[8] Black Flash

"Is this the mission site?"

Shin Shuichi glanced at the eerie, empty hospital in front of them. He and Maki were standing at the entrance, each carrying a long cloth bag on their backs.

Maki adjusted her glasses. "The Windows confirmed it. There's a Grade 2 Curse inside the hospital. We discovered it a bit late, and it's already spawned a few low-level Curses."

(Note: "Window" refers to non-sorcerers who can see Curses and are responsible for monitoring specific areas.)

"After evacuating the hospital, they reported it. Honestly, that bandaged idiot has a lot of faith in us, assigning us a Grade 2 Curse right from the start."

Both Curses and sorcerers are generally ranked from Grade 4 (lowest) to Grade 1, with Special Grade being above Grade 1.

Normally, Curses of the same grade aren't a match for sorcerers of the same rank. That's why Maki made that comment. Though she's confident in her abilities, typically, you'd deal with lower-grade Curses before moving up.

"I'll set up the barrier."

Shin clasped his hands together and recited the incantation: "From darkness, born from the deepest shadow. All filth and impurity, be purged."

As Shin finished his chant, a gray-black "curtain" descended over the hospital, isolating the area from the outside world, blocking civilians from entering or seeing in.

This ensured that any strange phenomena from the battle wouldn't be seen by regular people, preventing unnecessary negative emotions that might give rise to more Curses.

Not long after Shin and Maki entered the hospital, they encountered a few Curses with limbs like blades. As they noticed the intruders, the low-level Curses charged at them. Maki uncovered her naginata from her bag, twirled it, and slung it over her shoulder, sneering disdainfully.

"Ha! The weaker the Curse, the more they tend to flock together."

With a powerful step, Maki shot forward like an arrow from a bow toward the Curses, which were muttering mindless phrases like "It hurts" and "I don't want to die."

Just before impact, she twisted her body with a burst of strength from her waist, her feet rapidly tapping the ground as she darted past the Curses.

The naginata, which had been behind her back, swung with her spinning body, drawing sharp arcs in the air.

As she came to a halt, the Curses froze mid-charge, their pitiful cries cut short. Then, with a dull rasping sound, purple-black blood sprayed from their necks, waists, and limbs, before their bodies collapsed into pieces on the ground.

As Maki stood firmly, she was startled by a sudden round of applause from Shin, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Her face darkened as she turned to see Shin tucking his bow, Extinction, under his arm, clapping earnestly with a serious expression. When he noticed her gaze, he even added praise. "Wow! That was an amazing strike, Maki. So clean and precise, all to the vital points…"

"Shut up! Focus on finding the Curse already."

Annoyed, Maki felt a strange mix of embarrassment and frustration, particularly since Shin's compliment seemed genuine. It only made her feel more flustered!

God have mercy! Shin really thought that move was cool—a single dash, using the spin of her body to slice through all the Curses' vital points. It was such a high-level technique, and honestly… it was awesome

Maki, unsure how to respond, just kept her face cold as she walked ahead, carrying her naginata. Shin waved her off. "I'll start searching from the roof. Call me if anything happens."

Without turning back, Maki acknowledged him. Shin effortlessly scaled the hospital's exterior, reaching the fifth-floor rooftop. From this vantage point, he had a wide view. He watched as Maki, with her weapon in hand, charged into the dimly lit building below. Shin turned and entered through the rooftop door.

The Curses here were weak. Shin hadn't even needed to exert himself using Extinction. The low-level Curses barely survived a single shot, and he was careful not to blast gaping holes in the walls or corridors.

As he shot another Curse, which resembled a dark, ghostly version of a teru teru bozu, into dust, Shin found it oddly cute—at least compared to the more grotesque Curses they usually faced.

Suddenly, Shin's gaze shifted to the window. The adjacent annex beside the main building emitted a strong surge of cursed energy, accompanied by faint noises from that direction.

It looked like something was happening on Maki's side. Shin wasted no time, darting down the corridor. Faster than his own shadow, a blue blur shattered the half-height window at the end of the hallway.

Shin leapt through, cursed energy surging through his body as he crossed the ten-meter gap in an instant. While still in the air, he formed an arrow of cursed energy and shot it through the window of the annex building, shattering the glass.

Landing gracefully, Shin quickly sensed that the cursed energy surge and the sounds were coming from below—likely the second floor. He was currently on the fourth.

Taking the stairs would be too slow. Silently apologizing in his mind, Shin drew back Extinction, a deep blue arrow aimed at the floor. It pierced through layers of stone and concrete, locking onto the strong curse energy below.

Maki's cursed energy level was far below that of a typical sorcerer, close to an ordinary person's, so the large mass of cursed energy below must be the Curse! However, Shin had to be careful not to let the shockwave harm Maki. After a brief moment of concentration, he found a fleeting opportunity.

With a release of his fingers, the ground beneath shattered as a slanted hole was blasted downward, causing the floor to crack and collapse.

...

Upon entering the hospital, Maki seemed to charge forward recklessly, but in reality, she was carefully observing her surroundings. Without cursed energy, she couldn't directly sense Curses, so she relied on her glasses to see them.

