Sakurada Niji got a clear look at the "woman" in the pool.
Its unnervingly white skin was swollen, as though it had been soaking for a long time. Its sickly green eyes had no pupils and bulged from their sockets. It had no neck; sharp teeth filled the place where its chest connected directly to its mouth. Its long black hair writhed like earthworms. Its lower body had not risen, remaining submerged in the pool of scarlet liquid.
I already figured it wasn't human...
Sakurada Niji stopped advancing. Cursed energy surged around him as he assumed the opening stance of New Shadow Style and used his cursed technique to fix Fufū inside its sheath.
He called this timed sword-drawing technique, which worked in conjunction with his cursed technique, New Shadow Style-Godspeed. Its inspiration came from an anime he had watched in his previous life.
While the technique remained active, Sakurada Niji continuously channeled cursed energy into the hilt, exerting a force that tried to draw the blade. Once the technique expired or he canceled it himself, all the force accumulated during that fixed period would erupt at once. It had two drawbacks: first, it was extremely damaging to his body; second, the explosive force would pull his body along with it, throwing him off balance.
To address the balance problem, Sakurada Niji developed a complementary move: Flash Step.
He used his cursed technique to lock his legs in place, then continuously built up power by channeling cursed energy into both feet. When Godspeed struck, he released his legs, propelling his entire body forward with both Godspeed's explosive force and the Flash Step charged in his feet. This allowed him to reach a speed approaching teleportation for an instant, hence the name Flash Step.
Combining Flash Step with Godspeed allowed him to move and slash at high speed in a straight line. At present, his dynamic vision was not good enough to hit agile targets while moving that fast.
Recreating anime moves with my own power... that's so cool.
At present, Sakurada Niji could control a charge of about five seconds. Charging for too long would cause his muscles to tear apart instantly, making the charge fail.
The cursed spirit that had turned toward him suddenly stretched out its neck, sending its horrifying head lunging at Sakurada Niji-
Here it comes. Three... four...
Sakurada Niji held his breath, waiting for the perfect moment...
The cursed spirit's outstretched head had already entered the range of New Shadow Style. Sakurada Niji could even make out each writhing strand of black hair on its head.
The next instant—the monster's sharp teeth were right in front of Sakurada Niji.
Now!
"New Shadow Style-Godspeed-five-second charge."
Sakurada Niji canceled his technique instantly. Fufū, charged with pent-up force, swept horizontally toward the monster's head, tracing a black arc through the air.
Fufū's blade sliced through the cursed spirit's head as easily as a hot knife through butter.
Before the cursed spirit's head could split apart behind him, Sakurada Niji drove his body forward in concert with the force of Godspeed and Flash Step. Fufū swept onward from the spirit's head, cutting through the monster's long neck.
In mere moments, Sakurada Niji reached the cursed spirit's main body. Behind him, everything from its head to its neck had been sliced horizontally apart and was slowly dissipating.
The headless lower half of the cursed spirit in the blood pool crumbled into ash and slowly vanished.
My calves are fine, but I had to use my arm to keep Godspeed from overshooting. I can't use Godspeed again now.
"Whew..." As the cursed spirit was exorcised, Sakurada Niji slowly exhaled and kneaded his right arm.
But the eerie space did not disappear along with the cursed spirit.
So it really wasn't that simple...
Suddenly, the blood pool began bubbling as though it were boiling. More than a dozen blood-red tentacles surged out, each bearing a humanoid cursed spirit.
"Ah, I hate giant monsters more than anything..." Sakurada Niji said with a sigh, his brow tightly furrowed.
The dozen or so tentacles lashed repeatedly at Sakurada Niji, while the humanoid cursed spirits growing at their bases extended their heads and nimbly lunged at him.
With no time to think, Sakurada Niji channeled cursed energy into all ten fingers, then used Cursed Energy Extension to stretch it into threads and fling them outward, laying ten Space-Severing Lines, each over ten meters long, through the air.
The tentacles whipping toward Sakurada Niji cut themselves apart the instant they touched the Space-Severing Lines. Chunks of tentacle fell all around him, but the heads of the dozen or so humanoid cursed spirits slipped nimbly through the netlike lines and lunged to bite him with mouths full of sharp teeth.
There are too many packed together, and the cursed spirit can keep regenerating. I have no advantage in cursed energy reserves. A battle of attrition is pointless.
