For a heartbeat, the ruined corridor held its breath.
The curse stood there with visible joy showing to his face.
But the flickering cursed energy in the dust cloud made his joy short lived.
The curse trembled in place, its twisted form quivering with fury. Its jagged mouth peeled back, releasing a guttural roar that scraped against the walls like broken glass.
"RRRAAAAHHH—!"
It had killed them. It felt them break. And yet-
"Cough..Cough..."
Megumi's eyes snapped toward the rubble. Yuji steadied himself against a cracked pillar, chest rising unevenly, but alive. Barely.
"Get up," Megumi said under his breath, voice low but laced with rising exhaustion. "We don't have time to play dead."
Yuji nodded, wiping blood from his lip. "Yeah… yeah. That thing's losing it."
The curse's presence surged, thick and suffocating. Its anger seemed to be touched by even non sorcerers.
However its anger was justified.
It had been denied the joyful victory over these pesky humans.
Megumi turned quickly, gripping Sora by the shoulder and shaking him harder this time.
"Sora! Wake up, we have work to do."
For a moment, nothing.
Sora was down like a dead corpse. But then-
A shallow inhale.
Sora's fingers twitched and his eyes snapped open.
Even though the fight barely even lasted 5 minutes, exhaustion could be seen in those eyes.
But it was understandable.
The side effects of pushing past your limits rushed back into him all at once.
His body reacted violently. Every nerve screamed as if his skin had been peeled away and exposed to lightning. His breath hitched.
"I...am…still… here?" he muttered, voice hoarse.
Yuji let out a small, relieved laugh. "Yeah dude. But the thing is here with us as well."
Sora didn't reply.
He pushed himself up.
His hands and legs were shaking.
His sense of perception was distorted.
But still functioning enough to rely on his one last trick.
Across the corridor, the curse froze.
This time, there was no confusion about the humans. No underestimation even if they have weaker presence and pressure.
It saw Sora and it understood what was needed to be done.
A low, distorted growl escaped its throat as its body twisted, energy pooling at its core.
Sora exhaled slowly, forcing his body to obey.
"...Goodness gracious," he murmured. "You're still loud."
From within his coat, he pulled something out.
"But this baby right here will be louder."
A metal construct.
No.
A core.
Four cursed spheres, once separate, now fused together into a single, pulsing structure. Veins of dark energy threaded between them, forming a lattice that hummed with unstable power.
Megumi's eyes narrowed. "That's--"
"I didn't make it to catch dust in my uniform, you know." Sora interrupted.
He clenched his hand.
Metal responded around him.
From the broken floor, from shattered beams, from scattered debris—everything metallic answered. It flowed toward him like iron drawn to a living magnet, spiraling, layering, thickening.
The air grew heavier with rustic scent.
"Then what did you make it for?" Yuji asked. Curious despite the situation.
Sora's gaze locked onto the curse.
"To break past the limits. limits that hold us back. That's the purpose and goal."
With a sudden motion, he thrust his hand forward.
The metal surged.
Not as a wave but as a force. It slammed into the opposing metal like a collapsing wall.
The metal pushed and compressed.
Forced it inward into the core.
The moment the curse applied by Sora made contact.
Things changed.
Cursed energy and metal collided, not as opposites, but as fuel and engine. The core pulsed violently, light flickering between its seams as if something inside had begun to wake.
A low hum filled the corridor.
Then a second layer of metal wrapped around it.
And another.
And another.
Piece by piece, the structure began to grow.
Limbs formed.
A torso.
A head.
Not sculpted though hand but assembled as a machine. As if an invisible force was following a blueprint etched into the air itself.
The curse, now trapped within, began to panic.
For the first time it felt fear.
A pressure built from within the metal body was not like that of a living or dead.
Not wild like a curse or rigid like a tool.
Something in between all those.
Something chimera.
Megumi's breath caught slightly. "…That thing…"
Yuji stared, wide-eyed. "That's looks cool..."
The pressure intensified even more.
Enough to rival a Grade One.
The curse let out a furious scream, gathering its cursed energy to blow the metal construct before it formed.
A blast erupted.
A concentrated surge of destruction tore through the air, aimed straight at the forming figure.
Too fast and too close.
But still too Late.
Just before impact, a thin layer of cursed energy shimmered into existence around the construct.
The field of cursed energy diverted the trajectory slightly.
The blast hit the field but was deflected to the side.
Dust exploded all over the place. Filling the corridor in a choking cloud.
Nothing could be seen in the cloud of dust.
Silence followed.
A faint anticipation and despair ignited in there.
Step..
Step..
Metal scraped softly against stone.
The dust slowly parted, as if pushed away by an unseen force.
And there it stood.
A humanoid figure of metal.
Sleek but simple. It was black with streaks of blue running across its body.
Its presence pressed down on the surroundings.
Yuji swallowed. "…That looks strong."
Megumi didn't respond.
His eyes were fixed on Sora.
Sora stood there, barely holding himself upright, his breathing rough but his gaze steady.
The construct moved.
It was mechanical but the presence it carried rivaled that of the curse. Even though it was slight.
The curse was both furious and threatened by the metalloid.
It gave of a feeling of danger that was not explainable to itself.
But it still didn't care.
"KTHAAAGHH.."
With cursed-energy-infused fists, it launched itself towards the metal.