudou, no, a prodigy!"

The handsome man kneeled before Rozen and bowed.

"We swear here that we will assist our king, please make full use of our meager abilities and reclaim the past glory and rights!"

As he spoke, the man's voice became enthusiastic again.

This prompted the surrounding Onmyoji to kneel consecutively, offering their loyalty to Rozen.

However...

"I think you may have misunderstood something."

Rozen's somewhat speechless and somewhat indifferent voice slowly resounded.

"King of North Star...?"

The man leading the group and the other Onmyoji were left dumbfounded.

In response, Rozen wanted to say only this.

"I am not the king you speak of, nor will I fight to reclaim any past glory or rights. Even if such a thing were real, I don't need your assistance, for you only make me feel disgusted."

Disgust was written all over Rozen's face.

"While I don't know where you all came from, since you chose to attack me, you should know the price, right?"

Rozen extended his hand, causing his magical energy to burn once again, flowing into Hokuto through their contract.

Hokuto immediately lowered his head again, looking at the Onmyoji below, a malicious glint in his eyes.

"W-Wait! King of North Star!"

The man leading them exclaimed, startled.

"We are your loyal followers! From...!"

Before he could finish that sentence, a flippant voice interrupted.

"To think that the current Mystical Investigators has fallen to such a state. It's truly dumbfounding."

As soon as those words were spoken, swarms of transparent swallows came flying from the distance.

It was SwallowWhip.