Listening to Hachishaku-sama's words, Takumi glanced at the rain still pouring outside the window.
"I don't know anything about love making someone feel reborn. But there is one thing I do know. In the past, I sure as hell never got mounted and ridden flat by some Hachishaku-sama using me like a little horse pulling a huge cart. A false memory that twists reality, a hallucination wrapped around the truth. This car's been 'driving' for ages, but from start to finish, we've never moved an inch. Am I right, Hachishaku-sama?"
The moment Takumi said that, he looked toward the driver's seat.
The Hachishaku-sama sitting there suddenly twisted her neck at an unnatural angle, stretched it long, and turned her whole face around to stare dead at Takumi in the back seat.
Her narrow phoenix eyes widened into round, bulging circles, her pitch-black pupils brimming with deep resentment.
Her lips parted into a perfect O-shape, like a third eye fixed on him.
Man and curse locked eyes. The car fell into a weird, dead silence.
"..."
"..."
"You're not scared?"
Seeing that Takumi's expression hadn't changed at all, Hachishaku-sama returned to that mature, seductive face from before and looked at him in confusion.
She had intended to scare the fear out of him with that form, then use that fear to perfectly rewrite his memories.
That way, Takumi would belong to her forever.
But things clearly weren't unfolding the way she had imagined.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Takumi, head of House Morax, descendant of the Hero Village, professional exorcist, strongest jujutsu sorcerer..."
"Are there that many people in there?"
Hearing Takumi casually list off one title after another, Hachishaku-sama couldn't help blurting that out.
As a curse, she didn't really understand what half of it meant.
But not understanding didn't mean she couldn't hear the weight of it.
Just from how that string of titles sounded, this gorgeous little man in front of her seemed strong as hell.
Was he bluffing, or was he really that ridiculous?
The moment that doubt surfaced, Hachishaku-sama moved.
She didn't want to think about any of that anymore. Right now, she only wanted to claim Takumi as hers.
Even though Takumi's charm had awakened her self-awareness, her nature as a curse was still there.
And right now, her instinct was to hunt the man in front of her.
The backrest behind her vanished instantly, and she lunged straight into Takumi's lap.
Her wet, gleaming eyes met his, and then Hachishaku-sama kissed him without the slightest hesitation.
Being kissed by force again, Takumi finally learned what true big-body pressure felt like.
There was absolutely no technique in it, just raw emotion.
The woman in front of him looked like she wanted to swallow him whole, lick him clean, and fuse him into her body.
"So cute~~ You really are so cute. This part isn't cute, but I still like it."
Still half-draped over him in a greedy, devouring kiss, Hachishaku-sama flicked a glance at Kobayashi, who was slumped unconscious nearby.
A flash of murderous intent crossed her alluring eyes, and her free right hand shot out.
"That human's in the way. Die!!"
Pitch-black claws extended from her fingertips and stabbed straight toward Kobayashi.
Bzzzt—!
But the closer her claws got, the slower they became.
In the end, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't actually touch Kobayashi.
If Kobayashi had opened her eyes right then, she would've seen those sharp black nails suspended less than an inch from her face.
"Slurp~ Why... why can't I... touch her?!"
Hachishaku-sama, still in the middle of enjoying her meal, looked completely baffled.
Takumi reached up and pressed a hand onto her head.
"Hachishaku-sama, did you think I was joking before? Trying to kill someone right in front of me? That's a pretty clear sign you don't take me seriously at all."
It could only be said that a curse was still a curse.
Even though she was overflowing with desire and love for him now, what she felt toward everyone else was still pure malice.
"Why? Why are you stopping me? Do you like this woman? Don't you like me?!"
Hachishaku-sama raised her lush, mature face toward him, tears gathering in her eyes as she demanded an answer.
Because her emotions had gone so wild, her cursed form was beginning to leak through.
Takumi simply pressed her head back down and said in a low voice, "Keep your head down and don't talk. You're ruining the mood."
Maybe because it was Takumi telling her to, Hachishaku-sama actually quieted down.
The sound of rain outside kept falling, drowning out everything else.
Only after letting out a slow breath did Takumi speak again.
"Hah... If we're talking about liking you, then yes, I definitely do. But right now, what I like is just your body."
Gulp.
Hachishaku-sama swallowed, her eyes immediately turning soft and watery.
"That's enough~ Come with me. I'll give you every beautiful thing you could want."
She wrapped both arms around Takumi like some older woman trying to coax a pretty young man into leaving with her.
Looking at the absurdly stacked woman in front of him, Takumi felt, for the first time, that he was maybe a little short.
Still, knowing full well he could handle it, he didn't lose heart in the slightest.
But when faced with Hachishaku-sama's invitation, he ultimately shook his head.
"Why are you rejecting me? Why?!"
That refusal pushed Hachishaku-sama completely over the edge.
Her glossy black hair began to float without wind, splitting into what looked like countless living tendrils that lashed at Takumi from every direction.
Those cursed strands didn't actually intend to hurt him. They only wrapped around his hands and feet, trying to bind him and drag him away.
Takumi took the chance to explain.
"What I'm trying to say is, I'm not going with you. You're coming with me."
Hachishaku-sama didn't respond. Maybe she didn't believe him. Maybe instinct had already drowned out reason.
Right now, all she wanted was to take Takumi away, then kill every other annoying lifeform afterward.
When Takumi saw the black hair sharpening into spikes and shooting toward Kobayashi, he sighed.
"I really didn't want to get rough with you, because you were actually pretty damn nice."
"Slit-Mouthed Woman!"
In the next instant, a black pair of scissors stabbed out from the shadows, slicing straight through Hachishaku-sama's hair.
In Hachishaku-sama's shocked gaze, the Slit-Mouthed Woman burst out from the darkness.
"Hah!!!"
Like an enraged cat, the Slit-Mouthed Woman split her mouth wide and hissed at Hachishaku-sama.
A violent surge of cursed energy exploded outward, instantly shredding the car and tearing a gap through Hachishaku-sama's domain.
The two men and the two curses seemed to tear their way straight out of empty air.
After landing firmly, Takumi realized they were still right where they had started—back at the bus stop.
Seeing the Slit-Mouthed Woman appear in front of her, Hachishaku-sama's expression turned even more disbelieving.
The cursed energy pouring off her opponent was actually stronger than that of an urban legend curse like herself.
And the Slit-Mouthed Woman, having shielded Takumi, didn't waste a second before attacking.
Black cursed energy poured from her body, taking shape as one razor-sharp scissor blade after another and firing toward Hachishaku-sama.
Hachishaku-sama immediately sprinted back to dodge, but the flying blades chased after her like heat-seeking missiles.
As the blades closed in, her eyes turned pitch black.
Po! Po! Po!
Revealing her true form, Hachishaku-sama split into two clones. Her limbs stretched into grotesque, inhuman lengths as both bodies lunged at the incoming blades.
Slash slash slash!
The blades that could cut through anything instantly punched through Hachishaku-sama's palms and feet.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman pounced in the next moment, and the two curses tore into each other, clawing, grappling, and rolling madly across the ground.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.