Boom!
Hakari and Kirara were yanked deep into the sewer, landing in a vast underground chamber surrounded by thick iron pipes. The stench was almost unbearable.
Reacting instantly, both of them slashed through the white threads binding them and landed safely, using cursed energy to seal their bleeding wounds.
"This must be the curse's nest" Hakari muttered grimly.
The faint glow of their cursed energy illuminated the scene — countless white threads crisscrossed in every direction. The entire space had been taken over.
Above them, dozens of cocoon-like forms hung upside down. Judging by the outlines, they were all… humans.
In the darkness, green eyes began to flicker to life — one pair, then another, until the two were surrounded.
"One, two, three…"
"Seven Grade 2s… and one Grade 1" Kirara said, voice trembling as sweat trickled down her forehead.
One Grade 2 would've been fine — but seven of them and a Grade 1 together? That was way beyond their assignment's parameters.
"Scared, Kirara?" Hakari asked, his tone oddly calm.
Rather than fear, his eyes held an unsettling spark of excitement. Trapped, outnumbered, cornered — but still ready to gamble everything.
"What do you think?" Kirara shot back, glaring. Of course she was scared — he wasn't the only one with nerves of steel!
"When you're backed into a corner, that's when you find your strength," Hakari said, his tone steadying. "Besides, Zenin-sensei's still out there. As long as we hold on until he comes, we'll make it out alive."
He had already made peace with the worst outcome — death. But until that happened, he would fight tooth and nail for that single sliver of survival.
"Let's see whose luck is better — ours, or theirs!"
"Go!"
Hakari charged forward, cursed energy flaring as he unleashed his technique.Kirara clenched her teeth, forcing her wounded body to move and support him.
Hissss!
Several cursed spirits attacked at once. White threads shot toward them like spikes. The Grade 1 spider, towering over two meters tall, spewed poison as it directed the others in coordinated strikes.
Within seconds, both sorcerers were already covered in wounds.
Splurt!
Kirara cried out as multiple threads pierced through her arm and thigh.Her markings couldn't keep up — there were too many targets. She was quickly entangled in a massive web, immobilized as her consciousness began to fade.
"Kirara!" Hakari grabbed his bleeding arm, stepping back as he tried to reach her — but the curses didn't let up. Dozens of attacks rained down from every direction, and he realized he had no way out.
He stopped running.
Facing the onslaught, Hakari's eyes sharpened, madness flickering within.
"A dead end, huh? Then let's bet it all!"
He clasped his hands together in a seal, cursed energy erupting wildly around him.
"Domain—Expansion!"
At the brink of death, he activated what every sorcerer dreamed of mastering — a Domain Expansion.
The air trembled, cursed energy distorting space into an independent realm that swallowed every curse around him.
"Idle Death Gamble!"
The curses froze, unable to attack within the domain, forced instead to face Hakari's deadly "draw".
Meanwhile, outside the sewer—
Jinsuke arrived at the scene, eyes landing immediately on Kirara's limp form hanging from the web. Still breathing. He exhaled in relief.
Then his gaze shifted toward the massive cocoon of cursed energy ahead — cracks were spreading through a forming barrier.
"Heh, not bad," he muttered. So the kid had managed to pull off a Domain Expansion on his first real mission. Even if incomplete, the first success was always the hardest.
"Zenin-sensei… you're here…" Kirara forced her eyes open, her voice weak. "Sensei… is Hikari… okay?"
"He's fine. Rest now." Jinsuke gently tore her free from the web and laid her on the ground.
Just then, another figure arrived — Geto Suguru.
He stopped, blinking at the half-shattered domain before him.
"Wait… this year's freshman can already use Domain Expansion?"
"Perfect timing," Jinsuke said bluntly. "Help me treat him."
Geto frowned. "You want me to heal him? Hey, have you forgotten which side I'm on?"
He was a curse user now — Jujutsu High's enemy. Why would he help their student?
"Relax," Jinsuke said with a shrug. "You can have the curse after this. I won't fight you for it."
Geto's eyes lit up. "You mean it?"
Without hesitation, he summoned a curse spirit to stabilize Kirara's condition — stopping the bleeding and wrapping the wounds.
Crack!
At that moment, the cracked domain shattered entirely, the backlash hurling Hakari out of it.Jinsuke caught him mid-air.
Hakari opened his eyes weakly, a faint grin tugging at his lips. He had lost the battle — but also won. His first Domain had succeeded, even if he hadn't drawn the jackpot.
At least… he'd held out until his teacher came.
ROAR!
A monstrous roar echoed through the tunnel — a three-meter-tall spider curse loomed before them, radiating power.It had barely survived, only because it had devoured its own seven Grade 2 kin.
Jinsuke's eyes glinted with interest. "A Semi–Special Grade, huh? Not bad…"
"Don't even think about it! You promised not to interfere!" Geto barked, instantly summoning two high-grade curses.
A radiant rainbow-scaled dragon lunged forward, jaws snapping at the spider, while a three-meter-tall one-eyed Buddha spirit — its neck adorned with skulls — emerged from the ground.
The Buddha's punch shattered the spider's abdomen, and together with the dragon, they tore it apart.
Geto absorbed the remains, the Semi–Special Grade's cursed energy flooding into him.
"Seriously? Was that necessary?" Jinsuke muttered, rubbing his temple. "I said I wouldn't steal it."
"Hmph. I'm not about to take your word for it," Geto said flatly, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.It had been a long time since he'd absorbed something that powerful — or that disgusting.
He turned to leave. "I'm done here. Hopefully, I won't run into you again."
Jinsuke watched him go, shaking his head.That kid still hadn't realized the true depth of Cursed Spirit Manipulation — that absorbing Semi–Special Grades could also grant their techniques.
"Pity. A Semi–Special Grade like that…" He sighed. He'd given up quite the prize — all for his students' safety.
Then, with a faint smirk, he added under his breath,
"Still, he'll have to pay it back someday… and maybe cough up a few extras while he's at it."