When You're Poor Enough, Even a Special Grade Cursed Spirit Can Be Killed

Deep within Bliss Temple, the air felt as though it had been soaked in a pool of blood—damp, rancid, and sticky against the nostrils.

"—Bleurgh!"

Mizuki Makoto dry-heaved. Ahead of him, the last hope for his bank balance—the Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit, Wild Buddha—sat securely entrenched at the center of the altar.

That was a curse built from countless incomplete, moss-covered stone Buddhas. Layer upon layer of severed arms clutched shattered prayer beads tightly, while the massive Buddha head at its center held not a trace of compassion, only the grim, bone-like contours carved out by weathering and erosion.

"Todo, let me confirm this one last time."

Mizuki Makoto clutched his flattened wallet tightly, one trembling finger pointing at the enormous creature ahead, which sat atop a mound of cursed energy picking at its feet. His eyes burned with the vicious light of someone driven to the absolute depths of poverty.

"The Grade 1 promotion test pays the same reward as a normal mission, right? If Jujutsu Headquarters only gives me the Grade 1 title without any money afterward, I'll plaster all your limited-edition Takada-chan handshake tickets over its face as offerings!"

"Brother! Don't measure this battle by such worldly values! See those dried cracks on the statues? That is the cry of loneliness, abandoned by the world—" Todo Aoi laughed, his shirt instantly bursting apart to reveal his solid muscles. "Besides, the Grade 1 promotion test not only pays the normal reward, it also comes with an additional promotion test allowance!"

"Then quit talking! My bank account is depending on him to save it—move!!"

The moment Mizuki Makoto stepped into the barrier, Wild Buddha awoke with a roar, letting out a piercing shriek like boulders grinding together.

Technique [Burial Life Shrine], activate!

The ground of Bliss Temple was no longer cold stone tiles. It writhed and bulged like rotting flesh, transforming in the blink of an eye into countless moss-covered petrified Buddha hands.

This was no simple attempt to seize them. It was as if living tombstones were breaking out of the earth, carrying crushing cursed energy as they attempted to lock the two "perverted brothers" into eternal stillness.

Caught once, refined in an instant!

Yet neither of the two perverted "brothers" even blinked. A crisp explosive sound that settled the battle rang out from behind Mizuki Makoto's flank—

—Clap!!

With Todo's sharp clap, the world instantly flipped in Mizuki Makoto's eyes.

One second, stone hands had been about to drag him underground. The next, he was hanging upside down from the tunnel ceiling.

In battle, such high-frequency spatial displacement would be fatal to ordinary people. But for Mizuki Makoto, who got knocked around like a billiard ball by Gojo Satoru every day while Ushura Bullet was active, this kind of displacement was as natural as breathing.

—Perfect position!

[Echo Mimicry]—Ratio Technique: Collapse!

The cursed tool "Slaughter Demon" carved an eerie arc through the air, striking precisely at the "seven-to-three" division where Wild Buddha's cursed energy defense was weakest. Blue-black cursed energy surged forth, shaving off an entire row of the Special Grade cursed spirit's eyeballs as easily as peeling an apple.

"It's not over! Brother, keep it going!"

Todo Aoi charged into the battlefield like a self-propelled cannonball. Mizuki Makoto did not retreat. With a slight curl of his fingers, a miniature [Blue] exploded along Todo's charging path, producing an immense pulling force.

"The accelerator's connected. Smash it!"

"Uoooooh! This power! It's like Takada-chan is pushing me forward from behind!!"

The collapsing suction erupted in an instant, like invisible hooks viciously dragging at Wild Buddha's heavy stone body. Riding the wind pressure generated by that pull, Todo's speed instantly broke the sound barrier, turning his entire body into a human cannonball!

—Clap!!

At the very peak of his charge, Todo switched places with Mizuki Makoto. Mizuki Makoto, who had been hanging upside down from the ceiling, borrowed Todo's overwhelming momentum and crashed like a meteor into Wild Buddha's dense stone arms, sending stone fragments flying everywhere!

"Eee!"

