Elsewhere.
Tokyo, a shopping mall.
Mei Mei stood before the mall's main entrance, holding her signature giant axe in her right hand, her silver braid hanging in front and swaying slightly in the wind.
"Seven."
She tilted her head and swept her gaze around.
"These cursed spirits were hiding pretty deep."
"To think so many Grade 1 Cursed Spirits would appear downtown at once."
Just as she finished speaking, a piercing screech came from inside the mall. Three cursed spirits lunged out through the broken second-floor windows like startled bats.
Mei Mei moved.
"Hey, hey, don't worry. I'll be very gentle."
She wasn't particularly fast, but every step was perfectly placed. Her giant axe traced a silver arc through the air.
The first cursed spirit's neck split open, its cursed energy core shattered, and its body dissolved into black smoke.
The second lunged from the side. Mei Mei turned sideways and twisted the axe handle, sweeping the blade upward from its jaw through the top of its skull.
The third tried to flee. Mei Mei didn't chase it, simply throwing her axe. The spinning blade traced a circle through the air and severed the cursed spirit precisely at the waist.
When the axe flew back into her hand, purple cursed energy residue still clung to it.
"Three."
Mei Mei raised her wrist and glanced at her watch.
"It's getting late. I need to finish this quickly, or it'll be bad for my skin."
At the same time, Mei Mei scanned her surroundings.
"Four more."
She walked inside the mall. Four more sources of cursed energy lit up in the darkness, attacking simultaneously from different directions.
Mei Mei's lips curved slightly.
Then she vanished.
The sound of the axe blade tearing through the air echoed through the empty mall. Once, twice,