Curse Reply: After choosing Nawa, the cursed spirit cursed me for being cruel.

A boy dressed in a black uniform, with a strange fringe on his forehead and his hair tied in a bun, stood by the railing, gazing at the blurry city lights in the rainy night.

Suddenly, he paused slightly, his narrow eyes narrowed, and he looked in a certain direction, towards the area where Duanmu Yan was.

"Oh?" he murmured, his voice tinged with surprise and inquiry. "Two of the cursed spirits I released were killed at the same time? Their auras disappeared so quickly..."

"Instant kill... Was it because I encountered a passing sorcerer? Or..."

He paused, "A curse master?"

Chapter 4 Love at the Corner

On the top floor of the abandoned building, Xia Youjie stared in the direction where the cursed spirit had disappeared, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"To kill two level-two cursed spirits in an instant, one must be at least a level-one sorcerer, but the opponent's cursed power is something I've never seen before. Who is it?"

"Jay~ What are you standing here daydreaming about? Here, hurry up and eat."

A light, cheerful voice came from behind him, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of a ball bouncing.

Xia Youjie turned around.

He was a man with exquisitely beautiful and flawless features, as if he was born to be the protagonist in a crowd.

With one hand in his pocket, Gojo Satoru casually patted a sphere covered in strange patterns with the other.

He walked up to Xia Youjie, raised his wrist, and tossed the ominous-looking sphere over to him.

Xia Youjie caught it with his hand, glanced at it expressionlessly, and then swallowed it.

Instantly, an indescribable, extreme taste, like a rag used to wipe vomit, exploded in his mouth and esophagus, causing his stomach to convulse.

But his face remained expressionless, only his eyes darkened.

"It's nothing, it's just that the two cursed spirits I released were just dealt with by someone. They did it very efficiently, and I'm a little curious."

"Oh?" Gojo Satoru tilted his head, blinked his eyes behind his sunglasses, and said with great interest, "Which hothead has come to our territory to punish evil and promote good? Someone from the Elders' Council? Doesn't seem like it. Those old guys' good-for-nothings can't hide their curse power so cleanly."

“It doesn’t look like it.” Xia Youjie shook his head. “It feels… very strange, like it was burned by fire and nothing was left.”

"Burned by fire?" Gojo Satoru seemed to have heard something interesting, waving his finger. "Cursed flames? I've heard that some elders play with fire, but I've never heard of anyone being able to erase the marks so smoothly. Hey, Gon, could it be that your little pet was too useless and kicked the bucket?"

"Will the things you release suddenly die on their own?" Xia Youjie glanced at him, his tone indifferent, yet filled with unquestionable confidence, stemming from the arrogance of absolute control over his own techniques.

"Tsk, that's true." Gojo Satoru shrugged insincerely, but his smile grew wider. "So, there really is some sneaky guy hanging around nearby? Level 1 or higher? Special Rank?"

“Uncertain.” Xia Youjie gazed at the city lights, his eyes deep. “But to dare to operate in our vicinity and even clean up the ‘trash,’ they’re either stupid enough not to know whose territory this is, or…”

"Or do you think you're qualified to come and say hello?" Gojo Satoru chimed in, his smile becoming sharper. He pulled down his sunglasses, obscuring his overly intimidating eyes, leaving only a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

"Interesting. Who cares what kind of deity he is, whether he's a first-rate or a special-rate one, since he's here..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but instead jumped lightly and sat on the rusty railing next to him, swinging his long legs. He then took out a new ball from who-knows-where and started bouncing it again.

After a while, Xia Youjie slowly spoke, his voice calm and even: "Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but if it really is aimed at us..."

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Then he'll soon understand the price of disturbing the 'strongest'."

"Well, we'll see then." Gojo Satoru replied nonchalantly, casually tossing the ball high into the air. His azure eyes, peering through his sunglasses, seemed to pierce the night and gaze into the distance.

"Anyway, I'm pretty free, so it's nice to have some entertainment now and then. Like how a lot of cursed spirits have gathered together recently, let's have some fun."

He jumped off the railing and dusted off his hands—dust that wasn't actually there.

"Let's go, Jay. Time for a late-night snack~ I heard a nice new dessert shop opened around here."

Xia Youjie withdrew his gaze, his expression returning to its usual gentleness.

"Ah."

Two figures disappeared into the darkness at the stairwell, one after the other, as if the conversation just now was merely a trivial interlude in the daily life of the strongest duo.

……

On the edge of an abandoned factory area in the suburbs of Tokyo.

A burst of scorching flames suddenly shot up, tearing through the night. Amidst the flames, there were inhuman screams, but they quickly ceased.

The sounds of hurried footsteps and slippery, sticky wriggling echoed rapidly across the uneven ground.

Three twisted figures were fleeing for their lives, skimming over corners piled with garbage, knocking over rusty iron barrels, their movements frantic, occasionally glancing back in terror, as if they were being chased by hellfire that could burn everything.

The one running in the lead was somewhat humanoid, but its skin resembled that of a skinned frog, covered in mucus and constantly opening and closing lumps. Its aura was significantly stronger than the two behind it.

The two that followed were more like magnified and distorted insects or beasts, with bizarre limbs and emitting hissing, terrifying sounds.

