Chapter 58: Rat
"It's not that I won't take you, but you look like a husky. I'm not going to play. If a real fight breaks out, you haven't seen how fierce that thing is. Where can you run?"
After Kamihara Hajime shared the stunning photos he took with everyone, the white wolf, who had been following Panda and Maki, became displeased.
Such a perfect place, and you didn't take me?
The white wolf turned its head, occasionally glancing back, its back to Kamihara Hajime, seemingly ignoring his explanation.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you this time, okay?"
Upon hearing this, the white wolf turned around, its intelligent eyes looking at Kamihara Hajime, as if saying, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"Mission location… Yokohama. That's quite close, isn't it? Are they trying to hide in plain sight? These Curse Masters are quite cunning."
The Curse Masters were recently discovered in Yokohama, suspected of being linked to a small local religious group. Specific details were unknown, but the opposing side might have at least one Grade 1 Curse Master, with other possible members unknown.
Originally, this mission could have been assigned to several Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers and Grade 2 combinations, but Kamihara Hajime happened to be without a mission at Tokyo Jujutsu High during this period, and Gojo Satoru had disappeared somewhere, so it fell to him.
There was no need to trouble anyone to organize a hunt, and there was also the risk of personnel losses. Now, only Kamihara Hajime needed to be sent. The gap between Special Grade and Grade 1 among Jujutsu Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits is enormous.
It could be said that once this mission was assigned to Kamihara Hajime, assuming the mission intelligence was accurate, it could almost be considered completed. Yokohama is not far from Tokyo. After the intelligence was investigated and confirmed, Kamihara Hajime got into the arranged car and headed there.
The driver was not one of the Tokyo Jujutsu High Supervisors, like the familiar Ieiri or Shintaro, but a new face—a man with a perpetual smile, though upon closer inspection, the smile seemed somewhat fake and unnatural, like a poisonous insect's disguise.
Kamihara Hajime paid no mind to these things. He completely ignored unfamiliar people who made him uncomfortable. The driver's seemingly polite yet subtly barbed small talk after he got in the car was also perfunctorily dismissed by Kamihara Hajime.
Upon arriving in Yokohama, Kamihara Hajime, with the white wolf, got out of the car and walked towards the mission location. The not-so-small place was the stronghold of that small religious group, though only on the surface. In reality, investigations had revealed it to be a disguised hideout for those Curse Masters.
Recently, they seemed to be planning something, with other Curse Masters gathering there, which caused them to expose some clues and be tracked. The targets should be inside now.
Inside the house, five strangely dressed individuals were seated in pairs, facing each other. The lone person was wearing only a black leather apron on his upper body, completely bald, and had a strange mask covering only his eyes and part of his nose.
He sat sprawled on the sofa, saying, "What? This isn't a request, it's a notification! I'm not that easy to talk to. If you don't cooperate, all that awaits you is death. Perhaps becoming my masterpiece is also a good option for you? Haha…"
"You bastard…"
A man with triangular eyes and a scar on his face opposite him angrily retorted, "We're not those idiots Meimeizi and Nanako! Suguru Geto-sama is dead! That thing, whatever it is, still wants to command us?"
"Hey, don't say things I don't understand. What I want is…"
The bald man was about to say something when a sound from the door drew the attention of everyone in the room. In their instantly vigilant gaze, a figure emerged from behind the half-open door. Was it a dog?
It was a large dog, a husky by breed, which immediately entered, tongue lolling out, curiously surveying the people in the room. Seeing it was just a dog, a seemingly more normal man sighed in relief, "How did a dog get in? What are the people downstairs doing…?"
"Idiot! Have you ever seen a dog with Cursed Energy like that? It's an enemy!" The bald man had already taken out a hammer he carried. He wasn't looking at the handsome and goofy husky, but at the half-open door, where footsteps could be heard.
"Hmm? Quite a few people, actually."
Pushing the door open, a young boy walked in. He had a short black ponytail, and his face, which was a devastating blow to the people in the room, was full of laziness, as if he were a young master from some unknown family who had accidentally wandered in.
"Let me see… Nemikiri Hisashi, Larue, two small fries. Oh? And an unexpected bonus. Let me think, you're called Kumoya Ruzo, right? You're on the wanted list too."
"A Jujutsu Sorcerer? Just you, a snot-nosed brat who hasn't even grown all his hair? You've come to the wrong place. Not only will you die here today, but I'll also find your family, your friends…"
One of the two called "small fries" seemed to fly into a rage. He had been nervous, thinking their whereabouts had been discovered and they were about to be surrounded by Jujutsu Sorcerers. But then a dog and a seemingly ordinary boy walked in. Already short-tempered, he immediately exploded.
"Pfft~"
The sound of water being squeezed from a water pouch rang out. The man, whose threats had not yet finished, widened his eyes and clutched his throat, blood gushing uncontrollably from between his fingers, his complexion rapidly turning an abnormal purplish-blue.
At the doorway, Kamihara Hajime flicked his finger against the blade of Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which had appeared in his hand at some unknown moment, producing a crisp, pleasant ringing sound. This poison was lethal to low-strength enemies. For instance, it was hard to say whether the man's throat injury or the sword poison was more fatal.
