Chapter 45: Mahito
Kamihara Hajime was searching Matsumoto Den's body for other clues when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside the factory. Turning around, he saw a young man, not very old, with a handsome face.
Both exchanged confused glances. Kamihara Hajime was confused because he recognized the man as the Curse User target, Uehara Masanobu. Although he had a likable appearance, his actions were far more heinous than Matsumoto Den's.
Kamihara Hajime couldn't help but sigh, thinking, "It truly takes no effort at all! I don't even need to search around; both mission targets are delivered right to my face. Can anything be easier than this?"
Uehara Masanobu's gaze swept over the young man in the familiar uniform, holding a sword, and the monster lying at his feet. His heart sank, and he tentatively asked, "Are you from Tokyo Jujutsu High?"
Kamihara Hajime had intended to finish him off directly, but then he suddenly remembered Matsumoto Den's situation. So, he changed his mind. Without using his Technique, he abruptly charged at Uehara Masanobu, his twin blades reaching his face in an instant.
Even though he was prepared, Uehara Masanobu was startled by the swift attack. Several ink-black tentacles suddenly emerged from around his body, wrapping him completely in layers.
But in just a flash, the defense conjured by the Shikigami Uehara Masanobu summoned shattered. Streams of light seeped through the severed cracks, illuminating his somewhat surprised face.
Then, a subsequent kick twisted his face further. As he spun several times in the air, flying towards the wall, Uehara Masanobu was again caught by a mass of tentacles extending from behind him at that critical moment. Although he still hit the wall, the impact was significantly reduced.
Looking at Uehara Masanobu, who was clutching his abdomen despite having been kicked in the face, Kamihara Hajime showed a 'just as expected' expression: "Did you fight it before?"
Kamihara Hajime pointed at the remaining body on the ground and asked. Uehara Masanobu's face darkened, and he did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand, took out another talisman, and summoned a ferocious Shikigami, over two meters tall, with some resemblance to a zombie.
As soon as this Shikigami appeared, the pus-filled boils on its body began to burst one by one, creating a continuous popping sound. The black-green liquid flowing from them quickly covered the surrounding ground.
"Do you know 'Mahito'? He's a humanoid Cursed Spirit."
Kamihara Hajime asked this while vibrating his sword. In Uehara Masanobu's mind, the image of the stitched-face Cursed Spirit, with a smile that blended innocence and evil, naturally appeared. The renewed fear made him shiver, and an expression of terror, which he himself hadn't noticed, appeared on his face.
"By the way, why is he vibrating his sword?"
White 'threads' enveloped Uehara Masanobu, and the tentacles wrapped around him fell to the ground. The zombie-like Shikigami no longer looked terrifying, as it had been reduced to a pile of indistinguishable flesh.
"You..."
Before Uehara Masanobu could finish speaking, his vision dropped, and he uncontrollably fell to the ground. His legs were neatly severed from the middle, and blood flowed from the stumps, mixing with the filth on the ground, accompanied by his screams of pain.
"Tell me about that Cursed Spirit. If you satisfy me, I'll heal you with Reverse Cursed Technique," Kamihara Hajime said, looking down at him on the ground.
Uehara Masanobu, who was severely injured in one encounter, knew that he had finally met his match. This was not like the Jujutsu Sorcerers he had easily evaded or repelled in the past. He didn't even dare to release his other Shikigami, which he had originally intended for a sneak attack.
Memories involuntarily surfaced in his mind. The humanoid Cursed Spirit, speaking human words, seemed to be right before him. It had transformed the deranged murderer into a monster right in front of him, and he himself had even accidentally been injured in the abdomen by it.
He had fled out of fear but returned out of greed, only to encounter this formidable opponent. Now, having sobered up, his heart was filled with regret.
Under the pressure of death, Uehara Masanobu could only force himself to believe the other party's words. Even if there was only a one percent chance, he had to cling to it tightly.
"It's that Cursed Spirit. He has stitches on his face and body. He's the one who turned that person into a monster, but I don't know his name... He seemed to have told me to find him at a nearby hospital before..."
As he spoke, he seemed to realize something. Then he saw the young man's gaze change, and then he felt sensation in his feet again, and his body... seemed to be swelling?
"Fa... Ugh..."
His voice became muffled and indistinct. He let out futile whimpers, and his raised hand swelled up like an inflated balloon...
"So... I've already been affected. When did it happen?"
Uehara Masanobu's consciousness descended into chaos, and this last thought flashed through his mind before being completely swallowed by the surging desire for slaughter.
Kamihara Hajime watched with wide eyes as this Curse User transformed from a genuine human into a monster with only limbs and facial features right before him.
"This Technique... truly is..."
Time Wheel Spin
Onikiri easily cut it into pieces, and the fragmented body immediately lost its vitality, even showing signs of "withering."
Then, casually dispatching the few Shikigami and Cursed Spirits that had lost their restraints due to Uehara Masanobu's death, Kamihara Hajime took out his phone, snapped a few photos of the ground, and sent a message to Nitta Akari to handle the aftermath.
Leaving the area, Kamihara Hajime opened his map application, searched for the nearest hospital, and then headed there.
The hospital wasn't very large, and there were only a few people in the corridors. As Kamihara Hajime walked, he paused, seeing someone sitting on a chair at the end of the corridor.
Black clothes, black pants, long blue hair tied into three braids, and one blue and one black eye. The most striking features were the stitches on his face and arms. Yes, he was the Special Grade Cursed Spirit—Mahito!
Sitting on the chair, he was "ignored" by all the passersby. He was observing the people in the hospital with great interest. Kamihara Hajime's arrival drew his gaze, and upon seeing the newcomer, his eyes lit up; he knew the other person could see him.
