Heavy footsteps echoed through the pitch-black sewer.
A scrawny boy ran desperately, holding a pale-faced woman in his arms as he splashed through bloodstains covering the ground.
"What... what happened here? Mr. Mahito... Mr. Mahito!"
It was Junpei Yoshino. Holding his mother, Nagi Yoshino, he raced toward Mahito's hideout.
But the spot where the two of them used to spend time together had already been destroyed by something. All he could do was carry his dying mother deeper into the sewer.
He firmly believed that his "savior" was still alive...
Because... he was Mahito, the one who had given him strength and dragged him out of that bottomless ocean!
Besides, his mother's condition had become critical. If she didn't get help soon, she would... she would...
"Mr. Mahito! Please, save my mom!"
"Where are you? Please answer me!"
His cries for help drowned out his heavy footsteps and echoed through the darkness for a long time, but no answer ever came.
It was as though his cries had been swallowed up.
It was as though his pleas had been crushed.
Everything he did was futile.
Until...
"Aaaaargh! That goddamn bastard!"
A roar spread through the darkness, reaching Junpei Yoshino's ears as a faint, barely perceptible sound.
That was Mr. Mahito's voice!
From the sound of it, he was even deeper inside. No wonder he couldn't hear me calling!
Having confirmed Mahito's location, Junpei Yoshino adjusted his mother's body in his arms to make her as comfortable as possible. His feet never stopped moving, and he even began using his cursed energy to reinforce his body.
Junpei Yoshino was a gifted boy. Even before awakening his cursed technique or learning to use cursed energy, he had been able to see Mahito, a special grade cursed spirit.
Now, faced with such intense