"I knew it."
Looking at the distorted buildings around him, Genji said helplessly. After entering the hospital gates, he discovered that what should have been the entrance behind him had turned into the entrance to the morgue, and the surrounding environment had also undergone a massive change.
"An innate domain? It seems a Special Grade Cursed Spirit really is here, but it likely hasn't mastered Domain Expansion."
As Genji was analyzing the information around him, a pale figure suddenly appeared behind him, swinging its claws to pierce Genji's heart with a twisted smile on its face. But immediately after, the smile on the Cursed Spirit's face turned into confusion because it found that the target in front of it had suddenly vanished.
"I see, so you are the source of this incident. That cursed object that keeps attracting Cursed Spirits to gather is inside your body, isn't it?"
A calm voice came from behind the Cursed Spirit. Startled, the Cursed Spirit immediately leaped away from the area, but after landing, it found several deep wounds on its back that reached the bone—if it even had such things as bones.
"Although your Cursed Energy level is indeed enough to reach Special Grade, there's nothing else to it."
Genji raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "You are really weak."
Genji's voice reached the Cursed Spirit's ears, instantly igniting its rage. Yellow Cursed Energy appeared on the Cursed Spirit's hands; as it pulled its hands apart, the mass of Cursed Energy transformed into arrow-like shapes. After aiming at Genji, the Cursed Spirit released its grip and fired the attack.
However, as Ghostly Blue Flames ignited on Genji's hand, the Cursed Spirit's attack collapsed on itself before it could even touch him. The Cursed Spirit didn't seem to notice this and continued to fire attacks incessantly until it stopped, panting for breath, and then looked triumphantly at the area where Genji had been standing.
As the dust raised by the previous attacks settled, the Cursed Spirit was horrified to find Genji standing there perfectly intact, with not even his clothes out of place.
"Simply condensing Cursed Energy into arrows to attack... what a simple method of attacking."
Looking at Genji speaking there, the Cursed Spirit's single eye was full of incomprehension. That wave of attacks just now had used nearly a third of the Cursed Energy it could mobilize, yet it had no effect at all.
"Don't plan to continue the offensive? Then it's my turn."
As soon as he finished speaking, Genji instantly rushed in front of the Cursed Spirit and threw a punch. The Cursed Spirit reacted and threw a punch as well, but the equal match it imagined did not occur. The reality was that it was blown back over ten meters, only stopping after crashing through the wall behind it, and the right arm it had used for the clash was completely shattered.
I can't win!
The Cursed Spirit clearly recognized this and began to think of escape methods in its mind.
Heal the injuries first, then destroy the surroundings, and while the opponent's vision is blocked, use the advantage of its innate domain to escape. Just as it was perfecting its escape plan, it was surprised to discover one thing—growing an arm for a Cursed Spirit of its level should have been possible by simply mobilizing Cursed Energy, but it now found that the recovery of its shattered arm was extremely slow, just like a normal human!
"It's useless."
Genji's voice came again.
"You're thinking of escaping after healing your wounds, right? But unfortunately, it's very difficult to use negative energy like Cursed Energy to heal wounds caused by my Forbidden Technique. If it were the positive energy produced by Reversal technique, it might work, but sadly that is lethal poison for you Cursed Spirits."
"By the way," Genji continued, "before I exorcise you, I'll let you know the truth before you die. Next is Cursed Technique Disclosure time. Simply put, my Forbidden Technique is 'Destruction'. Through the Forbidden Technique, I grant flames various destructive properties, such as slashing, crushing, disintegrating, and so on, like this."
As Genji spoke, he swung his arm toward the Cursed Spirit, Ghostly Blue Flames igniting on his hand again. Immediately after, the Cursed Spirit found a deep slash mark on the wall behind it, with Ghostly Blue Flames still burning at the breach. Then, the Cursed Spirit discovered it had lost the ability to stand—its legs had been cut off in that attack just now.
And this time, it finally saw the form of the attack. After the human's arm swung through the air, the flames followed the trajectory of the swing to form a slash made of fire that struck out.
"Do you understand now?"
A voice that sounded like a demon to the current Cursed Spirit came from above its head. Looking up, it found that Genji had come before it at some unknown time.
"It seems you have no more trump cards. What a waste of time; I even went out of my way to play with you for so long. It looks like the aura here is all coming from the cursed object inside your body. Once the cursed object is recovered, this incident will be over."
After Genji finished speaking, he activated his Forbidden Technique. Flames condensed on his right hand, forming a Fiery Beast Claw. Seeing this, the Cursed Spirit frantically rolled over and crawled away on the ground, wanting to flee this place. However, before it could crawl far, Genji pierced through its chest, and then flames spread over its entire body. In the next second, the Cursed Spirit turned to ash and completely dissipated.
