Next Bonus, 400PS!
Very long chapter.
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"So... if I were to say I want to try it out, would you be willing to accommodate me, Saki?"
Kai continued to press.
"..."
Faced with Kai's intense gaze.
Sakiko unnaturally averted her eyes, her breathing growing noticeably heavier.
"J-Just... just this once."
Her voice was so soft that if Kai didn't have enhanced hearing, he genuinely wouldn't have caught it.
Having received his desired answer, Kai let out a highly satisfied laugh.
"Don't worry. Since it's your first time, Saki, I'll make sure you have a thoroughly satisfying experience."
"You're wicked."
Sakiko couldn't help but lightly slap his arm.
For a split second, she had actually mentally prepared herself to do that right here and now.
"Ahem. Alright, we should prioritize finding your father first."
He cleared his throat.
Kai's expression immediately turned serious. Only then did Sakiko remember that they actually came here on very important business.
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The door to the dilapidated mansion was clearly ancient. With just a slight push, it let out a loud, agonizing creak, sounding exactly as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
The courtyard was overgrown with thick weeds. It was glaringly obvious that no one had lived here for a very long time.
Out of absolute trust in Kai.
Sakiko firmly believed that her father was somewhere inside this ruined estate.
She was just about to start searching when Kai suddenly reached out and blocked her path.
"Hmm?"
She turned to look at him, curiosity plain on her face. All traces of his earlier teasing demeanor had vanished, replaced by a cold seriousness.
"Cursed Energy residue. There's a Cursed Spirit in here!!"
"What??"
Thanks to Kai's earlier explanation, Sakiko already knew exactly what a Cursed Spirit was.
Did that mean her father had actually run into a literal monster??
A flash of panic crossed her face.
In the very next moment, Kai raised his hand and instantly released every single Cursed Spirit currently under his control.
"Search this entire mansion and find it for me!"
Following Kai's cold command, all of his Cursed Spirits rapidly dispersed throughout the ruined estate.
Soon enough.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
A massive explosion suddenly erupted from the main house not too far away.
Only to see the Cursed Spirits Kai had just dispatched were violently blasted backward, exactly as if they had been struck by a terrifying, overwhelmingly powerful attack.
"FOUND IT!"
Having confirmed the exact direction, Kai immediately prepared to have Sakiko stay behind while he went straight in.
However, at that exact moment, Sakiko suddenly reached out and tightly grabbed Kai's sleeve.
"?"
Under Kai's questioning gaze, Sakiko hesitated for a long second before softly saying, "If it's too dangerous, you should just..."
Sakiko had witnessed with her own eyes the sheer force required to blast Kai's Cursed Spirits backward. Even if she didn't fully understand Jujutsu, she knew perfectly well that the entity inside that house was insanely dangerous.
Sakiko refused to let Kai risk his life.
"Don't worry!"
Knowing exactly what Sakiko was terrified of, Kai suddenly burst into laughter.
"I am strong!!"
In fact...
The more powerful the Cursed Spirit inside was, the more intensely excited and anticipatory Kai became.
Even though Cursed Spirit Manipulation was the very first supernatural ability he had ever acquired, because he had never encountered a truly powerful Cursed Spirit to control, its actual presence in his arsenal had been surprisingly low.
Instead, Kai actually genuinely hoped that the Cursed Spirit inside was strong. That way, it would truly be worth devouring and assimilating.
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"Mhm!"
Seeing Kai look so confident, Sakiko firmly nodded her head.
But then she immediately added, "I'm coming with you."
Even if she knew she couldn't actually help with the fighting... if Kai truly ended up dying in there, dying right alongside him wouldn't be such a terrible outcome.
"Alright!"
Seeing the depth of Sakiko's determination, Kai knew any attempt to persuade her otherwise would be pointless. He simply nodded in agreement.
At the exact same time.
More than a dozen Cursed Spirits under Kai's command tightly surrounded the main house, ensuring the target had zero chance of escaping.
"Father!"
The very instant they stepped into the main house...
Sakiko finally spotted her father. Right now, Kiyotsugu Togawa was firmly suspended in mid-air, tightly bound by what appeared to be thousands of dense, black hair-like strands.
Only his head was left exposed.
Standing directly behind Kiyotsugu was a terrifying, grotesque biological horror resembling a massive spider. Its lower half was a massive arachnid, while its upper half took the form of a woman with incredibly thick, abnormally long black hair.
It was glaringly obvious.
The hair-like strands completely immobilizing Kiyotsugu Togawa were, in fact, extending directly from the Spider Woman's head.
