Chapter 103: The Art Of Applause

The thunderous clap rippled out echoing off the building's walls as Mute's body flickered being switched with Todo's. Mute's eyes widen before he looks to his left and sees a horde of cursed dolls storming towards him. 

The plethora of cursed dolls' footsteps ripple out until they abruptly stop. The dolls are frozen in place as Mute dashes back dodging a kick from Nanami who had leapt down from the roof. Nanami pivots and springs toward swinging his blade.

His blunt blade soars through the air ruthlessly cutting through the wind until Nanami's shoulder freezes violently stopping his swing. Nanami grits his teeth annoyed as Mute spins and throws a kick. The kick quickly approaches Nanami's chin until another clap echoes out and Mute's body flickers and reappears on the roof. 

Mute slams his leg back on the ground before a stiff punch slams into his temple making him stumble to the side. Mute glances in the direction of the punch before seeing Miwa. Mute looks at her amused before he points Kusakabe's katana at Miwa and enlarges the blade making it shoot forward at Miwa piercing into her shoulder. 

Miwa cried out in agony as Mute twisted the hilt turning the blade in Miwa's shoulder. Mute is about to slash the blade up until abruptly a rock is thrown at the katana. The rock reaches the speed of sound before slamming into the katana shattering. Mute looks at the shattered blade surprised as he spins throwing a powerful kick into Miwa's side and launching her off the roof.

Miwa's body was about to slam into the ground when a large green monkey-cursed doll leaped towards her, catching her. The doll came to a grinding stop before a powerful kick slammed into the back of its head. The doll's face was embedded in the ground as Mute was in the air. 

Mute's body fell towards the ground until another clap rippled out and his body was again switched. Mute was switched with Todo before Mute leaned back narrowly dodging an attack from Nanami. 

Mute grinned seeing Nanami's body slide past him until another clap happened. Mute and Nanami switched places surprising Mute who crossed his arms blocking a powerful punch from Todo. Sweat started to drip down Mute's face as he locked eyes with Todo and spoke.

" How fucking annoying. "

Mute fingers started twitching as razor-sharp strings began to spew from all sides of his body, forcing Nanami and Todo to dash back. Todo grinned while stopping several feet away. Todo glanced behind him staring at the entrance of a subway station before clapping. 

Mute snapped his head over towards the clap, before glancing around trying to figure out who Todo switched however, no one had. Nanami and Todo were still in the same position. As Miwa lay face-first on the ground barely conscious.

Sensing that something was wrong, Mute quickly crouched and placed his palm on the ground, creating three massive pillars that shot out of the ground slamming into Nanami and Todo carrying them hundreds of feet into the sky. Miwa looked up in horror watching Mute sprint up the third pillar chasing Nanami and Todo.

Mute sprinted up the pillar while reaching into the snake spirit wrapped around his wrist. Pulling out the long metal chain before it combusted into molten metal. The chain glowed bright orange as a clap rippled out and Mute appeared on another pillar. Before freezing a kick from Nanami. Mute swiftly whipped his chain toward the frozen Nanami until suddenly the chain he was holding disappeared. 

A clap entered Mute's ears as Todo switched places with the chain. Mute's eyes dilated as a powerful overhand slammed into his chin rocking him. Mute stumbled back before a shadow was cast above him causing him to look up. Mute stared at a flying cursed doll. The cursed doll flapped its wings and suddenly its body flickered. 

Mute's body was switched with the cursed doll, as he looked down and saw the pillars hundreds of feet below him. Mute stared at the pillar intensely as the air warped and he shrank the distance reappearing on the pillar next to Nanami. 

Before Nanami could react a punch slammed into his ribs sending a ripple of energy through his body launching him off the pillar with blood pouring out of his mouth. Nanami quickly fell towards the ground until the flying cursed doll caught him. Mute looked at the flying cursed doll annoyed as he took a deep breath. 

Mute locked eyes with Todo who stared at him grinning. The reason Mute was struggling so much was because of Todo's simple but effective cursed technique. Mute wiped the sweat off his face, as he glanced down back at the roofs of buildings before shrinking the distance reappearing standing on metal shingles hundreds of feet below the pillars.

