So, this is the mission location?"
Shigen One gazed at the eerily empty hospital ahead. He and Maki stood in front of it, each carrying a long cloth bag on their backs.
Maki adjusted her glasses. "The 'Window' has confirmed it. There's a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit inside the hospital. It was detected a bit late, and it's also spawned some lower-grade Cursed Spirits."
(P.S.: "Windows" are non-sorcerers professionally capable of observing Cursed Spirits, responsible for monitoring specific areas.)
"After evacuating everyone from the hospital, the report came in. Seriously, that bandage-wearing idiot thinks highly of us, sending us to deal with a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit right from the start."
Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers are generally categorized from the lowest, Grade 4, up to Grade 1, and then Special Grade, which surpasses Grade 1.
Under normal circumstances, below Special Grade, a Cursed Spirit of the same grade isn't a match for a Jujutsu Sorcerer of the same grade. That's why Maki said this; although she's quite confident in herself, shouldn't they normally progress gradually?
"I'll set up the curtain."
"From darkness, deeper darkness. Defilement and impurity, be thoroughly purged."
Shigen One spoke, forming hand signs and chanting the incantation. A grayish-black "curtain" descended from above the hospital, isolating it from ordinary people's entry, exit, and sight.
This would conceal any abnormalities that might arise from the battle, preventing ordinary people from witnessing them and potentially generating unnecessary negative emotions, thus breeding more curses.
Soon after Shigen One and Maki entered, they spotted several Cursed Spirits with limbs like needle-sharp blades. Seeing these fodder Cursed Spirits notice them and charge, Maki pulled back her cloth bag to reveal a naginata. Gripping it and twirling it behind her, she scoffed with disdain, "Ha! These curses, the weaker they are, the more they like to stick together!"
Maki pushed off the ground, rocketing forward like an arrow towards the Cursed Spirits, who were unconsciously whimpering repetitive phrases like "pain" and "don't want to die."
Just as they were about to collide, she put her entire body into it, her waist bursting with power as she twisted her body. Her feet continuously stomped the ground, and in an instant, she swept past the Cursed Spirits.
The naginata she held behind her had already moved with her body as she spun, carving circular slashes in the air.
When Maki stopped, the suddenly stiff Cursed Spirits ceased their cries, emitting low "ho-ho" growls. Then, purplish-black blood suddenly spurted from their necks, waists, and limbs, and their entire bodies scattered onto the ground, unable to reassemble.
As Maki came to a stop, she heard a crisp clapping sound from Shigen One, almost causing her to lose her footing.
With a dark expression, Maki turned her head to see Shigen One holding Zhu Mie under his arm, clapping with a serious expression. When she looked over, he even praised her, "Wow! Maki, that slash was amazing! Clean, precise, hitting all vital points..."
"Shut up! Let's find the Cursed Spirits."
Maki, who felt she had merely killed a few fodder Cursed Spirits, felt a rush of embarrassment and annoyance from Shigen One's praise. And because his praise seemed so genuine, that feeling grew even stronger!
Heaven help him! Shigen One genuinely thought that slash was cool. A swift advance, using a spin to swing the blade and sever all the Cursed Spirits' vital points—that's highly skilled, isn't it? More importantly... it was stylish!
Maki, not knowing what expression to make, walked ahead with a cold face, holding her naginata. Seeing this, Shigen One waved his hand, "I'm going to search from the rooftop. Call me if anything happens!"
After receiving a non-committal response from Maki, Shigen One easily scaled the hospital's outer wall to the five-story rooftop. The view immediately opened up. Watching Maki charge into the shadowy building with her naginata, Shigen One also turned and entered the rooftop door.
These Cursed Spirits were weak. Shigen One barely exerted himself using Zhu Mie. Most of the fodder he encountered didn't last more than one arrow. Shigen One even had enough control to limit the power so as not to blast large holes in the corridors and walls.
After another arrow turned a Cursed Spirit resembling a white bedsheet into dust, honestly, this Cursed Spirit at least didn't have a bizarre appearance. It looked a bit like a dark version of a teru teru bozu, and it was quite cute after looking at it for a while.