I have to find its core and preserve as much fighting strength as possible. Otherwise, even if I get back to Jujutsu High, I won't have anything left to stop Toji.
Sakurada Niji laid a tighter formation of Space-Severing Lines around himself, blocking the humanoid cursed spirits.
He watched the blood pool through the flailing tentacles.
Several humanoid cursed spirits struck the newly laid Space-Severing Lines and shattered into scraps. The remaining spirits quickly retreated, circling Sakurada Niji as they waited for an opening.
The tentacles in the blood pool thrashed about, lashing at Sakurada Niji without pause. Severed tentacles quickly regenerated and resumed attacking.
After a short while, Sakurada Niji noticed that injured tentacles healed directly, whereas slain humanoid cursed spirits had to regrow from the tentacles' bases. During that growth period, the tentacles stopped attacking until the humanoid spirits had fully emerged again.
Are the places where the humanoid cursed spirits grow their weak points? I need to destroy those as quickly as possible.
The humanoid cursed spirits take about fifteen seconds to grow. Next, I'll use Flash Step to get to the center of the blood pool, abandon my defenses, and draw their attacks. I'll dodge as much as possible, then release "that" at the right moment to kill them all at once.
After thinking it through, Sakurada Niji used his cursed technique to lock his legs in place and began charging Flash Step, while waiting for the Space-Severing Lines he had laid around himself to disappear.
He counted down silently. Three... two... one!
The instant the Space-Severing Lines vanished, the circling humanoid cursed spirits lunged at Sakurada Niji. He canceled his technique and shot forward with Flash Step, reaching the center of the blood pool in an instant.
Sakurada Niji stopped there, ignoring the tentacles slowly swinging back toward him. He gathered cursed energy, gripped his sword hilt tightly, and waited for the humanoid cursed spirits pursuing him from behind.
Just as the humanoid cursed spirits and surrounding tentacles closed in around him and were about to make contact, the cursed energy Sakurada Niji had been accumulating erupted.
Cursed Energy Diffusion, then Cursed Technique Extension. Sakurada Niji had learned these skills while researching Domain Expansion.
The former was a variant of Cursed Energy Extension, geared more toward spreading energy evenly outward from all around his body.
The latter was an enhanced version of cursed technique expansion, allowing him to apply his technique through the diffused cursed energy with virtually no delay.
The cursed energy spreading from Sakurada Niji caught every cursed spirit and tentacle around him.
All the surrounding cursed spirits were immobilized by Sakurada Niji's cursed technique. He swung his sword rapidly, dispatching each humanoid cursed spirit with swift, methodical strokes. Ten seconds later, every humanoid spirit had been slain, and the tentacles in the blood pool had all stopped moving.
Ignoring the exhaustion from using Cursed Technique Extension, Sakurada Niji performed more than a dozen briefly charged Flash Steps in succession, successfully destroying every place where the humanoid cursed spirits grew within fifteen seconds.
At last, the barrier vanished. Sakurada Niji checked his wristwatch: 15:30.
"Whew-not bad. Finding the cursed spirit and fighting it only took about an hour."
Sakurada Niji left the hospital's first basement level and found the assistant supervisor at the entrance.
"Mission complete. The special grade imaginary cursed spirit has been exorcised. Now take me somewhere to eat. I don't care what, but there has to be a hair salon nearby."
Those consecutive Flash Steps damaged my leg muscles. I wonder if Shoko can get back to school before tomorrow afternoon. If there's not enough time, I'll have to use the second plan to save Riko. Can I fool the powerful five senses granted by Heavenly Restriction?
"Understood, Sakurada-kun!" Seeing this young second-year student exorcise a special grade cursed spirit alone, he could not help adding an honorific when addressing him.
Inside alnicn TOKYO, Shibuya, Tokyo ...
"Young man, you've picked a pretty nice color~"
"I'm short on time. Please hurry."
After finishing his meal, Sakurada Niji actually went to a hair salon to have his hair dyed.
... A clothing store somewhere in Shibuya
"I'll take this. Close enough is fine."
Once Sakurada Niji had made all his preparations, he called the assistant supervisor.
"Hello, I'm at xxxxxx in Shibuya. Come pick me up. I need to go back to Jujutsu High to recuperate. Tell the higher-ups my injuries are serious, and I won't be able to take any exorcism missions for three days."
Before you continue