Inumaki beside her pulled down the collar that he usually used to protect the lower half of his face.
The corners of his mouth and tongue were all covered with the unique markings of the curse.
"Don't move!"
Buzz!
As the curse was activated, the power of the technique immediately immobilized the cursed spirit that had once been Tomoya.
Cough!
The immense difference in strength between them caused Inumaki to suffer backlash, coughing up blood, his throat hoarse from the effort.
"Now's our chance!" Maki shouted, determined not to waste the opportunity that Inumaki had created.
With a fierce look in her eyes, she swung her spear and launched herself into the air, bringing her weapon down hard on the cursed spirit. The spear left a deep, jagged wound across the cursed spirit's grotesque form.
"I did it!" Maki thought, feeling a surge of hope.
But her relief was short-lived. The wound on the cursed spirit began to heal almost instantly, the flesh knitting back together at an unnerving speed. Worse, Inumaki's curse had worn off, and the monster regained its ability to move.
The spirit, now fully healed, let out an enraged roar.
"Die! All of you, DIE!"
It lunged toward Maki and Inumaki with terrifying speed. Maki barely had time to react, grabbing Inumaki and retreating as fast as she could, dodging the cursed spirit's attacks.
As they scrambled backward, houses around them collapsed, reduced to rubble by the spirit's rampage. The deafening sound of crumbling buildings filled the air.
Ordinary humans were insignificant against a monster like this. Maki gritted her teeth. It felt like they were fighting a losing battle.
Boom! Boom!
Debris rained down around them, the weight of the destruction pressing in. Amid the chaos, Maki spotted two figures Utaha and Eriri, who had foolishly stayed behind.
Maki's eyes widened in anger. "Didn't I tell you to run?!"
"W-we tried!" Utaha stammered, clinging to Eriri.
Eriri winced in pain. In their rush to escape, she had twisted her ankle, and now her leg was numb. She couldn't run even if she wanted to.
"You should go without me," Eriri muttered through clenched teeth. She was scared, but she didn't want Utaha to die because of her.
"Don't be stupid!" Utaha snapped, gripping her arm. "I'm not leaving you behind!"
Eriri felt a pang of emotion. Even though she and Utaha constantly bickered, seeing her stay behind now was... touching.
"If we get out of this, we're both hitting the gym," Eriri muttered. "No more sprained ankles."
Utaha cracked a small smile. "Deal."
But deep down, both girls knew they probably wouldn't make it out alive.
The cursed spirit's attention shifted toward them. Tomoya's monstrous form roared and rushed at the two girls, hatred and rage burning in its glowing eyes.
"Damn it!" Maki cursed, forcing herself between the monster and the girls. Her spear was ready, but she knew she couldn't hold it off for long.
The impact from the cursed spirit's attack nearly knocked her off her feet. Maki's entire body shook as she tried to block the force. She could feel herself losing ground, her strength quickly fading.
"I can't die here! I still have too much to do!" she thought desperately, images of her past flashing in her mind. She thought of her sister, of her vengeance against the Zenin clan. She couldn't die here not like this.
Cough!
Inumaki tried to use his curse speech again, but the backlash was too strong. He collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.
The cursed spirit bellowed, raising its massive hand to crush them all.
"Is this really how it ends?" Maki thought, her body trembling under the weight of the attack.
Utaha and Eriri braced themselves for death.
And then—
"Third Dimension!"
A calm, indifferent voice echoed through the air.
Suddenly, the crushing pressure Maki felt vanished. The overwhelming force of the cursed spirit disappeared in an instant, leaving her stumbling forward, completely unprepared for the sudden relief.
"What just happened?"
Maki looked up, her eyes widening in shock.
Crunch! Crunch!
The space around the cursed spirit's upper body began to distort, twisting and warping as if reality itself was being bent. Under the immense power, the upper half of the cursed spirit was sucked into a vortex, its body disintegrating into nothingness.
"How... How is that even possible?"
The cursed spirit, which had been nearly invincible just moments ago, was torn apart as if it was nothing.
Maki turned toward the source of the voice.
"Who...?"
From the shadows, a figure walked toward them, hands casually stuffed into his pockets. It was Ryuji.
"The cursed energy... it really was special-grade," Ryuji muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He barely glanced at the now-destroyed cursed spirit.
"Ryuji!" Utaha and Eriri called out, surprised and relieved to see him.
Even Maki and Inumaki were stunned by how effortlessly Ryuji had defeated the special-grade curse.
"Be careful!" Maki warned, still reeling from the fight. "That was a special-grade curse. It's not something to be taken lightly!"
Ryuji just smiled, his tone casual and confident. "Relax. I've got this."
He turned his attention to what remained of Tomoya's cursed form, his expression unreadable. "So it's a mix of an urban legend and a cursed spirit, huh? No wonder ordinary people could see it."
As he examined the twisted remnants of the spirit, something caught his eye. "Still... this thing shouldn't have become a special-grade curse on its own. Something else must be at play."
Ryuji waved his hand lazily. "Well, whatever it is, I'm hungry. Let's finish this."
