Utaha took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to break free from Sukuna's terrifying remarks.
The most important thing right now was to handle reality—comforting her two terrified friends and finding out Tomoya's whereabouts.
She looked at Eriri and Megumi, who were slumped on the ground with hollow eyes and bodies still trembling slightly, her heart tightening.
They were just ordinary high school girls who should have been enjoying their youthful school life, but now, they had witnessed such unimaginably horrific scenes.
"Sawamura-san? Kato-san?" Utaha crouched down, softening her voice as much as possible, even though her own heart was still pounding wildly.
She reached out and carefully supported the shoulder of Megumi, who was closest to her. "It's alright, that... thing is gone. Let's go outside first, the air here is bad."
Megumi's body shuddered violently the moment she was touched. Her hollow eyes slowly focused, and only when she saw it was Utaha did she relax slightly, though she was still unable to speak, simply allowing Utaha to support her.
Utaha then turned to Eriri, the blonde girl with twin tails who was usually at loggerheads with her but was now curled up like a terrified kitten.
"Sawamura-san, can you stand up?" Utaha reached out to help her.
Eriri instinctively dodged for a moment, but when Utaha's warm hand grasped her cold arm, she seemed to find a sliver of support. Using Utaha's strength, she managed to stand up, though her legs were still weak, and she leaned almost her entire weight against Utaha.
Utaha had expected it to be very difficult to support two people who could barely walk on their own, but doing it was actually much easier than she had anticipated. Without much effort, she half-supported and half-carried Megumi and Eriri away from Tomoya's house, which still smelled faintly of a foul stench, and settled them on the stone steps in the yard outside.
The sunlight fell on them, dispelling some of the gloom from inside the house.
Utaha had them sit against the wall while she stood to the side, vigilantly observing their surroundings and keeping an eye out for any further movement inside.
She moved her arms, confirming that the unusual "feeling of ease" from before was not an illusion. Her strength really seemed to have increased significantly. While she hadn't been weak before, it would have been absolutely impossible to support two people so easily.
She couldn't help but ask in her mind, as this had become her most direct channel for obtaining extraordinary information. "My strength... seems to have increased? Is it an illusion?"
"An illusion?"
Sukuna's voice carried a hint of matter-of-fact laziness. "Of course not. You are my vessel now. Although you're just a temporary, low-quality vessel, you still carry a part of my existence. My power, even if it's just a faint aura emitted unconsciously, will subtly influence and transform your physical body. Saying goodbye to the weak constitution of an ordinary human is just one of the most basic benefits."
"Transform?"
The word made Utaha's heart tighten. She immediately thought of the twisted appearance of that Cursed Spirit just now, and her voice couldn't help but take on a hint of panic. "Then... will I... will I slowly turn into a monster?"
This was one of her deepest fears—not just losing a normal life, but losing her form as a "human."
"Hmph, what are you thinking?" Sukuna scoffed, his tone full of disdain for her "low-level" worry.
"Don't lump me in with those pieces of trash cobbled together from filthy Cursed Energy. I am an existence with a complete form and will. My transformation of a vessel is an optimization toward a more perfect and powerful direction, not becoming an ugly monster like that. Don't worry, you won't grow an extra hand or head. You'll only become stronger, healthier, with faster reactions and more tenacious vitality... well, something like that."
Hearing Sukuna's assurance, Utaha breathed a slight sigh of relief, but words like "vessel" and "transformation" still stuck in her heart like a thorn.
She looked down at her hands. They seemed no different than before, still fair and slender, but she could feel that the power contained within them was no longer what it used to be. Was this change a blessing or a curse?
"What about you, Ryomen-san?" Utaha suddenly remembered a key question.
She looked up, her gaze seemingly able to pierce through the walls to where the Cursed Spirit had disappeared inside. "Are you also a Cursed Spirit? Or are you the same kind as them?"
Since Cursed Spirits were composed of negative emotions and Cursed Energy, and Sukuna possessed such immense power and could possess others, it was hard not to make the connection.
"Heh."
Sukuna's reaction was exceptionally intense. Even just at the conscious level, Utaha could clearly feel that sudden surge of emotion—a mixture of pride, anger, and extreme contempt.
"Little girl, watch your words. Don't you dare lump me in with those low-level pieces of trash who might not even have a clear self-awareness."
His voice was like a cold blade scraping across Utaha's consciousness. "Cursed Spirits? They are nothing more than dregs produced by the accumulation of Cursed Energy, parasites clinging to human negative emotions. And I am the King of Curses."
...
The sound of sirens approached from afar, finally coming to a halt outside Tomoya's house.
Several uniformed police officers quickly entered the house, led by the slightly chubby inspector Megure, wearing his signature hat.
"Was it you who called the police?" Megure looked around, his gaze lingering on the three shaken girls before finally landing on the seemingly most composed one, Utaha.
Utaha nodded, forcing herself to answer in a steady voice, "Yes, inspector. We are classmates of the owner of this house. Since he didn't come to school today and we couldn't contact him, we came to check. As soon as we opened the door, we... smelled a very foul odor. We didn't dare go further in, so we called the police immediately."
In the brief time before the police arrived, Sukuna had coldly reminded her in her mind, "There's the scent of blood in the house. It's faint, but there's no mistake. That kid named Aki Tomoya is probably dead."
This had prepared her mentally, but hearing it confirmed by the police was still another matter.
The police conducted a preliminary investigation.
Megure walked out with a solemn expression, took off his hat, and said to them, "Everyone, based on our preliminary judgment, the deceased is the resident of this house, Aki-kun. The cause of death... is very suspicious. There are signs of a struggle at the scene, and the body has wounds resembling animal bites. The specific details will require a further autopsy."
Despite having a premonition, the cold official confirmation still struck like a heavy hammer, shattering Eriri's last bit of strength. Her legs gave way, and if Megumi hadn't been supporting her from the side, she would have collapsed. She pressed her hand firmly over her mouth, suppressed sobs escaping through her fingers as tears instantly blurred her vision.
Tomoya was her childhood friend who had grown up with her. They were arguing about club activities just yesterday, but today they were separated by death.
Utaha's heart also sank. She instinctively touched her cheek, where the strange sensation from when Sukuna controlled her body seemed to linger. She discreetly brushed a few strands of black hair to the sides of her face to better hide those two faint scars.