Hiroyuki was about to unleash his attack...

"Domain Exp-" And Mamoru, was about to do something that is at least comparable to that.

*KRACKLE!*

???

But before both parties could even do whatever they were trying to do, a huge shadow suddenly loomed throughout the entire area they were in. Making the already darkened place, even more darker.

!!!

'what the...'

Catching their undivided attention, Hiroyuki, upon looking up, there he saw a huge Glacier, falling and just a few moments away before it ultimately crashed upon them.

The size of it was so huge it was as if someone took a chunk of a certain building and dropped it onto them.

'shit!'

Hiroyuki didn't even have time to question things as he immediately halted from his tracks and quickly redirected his attack.

The falling glacier is too big and already too close to dodge. Well, if Hiroyuki decided to act now then he could probably get out of the way before the impact. But if he does that, then Mamoru could most likely escape from him.

Hiroyuki is not that naive. He is obviously aware that this happening was most likely caused by Mamoru's allies, or whoever was controlling her body right now. And that they did this to cause a distraction.

So given such a situation, Hiroyuki, who refused to back off, only has two choices.

He can either just go on with his attack to kill Mamoru and ignore the falling glacier... which is very stupid. Even Hiroyuki is aware that there's no way he can survive the impact of such a large thing without putting too much effort on his side.

Or, it might be a little taxing for him but, he can just outright destroy the entire glacier first and then proceed to kill Mamoru afterward... Which is the exact choice he made without putting much thought into it.

"Maximum Output..."

*BADUMP!*

"... Exploding Heart Release Fist!"

Driving his fist upward, the entire forest suddenly shook as Hiroyuki caused a massive torrent of air pressure towards the sky.

*KAVWOOOOM!!!!*

It was as if a hurricane suddenly descended and caused a quick calamity. Even the trees that are far away and not even within Hiroyuki's attack range, were pulled out from their roots and got sucked in on the torrents of wind.

Even the glacier itself, given its massive mass, did not manage to pose any kind of resistance and simply crumbled away like the others.

Pure annihilation and explosive destruction. Not a single thing on the way was spared.

'what kind of...'

At that exact moment, is when a new kind of expression surfaced on Mamoru's face, a kind of expression that she would not have thought she'd have while facing a kid like Hiroyuki.

Cause right now, she just realized that, if Hiroyuki's attack just now was directed towards her and not at the Glacier, even if she managed to manifest her own Domain... she would've died regardless.

As simple as that.

Indeed, she thought Hiroyuki's next attack would be powerful, but not THIS powerful. For her, this is just outright insane. Given the Six Eyes' existence, the world should not have allowed something like 'this' to exist.

She simply cannot understand the anomaly... that Hiroyuki is.

That's why, without even missing a beat, right after seeing Hiroyuki obliterate the Glacier not even a single particle of it remained...

"URAUME!!"

"... On it."

Hiroyuki, as planned, was about to kill Mamoru immediately after dealing with the falling Glacier. But, a white-haired girl wearing traditional clothing, named Uraume, suddenly appeared in between him and Mamoru.

!!!

Seeing Uraume's hands pointing toward his direction, paired with her flaring Cursed Energy and the sudden drop in the temperature, Hiroyuki immediately prepared to attack cause he had a vague idea about what was going to happen.

"As if I'll let you-"

However, his movements became a little sluggish this time.

Well, given how old Hiroyuki is, mentally wise, at the end of the day, he's still in the body of a 12-year-old kid. And constantly performing feats beyond what his body can handle, side effects are surely bound to happen soon.

That's why... As unfortunate as it is.

"Maximum Output: Frost Calm!"

He reacted a little late this time around.

____ Loading Next Scene... ____

Half of the entire forest where Hiroyuki fought, suddenly turned into one giant ice field in a single moment. There's not even a warning, the entire scenery just changed in an instant.

So the fact that when this happened, Senjumaru managed to evacuate all the people in the entire place, was actually such a relief. A possible horrible accident was avoided thanks to that.

But actually, not everyone managed to get out of the now-frozen forest safely. There was still someone inside the forest when this massive incident occurred.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

One of those people is obviously, Hiroyuki himself.

But he survived nonetheless and can be seen currently in one of the nearby hills, sitting, all while busily recovering from the wounds and injuries he sustained.

Regarding his injuries and wounds. Apart from a couple of lacerations that are scattered throughout his entire body, he also has some broken bones here and there.

Well, It's true that Hiroyuki, given the level of purity his CE possesses, managed to develop some resistance toward Curse-based attacks. But still, there's no way he could take such a massive-scale attack head-on and come out of it looking fine.

In fact, even though Hiroyuki came out of the now-frozen forest looking like a tattered bag, it's surprising to see that it's the only thing he got. Cause judging by how the attack easily froze such a large area, an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer would've easily turned into popsicles without a doubt if they were in his place.

