Lin Daiyu Uproots Weeping Willows

"Is this—Cursed Speech?"

Akesato's body froze, while his heart jolted in shock.

Cursed Speech, one of the higher-level cursed techniques.

It used cursed energy to imbue words with compulsion. Roughly speaking, it was a weakened version of making one's words reality. It was an extremely convenient cursed technique, as well as the signature technique of the Inumaki Family, a prestigious Jujutsu Sorcerer clan.

Judging from the voice and tone that had reached his ears, he could basically confirm that it was the heir of this generation of the Inumaki Family—Toge Inumaki, the popular supporting character from Jujutsu Kaisen.

"So they aren't Curse Users. They're the protagonist group famous for doing whatever they want."

Akesato relaxed, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

He had known they would meet eventually. The Jujutsu Sorcerer circle was only so large. Still, he hadn't expected it to happen this quickly.

Just as Gardevoir had sensed, this was indeed a good thing.

With that thought, Akesato subconsciously glanced at Gardevoir. She was looking at him too, concern visible in her large eyes. She could sense that there was something unusual about Cursed Speech.

"This is bad."

Akesato instantly realized what was wrong.

Cursed Speech was indeed powerful, but that power came at a price.

The stronger the Cursed Speech, the greater the burden on the user's throat.

The stronger the target of the Cursed Speech, the greater the backlash suffered by the Cursed Speech user.

With Akesato, Gardevoir, and the enemies within the Curtain, the backlash Toge Inumaki suffered would definitely not be minor. Even if his throat wasn't ruined, it certainly wouldn't be in good shape.

Considering that the Cursed Speech had been used after the Curtain descended, Akesato felt that he bore some responsibility.

"Little Sa, let's go!"

"Sa~"

Waiting for rabbits by the stump (X), infiltrating and steamrolling (√)!

The effects of Cursed Speech came quickly and faded quickly. In less than two seconds, Akesato and Gardevoir had returned to normal.

He skillfully vaulted over the wall and followed the scent of curses forward.

Very soon, Akesato saw a Cursed Spirit unlike any he had encountered before.

Big. Very big. Extremely big.

It was nearly two stories tall, with a round, bloated body like a gigantic caterpillar.

Before such immense size, every other trait was secondary.

The destructive power and impact brought by its sheer mass alone surpassed every Cursed Spirit Akesato had seen. Not to mention the enormous amount of cursed energy stored within that colossal body—it made one feel as if they were standing in a sea of malice. Anyone weaker would struggle even to breathe.

Cursed Spirits were masses of curses, aggregates of cursed energy. As long as their cursed energy was not exhausted, they could regenerate endlessly. Once they reached a certain level, their HP and mana were practically one and the same.

The moment he saw it, Akesato made his judgment.

At minimum, it was a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit. Even if it wasn't Special Grade, it was definitely among the stronger Grade 1s.

"To think a monster like this could grow here. Just how much pressure is this school putting on its students? Damn rat race."

Born from pressure and overflowing with negative emotions, the Cursed Spirit did not pause because of Akesato's complaint. It smashed through the teaching building with its head and squeezed fully out. Its round, stubby yet thick arm swung fiercely, slamming Panda into the ground. The concrete floor cracked and caved in beneath the blow, demonstrating its terrifying strength.

Then its enormous body wriggled forward, intending to crush Panda beneath it.

At that critical moment, another command rang out. "Don't move."

Words filled with powerful will and cursed energy caused the Cursed Spirit's movements to slow.

Taking advantage of that opening, a new Cursed Speech rang out. "Run!"

Panda, who lay on the ground with his fate unknown, was instantly injected with vitality. Using both hands and feet, he bolted backward with all his strength. With that speed and agility, anyone would have believed he was a cheetah.

But at that moment, the giant Cursed Spirit also broke free of Cursed Speech's influence. Its massive body wriggled as it gave chase.

That was one weakness of Cursed Speech—it came fast, and it went fast.

To be fair, the Cursed Spirit itself was not particularly quick. But paired with its enormous size, even Panda's cheetah-like speed was not enough.

One step from the Cursed Spirit equaled ten steps from Panda. It was about to catch him.

Then a sharp cry came from the sky.

A girl with a single ponytail and glasses swung a Polearm Battle Blade as she leaped down from above, striking the Cursed Spirit's head with tremendous force.

Unfortunately, the result was poor.

The Cursed Spirit was simply too large, too fat. Though a clear wound appeared on its surface, the blade could not penetrate any deeper through the protection of its "fat." Instead, it was flung high into the air by the elasticity of that "fat," flying from her grasp.

Below the girl was the Cursed Spirit's gaping mouth, at least five meters across, like a bottomless abyss.

It was going to swallow her whole.

"Maki!!!"

Panda stopped running. He spoke in a human voice, filled with panic.

The Short Boy, who was farthest away, forced his mouth open, trying to scream. In the end, however, he could not produce a complete sound. Instead, he coughed up two mouthfuls of blood. The backlash from Cursed Speech had pushed his throat to its limit.

In midair, the girl called Maki had gone ashen-faced. Her expression was helpless, yet the flames of unwillingness still burned in her eyes.

She was still young, only sixteen—the age of flowers, the finest years of a person's life. Who would want to die?