Mute watched as Todo leapt off the pillar falling directly towards him. Mute's eyes dilated as his fingers began to twitch wildly. Mute had made up his mind. The first sorcerer he was going to kill was Aoi Todo. 

Todo's hair blew wildly as he fell towards Mute until he clapped appearing directly next to Mute catching him off guard. Mute looked at Todo confused until he realized that he had switched with the cursed spirit wrapped around his arm. Mute looked up and shrank the distance between him and his cursed spirit. 

The cursed spirit wrapped around his left wrist as a powerful cross slammed into Mute's nose launching him off the building. Mute flipped in the air landing on the ground, coming to a sliding stop next to Miwa who was still lying on the ground. 

Mute took a deep breath as he pondered to himself...

This has gotten pretty bad. I didn't think his cursed technique would be so irritating. If I keep my cursed spirit wrapped around my wrist he'll always have an object to switch with. However, if I leave my cursed spirit it eliminates my armory of weapons. 

It doesn't help the fact that they have a plan that I'm unable to figure out. Nanami and Yaga have completely disappeared. It's only me and Todo. I hear a clap as Todo switches positions with Miwa throwing a spinning kick.

I bend my knees ducking under the kick until Todo's body flickers reappearing next to me as my snake-cursed spirit switches places with him. I slip the punch before countering with a swift uppercut that connects with Todo's chin causing him to stagger back with a grin on his face. 

I take a deep breath as I feel a chaotic grin appear on my face. If Nanami and Yaga have left to complete a plan. That only means I need to kill Todo before they finish their plan. I lean forward on my right leg before I lunge towards Todo. 

Todo's eyes widen as he tries to clap until I freeze his hands in place surprising him as my heel slams into his nose busting open his nose as his body is slammed through a nearby building. A thick dust cloud forms covering my body as dust swirls around my body.

I twitch my finger shrinking the distance between myself and my snake-cursed spirit. If he's going to keep switching places with me, I might as well use all of my tools. I smile as the snake enlarges and thousands of cursed mosquitoes fly out of its mouth. The mosquitoes fly through the dust cloud heading towards Todo. 

Letting out these spirits might give Todo more opportunities to switch, however, there's an advantage for me as well. Through the smoke cloud, I hear a clap as the silhouette of Todo appears directly above me. I watch him fall towards me while spinning. 

These cursed mosquitos have a special property to them. They let out pheromones. That makes one become enraged. Shortly, Todo's precise attacks will become full of anger and sloppy. Todo falls throwing an axe kick. I track the kick with my eyes before freezing it. 

I hear Todo scoff as a clap ripples out and he switches with a nearby cursed mosquito. Todo appears on my left throwing a jab that I parry. I swiftly counter with a palm that grazes the side of Todo's face. Veins pop out of Todo's forehead as he throws a headbutt that narrowly misses as I dash back out of its range. 

I come to a stop as Todo glares at me angrily before speaking. 

" Tch, I thought you were special grade? Why are you running? "

I just grin at him as he lunges toward me with heavy footsteps. Todo throws a powerful punch that I duck under before slamming a hook into his chin making him wobble to the side as I slam a powerful kick into his side propelling him off his feet. 

Todo flies through the air gritting his teeth in pain as he slams his hands together switching places with a mosquito. Todo appears directly behind me and throws a barrage of attacks. As I sway my body ducking and weaving through the array of attacks until through the plethora of attacks I see a gap in his guard and I spin slamming my elbow into Todo's chin dropping him face-first onto the ground. 

Looks like the mosquitoes have worked perfectly. He's probably forgotten all about the plan he and the other first grades made. I slam my foot into the back of his head making him grunt out in pain. I feel my face start to twitch as a cruel grin appears on my face as I repeatedly stomp on the back of Todo's head. 

I keep stomping on his head until out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure standing on the edge of a metal roof. I look over at the figure before realizing it's Miwa. Tch, she's a sturdy one, isn't she? I'm about to say something until she abruptly shouts out. 

" What are you doing Todo? Hurry up and switch with it. "

Switch? I quickly slam my foot down however Todo rolls dodging the stomp as a loud bang ripples from my foot slamming into the ground. I watch as Todo rolls onto his feet, while I stare at his hands with dilated eyes. However, he doesn't clap instead he throws a wild overhand that I easily slip before countering with a quick kick to his head.