And yet, despite being tightly bound and suspended in the air, there wasn't a single trace of fear on Kiyotsugu's face. Instead, he wore a look of pure, unadulterated obsession.
"Reiko! Reiko!"
He kept continuously murmuring the name, exactly as if he were deeply immersed in some bizarre, twisted hallucination.
Upon noticing Kai and Sakiko's sudden intrusion, a distinct glint of malicious amusement flashed across the Spider Woman's eyes, exactly as if she were simply evaluating a pair of new playthings.
"A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit?"
From the entity's aura, Kai could clearly detect the overwhelming pressure of a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.
At the same time.
"And it's a type of Imaginary Vengeful Spirit. One finally showed up."
The so-called Imaginary Vengeful Spirits were essentially entities born from the collective fear of things that fundamentally shouldn't exist. Normal Cursed Spirits originated from human fear of natural phenomena—like the fear of the ocean, volcanoes, or dense forests.
But Imaginary Cursed Spirits were different.
They were born entirely from human fear of fictional, supernatural concepts.
These types of Cursed Spirits were mostly rooted in various terrifying urban legends. The Spider Woman standing before him, for example, perfectly matched an urban legend Kai had heard of before. Other famous examples like Sadako or Kayako would very likely manifest in the near future as well.
Or perhaps they had already manifested, and Kai simply hadn't encountered them yet.
All that could be said was that Japan was absolutely teeming with urban legends.
The more fear there was, the stronger the Cursed Spirits became.
"The people living in Japan are truly fortunate!"
Thinking this, Kai couldn't help but let out a sarcastic sigh.
If he were to give this Spider Woman a bit more time to grow, it wasn't entirely impossible for her to eventually evolve into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit in the future.
Unfortunately, She just had the terrible luck of running right into him today.
"K-Kai-kun!"
Right at that moment.
Sakiko, standing slightly behind him, suddenly looked at Kai and called out in a small, trembling voice.
Is it going to be dangerous?
Even though she didn't explicitly ask, Kai could clearly read the question written perfectly in her eyes.
He flashed a wide grin.
"Dangerous? Actually, I think it's just perfect."
"Swoosh!"
While he was speaking, the Spider Woman immediately launched her attack.
Those dense, black strands of hair moved exactly as if they possessed a life of their own, shooting rapidly straight toward Kai.
"Clang!"
His Zanpakuto materialized instantly in his hand.
It perfectly blocked the incoming barrage of hair strands for him.
Even though it looked exactly like ordinary human hair, when it collided with the Zanpakuto, it produced the sharp, distinct sound of clashing metal, sending bright sparks violently flying into the air.
"Are you in such a desperate rush to die?"
Grade 1 Cursed Spirits possessed a considerable level of intelligence. Imaginary Vengeful Spirits, in particular, often had intellects on par with average humans.
Seeing that her initial strike had failed...
She instantly launched several more thick bundles of hair, whipping violently toward Kai from multiple angles.
"Attack together!"
As the wielder of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Kai's specialty was—unsurprisingly—overwhelming, brute-force swarm tactics. Even though the strongest spirits he currently possessed were only Grade 2, their sheer numbers more than made up for it.
The massive centipede Cursed Spirit was the very first to charge forward.
It roared viciously, adopting a terrifying stance that clearly indicated it fully intended to devour the Spider Woman whole.
"Die!"
What genuinely surprised Kai was...
The Spider Woman actually spoke. In the next instant, her dense sharp hair strands violently shredded the massive centipede into tiny, grotesque pieces.
The stronger the Spider Woman proved to be, the more intensely Kai wanted to devour her.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Spear!"
However, Cursed Spirit Manipulation wasn't Kai's only offensive method.
Taking advantage of the brief window while the Spider Woman was distracted by his other Cursed Spirits, Kai rapidly closed the distance. Brilliant, violently crackling lightning began surging wildly in the palm of his hand.
With a swift thrust of his arm...
A blindingly bright, highly concentrated spear of lightning blasted directly into the Spider Woman's body in the blink of an eye.
"ROAR!"
The destructive power of lightning inherently countered Cursed Spirits.
Taking the blast head-on, the Spider Woman was violently sent flying backward, a faint smell of charred flesh heavily wafting from her wounds.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Kai wasn't the type of person to start gloating and running his mouth the very second he gained a slight advantage.
He understood the classic "villains die from talking too much" trope better than anyone. Whatever he had to say, he could easily save it for after he had secured the victory...
"BOOOOOOMM!"
A massive fireball, roughly five or six meters wide and radiating incredibly intense heat, roared viciously toward the Spider Woman.