"Hello there." Mahito showed an innocent smile. If one ignored his abnormalities, one might even develop a favorable impression of him.
He continued, "Didn't that human come? But you're not bad either, what a beautiful body! Your soul must be beautiful too, I really want to feel it."
Mahito, with an intoxicated expression, instinctively reached out his hand. Then, a sharp pain startled him awake. He focused his eyes and saw that his outstretched right hand had been severed at the wrist, but he hadn't seen how it happened.
"Huh? Did you do that?"
Mahito, with only confusion on his face, bent down to pick up his hand, dangled it in front of his eyes, then carelessly dropped it on the ground, letting it slowly turn to dust. Where his hand had been severed, flesh began to surge, and in a few breaths, another hand grew from it.
He flexed his newly grown hand, which looked exactly like the original. Kamihara Hajime sat in the chair opposite him, showing no surprise. That had merely been a warning. If he remembered correctly, this Cursed Spirit was very special; ordinary attacks had little effect on his body. Only powers involving the soul could cause him real damage.
"Are you Mahito? You were responsible for Matsumoto Den and Uehara Masanobu, weren't you?" Although Kamihara Hajime's question was phrased as a query, his tone was assertive. There weren't many people in the hospital, but only relatively speaking. The situation was urgent, and there was no time to evacuate these people. Mahito wouldn't foolishly watch Kamihara Hajime do that.
Being unable to set up a barrier meant that Kamihara Hajime couldn't immediately draw his sword and cut him down. If he didn't kill Mahito instantly with his Technique, the surrounding people would likely become his playthings in an instant.
On the other side, Mahito's interest in Kamihara Hajime grew stronger. While pondering the unnoticed attack from earlier, he thoughtfully considered Kamihara Hajime's words and then said, "I suppose so. I don't know the names of those two humans. After fulfilling one's wish, I casually transformed the other. What? Are they your friends?"
Kamihara Hajime chuckled softly: "No, they're criminals. You just stole my job."
Fortunately, not many people were passing by, so Kamihara Hajime wasn't mistaken for a self-talking lunatic. Mahito laughed happily upon hearing this. He playfully twirled a strand of hair by his cheek and chuckled, "Then there's no need to thank me."
"By the way, you're here to kill me, aren't you?"
Mahito's increasingly deep smile held a hint of malice, but he didn't make the first move. Kamihara Hajime was wary of the "hostages" around him, and he, in turn, was wary of Kamihara Hajime's previous attack methods.
"Was that pure speed? I didn't see the attack trajectory, nor did I see the weapon. The thing on his ear must be a Cursed Spirit, a type that can change its form, quite rare. And it must be the one hiding his weapon."
Mahito pondered the information he could analyze, while regretting slightly that he had only focused on observing these humans earlier and hadn't casually made a few more toys. His current stock seemed insufficient. Facing an opponent with unobservable attack methods, his little toys probably wouldn't be of much use. It was truly troublesome.
Even with these thoughts, Mahito felt no fear. If his soul couldn't be touched, those attacks were merely injuries that would heal in an instant for him.
And his soul must be beautiful, and the sensation of touching it must be exquisite!
Mahito's smile almost reached his ears, and his eyes revealed undisguised malice. But this malice was more like a child seeing an ant nest and then bringing a kettle of boiling water to pour on it to see the ants' reaction.
Kamihara Hajime sighed, looked at both sides of the corridor, and then said to Mahito, "Can you come with me first, and then let me obediently cut you down? After exorcising you, my application for Special Grade will be much simpler, right?"
"No, I haven't started playing yet. But if you promise to let me touch your soul, it's not impossible. Otherwise, I'll just play with these inferior toys," Mahito said, his gaze sweeping over the people in the hospital, looking at them with a hint of boredom.
Kamihara Hajime, somewhat distracted, didn't pay much attention to Mahito's words. He casually exchanged a few more sentences with him, then casually said, "I'm waiting for an opportunity. What are you waiting for?"
Mahito was startled, then his words were interrupted by a loud bang. A door at the right end of the corridor suddenly exploded for no apparent reason, along with the nearby surveillance camera. Mahito, sensing trouble, immediately activated his Technique.
But then, the scene before his eyes instantly changed. Around him, cars were parked in groups of two or three, and above, there was only thick concrete and lights illuminating the surroundings.
Underground parking lot.
Mahito licked the corner of his lips with his tongue. His peripheral vision swept over five figures undergoing terrifying transformations around him, which were the "toys" he had casually transformed earlier.
Under his control, these already disfigured figures swayed and stood up, stumbling towards Kamihara Hajime.
Looking at these beings, who still retained some human features, tears streamed down their eyes. Their bodies, out of control, instinctively let out somewhat distorted cries for help.
"Save... save me..."
Mahito revealed a wanton smile: "How is it? Do you like my toys? These are toys I made by changing their souls with my Technique!"
Kamihara Hajime's expression was obscured by the light from above. He had casually destroyed the surrounding surveillance cameras, and these transformed people... were beyond saving.
Revert them to their previous state? That would be futile. They were affected by Mahito's Technique too early. Reverting them would only make Mahito activate his Technique again. It wouldn't solve the root cause; he must be killed first...
Without any visible movement from Kamihara Hajime, the five people who had completely transformed into monsters abruptly reverted to human form. Then, they flew backward, landing in a corner on the other side of the wall.
And Kamihara Hajime had already taken out Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Onikiri, with Spider Cutter impaled in the ground before him.
Mahito looked at the three swords, their auras subtly intertwined, and an ominous feeling surged in his heart. Without another word, his Technique activated, and he began to change his form.
And Kamihara Hajime's words echoed in the empty underground, like a cold blade scraping across a throat: "Are you ready to die?"Read 20+ Advanced Chapters At PA Treon
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