The Devils of Jujutsu

Chapter 49: Sorcerer of the Seas vs Demon God Asta

(No one's p.o.v.)

The battle between Noelle and Asta had begun, Asta had the full intent on killing his former squad mate, while Noelle simply wanted to get through to her first love. The Jujutsu Sorcerers gave them space for them to fight, and were interested in seeing one of the Demon Gods fight before their eyes. The other Demon Gods and Junpei were a bit worried that Asta may go overboard. They didn't really care about whether or not Noelle dies, but if Asta were lose his anger and deploy his Domain, a lot of spectators would get caught in it, and end up filleted. Given how angry he was when he saw Noelle on Academy grounds, the probability of Asta casting his Domain was very high. If he were to do so they planned to step in and stop the fight.

   (Noelle's p.o.v.)

  I had summoned my first shikigami, Steel Shell, to defend against Asta's attack. I was barely able to react in time, he moved much faster than he did over 4 years I hadn't seen him. I could assume that he had been working out, as he usually did, to get that fast, but I noticed that there was more to it than that. Asta had enhanced his legs with Cursed Energy to give himself an extra boost in speed. It was a good thing I had my shikigami, I could close the gap to some degree and maybe land a good hit on him. Asta was the best there was when it came to close range combat, so I had to play it smart. So, I made a different hand sign, and called out, "Sound Pincer!" And the water in the grass formed a Blue, Tiger Pistol Shrimp as tall as me and 30 feet long appeared on my right. I then made yet another different hand sign and called out, "Emerald Abyss!" And a 40 foot long, emerald green, Basking Shark materialized from the moisture in the air, and began hovering next to me.

I had my shikigami get into formation, Steel Shell and Emerald Abyss up front to keep Asta at a mid-range distance, and Sound Pincer to provide long range support. Asta said, "So, you use have Cursed Technique that is similar to Fushiguro's. Interesting I'll admit, but that won't be enough to save you." After he spoke, he charged and imbued his katana with Cursed Energy before attacking Steel Shell, who blocked the strike and it activated his Cursed Technique. When Steel Shell is hit with Cursed Energy, he can absorb the energy and redirect it to his claws, which he then uses to counter attack the opponent. Steel Shell did just that to Asta, catching Asta off guard and pushing him back a few feet. He was surprised by what just happened and taking advantage of that, I had Sound Pincer use it's technique. Sound Pincer's Cursed Technique allows him to convert any audible sound into a lightning fast shot of Cursed Energy, and all he has to do activate it, is close his pincer quickly. I snapped my fingers and Sound Pincer fired a shot at Asta he was able to dodge by a hair. Then, Emerald Abyss came at him, and he jumped back to get out of the way.

  (No one's p.o.v.)

  The Sorcerers were impressed that Noelle was able to push Asta back, thinking that she had to be very talented to be able to drive back a Demon God. In fact, the other Demon Gods were impressed as well. Fushiguro started thinking aloud, "The fight has only just started and she was able to push Asta back with her shikigami. And her Cursed Technique, Asta was right when he said that it was similar to mine. This royal uses the moisture in her surroundings as a medium to create shikigami." Junpei heard it and replied, "That's right, Fushiguro. She had only been training under me for 5 months, and she has already reached to the level of a Grade 2 sorcerer. As for her Cursed Technique, it allows her to create up to 7 shikigami using the surrounding moisture as it's medium. The name we had given to this technique is, 7 Seas Technique." They seemed intrigued by what I had told them about Noelle. Fushiguro replied, "Her Cursed Technique seems to be as adaptable as my Ten Shadows. If she can manipulate moisture to a higher degree, she may have the potential to defeat Special Grade Cursed Spirits. However, she's fighting Asta right now, so I doubt that she will live to get stronger." Junpei knew what he meant, Asta fully intended to murder Noelle, and it would be a miracle if he left any trace of her corpse behind.

  (Noelle's p.o.v.)

  I had managed to push Asta back, and I was surprised that I was able to pull it off at the start of the fight. He must've seen that it wasn't going to be easy to get close to me, because Asta drew the second, shorter sword at his hip, and started dual wielding. He then made another charge towards Steel Shell. Once he got into range, he performed a diagonal slash to strike Steel Shell. Like before, Steel Shell absorbed the Cursed Energy from his sword strike, but as he was about to counter attack Asta, the former Magic Knight thrusted his short sword into my shikigami's mouth, piercing through it's brain. My first shikigami was destroyed by Asta.

  When I practiced my use of shikigami with Junpei, I learned that Steel Shell had a weakness. When he was about to counter attack an opponent, Steel Shell's control over Cursed Energy is directed outward.  Meaning that while he was attacking with Cursed Energy, Steel Shell couldn't absorb Cursed Energy. Asta must've caught on to that quickly and countered Steel Shell's counter at the right time. The fact that he was able to figure out Steel Shell's technique so quickly, shocked me so much I didn't realize that he had made it past my other two shikigami and was right in front of me, with his blade about to take off my head. When I noticed that he had already closed the distance, I knew that I had no time to summon another shikigami. I thought as his sword was getting ready to cut me down, 'This is it, I'm going to die here. I never even got to tell Asta, how much I love him.' I had closed my eyes as I prepared for my death.

  (Asta's p.o.v.)

  I had made it past Silva's annoying shikigami and was so close to putting her out of my misery. I swung my Katana, aiming at her neck when I heard a familiar voice yell out to me, "ASTA, STOP!!!" I stopped my sword in time, but it slightly cut into Silva's neck, as blood started trickling down. I turned to the direction the voice came from and saw Principal Yaga, and an old, bald headed man with long earlobes, wearing a white kimono, and holding on to a walking stick. This man was one of the higher ups in the Jujutsu World, Yoshinobu Gakuganji. I asked them, "Principal Yaga, Mr. Gakuganji? Why did you stop me?" The latter replied, "While I am all for the extermination of aristocratic vermin, the 8 Demon Gods, Junpei Yoshino, and that girl have been summoned by Master Tengen himself. He has something important to discuss with the 10 of you." Everyone present was shocked to hear that the Master Tengen had asked to meet someone, especially a disgusting royal cockroach. I turned to look at Silva, and she was both shocked and relieved to hear that she gets to live, but I hope not for long. Junpei stepped forward and asked, "Sir, may I ask why Master Tengen wants to see us?" Principal Yaga replied, "He did not give the details, but he said that future of humanity is at risk." He turned his gaze to Silva and said, "Consider yourself lucky, Royal. You get to live a bit longer." The two old men turned around and gestured us to follow them. With that, we 9 sorcerers and the vermin began making our way to meet Master Tengen.