After hearing the news of Ōkubo and her father's death, Atobe locked himself in his room.

Everyone saw his expression at that time, and even Atobe's grandfather, who was the closest to him in the past, did not dare to disturb him.

Atobe's servants had no choice but to put the food on the dining cart and push it to Atobe's door when it was time to eat, hoping that he would eat some.

Atobe's young master was now angry, and the servants in the villa were all silent, not daring to disturb their young master.

Keigo Atobe could lock himself in his room and avoid everything, but Kanai and Natori could not ignore it. The curse's deadline was imminent, and even if Ōkubo's family was dead, they still had to investigate.

If the curse was really caused by Aoi Okubo's resentment, there would be traces left behind.

In this regard, as an adult, Natori, who was used to seeing the discord between superiors, expressed her concern for the young witch.

After all, the little girl was only fourteen years old. Even if she was a witch, it was not good for her to see these things so early.

Kanai thanked Natori for her kindness. After all, from Nana Nishimura's case, what she saw, heard, and felt in the secret room was enough for her to understand that the other side of the world was not as gentle as she thought.

A month ago, she had always thought that as long as the balance between demons and humans was maintained, the world would become peaceful and beautiful. Now that she thought about it, she felt that she was very naive and laughable at the time.

— — Although until now, she was still brooding over the fact that she had saved Nana Nishimura and allowed her to go on trial.

If not for the fact that Ryōshou and Shiyin still needed Nana Nishimura to investigate the Black Mang Tower, she would have regretted it long ago.

On the seventh night of the Atobe's curse, Kanai, Red Leaf, and Kendo waited outside Atobe's room. Natori evacuated the servants in Atobe's house and focused on drawing a few formations in the Atobe's house.

At around ten o 'clock in the evening, Atobe was still silently flipping through the books in his room. Kanai and Natori heard a sudden clap of thunder in the night sky, followed by a heavy downpour.

The splashing rain drifted in through the window, and the strong wind blew the glass back and forth, making creaking sounds.

Red Leaf turned away in disgust, as if she hated the rain that would wet her makeup. Kanai had no choice but to walk forward and struggle to close the window.

On the other side, Natori braved the strong wind and the rain to close the other window.

Although she closed the window, she was still wet from the rain and wind. Natori took out a tissue and wiped her face.

Because his hair was still unbelievably messy, he made an apologetic gesture to Kanai and walked to Atobe's bathroom, intending to clean himself up.

Less than ten minutes after he left, the phone in the hallway suddenly rang.

The ear-piercing ringtone echoed in the empty and dark room for a moment before it suddenly stopped.

Kanai gripped the scepter in her hand tightly and gave Red Leaf a look, telling her to sneak into Atobe's room and guard the depressed senior on the roof.

She picked up the scepter, pinched the talisman, and walked to the first floor where the lights were off.

Huge raindrops hit the window, making clattering sounds. The wind came in through the cracks in the window, making a howling sound.

From time to time, flashes of lightning lit up the villa, and thunder roared.

In the quiet villa, only Kanna Hyuga's light footsteps could be heard. The little girl cautiously walked from the second floor to the first floor, approaching the landline in the main house.

A bright flash of lightning suddenly lit up the room as if it was daytime. In the dazzling white light, Kanai saw a wet woman standing by the phone.

The woman's long hair covered her face, and her fingers were purple. Slowly, slowly, she raised her head to look at her.

"Rumble — —!"

Thunder roared, and the dark house was empty again. The woman who was looking at Kanai just now disappeared.

Only the pool of black water beside the landline proved that what she saw was not an illusion.

"… She's gone."

Kanai frowned, walked to the phone, and stood at the place where the woman stood just now. She glanced back and forth in the house.

She vaguely felt that something was wrong, but before she could figure it out, the phone rang again!

It wasn't just the phone in front of her that was ringing. All the landlines and cell phones in the house were ringing. The chaotic ringing was so loud that it made people dizzy. A white shadow quickly rushed out from the end of the corridor, accompanied by the panicked screams of the shikigami.

"— — Hyuga -sama!