Todo drops back onto the ground as I glare down at him before laughing and speaking to Miwa. 

" HAHA, I'm sorry to break it you brat. I don't think Todo can think right now. "

I stare down at Todo's face. His eyes are full of madness as veins pop out of his forehead and neck. Those mosquitoes worked better than I expected. I feel Miwa's frightened gaze on my back as I twitch my fingers increasing the string wrapped around my forearm. While I do this Miwa suddenly shouts out in a final desperate attempt.

" What would Yuki think seeing you lying there defeated?! "

Yuki? What does she have to do with this? I twitch my finger sending razor-sharp strings hurling toward Todo's neck. I stare at Todo's mad eyes with a grin until suddenly his shoulders move and his hands slam together letting out a thunderous clap. My eyes widened as I stared at Todo's face until my vision shifted to a white brick wall. 

I glance around before realizing that I'm standing on train tracks. He transported me into a subway system? I glance around confused until I hear footsteps and turn around. I watch as Nanami approaches me with his blunt blade dangling next to his waist. 

We lock eyes until he speaks to me. 

" You took longer to arrive than we expected. What did you do to Todo? "

I just shrug my shoulders at him before my eyes enlarge as I hear a loud step directly behind me. A figure dashes past me as a massive gash appears on my shoulder. Blood spews out of my wound as I look forward and stare at a figure holding onto a katana. 

I smack my lips before speaking to them. 

" So you're still here Kusakabe? I thought I had killed you on the rooftop. "

I glance at his torso and see that the massive cut going across his chest is gone. I stare at the cut until my brain clicks and I grit my teeth annoyed. Looks like Shoko is here. No wonder they ran, they went to heal their injuries. 

I take a deep breath to calm my emotions. I need to regain control of this situation. If they keep on switching to go heal they'll slowly chip me away and eventually kill me. I need to find out where Shoko is hiding. I glance at Kusakabe's blade. The katana he's using is Miwa's. No wonder she punched me earlier instead of cutting me. 

Looks like they've been planning this for a while. The tunnel goes quiet. Only the sound of water droplets dripping down from the ceiling can be heard. I take a deep breath as Nanami and Kusakabe get into a stance and glare at me.

I feel their piercing gaze observing my body until I twitch my finger and send a single massive sharp piece of string at them. Their eyes widen as they duck under the incoming string. The string sails over their heads until I shrink the distance between me and the flying string appearing directly above Nanami throwing an axe kick that he narrowly blocks with his blade.

A shockwave ripples out as I leap off Nanami's blade while flipping over Kusakabe before I spin slamming my foot into Kusakabe's chin making him stumble to the side. Kusakabe grits his teeth as he regains his balance before glancing over my shoulder.

I look back confused as bright lights illuminate my body causing me to squint. A loud horn roars out making my ears ring. I watched the bright lights approaching me as a single thought ran through my mind. "There's a train coming directly towards us."

I could probably freeze it with my cursed technique however if I just-

Before I finish my strain of thought in unison, Nanami and Kusakabe lunge towards me swinging their weapons. My eyes dilate as I freeze their movements stopping them in their tracks until suddenly a cut appears on my neck. I watch the blood spew out of my neck confused as Kusakabe regains his movements and springs at me slashing his blade.

I narrowly slip the blade as it cuts across my right cheek. I throw a powerful uppercut that connects with Kusakabe's chin launching him up into the air with blood spewing out of his nose. I watch Kusakabe fly into the ceiling of the tunnel before Nanami appears directly in front of me swinging his blade.

My eyes dilate as I freeze his blade stopping his swing. I watch as the blade is frozen in the air until Nanami lets go of his blade and dashes at me tackling me. My body is forced back as my legs lift into the air. I glance back seeing two bright lights until Nanami and I slam through the train's glass window.

Shattered pieces of glass fly out wildly as I land back first onto the train's cockpit floor with Nanami landing on top of me. I push Nanami off me before rolling onto my feet. I take a deep breath as Nanami gingerly stands up. He leans on the train wall breathing heavily until he looks at his watch annoyed and speaks. 

