"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Hahahaha… I'll slaughter every last one of you!"
Hidan swung the Three-Bladed Scythe in wide, unrestrained arcs, nailing every lizard-like monster that rushed him straight into the ground.
His expression was one of extreme exhilaration!
He had no idea where these monsters had come from, but every now and then, changing things up—offering a new batch of sacrifices to Lord Jashin—wasn't a bad idea at all.
When the final lizard monster fell beneath his blade, Hidan's gaze shifted toward an entrance not far ahead.
He could feel it—inside, even more delicious sacrifices were waiting for him.
Gripping the Three-Bladed Scythe, he strode in without the slightest hesitation.
Such precious offerings—he had to be the first to present them to Lord Jashin!
However, the moment Hidan stepped inside, the sight before him made him freeze.
A twisting cave, spiraling and interweaving layer upon layer.
How was this possible?
From the outside, there was no way terrain like this could exist here!
And then—
When he turned around, Hidan realized that the entrance he had just come through had vanished without a sound, replaced by a solid rock wall.
Such an eerie situation would have been enough to put anyone on edge.
But relying on his immortal body, Hidan didn't take it too seriously. Without fear, he simply continued forward.
As he walked on, he gradually lost all sense of direction.
Everywhere looked the same.
As for the path he'd come from—there was no way to find it anymore.
Hidan frowned and cursed under his breath, annoyed.
Instead of wandering around aimlessly, he stopped, leaned against a wall, and sat down.
He wasn't fond of thinking too much, but since he was already lost, he figured he might as well stay put and respond to whatever came his way.
He was confident those monsters would eventually show themselves.
Besides…
That bastard would come looking for him sooner or later.
Even though he didn't actually need the help.
Hidan snorted arrogantly in his heart.
A few minutes passed, and the surroundings remained deathly silent.
Suddenly, Hidan's expression changed!
Because the Three-Bladed Scythe he had set beside him… was gone?!
Though it looked like he had been resting with his eyes closed, he had in fact been alert to every movement around him.
Yet now, he had no idea when his weapon disappeared—or how!
Hidan immediately sprang to his feet, warily scanning his surroundings.
Then, all of a sudden, his body stiffened.
Out of the corner of his eye appeared a ghastly pale face—nothing but a mouth, with four eyes embedded in its forehead—standing less than half a meter from his side!
"When did you—?!"
Hidan clenched his teeth. Without another word, a retractable black spear slid out from his sleeve, and he viciously thrust it toward the monster he had caught in his peripheral vision.
But—
Pshhk!
Clang!
The lower half of Hidan's right forearm was cleanly severed, flying away along with the black spear still clenched in his hand before crashing to the ground.
"So fast!"
Hidan ignored the pain of his severed arm and wound, leaping backward instantly to create distance.
The creature before him was exerting tremendous pressure.
Its speed was terrifying—barely visible to the naked eye—and its strength was more than enough to casually sever his arm.
What the hell was this thing?!
Hidan felt more and more like this world was becoming something he couldn't understand.
And yet, in just that brief moment of distraction, he lost sight of his enemy again.
The next instant, a massive force slammed into him!
BOOM!
Hidan was sent flying, smashing through a thick, solid wall. He tumbled more than ten meters before finally coming to a stop.
"Ugh—!"
As he struggled to stand, his throat tightened and a mouthful of blood spilled out.
Ignoring the other injuries, that single blow had broken at least five of his ribs!
"Damn it!"
"I'll kill you and offer you up to Lord Jashin!"
Hidan staggered back to his feet, eyes blazing with ferocity.
The very next second, the Three-Bladed Scythe came spinning toward him at high speed, rapidly enlarging in his vision.
BOOM!
...
"Where the hell did that idiot Hidan run off to?"
Shinji slaughtered monsters and accumulated points as he searched for Hidan's whereabouts.
Not long ago, he suddenly realized he could no longer leech cursed soul points from Hidan, which immediately gave him a bad feeling.
Compared to the idea that Hidan had simply gone on strike and hidden himself away, Shinji was far more inclined to believe that idiot had run into trouble—serious trouble.
Fortunately, the commotion they had caused earlier was massive, and Hidan's appearance was hard to forget. After asking around, Shinji finally arrived at the area where Hidan had last been seen.
"The traces of battle here are still fresh. And damage shaped like this could only have been caused by that Bloody Three-Bladed Scythe. Looks like Hidan really was fighting cursed spirits here not too long ago…"
Shinji examined the surroundings and quickly confirmed Hidan had been here.
Then, after a swift search, he found the entrance overflowing with ominous energy.
"If nothing unexpected happened, that idiot probably went into the cursed spirit's real nest all by himself." Shinji cursed under his breath, exasperated.
At the same time, he knew full well—if Hidan were the type to stay put and wait for him, he wouldn't be Hidan.
"Hopefully there's still a chance to collect this moron's corpse. Once I farm the bond value up to a thousand points and claim the reward, I'll chop you up and toss you into the sea to feed the sharks. Damn it!"
Muttering curses nonstop, Shinji took out the cursed object [Perfect Perfume] and buried it in the ground in front of the entrance.
Only after finishing did he lift his executioner's blade, sigh, and step inside.
The moment Shinji's figure vanished, a strand of black hair had already pierced through the soil, sensing the surroundings like a radar…
The instant he stepped in, Shinji was stunned by the sight before him!
"This is… an innate domain?!"
"No—this isn't it!"
"This is just a pseudo-domain forcibly constructed by using massive cursed energy to interfere with reality."
"But being able to do this…"
"Without a doubt! There is absolutely a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit here!"
After reaching this conclusion, Shinji glanced back—and sure enough, the entrance he had come through was already gone.
Now he could be certain: Hidan's situation was definitely dire.
Once a cursed spirit reached the special grade, it was an entirely different concept altogether!
A single Special-Grade Cursed Spirit could effortlessly massacre dozens of Grade 1 Cursed Spirits.
And even more terrifying—
The gap in strength between special grades themselves could sometimes be even greater than the difference between Grade 1 and special grade!
Shinji vaguely recalled something the King of Curses once said:
"You are a special grade because your strength has reached special grade.
I am a special grade because the ceiling is only special grade."
----
As promised, 4 chapters today thanks to 40+ power stones!
Upload got delayed because of slow net, it sucks when you're living in a rural area with an average of 30/ks internet.