"Hey, anything on your side?"
Maki, holding the Thousand Machine Umbrella, lightly swept it, knocking over a discarded iron barrel that could have hidden Cursed Spirits.
Clang.
The iron barrel rolled to the ground, empty of any Cursed Spirits.
"Nothing here either."
Panda, not far away, waved to Maki.
"Seriously, have even Cursed Spirits learned hide-and-seek now?"
Maki shouldered the Thousand Machine Umbrella, her expression annoyed.
For the past few days, Maki, Inumaki Toge, and Panda had been out on Cursed Spirit exorcism missions.
Following mission requirements, they had been on the move for three full days.
During these three days, they searched four areas reported by the Windows as having Cursed Spirits.
The result was nothing.
If it weren't for the fact that those people were all old members who had been Windows for a long time...
Maki would suspect they used to study journalism, writing reports based on vague findings.
"Tuna mayonnaise!"
Inumaki Toge's voice suddenly came from a distance.
Panda reacted first, then quickly ran to Inumaki Toge's side.
"What is this?"
Panda got down on all fours and sniffed the slime on the ground.
"It looks a lot like the slime we found those other times."
After a careful study, Panda came to a conclusion.
"So that Cursed Spirit ran off again?"
Maki was a bit helpless.
Their gazes followed the slime trail forward, finding that the slime on the ground eventually led to a sewer.
'That Cursed Spirit is hiding in the sewer?'
Maki's mouth twitched.
Although she had already seen all sorts of ugly Cursed Spirits.
But the combination of a foul-smelling, filthy sewer and an ugly Cursed Spirit—the destructive power wasn't just a little bit increased.
She guessed only Gojo Satoru, with his Limitless automatically filtering things, could happily play hide-and-seek with Cursed Spirits in the sewer.
"Panda, you go down and check."
"Huh? Why me?"
"This is when humanity's good partner makes his appearance, isn't it?"
"But I can't fit."
Panda walked to the manhole cover and used his hand to compare its size, then compared it to his own waistline.
"Mustard leaf."
Inumaki Toge stepped forward and patted Panda's shoulder, signaling Panda not to worry.
Inumaki Toge felt that at this moment, as a male, he should step up.
"I'll go down with you."
Maki drew a katana from the Thousand Machine Umbrella, then held a sword in one hand and a spear in the other.
She wasn't the type of delicate girl who would let her companions face danger alone due to fear of dirt or other reasons.
She was actually just joking with Panda earlier, and Panda didn't dislike such jokes.
Because it was a sign that his companions respected and liked him as a living being.
"Bonito flakes."
Inumaki Toge shook his head in refusal.
Then he pointed to his mouth.
In the sewer, Inumaki Toge's Cursed Speech wouldn't spread as it would in an open area.
The destructive power of Cursed Speech would increase, but there was also the risk of accidentally harming allies.
So Inumaki Toge decided to go down himself first to check the situation.
"Take these, and be careful."
Panda took out several cursed tools from his body and handed them to Inumaki Toge.
Inumaki Toge nodded, then pulled open his collar, preparing to enter the sewer.
As soon as he entered the sewer, a nauseating smell rushed directly to Inumaki Toge's brain through his nose.
Inumaki Toge couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose tightly.
Turning on his flashlight, what met his eyes was a dried-up waterway, and rotting garbage piled everywhere.
Soon, a patch of still-wet slime caught Inumaki Toge's eye.
Inumaki Toge began to cautiously follow the direction of the slime.
Drip, drop, drip, drop.
The strange footsteps grew louder and louder.
Inumaki Toge knew that the distance between him and the enemy was constantly closing.
Drip, drop, drip, drop.
The sound of footsteps became clearer, and Inumaki Toge formed an initial guess about the enemy's situation.
The slime appearing on the ground from time to time, coupled with the squelching sound of what seemed like wet feet walking on the ground.
This Cursed Spirit should be some kind of slippery-skinned Cursed Spirit.
Its feet should be similar to those of amphibious creatures like frogs, otherwise they wouldn't be so wet.
Furthermore, since it could enter the sewer, its size shouldn't be large.
The size of sewer manholes is designed according to human size.
Even Panda, a Cursed Corpse not much fatter than a human, could easily get stuck in the opening, let alone those big ones.
So this Cursed Spirit's size should be small, similar to a human's.
For some reason, Inumaki Toge's mind conjured up the image of a Kappa.
Drip, drop, drip, drop.
The sound was closer, and the slime on the ground was becoming more complete, showing no signs of drying up.
Inumaki Toge knew that after turning this corner, he would face the enemy directly.
In a mere few seconds, Inumaki Toge simulated several combat plans in his mind.
No matter what kind of enemy he saw first, Inumaki Toge was prepared to deal with it.
Drip, drop, drip, drop, splat.
The familiar footsteps, but this time there was an additional sound.
'This sound, it's like a shoulder brushing against a wall while walking.'
Through the newly appeared sound, Inumaki Toge obtained another piece of information: the enemy should be slightly shorter than him.
Bipedal, possibly aquatic, shorter than him.
Inumaki Toge got ready, then accelerated and rounded the final corner.
The next second, over a dozen eerie eyes simultaneously looked at Inumaki Toge.
The chilling gaze made Inumaki Toge's hair stand on end.
It was a hunched-back, humanoid creature that seemed to have no spine.
Its lower body still retained a human-like appearance.
Its upper body had undergone a massive transformation.
Its head was smooth, with sickly white skin.
Slime constantly oozed from its skin, occasionally dripping onto the ground.
Tentacles, like those of an octopus, grew from its jaw.
Its upper body was also soft, like an octopus, and its hands and fingers had become tentacles.
Its upper body and tentacles were covered with eyes that emitted a dark green, eerie glow.
Even having seen many ugly Cursed Spirits, this twisted existence, reaching new heights, still made Inumaki Toge's brain struggle to adapt.
Suddenly, Inumaki Toge felt a pain in his brain, and his gaze involuntarily shifted to the ground.
'I was attacked?'
Inumaki Toge realized something.
Just now, as he observed the Cursed Spirit, analyzing its form and weaknesses, the Cursed Spirit used an unknown attack on him.
Drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drop.
Familiar footsteps sounded, and the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching him startled Inumaki Toge.
"Blow away!"
Due to the sudden attack, Inumaki Toge hadn't had time to analyze the strength of the Cursed Spirit in front of him, so he didn't dare to directly use "Die," the highest-level Cursed Speech in terms of destructive power.
"Blow away" was also a relatively powerful type of Cursed Speech in Inumaki Toge's repertoire, usable both for probing and for desperate measures.
If the enemy was weak, this Cursed Speech would cause significant damage; if the enemy was strong and he suffered a backlash from the Cursed Speech.
Then, upon receiving the backlash, the enemy would also be repelled by the Cursed Speech, making it a very useful type.
Splat.
Under the power of the Cursed Speech, the enemy advancing towards Inumaki Toge was instantly blown away and slammed violently against the sewer wall.
At this moment, Inumaki Toge also reached a conclusion.
'The enemy isn't strong.'
Because Inumaki Toge suffered almost no backlash.
His throat was a little uncomfortable, but this level didn't even require a lozenge.
"Explode."
The sound of Cursed Speech echoed in the sewer, and the upper body of the enemy, which was trying to pull itself off the wall, instantly exploded.
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