Maki didn't possess a cursed technique, and her limited cursed energy wasn't enough to exorcise Curses. In exchange, she gained immense physical strength, allowing her to wield cursed tools and eliminate Curses with brute force.

In the Jujutsu world, there's something called "binding vows"—sacrifices made in exchange for power. Some of these vows are consciously made, but others occur at birth, whether the person wants it or not. This involuntary exchange is known as "Heavenly Restriction," where one ability is taken away, and another is granted.

It's hard to say if "Heavenly Restriction" is a blessing or a curse, but more often than not, it feels like the latter.

After swiftly dealing with a few Curses, Maki reached the second floor, where she encountered more Curses, their bodies made of tattered, gray-black cloth. They varied in size—some tall and thin, others short and stout. The Curses poured out of the hospital rooms, screaming incoherently as they rushed toward her.

Thinking they were just more low-level Curses, Maki charged in again. In the narrow corridor, she used her nimble movements and naginata to unleash a storm of slashes.

As she passed through, the shredded Curses fell in pieces behind her. Just as she was about to finish off the last two, her senses flared. Maki turned to her left, barely raising her naginata in time to block.

The wall beside her exploded, and several black, tentacle-like objects struck her weapon. The force of the impact pressed the naginata against her body, sending her flying backward.

"Cough…"

Crashing through the wall into a hospital room, Maki quickly got to her feet, only slightly bruised. Before she could catch her breath, she dodged another incoming attack, sprinting up the walls and out of the room. It was then that she saw the Curse clearly.

It resembled the previous cloth Curses, its body made of dirty, tattered gray-black strips. Below the cloth was a black, mist-like substance, with traces of writhing flesh underneath. It had no limbs or face—or perhaps the gaps in the cloth might have been its "mouth."

The Curse filled the hallway, its cloth strips flailing like tentacles, smashing into the walls and floor, leaving dents and cracks. Maki grinned, her face full of determination. "Finally, a Curse with some intelligence. You even hid and waited for the right moment to attack… now this is more of a challenge!"

Maki dashed forward, her naginata dragging behind her. She crouched low, dodging a flurry of attacks, then launched herself into the air, slashing through the tentacles with precision. The cloth strips fell to the ground, burning away into ash.

Despite the Curse's wild attacks, Maki moved like a fish in water, dodging and weaving through its strikes. She closed in and delivered a powerful slash to the Curse's body.

Her naginata cut through with ease, leaving deep wounds that oozed black fluid and released dark smoke. But as the Curse recoiled, Maki frowned. "It doesn't seem to be affected much. Did I miss its vital points?"

The black cloth slithered like a living snake, wrapping around the wounds on the curse spirit's body, and in the blink of an eye, it looked as if nothing had happened. A glint of cold light flickered across Maki's glasses as her mind raced through various details from earlier.

"This curse spirit seems to lack the common weak points found in flesh and blood bodies, such as limbs, a heart, or a head. But it must have some vulnerabilities. Continue to probe and attack, find its weak point, and then deliver a fatal blow!"

Maki then utilized the layout of the corridor and the surrounding patient rooms to engage in combat with the curse spirit. In a sense, the not-so-wide terrain worked to her advantage; the spirit's single attacks were not particularly strong. Aside from the occasional noticeably thick attack of fabric, Maki could easily cut through most of them with a single slash.

The troublesome part was its body, wrapped in layers of cloth. After she sliced through it, the wounds would quickly heal, and judging by its attack patterns, it seemed to trap its enemies before dragging them back to be devoured by the black smoke beneath the fabric. That place was likely the real danger.

Just as she dodged a series of intense attacks from the curse spirit, Maki suddenly detected a booming sound coming from above! Then, in her incredible dynamic vision, the ceiling near the spirit's head suddenly shattered, and a blue, concentrated curse energy arrow shot out.

The curse spirit also seemed to sense some anomaly, and the fabric it was wielding began to prepare for defense. However, in the next moment, the arrow vanished from sight, and simultaneously, a large hole opened up in the spirit's body.

As the spirit's scream echoed, its body trembled, and two perfectly round holes eerily appeared. Maki only caught a fleeting glimpse of something in her memory, the only tangible thing she could grasp was the residue of curse energy.

However, after sustaining damage, the curse spirit began to rapidly heal itself. Perhaps realizing that the arrows had not been particularly effective, no further curse energy arrows descended. Instead, a figure suddenly broke through the ceiling and smashed down toward the curse spirit.

"Woohoo~"

A black wave of curse energy erupted in a dazzling display, as a fist fell from the sky and slammed into the curse spirit's body. The overwhelming curse energy that accompanied it created a momentary illusion of pause before the terrifying force exploded, blowing away dust and debris in the surroundings.

Half of the curse spirit's body disintegrated into ashes, revealing a nauseating sight beneath the cloth. The true form of this curse spirit was a twisted mass of writhing tendrils, with several grotesque eyes of varying sizes growing upon it.

"Weak point!"

Just as Maki prepared to rush forward and engage in battle, she saw Shin landing with a smile. His left hand was already clenched into a fist as it struck toward the curse spirit. The black light flickered again, and before the spirit could make any move amidst the cries of pain, the writhing mass in the air shattered piece by piece in the twisted black light.

"Ah? I haven't even put in my full strength, and you're already down?"