Chapter 91: A Kindred Spirit
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The curse began darting around Ren at incredible speed.
After its devastating ranged attack had failed, it seemed to have changed tactics, intending to overwhelm him with sheer velocity instead.
Its pale figure flashed across the cavern, leaping between the ground, walls, and ceiling in rapid succession. It twisted and rebounded through the air with dizzying agility, trying to force Ren into a mistake by moving faster than he could track.
Sure enough, Ren's head kept turning to follow it.
Left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
As the chase continued, confusion gradually appeared on his face, as though he were struggling to keep up with the curse's movements.
The curse watched him intently.
Its four eyes locked onto Ren's constantly shifting gaze, waiting for the perfect moment—an instant when his vision would leave a blind spot exposed.
Then it would strike.
One fatal blow.
But just as it focused all its attention on Ren's movements—
Whoosh!
Ren vanished.
The curse's four eyes widened in shock.
A fist wrapped in crackling black lightning suddenly filled its vision.
The last thing it heard in its short cursed existence was a baffled voice saying:
"What exactly are you doing?"
"Did you seriously think you were fast?"
BOOM!
The punch, packed with fully charged cursed energy, slammed directly into its face.
Under the devastating 2.5-power amplification of Black Flash, the curse's body exploded instantly.
It burst apart into fragments before it even had time to scream.
As the curse's burning remains scattered across the ground, the cavernous dome around them collapsed like a punctured illusion.
The environment rapidly reverted to its original form. The towering rock walls faded away inch by inch, replaced by a desolate riverbank overgrown with wild grass and strewn with loose stones. Pale moonlight washed over the landscape, while wisps of mist drifted above the shallow stream.
"What a waste."
Ren glanced at the black flames consuming the curse's remains.
He had actually been quite interested in the curse's ability to generate so many derivative bodies.
Unfortunately, circumstances had left him no choice.
With Maki and Tsumiki needing support, he couldn't afford the time to force the curse to demonstrate its technique again. The fastest solution had been to crush it outright.
Neither Maki nor Tsumiki was anywhere in sight.
Apparently, they had emerged from the barrier at different locations.
Ren turned, preparing to search for them—
when something small suddenly caught his attention.
It tumbled from within the black flames burning in midair before him.
On the other side of the riverbank, the moment Tsumiki Fushiguro was dragged out of the barrier, the frightened, helpless expression on her pale face vanished.
Her eyes sharpened instantly.
Twisting her body, she unleashed a burst of force far greater than her attacker expected, shaking off the grip on her shoulders before flipping backward and opening a wide gap between them.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even while airborne, metallic bullets erupted from the tip of her finger.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The humanoid curse-user swayed his body in an almost seductive rhythm, weaving through every shot with graceful ease.
The bullets splashed harmlessly into the stream behind him, sending plumes of water into the air.
"So you're a lady."
The man, dressed only in suspenders with his upper body nearly bare, placed one hand on his head and the other against his chest, maintaining an absurdly theatrical pose.
"My apologies for the misunderstanding."
"My brothers and I weren't tasked with killing sorcerers."
He extended his tongue and slowly licked his raised thumb.
His violet eyes swept over Tsumiki with exaggerated elegance.
"If you'd like to leave, miss, I'm willing to let you go."
Tsumiki dipped her head slightly.
Strands of hair slipped down beside her cheeks as a gentle smile bloomed on her refined, graceful face.
"Well then, thank you for your consideration."
"But…"
Hidden beneath the curtain of her hair, the corner of her mouth curled upward.
"Maintaining that ridiculous pose all the time must be exhausting, isn't it?"
"What?"
The suspender-clad man froze.
"I understand you perfectly."
The soft, elegant voice continued from the shadows.
"In fact…"
"I think we might be kindred spirits."
"What?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
Tsumiki lifted her head.
"When there's a man you love, you have to watch every movement."
"You have to maintain perfect manners."
"You have to remain a proper, elegant lady at all times."
Her expression suddenly shifted.
An overwhelming weariness flashed across her face—
only to be swallowed by a surge of manic exhilaration.
The refined features that normally appeared so gentle and composed twisted into something almost ecstatic.
"So I ought to thank you."
She opened her mouth wide, speaking in a tone that sounded dangerously close to laughter.
"For freeing me from those burdens, if only temporarily."
"At last…"
"I can relax."
Patting her chest, she smiled brightly.
"So, as thanks…"
"How about I hang your ugly head from a tree, dry it out, and put it on display for three months?"
"Normally, that privilege is reserved for handsome men."
"What?"
The suspender-clad man was speechless.
He and his brothers weren't actually curses.
They had simply chosen to side with the curses because their eldest brother wished it.
Truthfully, he had always felt that crowd was somewhat questionable.
But now—
he was beginning to suspect he'd been wrong.
Compared to the curses, the undeniably human woman standing before him seemed far more alarming.
"Well then—!"
Tsumiki cried excitedly.
She spread her arms wide.
Several pitch-black cannon barrels materialized beside her.
Their mechanisms hummed as they rotated in unison, locking onto the man.
"Let me indulge myself for once!"
Before she could fire—
"BROTHER!"
A voice even louder than hers tore through the night.
"Brother, save me!"
"Brother!"
The bloated blue-black curse came charging toward them at full speed, screaming desperately.
Its face—black eye sockets, blood pouring from its nose and mouth—was twisted with terror.
It looked as though something even more horrifying than itself was hunting it down.
"That woman's going to kill me! Help!"
"Eso!"
The suspender-clad man spun around and shouted.
He moved to rush toward his younger brother.
But before he could take more than a step—
a figure with dark green hair descended from the sky.
Playful Cloud crashed downward in her hands.
BOOM!
In that instant, the blue-black curse ceased to exist.
The ground beneath it exploded into a massive crater, spiderweb cracks racing outward in every direction.
At the bottom of the pit, the curse's bloated body burst apart like a watermelon hurled against stone.
Flesh, bone, and gore splattered across the crater walls.
Blood sprayed outward like a crimson waterfall.
Maki had anticipated it.
The instant she landed, she sprang backward.
Flipping out of the crater, she spun Playful Cloud in a blur.
The staff whistled through the air, forming an impenetrable wall of force that deflected every drop of blood before it could touch her.
"ESO—!"
Several seconds of stunned silence passed.
Then the nearly bare-chested man stared into the massive crater, from which no sound would ever emerge again—
and unleashed a shriek so anguished it barely sounded human.