The night sky burned with an eerie red glow above Kisaragi Bridge, the infamous urban legend hotspot. Rumors said anyone who crossed it at midnight disappeared.
Tonight, they weren't rumors.
Because people were already screaming.
Momo Ayase kicked a cursed spirit in the face, her energy erupting in waves. Beside her, Aira launched cursed blasts from her palms, sweeping low along the road, sending two more creatures spiraling off the bridge.
"They're multiplying," Aira snapped, eyes glowing. "This isn't natural."
"No kidding," Momo growled. "Where the hell is—?"
A blast of wind and shadow split the night.
Riku landed in the center of the bridge like a meteor, his silver hair flowing, his golden eyes flaring with cursed light.
"You called?"
"Took your time," Momo huffed, wiping blood from her cheek.
"You two softened them up for me," he replied, cracking his neck. "Let's test something."
A cursed centipede the size of a truck lunged toward him, shrieking.
Riku's fingers snapped down.
> "Rabbit Escape."
Hundreds of black rabbits burst from the ground, not as mere distractions—but weapons. Their forms flickered with cursed amplification, honed from days of refinement in the Chimera Shadow Garden.
The centipede lashed at the rabbits—but they leapt as one, weaving through the air like a swarm of knives.
Each rabbit exploded on impact—like shrapnel bombs made of cursed shadow.
The spirit screamed and writhed—then crumbled into ash.
Riku exhaled slowly, the bunnies hopping back into his shadow like ink being reabsorbed.
Momo blinked. "Okay. That's new."
"Rabbit Escape Version 2," Riku said. "I stopped thinking of them as bait. Started thinking of them as a system."
"Cute and deadly," Aira added. "Like me."
Suddenly, the bridge shuddered beneath them.
The cursed energy spiked. The sky flickered.
A portal—ripped open at the far end of the bridge—began spilling out more spirits. But these were different. Sharper. Cleaner. Branded with cursed symbols.
> "Those aren't natural," Riku muttered.
A man stepped from the rift.
Tall, wearing a white oni mask. His cursed energy was silent, like a blade with no weight.
"You," the man said flatly, pointing at Riku. "You are the fragment. The reborn echo."
Riku's eyes narrowed. "Do I know you?"
"No. But you are known," the masked man replied, unsheathing a thin, curved blade dripping with soul-laced cursed energy. "Our god left pieces behind. You are the most dangerous one."
> God? Sukuna?
"Who are you?"
The masked man tilted his head. "A Keeper. And your erasure is the first step to reclaiming the curse king's soul."
He vanished.
Reappeared in front of Riku.
Slashed.
Fast. Too fast.
Riku blocked with a cursed-enhanced arm, but the blade burned his skin—not physically, but at the soul level.
He staggered back. His forearm sizzled with cursed script.
"That blade—"
"Cursed Soulcutter," the man answered. "It doesn't sever flesh. It severs identity."
Aira and Momo moved to strike, but Riku threw out a hand.
"Don't! He's targeting me. You'll get caught in the wave."
> I need to test Mahoraga's theory. Adaptation is mental as much as physical.
He lowered his stance. Closed his eyes.
And waited.
The Keeper flashed forward again. Slashed.
This time—Riku moved in perfect sync.
Barely.
He dodged by inches, letting the blade pass through the air just past his cheek. Cleave danced to his fingertips, but he didn't swing.
Not yet.
Instead—
> "Rabbit Escape: Spiral Blitz."
His rabbits burst out, forming a rotating dome around the Keeper like a cyclone of tiny black daggers.
The Keeper sliced through a dozen—then faltered.
Because every rabbit that exploded also dispersed cursed ink that interfered with his cursed perception.
He couldn't see clearly now.
Riku launched forward.
One hand glowed red—Reverse Cursed Technique, ready.
The other hand swung.
> "Cleave."
The masked man blocked—but Riku didn't strike flesh. He struck the soul energy threaded in the mask.
A crack formed.
The Keeper reeled back, mask fragmenting, cursed energy surging erratically.
"Impossible. You're adapting mid-fight."
"I'm more than a fragment," Riku said, golden eyes fierce. "I'm the rewrite."
The Keeper sneered—and vanished into cursed smoke.
Riku stumbled, breathing heavily.
"Not gonna lie," he said. "That one hurt."
Momo ran up and caught him. "You okay?"
"Mostly."
Aira put her hand on his shoulder. "He knew you. Knew something about Sukuna. That wasn't random."
"I know," Riku said grimly. "And I think… the real war's about to start."