Mahito

Shen Yuanyi was searching Matsumoto Tadan's body for any other clues when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside the factory. Turning around, he saw a young-looking man with finely handsome features.

They both looked confused upon meeting each other's eyes. Shen Yuanyi had recognized him—the Curse User who was one of the mission targets, Uehara Masanobu. Though he had a face that naturally inspired goodwill, what he had done was far worse than Matsumoto Tadan's crimes.

Shen Yuanyi could not help sighing. This had fallen right into his lap. He no longer needed to search everywhere; both mission targets had delivered themselves straight to him. Could anything be easier?

Uehara Masanobu's gaze swept over the youth in the familiar uniform, sword in hand, and the monster lying at his feet. His heart sank as he cautiously asked, "Are you from Jujutsu High?"

Shen Yuanyi had originally intended to finish him off immediately, but Matsumoto Tadan made him reconsider. He did not use his technique. Instead, he abruptly rushed at Uehara Masanobu, the twin blades in his hands flashing toward the man's face in an instant.

Even though he had been prepared, Uehara Masanobu was startled by the swift attack. Several inky-black tentacles suddenly burst from around him, layering over one another to wrap him completely.

But in the blink of an eye, the defense formed by Uehara Masanobu's shikigami shattered. Glimmers of light slipped through the slashes, illuminating his startled face.

The kick that followed twisted his face even further. As he spun through the air and flew toward the wall, a great mass of tentacles extended from behind him at the critical moment and caught him. He still hit the wall, but the impact was greatly reduced.

Watching Uehara Masanobu clutch his abdomen despite having been kicked in the face, Shen Yuanyi wore an expression of understanding. "You fought this thing before?"

Shen Yuanyi pointed at the mangled remains on the ground. Uehara Masanobu's face darkened, but he did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand, took out another talisman, and summoned a vicious shikigami that resembled a zombie and stood over two meters tall.

The moment the shikigami appeared, the pustules covering its body began bursting one after another. Crisp popping sounds rang out endlessly as blackish-green fluid poured from them, swiftly covering the surrounding floor.

"Do you know Mahito? A humanoid Cursed Spirit."

Shen Yuanyi asked as he flicked his blades. The image of that stitched-faced Cursed Spirit, whose smile blended innocence and evil, naturally surfaced in Uehara Masanobu's mind. Renewed fear made him shudder, and an expression of terror appeared on his face without him even noticing.

Right, why was he flicking his blades?

White "threads" enveloped Uehara Masanobu. The tentacles wrapped around him scattered across the floor, while the zombie-like shikigami no longer resembled its original terrifying form. It had become nothing more than a pile of indiscriminate chunks of flesh.

"Y-you..."

Before Uehara Masanobu could finish speaking, his field of vision suddenly dropped. He fell uncontrollably to the floor. Both his legs had been cleanly severed at the thighs, blood streaming from the wounds and mixing with the filth on the ground alongside his screams of pain.

"Tell me about that Cursed Spirit. If I'm satisfied, I'll use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal you." Shen Yuanyi looked down at him.

Severely injured in a single exchange, Uehara Masanobu knew that he had finally encountered a real devil while walking the night road. This was not one of the Jujutsu Sorcerers he had easily escaped or driven back in the past. He no longer even dared release the other shikigami he had originally planned to use for a sneak attack.

Memories rose uncontrollably in his mind. That humanoid Cursed Spirit that spoke like a human seemed to stand before him still. Right in front of him, it had turned the deranged murderer into a monster, and he himself had carelessly suffered an injury to his abdomen.

He had fled in fear, only to return out of greed and run headlong into another deadly foe. Now that his mind had cleared, regret filled his heart.

Under the pressure of death, Uehara Masanobu could only force himself to believe Shen Yuanyi's words. Even if there was only a one-percent chance, he had no choice but to cling to it tightly.

"It was that Cursed Spirit. There were stitches on his face... and his body. He turned that person into a monster, but I don't know what he's called... He seemed to say before that I should find him at a nearby hospital..."

As he spoke, he seemed to realize something. Then he saw the look in the youth's eyes change. Sensation suddenly returned to his feet, and his body... seemed to be swelling?

"Wha... urgh..."

Even his voice had become garbled. He let out futile whimpers as the hand he raised swelled as though being inflated...

So... I'd already been hit. When did it happen?

That final thought flashed through Uehara Masanobu's mind as his consciousness sank into chaos, before the surging urge to kill swallowed everything.

Shen Yuanyi watched with his own eyes as the Curse User before him gradually transformed from a genuine human being into a monster that merely possessed limbs and facial features.

"This kind of technique... it really is..."

Wheel of Time: Spin

Onikiri effortlessly chopped it into pieces. The broken body immediately lost all activity, even showing signs of "withering."

After casually cutting down the shikigami and Cursed Spirits that had lost their restraints upon Uehara Masanobu's death, Shen Yuanyi took several photos of the ground with his phone and messaged Nitta Akari to handle the aftermath.

After leaving, Shen Yuanyi opened his map app and searched for the nearest hospital before heading there.

The hospital was not large, and only a sparse few people moved through its corridors. Shen Yuanyi suddenly halted as he walked. Someone was sitting on the seats at the far end of the hallway.

Black shirt, black pants, long blue hair tied into three strands, one blue eye and one black eye. Most conspicuous of all were the stitches across his face and arms. That was right—he was the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Mahito!

Everyone passing by ignored him completely as he sat there, studying the people moving through the hospital with great interest. Shen Yuanyi's arrival drew his attention over. When he saw the newcomer, his eyes lit up. He knew this person could see him.

"Hello." Mahito wore an innocent smile. If one ignored his abnormalities, one might even feel some fondness toward him.