Please save my master!! "

Kukari's Spirit-branded Retainer hurriedly ran out in search of Kanna. The moment Kanna saw that something was wrong, she loudly called out Yao Yan's name as she rushed towards the bathroom where Yao Yan was.

In the increasingly shrill ringing of the phone, they rushed to the bathroom. Kendo arrived first and kicked the door open. When he saw Natori Monday was entangled by a woman's hair, he instantly pulled out his sword.

The sharp body easily cut through a lot of tangled hair. Yao Yan turned over and jumped on top of Ming Qu. The snow-white sword light cut through the black-haired woman's hands that were tangling with Ming Qu.

Black blood gushed out. Yao Yan pushed Ming Qu behind him and leaned to the side to avoid the woman's hair that tried to curl around his hands and feet again. With an extremely fast speed, the tip of the knife slid across the woman's neck.

"Clack, clack, clack …"

The woman's neck strangely bent, and the black blood flowed down. She moved her throat as if she did not feel anything and rushed toward Kendo and Natori, who was coughing behind him.

"Bind!"

Kanai, who arrived in time, activated a huge blue enchantment, and instantly trapped the woman and her restless hair in the enchantment.

The unwilling woman suddenly let out a shrill scream. She stooped her back and slammed her bloody hand against the magic screen, exposing a ferocious, bloodshot eye, staring straight at Zhou Yiqi.

Natori's shikigami, Guaji, stepped forward to help her master and brought Natori to Kanai's side. Kendo stood in front of Kanai to protect his master and vigilantly stared at the crazy woman in the enchantment.

"It's, it's a split soul." Natori, who finally stopped coughing, pressed Kanai's shoulder. "It's a split soul that attacked me!

Atobe -kun is in danger! "

*

In his confusion, Atobe was awakened by the sound of a fierce quarrel.

He opened his eyes in confusion and saw Aoi Okubo and her mother, who had passed away in a car accident.

"Ōkubo!"

Atobe's pupils suddenly shrank, and just as he was about to reach out to touch the timid girl, he felt a heavy pain all over his body as if he had been electrocuted.

Atobe, who was enduring the pain, realized that he was in a black space. He could not touch anything, and he could not see anything other than Ōkubo's image.

In the silent darkness, Seiji was unable to move. All he could do was suppress his anxiety as he patiently watched Okubo's condition on the screen.

"Are you crazy?

My Kui just entered the Ice Emperor! "Lady Okubo listened to Ōkubo -san's request for money in disbelief.

"But I'm Kui's father!"

Mr. Okubo impatiently slammed the beer bottle in his hand on the table and spat. "The stock I'm interested in this time belongs to an insider. Lend me Kui's tuition fee first. Just one month, no, half a month, and I'll be able to recoup my capital!"

"Get out!"

Lady Okubo coldly took out a broom, and her eyes were fierce, "As long as I'm here, you won't get a single cent from us!"

After throwing her husband and luggage out of the house, the domineering Lady Okubo closed the door and turned around to comfort her timid daughter, Aoi Okubo.

Aoi Okubo still hadn't recovered from her father's vicious and hateful gaze. She timidly asked her mother, "I, I shouldn't have, shouldn't have gone to the Ice Emperor?"

"Why would Kui think that?"

Lady Okubo was stunned, and then she showed a gentle smile, "Does Kui think you're happy in the Ice Emperor?"

Aoi Okubo was silent for a moment, and then nodded, "Kui, Kui met very, very good people in the Ice Emperor."

"Then you don't have to worry about anything else," Lady Okubo lovingly hugged her daughter, "Mother will pay for your tuition fees. As for Kui, as long as you're happy, it's fine."

"As long as Mother is here, I'll never let anyone hurt Kui, okay?"

Aoi Okubo nestled in her mother's arms, looked at her mother with great trust, and nodded with bright eyes.

…

That look made Atobe, who saw this scene, feel so bad that he didn't know what to say.

He clearly knew that not long after, Lady Okubo passed away in a car accident.

At that time, he and Aoi Okubo were just nodding acquaintances. He seemed to have … asked Yui Hōjo to go to Ōkubo's house to express his condolences.

He also seemed to have signed up Ōkubo for the needy student quota and reduced her tuition fees.

