"Leave it to me!"
Yuji roared as he stepped forward. Cursed Energy wrapped around his fist as he threw a powerful punch.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several dull impacts echoed through the corridor. The Cursed Spirits at the front were instantly exorcised.
His movements were clean and efficient. After his recent training, his growing control over Cursed Energy combined with his extraordinary physical strength was already producing impressive results.
Nobara clicked her tongue and flicked her wrist, sending several nails flying toward the Cursed Spirits emerging from the walls.
"Don't just focus on the front!"
Megumi Fushiguro held his position without attacking. His Divine Dogs silently guarded the team's flanks, pouncing from the shadows to tear apart two Cursed Spirits attempting an ambush.
Sol walked at the front of the group without even glancing back.
Occasionally, a stray Cursed Spirit dropped from the ceiling or lunged at him from the side. Each time, he casually sidestepped or raised a hand to intercept it. His movements were effortless and precise. The low-level Cursed Spirits couldn't slow him down for even a moment.
Before long, the entire wave had been eliminated.
"They were all Grade 3 and Grade 4," Nobara said, spinning her hammer once. "Looks like the real problem is deeper inside."
As they advanced, the environment grew increasingly disturbing.
Congealed black blood stained the floor. Torn scraps of clothing were scattered throughout the hallways. Deep claw marks and massive impact craters scarred the walls.
"Help... help me..."
A faint, intermittent cry echoed from a half-open room ahead.
Yuji's expression immediately changed.
"Someone's still alive?"
He moved forward at once.
"Wait, Itadori!" Megumi quickly stopped him. "It could be a trap."
Yuji halted, clearly conflicted.
"But what if it's real?"
At that moment, the cry abruptly stopped.
In its place came a wet scraping sound, as though something slimy was dragging itself across the floor.
Sol's gaze settled on the doorway.
"There are no living people inside."
His perception far exceeded that of ordinary sorcerers. He could clearly sense that the room contained nothing but a concentrated mass of Cursed Energy mimicking a human voice to lure victims closer.
As if proving his point, the half-open door burst inward with a loud crash.
A grotesque Cursed Spirit crawled out.
Its body consisted of countless pale arms twisted and fused together into a massive, writhing form. It had no head. Instead, a giant mouth split open across the center of its torso, revealing rows of jagged teeth as it released a shrill scream.
"Grade 2... no, nearly Grade 1!" Megumi assessed instantly.
His hand signs changed.
"Nue!"
The owl-like Shikigami shrieked as it descended. Lightning crackled around its claws as it slashed across the arm-covered Cursed Spirit, burning deep scars into its body.
The damage proved ineffective.
Its body was made entirely of countless intertwined arms. Damaged sections were quickly replaced by others.
The creature screeched and sent dozens of pale arms whipping toward the group like tentacles.
"Straw Doll Technique: Resonance!"
Nobara drove several nails into the incoming arms and immediately struck them with her hammer.
Bang!
The embedded arms exploded violently.
Part of the creature's main body ruptured as well. It released a painful howl and briefly froze.
"Now's our chance!"
Yuji launched himself forward.
Cursed Energy surged into his fist as he closed the distance in an instant.
"Hah!"
His punch slammed directly into the enormous mouth on the creature's torso.
Boom!
The massive Cursed Spirit was blasted backward. Arms broke apart and scattered across the floor.
Yet moments later, those severed limbs began writhing and reconnecting.
"It's regenerating endlessly!" Nobara frowned.
Megumi prepared another hand sign, ready to summon Great Serpent and suppress it.
Meanwhile, Sol continued walking forward as though the battle had nothing to do with him.
The struggling Cursed Spirit still attempted to reconstruct itself as he passed.
At that moment, one of his fingertips moved almost imperceptibly.
A strand of dark red energy flashed and vanished.
The tiny trace of power slipped directly into the creature's core.
The screaming Cursed Spirit suddenly froze.
Then its entire body collapsed inward.
An invisible force seemed to tear it apart from within. Every arm instantly lost vitality, crumbling into black ash that scattered across the ground before fading away completely.
Yuji remained frozen in his punching stance.
"Huh? How did it suddenly...?"
Nobara blinked.
"Did we hit its weak spot?"
Megumi's eyes narrowed as he watched Sol's retreating back.
He had a vague suspicion that the creature's sudden destruction was connected to Sol, but he hadn't seen Sol make any obvious move. Without proof, he couldn't be certain.
"Looks like you got lucky," Sol said without turning around. "Keep moving."
Yuji and Nobara accepted the explanation without question and quickly followed.
Megumi suppressed his doubts and moved after them.
The deeper they ventured into the facility, the fewer Cursed Spirits they encountered.
Yet the residual Cursed Energy became increasingly oppressive.
The air felt so heavy it was difficult to breathe.
Massive holes resembling acid corrosion began appearing throughout the corridors, exposing damaged sections of the building beyond.
Eventually, the group arrived at a vast open chamber.
It appeared to have once been an indoor recreation area for the detention center.
Now it was unrecognizable.
The floor and walls were covered in a thick carpet of dark red flesh that continuously writhed and pulsed.
An overwhelming aura of malice saturated the room.
Floating above the grotesque mass was a giant sphere composed of condensed curses and negative energy.
Twisted human faces occasionally bulged from its surface, silently screaming in agony before sinking back into the darkness.
Beneath the sphere stood a figure with its back turned toward them.
It wore the tattered remains of a juvenile detention center uniform.
Its body was unnaturally twisted.
Its skin had turned a sickly blue-gray.
Most terrifying of all was the overwhelming torrent of Cursed Energy radiating from it, far beyond anything they had encountered so far.
The moment it sensed their presence, the figure slowly turned its head.
A single ugly scar stretched across its face.
Countless mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth covered its body.
"More toys?"
The voice that emerged sounded like countless distorted voices layered on top of one another.
Megumi's pupils contracted violently.
His expression darkened instantly.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
"Special Grade... Cursed Spirit..."
The words escaped through clenched teeth.
The immense pressure of its Cursed Energy crashed down on the group like a tidal wave.
Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi immediately struggled to breathe.
Every instinct in their bodies screamed the same warning.
Run.
Do not go any closer.
===
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