The Beginning

October 31, 2018.

Shibuya.

The bustling pedestrian street was packed with young people wearing Halloween masks. Multicolored neon lights flickered, and the air was thick with the restless excitement of celebration.

Shiyue Shuo wore a long black hoodie with the brim pulled low as he slowly made his way against the crowd toward Shibuya Station. His backpack was packed with specially made cursed tools, as well as the latest-model communicator provided by Mechamaru.

He glanced down at his watch: 6:50 p.m.

He took a deep breath and felt the talisman engraved with a Rooster pattern tremble faintly within his mindscape, giving off a pale golden glow.

The Chicken Talisman granted him flight and telekinesis. Although his cursed energy remained weak, using the talisman consumed no cursed energy at all.

Just then.

"Boom!!!"

Jujutsu High had originally planned to exploit the information gap and evacuate the civilians early that afternoon. But Kenjaku's ruthlessness far exceeded expectations. The cursed spirits had moved in early and forcibly lowered a "Curtain" when the evacuation was only half complete.

It was a black barrier as thick and viscous as ink, and the sky darkened in an instant.

"What's going on? It got dark?"

"Look! Is that a wall?"

Panic erupted among the crowd, followed by terrified screams. The stampeding masses desperately slammed into the edge of the barrier, only to be mercilessly bounced back by the black veil.

"Damn it, they moved early." Shiyue Shuo's gaze turned cold. Because of his interference, the cursed spirits' side had clearly accelerated their pace.

With the Curtain lowered, the concentration of cursed energy in the air rose sharply. At the B1 entrance of Shibuya Station, the human clamor was instantly replaced by howls.

"Help!"

A girl in a maid outfit fell to the ground in terror at the subway entrance. Behind her, several Transfigured Humans with twisted forms and bodies covered in tumors charged at her with their bloody maws wide open.

"The Free Chicken lets me soar to the moon."

As the incantation left his lips, Shiyue Shuo moved his fingers slightly, and pale golden light swept forth. The girl felt an invisible force lift her body, carrying her to safety behind him. At the same time, several metal trash cans piled by the roadside slowly rose into the air, whistling as they slammed into the Transfigured Humans. The tremendous impact sent both them and the trash cans crashing into the wall.

Second by second, he continued using telekinesis to clear obstacles amid the chaotic crowd, guiding the ordinary people who had been scared senseless.

Click.

The minute and hour hands overlapped on the watch face. At that moment, the once-active Chicken Talisman in his mindscape instantly dimmed, replaced by a Dog Talisman shining with dark golden light.

"The kind Dog lets me refuse death."

Shiyue Shuo silently recited the incantation, and soon, a strange heaviness filled his entire body.

"He's here," he murmured, looking ahead.

Haruta Shigemo stepped out of the shadows with light, cheerful steps. He held the bizarre Handshake Longsword in his hand, a cruel smile on his face. "Oh, there you are. You're the kid they specifically told me about, right?"

He licked his lips, greedily eyeing Shiyue Shuo's neck. "Want to find out what it feels like to be cut open?"

Swish!

The moment he finished speaking, Haruta Shigemo moved like lightning. His longsword carved an arc through the air as it slashed toward Shiyue Shuo's neck.

Blood splattered across the marble floor, a horrifying sight.

"Oh dear, what a shame. You died right away." Haruta Shigemo curled his lips in boredom and was about to look for his next prey.

But his hand froze.

Shiyue Shuo, whose throat should have been cut, slowly raised his head. His pupils glimmered with dark golden light in the darkness.

In one step, he rushed behind Haruta Shigemo and extended his left hand, clamping down hard on the blade from behind and letting its sharp edge cut open his palm.

"Is that all?" Shiyue Shuo's voice was completely flat.

Though the wound on his neck was still bleeding, the fatal nerve damage and ruptured arteries had been forcibly reconnected by the Dog Talisman's rule-based power.

"H-How is that possible?!" Haruta Shigemo tried to yank back his longsword like a madman, only to find Shiyue Shuo's hand was like an iron vise, utterly unmoving.

Shiyue Shuo clenched his right hand into a fist and threw a plain, unadorned punch straight at Haruta Shigemo's face.

Just then.

"Ratio Technique."

A cold voice rang out from behind and to the side.

A bandage-wrapped short blade precisely cut down a Transfigured Human attempting to ambush Shiyue Shuo. The sound of shattering bones echoed through the empty station.

Kento Nanami adjusted the green goggles on the bridge of his nose and glanced at Shiyue Shuo, who was covered in blood yet still standing tall. His brow furrowed slightly. "Shiyue. This kind of self-mutilating defensive method is physiologically unpleasant."

Behind him, Takuma Ino was already frozen in shock. He had watched Shiyue Shuo's throat get cut, yet the boy was still wrestling with his enemy.

"Mr. Nanami, you came at the right time." Shiyue Shuo flung aside Haruta Shigemo's sword and kicked him away. "B1 has already fallen, but the civilians on B2 haven't been fully evacuated. I'll hold this place. Please handle the lower levels efficiently."

Kento Nanami looked at Shiyue Shuo's still-bleeding neck and his abnormally calm face, then slowly undid his suit cufflinks. "An extremely efficient, yet equally barbaric suggestion. Then let's get to work."

Kento Nanami and Takuma Ino gradually disappeared into the distance, while Haruta Shigemo returned to stand before Shiyue Shuo.

"Again." As he spoke, Shiyue Shuo pulled a katana-style cursed tool from the backpack behind him.

He pushed off the ground and lunged straight at Haruta Shigemo.

Stab!

The Handshake Longsword in Haruta Shigemo's hand pierced through Shiyue Shuo's side once more, its blade drawing a dark red arc through the air. Clearly, the curse user across from him had reacted faster.

Shiyue Shuo did not care about his injuries. At that moment, he possessed the most luxurious thing in the world—room for error.

Swish!

The katana slashed out in a mournful arc. Haruta Shigemo twisted his body in a bizarre fashion, dodging the fatal strike at an almost impossible angle. His technique, Miracles, was at work, consuming the tiny bits of luck he had stored away in daily life to forcibly evade death.

"I got him!" Haruta Shigemo's eyes gleamed as he seized the opening while Shiyue Shuo was retracting his blade. The longsword pierced precisely into Shiyue Shuo's heart.

Stab!

The sharp blade pierced through his back.

"This time, you should be dea... huh?"

Haruta Shigemo's smile froze. Not only did Shiyue Shuo fail to fall, he instead slammed forward along the direction of the blade, his left hand clamping tightly onto Haruta Shigemo's shoulder.

Haruta Shigemo's face twisted with utter disbelief. "Why... why are you still standing? Your intestines are practically falling out!"

"Can you still defuse this?" Shiyue Shuo stared at Haruta Shigemo from close range, his dark golden eyes filled with suffocating indifference.

Before his words had even faded, the black katana slashed out!

One of the tattoos on Haruta Shigemo's face vanished instantly. It was the mark of Miracles being forcibly triggered to cancel death. He frantically retreated like a startled rabbit, his longsword slipping from his hand due to Shiyue Shuo's grip.

"Monster! What a disgusting monster!" Haruta Shigemo screamed.

At that moment, dozens of lurking Transfigured Humans received some kind of signal and surged forward like a tide, instantly swallowing Shiyue Shuo whole.

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