" Looks like I will have to go into overtime. " 

I look at him bewildered until he lunges at me throwing a jab that I parry. I lean my body to the slipping an overhand before slamming my shoulder into Nanami's jaw. Nanami grits his teeth in pain before throwing a kick. 

I cross my arms blocking the kick until my arms blur and I grab onto Nanami's heel, yanking him off his feet. Nanami's head slams into the floor before I leap on top of him slamming my fist directly into his right socket. Blood starts to cover Nanami as I repeatedly slam my fist into his face.

Bangs ripple out as I slam my fist into his face until I sense something approaching me. I look up before a small monkey wearing boxing gloves flies through the shattered window. The cursed doll throws a punch that slams into my face. A shockwave ripples out as my hand drags across the floor before my body is launched back flying through the doors of the train.

I roll into the passenger section of the train as the cursed doll sprints at me until I point my hand forward and several shards of glass embedded into my palm grow in size and shoot toward the cursed doll slicing it into pieces. 

I sit on the train's floor staring at the shredded doll with an amused look on my face. Looks like Yaga made that doll for only offense. If those few shards of glass destroyed it. I stared at the shredded doll until suddenly a voice spoke toward me. 

" What are you smirking at?" 

My eyes widen as I snap my head to the left before seeing Kusakabe sitting down on a seat with his katana leaning on his left leg. He glares at me with killing intent engulfing his eyes. I smirk at him as his right arm blurs and he speaks.

" Quick Draw. "

Kusakabe appears next to me thrusting his blade. I swiftly roll to my right narrowly dodging the blade before I push off the floor and flip into the air. My feet land on the top of the cart before I dash off the ceiling throwing a punch at Kusakabe.

Kusakabe's eyes widen as he turns his blade blocking my punch. A shockwave ripples out as his katana shakes rapidly. I grin at him as the cursed spirit wrapped around my wrist grows rapidly surprising him. The snake strikes at Kusakabe slamming its fangs into his shoulder making him grit his teeth in agony. 

Seeing an opportunity I spin off Kusakabe's katana and slam my heel into his eye launching him back as the snake loosens its jaws off Kusakabe's shoulder. Kusakabe's body slams into the train seats as he lies there in pain. 

The snake looks at him wagging its arms as it climbs up my leg before wrapping around my wrist. I shrink the snake back to normal size as I glare at Kusakabe who is looking at me with hazy eyes until I hear the sound of footsteps.

I look over towards the cockpit of the train and see Nanami walking towards me with his face and body covered in blood. He looks over at the battered Kusakabe before he smirks and nods. 

Instantly afterwards, both of their bodies flicker and are switched out with dark blue cursed dolls. One of the cursed dolls is holding an old-fashioned metal pickaxe. I stare at the dolls confused until the empty-handed doll lunges at me wildly.

I twitch my hands and send a razor-sharp piece of string at the charging doll. The string cleanly cuts off the doll's head making stuffing pour out of its body. The doll collapses on the floor as I glance at its corpse before noticing that the other doll has disappeared.

Where the hell did it go? I look around trying to find the doll however, I can't find it. I let out a loud sigh before sitting down on one of the train seats. I began to heal the wounds on my body using RCT as I pondered to myself.

Why would the doll just disappear? I guess it doesn't matter, its disappearance gives me time to recover. However, if Shoko is here, then Nanami and Kusakabe are also healing right now and it seems that Todo has fully recovered from the pheromones.

I start rubbing my chin until the sound of metal clanking enters my ears. I look outside the train window before my eyes widen seeing the blue cursed doll chipping away from the train track using its pickaxe. Before I could do anything the train violently derailed, flipping over on its side causing my body to slam into the wall of the train as the toppled cart grinds across the ground.

The sound of screeching echoed off the walls of the train until it collided with a brick wall destroying the wall completely. My body slammed through one of the train's windows causing me to collide through the wall until my body rolled to stop on bright green grass. 

I push off the grass confused as I look around seeing hundreds of different colored cursed dolls. I look at the top of a pile of cursed dolls and see Yaga sitting on it with two cursed dolls on his shoulders. He locks eyes with me before speaking. 

" Welcome to my playground. "...