Chapter 44. The Curse of Choice (Part 1)

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I dart forward, sprinting down the empty street. Then again, these days every street in Tokyo is empty. An eerie silence has swallowed the city, making it feel like even the air has frozen in anticipation of some inevitable catastrophe. The city that never sleeps now stands paralyzed, haunted only by the occasional echoes of death — the roar of curses and the agonized screams of their victims, fading into the indifference of the dark night.

I don't need to look back to know the curses are closing in on me. I can feel them. Their guttural roars tearing through the stillness, their footsteps pounding against the asphalt like a relentless metronome, counting down the seconds until they catch up. The cursed energy radiating from the spirits behind me thickens the air like a toxic fog — heavy and suffocating.

"Those beasts must be starving. Looks like they've been hitting more buffets than diets lately," I mutter to no one in particular.

Six first-grade curses. You might be wondering why someone like me — Sukehiro Yami, a special-grade sorcerer who never backs down — is running. Well, let's just say... personal limitations.

Yeah, you could call me disabled, considering I lost a chunk of my "functionality" after my fight with Sukuna. For another week or so I won't be able to use my "Enhancement", which, as you might guess, is pretty essential in my line of work. I mean, I am a sorcerer, after all. A head-on fight isn't an option. The injuries I sustained, which I'm barely holding together right now, would become permanent if I dared to use my "Enhancement" again. And I'd rather avoid that. I've still got a world to change. That's why I've adopted a different approach: round up as many of these beasts as I can and wipe them all out in one go.

So yeah, the hunter in me is still alive and kicking.

One of the curses, thinking it's clever, springs off one of its kin with feral grace. Its movement is so precise, it's like nature itself whispered the perfect moment to strike. It isn't just rushing at me — every step it takes is dripping with hunger, its desire to tear me apart palpable. Its claw slices through the air with terrifying speed, aimed squarely at my back like a blade ready to deliver the killing blow.

But my danger sense kicks in long before those claws can even touch me. [Danger Sense] and [Heightened Reflexes], top-tier instincts, aren't just fancy words on a holographic display — they're primal, real. They're instincts honed to the extreme, where you feel the attack before it even happens. You hear, see, and sense the threat as if it's already upon you. My mind registers it before my body has the chance to react.

Inhale. Cursed energy surges into my legs, lightning-fast, coursing through my body. I launch forward. The asphalt cracks beneath me as I shoot out of position, rocketing ahead. The curse's claws slice the air behind me, missing by a hair's breadth.

Still mid-air, I twist sharply, spinning a full one-eighty like a whirlwind. My hand snaps out, summoning a barrage of fireballs that hiss as they tear through the air, blazing toward the overconfident curse. Time slows for me as they streak forward, leaving visible trails of heat in their wake. An instant later, the fireballs collide with the curse's body.

An explosion follows, and the creature, engulfed in flames, lets out a scream that drowns out every other sound. The fire clings to it, not just devouring its flesh but burning away its very soul. That's why it writhes in agony, its shriek laced with pure torment.

But I don't stop. Mid-spin, I execute a controlled flip, landing softly, gliding across the ground like I'm skating on ice. My eyes drop to the battlefield — the curse, still ablaze, crashes into its kin. Their bodies collide and scatter like bowling pins. Two go down instantly, their massive forms slamming into the ground, while three others stumble, trying to regain their balance.

A slight hesitation… but that's all I need.

"Fourth Aspect: Delay Explosions!"

For a brief moment, everything freezes. Silence blankets the area — even the tortured wail of the curse fades. Then, with the fury of an ancient volcano, a fiery column erupts from beneath the ground. The heat is unbearable — ferocious, searing, all-consuming — it engulfs the group of six curses, swallowing them in a blazing inferno. The deafening boom that follows shakes the air itself, as if the atmosphere is quaking under the force.

The blast wave tears their bodies apart, scattering them like fragile dolls smashed against an unstoppable force. Limbs and shards of cursed flesh soar through the sky, flying in every direction. Even the nearby buildings aren't spared — walls and rooftops are blown apart, and deep cracks crawl through the concrete foundations like spiderwebs.

Where the explosion hit, there's now a gaping crater. The ground glows white-hot, smoke rising from its depths, filling the air with the stench of molten stone and ash. The heat still pulses from the core, a vivid reminder of the elemental fury unleashed, leaving a scar no one could stand against.