"It really is this thing."
Genji said, looking at the distorted finger emitting a curse in his hand.
"sukunas finger."
He looked at the damaged talisman on the finger. "Was it caused by the passage of time, or was it intentional?"
Thinking here wouldn't yield a conclusion, so Genji put away the finger and walked out. Just as he stepped out of the hospital gates, he saw Shoko sitting bored on a nearby bench. The moonlight spilled down onto Shoko's face, making it look exceptionally serene.
"Is it finished?"
Shoko turned her head and saw Genji walking out.
"Yeah, just as the mission description said, there was indeed a Special Grade cursed object, and I've already recovered it."
"That's good."
Shoko smiled. Just as she was about to walk forward, the two of them heard the roar of an engine. A motorcycle arrived and stopped in front of them, and a woman with long golden hair got off the bike and stood before them.
"Am I late? It looks like it's already been settled. You must be Genji-san and Shoko..."
Listening to the woman in front of him rattle on incessantly, Genji finally couldn't help but interrupt her.
"You must be the Jujutsu Sorcerer responsible for the final mission location."
"That's right. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Tsukumo Yuki, and I'm responsible for this mission along with you all."
Hearing the name, Genji's and Shoko's eyes couldn't help but widen. As the only Special Grade of this era, the two of them certainly knew the great name of Tsukumo Yuki.
"Why would you appear here? I heard you don't usually take on missions."
"Oh, it's mainly because doing research all the time has left me a bit short on money. Plus, there were some things here I was interested in. I just didn't expect the mission location I was responsible for to have a time-lag type Barrier. I only stayed inside for less than 10 minutes, but when I came out, I found that an hour had passed. How unlucky."
'I see, no wonder it took her so long to rush over. But Cursed Spirits capable of using a time-lag type Barrier are pitifully few; was it really just a coincidence that one appeared in this mission?'
Genji thought to himself.
"By the way, I forgot to ask you a question."
"Mm, what question?"
Tsukumo Yuki gave a bright smile: "What kind of women do you like?"
"?" Shoko was left a bit bewildered by this question, while Genji sighed in his heart.
'Just like the rumors say, she loves asking people strange questions.'
"Oh, it's already this late, and I have things to do later. Since everything is fine here, I'll head off first. Say hello to Gojo-kun and Geto-kun for me; I'll go to Tokyo Jujutsu High to find you next time."
After saying that, Tsukumo Yuki got on her bike and left in a hurry.
"What a strange person."
Shoko said, looking at Tsukumo Yuki's back.
"After working as a Jujutsu Sorcerer for a long time, everyone ends up with some quirks. Don't you see Teacher Yaga, a grown man, still playing with dolls and puppets all day?"
"The teacher will be angry if he hears that."
"It's fine, he's not here anyway. As long as you don't say anything, Shoko, no one will know."
Genji said nonchalantly, but when he noticed the half-smiling expression on Shoko's face, he got a bit flustered.
"Shoko, you wouldn't snitch on me, right?"
"That depends on a certain someone's performance," Shoko raised an eyebrow and teased.
While the two were chatting and laughing (?), a giant bird-like Cursed Spirit landed beside them, and Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto got off from it.
"Is it already over? What kind of cursed object was it?"
"sukunas finger. By the way, does your Gojo Family collect these things? I can give you a discount."
"Let yours truly have a look first."
Hearing that, Satoru Gojo took the finger from Genji's hand and observed it a few times with his Six Eyes.
"Alright, I'll have my family transfer the money to your card when the time comes."
'It looks like I overthought things; this should have just been an ordinary curse incident.'
Suguru Geto thought, then spoke up: "Alright, since the mission is over, let's head back to Tokyo Jujutsu High first. Just ride on my Cursed Spirit."
"Okay." After saying that, the group climbed onto the back of the bird-like Cursed Spirit and left the area.
(At this time, Assistant Supervisor Miss Tayama, who was still anxiously waiting for the results: Why is there no news yet? ﾍ(;´Д｀ﾍ))
A few minutes after Genji and the others left, a short-haired woman appeared at the entrance of the abandoned hospital. The wind blew slowly, lifting the woman's hair to reveal her forehead and the eerie stitched seam across it.
"'Destruction'? Also Cursed Spirit Manipulation and the Six Eyes... a Cursed Spirit catalyzed by just one finger isn't enough. It seems I need to find another opportunity to test their strength."
As the streetlight overhead flickered, the woman's figure also vanished into the dark night.