After showing off a little and pulling off a move strong enough to rewrite the map, Satoru Gojo was still not satisfied.
With a flick of his hand and a shake of his head, he muttered, "It's worse than I expected."
At first, everyone thought he was just being his usual overconfident self, but it didn't take long for them to understand what he meant by "worse."
The map that had been cut open by "Hollow Technique: Purple" began to restore itself at an astonishing speed, like a wound healing under the Reversed Cursed Technique.
And along with the "wound," the "body's" immune system also began to recover.
If the shadows that Satoru Gojo had previously cleared out were ordinary cells, this time what emerged were the body's immune defenders—"white blood cells." They were far stronger in both size and oppressive presence than the previous shadows.
Their aggressive approach seemed to scream, "Die, you germs!"
If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. With Satoru Gojo around, they could just spam "Hollow Technique" and force their way through the map.
The problem lay in the unusual scenery that Akira saw through the "wound" that Satoru Gojo had cut open.
It was a world like a mirror image, inverted, where mountains were upside down, rivers flowed backward, and floating islands could be faintly seen scattered around.
The world within the mirror was far more saturated with the stench of death than the space they were currently in, like the underworld itself.
A broken world? The Reverse World?
Akira wasn't overthinking it—it's just that the feeling of déjà vu from that world was too strong.
The Broken World and the Reverse World are concepts from the Pokémon world, referring to the same place.
Some say it's an antimatter space, others say it's where the underworld lies, and some even say it's the reverse side of the world.
No matter how it's described, it's one of the most dangerous places in the Pokémon world.
Even though the Trainer System didn't react, and Akira couldn't be sure if he was just seeing things, this was one of those situations where caution was better than carelessness.
If that really was the Reverse World he thought it was—no, it didn't even need to be, just having some of the Reverse World's characteristics would be enough to doom everyone here except Satoru Gojo.
"Sensei, since the situation is beyond our expectations, shouldn't we retreat for now and make a new plan?" Akira suggested.
"Let's do that," Satoru Gojo agreed, withdrawing his gaze and nodding.
With the "Six Eyes," he could see deeper, further, and more clearly understand the dangers of this "Nightmare Domain." In some sense, it had already surpassed the existence of a domain, evolving into a small world, a level even Satoru Gojo himself couldn't reach.
When the two most authoritative figures at the school both said so, the others naturally had no objections.
As usual, Darkrai opened the passage, and they retreated in order—Yuta Okkotsu first, Satoru Gojo second to last, and Akira bringing up the rear.
Akira took one last glance at the "wound" that was about to heal.
Of course, he was curious, but he wasn't yet ready to explore, nor did he have the strength to do so.
This suppressed curiosity would eventually turn into motivation for him to become stronger.
One day, he would go to that mysterious world, whether Rika was exorcised or not.
Akira had a feeling that Rika's dream, like Darkrai's passage, was just a door—a transition.
When the time came for Akira to qualify, it would mean he had reached the pinnacle of the world and earned the right to challenge the top-tier Legendary Pokémon.
Mythical Pokémon, the Renegade Dragon, Giratina.
If he could successfully capture it, then even Satoru Gojo's "Infinity" would have a counter.
Burning this scene into his memory, Akira left the dream world before the "white blood cells" arrived.
This instance run was still brief, but it gave Akira more motivation than ever before.
After a brief spatial shift, Akira returned to the real world.
The first thing he saw was Satoru Gojo's twisted face, clearly troubled by Rika's nightmare.
The others kept silent, not daring to disturb Satoru Gojo's thoughts.
After about a minute, this man, often teased as a "fake teacher" but who had actually done a lot, finally clicked his tongue: "I really don't want to have to deal with the Kyoto side."
"What are you planning to do?" Akira asked.
"To clear Rika's nightmare dungeon, you need to master the way to counter domains. Besides Domain Expansion and mutual competition, there's another highly efficient technique that everyone can learn—Simple Domain."
"A simplified version of Domain?" Yuta Okkotsu asked, trying to grasp the meaning.
"Something like that. Although it doesn't add any techniques, by using a small area of high-density cursed energy, it can neutralize the domain's guaranteed-hit effect within a limited range. It might have other uses too, but I'm not too sure."
"Might have?" Maki frowned, "You can use domains, so there's no reason you wouldn't know about 'Simple Domain.'"
Panda analyzed, "Probably because he didn't need to. If you've mastered a complete domain, there's no need to care about the 'simplified version.'"
"Exactly. 'Simple Domain' was created as a method for non-domain users to protect themselves within a domain. Initially, it wasn't developed to deal with jujutsu sorcerers but to fight curses. Here's a bit of trivia—there are four officially registered Special Grade Sorcerers. So, who knows how many Special Grade Cursed Spirits have been identified?"
"Sixteen," Akira answered immediately.
"Correct. Curses are extremely stubborn things. Even if they're exorcised for a while, as long as humans still fear certain things, similar cursed spirits will reappear after one or two hundred years. Sorcerers have suffered untold hardships to exorcise them, and some battles have even become part of myth and legend. Here's a question: what are the three most feared monsters in Japanese legend?"
"The Eight-Headed Serpent, Tamamo-no-Mae, and Shuten Doji." Yuta Okkotsu finally knew something, as these are the three most famous Japanese monsters. "Are they cursed spirits?"
"Correct. Their original birth may have been coincidental, but once they stirred up trouble and were recorded by humans, their forms became established, subconsciously gathering human fear and thereby gaining physical form."
"This type of cursed spirit is collectively called an Imaginary Cursed Spirit, and most of these spirits have domains. To effectively exorcise them, 'Simple Domain' was created and even became the foundation of certain schools of thought. The most famous is the 'Shinkage-ryu'... but that school is more closely aligned with Kyoto. Although there are Shinkage-ryu people in Tokyo as well, well..."
If possible, Satoru Gojo didn't want to deal with the conservatives and their associates, but for the sake of his students, he didn't mind setting aside his pride.
"In any case, I'll figure out the 'Simple Domain' situation. You all focus on training. Rika's nightmare dungeon is an excellent training ground. As long as you don't delve too deep, there shouldn't be any major problems—if you can handle the final wave of monsters, I can confidently take you to the 'Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event.'"
Great, another unfamiliar term.