"Satoru Gojo! That’s the Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit, isn’t it? I said from the beginning that the cursed vessel should not be allowed to participate in the Goodwill Event. You insisted on having him join, and now look what has happened!" Principal Gakuganji reproached the still-smiling Satoru Gojo as he stared at the dangerous figure on the screen.
Everyone present wore grave expressions. Rika’s overwhelming presence as a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit seemed to crash straight through the screen and into their hearts. Gojo, the target of the reprimand, stood and stretched lazily.
"It’s fine. Leave it to me. Rika may have gone out of control, but she hasn’t made any aggressive moves against the people around her."
Looking closely, they found that he was right. Although the figure looked crazed, she had indeed made no excessively violent attacks on her surroundings. Under Mei Mei’s painstaking control, the crow that had flown far away continued relaying the situation at the scene.
Several students could vaguely be seen nearby, and they appeared to be unharmed. Gojo waved a hand.
"I’ll head over first, then. It’s no big deal, so don’t worry."
Shoko Ieiri spoke from the side. "I’ll go too, in case anyone’s injured."
Then Satoru Gojo left the room with Shoko Ieiri, and the two vanished from sight.
Suspended in the air was a grotesque being. Its pallid lower body was an amorphous mass like smoke. Its hands were broad—claws would have been a more fitting description. Its upper body was skeletal, its ribs protruding starkly. Numerous tube-like objects extended from behind its head, and its face had no eyes—only a gaping maw filled with sharp fangs.
"What a sight. So, how are you planning to deal with it, Satoru?" Shoko Ieiri stood at a safe distance beside Satoru Gojo and let out a quiet sigh.
Gojo removed his sunglasses, his blue eyes reflecting Rika’s rampaging form. "Looks like Yuta’s efforts haven’t been in vain. Quite the opposite—they’ve been very successful. Something unexpected must have happened that pushed her beyond his control."
Snap!
Gojo snapped his fingers.
"Then all we need to do is weaken Rika until Yuta can control her again!"
Shoko knew exactly what he was like. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Don’t tell me you’re about to go wild again. Students from both schools are still here."
Gojo smiled carelessly. "I’ll go easy on her."
With that, he vanished from where he stood. When he appeared again, he was in the air, roughly level with Rika.
Rika looked at the tiny figure that had suddenly appeared nearby. Instinctively, she wanted to attack, but Yuta’s restraint made her hesitate.
Gojo lowered his gaze and spotted Yuta Okkotsu on the ground, drenched in sweat. Nearby were Panda, White Wolf, and Aoi Todo. Then he turned his attention back to Rika.
"Let’s get you under control first."
[Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue.]
[Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.]
The two infinities collided, and the imaginary mass born from their conflict was unleashed.
That was—[Hollow Purple].
A tiny gleam of purple light appeared at Gojo’s fingertips, instantly stirring up endless turbulent currents around it.
Then Gojo flicked his finger.
A perfectly circular path, taller than a person, tore through the air and annihilated everything it touched.
From Gojo’s perspective, he could see through the hole blasted through Rika’s damaged body all the way to the vast empty clearing behind her.
After releasing a piercing shriek, Rika’s body began to regenerate. Still, her aura visibly weakened.
As Rika charged toward him, Gojo waved goodbye.
"Bye-bye!"
Then he vanished from the air and reappeared on the ground.
...
When Kaito Kamishiro activated his technique and arrived at the scene, he found an anxious Yuta Okkotsu and the others. White Wolf whimpered as it ran over, apparently frightened by Rika.
The moment Yuta saw Kaito, he hurriedly called out while struggling to control Rika. "Kaito, where’s Gojo? Rika’s out of control—I can’t hold her back!"
Kaito looked up at Rika, who drifted aimlessly through the air and did nothing but cry Yuta’s name in piercing, distorted tones. Then he looked at Panda and Aoi Todo, both of whom were injured. He had no idea how many of those injuries Rika had caused.
Seeing the situation, Kaito could more or less guess what had happened. Aoi Todo had probably found Yuta and the others and put them in danger. Rika must have broken free of Yuta’s control and manifested on her own in an attempt to protect him.
