Special-Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit: Rika Orimoto

"Tap, tap, tap."

Not long after Suguru Geto took Satoru Gojo away, Lin Yi used his Innate Cursed Technique, Two-Stage Reversal, to infiltrate the Barrier Technique cast by Gojo in his Heavenly Tyrant: Kamen Rider Joker form.

He appeared before Maki Zenin once more.

"M-Maki, the Cursed Spirit appeared again! Kamen Rider..."

"It's Kamen Rider Joker! Shotaro Hidari's solo Memory transformation form from Kamen Rider W! Maki, are there Cursed Spirits like that too?"

Compared to Yuta Okkotsu's loss of composure, the unfortunate Yuko Takagi rattled off the origins of Lin Yi's form as if reciting a treasured list. Before Kenjaku had transformed her into a sorcerer vessel suitable for ancient sorcerers to possess, she had merely been a cosplay enthusiast active in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. How could she possibly mistake the suit Lin Yi was wearing?

Little did she know that her words warmed Lin Yi's heart. At last, someone else recognized what he was wearing. It made rescuing this unfortunate girl from the clutches of Kenjaku, that thousand-year-old sorcerer, worthwhile.

Excited though he was, Lin Yi still maintained his taciturn persona.

Maki Zenin, on the other hand, loudly stopped Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi from panicking.

"Calm down, both of you! This guy isn't a Cursed Spirit, and he isn't a sorcerer either. He's a Cursed Corpse controlled by a sorcerer. Hey, this should be our second meeting, right? Aren't you going to say something?"

Lin Yi looked at the long naginata in Maki Zenin's hand and remained silent.

"Not talking? Then I'll beat you until you do! Yuta, Yuko, hurry and contact Gojo-sensei!"

Maki Zenin spun her weapon and took the initiative to attack. She knew her own strength better than anyone.

She had already seen Lin Yi effortlessly wipe out more than thirty Grade 3 Cursed Spirits in this form. A Cursed Corpse of this level was simply beyond her ability to handle. The only option now was for her to buy time and let Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi leave Gojo's Barrier Technique to seek Gojo's help.

Without conditions imposed on it, a Curtain's purpose was to block outside detection and keep unrelated people from entering. Sorcerers within it, however, could pass through with ease.

Lin Yi stood still and allowed Maki Zenin to bring her naginata down on him with tremendous force. The strike was powerful enough to cleave a crack into the concrete floor, yet it failed to hit Lin Yi. He clamped the blade firmly between two fingers, leaving it unable to advance an inch.

Seeing this, Maki Zenin raised her foot and kicked Lin Yi squarely in the chest. Yet the sensation from her sole made her feel as if she had kicked a mountain. He did not budge in the slightest.

Instead, the recoil sent her flying far away. Fortunately, she managed to pull back the naginata Lin Yi had caught.

Maki Zenin flipped through the air, landed, and skidded to a stop. Looking at Lin Yi, who stood motionless after the distance between them had opened up, she was horrified.

Lin Yi had no idea how much turmoil Maki Zenin was feeling. He only felt that the stats of his pseudo-Heavenly Tyrant form under the switched Technique effect were absurdly overpowered. Due to her innate circumstances, Maki Zenin could not possess the Heavenly Tyrant physique of complete Cursed Energy absence.

Still, her physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary sorcerers reinforced by Cursed Energy. With a Cursed Tool in hand, she was roughly at an intermediate sorcerer's level.

Yet before him, Maki Zenin's movements and intentions were all perfectly clear.

Forget it. No need to bully children. I should hurry up and force out Yuta Okkotsu's Rika.

With that thought, Lin Yi stepped forward. Like teleportation, he crossed the distance Maki Zenin had opened between them and appeared in front of her without making a sound.

"So fast!"

Maki Zenin was astonished by Lin Yi's speed. But when she saw him raise his right hand as though he were about to slap her hard across the face, she hurriedly lifted her naginata to block.

Crash!

"Maki!"

The windows of the school building shattered in response. Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi, who had just run out of the building, saw Maki Zenin fly out along with the broken long naginata in her hands.

Then a black blur flashed before their eyes, and Maki Zenin vanished. Only shards of glass fell before Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi.

Tap.

A faint landing sound rang out behind Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi. They whirled around to see Lin Yi already standing in the path leading to the school exit, holding the unconscious Maki Zenin as he watched them.

With a casual toss, Maki Zenin shot toward Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi like a cannonball. As the two caught her, the force carried by her body sent them flying as well, and all three tumbled to the ground.

"Maki! Maki! Wake up!"

Ignoring their scrapes, Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi hurriedly crawled over to Maki Zenin and checked on her.

Seeing the worried expressions on the two minors' faces, Lin Yi was puzzled.

He had deliberately held back when he struck Maki Zenin. That blow should only have left her dazed, nowhere near enough to injure her muscles or bones. And he had even carefully caught her out of the air, afraid she might fall.

After all, Maki Zenin was only a half-finished Heavenly Tyrant now. Being able to withstand burns from a disaster-level Special-Grade Cursed Spirit did not mean she could withstand injuries from falling from a great height.

"Yuta, Yuko... run."

With Yuta Okkotsu and Yuko Takagi shaking her, Maki Zenin barely regained a trace of consciousness. She only managed to say those words before passing out again.

Seeing Maki Zenin collapse while trying to cover their escape, the unfortunate Yuko Takagi was the first to stand. Looking at Lin Yi's current appearance, she shouted angrily.

"You bastard, don't wear a Kamen Rider suit while doing evil! Yuta, take Maki and get out of here!"

As Yuko Takagi berated him, Cursed Energy began to surge through her body.

She had originally been an ordinary person. Only because Kenjaku had chosen her by chance as a vessel for an ancient sorcerer in the Culling Game a year later had she been transformed into a sorcerer. Even so, she could only draw upon her own Cursed Energy and possessed no Innate Cursed Technique.

Under Yuko Takagi's control, her deep-blue Cursed Energy formed fist after fist and struck at Lin Yi.

But this purely Cursed Energy-based method of attack was completely useless against Lin Yi's percentage damage reduction against Cursed Energy attacks above Grade 1.

Lin Yi merely flashed forward and appeared before Yuko Takagi. A light punch to her abdomen stripped her of the ability to fight. Before losing consciousness, she too looked at Yuta Okkotsu and said the same words as Maki Zenin.

"Yuta... run."

Lin Yi stood there, looking down at Yuta Okkotsu, who had been frightened into sitting on the ground. Maki Zenin and Yuko Takagi, his two classmates, lay beside him.

The words telling him to run still echoed in his ears, but in the blink of an eye, he was the only one left.

Lin Yi raised his fist as though preparing to end Yuta Okkotsu's life.

But at that moment, an indescribable fluctuation of Cursed Energy surged from Yuta Okkotsu's body.

"Help me, Rika."

Record: April 2017, Tokyo.

Special-Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit: Rika Orimoto appeared.

Battle: unknown Fully Independent Cursed Corpse, Kamen Rider Joker!

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