Chapter 2506: Chapter 1677: Testing (Just Waiting for Three Kingdoms Musou This Month)

Blue sky, white clouds.

The waves washed over the beach, presenting a peaceful scene. However, the atmosphere here was far from peaceful.

Or rather, quite tense.

"What the hell is going on!?"

A heavy voice echoed on the beach, filled with the questioner’s anger and dissatisfaction—but it was not a human, although it had a human-like body and limbs, the water kettle head clearly showed it was not human.

It was a Curse Spirit.

"Why did Hua Yu die? What the hell happened!? Isn’t Gojo Satoru supposed to be kept out of the barrier?!"

Water Kettle Head yelled angrily, yet none of the other figures around it answered. After a moment, a man in monk robes smiled and clapped his hands.

"Alright, everyone, being anxious here won’t help us. The important thing is, we successfully achieved our objective and can start on the next phase of our plan."

"What are you saying?"

Upon hearing the monk-robed man’s words, Water Kettle Head angrily widened its only eye and glared fiercely at him.

"Are you saying Hua Yu’s death doesn’t matter?"

"How could it not matter? At least they fulfilled their mission, right? Without their distraction, we wouldn’t have been able to get what we wanted."

Indeed, the attack on the exchange was just a ploy to draw Gojo Satoru and others’ attention, while their true objective was to infiltrate the Magic School and seize the special grade curse stored within—Two-faced SuNu’s finger and the Curse Embryo Nine Forms Diagram.

Originally, the plan involved an attack squad composed of two Curse Masters and a Special Grade Curse Spirit, enough to put the opponents in a dilemma. But unexpected events unfolded, as Hua Yu, the Special Grade Curse Spirit, was killed, and the two Curse Masters were captured, thus the entire attack squad was wiped out.

But fortunately, they completed their mission.

"I mean, venting your anger here is useless."

The monk-robed man faced Water Kettle Head’s fury without any tension, and cheerfully spread his arms.

"Indeed, Gojo Satoru is a Special Grade Curse Master, but he’s not the only Special Grade Curse Master, so, predicting Hua Yu might be eliminated was within expectations."

Saying this, the monk-robed man narrowed his eyes.

"Actually, I’ve received some interesting information. Recently, a new Special Grade Curse Master application was approved by the Curse Master organization."

"Do you mean that Special Grade Curse Master killed Hua Yu?"

Water Kettle Head stared at the monk-robed man, who chuckled.

"Highly possible."

"Who is it!? Tell me, I’ll go kill him!"

"You might have heard of the name—Duanmu Ai."

"........."

Facing the name spoken by the monk-robed man, the beach suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

"I indeed heard this name somewhere."

"Seems like an actress?"

"That’s right."

The monk-robed man nodded.

"Duanmu Ai, a film actress, once starred in several horror movies."

"Ah, I remember now."

Upon hearing this, a man nearby, whose face was stitched like Frankenstein, snapped his fingers.

"I’ve watched her movies before, quite good. Is she also a Curse Master?"

"That I don’t know."

The monk-robed man expressed he didn’t have much information.

"Her application was approved just recently, and she wasn’t a student at Curse High before, but that’s not surprising. There are always some special characters who get Special Grade approval for various reasons... hmm, reminds me of an old friend."

The monk-robed man raised his head, gazing at the sky. For him, the failure was still vivid. A year ago, similarly, a high school student enrolled in Curse High and was immediately rated a Special Grade Curse Master.

The monk-robed man still remembered his name—Otonashi Youta.

Of course, his situation was special, rather than being a powerful Curse Master, Otonashi Youta was cursed and entangled by a very powerful Special Grade Curse Spirit, that Curse Spirit named Rikka had been his childhood friend but accidentally died. A transformed Rikka became a Curse Spirit, staying with Otonashi Youta, and attacked humans who tried to harm him.

They were attacked by three Second-level Curse Masters and one First-level Curse Master but all ended up being counter-killed.

Thus Rikka was classified as a Special Grade Curse Spirit, and Otonashi Youta was rated as a Special Grade Curse Master due to his association.

The monk-robed man had once tried to recruit him but, regrettably... it ended in failure.

Oh, no, it wasn’t me after all.

Recollecting this, the monk-robed man showcased a peculiar smile, then cleared his thoughts.