Shigen One, lost in thought, suddenly turned his gaze out the window. A strong surge of cursed energy had just erupted from the annex building next to the main building. He could vaguely hear some noisy sounds coming from that direction.
It seemed Maki was in trouble. Shigen One didn't dare delay. He blurred into a shadow in the corridor, but even faster than him was a blue blur that instantly shattered the half-height window at the end of the hallway.
Then, Shigen One leaped out, surging cursed energy flowing throughout his body. He instantly traversed nearly ten meters, and still in mid-air, he condensed another arrow, breaking the window at his landing point in the annex building opposite.
After landing steadily, Shigen One adjusted his posture. After careful sensing, he found that the fluctuations and tremors were coming from below. He was currently on the fourth floor, and based on the sounds, his preliminary judgment was that the battle was on the second floor.
Taking the stairs would be too slow. Shigen One silently apologized in his mind, then placed his right hand on Zhu Mie's bowstring. A dark blue arrow pointed remotely at the floor, locking onto the strong cursed energy fluctuations he sensed, piercing through layers of stone architecture.
Maki's cursed energy was below that of an average Jujutsu Sorcerer, roughly at the level of an ordinary person. So, that large surge of cursed energy below must be the Cursed Spirit! However, he also had to be careful that the aftershocks wouldn't affect Maki. After concentrating and aiming for a while, Shigen One finally seized a fleeting opportunity.
As he released his fingers, a large hole instantly appeared in the floor, slanting forward and downward. The floor immediately followed, unable to bear the strain, and began to crack.
After entering the main door, Maki, while appearing to charge recklessly, was actually observing her surroundings meticulously. She couldn't directly observe Cursed Spirits on her own, so she usually relied on Jujutsu tools, specifically the glasses she wore, to see their forms.
Maki had no cursed technique, and her cursed energy was insufficient for exorcising Cursed Spirits. Thus, she exchanged this for powerful physical abilities, which she used along with her Jujutsu tools to exorcise Cursed Spirits.
In the Jujutsu world, "Binding Vows" involve exchanging certain costs for other "things." If these are executed and formed by a person's will, there's also a rare type of Binding Vow that is innate. Regardless of whether the individual desires it or not, this innate vow forcibly takes something away from you while granting you talent in another area, thus earning the name "Heavenly Restriction."
It's hard to say whether "Heavenly Restriction" brings pain or fortune, but it's probably more often the former, as it is a "curse," after all...
After easily dealing with the few Cursed Spirits she encountered, Maki ascended to the second floor and again encountered a group of Cursed Spirits. Most of these Cursed Spirits were composed of ragged, grayish-black strips of cloth, some tall and slender, others wide and stout... They poured out of the patient rooms on both sides of the corridor, rushing towards Maki with meaningless roars.
Thinking it was just another group of fodder, Maki charged forward again. In the narrow corridor, Maki used her agile movements and the naginata in concert, unleashing whirlwind-like slashes.
Scattered, shattered Cursed Spirits lay strewn where Maki had passed. Just as she was about to pursue and finish off the last two rag-strip Cursed Spirits, she suddenly felt an alert and turned to her left, naginata raised, barely managing to assume a defensive posture.
Then, the left wall shattered with a crash. Several dark figures burst through the dust and shot out. Maki only saw a few tentacle-like black objects strike the naginata she held defensively in front of her. Immediately, the naginata was pressed fiercely against her body by this immense force, sending her flying backward.
"Cough..."
Maki, who had crashed through the wall behind her and landed in a patient room, scrambled to her feet. Though looking slightly disheveled, her actual injuries were not severe. Before she could catch her breath, she quickly rolled over to dodge another incoming attack, using the floor and walls for leverage to escape the room. It was then that Maki finally got a clear look at the Cursed Spirit.
It was somewhat similar to the previous rag-strip Cursed Spirits. Most of its body was composed of grayish-black, dirty, tattered cloth strips. Beneath it was a black, mist-like substance, within which indistinct, fleshy bodies seemed to squirm. Its body was quite large, lacking limbs or distinct facial features. Or perhaps the gaps between the cloth strips were its "mouth"?
