Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit Rika Orimoto

Maki knew a Cursed Spirit had made a move. She immediately retreated and put on her glasses as Akesato had instructed.

After a period of self-abusive training, she could sense the presence of Cursed Spirits within a certain range even without her glasses, if she were thrown into a crowd of them. But that was limited to rough directions; details such as their forms and size were beyond her perception. She still needed specially made cursed glasses to assist her.

Then she saw it.

The enormous presence behind Yuta Okkotsu, almost filling the entire blackboard.

It had hands much like a human's. Its chest was caved in as though something had crashed into it, its ribs clearly outlined. The upper half of its face was obscured like Satoru Gojo's, but while Gojo wore a blindfold, this was a mass of flesh. Its lower face was a huge mouth filled with sharp fangs, like a demon's.

Though it had not fully manifested, its presence, pressure, and the scale of its curse far surpassed every Cursed Spirit Maki had ever seen, including the giant caterpillar that had nearly killed her when she first met Akesato.

No explanation was needed. She could tell by instinct alone—Special Grade.

The Cursed Spirit crushed the Battle Blade and did not stop there. Its other hand reached forward, grabbing for the culprit who had "bullied" Yuta Okkotsu.

Its fingers tore through the air, stirring strange distortions in their wake. The podium, desks, and chairs along its path were all smashed to pieces.

Seeing this, Maki finally understood how Yuta Okkotsu had stuffed four boys into a storage locker that was cramped even for two people—where dustpans and brooms were kept—and still ensured they were merely seriously injured rather than dead.

The Special Grade Cursed Spirit attached to him had already transcended the realm of ordinary attacks. Its basic attacks were Jujutsu in themselves, much like normal strikes that came with combos and cleaving slashes.

For Maki, who relied entirely on close-range hand-to-hand combat, it was the worst possible matchup.

At the critical moment, Akesato made his move.

Having watched the show all along, he grabbed a desk, flooded it with cursed energy, and met the massive hand head-on.

With a bang, the desk shattered without suspense. But under the dual eruption of cursed energy and physical strength, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's attack stopped as well.

The collision forced Akesato backward until he came to a stop against something soft.

Turning his head, he found Maki looking away. "Thanks."

"No need." Akesato tugged at the corner of his mouth. Did that count as a good deed being rewarded?

Having missed with its first strike, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit manifested more of its body. One hand shielded Yuta Okkotsu, while the fingers of its other hand danced as it asked in an innocent yet spine-chilling voice, "Are you going to play with Rika?"

"Wait, Rika, you can't come out!" Yuta Okkotsu finally snapped out of it and tried desperately to stop the Cursed Spirit's rampage.

Akesato waved a hand. "It's fine to stretch a little after waking up. Let's play for a while."

In all his years, he had exterminated no fewer than a hundred Cursed Spirits, yet he had never fought a truly powerful opponent. He had allowed things to develop this far precisely because he wanted to take the chance to test his own limits.

Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit Rika Orimoto—there was no more suitable opponent than her.

Besides, Satoru Gojo was here, and Shoko Ieiri was currently inside Jujutsu High as well. There was zero risk.

He glanced at the white-haired broomhead. Seeing no objection from him, Akesato relaxed.

He punched through the classroom's outer wall, opening a hole.

"There isn't enough room in here. Let's go outside and play. Gardevoir, Psychic."

"Gardevoir~" At his command, Gardevoir rose into the air. The surging Psychic Power wrapped around Akesato, Yuta Okkotsu, and even Rika Orimoto, carrying them all outside.

Yuta Okkotsu had never experienced anything like this before and was once again left dazed by his own timidity.

Rika Orimoto, on the other hand, was thrilled. She clapped her hands and cheered, "We're flying! This is so fun!"

Gardevoir frowned.

This was the first time she had seen someone fully withstand her Psychic and still move normally.

Whenever she had used cursed energy in the past, her enemies had been forcibly restrained. Even if they could move, they would be severely affected.

Satoru Gojo did not count. Gardevoir's Psychic could not latch onto him at all and was simply deflected.

Akesato gently patted her head and explained, "She's at the very top among Cursed Spirits. She won't be easy to deal with. This time, you don't need to hold back. Let loose."

"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir!" Her confusion turned into resolve.

Her most commonly used Psychic was dismissed, replaced by a brand-new move she had learned after reaching level 42.

Skill: Psychic.

An upgraded, superior version of Psychic. Its destructive power, range, and precision had all nearly doubled. Taken together, that amounted to an exponential increase.

Although he had one more Pokémon, and although he had actually gone out to clear areas less frequently since entering Jujutsu High, Gardevoir's experience gain had not slowed. It had instead accelerated, thanks to the newly acquired Pokémon Trainer Template: Green.

The second male lead from the first three volumes of Pokémon Adventures, whom Professor Oak had called "the trainer." The system's effect was straightforward—experience gained increased.

Just before the skill was unleashed, Akesato said, "Classmate Okkotsu, get farther away. Don't get caught up in this."

"Ah, okay. Be careful. Rika is really strong." Yuta Okkotsu was still kind enough to warn them even as he fled.

"I know."

With Rika Orimoto as their opponent, one careless mistake would spell trouble for him and Gardevoir.

Akesato steadied his breathing, opened the backpack he carried with him, and drew an ancient sword—the cursed tool he had selected from the storage vault.

His fists and feet were certainly convenient, but their destructive power was hard to compare with a cursed tool. This meant he had entered a state of complete battle readiness.

What was more, Akesato's cursed tool had a special effect.

With a swing through the air, he released a crescent-shaped slash from afar.

By condensing cursed energy and releasing it over a distance, it produced an effect similar to sword energy. It was a rare Grade 1 cursed tool.

Like Jujutsu Sorcerers, cursed tools had grades too: Grade 4, 3, 2, 1, and Special Grade. The lower the number, the higher the value. The most expensive cursed tools cost hundreds of millions.

Toji Fushiguro had sold his son, Megumi Fushiguro, to the Zenin Family for one billion. That money was only enough to buy two Special Grade cursed tools.

As the sword energy fell, Gardevoir's Psychic blasted forth as well, like a pure Psychic Power shell accompanied by a terrifying shriek of splitting air.

Faced with such an attack, Rika Orimoto did not dodge. She caught it head-on with both hands.

Though the force of Psychic drove her into the ground, though her arms and chest warped from forcibly receiving the ultimate move, she had indeed caught the attack.

"I'm shocked."

Akesato made his own contribution to global warming in the universal style of webnovels.

He knew Rika Orimoto was strong, but he had not expected her to be this strong. She could casually withstand even Gardevoir's current ultimate move.

With the mechanism of health and cursed energy sharing the same pool, Rika Orimoto's injuries were only superficial. They healed in the blink of an eye, and her cursed energy had barely weakened. And this was not even Rika Orimoto's Perfect Form.

Using cursed energy to repair her body, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, which had always manifested only as half a body or most of one, finally revealed her full appearance.

Her lower body resembled her arms—equally muscular and developed, like a demon's limbs. Curses scattered and flowed over her hands and feet like blood.

Even Satoru Gojo remarked, "Scary, scary. So that's Rika Orimoto's full appearance."

The undisputed pinnacle of Cursed Spirits.

And now, such a being had set her sights on Gardevoir.

"Red. Rika likes red."

Gardevoir's pendant was red.