Just as they were about to rush past a corner piled with old tires, a fiery red figure slowly emerged from behind the corner, blocking their only escape route.

The crimson and silver-gray armor gleamed with a cold, hard sheen in the distant glow of the remaining firelight. The red crystals on the shoulder armor and calves radiated heat, causing the surrounding humid air to ripple and twist.

The goggles on the mask were a serene, deep blue, reflecting the three frozen cursed spirits.

Why are you running?

Duanmu Yan's voice came through the armor. He leisurely stretched his neck, then raised his arms, clenched his left and right hand gauntlets into fists, and gently bumped them together.

"Are you afraid to face me?"

He took a step forward, and the three cursed spirits all shrank back and huddled together.

"One level one and two level two, together they're not bad, yet they didn't even have the thought of fighting back?"

"You, you..." The strongest level one curse spirit's face twitched violently as he tried to organize his thoughts. His voice was hoarse and intermittent, but it was still audible.

"Why...are you chasing us...relentlessly?!"

It was obvious that he had only just been promoted to level one and was facing an enemy he couldn't possibly defeat.

"why?"

Duanmu Yan seemed to think about it very seriously, his gaze falling on the spirit that was speaking.

"Do you need a reason to kill a cursed spirit?"

The moment he finished speaking, his raised arms didn't even have a noticeable backward sway, and the red crystals on his gauntlets suddenly shone brightly!

call out!call out!

Two condensed, arrow-like crimson flames shot out almost at the same time he finished speaking, their speed so fast that they left only fleeting scorch marks in the air.

"Hiss—!!"

The two level-two spirits, standing slightly behind the level-one spirit, were struck precisely by the flames before they could even react. With a muffled "poof," they exploded into two rapidly dissipating clumps of charred ash, leaving only two small patches of burning marks on the ground and a pungent, acrid smell.

The whole process was clean, efficient, and even a little... casual.

Duanmu Yan withdrew his arm and dusted off the dust.

The scorching armor steamed in the cold night air, drawing ever closer.

"Now, I'll ask, and you'll answer."

Chapter 5 Against Cursed Spirits... No Need to Keep Your Promises

"You...you shouldn't underestimate me!"

When the level-one cursed spirit was driven to a dead end, it roared instead, and the mucus on its body swelled up as if boiling, emitting an even stronger fishy smell.

It had only recently been promoted and its ferocity was still intact; it had only been frightened out of its wits by the red monster's thunderous methods.

Seeing his underlings easily killed and with no way out, his remaining instinctive ferocity was completely unleashed.

"I... I can control water! You... you're clearly of the fire element!"

It waved its slippery tentacles, pointing to the damp water stains on the ground and walls around it, and the puddles left by the night rain, trying to bolster its courage.

"Fire can't beat water! Let me go now, and I might spare your life!"

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Yan slightly tilted his helmet, the blue light from his goggles sweeping over the insignificant puddles. Then, he disdainfully turned his head to the side, his gesture full of undisguised contempt.

"water?"

He chuckled, raised his right arm, opened his gauntlet, palm facing upward, and a vibrant orange-red flame suddenly ignited, illuminating the surrounding area for several meters. The damp ground instantly steamed up in large plumes of white mist, and the puddles dried up at a visible speed.

The intense heat forced the cursed spirit to retreat repeatedly, and the mucus on its body surface hissed as it dried.

"Perfect timing, I'd also like to try out my new weapon."

Before he finished speaking, he plunged his burning right hand into the blazing flames. Instead of burning him, the flames spread, condensed, and shaped along his arm like a living liquid!

The next second, he swung his arm outward!

He forcefully pulled a long sword with a ferocious shape, dark red in color, and a blade that looked as if it were forged from flowing lava from the flames!

The moment the knife appeared, the surrounding air began to hum under its strain, and the heat waves visibly distorted.

Molten Scale Blade!

The pitiful amount of water controlled by the cursed spirit instantly vaporized under the high-temperature radiation of the appearing Molten Scale Blade, leaving not even a trace of water vapor.

"Roar--!!"

The cursed spirit let out a roar of despair and madness, frantically pouring its remaining cursed power into the dampness of the ground and walls, barely condensing it into several filthy, sticky water whips, which lashed out fiercely at Duanmu Yan from different angles!

At the same time, it suddenly bounced backward, trying to create distance, and sprayed out a large cloud of foul-smelling corrosive acid!

Duanmu Yan moved. Faced with the attack, he simply swung the Melting Scale Blade in his hand forward.

The movements may seem slow, but they carry a heavy, earth-shattering force.

The blade sliced ​​through the air, leaving a scorching crimson trail.

laugh--!

The water whip that first touched the blade didn't even offer the slightest resistance, instantly vaporizing and evaporating. Subsequent water whips didn't even get close before being dried out by the high-temperature field emanating from the longsword.

The acid was even worse; it was completely decomposed as soon as it entered the high-temperature range, leaving only a wisp of foul-smelling smoke.

Duanmu Yan didn't even pause. With a flick of his wrist, the heavy Melting Scale Blade became as light as a feather in his hand. He changed from slashing to slashing, and the blade light flowed upwards like a waterfall of lava!

"Pfft!"

"Ugh—!"

The moment the agonizing scream escaped its lips, Duanmu Yan was already upon it, striking down hard on the twisted body of the cursed spirit.