He continued, "Didn't that human come? Still, you're not bad either. What a wonderful body! Your soul must be wonderful too, right? I really want to try touching it."

Mahito's face showed intoxication as he unconsciously reached out a hand. Then a burst of pain jolted him awake. Looking closely, he found that his extended right hand had been severed cleanly at the wrist, yet he had not seen how it happened.

"Huh? Did you do that?"

With only confusion on his face, Mahito bent down to pick up his hand. He waved it before his eyes, then casually tossed it onto the ground and let it slowly dissolve into ash. Flesh began writhing at his severed wrist, and within a few breaths, another hand grew from it.

He flexed the newly grown hand. It looked exactly the same as the original. Shen Yuanyi sat in the chair opposite him without any surprise. That had only been a warning. If he remembered correctly, this Cursed Spirit was unusual—ordinary attacks did little to his true body. Only power that affected the soul could inflict real damage on him.

"You're Mahito, right? You were the one who did this to Matsumoto Tadan and Uehara Masanobu." Though Shen Yuanyi phrased it as a question, his tone was certain. There were not many people in the hospital, but that was only relative. The situation was urgent, and there was no time to evacuate them. Mahito would not foolishly watch Shen Yuanyi do so, either.

Being unable to put up a curtain meant Shen Yuanyi could not immediately draw his sword and cut him down. If he failed to kill Mahito at once, the people around them would likely become toys in his hands in an instant.

Mahito's interest in Shen Yuanyi grew even stronger. He pondered the attack he had failed to perceive just now, then seriously considered Shen Yuanyi's words before saying, "Probably. I don't know those two humans' names. After fulfilling one person's wish, I just happened to transform the other one too. What? Were they your friends?"

Shen Yuanyi smiled faintly. "No. They were criminals. You just stole my work."

Fortunately, there were not many people passing through, so Shen Yuanyi was not mistaken for a lunatic talking to himself. Mahito laughed happily at that, idly playing with a lock of hair hanging beside his face as he chuckled. "Then there's no need to thank me."

"By the way, you came to... kill me, didn't you?"

The deepening smile on Mahito's face carried a little more malice, but he did not make the first move. Shen Yuanyi was wary of the "hostages" around them, and Mahito was equally wary of Shen Yuanyi's earlier attack.

Was that pure speed? I didn't see the attack's path, or even the weapon. That thing on his ear is a Cursed Spirit, right? Is it the type that can change its shape? That's pretty rare. And it's probably what hid his weapon.

As Mahito analyzed the information he could gather, he felt a little regretful. He had been too focused on observing these humans earlier and had not casually made a few more toys. His stock seemed insufficient. Against an opponent with unobservable attacks, his little toys would probably be useless. What a headache.

Even so, Mahito felt no fear. As long as Shen Yuanyi could not touch his soul, those attacks were merely wounds that would heal in an instant.

And his soul had to be wonderful, didn't it? The feeling of it would surely be exquisite too!

Mahito's smile nearly split to his ears, and the malice in his eyes was undisguised. Yet it resembled the malice of a child who had found an anthill and brought over a kettle of boiling water, eager to pour it in and see how the ants reacted.

Shen Yuanyi sighed, glanced down both sides of the hallway, then said to Mahito, "Can you leave with me first, then obediently let me cut you to death? Exorcising you should make applying for Special Grade much easier afterward."

"No. I haven't started playing yet. But if you agree to let me touch your soul, it's not impossible. Otherwise, I'll just play with these inferior toys." As Mahito spoke, his gaze swept over the people in the hospital, and his eyes held even more boredom as he looked at them.

Somewhat distracted, Shen Yuanyi barely paid attention to Mahito's words. He casually chatted with him for a few more lines before seemingly offhandedly asking, "I'm waiting for an opportunity. What are you waiting for?"

Mahito froze. Then a loud explosion interrupted him. A door at the right end of the corridor suddenly exploded without warning, destroying the nearby surveillance camera as well. Realizing something was wrong, Mahito immediately activated his technique.

But the scene before his eyes changed in an instant. Several cars were parked around them, and above was nothing but thick concrete and lights illuminating the area.

An underground parking lot.

Mahito stuck out his tongue and licked the corner of his lips. From the corner of his eye, he saw five figures undergoing horrifying transformations. They were the several "toys" he had casually transformed earlier.

Under his control, those figures, now utterly unrecognizable, swayed to their feet and staggered toward Shen Yuanyi.

The five beings still retained some human traits. Tears streamed from their eyes, and their uncontrollable bodies could only make distorted cries for help on instinct.

"Help... help me..."

Mahito smiled wantonly. "How is it? Do you like my toys? I made them by changing their souls with my technique!"

Backlit by the overhead lamps, Shen Yuanyi's expression was impossible to see. He had casually destroyed all the nearby surveillance cameras, and these transformed people... could no longer be saved.

Reversing them back to their previous state? That would be futile. Mahito's technique had affected them too long ago. Reversing them would only let Mahito activate his technique once more. It would not solve the root of the problem. He had to kill Mahito first...

Without Shen Yuanyi making any visible movement, the five people who had completely turned into monsters abruptly reverted to human form. Then they were sent flying backward, landing in a corner by the far wall.

Shen Yuanyi had already drawn Dojigiri and Onikiri, while Kumo-kiri was embedded in the ground before him.

Mahito looked at the three blades. Their auras were faintly linked, and a sense of foreboding rose in his heart. Without wasting another word, he activated his technique and began changing his own form.

Shen Yuanyi's voice echoed through the empty underground space, like a cold blade scraping across a throat. "Have you decided how you want to die?"