Chapter 89: The Brave Curse Gets Playful Cloud First
Everyone tensed instantly, as if facing a great enemy, their eyes fixed on Tsumiki.
Ren, especially, looked far more anxious than the others.
Tsumiki glanced at him—
and for some reason, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
"Um…" their eyes met briefly before she lowered her head, speaking shyly, "before… there were several times when the nurse call button in my hospital room… just stopped working."
"At first, I thought the nurses were just busy. But later I found out… they never received the call at all. The system had simply malfunctioned."
"…What?"
Ren froze on the spot.
A malfunctioning call button that couldn't summon help…
It stirred up certain memories in his mind.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
If that phenomenon had really been caused by a curse, then the situation was extremely dangerous.
Because that cursed spirit could come for Tsumiki again at any moment.
And the next time—
it might not just be a "paranormal occurrence."
It could end the same way as the previous victims.
They had to exorcise it immediately.
—
Without wasting another second, the group rushed to Yasohachi Bridge.
Standing atop the bridge, with cars passing by in a steady stream, Maki Zen'in adjusted her glasses—lenses capable of detecting curses.
"I don't see any traces of a curse."
Tsumiki scanned the surroundings as well and reached the same conclusion.
Ren focused cursed energy into his eyes, observing carefully. Even with perception far beyond that of a normal person, he couldn't detect even the slightest trace of a cursed spirit.
"Places like this—well-known for paranormal rumors—are regularly inspected by Jujutsu High," Akari Nitta added from the side.
"Any curses that appear are usually cleared out."
"So the chances of a curse lingering here for decades are very low."
Did we get it wrong?
Is the real threat not here?
Ren narrowed his eyes, scanning both the bridge above and the area below again and again, still not satisfied.
Then suddenly—something clicked.
He formed a hand seal, shaping it like a canine's head.
"Divine Dog: Totality!"
A massive black-and-white hound with crimson markings burst out from the shadows before him.
He remembered what Megumi had said—Divine Dog's sense of smell was extraordinarily sensitive to curses.
The Divine Dog circled Ren a few times, licking his face with its crimson tongue and sniffing the air around him.
Then suddenly—
its fur bristled.
With a sharp howl, it bolted off in a specific direction.
"Follow it!" Ren's expression sharpened instantly.
They chased after the dog, running off the bridge and into a dense forest tangled with ancient vines and towering trees. After sliding down a slope and crossing a rocky stretch, they arrived beneath the bridge, at the edge of a narrow stream.
Night had already fallen.
A pale moon hung high above, its light scattering across the water like shards of silver.
The Divine Dog stopped at the stream, refusing to go further, barking continuously toward the opposite bank.
"…So it's here." Ren's gaze hardened as he stared across the misty, desolate shore.
"Huh?" Tsumiki blinked in confusion.
"In jujutsu," Maki Zen'in explained, already gripping Playful Cloud, "crossing a river to the other side has a special meaning."
The group stepped forward together.
The moment their feet touched the opposite bank—
the world changed.
The open riverbed surged upward. Stone pillars and jagged rock walls rose rapidly, enclosing them in an enormous cavern in the blink of an eye.
The ground, walls, and ceiling were riddled with countless holes.
From one of them—
a four-eyed cursed spirit suddenly poked its head out, letting out a shrill, trembling screech.
Ren raised his hand.
A formless blade flashed—
and the curse was split cleanly in two.
But the phenomenon didn't end.
In an instant, more orange, four-eyed heads emerged from other holes, shrieking wildly.
Boom! Boom!
One after another, the cursed spirits launched themselves like cannonballs toward the group.
Tsumiki raised her hand—bang, bang, bang—bullets fired in rapid succession, combining with Ren's invisible slashes to obliterate them all mid-air.
But then—
the cavern trembled violently.
Sand and debris rained down.
A blue-black figure tore through the rock wall behind them and emerged.
Its body was bloated and vaguely humanoid, like a swollen, rotting corpse. Blood poured from its hollow eye sockets, nose, and mouth. Its torso had been replaced entirely by a grotesque, gaping maw, also dripping with blood.
The moment it appeared, the mouth in its abdomen opened wide—
"What? Someone got here before me?!"
Ren's eyes flickered.
…Another curse?
Not the main one. Judging by its tone, this one had intruded midway.
It even spoke clearly, logically—it had come here with a purpose.
"Leave it to me!"
Maki stepped forward immediately, gripping Playful Cloud, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
She'd been itching to fight.
But Ren's slashes and Tsumiki's bullets had been too overwhelming—every curse had been wiped out before it could even get close.
Watching from the sidelines—especially in front of Tsumiki, who had only been practicing jujutsu for barely a month—was something she absolutely couldn't tolerate.
She swung the three-section staff, the wind roaring around it as she charged straight at the blue-black curse.
The curse seemed just as eager.
"Oh? You wanna play with me?"
It leapt forward—
and met the descending staff head-on.
"GYAA—!!"
A thunderous crash echoed through the cavern.
The curse let out a miserable scream as it was sent flying, its body caving in as it slammed hard into the rock wall behind it. The ground shook, rubble cascading down.
"W-what… what is this?!"
Its hollow eye sockets widened in shock, blood pouring out even more violently like a waterfall.
Maki spun Playful Cloud in her hand, finishing with a clean flourish before settling into a steady stance, calmly facing the half-embedded curse.
Special Grade Cursed Tool—Playful Cloud.
Among all special grade tools, it was the only one without any innate technique.
It stood at the top purely through overwhelming physical power.
And this—
was the first time Maki had ever seen a cursed spirit dumb enough to try and tank it head-on.