Just as dark clouds gathered over Tokyo, far away in Kyoto, the Zenin family—one of the Big Three Families—had already plunged into a suffocating vortex of power.
The night was deep, and the cold moon hung in the sky like a hook.
The Zenin clan's sprawling, ancient estate loomed in the darkness like a giant beast lurking, exhaling an air of decay and oppression.
"Creeeak—"
The heavy wooden door was slowly pushed open, letting out a grating sound of friction.
Maki Zenin stepped into the Cursed Tool Warehouse, greeted by a blast of cold, damp mustiness.
Her body was wrapped in bandages; particularly during the Shibuya Incident, her arms and back had been severely burned by the flames of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit while she was covering her comrades' retreat.
Although she had been treated by Shoko Ieiri's Reverse Cursed Technique, that burning pain—one that reached the marrow of her bones—had not yet fully faded.
"Sister, your wounds aren't healed yet. Do you really have to come here now?"
A voice, cold yet laced with a hint of concern, came from behind Maki.
Mai Zenin, dressed in her Jujutsu High uniform, followed silently behind her sister.
In this estate where women and those without cursed energy were treated like trash—worth even less than the family dogs—the two sisters were like weeds struggling to survive in the cracks.
Though they usually bickered, in this hostile environment, Mai's eyes held only deep attachment to her sister.
"The Culling Game is about to begin. I need to recover my combat strength as soon as possible."
Maki walked into the warehouse without looking back, her gaze scanning the dust-covered shelves.
"The breathing technique that freak Yoru taught me requires a good sword capable of withstanding high temperatures and high-intensity strikes."
"Besides, since that brat Megumi is about to inherit the position of clan head, as his senior, how can I not even have a decent weapon?"
At the mention of Yoru and Megumi Fushiguro, a rare smile appeared on Maki's scarred face.
She knew that as long as Yoru and those comrades were around, the old fossils of the Zenin family wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble.
However.
Just as Maki reached for an odachi on one of the shelves...
Her wild instincts, honed to the extreme by her Heavenly Restriction, suddenly screamed a frantic warning!
"Mai! Get back!"
Maki spun around, pulling her sister behind her in one swift motion.
Almost at the same time, a piercing, cold laugh echoed from the depths of the warehouse's shadows.
"Heh, I thought some impressive thief had broken in."
Accompanied by unhurried footsteps, a young-looking man in a traditional kimono with sinister eyes emerged from the darkness, followed by several burly guards.
Ogi Zenin.
The younger brother of the previous head, Naobito, and the biological father of Maki and Mai in name.
At this moment, he sat cross-legged atop a pile of cursed tool remnants, a long sword radiating a chilling frost resting across his knees.
"So it's just you two trash who can't even use jujutsu."
Ogi slowly opened his eyes. There was no fatherly warmth in his gaze, only a coldness and loathing akin to a venomous snake.
"Since when does the Zenin warehouse allow garbage like you to come and go as you please?"
"Father."
Maki clenched her fists, her gaze as sharp as a blade.
"The previous head is dead. According to the will, the current head is Megumi Fushiguro."
"We are here under the orders of the new head to retrieve cursed tools belonging to Jujutsu High. What right do you have to stop us?"
At the mention of the name 'Megumi Fushiguro,' Ogi's facial muscles twitched violently, a spark of pathological rage flashing in his eyes.
"Shut up!"
Ogi stood up abruptly, a scorching and violent cursed energy instantly flooding the entire warehouse.
"That outsider named Fushiguro... he thinks he's worthy of sitting above me?!"
"If it weren't for you two failures holding me back, the position of clan head would have been mine years ago!"
He stared intently at Maki, a cruel curve forming at the corners of his mouth.
"Since you two trash insist on being eyesores, I'll personally wipe away these stains on my life!"
"Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion!"
"Swish!"
Before he finished speaking, the sword in Ogi's hand unsheathed in an instant!
Invisible flames seemed to burn in the void—a secret technique that converted cursed energy into high-temperature slashes!
"So fast!"
Maki's pupils shrank.
Even though her physical perception far exceeded a normal person's, being without a weapon and severely injured left her extremely vulnerable against her father's merciless killing move.
"Bang!"
Ogi's scabbard slammed heavily into Maki's abdomen, followed by a wave-like fiery slash that sent her flying!
"Ugh!"
Maki let out a muffled groan, flying back like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily into a row of wooden shelves filled with cursed tools.
"Sister!"
Mai cried out, instinctively reaching for the handgun at her waist.
But Ogi was far faster than her.
"Slap!"
Ogi delivered a backhanded slap, sending Mai tumbling to the ground.
He stepped on Mai's shoulder, his eyes filled with the cold indifference one might show toward trash.
"A failure without cursed energy, and a half-wit who only knows how to use toy guns."
Ogi looked at Maki, who was struggling to stand, and let out a grating sneer.
"The two of you think you can change the Zenin clan? You think you can help Megumi Fushiguro?"
"You... bastard of a father!"
Maki grit her teeth until they cracked, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth.
Ignoring the agonizing pain, she lunged at Ogi again, grabbing a broken remnant of a sword from the floor like an enraged lioness.
But the gap in strength, coupled with the drag of her injuries, made her attacks full of openings in Ogi's eyes.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After several heavy, high-temperature strikes, Maki was completely beaten down, her blood staining the warehouse floor.
"Take these two failures away."
Ogi waved his hand coldly, issuing orders to the guards behind him.
"Throw them into the Discipline Room."
"Let those Grade 2 and Special Grade Cursed Spirits who haven't eaten in a long time teach them the rules of the Zenin family."
The Discipline Room.
That was a hell specifically used by the Zenin family to execute traitors and failures, housing countless ferocious cursed spirits.
"Let me go! Don't touch my sister!"
Maki struggled desperately, but her injured body could not break free from the grip of several sturdy men.
The heavy iron door was roughly pushed open, and Maki and Mai were violently thrown into a pitch-black, foul-smelling basement filled with spine-chilling roars.
"Bang!"
The iron door slammed shut, completely cutting off the last sliver of light.
In the darkness,
Countless pairs of eyes glowing with greedy red light lit up around them.
An intense aura of death instantly surrounded the twin sisters.
Maki used her last ounce of strength to shield Mai beneath her.
"Don't be afraid, Mai..."
Maki's voice was weak to the point of fading, yet it still carried that unyielding stubbornness.
And beneath Maki,
Mai looked at her sister's blood-soaked back, which was riddled with wounds from protecting her.
Her eyes turned red, and tears fell silently.
In that moment, a look flashed through Mai's eyes—unprecedented, even tinged with a hint of insane resolve.
"Sister, I'm sorry..."
Mai reached out and gently hugged Maki.
It was the tenderness of one facing their end.