Wild Buddha's cry of pain was like cat claws scraping across a blackboard. It tried to release petrifying dust to bury the two perverts, but a backhanded [Red] came faster, striking its chest with perfect accuracy.

"Get lost, you pile of rocks. You reek of moss."

The surging repulsive force blasted it away, while Mizuki Makoto used the recoil to launch himself into the air.

—Clap!!

Todo switched places again. The lingering repulsive wave from the [Red] that should have knocked Mizuki Makoto away instead became the perfect boost for Todo's fist. Riding the wave of repulsion, his fist wrapped in dense black light smashed heavily into the side of Wild Buddha's enormous head!

The battlefield became a magician's stage show.

Wild Buddha completely broke down. Its technique, capable of petrifying all things, was utterly meaningless before two spatial sorcerers who casually switched coordinates.

Mizuki Makoto continuously planted tiny [Blue]s and [Red]s throughout the tunnel. Combined with Boogie Woogie's swaps, the two of them were playing a billiards match with their bank balances on the line—except Wild Buddha was the ball being hammered so hard that even stone chips flew everywhere.

"Look over here, ugly!" Mizuki Makoto brought his palms together, copying Todo's rhythm.

—Clap!!

Wild Buddha instinctively turned to defend, but there was only air.

The real Todo had already appeared in its blind spot, while Mizuki Makoto switched to directly beneath it. Using the ten-thousand-ton mass stacked by [Star's Fury], he drove his right leg down with crushing force onto its off-balance knee.

"Foot care bill: one hundred million yen!"

"Heh, brother, switch!"

The continuous high-frequency displacements filled Mizuki Makoto's mind with a feverish exhilaration on the verge of collapse.

—With Todo, this "god-tier support," covering for me, should I try that?

—The technique that can even sever Limitless!

Mizuki Makoto pressed his hands together, his eyes bloodshot.

[Echo Mimicry: Malevolent Shrine]

"Dragon scales—"

"Cough—ah!!"

Before he could finish the chant, agonizing pain like his soul was being crushed struck him instantly. That destructive malice far exceeded what he could currently bear. Mizuki Makoto sprayed mouthfuls of blood, staining the front of his clothes red.

"Brother! Don't practice self-destructive art while we're fighting a monster!!"

One microsecond before the petrifying heavy punch could smash Mizuki Makoto's head, Todo clapped his hands again.

—Clap!!

The instant Mizuki Makoto was switched away, he casually wiped away the blood and revealed a gloomy smile.

Wild Buddha finally realized that—no matter how much it accelerated or how many arms it grew, it could not catch these fly-like opponents flashing around before it.

A massive crack suddenly split open across its peeling stone face. Thick cursed energy erupted like a tsunami, accompanied by the scent of decayed sandalwood.

If it could not catch them, then it would leave them nowhere to evade.

"Nameless... masterless... worshiped by none..."

"Here... enter extinction..."

"[Domain Expansion—Wild Withered Zen Forest]!"

Pitch-black cursed energy instantly swallowed Bliss Temple. The temple vanished, replaced by a dead, silent forest of withered trees.

Countless faceless stone Buddhas stood densely throughout the woods, every one of them radiating heavy cursed pressure.

Domain effect: [All as One].

Within the domain, all who entered were "sacrifices." The sure-hit effect was not direct damage, but "assimilation"—with every passing second, their bodies grew heavier and colder, while bluish-gray stone patterns began appearing across their skin.

Sure-hit petrification. No matter how Todo clapped his hands, no matter where they switched to, the petrification would not stop, because it was not an attack—it was the domain's "sure-hit rule."

"Todo, the parts that shouldn't be getting hard are starting to get hard." Mizuki Makoto looked at his increasingly numb fingertips, a flash of savagery crossing his eyes. "Looks like we have to finish this funeral before we completely turn into offerings for this shitty rock."

"Hahaha! It's only a sure-hit! The blazing heat of the soul cannot be cooled by stone!" Todo rolled his neck, the muscles all over his body still twitching stubbornly beneath the bluish-gray stone markings. "Brother, while our hearts haven't turned to stone yet, let's send it on its way!"

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