Zoro
I felt a strike coming from behind me. I instantly grabbed the little girl and leapt away.
"HIK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
I didn't bother answering. I immediately started running. I didn't turn around to face the cursed spirit—I knew it would chase us either way.
While running, I did my best to analyze it.
It had the body of an insect and what I assumed was the head of a toddler.
But it had one particular feature: mandibles protruded from its mouth.
Seeing that shocked me. After all, what the hell were mandibles doing inside a mouth?
I knew cursed spirits were ugly as sin, but seeing one this grotesque almost made me want to throw up. That, and one other tiny detail. You know—no big deal.
'ITS DAMN CURSED ENERGY IS INSANE,' I thought in panic.
Honestly, I was exaggerating a bit. I was sure Naobito, Soya, or even the Kukuru squad captain had more cursed energy.
But unlike this cursed spirit, they kept it contained within their bodies. They didn't feel like a tidal wave of crap crashing down on you.
This level was nothing like the cursed spirits from the rift.
'Those bastards. This is clearly a high-grade cursed spirit.'
Semi-Grade 1 at best. Grade 1 at worst. That was my assessment after comparing it to the Semi-Grade 2 spirit.
'They're really that determined to get rid of me? They falsified a mission to pass off a Semi-Grade 1 as a Grade 3? That's completely overkill. And damn, it's fast.'
I had been trying to widen the gap from the start, but it kept catching up effortlessly.
And every time it was about to attack, it would suddenly slow down. My gaze darkened when I understood why.
'It's just toying with us. It wants to watch us struggle.'
I tried to find a way out of this mess, and the panicking girl in my arms who didn't understand a thing wasn't helping.
"Hey, why are you running? And why do you look scared?"
I had placed her face against my chest so she couldn't see. I doubted she could, but some non-sorcerers are able to see cursed spirits when they are in a desperate situation.
"Hey are you even listen me ?"
Obviously not. All my focus was on running. I had to reach the place where I'd hidden my weapons as fast as possible.
Finally, I arrived in front of a small building near the garden. It was the daycare's equipment storage shed.
You'd think it was a stupid place to hide dangerous weapons, but it was surprisingly effective.
Hidden in plain sight—and most importantly, somewhere the kids wouldn't accidentally find them and hurt themselves.
I set the girl down and moved to open the door. I pressed the handle, but it wouldn't budge.
'Of course. It's locked,' I muttered in frustration.
I didn't have time to play nice, so I kicked the door in.
BOOM!
I grabbed the girl by the arm and rushed inside.
The room was packed with all sorts of things—educational materials, gardening tools, cement bags, you name it.
I went straight to where the katanas were hidden, behind a cabinet at the back of the room.
I retrieved them and secured them at my left side.
Then I looked seriously at the girl and ordered, "Stay here. It's dangerous outside."
I had barely finished speaking when I moved to leave—or at least I would have, if a hand hadn't grabbed my sleeve.
"Sniff… sniff… Where are you going? You promised you'd stay with me. I don't want to be alone."
Hearing her cry made my chest tighten, but I had to do this.
"Listen. I'm not going anywhere. I'll just be right outside. All I'm asking is for you to stay here. There's a monster outside, and I have to kill it, okay? I'll come back."
She looked at me skeptically before holding out her right pinky. "Pinky promise?"
I smiled at the overwhelming cuteness and hooked my finger with hers. "Pinky promise."
I hid her in a corner of the room and stepped outside. The cursed spirit was calmly waiting, as if it had all the time in the world.
Even though I couldn't clearly see its expression, it was obvious it was enjoying itself. And I wasn't about to let that slide.
I charged with one sword coated in invisible Haki and slashed.
SLASH
The spirit jumped back to dodge, but something it couldn't predict happened. An intangible slash burst from the blade and extended the attack's reach.
Shocked, it failed to evade in time, and the flying slash severed one of its legs.
I didn't hesitate. I unleashed a flurry of strikes that rained down on it. But I had to stop quickly.
I clutched my side, agony flaring through me.
'Damn broken rib—this is not the time.'
That brief moment was decisive. The spirit spread wings from its back and lifted off the ground.
It regenerated quickly, erasing all the damage I'd dealt.
I clicked my tongue.
'Damn it. My best shot at killing it just slipped away. Now it won't fall for that again.'
I'd been counting on it underestimating me so I could end this fast, but that was wishful thinking.
With no way to attack at that distance, I waited for it to make the first move while focusing intensely on my Observation Haki to sharpen its precision.
I didn't have to wait long. The cursed spirit charged at full speed.
WHOOM!
I barely managed to dodge—I was a hair's breadth away from getting hit.
The spirit kept going and slammed into the wall surrounding the daycare.
BOOM!
It shattered a large section of the wall, leaving a wide opening.
It flew back up and hovered midair.
'Again? If that hits me, I'll be blown to pieces. I absolutely cannot let it touch me.'
It charged once more at an insane speed, and I barely escaped again.
This scene repeated several times. I was exhausted from maintaining my Observation Haki at such a high alert, and my broken rib wasn't helping.
For the I-don't-know-how-many-th time, it hovered in the air. Its mandibles clacked—seeing me in this state was probably pure bliss for it.
I braced myself for another dive, and it did just that—but something was different.
WHOOM!
'It sped up—'
BOOM!
I was sent flying by its charge. Several of my ribs snapped. My hands were in terrible shape.
In them were the shattered remains of my katanas. At the last second, I'd used them to absorb part of the impact.
And if I wasn't mistaken, they had even taken on a faint black sheen for a moment. But I didn't have the luxury to think about that right now.
I was in a terrible position.
My left hand was unusable.
My right ankle was sprained.
Several ribs were broken.
And I was still dazed.
The situation was absolutely disastrous. I saw no way to make it out alive—so thinking about winning was out of the question.
The mandibles clacked faster and faster. It was clearly euphoric. That went on for several minutes before it finally seemed ready to finish me.
WHOOM!
I had given up at that moment. "Sorry, Toji… you'll have to manage without me." Or at least, that's what I thought.
At the last second, my body reacted on its own and rolled out of the way—painfully.
The cursed spirit was displeased and charged again, and the same thing happened.
I didn't understand. I had clearly given up, but my body didn't seem to get the memo.
It repeated several times. Even with the fatigue and pain, I kept dodging.
Even when I tried to stop myself, I ended up rolling anyway.
My confusion grew more and more until I eventually stopped thinking about it. My mind drifted elsewhere.
'Will the kid be okay? I hope it just settles for me today and leaves.'
Even I didn't believe that. 'Yeah right. It'll kill her the second it's done with me.'
The memory of our promise came back to me. I stared at my little finger, and an overwhelming wave of shame washed over me.
'DAMN IT, I MADE A PROMISE. HOW CAN I BREAK IT SO EASILY?!'
I forced myself to stand. My body screamed in protest, but I had to do it.
And in one final act of defiance, I shouted-
"GET BACK HERE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT, I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES."
I mimed wielding a sword with my hand, which I coated in Armament Haki.
He didn't hesitate and charged at me. When he got within a few meters I brought my non-existent sword down on him.
BOOM!
Autor's note
Damn I'm 6 minutes late. You can't even imagine how disappointed I am in myself right now.