Cursed spirits.
Spiritual beings born from accumulated negative energy, eventually taking form as something tangible.
They did not simply linger, they harmed, they hunted, they existed as humanity's natural enemy.
And yet for the first time since witnessing his own death, Shion found himself completely fearful of this creature.
…Are all cursed spirits this powerful?
His body reacted before his mind could catch up.
Shion leapt backward, barely dodging a devastating punch that tore through the air where his head had been a split second ago. The force alone distorted the space around it, sending a violent gust crashing into him mid-motion.
So this was a cursed spirit.
And that boy, Yuta was at the center of it.
A curse user? Or is he simply cursed?
Mid-air, Shion summoned his pen and forced it to expand, morphing instantly into a massive shield just in time to take the next hit.
The impact landed.
BOOOOM—
The force didn't just break through, it launched him several hundreds meters away.
His body tore through the school walls, concrete shattering around him as he was sent flying into the open fields beyond. The air rushed violently past his ears as his lungs burned from the sudden loss of breath, and the pressure alone made it feel like his bones were cracking apart.
He hit the ground multiple times rolling and bouncing across the soft dirt before finally coming to a halt.
"Argh—! Cough—cough…!"
He pushed himself up slightly, only to choke as dark, thick liquid spilled from his mouth and nose, splattering onto the ground below. The metallic taste flooded his tongue.
The pain was worse than anything he had ever felt, worse than stabbing himself.
Worse than death.
And yet, he forced himself to stand.
His legs trembled violently as his mind struggled to piece things together, a high-pitched ringing echoing in his ears as the world spun slightly out of focus.
"RIKA, STOP!!"
Yuta's voice cracked as he stared in horror at the hole blown through the building.
His body shook as he forced himself upright, reaching out toward the towering, twisted figure in front of him.
But Rika didn't stop.
Her massive form twisted unnaturally, joints bending at impossible angles as her attention shifted.
"[No one… hurts… Yuta…]"
Without warning, her head snapped sharply toward a pile of rubble.
Hidden within it was one of the boys, the bully from earlier.
He clamped a hand over his mouth, his entire body frozen as pure instinct screamed at him to stay still, even though every part of him wanted to run.
"A-ah… it was just a joke…" he whispered weakly.
"[YOU. DIE.]"
Rika moved.
A blur streaked across as her massive hand tore through the air, about to crush him
BEEP. BEEP.
A small pebble was suddenly launched at her, for a split second right before it struck, a blinding light manifested and the pebble morphed from a small rock to a literal truck hitting Rika with the full force of and momentum of the rock.
CRASH—!!
The impact sent Rika flying backward, her massive body tearing through debris as she was launched in the opposite direction.
"RIKA!!"
Yuta screamed, trying to move, only to feel himself suddenly lifted off the ground.
"So I was right… you're the cursed one."
Yuta's breath hitched.
Kurotsuki Shion stood there, gripping his collar, his body barely holding together. His face was smeared with dark stains, and a deep wound stretched across his lower side, slowly leaking as he held a black notebook in his other hand.
"P-please… don't fight her! You'll just get yourself hurt more—!"
"And let her hurt others?" Shion cut him off flatly. "I won't blame you, but you don't get a say in this right now."
"B-but you don't understand! You'll die fighting–"
BOOM
"[GET AWAY FROM YUTAAA!!]"
Rika instantly appeared above them With a single eye opened menacingly staring at Shion.
Her fist came crashing down at them specifically at Shion, yet he didn't budged
Shion's body suddenly vanished.
Yuta's eyes widened as he was left completely exposed to the punch coming at him.
But at the last possible moment, Rika twisted her attack, slamming her fist into the ground instead.
BOOM—!!
The impact shattered the surrounding area, the school structure collapsing further under the force.
"AAH—!"
Yuta's scream echoed. and for a brief second, Rika froze.
Mid-air, Shion looked down, his eye burned.
Countless possibilities flooded his vision, branching endlessly, collapsing, diverging most of them ending in one outcome.
