It was the first time Lucy felt relieved when they ran into Nanami. Only three more minutes with Naobito and she would have strangled the bastard. He just sat back while she and Maki took care of the curses they ran into. She felt even more relieved when Nanami gave a subtle hint that Levi found them and how he's Megumi and Itadori.
"So, your boyfriend's been sealed, huh?" Naobito taunted Lucy to see how he could get under her skin. Maki, who was walking next to Lucy as they escalated down the stairs, saw the girl glancing back slightly to glare at the older sorcerer. "I feel like I've been bushwhacked."
"Me, too," Nanami butted in before Lucy could lose her temper. "Geto's involved somehow, even if he's a fake. I imagine the trick lies there."
"One thing is certain...I'd be happy to toast the fall of the Gojo clan once and for all, that's for sure."
Smash!
Naobito found himself pinned against the wall. Lucy held him by the back of his neck, his arm twisted behind his back. Maki could have sworn she heard his head crack a bit. Naobito tried to move but Lucy tightened her grip and twisted his arm harder. His brows furrowed in confusion because, he knew he was fast - faster than the three combined - yet, he had trouble getting out of Lucy's death grip. Even Nanami had to take a step back when he saw the daggers Lucy was sending the old sorcerer.
"Look at that! Someone has a death wish," Lucy growled. Naobito was choking at this point.
Maki rushed over and tried to pry Lucy off. "Lucy, I get you're upset about Gojo, but the asshole's not the one you're after." Lucy knew Maki's right. She knew better than to let her emotions cloud her judgement but she was so angry that all she was seeing was red. To get her point across, she bashed Naobito's head against the wall before letting go. Maki could only watch in sorrow as Lucy walked down the stairs with Nanami. She glared at Naobito, who was catching his breath. "I wouldn't disrespect Gojo's name like that around her. Be lucky you're not the one she's trying to kill." She followed Lucy and Nanami. "So if you're not going to help, go home."
"Go home? That's what you want?" Naobito wheezed out. He pulled himself together again before he tried to act all cocky. "That's what you should do, Maki, if you know what's good for you." He narrowed is eyes at Lucy. "A sorcerer who can't control her curse technique is like a ticking time bomb. Who knows when she'll explode next? With a temper like hers...I would suggest soon. Maybe Lucy should go home too before she blows up all of Shibuya." He smirked at Nanami. "Isn't that right, Grade 1 Sorcerer, Nanami?"
Nanami halted. "Maki," he called. "You should do what he says. He knows what he's talking about in this regard."
"I'll be more useful than some drunkard that's for sure," Maki argued as they reached Inokasira Line, near the exit.
Nanami glanced at Lucy. "Lucy -"
Lucy narrowed her eyes at him in a way that threatened him not to finish that sentence. "Last time I checked, Nanamin...I don't take orders from either of you. Especially from an old drunken bat who probably drank a whole bar. I could smell the alcohol all the way here."
Point was proven when Naobito burped and said, "No, I hafn'h been dwinking."
》》》》
A few minutes later, they reached the lower floors of the station. Nanami, Maki, and Lucy noticed an octopus-like curse hiding behind one of the pillars.
"Nanami," Maki warned him as she and Lucy took out their weapons.
"I see it," Nanami said before pulling out his sword and slowly starting to approach it. "I'll take this one myself."
The curse, Dagon, moved around the pillar and looked at the trio. Their eyes widened when Naobito suddenly appeared behind Dagon and used his cursed technique to trap it inside a frame.
Naobito smirked at the three and said, "You guys are too slow. Not bad for a useless drunkard, huh?"
He laughed before punching the frame and sending it flying across the room until it hit the pillar.
"Did you see that?" Maki asked.
"No," Nanami answered. His technique must be too fast to see. He merely glanced back at Lucy. If that's the case, he could have easily escaped Lucy's grip. But he looked like he was struggling...
Naobito was grinning like a madman when Dagon stood up. The impact of his punch was so great that the curse ended up vomiting up all the non-sorcerers it ate.
"Ha, tell me," Naobito began. "Just exactly how many people you've eaten?"
Dagon was crawling on the remains and withering in pain. "Jogo," it cried out. Dagon reached his hand out. "Mahito." Lucy's grip on her sword tightened. Tears were pooling out of Dagon's eyes. "Hanami." His pupils dilated when the curse realized Hanami's dead. "Hanami? How dare...How dare you kill Hanami?!" Enraged by Hanami's death, Dagon's body shook before evolving. "Kill Hanami?!"
