"Kogure Zenjirou!"
"It's Kogure Zenjirou!"
"The 'Omnipotent Sword' is here!?"
"This is great!"
In this moment, upon seeing the man named Kogure Zenjirou, the students and instructors from the Onmyou Academy couldn't help but cheer with excitement.
Kogure Zenjirou looked at the situation with a somewhat puzzled expression on his face.
Rozen also gazed at this man, completely shifting his attention away from Kagami Reiji.
————"Kogure Zenjirou".
He was a popular figure in the Onmyou Agency, second only to Dairenji Suzuka in popularity.
He was a rising star in the Onmyou Agency, one of the four independent exorcists of the Exorcism Division, just like Kagami Reiji. He was also one of the "Twelve Divine Generals" under the Exorcism Division, nicknamed the "Omnipotent Sword".
Unlike Kagami Reiji, who was irresponsible towards his work and indifferent to his duties and obligations as an exorcist, Kogure Zenjirou was a young elite of the Exorcism Division. He had a sense of justice and responsibility, often riding his motorcycle through the spirit-disaster-prone Tokyo, eliminating threats to the citizens.
He was a prominent leader within the Exorcism Division, serving as an aspiration for the young exorcists. The higher-ups regarded him as a future pillar of the Exorcism Division. Currently, he was under the command of Miyachi Iwao but was seen as the most promising candidate to succeed his position.
Due to his approachable and friendly demeanor and his high level of activity, Kogure Zenjirou often appeared on live television, making him well-known to the citizens.
So, in terms of popularity, Kogure Zenjirou's popularity was second only to Dairenji Suzuka. He was the kind of character who could easily debut as a star with no issues.
In terms of strength, Kogure Zenjirou was believed to surpass Kagami Reiji.
At least, that's what Rozen felt.
(But that sword is very dangerous.)
Rozen stared at the katana worn by Kogure Zenjirou, and a hint of threat arose in his heart.
While this threat didn't reach the level of danger he felt when he first saw Miyachi Iwao, it was stronger than what he sensed from Kagami Reiji.
Therefore, Rozen concluded that Kogure Zenjirou's strength surpassed that of Kagami Reiji.
(The 'Omnipotent Sword', huh?)
Rozen kept a close eye on Kogure Zenjirou, remaining silent.
At this moment,
"Independent Officer Kogure!"
An instructor stepped forward, saluted to Kogure Zenjirou, and made a request.
"Please restrain Independent Officer Kagami's actions. If this continues, it will pose a great threat to the students, and we cannot allow this to go unchecked!"
The instructor spoke with urgency.
Others then realized the situation and voiced their concerns one by one.
"Please stop your colleague's actions!"
"That person has gone too far!"
"Unforgivable!"
The anger of the students and instructors erupted like a volcano at this moment, and they shouted one after another.
These voices naturally infuriated the person at the center of it all.
"Shut up!"
Kagami Reiji yelled violently at everyone present.
"!?"
Everyone present immediately closed their mouths, intimidated by Kagami Reiji's dangerous expression and gaze, showing fear on their faces.
It was evident how much fear Kagami Reiji instilled in the students and instructors present.
"Kagami!"
Kogure Zenjirou seemed to understand something, and his gaze towards Kagami Reiji became both serious and stern.
"If you continue acting recklessly, the Onmyou Agency will definitely take action against you. Don't blame me for not warning you."
Regardless of Kagami Reiji's personality, Kogure Zenjirou straightforwardly raised this question.
"Tsk!"
Kagami Reiji clicked his tongue, and it seemed like he truly restrained himself. The violent jutsuryoku surging from him was gradually held back.
But Kagami Reiji's gaze remained fixed on Rozen.
"You got lucky, brat."
Kagami Reiji spoke in an extremely displeased tone.
However,
"I got lucky?"
In the slightly surprised eyes of Kogure Zenjirou, while the rest of the students and instructors were too frightened to speak due to Kagami Reiji's violence, Rozen, on the contrary, met Kagami Reiji's gaze and his tone became sympathetic.
"I see, the famous 'Ogre Eater' is at best at this level. Can't even determine who would win, can you?"
Rozen's somewhat sympathetic words successfully provoked Kagami Reiji.
"What did you say!?"
Kagami Reiji's anger flared up smoothly.
Facing Kagami Reiji's fury, Rozen only glanced at him and then extended his hand, snapping his fingers.
"Snap!"
Along with the sound of the snap, an anomaly occurred from Rozen's body.
"Hmm!"
Amidst the trembling air, blurred silhouettes resembling mirages began appearing around Kagami Reiji.
Kagami Reiji was unexpectedly surrounded.
"What!?"
Kagami Reiji's face changed dramatically.
"This!"
Even Kogure Zenjirou narrowed his eyes, showing a serious expression.
Evidently, these two "Twelve Divine Generals" hadn't noticed this situation.
Rozen's voice then resounded again.
"You didn't forget about those talisman I took out at the beginning of the battle, did you?"
Rozen laughed at Kagami Reiji.
"You think I didn't use them?"
Rozen snapped his fingers again, and the ten half-materialized shikigami that had surrounded Kagami Reiji, without revealing their true form or strength, reverted to their original state as black talisman and flew back into Rozen's hand.
Seeing this scene, everyone present suddenly understood.
Since the beginning of the battle, Rozen had unconsciously used these ten talisman.
However, these shikigami didn't materialize but existed in a spiritual state. While Rozen and Kagami Reiji were engaged in their intense battle, they gradually surrounded Kagami Reiji.
"It's impossible!"
Kagami Reiji shouted in anger.
"How could I let so many shikigami get this close to me without noticing!?"
Yeah.
With Kagami Reiji's abilities, how could he allow so many shikigami to get this close to him without noticing?
"But..."
"Why do you think I engaged in this prolonged battle with you? It's to disrupt the surrounding spiritual energy with the collisions of jujutsu."
Rozen calmly spoke up.
"I just learned this yesterday. Once the spiritual energy around is disrupted, the ability to see spirits becomes ineffective."
Of course, with just this, it's impossible to silently surround Kagami Reiji with so many shikigami.
However, just a moment ago, this place was filled with miasma, and with the consecutive use of such large-scale jujutsu, it caused confusion in the Yin-Yang Five Elements. If powerful shikigami, intangible and using invisibility, took advantage of the chaotic spiritual energy and the miasma brought by spiritual disasters, they could stealthily approach Kagami Reiji.
And all of Rozen's ten shikigami were of the powerful type.
Rozen had the shikigami maintain their spiritual forms and used "Invisibility jutsu" on the shikigami.
When Rozen disrupted the surrounding spiritual energy, mixed with the miasma from the spiritual disasters, and maximally blurred Kagami Reiji's senses, he let the shikigami quietly surround Kagami Reiji.
For this reason, Rozen even temporarily severed the spiritual connection with the shikigami to avoid being discovered.
In other words, this situation was a trap specifically set by Rozen.
So...
"Who truly got lucky in the end?"
Rozen finally mocked.
"You bastard!"
Kagami Reiji's pride received the greatest provocation, and he erupted in fury.