Is this how it ends for me? How pathetic. I haven't even become the head of the Zenin Family... Mai...

The pain she had expected never came. Even the weightless sensation of falling had been stopped.

The girl who had thought herself doomed did not fall into the gaping maw. Instead, she drifted farther and farther away—away from the Cursed Spirit's mouth, away from death's shadow.

Maki, who had narrowly escaped death, widened her eyes and looked around, searching for the person who had saved her.

She saw it: a figure in white floating in midair, occupying the place where she had been moments before, as elegant as a queen wearing a crown.

She also saw the handsome boy at the center of the field, shouting, "Nice one, Little Sa!" at the white-clad figure. Even amid the dense mass of curses, his face remained full of confidence.

They had saved her at the critical moment.

She had no memory of any information about them, yet they were so powerful.

Were they the people she had been searching for all this time?

As she pondered, Maki's body returned to the ground, landing right beside the Cursed Speech user, Inumaki.

Inumaki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and forced out two syllables. "Big Mustard."

"I'm fine. At a time like this, don't worry about me—watch out."

The latter half was naturally directed at Gardevoir in the air. Its prey had flown away, and the enraged Cursed Spirit turned all its fury toward Gardevoir. A sea of malice, surging cursed energy, and its enormous body came together as one, sweeping forward.

But the instant its chubby arm swung out, Gardevoir vanished from thin air and appeared behind Akesato in an instant, like a shadow.

Skill: Teleport.

A Skill whose utility outweighed its combat value in games was an unquestionable battlefield godsend in reality. It was also Akesato's greatest assurance in letting Gardevoir fight on the front lines.

After regrouping, Akesato immediately gave the order. "Gardevoir, use Calm Mind."

Gardevoir placed a hand over her chest and closed her eyes. The Psychic Power rippling around her body did not spread outward. Instead, it drew inward more and more, shimmering with gorgeous colors.

This was the newest Skill Gardevoir had mastered. It could condense her mind in a short time, thereby increasing the output of her Psychic Power.

Akesato had no intention of fighting a drawn-out battle against a Cursed Spirit that clearly looked like a health sponge. He wanted to end the battle with the greatest burst of power in the shortest time possible.

Of course, Calm Mind required a little time. Akesato would buy that time himself.

The caterpillar Cursed Spirit turned its bloated body around, crushing the ground beneath it as it charged forward with the momentum of a collapsing building.

Akesato showed no fear. He even raised a middle finger.

"Hey, you little bastard, look over here."

Step one: taunt.

Whether it worked or not, he had to establish his MT persona first.

After yelling, he did not care how the Cursed Spirit reacted and immediately moved on to step two: Lin Daiyu Uproots Weeping Willows.

Akesato had chosen his position beforehand. There was a roadside tree right beside him.

With the boosts granted by a Trainer's physique and cursed energy, Akesato uprooted the tree and hurled it like a spear, making the charging Cursed Spirit's body sway—if you were big, he would use something just as big against you.

Taking advantage of the time the Cursed Spirit needed to regain its footing, Akesato launched step three. "Take this—my steamroller attack!"

Since they were repairing the campus roads, wasn't it perfectly normal for there to be a steamroller around?

It was equally normal for Akesato to push the steamroller into the Cursed Spirit. It could not crush the thing to death—its size was what it was—but it would not be getting past Akesato to hurt Gardevoir while she meditated.

By the time the furious Cursed Spirit made the correct choice and began tearing apart the steamroller, Gardevoir's Calm Mind had also ended.

A crisp "Kill" sounded—the signal to begin.

Akesato raised one hand and made a finishing gesture.

"Use Psychic."

Gardevoir raised her hand as well, making the exact same motion as Akesato.

Tangible Psychic Power enveloped the Cursed Spirit's huge body from every direction, compressing inward without pause.

Before Gardevoir, whose Psychic Power could attack over a wide area, its advantage in size did not exist.

Her body might be small, but her power was anything but.

"Use Dazzling Gleam!"

All the magnificent radiance around Gardevoir gathered toward her chest. Under the influence of this overwhelming force, even the air and light twisted severely.

A flash of brilliance streaked out, instantly blasting a massive hole through the Cursed Spirit's body.

Psychic was a versatile Skill combining crowd control, damage, and displacement. Dazzling Gleam was different—it specialized in only one thing: destruction.

This was also Gardevoir's greatest offensive Skill at her current stage. Empowered by Calm Mind, her highly condensed Psychic Power destroyed the Cursed Spirit's body with an efficiency that surpassed its regeneration, stripping away its life.

When Dazzling Gleam's energy was exhausted, the enormous Cursed Spirit had been reduced to less than a meter in size.

Gardevoir stirred up the remnants of her Psychic Power and slapped the Cursed Spirit onto the ground, sending it right into the pit it had previously made by slamming Panda down.

Akesato followed up by kicking the steamroller's front wheel.

The heaviest part of the vehicle slowly turned, carrying Akesato's own cursed energy with it as it erased the Cursed Spirit's final trace of existence.

Like a unique tombstone.

Absolute kill.

PS: In chapter 140 of the manga, Yuji Itadori and Yuta Okkotsu threw cars at each other on the road, and both did it one-handed. So Akesato pushing a steamroller isn't that exaggerated. After all, Trainers can casually pick up Cosmoem.