Hasegumo stared at the Cursed Spirit, completely bewildered. Is this thing actually a curse?
He had never seen a Cursed Spirit that looked so human—aside from the tightly closed third eye on its forehead. The creature stood perfectly straight, its hair styled with clinical precision. It wore a sharp, well-fitted suit and gold-rimmed glasses that gave it the air of a refined scholar. It even had a mechanical watch on its right wrist. Looking no older than thirty, it was the spitting image of a well-educated, high-society gentleman.
"Which one of you is going to test the waters?" Hasegumo asked, looking left and right.
To his annoyance, his two "reliable" classmates had already turned their heads away, whistling and rolling their eyes.
"Fine. Whatever," Hasegumo sighed, turning back to the suit-clad curse. "We're looking for a Cursed Spirit. Do you happen to have any leads?"
"Before asking a question, isn't it basic etiquette to introduce oneself?" The curse spoke with a slight bow. "For our first meeting: my name is Laplace. If you are looking for a Cursed Spirit, you have found him."
"Laplace? As in the Frenchman?" Satoru Gojo asked, his interest piqued.
"No." Laplace produced a cane out of nowhere and tapped it against the floor. "How uncivilized. Give me your names."
Hasegumo wisely kept his mouth shut, letting the humanoid taunt-bot that was Satoru Gojo take the lead.
"What's the point of telling you?" Satoru made a 'loser' gesture. "You're going to be dead in a minute anyway."
Classy as always, Satoru, Hasegumo thought.
"Is that so?" Laplace replied calmly. "You trespass into another's territory without a word, refuse to identify yourselves, and declare your intent to murder the host. In that case, you won't have any complaints if I kill you instead, correct?"
He actually has a point. I can't even argue with that, Hasegumo noted internally.
"He's the one who's going to kill you." Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto took a synchronized step back, pointing at Hasegumo with shameless abandon.
"You bastards!" Hasegumo grumbled, rolling up his sleeves to get to work.
However, Laplace didn't attack immediately. Instead, he launched into a monologue.
"I am a Cursed Spirit born from humanity's fear of mathematics. I have observed you from the moment you stepped into my domain. I had hoped sorcerers might be different from the common masses, but my observation has yielded a singular conclusion: you are no different."
"Well, at least thirty percent of your existence is probably due to this guy," Satoru said, pointing a thumb at Hasegumo.
"I'd put it at fifty percent," Suguru added.
"Enough!" Laplace snapped, his composure finally cracking. "From the moment you entered this space, you have done nothing but bicker, fight, and mock your own companion. It is chaos. It is disorder. It is... ugly."
Laplace seemed to have reached his limit with their antics. "I shall allow you to leave this place alive, but on one condition: you must surrender your mathematical knowledge to me."
"And how do we do that? Buy you a workbook?" Satoru Gojo dug into his nose, preparing to flick a booger at Laplace.
In the next instant, Laplace let go of his cane. As it fell toward the floor, his hands blurred into a complex hand sign—the Seal of the Ox.
As a highly intelligent entity born from the dread of mathematics, Laplace possessed an insatiable hunger for knowledge. This desire had manifested into his Innate Technique.
Innate Technique: Knowledge Predation. This technique allows Laplace to strip the knowledge from an opponent's mind. The success rate is determined by the gap in Cursed Energy. If the Cursed Energy levels are equal, a secondary check is performed based on the difference in the subjects' actual mathematical knowledge.
Once the knowledge is stolen, the victim's brain suffers a temporary loss of logical reasoning and complete amnesia regarding mathematical concepts. The user requires a period of time to "digest" the stolen information, with the duration depending on the volume of knowledge consumed.
"Gah! My head..." Satoru Gojo clutched his temples. "What did he just do?"
Suguru Geto didn't look much better. "It feels like my brain is exploding. I can't... I can't think."
"What's going on?" Hasegumo asked. He had felt a tiny prick of pain in his head, but it vanished before he could even think about activating Reverse Cursed Technique.
"My Limitless... I can't keep it up." Satoru patted the top of his head, revealing a terrifying reality. Without the mathematical calculations required to run the Infinity, his ultimate defense was gone.
Laplace leaned over and gracefully picked up his cane. He pointed it at Satoru first. "You... you were like a delicious, five-course dinner."
He turned the cane toward Suguru. "And you... you were a tolerable dessert."
What about me? Hasegumo wondered.
Laplace looked at Hasegumo, and his face twisted into a mask of pure revulsion. He clutched his mouth and gagged, retching out a black, stone-like substance. He spat it onto the ground and crushed it under his heel with a look of utter disgust.
"You... you are a pile of rotting vomit. Gah..."
Laplace took a moment to recover from the "taste." "I thought those two with their chaotic logic would be difficult to swallow, but they were surprisingly exquisite. But then... there is you."
