Just as Yuji and Nobara were about to head back, a faint sobbing sound echoed from deeper within the basement.
"Huh?" Yuji Itadori immediately stopped walking. "Did you hear that? Sounds like a kid crying."
Nobara Kugisaki frowned and listened carefully. "Yeah... but why would a child be down here?"
"In there." Sol pointed toward a rusted iron door nearby.
The expressions on Yuji and Nobara's faces instantly changed.
A civilian had gotten trapped inside.
"Stay alert," Nobara warned as she drew her hammer again. "There could still be another curse around."
She carefully approached the door while Yuji covered behind her. Using the tip of her hammer, she slowly pushed the door open.
Inside the small storage room, a boy no older than eight sat trembling in fear. Tears covered his dirty face as he looked toward them with panic in his eyes.
The moment the door opened wider, the Cursed Spirit behind him reacted violently.
A distorted figure suddenly expanded from the darkness, wrapping one twisted limb around the boy's neck and lifting him into the air. It forced the child in front of its body like a shield while releasing threatening screeches toward the intruders.
It was a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit.
Slightly stronger than the previous one, but not by much.
Its entire body was covered in messy dark fur that resembled clumped weeds soaked in mud. Its face looked grotesque, with an oversized mouth filled with jagged pale teeth capable of tearing flesh apart. Several strange growths bulged from its head like swollen frog organs, making it look even more disturbing.
Its eyes darted around nervously while an ugly grin stretched across its face.
"Let him go!" Yuji shouted and prepared to rush forward.
"Don't!" Nobara immediately stopped him. "You'll get the kid killed!"
She narrowed her eyes, searching for an opening, but the spirit kept the child directly in front of itself, leaving almost no safe angle to attack.
The boy struggled helplessly as the curse tightened its grip around his throat. His face was already beginning to turn blue.
"Tch."
Nobara clicked her tongue.
This situation was troublesome.
The curse was clever enough to use a hostage properly, and its strength clearly surpassed the weak spirit from earlier.
Yuji clenched his fists anxiously but didn't dare charge recklessly.
Then Sol stepped forward.
He simply took one casual step ahead.
The instant his foot touched the ground, the Grade 3 Cursed Spirit froze.
Its twisted body stiffened completely, as though an invisible pressure had pierced through its existence itself. Even the cursed energy forming its body seemed to stop moving.
The arm around the boy's neck loosened unconsciously.
The child dropped to the floor and immediately started coughing violently.
Yuji and Nobara both stared in confusion.
What just happened?
Why had the curse suddenly stopped moving?
Sol ignored the spirit entirely and looked at the frightened child instead.
"Move away from it."
His tone remained relaxed, almost lazy, yet his voice carried an overwhelming pressure that left no room for resistance.
The Cursed Spirit suddenly released a shrill scream filled with pure terror.
Not anger.
Not hostility.
Fear.
Primal fear.
It frantically retreated backward without even trying to grab the child again.
Sol sighed lightly, amused.
"You're ugly. That's impressive."
The curse shrieked louder and tried to flee deeper into the darkness.
Too late.
The moment it exposed an opening, Sol moved.
Neither Yuji nor Nobara could properly see it.
One moment he stood several meters away.
The next, he was already standing in front of the child.
His back faced them as he casually raised one hand.
A simple motion.
Then he lowered it again.
No explosion.
No cursed energy flare.
No flashy technique.
The Grade 3 Cursed Spirit disappeared instantly.
Not destroyed.
Not blasted apart.
Erased.
As though someone had wiped it from existence itself.
The damp underground room suddenly felt cleaner. Even the suffocating cursed aura lingering in the basement vanished completely.
Silence filled the room.
Yuji stared blankly.
Nobara's eyes widened in disbelief.
Neither of them could process what they had just witnessed.
What was that?
Where did the curse go?
Did Sol seriously just raise his hand and delete it?
"It's handled now," Sol said casually to the frightened boy before glancing back at his stunned teammates. "Problem solved."
His tone sounded so ordinary that it was hard to believe he had just erased a Grade 3 curse without effort.
Yuji blinked repeatedly before rushing toward the empty space where the spirit had vanished.
"It's actually gone!" he shouted. "Sol, how did you do that?! I didn't even see anything!"
Nobara walked toward Sol while staring at him suspiciously.
"Your technique definitely isn't simple body enhancement," she said. "What was that just now? I didn't sense any cursed energy at all."
Freezing a Grade 3 spirit with fear before instantly erasing it without residue was not something normal reinforcement techniques could accomplish.
Sol shrugged casually.
"I was just faster."
Nobara nearly choked.
"Faster?!" she repeated incredulously. "That was a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit! Since when does being fast make something disappear completely?!"
"That sounds more like a skill issue on its part," Sol replied with a grin.
Yuji looked genuinely amazed.
"Seriously, Sol, you're insane."
Sol only smirked slightly before shifting his attention back toward the little boy.
"Let's deal with him first."
The child still trembled slightly, tears lingering in his eyes as he looked at them nervously.
Nobara crouched in front of him and softened her voice.
"Hey, kid, how did you even end up here? This place is dangerous."
The boy sniffled before answering between sobs.
"I... I was playing hide-and-seek with my friend... then I ran in here and got lost... after that, everything started hurting."
"It's alright now," Yuji said with a reassuring smile as he crouched beside him. "You're safe. Do you live nearby? We'll take you home."