Even Hiroyuki himself could admit that things could've ended more badly if he had made one wrong move when that Uraume girl made her attack. This is only possible given his experiences battling against beings who can perform similar feats in the past.

Overall, right now, he is somewhat fine. He's not even worried about the damage to his body since he knows that, in a short while, he will make a full recovery anyway. All because of the fact that Senjumaru, who was currently tending to his wounds already, could greatly assist him on that matter.

No, it's not Reverse Cursed Technique. That could've been a better solution for this situation actually. But sadly, none of the two can perform it.

At least not yet.

Thankfully though, they have an alternative option cause Cloth and Textile Manipulation, which is Senjumaru's Innate Curse Technique, possesses some healing capabilities.

As odd as that may sound.

Usually, techniques for making clothes should be the last thing that could be associated with the word 'Healing'. But, given such a fact, she's currently on Hiroyuki's side, in the middle of 'fixing' his body.

If that isn't healing then what is?

But, even though the end results are the same, her process of 'healing' is not as simple as RCT.

To make the long explanation short, she is basically weaving each muscle fiber and bone in Hiroyuki's body in order to repair them. As to how the bone was 'weaved'... well, all she had to do was to deconstruct them first into a string-like substance before putting them all back in their respective place.

It's that simple... And as painful as it sounds to be.

"..."

But, this is not the main reason why Hiroyuki right now, wears such a negative expression. The surgery he's having right now is indeed painful, but the fact that he allowed the bastard who's controlling Mamoru to escape from him is much more painful for him.

He's regretting it so much.

He kept thinking that, had he realized the entire situation much faster, then he could've taken appropriate action much quicker. But alas, he failed, and not only he didn't manage to get revenge for his maid, but he also revealed his existence to the enemies.

Not even mentioning his Heavenly Restriction that even up to this point, was still spreading around.

Truly a stroke of bad happenings altogether.

"Man~. What a bad week." Hiroyuki said as he ruffled his messy hair in annoyance.

Failing to notice how infectious his mood was to everything around him.

"I'm... I'm sorry I didn't manage to help you in the fight." Senjumaru said with an apologetic tone, genuinely feeling bad after seeing the state that Hiroyuki was currently in.

"Huh?" Hiroyuki made a surprised gasp as he finally noticed how the entire mood around him turned.

That's why, not wanting to keep the heavy atmosphere they were having, he quickly removed any kind of negative expression from his face. Replacing it with a pitiful smile, probably the only positivity he could muster right now.

"Oh... Don't be. I mean, you just followed my orders. Besides, if not for you, many would've died. I think that bastard chose this place knowing that some people are camping nearby."

"I see... Still, next time, I will be much faster so I can help you in the fight. I promise you that."

"... Oh?"

Hearing Senjumaru's voice full of genuine resolve, finally gave Hiroyuki enough positivity to muster up a real smile.

"Somehow... I don't doubt that."

After their little conversation, which greatly lifted the mood by a lot, both of them stood up, a clear sign that the treatment was finally done.

Doing some light stretches, Hiroyuki could tell that his body was now back to normal. The 'treatment' he received only lasted for a couple of minutes, yet, the effects were as perfect as they could be.

Not to mention that given the number of wounds, he got on his body earlier, not even a single scar can be seen on his body even though Senjumaru's methods were all about 'stitching'.

Truly a phenomenal technique that is almost comparable to RCT. No... actually, in some particular situations, Senjumaru's is probably even better than that. Especially once he developed her ICT even more.

At the very least, that's what Hiroyuki thought to himself.

"Anyways, now that I can move properly, let's start going home."

Hiroyuki then started walking away after saying that. But a couple of steps in, he had to stop because he noticed that Senjumaru was still looking back at the frozen forest.

"What's up?"

"Well... I can sense all their residues from here. So, I'm just thinking that, if we go after them now, then there would still be a chance that we might-"

*sigh~*

"Forget it, Senjumaru."

"... Hmm?"

"At this point, they probably hid themselves already, so tracking them would take a lot of time. The trains are about to stop in a couple of minutes. After all that happened, walking back home is the last thing I would want to do tonight."

"Oh... I see. My bad."

"Well, they are targeting my brother, and surely, me now as well. So don't worry, we will surely meet those bastards again sooner or later. And when that happens..."

Hiroyuki, mid-sentence, started remembering the disgusting expression that Mamoru, or basically whoever possessed her, made as they escaped.

That's why he couldn't help but pause. And the moment he spoke again, pure hostility could be felt clearly from the edge of his tone. Even Senjumaru, the moment she felt this, had chills run down from her back.

"... I will properly erase her from the face of this planet."

After that, as if nothing happened, they then started walking away. But Hiroyuki's last words were still carried by the cold wind as it went around.

"Be it by God or whatever. I don't leave unfinished business... Never."

_____ To be continued... ______