Megumi?"
Nobara turned her head, blinking in the dust. "Where'd he go?"
Yuji looked behind them—Megumi had vanished. Just a second ago, he'd been right beside them.
"Oi, Fushiguro!" Yuji called out, voice echoing in the quiet ruins.
Nothing.
Then suddenly—a pulse. A vibration through the cursed energy around them.
Nobara tensed. "That wasn't natural."
Somewhere Else
A dim, narrow corridor.
Megumi stumbled forward, eyes adjusting. A suffocating pressure coiled in the air, thick like smoke and stinging his lungs.
He spun around. No exit. Just stone. Black stone.
"What the hell—?"
He was trapped.
In front of him, something moved. Something crawled out of the darkness. Not slithering—stretching.
It had the frame of a human, but elongated like wet clay.
Dozens of arms. Dozens of mouths. Its face twisted like melting wax.
A Curse.
It whispered in ten voices at once.
"One… lone… sorcerer… trapped."
Megumi flared his cursed energy instantly, bringing out Divine Dogs, Toad, and Great Serpent all at once. They all pounced.
The curse didn't flinch.
It moved with grotesque speed—slashing the divine dog apart mid-air and snapping the toad's tongue with its fingers like brittle thread.
Megumi's eyes narrowed. "Fast."
It lunged.
He leapt back, summoning Max Elephant, trying to wash it down the corridor—but the creature leapt sideways, crawling across the walls, defying gravity.
It was smarter than expected. Too smart.
Megumi grit his teeth. "What is this thing…"
The curse hissed again. "You don't belong here… your soul reeks of hesitation…"
Suddenly, it struck.
Megumi tried blocking with shadows—but the curse tore through the defense and slammed into him, sending him flying across the corridor—
CRASH!
He blasted through a wall, slamming into another chamber. Blood trickled from his mouth.
He coughed and tried to get up, only for the creature to follow—reaching with five arms, each forming a different weapon made of bone.
He barely rolled away in time before one of them shattered the floor beside him.
"Shikigami: Rabbit Escape!"
A burst of shadowy rabbits swarmed the area, blinding the curse for just a moment. Megumi used the opportunity to retreat, leaping through another hallway—panting, bleeding, mind racing.
"It's not just strong… It's relentless."
Another crash. Another wall broke.
Megumi was flung back again.
Blood trailed across the cracked floor.
He wiped his mouth and stood, barely.
"This thing…"
He braced himself again.
"…is almost special grade."
And it was just getting started.