The hospital cage

They seemed to be trapped in the basement. Without the disgusting lump of flesh screaming, the entire basement seemed to have fallen quiet.

But the quiet did not last long.

The next moment, the entire basement suddenly began shaking violently.

"An earthquake?" Yuta Okkotsu clutched his head in terror.

Akutagawa Shang's gaze, however, gradually grew grave.

He could see the concentration of cursed energy around them steadily rising.

"Heeheeheeheeheehee..."

The lump of flesh's shrill laughter came from every direction, rattling their brains unpleasantly.

"Akutagawa, what's going on? Didn't you exorcise that thing?"

Before Yuta Okkotsu could finish speaking, the basement walls split open with the shaking, cracks spreading across them.

Not just the basement-the entire abandoned hospital was cracking and deforming. And it was not merely cracking; it seemed to be restructuring itself as well.

A dozen or so seconds later, the shaking finally stopped.

By then, the hospital had completed its transformation. Its floors no longer existed, and the entire interior had twisted into a complex space.

At the top of that space, an enormous ball of flesh several times larger than the previous disgusting lump emerged from the wall, seemingly having fused with the building.

"Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee." The countless mouths on its body once again let out that mind-rattling, shrill laughter.

This is bad... The higher-ups really are useless. They can't even give us accurate information. Akutagawa Shang spat and cursed inwardly.

"I thought the cursed energy everywhere was because the cursed spirit had been here so long that it left cursed residue all over the place. Now it looks like I was wrong. This building is probably its real body. The one I killed earlier was probably just a small offshoot."

"Huh?" Yuta Okkotsu began to panic.

"It's only a grade 2 cursed spirit, but we're trapped inside its body now. The entire hospital has formed something like a domain, trapping us inside. In here, it can wield power far beyond an ordinary grade 2 cursed spirit, even matching some grade 1 cursed spirits."

Just then, a tentacle extended from the wall behind them and shot toward the two of them.

"Then... can you still win, Akutagawa?"

"Don't worry. I'll win."

Akutagawa Shang tilted his head slightly to evade the surprise attack, swinging his blade to sever the tentacle at the same time.

The severed tentacle slowly dissipated in Akutagawa Shang's hand, and its remaining cursed energy was absorbed into his body, replenishing what he had spent on that slash.

"Looks like it can use everything in this hospital to attack. This is going to be a little troublesome."

"Should we call Gojo-sensei over?"

"No use. The hospital's interior is completely cut off from the outside now. Unless we break out, he won't have any idea what's happening."

"But it's fine. Don't worry. At worst, I'll just cut it to death again." Akutagawa Shang laughed and charged toward the lump of flesh overhead, blade in hand.

Countless tentacles extended from every corner of the hospital. They had only one target: Akutagawa Shang in midair.

For some reason, however, Yuta Okkotsu barely came under attack.

Akutagawa Shang severed the tentacle before him with one slash, then let the tentacle behind him strike his back, using the impact to land on a nearby platform and escape the encirclement.

He kept moving through the hospital, dodging the pursuing tentacles while steadily drawing closer to the lump of flesh above.

After severing the last tentacle in front of him, he was only a step away from the lump of flesh.

With another charge, he drove the sharp blade wrapped in white cursed energy viciously into the flesh.

But he was not finished. Grabbing an arm protruding from the lump, he pulled his blade out and stabbed it in again, over and over. Under the fierce stabbing, the lump became a limp mass of shredded flesh and slid to the ground with a splat.

Akutagawa Shang landed back on the ground and let out a long breath.

"Akutagawa, look out!" Yuta Okkotsu's anxious voice came from behind him.

He stared at his chest in disbelief. A tentacle carrying a scalpel had ambushed him from behind and pierced his chest.

Akutagawa Shang brought his blade down, severing the tentacle. After he absorbed it, the white light of Reverse Cursed Technique lit up, restoring the wound to its original state.

What's going on? I should have chopped it into mince just now. Akutagawa Shang could not understand it.

Just then, piercing laughter came from the pile of mangled flesh on the ground. That thing was not dead.

"Heeheeheeheehee, you can't kill me. This hospital is my everything. As long as the hospital remains, you'll never be able to kill me."

The mangled flesh slowly gathered together, turning back into that disgusting lump. Mocking smiles even appeared on its twisted faces.

Fuck, this thing's bound to the hospital. The only way to kill it for good is to destroy the hospital. Just my luck, just my luck, just my luck. But Akutagawa Shang was purely an assassin right now. His only means of dealing damage was slashing, and he had no large-scale destructive skills whatsoever. He could not blow this hospital apart.

Countless tentacles appeared again and attacked Akutagawa Shang. Whenever he severed those in front of him, an endless stream of tentacles behind him filled the gaps. There was simply no end to them.

Although he could absorb the lingering cursed energy, making the expenditure from his attacks almost negligible, and could use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal even if he was injured, leaving his fighting ability almost unaffected.

His stamina was limited, after all. Cursed spirits did not tire, but he did. If this battle of attrition continued, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

But he had no choice. If he did not fight back, he would die even faster.

What do I do... what do I do... what do I do? Akutagawa Shang's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to escape.

Squelch.

In that moment of distraction, a tentacle slipped past his defenses at an extremely tricky angle and stabbed into his chest again, piercing straight through him. Then it whipped him aside, slamming him hard against the wall.

"Akutagawa!!!" Yuta Okkotsu's roar suddenly burst out, shattering the basement's dead, oppressive silence.

He watched helplessly as that hideous tentacle pierced Akutagawa Shang's chest and hurled him viciously into the mottled, cracked wall with its fierce momentum.

His whole body crashed heavily to the ground, blood constantly seeping from the wound. Although Reverse Cursed Technique soon lit up and the torn flesh began repairing itself at a visible rate, he still looked utterly battered.

"It's all my fault. If I were any use at all, Akutagawa wouldn't have to fight alone." Yuta Okkotsu clutched his head tightly, biting hard on his lip as tears kept falling.

From the start of the battle until now, every attack had precisely targeted Akutagawa Shang. He had not been attacked once from beginning to end. Akutagawa Shang had been fighting alone the entire time.

If Rika were here, could we get him out of here? But... He had always feared Rika, feared that uncontrollable power, feared becoming a monster, feared hurting the people around him.

So he had done nothing but run away, nothing but shrink back.

Suddenly, the words Akutagawa Shang had said echoed in his mind.

"Cursed energy doesn't just hurt people. It can save them, too. You have tremendous power inside you. If you can use that power properly, I believe you can save a lot of people."

Now, as Yuta Okkotsu watched Akutagawa Shang suffer injury after injury and struggle to hold on, the fear and avoidance in the boy's eyes slowly faded, replaced by surging anger and guilt.

He wanted to save people, so many people. He was going to bring Akutagawa Shang out of here alive.

He yanked out the ring buried deep beneath his clothes against his chest and slipped it onto his finger.

"Come out, Rika!!! I need your power!!!"

An absurdly powerful surge of cursed energy erupted from Yuta Okkotsu. It was a mighty presence that stood above ordinary curses, one unique to special grades.

"Okay~, Yuta~!!!" An eerie voice rang out in the pitch-black hospital.

An enormous, pale figure slowly emerged from the darkness, bringing endless destruction.

Special grade vengeful cursed apparition-Rika Orimoto-fully manifested!!!

Yuta hurried over to Akutagawa Shang's side.

"Akutagawa, how are your injuries?"

Akutagawa Shang, who had been about to get up, lay back down completely. Much of the tension in his mind suddenly eased, and he said with a smile, "Finally... willing to come out, huh, Yuta?"