Chapter:47 The Shrine(1/?)

The bus ride to the hills where the cursed spirit's nest was located felt longer than a lifetime. As Renko sat next to Gojo, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive about the upcoming encounter. Her last encounter with that cursed spirit had impacted her, and she wanted to make sure she didn't make any mistake that might cost her life.

For her part, Gojo seemed unbothered by the situation, chatting away and passing the time on her phone. At one point, she even started laughing so loudly that Renko tried to look over her shoulder only to see a funny image of someone making a cow wear the pope's clothes.

'Seriously?'

The laughter continued, echoing through the bus and drawing curious glances from other passengers. Renko couldn't help but crack a small smile, Gojo's intentions were quite clear to her. She was trying to lighten up the rather serious mood that Renko had put on and she succeeded in doing so.

As the bus made its way to the back mountain area or the thrift shopping and flea market district, Renko's gaze altered between the densely occupied side streets and the looming mountain in the distance. Well, looming might be an overstatement, but it was completely covered in trees.

Gojo finally lowered her phone, sensing Renko's growing tension. With a mischievous grin, she leaned in and said,

"You know, facing curses is like a game. You just need to figure out the rules and play strategically."

Renko raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"A game? This isn't a game you know, if you are not careful, we can both get killed."

Gojo conceded expression turned serious.

"True, but a strategic mindset can make the difference between life and death in our line of work. Trust me on that."

After five more minutes, the bus dropped them off near the path leading to the shrine. It wasn't the same that Renko had taken when she visited it for the first time, but it was usable at least,

'The first thing I'm doing after getting the property is make a proper road.'

"We're here,"

Gojo remarked as she put both her hands in her pockets.

"You were right Kono-chan, it looks like this one is at least a first-grade. I can sense it from here."

Renko turned to look in the shrine's direction but saw nothing but the cleat sky and the dense forest ahead,

"Well, I can't."

Gojo chuckled,

"That's because you haven't learned curse energy detection yet."

Renko sighed, feeling a mixture of frustration and curiosity. it was one of the two techniques that were the basic requirements for a sorcerer.

"How do I learn that?"

Gojo grinned, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Don't worry, Kono-chan. I'll teach you the ropes. But for now, focus on observing your surroundings. Feel the air, and sense any abnormalities. It's all about attuning yourself to the energy around you."

Renko nodded, not really getting any of it but the instructions sounded cool anyway so that was something. 

As they started walking towards the shrine, the atmosphere suddenly became dense with a palpable energy. Renko could sense a subtle shift in the air, the same shifts she couldn't even sense the last time she was here.

"Fascinating, I didn't sense a thing last time I was here."

Gojo gave her a sidelong glance,

"Then that would mean your curse energy really did grow. The one fascinating is you Kono-chan, I am sure Shoko would be delighted to meet you."

No more words were exchanged between them as they walked the path leading them deeper into the forest. For a moment, Renko couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched and drew the new or rather 'Ordinary Cursed Bayonet' from her inventory, holding it to her side.

Gojo seemed entirely unfazed by this and continued walking with a casual swagger. Renko tried her best to mimic Gojo's composure but the tension in her muscles didn't leave, not to mention her 'danger sense' was going haywire again. 

As they approached the shrine, Renko noticed an eerie stillness settling in. The sound of flowing water, that of birds and insects, the very voice of nature had been replaced by an unsettling quiet. The dense foliage cast its long shadow over the ground for a moment. the land was dyed black.

Gojo stopped abruptly, her keen eyes scanning the surroundings. With a sudden jerk of her hand, she sent out a blast of curse energy that tore through the darkness, revealing its true form.

[Lv. 25, Shadow Spirit, Grade Three]

[HP: 0/2,500]

'No way! That wave had more attack power than all my abilities combined!'

Gojo chuckled again as the Third Grade curse spirit's corpse dissolved into fine particles of red and blue.

"It's nothing, an insignificant grade three. But why aren't you absorbing it? Didn't you say you needed to absorb curses to increase yours?"

Renko's eyes twitched,

'Damned overpowered chick!'

"Yes, but my ability requires me to be the one to deliver the finishing blow. Only then can I absorb it." 

The white-haired woman nodded,

"That's fare I suppose..."

Suddenly, she stopped speaking and stared into the dark woods, her face swinging from one side to the other as her eyes darted from one tree to the other.

"Something's not right,"

Gojo whispered, her playful demeanor replaced by a focused intensity.