Judging from Todo’s condition, he had not had an easy time of it either. Of course not. He had hurt the person Rika loved most. The only reason she had not torn him apart was because Yuta was holding her back.
Fortunately, no one seemed to be seriously hurt. That was partly due to Yuta doing everything he could to restrain her. Seeing that, Kaito decided there was no need to reverse their conditions. Instead, he tried using his own Reverse Cursed Technique to heal them. It worked, but it was nowhere near as effective as Shoko’s.
"Tch."
After watching their serious injuries become merely minor ones, Kaito decided it would be better to wait for Shoko. Feeling the injuries in his body improving, Yuta could not help asking, "Kaito, is this your Cursed Technique?"
Kaito’s face darkened. "Gojo didn’t tell you? Seriously... This is called Reverse Cursed Technique. You can learn it too. I’ll teach you later."
Speak of the devil—Gojo suddenly appeared in the air. He seemed to raise a hand, and then something terrifying tore through the sky. Rika was struck with devastating force.
"Rika!"
Yuta’s face tightened in alarm. Kaito pressed a hand to his shoulder and reassured him, "Curses can repair themselves with Cursed Energy. Don’t panic."
Sure enough, as he watched Rika’s body regenerate at a visible rate, Yuta finally calmed down.
Turning back to look at the horrifying trail of destruction, everyone stared in shock. Kaito was less surprised; he vaguely remembered that Gojo could create scenes even more outrageous than this.
Before they could marvel for long, Gojo abruptly disappeared from the sky and reappeared before them.
"Hey! Is everyone doing okay?"
Yuta cried out anxiously, "Gojo! I don’t think I can control Rika right now. She won’t listen to me..."
Gojo smiled at him. "It’s okay. You’ve already done more than enough. If you hadn’t kept her restrained, something really might have happened. Leave the rest to me now."
Once Yuta had relaxed somewhat, Kaito saw Gojo turn toward him. His heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
Sure enough, Gojo said with a cheerful grin, "Kaito, that attack of mine just now dealt Rika a serious blow, so I’ll leave the rest to you! We only need to weaken her a little more, and Yuta should be able to control her again."
Watching Rika rush toward them, Kaito’s expression darkened.
"Didn’t you say you’d handle it?"
As Gojo gestured for Panda and the others to come over, he replied, "Isn’t it only natural for a student to share his teacher’s burdens? I just want you to grow as much as possible."
"Well, that’s that. I’ll take them to Shoko first. You and Yuta stay here. I’ll come back once you’re done. Bye-bye!"
With that, they disappeared. Kaito turned to face the approaching Rika. Yuta looked at him as if he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to do it. Kaito sighed, patted his shoulder, and walked forward.
"Wait here. I’ll go make your girlfriend calm down. After that, it’ll be up to you."
Rika, charging forward, could no longer suppress her urge to attack. Although Gojo had already seriously injured her, curses were the kind of beings that could slowly recover through their own power so long as they had Cursed Energy and had not been immediately exorcised.
Rika herself possessed an enormous reserve of Cursed Energy. Because of the bond between her and Yuta, she could even draw upon his Cursed Energy in both directions. She was still capable of fighting.
"Rika..."
Rika charged wildly with her maw agape, unconsciously calling Yuta’s name. Seeing someone block her path, she reached out with a claw and grabbed at him.
"Stop right there."
Before the words had even faded, Kaito vanished. Rika’s forward momentum was instantly reversed, and only then did the thunderous blast and the shockwave arrive.
Kaito looked down at his clenched fist, feeling the Cursed Energy boiling through his body. This feeling of being so full of power was intoxicating. His cursed blade would be useless at a time like this. Its grade was not high enough; if he poured too much Cursed Energy into it, it would not withstand the strain.
"Screee!"
Immense Cursed Energy suddenly surged through the shattered forest. Amid Rika’s piercing shriek, the rising dust was abruptly dragged in one direction. Rika’s figure filled Kaito’s vision, her sharp claws leaving countless afterimages in the air as Cursed Energy crackled around them.
"Too slow."
