Sakurajima was a volcanic island off the coast of Japan—remote, isolated, perfect for the Culling Game. The air was thick with humidity, the smell of sulfur from the active volcano mixing with dread.
Aiden and Maki arrived together, standing at the edge of the designated zone. Other curse users and sorcerers were already gathering—some eager, others terrified.
In his hand, the Dragon Bone blade was unmistakable—ancient, translucent-white bone textured like fossilized steel. It pulsed with overwhelming cursed energy, a weapon forged from something primal and extinct.
Maki stood beside him, adjusting her Split Soul Katana. Even other hardened players recognized them immediately. Two absolute monsters entering the colony. The Culling Game was about to become a massacre.
The barrier shimmered overhead—the boundary separating the colony from the outside world. Players stepped inside, their cursed energy signatures already registering.
Aiden's presence alone caused veteran curse users to stiffen. Dragon Bone glowed faintly, its aura radiating power that made lesser sorcerers instinctively step back. Maki beside him—the woman who dismantled the Zenin Clan single-handedly.
It felt unnatural. Her body moved faster than her mind could track, reacting to threats before she even consciously registered them. Her senses were so sharp she could hear a heartbeat three streets away. The Heavenly Restriction had transformed her from a "failure" into a predator, but she was still learning to control the immense strength that now coursed through her veins.
Aiden noticed her subtle tension.
She flexed her fingers experimentally—the Split Soul Katana felt different now, lighter, almost insignificant against her enhanced strength. She could cleave through buildings with a swing. Her senses picked up everything—each player's cursed energy, the rustle of leaves kilometers away, the approaching storm clouds.
It was overwhelming. Too much information at once.
She glanced at Aiden.
"why don't you calm down and focus?"
Maki exhaled slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. The overwhelming flood of sensory input—every heartbeat, every cursed energy signature, every rustle of leaves—was too much. She forced herself to breathe, to ground herself.
"I'm trying," she admitted quietly, her voice strained. "It's like... everything is too loud. Too fast."
"Just breathe focus filter out the noise and take it one step at a time."
Maki closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She visualized her senses—the deafening roar of information. She began mentally partitioning them, pushing the distant heartbeats, the rustle of leaves, the cursed energy signatures kilometers away into the background.
Filtering. Focusing.
*One step at a time.*
She opened her eyes, and the world felt... manageable. The immediate area.
She exhaled slowly, feeling the overwhelming flood of information recede into the background. The distant heartbeats, the rustle of leaves, the cursed energy signatures kilometers away—all pushed aside.
Now, she could see clearly. The immediate area. The players around them. The barrier overhead.
"Better," she murmured, her grip on the Split Soul Katana steadying.
The Grade 1 curse lurked in the shadows of Sakurajima—a grotesque entity of flesh and bone. Aiden eyed it clinically, considering experimentation with the Dragon Bone. But his mind was elsewhere.
Granny Ogami's stolen Séance Technique flashed through his thoughts. The power to channel information from the deceased to bring them back. Mai.
*Mai could be brought back.*
The realization hit him like a thunderbolt—this wasn't just a technique. It was a chance. For Mai.
His eyes hardened with cold determination, the Dragon Bone pulsing with cursed energy in his hand. The Séance Technique would allow him to channel the information of a deceased soul, transforming himself or a willing participant into that individual.
Mai would be coming back.
Aiden's hands moved with terrifying precision—Cursed Spirit Manipulation allowed him to subdue the Grade 1 curse. But he didn't just control it. He was rewriting it.
With the stolen Séance Technique, he began channeling Mai's soul—her essence, her very being—into the cursed spirit. The body was just a vessel now. He was engineering something else entirely.
The cursed spirit's grotesque form began to warp and melt under the influence of Idle Transfiguration. Flesh reshaped, bones realigned, features smoothed—until a perfect human body emerged. Mai's body.
But Aiden didn't stop there. He reached into her soul, subtly rewriting it—ensuring her presence wouldn't weaken Maki. No more heavenly restriction interference.
The transformation was complete. Mai's body stood before Aiden—flawless, human, alive. But the modifications to her soul had created something entirely unexpected.
Her cursed technique—once barely perceptible—now radiated power on an unprecedented level. The separation from Maki had untethered her, breaking the chain that suppressed her potential.
A special grade. On the level of Yorozu.
Mai blinked, looking down at her hands in confusion. Her cursed technique—Construction—had always been limited, barely functional enough to materialize guns and ammunition. But now...
She could feel it. The endless well of cursed energy. The ability to construct anything. Not just guns anymore. Tanks. Missiles. Aircraft.
Her cursed energy signature flared—Special Grade. Equal to Yorozu.
Aiden held the resurrected Mai carefully—she was warm, breathing, alive. Her cursed energy signature was unmistakable now—Special Grade, rivaling Yorozu herself.