This Cursed Spirit almost filled the corridor. Its flapping cloth strips struck the walls and floor like tentacles, leaving behind craters. Maki gripped her naginata, a smile of battle intent on her face. "It seems this Cursed Spirit has some intelligence, even knowing how to hide and ambush... But this makes it more challenging!"
Maki suddenly dragged her blade and charged forward, abruptly ducking to dodge a flying attack. Then, bracing herself, she sprung up from the ground and swung her blade, severing the coiling cloth strips. Those strips fell to the ground and gradually dissipated into ash as if burned.
Under the Cursed Spirit's frantic assault, Maki moved like a fish in a turbulent stream, weaving through its crisscrossing attacks, then pressed close to it and forcefully slashed her naginata into the Cursed Spirit's body.
The blade cut through the Cursed Spirit's body with little resistance. Several significant wounds bled black, unknown fluid and emitted black smoke. However, Maki, who was forced back again, frowned. "Why does this Cursed Spirit seem unaffected? Did I not hit its vital point?"
The black cloth moved like living snakes, coiling around the Cursed Spirit's wounds, and in a blink, it seemed as if nothing had happened. A cold glint flashed in Maki's glasses, and she quickly reviewed all the previous details in her mind.
"Weakness! This Cursed Spirit appears to lack common flesh-and-blood weaknesses like limbs, a heart, or a head, but it must have a vulnerable spot. Continue probing attacks, find its weakness, then strike for the kill!"
Maki then used the terrain of the corridor and surrounding patient rooms to engage the Cursed Spirit in battle. The now not-so-wide terrain was, in a way, an advantage. The Cursed Spirit's individual attacks weren't very strong, aside from a few occasionally thick cloth strip attacks; most of them Maki could easily cut through.
The trouble was its body, wrapped in layers of cloth strips. After being cut, it would quickly repair itself. Moreover, its attack style seemed to be to trap enemies and then drag them back to be devoured by the black smoke beneath the cloth strips. That, she thought, must be the dangerous place.
After dodging a dense attack from the Cursed Spirit, Maki suddenly detected a rumbling sound. The direction was... above! Then, in her astonishing dynamic vision, the ceiling near the Cursed Spirit's head suddenly shattered, and a blue, condensed cursed energy arrow flew out from it.
The Cursed Spirit also seemed to notice something unusual, and the cloth strips waving around its body were already preparing to defend. However, the arrow vanished in the next instant, and in sync with its disappearance, a large hole opened in the Cursed Spirit's body.
Just as the Cursed Spirit's roar began, its body trembled, then strangely split open with two more regular circular holes. Maki only vaguely saw a trace that remained in her memory; the only thing she could truly capture was the residual cursed energy.
However, after being wounded, the Cursed Spirit's body began to rapidly repair itself again. Perhaps seeing that these few arrows weren't very effective, no more cursed energy arrows fell afterward. Instead, a figure suddenly burst through the ceiling above and crashed down onto the Cursed Spirit.
"Woohoo!"
A black cursed energy fluctuation blossomed with light amidst its distortion. This fist, falling from the sky, slammed fiercely into the Cursed Spirit's body. The surging cursed energy falling with it seemed to pause for a fleeting moment, and the terrifying power that erupted subsequently blew away all the surrounding dust and debris.
Half of the Cursed Spirit's body had turned to dust, revealing the disgusting sight beneath the cloth strips: the Cursed Spirit's true body beneath the cloth strips was a twisted, tangled mass of tentacle-like flesh, adorned with several large and small grotesque eyes.
"Weak point!"
Just as Maki was about to charge into battle, she saw Shigen One, who had landed, flash a smile. His left fist was already punching towards the Cursed Spirit. Black light flashed again, and the Cursed Spirit, its howls scattered by the blow, couldn't make any move before the squirming mass of flesh flying in mid-air shattered into pieces within the distorted black light.
"Huh? I barely used any force, and you've already fallen?"
(End of Chapter)
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