Naobito smirked when he saw Dagon's shed skin on the ground. He glanced up and saw the curse's new large, muscular form. "Now, I understand you. No wonder you're weak. You were still only a Cursed Womb before.
Dagon raised a finger and conjured up a large water sphere before releasing it. Lucy grabbed Maki's spear before ramming it against the pillar. She pulled Maki against her side and held on as the violent water current tried to sweep them away.
"Cursed Spirit, let me ask you something," Naobito called out. He managed to shield himself using his curse technique and forced the water into multiple frames. "Do you have any idea how many frames there are in one single second of animation?"
"Don't call me 'Cursed Spirit'," Dagon snapped. "I am Dagon."
"There's a moderate tendency to raise resolutions and frame rates making animation these days."
"Hanami, Jogo, and Mahito, too."
"Upscaling the 4K and interpolation into a frame rate of 60fps. Where will it end?"
"All of us have..."
"It won't cause anyone trouble when making animation for personal use, that's fine. However, the modern TVs you can buy, now, have their damn frame interpolations set to 'on' by default. It's not like unwanted favor has become a dead phrase already! Rest assured that nothing is more lamentable than that. Creating that soap opera effect..."
Dagon was getting irritated by the second. "We all have our own names!" it finally snapped.
Naobito ignored it and continued to get under the curse's skin. "Don't you agree that's so uncultured?!"
Dagon was about to attack but didn't realize Naobito said those things to distract him. Nanami dropped down from his hiding place and swung his sword at Dagon. The curse managed to block it at the last second but still ended up crashing to the floor. Debris surrounded Dagon, so Maki and Lucy attempted to attack him from both sides. Dagon managed to grab Maki's spear and tried to stab Lucy, but Lucy ducked and pierced Dagon's side.
When the debris was clear, Naobito appeared behind Dagon and trapped it inside another frame before throwing it toward Nanami. Nanami dove down and tried to strike Dagon again but he managed to catch Nanami's sword with his hands before blasting him away with water.
No damage, Nanami thought. Or rather...it feels more like he has endless HP.
While Nananmi was thinking, Dagon quickly walked up to the group with a whirling pool of water circling him.
"We must live in dire times if two Grade 1 sorcerers aren't enough to exorcise you," Naobito slightly praised.
Shit, Maki cursed. If the old man hadn't used his technique, who knows what would have happened to Lucy and me? How humiliating.
It seemed like Lucy knew what she was thinking because she said, "Don't beat yourself up over it, Maki. He might be a drunk idiot, but he has more experience than us."
Naobito grinned. "Is that a praise I hear from you, Miss Ackerman?"
"I'm stating the obvious. Don't go getting a big head because of it."
"Then do you know he's got more cursed energy and techniques left?" Lucy, Nanami, and Maki readied their weapons. "So, what should we do?"
"That's easy," Lucy said as the Zenin/Nanami team lunged at the curse. "Kill it quickly before he could use his technique."
Dagon clutched his head as he was surrounded. "Impossible," he growled before making his water explode to knock everyone back. Using that distraction, Dagon levitated in the air.
Naobito scoffed and said, "Of course, you could levitate, right?" Dagon turned around to find Naobito right above him. "I'd escape upward, too, if I were you." He soon kicked the curse to the ground.
I can't activate my technique, Dagon ground as his body flew toward the stairs. Naobito was behind Dagon again and punched the curse across the other side of the station. Dagon flipped in midair and caught himself before he could crash...or in case Naboito appeared behind him again. Dagon glared at the sorcerer. It's this man. It's this man's fault.
Naobito sped toward Dagon but stopped midway when the curse conjured up a water ball. Naobito changed his course and appeared behind Dagon. Dagon spun around and tried to elbow him but felt Naobito's fist strike his abdomen. The punch managed to make Dagon throw up water.
He's fast. Faster than Jogo.
Naobito used his technique in any way possible. He used it on himself to attack Dagon and used it to trap Dagon in a frame before smashing it. Dagon crashed to the ground and tried to make a hand sign, but Naobito destroyed his fingers with a single punch.
"No chance," Naobito said.
Dagon moved his hands to reveal the cursed seal that formed inside his stomach. The seal allowed Dagon to cast his Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha.
Soon Team Zenin/Nanami found themselves looking out into the sea.
》》》》
A/N: Not a lot of Lucy action in this chapter but wait till you know who shows up. I feel like it's pretty obvious who, but feel free to guess.