A/N: There was a mistake in the last chapter (about Ui Ui). Fortunately, a reader informed me, so I've rewritten it (it might be short, but please bear with me).
.....
Abandoned warehouse.
Curse womb.
Unlike normal cursed spirits, curse wombs were more powerful, with the weakest—the newly born ones—possessing power comparable to a first grade. This was why any newly emerged curse wombs that are discovered are mostly dealt with by sorcerers of the first grade before the curse womb would even hatch.
"Are you sure?" Mei Mei asked, her voice tinged with gravity.
Curse wombs, with their vast potential, also had trouble living after they are born because of the fact that cursed spirits, drawn to the rich cursed energy, would kill any curse entity that emerged from the curse womb in its weakened state to become stronger.
"Hmm, we suspected the cursed energy emitting from the curse womb might be too pure that it scared the cursed spirits away, but..." The middle-aged man paused, letting his words sink in before he continued, "...we scanned through the outskirts of the warehouse where the curse womb is located... but no first-grade sorcerer felt any cursed energy oppression."
'Something's not right...' Mei Mei thought, but she had no thought of backing down. Instead, how she'd fleece the higher-ups more was what ran through her mind.
After doing a bunch of calculations in her mind, Mei Mei turned to Satoru with a smile. "Confident?"
Satoru turned and looked at her. "Mhm, leave the fighting to me."
Watching the receding figures of Mei Mei and Satoru, Satō turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Can we really trust them?"
The middle-aged man smiled and patted Satō's shoulder. "I understand your plight. In such a situation, even I might not have faith in any sorcerer..." The middle-aged man smiled, "... except Satoru Gojo, of course!"
...
After weaving through the buildings, Mei Mei and Satoru finally came to a stop in front of a massive warehouse.
Satoru stared at the warehouse, deep in thought.
'If the curse womb isn't strong enough to deter any malicious thought of cursed spirits, then the only thing is that this cursed spirit isn't normal,' Satoru thought. The image of a brain with a mouth—a hundred or maybe more years cursed spirit—flashed through his mind. '...It can't be Kenjaku, right?'
"Let's go!" Mei Mei said as she walked towards the warehouse door, slowly losing the white clothes that wrapped around her weapon, revealing a huge axe the size of a kid.
Swoosh!
Immediately after Mei Mei opened the warehouse door, thick purple cursed energy burst out, whipping her hair back, and the interior of the warehouse finally became clear to her.
Wood and containers were scattered around the warehouse. At the center of the warehouse, a suspended cursed energy ball pulsed eerily.
"That's it." Mei Mei's lips curled upward as she approached the curse womb, but just as she took her fifth step, the pulsing curse womb stopped.
"Watch out!" Satoru shouted, and before Mei Mei could react, he was already in front of her.
Boom!
Suddenly, sharp, strong tentacles burst out from the curse womb, lashing out violently and destroying everything.
Satoru stood in his place calmly, watching as the tentacles lashed towards him and Mei Mei but were deflected.
Satoru turned to the dazed Mei Mei and smiled. "We agreed on me fighting it. You can stay back."
Mei Mei blinked her eyes, finally regaining herself. Then she stared at Satoru seriously. "There won't be any extra pay for saving me."
"...."
Seriously, is that what you should be thinking right now?
Satoru's lips twitched slightly, but he decided to ignore Mei Mei. Instead, he stared at the emerging cursed spirit.
Boom!
The curse womb ripped open, and a shadowy figure landed on the warehouse floor, creating a fierce gale and dust cloud.
Satoru's eyes locked onto the being hidden within the dust cloud—it was a humanoid cursed spirit with bulging muscles and a tiny baby head covered with four eyes. At its back, numerous tentacles kept striking the floor, creating gashes and a dust cloud.
As the dust cloud settled, the cursed spirit finally noticed Satoru and Mei Mei.
Roar!
Letting out a piercing roar, it suddenly moved, appearing directly in front of Satoru.
Boom!
The cursed spirit punched out, creating fierce gales, but its fist was stopped by Satoru.
Swoosh!
Before the cursed spirit could comprehend how a frail being could stop its punch, Satoru punched forward.
Unlike the cursed spirit's punch, which seemed capable of shattering the base of a mountain, Satoru's punch seemed pitiful. But the moment his fist connected with the cursed spirit, a loud explosion rang out.
Boom!
The cursed spirit was sent flying like an arrow released from a bowstring.
"Just born and already a special grade?" Satoru muttered. The cursed spirit's strength further solidified his suspicions. 'This might really be the work of Kenjaku!'
Roar!
Suddenly, from within the dust cloud that the fallen cursed spirit had rose, black pulsing tentacles burst out, moving like bullets released from a gun, and in a second they had reached Satoru, striking him.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The tentacles, as if striking iron, produced a clear sound. Satoru, under the bombardment of the tentacles, stood still.
'Why does this look familiar...?' Satoru thought, and instantly the image of a black-robed figure flashed through his mind. 'Yep, they're the same.'
Satoru didn't stay on the defense any longer. Instead, he caught one of the cursed spirit's tentacles and with a fierce tug, pulled it over to him.
Swoosh!
The cursed spirit moved so fast that it appeared in front of Satoru in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
Satoru's fist connected with the cursed spirit's face, but he didn't let it go. Instead, he dragged another tentacle which was close to him and spun. While mid-air, the sole of his feet struck the jaw of the cursed spirit, and with Satoru not holding it anymore, it flew up to the sky.
Reversal: Red!
A red sphere streaked through the sky and struck the cursed spirit who was still in the air.
Boom!
A cataclysmic explosion raged through the warehouse.
Satoru stared at the 'art' with a slight frown. 'Something is not right...'
He had felt it before. Every time he struck the cursed spirit, it was like some strength from him was siphoned.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, from the thick smoke in the air, a figure descended—it was the cursed spirit, but this time it was different. Its muscles seemed bigger, and its baby head had grown larger.
Staring at the human who had beaten it, the cursed spirit roared.
Roar!
...
A/N: Author-kun here... again. I was going through my novel and I figured I had a whopping 3k+ collections (thank y'all for your support, be it comments or just likes) and I have to say I was shocked because I didn't expect this novel to go this far (to be frank, I just did it on a whim after reading a translated chat group fanfic). So I've come here to shamelessly beg.
I need your power stones!!!
You know my wish is to see my novel become part of those in the rankings, and I figured since I have 3k+ readers, why can't it be?
You guys should support this poor Author by giving me one of your power stones each; that'll be like 3k+.
Just joking, I'm not that ambitious, but 500 power stones would really make my week. Pretty please 🙏
And as a return, I'll:
Upload two more chapters this week.
Let you guys choose the next mission (the place and the mission contents) and the next chat group member.
Choose if you want the novel to be a harem or single FL, and you can even choose the female you want.
Just drop those power stones!!
Arigato.