Moving Forward in the Dark

"One thing worth being grateful for—this place doesn't smell weird."

After being the first to land on the ground, Gojo Satoru surveyed the surroundings and remarked with mixed feelings.

Geto Suguru said nothing, but his expression was full of agreement. Shoko Ieiri nodded as well. Only Toho Tetsu frowned as he observed their surroundings.

They were currently in an abandoned underground passageway. Perhaps because no one had lived nearby for a long time, it had gone unused for years. There was some household trash scattered across the ground, but it was not filthy enough to be unbearable.

What caught his attention, however, were the strange marks on the walls lining both sides of the passage. Judging by their edges... they seemed to have been left by the fleshy wings of bats or some similar creature.

"Be a little careful... I have a bad feeling about this underground passage."

Hearing his warning, Gojo Satoru smiled nonchalantly, just about to say that he was the strongest and had no need to worry.

A figure suddenly lunged out of the darkness. Accompanied by a piercing shriek through the air, a pair of claws slashed toward his throat. Warned by the Six Eyes, he threw up the defense of Limitless with incredible speed.

The claws stopped mere inches from his face.

Even so, a cold bead of sweat slid down his face. Just as azure light gathered in his hand, the shadow abruptly vanished again, retreating into the darkness.

Along with it came a woman's laughter, as though mocking him.

"Hehehehe..."

The underground passage was too dim for the other three to see its figure or track its movements, but they all realized what it was.

"That cursed spirit... actually took the initiative to attack?"

Looking toward the direction in which it had vanished, Geto Suguru released several glowing cursed spirits to illuminate the path ahead.

Gojo Satoru's expression darkened as well. After failing its first strike, the cursed spirit had immediately fled, even laughing like a human as it left. It was plainly mocking him.

"That bastard's got some nerve. Once I catch it, I'll make sure it understands the consequences."

Toho Tetsu did not make any threats. He merely moved a few steps closer to Shoko Ieiri without drawing attention to it.

"It's fast, and its attacks are well concealed. We can't let it leave this place. If it reaches the surface, those Assistant Supervisors definitely won't be able to stop it."

As he spoke, he began quietly chanting an incantation. Steady, even cursed energy spread from his fingertips and flowed toward the entrance of the passageway.

After studying barrier techniques over the past few days, he had begun trying to impose special rules on a Curtain, and he had occasionally succeeded. What he intended to do now was recreate one of those attempts.

"Reject cursed spirits leaving."

Soon, his cursed energy formed into a sphere blocking the passage entrance. The successful deployment of the Curtain made him breathe a small sigh of relief.

This way, he would not have to worry about the cursed spirit escaping. After the passage had been illuminated, he had discovered that the area behind them appeared to have collapsed. There was only one way forward.

"You're really cautious. But you can add rules to a Curtain now?"

Noticing what he had done, Geto Suguru relaxed somewhat from his earlier tension and could not help expressing his admiration.

Gojo Satoru also shot him a surprised look.

"You're pretty good, huh..."

When he had first met Toho Tetsu, Toho's Curtain had broken at the slightest touch. Though he had only been learning for a few days back then, he could now use it so skillfully. Things really did look different after only a few days apart.

"I've been studying barrier techniques lately, so I can barely manage it. It depends a lot on luck, though. All right, let's stop talking about this and continue tracking that cursed spirit. It attacked us once, and it might attack again, so stay alert."

As Toho Tetsu spoke, he withdrew his cursed energy. Once he sensed that the Curtain remained in place, he stopped paying further attention to it.

The others agreed with his suggestion and began walking deeper into the passageway.

They maintained the highest level of vigilance along the way. Even Gojo Satoru, who usually enjoyed joking around, was fully focused after what had happened, ready at any moment to activate Limitless and attack with Blue.

Yet the cursed spirit seemed to have sensed the danger and refused to show itself. They could occasionally hear the flutter of wings and feel the movement of air, but it never attacked again.

