This was no longer the Suguru you had once known. The calm that had once lived in his eyes had been replaced by a contempt so profound it seemed to seep into every word he spoke. He spoke of non-sorcerers as though they were nothing more than vermin crawling beneath the feet of jujutsu sorcerers. He no longer resembled the young man who had once believed the strong existed to protect the weak. He had become tragedy itself, wrapped in human skin. The battle against his curses had gone on for far too long. They were stronger, more numerous, and utterly merciless. The final blow sent you crashing onto the cracked pavement. A sharp pain tore through your side as warm blood immediately soaked through your uniform. A metallic taste flooded your mouth. You coughed violently, blood splattering onto the pavement. The air inside the domain felt heavy, almost sticky with cursed energy. Every breath burned your lungs. Then you heard his footsteps. Slow. Confident. They stopped only a few meters in front of you.

"Honestly... I expected far more from you. The last time we met, you actually forced me to make an effort. Today you're barely managing to stay alive. Has the world grown weaker... or did you simply allow yourself to become weak?"

Behind him, his curses stirred. Dozens of eyes glimmered in the darkness, their twisted forms trembling with anticipation. They were waiting for a single command. You sat on the ground, supporting yourself with one hand against the cracked concrete. The other was pressed tightly against your bleeding side, desperately trying to stop the blood slipping through your fingers. A few meters away, your weapon lay abandoned, stained with the black residue of cursed plasma and your own blood.

"And that is precisely why I could never understand sorcerers who squander their strength protecting people incapable of even seeing the world around them. You throw your lives away for creatures whose worth ends the moment they cease to be useful. That is not nobility. It is weakness."

He began walking toward you at an unhurried pace. With every step, the weight of his cursed energy pressed harder against your body. Your muscles refused to obey. Instinctively, you tried to crawl backward, dragging yourself only a few inches across the bloodstained pavement.

"Don't run... I've already reached you."