The Spider Woman was already severely injured by the Chidori Spear.
She struggled desperately, yet failed to get back on her feet. All she could do was watch helplessly as the massive fireball engulfed her—her eyes blazing with hatred and bitter defiance.
"NO!!!"
How could this happen?
How had she ended up getting beaten so badly by a monkey??
It was a good thing Kai couldn't actually hear her internal thoughts, otherwise he definitely would have hit her with another blast just for good measure.
By the time Kai finally walked up to the Spider Woman, she was barely clinging to life, looking exactly as if she were about to dissipate into thin air at any given second.
"Don't worry, you aren't going to die. You're simply going to live on forever... in an entirely different form."
As he spoke, Kai slowly raised his palm toward the Spider Woman.
'Yes. Specifically, in the form of my pet.'
Perhaps sensing exactly what Kai was about to do, the Spider Woman immediately began thrashing and struggling wildly. Unfortunately for her, it was completely useless.
Under the overwhelming authority of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, the Spider Woman's massive body began to slowly distort and twist, gradually condensing until it formed a pitch-black, faintly glowing orb resting perfectly in the palm of Kai's hand. Without a single second of hesitation, Kai tossed it back and swallowed it whole.
"Phew!"
That incredibly familiar, highly intoxicating sensation of his Cursed Energy violently surging and expanding instantly washed over him once again.
This was his very first time devouring a true Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. The resulting boost was astronomically stronger than any of the low-level spirits he had consumed in the past.
This time...
It wasn't just a massive surge in his overall Cursed Energy reserves—he could clearly feel his physical constitution rapidly strengthening as well.
He firmly clenched his fists.
The overwhelming sensation of raw, explosive power made Kai incredibly satisfied.
He briefly summoned the Spider Woman again. After being fully assimilated by Cursed Spirit Manipulation, all the severe injuries she had sustained were completely healed. Moreover, not a trace of hostility remained in her eyes.
There was only submission.
Seeing this, Kai let out a satisfied laugh.
"KAI-KUN! KAI-KUN!"
Right at that moment.
Sakiko's panicked voice echoed through the courtyard.
The massive commotion from their battle had filled the air with thick, choking dust. After waiting anxiously and hearing nothing from Kai, Sakiko had clearly panicked and rushed in to find him.
After swiftly recalling the Cursed Spirit...
Kai smiled and calmly walked out from the settling cloud of smoke and dust.
"I told you, didn't I? I am strong."
"Kai-kun!"
Sakiko ignored everything else. The moment she saw Kai emerge, she rushed forward and threw her arms tightly around him, clutching his clothes in a frantic, iron grip—terrified that if she loosened her hold for even a second, he might vanish into thin air.
"Alright, alright! I'm completely fine. That Cursed Spirit has already been thoroughly dealt with."
He gently patted Sakiko on the back.
After a few long moments, Sakiko's racing emotions finally began to gradually calm down.
He then led Sakiko over to where Kiyotsugu Togawa was lying. Because the Spider Woman had been consumed, her hair strands naturally vanished along with her, causing Kiyotsugu to drop heavily to the ground.
It was entirely unclear whether he had actually passed out or simply fallen asleep.
Right now, Kiyotsugu Togawa didn't seem to feel the slightest ounce of pain. In fact, a look of profound, blissful satisfaction was plastered across his face.
"Reiko!"
"..."
Staring down at her father in such a pathetic, utterly delusional state...
For a brief, agonizing moment, Sakiko honestly questioned whether letting Kai risk his life to save this man was actually worth it.
"It seems I finally know exactly what all my hard-earned money was blown on," Sakiko stated coldly, her gaze locked onto the sharp suit Kiyotsugu was wearing.
After all, she used to be the elite young lady of the Togawa family—she still possessed a sharp eye for quality. It was glaringly obvious that his suit was quite expensive.
Was this seriously what all her painstakingly saved money had vanished for??
Sakiko suddenly felt an overwhelming, bone-deep exhaustion wash over her.
Kai remained silent, with no intention whatsoever of commenting on Kiyotsugu Togawa's character.
He definitely wasn't going to try and defend the man by offering pathetic excuses like "humans are naturally weak and easily corrupted by the illusions of Cursed Spirits."
"Hmm?"
Sensing something highly unusual, Kai suddenly crouched down to get a closer look.
"The residual Cursed Energy lingering on his body is so dense. He must have been in direct, continuous contact with that Cursed Spirit for a very long time."
"What does that mean?"
Sakiko looked down at him in pure confusion.
"To put it simply... he's probably going to die very soon."
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