That irritated Gojo Satoru.

"What the hell is that thing doing...?"

"Keep your emotions steady, Gojo. You're the main force in the next fight. Don't let it provoke you into losing control."

Seeing him like this, Geto Suguru reminded him. The concern hidden in those words made Gojo Satoru give a soft snort before forcibly suppressing his emotions.

As they walked, they observed both sides of the passage.

Fortunately, this underground passage had no other paths or branches.

At Toho Tetsu's suggestion, Geto Suguru scattered low-grade cursed spirits along the places they had passed while continuing forward, preventing Flying Succubus from circling behind them and launching a sneak attack.

Though those cursed spirits were uncontrolled and incapable of fighting, they could still serve as warnings and alerts.

The distance between Flying Succubus and the group steadily shrank as they advanced, until they came to a stop before an underground hollow.

From the outside, it looked like a large warehouse, roughly the size of a football field. But without any light, it was extraordinarily dark.

The four of them understood that this was likely the end point of their mission.

The cursed spirit that had been harassing them without ever revealing itself, along with the hostages it had abducted—or perhaps the corpses that might remain—were all inside.

Toho Tetsu was actually feeling a little depressed.

He realized that he seemed to have a peculiar affinity with underground places. The first cursed spirit he had faced after arriving in this world had been in an underground subway station.

The second time, when he had gone on a mission with Utahime—or rather, his first mission—he had encountered a cursed spirit in a basement that could predict the future.

And now, for the group's first mission together, they had somehow ended up in an underground warehouse to face a legendary cursed spirit.

Could it be that I'm fated to be underground?

Under the tense, high-pressure atmosphere, he unconsciously made the remark, prompting Shoko beside him to look at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Are we going in now?"

Seeing them all look at him as if waiting for his advice and orders, Toho Tetsu set aside his complicated feelings and regained his calm demeanor.

"Geto, leave a few cursed spirits outside. Block Flying Succubus's routes as much as possible, and don't let it leave this place."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Gojo Satoru.

"Gojo, you'll be the main attacker in this battle. Your ability can ensure that it won't be able to hurt you, and Blue is also one of the few long-range attacks we have."

Gojo Satoru was not surprised that Toho Tetsu knew the name of his ability. They had discussed such matters during training lately, precisely so they would not be left in the dark when carrying out missions in the future.

Besides, he could finally face that irritating bastard directly. A look of anticipation appeared on his face.

"Leave the fighting to me."

Finally, Toho Tetsu looked at Shoko.

"Among us, your combat ability isn't particularly strong, so I'll stay with you and protect you. Check whether the people inside are alive. If possible, save as many as you can and help treat their injuries."

Shoko Ieiri nodded as well.

After confirming their respective roles, they maintained their previous formation and entered the underground hollow together.

The cursed spirit seemed to know that it had nowhere left to run, and slowly spoke from the darkness.

"Sorcerers really are annoying. You clearly have nothing to do with these humans, yet you keep chasing me. Don't you ever get tired?"

Hearing its fluent human speech, all of them tensed. A Grade 2 cursed spirit could only barely spit out a few words, while one capable of communicating accurately with humans was at least a Semi-Grade 1 or even Grade 1 cursed spirit.

That meant this cursed spirit definitely possessed a special cursed technique.

Before they could think any further, several red lights suddenly lit up inside the warehouse, causing them all to freeze as the cursed spirit's form slowly emerged.

It wore a tattered crimson kimono that covered most of its body, but the faint curves visible beneath it revealed a remarkably graceful figure. Its appearance was exceptionally alluring, almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary human woman.

The only difference was the pair of fleshy wings growing from its back. They seemed to be covered in multicolored scales, which drifted down slowly under the red light and the fluttering of its wings, creating a strange yet seductive beauty.

Flying Succubus looked at them, curled its black tongue slightly at the corner of its mouth, and revealed an expectant expression.

"It looks like I'll be eating well today."