Death.
Her movements were too chaotic and fast for him to keep up, yet there was a connection between all of them. Her obsession with keeping yuta safe, it was a merciless gamble letting the life of another be in danger.
Minutes earlier, in the field, he had already acted, he had stabbed himself and instead of editing he forced a simple 1 time condition and effect, his cursed energy is nearly depleted due to his inefficient energy consumption, the effect of teleporting right at the weakness area only if His life was in danger due to the opponent.
Now, he cashed it in.
His body reappeared mid-motion, arm already pulled back despite the strain tearing through his muscles. Ignoring the screaming pain, he let the pen in his hand shift.
Expanding and condensing into a massive 20-ton sphere of metal formed instantly above him and came crashing down toward Rika.
Rika turned, screeching, and trying to swing the ball, but just before contact, it vanished.
Replaced by a katana in his hand only mere inches away to chopping Rika's neck.
Shion swung with everything he had.
"—!!"
Too slow.
Rika twisted, her body contorting unnaturally as she slipped past the blade at point-blank range.
Now beside him her mouth opened wide.
"[HNNNGGGRRAAAAHHH!!]"
The scream alone hit him like a physical force as his body seized violently.
Every nerve Exploded.
His body tore across the ground, skipping, rolling, slamming repeatedly before finally stopping against a jagged rock that dug deep into his back.
"Blergh…!"
More dark liquid spilled from his mouth as his vision dimmed, the iron taste thick in his throat.
His body wouldn't respond properly.
His limbs felt numb at this point.
Is this… death?
Just One day after gaining his cursed technique.
And this was the end?
Even with reinforcement, he was outclassed in every possible way, speed, strength, durability. His attacks barely registered. Even something as absurd as truck with the momentum of a light rock had amounted to nothing more than a slight push.
What kind of bullshit is this…?
His fingers twitched.
The notebook.
"Haa… is there anything left…?"
He forced it open, page after page one word repeated endlessly.
Death.
…
But not all of them, there was still the 1 percent, using only the eye he can only predict the predictable, using the eye and reading the book he can predict all possible future however it requires him to read manually unlike with the eye alone.
Of course there's one last possibility that can slip the prediction of the eye and the book.
Self-editing his own existence.
"...Haah… I really didn't want to use this…"
With shaking hands, he formed a katana then drove it straight into his own shoulder.
"Argh—!!…"
---
Meanwhile, Rika moved to pursue, her massive form shifting forward with violent intent, yet she suddenly stopped mid-motion, as if something unseen had pulled at her instincts. In front of her, Yuta stood frozen in place, his entire body trembling as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face, his hands clenched tightly despite the fear that clearly threatened to break him apart.
"Rika… stop…! I won't let you hurt anyone else…!"
His voice wavered, fragile and uneven, but despite everything, he didn't step back this time. Even as the overwhelming presence before him loomed, even as fear gripped every part of his body, he held his ground, forcing himself to stand between her and everyone else.
Step
From the direction of the field, a figure began to approach.
Kurotsuki Shion stepped forward, his movements steady despite the state his body should have been in, his presence alone enough to distort the atmosphere around him. He was alive, yet something about him had clearly changed.
A dense aura wrapped tightly around his body, no longer flowing loosely but compressing inward as it swirled, violent and controlled at the same time. The cursed energy that had once been a colour of blue had shifted into something far more unsettling, a layered mixture of purple, red, and pink that pulsed with each step.
His own cursed energy trait changed into something far denser and heavier than before.
Both Yuta and Rika alike felt the pressure emanating from him.
"Haah.. seems like I really did it." Shion spoke calmly, his entire demeanor changed as he puts up a stance.
He directed his index finger at Rika while his gaze stucked on yuta.
"No more words are needed." Shion extended his arm as a ball of cursed energy appeared at the tip of his finger, nearby cursed energy became scarce as if pulled to that orb being charged.
---
(A/N: Sorry for the late update, my hb forced me to hop on fortnite, this mf genuinely bought the triple t skin smh😭)