"Stay close, Kono-chan. We might have company."

Renko gripped her weapon tighter, her senses on high alert as she followed Gojo's gaze into the dark woods. The eerie silence now felt more ominous than ever, and the unsettling feeling in Renko's stomach grew with each passing moment.

Not like the 'danger sense' bell helped, in the past couple of days, they rang all the time and honestly, it was getting quite annoying.

Gojo took a defensive stance, her senses finely tuned to the surroundings. Renko could tell the only reason why Gojo did so was because she was there, and couldn't help but feel a bit like a burden.

Suddenly, the shadows beneath the dense foliage seemed to writhe, and the leaves rustled, the sound unusually loud in the quiet.

In a swift motion, Gojo unleashed another burst of curse energy, this time not to reveal or attack a spirit but to create a protective barrier around them. The air crackled with the energy, forming a translucent shield against potential threats.

Renko, on edge, scanned the surroundings, her knife at the ready,

'This honestly wouldn't do much against grade three and higher.'

Sweatdropped Renko as she realized her weakness.

Gojo's eyes narrowed as she continued to scan the darkness.

"Kono-chan looks like we got company, stay behind the barrier, no grade two or below should be able to pass through it."

Renko nodded, not like she could do anything else in this situation. 

'I knew she was powerful, but not this powerful.'

She stared at the barrier, feeling a sense of dread at the thought of trying to pass it. Finally, her reasons won against the intrusive thoughts.

Suddenly, from the depths of the forest, figures emerged. Cursed spirits, unlike any Renko had encountered before. Their forms were strangely human-shaped with distorted masks and a distinct horn on all their foreheads.

But the strange thing was that almost all of them were equipped with weapons, crude ones but weapons nonetheless. Mostly wooden clubs with a couple of axes and blades mixed in.

"Well, today's your lucky day Kono-chan."

Gojo smirked as she watched the ragtag bunch walk out into the light.

"Why? Because we are getting jumped by a bunch of armed curse spirits?"

She chuckled,

"Curse spirits don't usually use weapons..."

"These clearly didn't get the memo!"

Gojo's explanation was interrupted by Renko's words and it seems she was not pleased by it.

"Renko, you can either shut the hell up or I can just open the barrier and let you fight these spirits yourself. Your choice."

Renko stuttered, she wasn't expecting such a harsh rebuttal, but in hindsight, she was the one panicking despite her past so... yeah.

"Ok."

Gojo continued,

"As I was saying, Curse spirits don't usually use weapons, at least the non-intelligent ones don't. But these are, which either means they are all intelligent ones and it's gonna be a pain to clean them up, or that someone is controlling them. That someone might be a Yokai, that's why I said it might be your lucky day."

 Renko thought about it and came to the same conclusion,

'It's definitely not my lucky day.'

If luck meant encountering strong spirits all the time then no thank you, she was better off being unlucky.

"Renko, stay put and observe. I'll handle the spirits; try and see if you can learn anything from my fight."

Nodding, Renko clenched the bayonet, waiting for the fight to start. The spirits, bizarrely armed and eerily silent, approached the barrier cautiously. It was an unusual sight, and Renko couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to these creatures than meets the eye.

Gojo, in contrast, exuded confidence as she faced the approaching horde. With a sudden tilt of her body, she disappeared from her spot and reappeared in front of a spirit, her palm clenching around its face and tightening till it exploded.

"These aren't that strong."

Renko observed the dying curse spirit and reeled back in surprise,

[Lv.54, Spirit of Violence, Subordinate of the Oni Yokai]

[HP: 0/5,000]

'Yeah right, weak my ass!'

Another spirit lunged at Gojo with a crude axe, and she disappeared again. Her speed was too fast for Renko's eyes to follow, but her attacks left visible marks all over the place.

Renko watched intently as Gojo tore, ripped, smashed, and trampled through the small hoard. The spirits, despite their humanoid appearance, lacked the fluidity of a living being. Their attacks were predictable, not like Gojo needed to exploit this weakness, she was already too fast for them to counterattack against.

As the massacre continued, Renko noticed a subtle coordination among the spirits, suggesting a level of intelligence not typical for cursed entities. One spirit, wielding a rusted blade, tried a sneak attack but instead landed the strike on Gojo's afterimage before being swiftly decapitated.

This confirmed Gojo's assumption that someone or something was controlling them, and, according to her assumptions, the one doing so was a Yokai.