I straighten up, watching as the last remnants of ash slowly drift to the ground.

"Is it really that serious?" Kokichi's voice crackled in my earpiece, his usual skepticism cutting through the haze.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, not breaking stride. My eyes were already scanning the surroundings for the next target. Curses were still rampant in this part of the city, and I didn't have time to waste on idle chatter.

"You've been hunting for almost eight hours and have cleared nearly all of Minato," Kokichi continued, clearly unable to resist his commentary. "If you're about to tell me this is just another typical day for you, then I might as well start eating raw fish!"

"We let this happen," I replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "It's only logical that we're the ones who have to fix it. And as a special-grade sorcerer, I can easily keep this pace."

"Look, I'm not trying to lecture you," Kokichi said, though the concern in his voice was unmistakable. "But even Yuta and Yuki Tsukumo didn't pull marathons like this. Are you planning to keep this up until morning? This isn't just a cleanup anymore — it's turning into an obsession."

"That's their problem," I cut him off, pausing as I sensed a faint pulse of cursed energy in the distance. It was weak, but noticeable — a reminder that the work was far from over. "Maybe they just don't want to push themselves out of their comfort zones. Honestly, I don't care how they operate."

I didn't have time to worry about how other sorcerers handled their missions. Besides, I wasn't about to badmouth Yuta this time. The guy's working just as hard as I am, but his focus is on clearing evacuation zones. He's carrying the weight of thousands of lives, rescuing people who need to be rushed out of harm's way. His battlefield isn't out here, in these blood-soaked streets filled with cursed energy. It's where people are clinging to their last hopes.

As for me? I'm right here. In the heart of this bloody storm.

"Obsession, huh?" I chuckled, cutting off whatever Kokichi was about to say. "You talk like I'm chasing these curses to deal with personal demons. Maybe you should give it a shot yourself — then you'd realize this has nothing to do with personal issues." I glanced around the empty street, trying to hammer the point home. "This is necessity. Curses don't schedule their attacks."

Still, as much as I hated to admit it, Kokichi had a point. And things with Maki… yeah, they were serious. When she said she needed time to think, her voice was cold, distant. No usual sarcasm, no anger, no biting remarks like in our usual arguments. Just that simple, dry statement — and then she was gone. She didn't even give me a chance to respond, like words didn't matter anymore. All that was left was the faint trace of her scent, quickly fading into the air, just like her figure disappearing on the horizon.

I don't blame her. She's probably feeling awful right now. I can imagine how hard this hit her — not just the fact that I kept something from her, but what I kept hidden. Maki's always been strong, but even the strongest people can get overwhelmed by their emotions. Especially in her case, when for the first time in her life, she allowed herself to be vulnerable with someone… and that someone turned out to be a "crazy" person ready to flip the world upside down.

As for me? Well… getting rejected by the person you love isn't exactly something I'd put on my list of favorite experiences. Disappointment mixes with pain, forming this heavy weight pressing down on your chest. Yeah, it hit me deep. Maybe so deep that I'm not even ready to admit it to myself. But I'm not the type to sit around sulking, whining like a helpless kid. I've got my own ways of dealing with this kind of crap, and moping isn't one of them.

In moments like this, it's easier to focus on what I do best — exorcising curses. It's the kind of work that leaves no room for self-pity or reflection. The world narrows down to a simple equation: you and the curses. No time to think about mistakes or regrets. No space for wondering what could've been. Every step is a reaction, every move is calculated. The brain runs on pure instinct, and there's a strange relief in that. Curses don't give you time to wallow in misery — they exist for one reason: to be destroyed. And I do. Over and over again.

Since I can't put my plan into motion just yet — because I still need Kenjaku, or rather, Suguru Geto — the only "interesting" thing left for me to do is hunt curses. I don't need to come up with justifications or search for deeper meanings behind my actions. It's as simple as it gets: curses threaten people, and I'm here to eliminate them. The mechanical precision of my actions gives me a sense of control, something that's been lacking in my personal life. Out here, on the streets of Tokyo, there's no room for emotional wounds. There's only the job.

In a way, it's therapeutic. Every curse I destroy is another distraction. The fire, the fight, the adrenaline — it all pushes out the noise, leaving only pure action.

"Better spill the tea — how's it going with Miwa?" I asked Kokichi after a brief pause, deciding to switch gears.