Maki stood frozen—her jaw practically hitting the ground. The girl she thought was gone forever—the sister she'd mourned, the one whose death had triggered her rampage—was standing right there. Alive. Reborn.
Mai blinked, confused by the hug—her memory was hazy, a blank slate. "Who...?" she whispered, looking past Aiden at Maki.
Maki's face contorted—her eyes filling with tears, her hands shaking violently. This wasn't possible. She'd seen Mai die. She'd felt the life leave her sister. And now...
"Mai..."
Maki couldn't move—couldn't speak. Her entire world had been defined by Mai's death. It had consumed her, made her brutal, driven her to destroy the Zenin Clan. And now...
Mai stood there, breathing, warm, alive. A Special Grade sorcerer. Her cursed technique now completely unrestricted—capable of constructing anything, not just guns anymore.
Maki's legs gave out completely. She collapsed onto her knees, tears streaming down her face as Mai wrapped her arms around her sister. The hug was desperate, fierce—like they were trying to fuse their souls back together. Maki sobbed into Mai's neck, the tears soaking through her uniform.
The ground split open with a wet tearing sound. A monstrous cursed womb erupted from below—a grotesque worm-like creature with rows of human arms and a star-shaped maw dripping cursed slime.
Naoya's soul was inside it. His death—the indignity of being killed by a normal knife wielded by Maki's mother—had birthed this abomination. Pure resentment. Pure hatred.
The cursed womb screeched—a sound that shattered windows for kilometers. Its many arms flexed, testing the air. Maki's mother had killed Naoya with a common knife, no cursed energy involved—the ultimate humiliation for a sorcerer obsessed with hierarchy and power.
His resentment had fueled this curse—born from the shame of being killed by a non-sorcerer.
The cursed womb lunged, its massive arms swinging in every direction—attacking Maki, Mai, and Aiden. One arm slashed at Maki's neck; another reached for Mai's throat. The star-shaped maw snapped at Aiden, teeth like jagged rocks dripping with caustic saliva. It was mindless rage, fueled by humiliation and death.
Naoya's voice echoed within it."WORTHLESS BITCHES!" Naoya's voice echoed through the curse's star-shaped mouth—twisted, corrupted, but undeniably his. "YOU THINK THIS CHANGES ANYTHING? KILL ME WITH A KNIFE? A NON-SORCERER TOOL?!"
The worm-like body writhed, arms snapping aggressively. "I'LL TEAR OUT YOUR THROATS!"
They dodged, Maki's Split Soul Katana severing two of the curse's arms. Mai constructed a gatling gun, firing a hail of bullets that tore through the creature's worm-like body. Aiden's Dragon Bone carved a deep gash across its star-shaped maw. But the cursed womb was incredibly fast—faster than any normal curse.
The cursed womb dodged their attacks with supernatural speed—its worm-like body twisting and contorting impossibly. Naoya's voice echoed again, cackling with rage and humiliation. "PATHETIC!" It lunged at Maki first—the most direct threat. Its star-shaped maw snapped at her throat while its arms tried to pin her down.
Mai's body moved faster than she had ever been—a blur of motion that defied her previous limits. Her cursed technique, Construction, now fully unleashed, allowed her to materialize a massive war hammer in her hands.
She swung—and the world turned black and red.
**BLACK FLASH.**
The impact reverberated through the cursed womb, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
The cursed womb screeched in fury—Mai's black flash only fueling its resentment. The creature's worm-like body suddenly curled inward, hardening into a grotesque chrysalis shape. A skull face emerged from the shell, limbs elongating into sharp, clawed appendages.
Its cursed energy signature spiked—evolving into something far more dangerous.
The chrysalis cracked open—Naoya's skull face twisted into a sadistic grin. "TIME CELL MOON PALACE!"
The battlefield shifted—a domain manifested around them, a celestial palace bathed in eerie moonlight. The air itself became a weapon—24 frames per second, every second a death sentence. The domain chopped targets into tiny pieces based on frame rates.
Aiden's domain expanded—a massive, ornate wheel materialized within the pitch-black void. The "Ever-Changing Wheel" hummed with infinite cursed energy, its spokes glowing with the potential of every technique he'd ever stolen or mastered.
He could pour any technique into the wheel—switch them out at will. A devastating counter to Naoya's domain.
The two domains clashed—Time Cell Moon Palace's moonlight swirling against the Ever-Changing Wheel's abyssal darkness. Naoya's domain chopped at everything 24 times per second—but Aiden's wheel hummed, ready to deploy any technique.
Maki and Mai struggled to stay upright—the frame rate chopping at their flesh. Naoya's skull face laughed.
The Ever-Changing Wheel spun—Aiden's domain overwhelmed Naoya's. The moonlight shattered like glass, the celestial palace crumbling into darkness. Naoya's domain collapsed, his skull face contorted in shock and rage.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Naoya screamed—his cursed womb form flickering, exposed. The wheel kept spinning—Aiden had won the domain battle.