Kaito watched the attack’s trajectory slowly descend toward him and murmured quietly. He had not even activated his technique yet. As his mastery of it deepened, Kaito had gradually discovered that his neural reaction speed was becoming faster and faster. When he focused, even most high-speed moving objects were perfectly clear to him.
[Wheel of Time: Turn.]
Moving to Rika’s side, Kaito raised both hands and clenched them into fists.
Maximum Cursed Energy output!
One punch landed on Rika’s body. The overwhelming Cursed Energy shattered her currently weakened defenses, and the impact of the blow remained suspended in midair. Kaito could even faintly see the air twisting around it.
Then came the second punch. The third.
Once he felt that was about enough, Kaito withdrew his hands and released his technique.
In the next instant, everything erupted at once. The impacts, compressed into the same moment before exploding, burst forth with a thunderous roar of terrifying force. Violent winds swept outward in all directions, blasting away the scattered dirt, rocks, and trees and clearing a vast open space. The Cursed Energy that erupted simultaneously seemed ready to pierce the heavens, only for all of it to be twisted away by the black flash that bloomed at its center.
Rika had already been sent flying sideways like a cannonball. She smashed through several trees before disappearing from view. Where she had been standing was now a massive sunken crater, its earth and stones compressed together into a solid mass.
Kaito let out a long breath and used [Cursed Technique Reversal: Wheel of Time—Reversal] to return his condition to what it had been before. The maximum Cursed Energy output and repeated attacks had consumed quite a lot of Cursed Energy. He had also landed a Black Flash during it, increasing the damage substantially.
It had to be said: as a Special Grade Curse, Rika’s defenses were absurd. If that had been some Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, it would have long since been beaten into ash. Even an ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit would probably have been left at death’s door—perhaps even exorcised outright. Yet in Kaito’s senses, Rika was still regenerating rapidly.
But... it was about enough.
"One more hit."
Kaito pinpointed Rika’s location, held two fingers out toward it, and once again drew on the abundant Cursed Energy within him.
Cursed Energy Discharge.
Brilliant Cursed Energy continuously gathered in Kaito’s hand. The currents it generated whipped the drifting leaves into a swirl, and even the air around it gradually distorted. When the mass of Cursed Energy at his fingertips had expanded to the size of a human head, Kaito stopped supplying it and activated his technique again.
It vanished.
The Cursed Energy at his fingertips abruptly disappeared, leaving only the surrounding leaves to fall to the ground after losing their pull. At the same time, a straight trench abruptly appeared, extending from before Kaito all the way to Rika, whom he had blasted away earlier. There were no trees left between them to obstruct the view; he could see the end at a glance.
Rika’s body was now visibly damaged in many places, and even with her Cursed Energy, her regeneration had slowed considerably. Hearing her broken cries of pain, Kaito sighed and turned to Yuta, who looked on the verge of tears.
"Don’t worry. Between her own Cursed Energy and yours, she’ll recover quickly. She’ll be back on her feet in a few days."
"Why does that sound kind of weird?" Kaito muttered to himself.
Then he watched Yuta easily summon Rika back. Rika let out a sound like a whimper and returned to Yuta’s side before sinking into the cursed blade he carried with him.
The medium for the bond between Rika and Yuta had originally been the ring they had exchanged when they promised to marry after growing up. Later, at Gojo’s suggestion, Yuta had repeatedly tried to infuse the curse into his blade in order to gain greater control over it. By doing so over and over, he would eventually be able to fully master this curse.
Yuta crouched halfway down, holding the blade and staring at it for a moment. Then he slightly raised his head to look at Kaito.
"Kaito, thank you so much. You too, Gojo. I almost... let someone get hurt because of me again."
Kaito looked at the guilt-ridden Yuta, walked over, seized his shoulders, and pulled him upright.
"Enough with that. If you hadn’t kept her under control until Gojo arrived, something might really have gone wrong. You did great. Isn’t everyone okay?"
Yuta wanted to say something else, but Kaito cut him off.
"Come on. Let’s get you to Shoko and make sure you aren’t hurt. While we’re there, have Shoko explain Reverse Cursed Technique to you. It’s what she’s best at."
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