Then …

Then what happened?

Would she be grateful to him?

At his mother's funeral, he met Yui Hōjo, he met his father who only knew how to ask for money.

Atobe could not help but use his fists to press against his aching heart to ease the heavy regret that was coursing through his body.

The scene suddenly changed, and it was in a bathroom in the Ice Emperor.

Aoi Okubo was completely soaked, and her clothes were torn off by Yui Hōjo and Ōkubo. Even her underwear was torn off, and the girl was curled up in the corner of the bathroom, trembling. Hani Suzuki was holding a camera and taking pictures of Aoi Okubo.

"Eh?

Why aren't you talking? "

Otomo Tsukiko curiously grabbed Okubo Kui's hair and forcefully pulled it out. She was satisfied to hear Okubo Kui's low cry.

"She's a stutterer," Hani Suzuki smiled, and her fingers with bright red nail polish tapped on the camera, "How dare a stutterer seduce Atobe-sama?

Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? "

"After all, her grades are good!"

Yui Hōjo smiled maliciously, and suddenly grabbed Aoi Okubo's ankle. Ignoring the thin girl's struggling and crying, she dragged her on the floor of the bathroom, and put the naked girl in a shameful and dirty position, "Hurry up and take pictures, the bathroom is so dirty."

"I'm done," Hani Suzuki shook the camera and turned to look at Aoi Okubo, who was lying on the floor like a corpse. She narrowed her eyes, and the fake smile on her face gradually disappeared, "Aoi Okubo -san hasn't spoken for so long, I don't feel a sense of accomplishment."

"— — Sensei seems to be coming!"

The bathroom door suddenly opened, and the face of Akechuan Yoshiko, who was on guard duty, appeared, "Let's play next time, or we'll be in trouble if we're discovered!"

…

The scene changed again.

After the club's activity, the sky was completely dark. Hani Suzuki, Yui Hōjo, and the other three forcibly dragged Aoi Okubo, who was walking unsteadily, to a remote alley.

"I've already made an appointment with that man. It's in the room on the second floor of the hotel." Hanori Suzuki waved her phone, and the pale light reflected her face full of malice.

"Yoshi, yoshi — — Ōkubo, you know what to do, right?"

Yui Hōjo pinched Aoi Okubo's chin and stared at the girl's pale and numb face, "Virgins are the most expensive, so you have to serve the guests well!"

"Otherwise — —" Hani Suzuki shook the phone and looked coldly at Aoi Okubo, "Your picture will be plastered all over Ice Emperor tomorrow ~"

"Nah, go, you don't want your Atobe-sama to see your ugly face on the ground, right?"

Several people took Okubo to the room prepared by Benefactor and pushed Okubo, who had tears in her eyes and a dull look in her eyes, into the room.

Just like that, she was pushed into hell.

"— — Hahaha, no way, she really went in?"

"She's a virgin, right?

Isn't the price too low? "

"Who knows, I don't want to wait here, let's go sing first."

"What, I still need to collect money … Well, I feel disgusted when I see that uncle, let's ask him to pay online with a credit card."

"Poor Ōkubo, haha, she gave herself to such a stinky man, hahaha — —"

They laughed and walked away, leaving Okubo Okubo in the room.

…

Atobe covered his eyes, and his heart was unprecedentedly cold.

How easy was it to destroy a girl?

Just as these women were laughing and joking, a person's life, the life of a girl with excellent grades and hard work, was completely destroyed just like that.

When she finally mustered up the courage to call the police, she was locked at home by her biological father.

"Are you Ōkubo's father?

Do you know about your daughter's report? "

"How much do you want?

Get your daughter to withdraw the lawsuit if you give her the money, and don't let her appear in front of us again! "

"Didn't you hear what the ladies said?

Don't make trouble for me!

If you didn't whisper to your mother and take the money, would I be in this situation? "

"You still want to call the police?

Hm?

You want to threaten me with a knife? "

"Hahaha, you're really threatening me?

You want to die?

You want to threaten me with your own death? "

"Then go to hell!"

Scenes flashed in front of Atobe's eyes. The girl who gradually fell into hell raised the knife in despair and helplessness. She hated Hōjō and her father.