"So, while sudden emergence and classification as Special Grade Curse Masters are rare, they’re not unprecedented. Perhaps this young lady awakened this strength due to some reason and was classified as Special Grade—she seems to be just sixteen now. It’s possible the Magic World plans to enroll her in Magic School, which may have allowed her to attend that exchange meet. If so..."

"Then trapping Gojo Satoru outside was meaningless."

Water Kettle Head snorted indignantly, interrupting the monk-robed man’s speech.

"Either way, Hua Yu is dead! Now what? Are we still going to proceed with our plan?"

"Of course."

The monk-robed man walked over to Water Kettle Head and patted it on the shoulder.

"Based on ’my’ experience, sorcerers who suddenly awaken like this may be dangerous, but they are also highly unstable. Hmm... We really can’t let her become a stumbling block for us. What do you think?"

The monk-robed man turned his head and gazed at the stitched-line man not far away. The latter was silent for a moment before making a decision.

"The plan remains unchanged, but it needs to be slightly revised... include this unstable factor in it. On the day of the plan, find a way to send her away; if we can eliminate her, that would be ideal."

Anyway, everything is already in place.

Time moves forward, minute by minute, the same for everyone.

"By the way, Xiao Ai."

Banai slumped over the table, looking bewildered.

"How do you plan to spend Christmas Eve?"

"Christmas Eve?"

Hearing Banai’s question, Duanmu Huai thought for a moment.

"I really want to say, to spend it with Ruby and Chi Yinyin..."

Everybody together, merrily spending Christmas Eve, eating, drinking, singing, dancing, joyful and lively ——— yeah, but unfortunately, this is a holiday only ordinary families can enjoy. For artists, it’s completely different.

"Eh? Isn’t it?"

"You really underestimate the life of an artist."

Duanmu Huai sighed silently.

"B Komachi has to attend a live variety show on Christmas Eve, Mai will participate in a Christmas countdown on the radio, Chi Yin will join a TV station’s Christmas Eve event, and Kana will host a charity program..."

Exactly, the busier the time, the busier the artists. Duanmu Huai can manage, but others have to keep going from early morning. The more popular the artist, the busier they are at times like these.

"Uh......."

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s explanation, Banai and Chitanda were speechless.

"Are artists that busy?"

"Exactly, especially during holidays like Halloween, Christmas Eve, Christmas, those damn holidays, it’s even busier. Speaking of which, what activities do you have?"

"I’ll have dinner with my family on Christmas Eve."

Yeah, that’s typical Banai.

"I, I also will attend a family banquet..."

Chitanda spoke softly, after all, her family is from the landlord class.

"What about you?"

"Me.......?"

Facing Banai’s inquiries, Duanmu Huai silently took out his phone, and then checked the schedule for the day.

".......Go home and surf the internet or play games?"

By the time everyone finishes work and goes home, it’s already past midnight. Duanmu Huai figures the exhausted them would just go straight to sleep, and it seems he doesn’t have anything special to do either. But he has to remember to deliver Christmas gifts and cake to Xingye Ai in the hospital ——— even though she certainly won’t eat them, it’s the ritual that matters. Besides, if he doesn’t do it, Ruby will definitely be annoyed. She’s getting busier and won’t have time, so it’s up to the idle Duanmu Huai.

"Wow, it seems like Xiao Ai, you’re suffering."

"Am I?"

"After all, it’s Christmas Eve, spending it alone must be lonely, since everyone is either with family or as couples... hahaha, speaking of which, Sakura and Huailian also booked a restaurant for that night. What will they eat to regain energy, and what will they do afterward?"

Well, as usual, Banai fell into her bull-headed fantasies again, as always. But Duanmu Huai and Chitanda are used to it. At first, they would comfort Banai a bit, now, they just use warm eyes to guard her, knowing that when Banai can’t take anymore of her bull-headed fantasies in her mind, she’ll escape back to the real world herself.

"Ding dong."

While Duanmu Huai was enjoying Banai’s usual humorous display, his phone received a message. Duanmu Huai took out his phone to check.

"Oh, great, I have to be busy on Christmas Eve as well."

"Work?"

"Exactly."

Duanmu Huai waved his phone at Chitanda and Banai.

"See, I told you, holidays are very busy."

"So Xiao Ai has to appear on a show too? What show? I’ll watch!"

Hearing this, Banai seemed to have discarded her Christmas Eve night of tragic fantasy and returned to the real world.

"Hmm... rather than a show, it’s more like a game."

"Game?"

"Exactly."

Duanmu Huai chuckled.

"The Exorcism game."