Chapter 6

Yuji lost his composure, questioning Megumi's statement. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

Megumi responded with irritation in his voice. "This is a juvenile detention center. We jujutsu sorcerers have all kinds of intel about a location before infiltrating. This guy was driving without..."

Kagura simply ignored the two idiots who were having their character development moment and strode towards the lifeless bodies of the three students. His face remained impassive, devoid of any empathy or concern.

He raised his hand, fingers splayed, and a torrent of fire came gushing out. The flames, bright and intense, completely engulfed the bodies. The heat was palpable, filling the narrow alleyway with an oppressive warmth that made it difficult to breathe.

The sudden burst of light caught the attention of the other three, who had been engrossed in their moral debate. They turned, their eyes widening in shock as they witnessed Kagura's actions. Their faces morphed into completely dumbfounded expressions, a mix of disbelief, horror, and bewilderment.

The flames danced voraciously, consuming the remains without discrimination. Tadashi Okazaki's face, which Yuji had hoped to preserve for his mother's closure, was now nothing more than ash in the inferno.

"That solves the issue I guess" he chirped, his voice brimming with glee as he gazed at them with feigned naiveté, a grin plastered across his face. Yuji parted his lips to retort, but Nobara's piercing shriek cut him off.

Yuji and Megumi whirled around, their eyes wide with shock, as Nobara's piercing scream echoed through the narrow alleyway. To their horror, they watched as she was suddenly swallowed by a gaping black portal that had opened in the ground beneath her feet.

"Kugasaki?!" Megumi exclaimed, his usually composed demeanor shattered by the unexpected turn of events. His brow furrowed in confusion and concern as he stared at the spot where Nobara had stood just moments ago.

Megumi's voice quavered with panic. "No, it can't be. The Divine Dogs should be..." He trailed off, the words catching in his throat as he whirled around. To his horror, he beheld the severed heads of the Divine Dog, their lifeless eyes staring back at him from where they were mounted on the walls, blood trickling down the surfaces.

However, before Megumi and Yuji could process what was happening and formulate a plan of action, they froze in fear as a special-grade curse suddenly materialized beside them. The towering, malevolent presence of the powerful entity sent a chill down their spines, paralyzing them with a sense of dread and helplessness. 

The curse lurched forward and attacked Yuji with a massive fist. Yuji desperately tried to jump, willing his body to move, but he was paralyzed with fear, helplessly watching the fist draw closer to his face. However, just before the strike could connect, the curse's hand stilled mid-air.

Kamo had swiftly intercepted the attack, catching the curse's fist in his grasp. With a powerful yank, he hurled the entity across the room, slamming it against the wall.

Kamo internally mused to himself, "My estimate was right, the finger bearer is barely stronger than a first-grade curse." 

He knew the events that were about to unfold in the detention center from his meta-knowledge, and he had spent a considerable amount of time contemplating how he could best leverage this opportunity to further bolster his own strength.

Through training and practice, Kamo had already attained the prowess of a semi-grade one curse user. However, he seemed to have reached a plateau in his development.

The only conclusion he could arrive at was that he required real-life experience and life-or-death situations to ascend to the next level of power.

Kamo cracked a grin, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Wow, that's one way to let it all hang out," he quipped, eyeing the curse's grotesque, malformed figure with a hint of amusement.

The towering curse let out a guttural roar, its cavernous mouth opening wide to reveal rows of jagged teeth. It lunged forward, its massive limbs flailing wildly, but the attack lacked any semblance of strategy or finesse.

Kamo effortlessly sidestepped the clumsy assault, his movements fluid and graceful. "Yeesh, you really are just a big dumb brute, aren't you?" he taunted, his tone dripping with condescension.

The curse, however, seemed incapable of comprehending Kamo's taunts. It continued its relentless assault, driven solely by a primal need to destroy.

Megumi and Yuji watched in a mixture of awe and horror as Kamo went toe to toe with the powerful curse. Yuji's expression was a conflicted one, torn between the urgency to run out of there and the desire to witness Kamo's impressive display of skill.

Megumi, on the other hand, remained cautious, his eyes narrowed as he studied Kamo's every move. There was something about the younger sorcerer's nonchalant attitude that rubbed him the wrong way, and he couldn't shake the feeling that Kamo was holding back.

However, before Megumi could continue being a bum, he was broken out of his stupor as he suddenly ducked, barely avoiding a blast of curse energy.

He whirled around, and was shocked to see another finger bearer standing before him. Megumi was deeply startled and plunged into a state of alarm.

Yuji upon noticing another finger bearer decides to attack. He springs into motion slashing with his borrowed curse tool, slaughter demon.

His eyes widened in horror as the curse's clawed hand lashed out in response to his attack, slicing clean through his forearm. His saber went flying, clattering to the ground as his severed hand tumbled through the air, the fingers still gripping the weapon's hilt.

Time seemed to slow as Yuji stared in disbelief at the gaping wound, blood already beginning to spurt forth. The pain hit him a heartbeat later, a searing agony that caused him to let out a strangled cry.

Megumi reacted instinctively, his eyes narrowing with focus as he summoned his Nue, the powerful shikigami materializing from his shadows. 

With a flick of his wrist, Megumi commanded the Nue to swiftly scoop up Yuji, whisking the injured young man away from the curse's immediate reach. Megumi's expression showing the concern he felt for his comrade's wellbeing as he turned his attention back to the curse.

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