Chapter 40 – I'm Not About to Trust You That Easily
Boom!
Hakari Kinji and Kirara Hoshiro were yanked into the depths of the sewer, into a wide chamber where massive iron pipes lined the walls. The stench in the air was unbearable.
They cut through the white threads with cursed energy, landing hard on the ground, then hastily used cursed energy to suppress the bleeding from their wounds.
"This… this has to be the nest," Hakari muttered, his expression grim.
By the faint glow of cursed energy, the two saw the true horror around them: a web-choked cavern. White threads stretched in every direction, completely overtaking the sewer.
From the ceiling, cocooned victims hung upside down like silkworm pupae—shapes all too human.
And then—green eyes glowed in the darkness. One pair. Two pairs. Dozens. The cursed spirits had them surrounded.
"One… two… three…"
Kirara's voice trembled. "Seven Grade 2s… and one Grade 1."
Cold sweat poured down his face. One Grade 2 would have been fine. But seven—plus a Grade 1? That was far beyond their mission parameters.
"You scared, Kirara?"
To Hakari's surprise, he felt no fear. No, as his back pressed against the wall and his chances of escape dwindled, a wild exhilaration surged in his veins.
"What do you think?" Kirara shot him a glare. Who wouldn't be afraid in this situation? He wasn't some masochist.
Hakari smirked. "When you're backed against the wall, that's when you go all in. Besides—Zen'in-sensei's still outside. If we can just hold out, he'll come."
His heart steadied. The worst that could happen was death. So why not gamble for survival?
"Let's see who's luckier—us or them."
"Go!"
Hakari charged first, activating his technique. Kirara, gritting his teeth against the pain in his abdomen, followed up with his own cursed technique.
"Hissss!!"
The swarm struck back. White threads shot forward like spears, seven or eight at once, while the massive Grade 1—a towering two-meter beast—vomited poison to cloud the battlefield and directed the Grade 2s to coordinate.
In seconds, the pair were overwhelmed.
"Gahh!"
Kirara's body was pierced by multiple threads—arms and legs shredded. His marks weren't nearly enough to cover all the curses. A giant web pinned him to the wall, his strength fading, vision going dark.
"Kirara!"
Hakari clutched his bleeding arm and tried to rush in, but the swarm's attacks came from every direction. In the next instant, he'd be skewered like a hedgehog.
But instead of dodging, Hakari stopped. His gaze locked on the Grade 1 curse, and his lips twisted into a wild grin.
"So this is the end, huh? Fine—then I'll bet it all!"
With one hand, he formed a seal before his chest. His cursed energy surged violently.
"Domain Expansion—!"
The air warped. A new space unfolded. The curses were dragged inside against their will.
Idle Death Gamble.
"Hsssss!!"
Inside the domain, the curses froze, powerless to strike as Hakari's jackpot ritual began.
---
Outside the nest
Zen'in Shinsuke arrived just in time. His eyes swept over the chamber, quickly spotting Kirara cocooned in webbing. He still had a pulse.
"Good. Still alive."
He yanked Kirara free and laid him gently on the ground. Only then did he turn, noticing the fractured barrier forming nearby.
His eyes narrowed. "This kid… impressive."
A domain expansion—imperfect, unstable, but real. To achieve it this early was proof enough of Hakari's potential. If you succeed once, you can succeed again.
"Zen'in-sensei…" Kirara rasped, forcing his eyes open to see the blurry figure before him. "Sensei… Kinji… is he okay?"
"He's fine. Rest now."
Shinsuke reassured him, but his attention sharpened as another figure approached—the last person he wanted to see.
Suguru Geto.
Even he looked stunned at the crumbling domain. "…That's a first-year?"
"A good time for you to be here," Shinsuke said without hesitation. "Help patch him up."
Geto blinked. "…You're asking me to heal him? Do you even know what side I'm on?"
He was a curse user now, an enemy of Jujutsu High. Why the hell should he tend to one of their brats?
"Relax," Shinsuke waved it off. "You can have the curse when it's done. I won't interfere."
"…You'd really back off?" Geto's eyes sharpened.
"You heard me."
That was all he needed. With a flick of his hand, Geto summoned a minor curse and set it to work—closing wounds, staunching blood loss, stabilizing Kirara's condition.
Crash!
The half-formed domain shattered like glass. Hakari was hurled out, battered and unconscious, right into Shinsuke's arms.
He looked down at his student's face—bloodied but alive.
Hakari's lips curved into a weak smile. He had lost. But he had also won.
His gamble had worked—his first domain had opened successfully. He just hadn't drawn the jackpot this time.
In the end, Hakari's luck had been just strong enough—to last until his teacher arrived.
"ROAR—!"
A hulking three-meter spider curse howled in rage. This thing had come dangerously close to being slain by a mere human. If it hadn't devoured the seven Grade 2s in time, it might have lost.
Now swollen with their power, it had evolved—its aura pressing at the level of a quasi–special grade.
Zen'in Shinsuke's eyes narrowed. "...Quasi-special, huh? Tempting."
He was just about to make his move when—
"You promised! No interfering!"
Suguru Geto cut him off sharply, already summoning two of his strongest familiars.
With a guttural roar, a rainbow-scaled dragon erupted forth, maw gaping wide to tear at the spider curse. Its hide shimmered with cursed energy, a beast easily ranked at least Grade 1.
At the same time, the ground split open to reveal a massive, one-eyed obese monk statue—the Skull Dharma. Its thick neck was adorned with a chain of skulls, its every movement radiating destructive force.
"Go."
The Dharma surged forward. In an instant, its enormous fist punched clean through the spider's abdomen. The rainbow dragon's fangs clamped down next, tearing sinew and ichor apart.
Together, the two familiars overwhelmed the freshly ascended quasi-special, dragging it down and ripping it to pieces before swallowing it whole.
Geto exhaled, relief softening his tense shoulders. With that, the curse was his.
Shinsuke, watching from the side, raised a brow. "Really? I said I wouldn't take it. Did you have to panic like that?"
Where was the cool, calculating villain? This kid looked more like an anxious collector afraid of losing his prize.
"...Hmph. I'd be a fool to take your word for it so easily."
Geto's eyes glinted as satisfaction spread across his face. It had been too long since he'd consumed a curse of this caliber—even if it was grotesque. The surge of strength felt intoxicating.
He turned away without another word. "I'm done here. And I hope this is the last time I run into you."
His robes fluttered as he strode into the dark, vanishing with a practiced elegance.
Shinsuke watched him go, lips quirking faintly. "Still hasn't grasped the real secret of Cursed Spirit Manipulation."
If memory served, once you devoured a curse of quasi–Grade 1 or higher, you could inherit its technique. And Geto hadn't even tapped into that yet.
"A shame to let a quasi-special go like that..."
The thought stung. He'd handed it over—for the sake of his students' safety.
But in the end, Shinsuke knew: someday, Geto would cough it all back up. With interest.