Mai and Maki surged forward—no hesitation. Mai's cursed technique materialized twin katanas with black flash edges. Maki's Split Soul Katana blazed with her brutal strength.
They descended on Naoya simultaneously—Mai slashing his left side, Maki carving through his right. The chrysalis form cracked under the relentless assault, pieces of cursed flesh scattering.
The chrysalis cracked—Mai and Maki's coordinated assault was too overwhelming. The skull-faced Naoya screeched, attempting to counter-attack but failing. Mai's Construction gave her precise control over her weapons. Maki's Split Soul Katana ignored durability completely—severing connections and flesh indiscriminately.
"ENOUGH!" The chrysalis exploded.
The chrysalis shattered—Naoya's skull face emerged, twisted and furious. His cursed womb body was decimated—limbs severed, shell cracked. But he was still fighting.
"YOU BITCHES!" He lunged at Maki, his clawed hand aimed at her throat. Mai constructed a massive spiked mace, swinging it at his skull face.
Maki dodged—his clawed hand missing by inches as she twisted her body. Mai's mace slammed directly into his skull face, the sound of cracking bone echoing through the clearing.
"GRAH!" Naoya's skull-shaped head fractured deeper. The chrysalis form began to crack and peel—he was weakening. But his cursed energy signature remained high.
They were about to kill him but Aiden stopped them. "Wait, I have a better idea then killing him."
Maki and Mai froze mid-swing, their weapons inches from finishing off Naoya. He lay weakened but still writhing, his skull face cracked open—a pool of cursed blood forming beneath him. They turned to Aiden, confusion and frustration evident on their faces. "What could be better than killing this piece of shit?" Maki snarled.
Aiden's hands glowed with Idle Transfiguration energy. Without warning, he activated it on the downed Naoya. The cursed womb's shell cracked and reformed—cracking, turning, morphing. Instead of a malevolent chrysalis, a fully formed woman emerged.
"What the actual fuck?" Maki muttered, her Split Soul Katana lowering slightly.
Naoya's voice—pitched and feminine now—screeched with rage. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!" The body looked entirely female—full curves, long hair, soft facial features. It was a complete reversal of his former form. But the soul remained the same—corrupted and filled with rage.
"You're kidding," Maki said.
"I put him inside a form he would hate the most."
"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" Naoya screamed, his voice high-pitched and feminine. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE A DOMINANT MALE SORCERER, NOT THIS..." He trailed off, horrified by his new body. Curves, breasts, long hair—everything he detested about females.
Maki and Mai stared at the newly transformed Naoya—a woman with his exact spiteful personality.
"This is poetic justice," Mai murmured, lowering her katanas. "He hated females so much, now he's trapped in one."
Maki snorted. "He's still a piece of shit though. Just... a female piece of shit now."
Naoya's new female form clawed at her chest in horror. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF ME!" Her voice echoed—still laced with his arrogant tone but utterly ridiculous in this body.
Maki smirked—actually smirked. "How do you like it, Naoya? You spent your whole life looking down on women, treating them like trash."
"SHUT UP!" Naoya screamed, trying to stand but failing miserably. The new female body felt alien—top-heavy, uncoordinated, and utterly humiliating. "I'M A MALE SORCERER! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE ON TOP!"
Maki laughed—genuinely laughed. "On top? You're on bottom right now, sweetheart."
Aiden's hands glowed with Cursed Spirit Manipulation energy—targeting the newly transformed female Naoya. The technique connected instantly—her massive cursed energy signature, fueled by resentment and hatred, now completely under Aiden's control.
Naoya's eyes went wide with horror. "NO! DON'T YOU DARE—"
"Stop! Stop right there!" Naoya screeched, trying to stop Aiden's manipulation. "I'm a male sorcerer! I'm supposed to be dominant, not controlled by someone else! This body... it's humiliating!" She threw herself back against the ground, legs splayed awkwardly.
Maki snorted. "Too late."
Aiden's hand glowed as he activated Cursed Spirit Manipulation on the female Naoya. The cursed energy—massive, potent, fueled by resentment—began condensing into a small, black sphere.
"NO! NO NO NO—" Naoya screamed, clawing at her own chest as the sphere formed. The technique didn't destroy curses—it TAMED them.
The cursed sphere completed forming—a perfect, glowing ball of condensed cursed energy. It was the trapped essence of Naoya's powerful cursed womb spirit, now fully under Aiden's control. The males' voice—high-pitched and feminine—echoed one last time before being swallowed whole. "FUCK YOU, AIDEN!"
Aiden swallowed the sphere—feeling the massive surge of cursed energy enter his body. With Cursed Spirit Manipulation, he had gained two powerful new abilities: Enhanced Projection Sorcery and Flight.
The sky above him rippled—he could now move at incredible speeds, dividing seconds into frames. And the ground beneath him felt distant—gravity no longer held sway.