"Your lack of mathematical knowledge is sickening!" Laplace roared. He condensed his Cursed Energy and swung his cane with lethal intent toward Hasegumo's head.
Hasegumo tilted his head slightly, letting the cane whistle past his ear. He countered instantly, burying a CE-infused fist into Laplace's chest and forcing the curse back. With a fluid motion, he grabbed the disoriented Satoru and Suguru and tossed them to the far end of the hallway.
He rolled his shoulders, his expression hardening. "Stealing from people and then complaining about the quality? Where are your manners?"
"My technique is called Cursed Energy Liberation," Hasegumo declared, initiating a Binding Vow by revealing his hand. "It allows for the instantaneous mobilization of Cursed Energy, ignoring physical limitations to concentrate any amount of power into any part of my body."
The details of Hasegumo's technique had evolved. After six months of grueling study, he had discovered that his Maximum Technique functioned like a passive skill with zero consumption. Through sheer repetition, he had trained his Maximum to run automatically and indefinitely.
Facing such a dangerous foe while his two heavy-hitters were incapacitated, Hasegumo finally unleashed his full power for the first time since entering the school.
The moment the Vow was complete, Hasegumo vanished. He reappeared in front of Laplace, eighty percent of his massive Cursed Energy reserves concentrated into his right fist.
Laplace, seemingly confident, met the blow with his own CE-shrouded fist.
CRACK!
Black lightning erupted at the point of impact. Laplace's fist didn't just break; it shattered.
Before the curse could react, Hasegumo's Cursed Energy surged again. Black Flash! He drove a knee into Laplace's stomach with the force of a falling meteor, sending the Special Grade hurtling through the air.
"Ugh..." The curse stood up, retching. The horrific wounds on his arm and torso vanished instantly.
He's weaker than I expected. Is he the type that's purely a specialist with zero melee skills? Hasegumo thought. In that case, I'm not holding back.
Hasegumo blurred, reappearing in Laplace's face. He abandoned all defense, splitting his Cursed Energy between both hands and unleashing a relentless barrage of strikes, determined to exorcise the Special Grade here and now.
Under the howling wind of his punches, Laplace was driven back step after step. Black lightning flickered constantly as Hasegumo's fists punched holes through the curse's body, only to retract and strike again before the previous wound could even close.
Laplace seemed utterly helpless.
Something's wrong, Hasegumo thought, even as he maintained the pressure. He's taking these hits without even trying to counter. Is he waiting for something? He couldn't understand why an entity with such a massive pool of Cursed Energy wasn't putting up a proper fight.
"I'm... mostly back," Satoru Gojo called out. He had finally recovered enough to rejoin the fray. Even without his technique, his hand-to-hand skills were elite.
"Same here," Suguru Geto added, waving a hand. "Cursed Spirit Manipulation!"
A giant, worm-like curse erupted from the floor, swallowing Laplace whole. An instant later, the worm exploded into a shower of purple-red blood.
Satoru Gojo took the lead, catching Laplace in the air with a devastating flying kick that launched him higher.
Hasegumo leaped above the curse, locking his hands together into a double-fisted hammer. Black lightning crackled again as he slammed Laplace back into the floor with earth-shattering force.
Hasegumo didn't object to their help, but the nagging feeling in his gut grew stronger. Is his technique really just stealing math knowledge? Did we miss something?
Laplace crawled out of the crater once more, his Cursed Energy flaring as his body mended itself instantly.
Hasegumo didn't have time to overthink it. While Satoru and Suguru had joined the fight, they were clearly still struggling. Satoru couldn't use his technique, and Suguru seemed limited to summoning one curse at a time while standing perfectly still. They weren't nearly as "recovered" as they claimed.
Without a word, Satoru and Hasegumo charged in again.
Despite it being their first time fighting as a unit, Hasegumo's martial prowess was so refined that he acted as the perfect pivot. His mastery of Shindigunken allowed him to predict his allies' movements as easily as his enemy's. He funneled Laplace into the path of Satoru and Suguru's attacks, coordinating the chaos into a flawless offensive.
Under the triple assault, Laplace was finally pushed to the brink. His Cursed Energy reserves began to dip, and the regeneration of his wounds slowed to a crawl.
"It's over!" Satoru shouted.
The Rainbow Dragon flicked its tail, batting Laplace directly into Hasegumo's range. Hasegumo wound up a final, soul-crushing punch aimed squarely at the curse's head.
Satoru Gojo felt a wave of relief. It was done.
"It's over," a voice echoed.
But it wasn't Satoru's voice.
Suddenly, Laplace's Cursed Energy exploded. His blonde hair flared upward as if caught in a gale. He forced the two sorcerers back with a shockwave of power as the third eye on his forehead snapped open. His hands twisted into the Rabbit sign.
"Domain Expansion: Inversion Paradox."