"H-hungry?" Utaha, Eriri, and even Maki stared at him in confusion. What kind of exorcist talked about being hungry in a situation like this?
Ryuji didn't bother explaining. He raised his hand again, summoning chains from the cracks in space behind him.
"Soul Devouring!"
The chains wrapped around the remains of the special-grade cursed spirit, binding it tightly. The creature writhed and struggled, but it couldn't break free.
In one swift motion, the chains dragged the cursed spirit into a spatial rift, where it was devoured whole.
Ryuji let out a small burp, patting his stomach with a satisfied grin. "That hit the spot."
Everyone else could only stare in disbelief.
"You... ate it?" Maki asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
Ryuji didn't answer. Instead, something else caught his attention. From the sky, a withered object fell into his hand.
"Hm?" Ryuji examined it briefly before laughing. "So that's why it became a special-grade curse."
He held up the object an ancient, shriveled finger.
"That... That's a special-grade cursed object," Maki realized, her eyes wide. "It's one of the fingers of the King of Curses."
"No wonder the cursed spirit reached special-grade level," Ryuji said, tossing the cursed object into his pocket as if it were nothing. "It ate this."
"Thanks for the assist," Maki finally said, her voice grateful but still wary. She didn't know who this guy was, but she was smart enough to recognize when someone had saved her life.
Ryuji turned to her with a smile. "Name's Ryuji. Nice to meet you."
Maki extended her hand cautiously. "Maki. Just call me Maki."
As they shook hands, Ryuji's system activated.
"Successfully contacted a target: Zenin Maki! A golden entry has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"
Ryuji smiled to himself, pleased. "Not bad."
Inumaki, who had recovered enough to stand, approached as well, offering Ryuji a nod.
"Salmon!" (Thanks!)
Maki quickly explained, "His name's Inumaki. He can't speak normally because of his curse technique, but he's saying thank you."
"Yeah, I know," Ryuji replied with a grin, extending his hand to Inumaki as well. "Nice to meet you."
"Successfully contacted a target: Inumaki Toge! A golden entry has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"
Ryuji couldn't help but smile wider. His luck was really on point today.
"Zenin Maki, huh?" Ryuji said, his tone light. "I've heard a bit about you."
Maki flinched slightly, her face hardening. "Don't mention that last name." She hated it, hated the association with her toxic family.
"Sorry," Ryuji said, his tone more understanding now. He knew all about her situation, after all.
"It's fine," Maki muttered, though she couldn't help but feel a little better after Ryuji's casual demeanor.
After talking for a while, Maki and Inumaki left.
The barrier surrounding the area disappeared, but the buildings were still heavily damaged. It wouldn't be surprising if they blamed it on a gas explosion or something such cover-ups were practically tradition in the world of sorcery.
Ryuji took a moment to glance atUtaha and Eriri, who were nearby.
"How are you? Can you walk?" he asked.
"I…" Eriri tried to stand, and Utaha was there to help her up. But despite her efforts, Eriri's injured foot couldn't support her, and she stumbled forward.
"Ah!"
Instinctively, Eriri braced herself for the fall, closing her eyes. But instead of hitting the ground, she found herself in a warm embrace. Opening her eyes, she saw Ryuji holding her, close enough that she could hear his steady heartbeat. Her face flushed red in an instant.
"You should be more careful," Ryuji said casually as he gently set her back on her feet.
"Let me help you heal." Without waiting for her response, Ryuji knelt down and placed his hand on her injured foot.
Eriri hesitated for a moment this was the first time a boy had ever touched her like this. Despite the initial shock, she found herself staying still. "T-thank you," she whispered shyly.
Utaha, who was standing nearby, clicked her tongue in annoyance, her expression betraying a hint of envy. This scene was getting on her nerves. If only she had been the one injured.
Ryuji paid no mind to the brewing tension and focused on Eriri's injury. "Reverse Cursed Technique!" he muttered, activating his healing ability.
Ryuji's ability to heal others wasn't something he originally had. At first, the Reverse Cursed Technique he obtained from Gojo Satoru was limited to healing himself. But as his powers grew, his mastery over various techniques had also improved, allowing him to heal others with ease.
While healing Eriri, Ryuji couldn't help but think about other possibilities if he could grow his Reverse CursedTechnique this much, maybe he could unlock a Domain Expansion on his own without relying on external triggers.
"It's ticklish," Eriri said, squirming slightly as her foot healed.
"Don't worry. It'll be over soon."
"Mm!" Eriri nodded, unusually obedient. Even Utaha, who had known her for a while, couldn't believe how well-behaved the usually tsundere blonde was being. She couldn't help but wonder: Has she really fallen for him?
Not wanting to play matchmaker, Utaha immediately tried to steer the conversation away. "Who were those two earlier?" she asked, referring to Maki and Inumaki.
"Sorcerers," Ryuji explained as he continued healing Eriri. "They handle cursed spirits and other supernatural matters like the one you just experienced."
"I see…" Both Utaha and Eriri nodded, understanding now. They had been scared to death when they first saw the monstrous form of Tomoya, but then Maki and Inumaki appeared and helped them escape.
"That Zenin Maki… she seemed really sensitive about her name," Utaha remarked.
"Yeah. The Zenin family is one of the three great sorcery families, alongside the Gojo and Kamo families," Ryuji said casually.
"The Big Three?" Utaha asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You could think of them like the Shinomiya family in the ordinary world."
"Oh, I get it now," Eriri chimed in, her face thoughtful. The Shinomiya family was known as a vast, untouchable financial empire. If the Zenin family was like that in the world of sorcery, then their influence must be tremendous.
Ryuji nodded. "Among the three families, the Zenin family is the most conservative. They still follow ancient traditions, where power and strength determine your value. If you don't have enough cursed energy, you're treated like dirt."
"And Maki… she doesn't have much cursed energy, does she?" Utaha asked, recalling how Zenin Maki reacted when her family name was brought up.
"That's right. She's considered one of the weaker members of the Zenin clan, even though she's actually quite strong. Because of that, she's been treated horribly and doesn't want to be associated with her family."
"Wow," Eriri muttered, awestruck. "But she was amazing against that cursed spirit! If that's considered weak in her family, I can't imagine what the stronger members are like…"
Ryuji chuckled. "Yeah, the Zenin family has some monsters. But Maki's got her own strength."
"Alright, that should do it," Ryuji said as he finished healing Eriri's injury.
"Is it really healed?" Eriri stood up cautiously, then took a few steps, surprised to find that her foot no longer hurt. "Wow, it's completely better. Thank you so much!" She hesitated for a moment, then shyly added, "Maybe you could come by my house sometime and I'll..."
Before Eriri could finish, Utaha interrupted with a sly smile. "How about you add me first, Ryuji? I'll treat you to dinner to say thank you." She took out her phone and handed it to him.
Eriri glared at Utaha, seething with silent fury. Utaha had deliberately cut her off, and worse, she was trying to monopolize Ryuji.
"Sure," Ryuji said, taking the phone and adding his contact info.
"And you?" Ryuji asked, looking over at Eriri. "Want to add me too?"
"Y-yes!" Eriri immediately fumbled for her phone, the anger momentarily forgotten as she quickly exchanged contacts with him.
Utaha raised an eyebrow, teasing, "It's not every day I see you being so well-behaved, Eriri. Usually, you'd act all tsundere and make people chase after you."
"Who said I'm tsundere?!" Eriri fumed.
"Actually, I'm a very sweet person!" Eriri insisted, her eyes darting nervously toward Ryuji for confirmation.
Utaha just gave a small, knowing smirk. She didn't need to say anything more her expression alone was enough to provoke Eriri.
Veins bulged on Eriri's forehead. She and Utaha had always been rivals, but right now, it felt like Utaha was winning.
"Ahem, if there's nothing else, I'll be heading out," Ryuji said, sensing the tension between the two girls. As much as he found their rivalry amusing, he had other matters to attend to like inspecting the entries he had triggered and figuring out what to do with the finger he'd collected.
"You're leaving already?" both girls asked in unison, momentarily forgetting their bickering.
"Yeah, but we'll be in touch," Ryuji waved before turning and walking away.
After watching him disappear from sight, the tension between Eriri and Utaha returned immediately.
"Your acting skills are top-notch, Eriri," Utaha said sarcastically. "You almost fooled me with your little miss perfect act."
"Like you're one to talk, Utaha! You pretended to be all cool and aloof, but I saw right through it!" Eriri snapped back.
"You just wait he's not going to fall for a bratty tsundere," Utaha shot back.
"And he's not going to fall for some stuck-up ice queen either!" Eriri retorted.
After a long, heated stare-off, they both snorted and turned away from each other, storming off in opposite directions.
Meanwhile, Ryuji was already deep in thought, examining the entries he had just triggered.
"Golden entry: Physical Strengthening!"
A smile spread across his face as he felt the power surging through his body. This was exactly the kind of enhancement he needed. The strength boost was significant his physical capabilities had increased even more than they had after devouring the special-grade cursed spirit.
"Nice!" Ryuji clenched his fists, feeling the immense strength coursing through him.
But there was more. The golden entry triggered from Inumaki's contact had also appeared.
"Golden entry: Cursed Speech!"
Perfect. This was exactly what he had hoped for from Inumaki.
Cursed Speech was one of the most unique and powerful techniques in the world of jujutsu sorcery. It allowed the user to manipulate the target's actions with just a word. Inumaki had used it to freeze the special-grade cursed spirit earlier, but the technique came with severe drawbacks. The stronger the opponent or the command, the greater the backlash on the user's body.
For Inumaki, speaking even simple words carried a risk. But for Ryuji, this wouldn't be a problem. His physical enhancements and mastery of the Reversal Technique would mitigate the side effects, making him one of the few sorcerers who could fully exploit the potential of Cursed Speech without suffering the consequences.
"This is amazing…" Ryuji muttered, excitement welling up inside him.
Without hesitation, he loaded the Cursed Speech entry.
Almost immediately, he felt a strange tingling sensation in his throat, followed by an urge to cough.
Cough, cough!