The other four Curse Masters, realizing what had happened, were instantly consumed by terror. They instinctively drew their weapons or channeled their Cursed Energy, ready to strike, yet dared not make a move. They hadn't sensed the slightest bit of the attack, nor did they know how the sword in the boy's heart appeared.
The unknown Technique effect and the obviously terrifying disparity in strength left them in a difficult position. After that Curse Master fell into a pool of blood on the ground, the dog squatting on the floor suddenly got up and walked out, and then the boy cursed unhappily.
But they were not so relaxed. Such a powerful and ill-intentioned enemy kept the four on edge. Taking advantage of the moment, Kumoya Ruzo leaped over the central sofa and coffee table, his small hammer silently smashing towards Kamihara Hajime's back of the head with a sinister grin.
In the expectant gazes of the other Curse Masters, Kumoya Ruzo, who was mid-air, suddenly flew backward at an illogical angle, smashing the tempered glass coffee table to pieces. The sofa behind him cushioned his fall, pushing him against the wall before he finally stopped.
The genuine leather sofa was now covered in flowing blood. Kumoya Ruzo's hammer had flown off and hit the wall, disappearing somewhere. His situation at this moment could be described as utterly miserable.
His entire body was covered in blood, his arms were limp and pinned beneath him, and his face looked as if it had been run over by some blade-filled machine, with most of his facial bones exposed. Both his eyeballs seemed to have doubled in size, a sight caused by the surrounding flesh being pulverized.
Kamihara Hajime, who had already turned around, looked at the Curse Master on the ground, who was unable to speak due to the poison of Totsuka-no-Tsurugi. His strength was considerably greater than that of the previous small fry. With the support of Cursed Energy, he was still clinging to life despite such injuries.
"Kumoya Ruzo, a Curse Master, skilled in making cursed tools, but his methods are extremely cruel. He was once wanted as a Curse Master for wantonly abusing and killing ordinary people and Spellcasters to create cursed tools."
This person had some talent. Some of the cursed tools he created were interesting and powerful, but due to his cruel personality and unscrupulous methods, he harmed many people, using the intense emotions of his victims before death to create many bizarre cursed tools. He was also one of those notorious Curse Masters.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves. Second-year at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Kamihara Hajime. My mission is to deal with you remnants of the Hyakki Yagyō incident. By the way, you should still remember me, right?"
Looking at Kamihara Hajime's half-smile, Nemikiri Hisashi and Larue were already sweating. Especially Larue, wasn't that the same boy who went to Tokyo Jujutsu High with Suguru Geto-sama? Though his hair color was different then.
And during the Hyakki Yagyō, it was rumored that a Jujutsu Sorcerer with that name killed the Special Grade imaginary Cursed Spirit they planned to awaken—Shuten-dōji. And according to the latest intelligence, the newly appeared Special Grade Sorcerer also has that name!
Nemikiri Hisashi, with triangular eyes and a scarred face, was almost pushed to his limit by the heavy pressure. Just as he was about to activate his Technique for a desperate struggle, Larue, who was naked from the waist up, blonde, and had pink heart-shaped nipple pasties on his chest, stopped him.
"Your Excellency hasn't directly attacked. Do you have some purpose?"
Kamihara Hajime looked at this strange muscular man. Among these Curse Masters, there was still one with a slightly normal brain. He had thought he would have to kill another chicken to warn them.
"Locations and names. I need the specific whereabouts of your accomplices. In exchange, I can let you go today. You can escape, just be careful of future pursuits."
"Impossible!" Nemikiri Hisashi shouted angrily, "We are all family! You want me to betray them? Do you think we are those monkeys? Who would betray anything to survive…"
Kamihara Hajime suddenly appeared in front of Nemikiri Hisashi and casually landed a punch on his abdomen. Nemikiri Hisashi flew backward, spitting out blood mixed with unknown fragments of flesh. Larue, seeing his companion severely injured, roared without thinking and punched Kamihara Hajime, who was beside him.
He followed in Nemikiri Hisashi's footsteps without even having time to activate his Technique, though his injuries were relatively lighter. The other unknown small fry was seized by fear, his legs trembling, completely losing the will to fight.
"You speak."
Kamihara Hajime placed his left hand on his shoulder, revealing a harmless smile. The man trembled, unable to speak. Then he heard Kamihara Hajime say, "What? Are you going to throw away your chance to live?"
"You people, you arbitrarily call ordinary people monkeys, you don't treat humans as humans at all. What do you base your judgment on? Whether or not they have an Inherited Technique? In essence, isn't it just power? Then, in my eyes, aren't you also monkeys?"
"Well said!"
An unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed in the room. Kamihara Hajime shifted his gaze to the corner of the room, the source of the voice, but it was empty.
But soon, a black, flowing, unknown entity emerged from thin air, quickly expanding to the size of a water tank, then a figure slowly rose from it. It was a humanoid puppet, looking very crude.
"This thing… it's a puppet Technique. Someone is remotely controlling this thing. It's coming for me! He doesn't dare to appear directly in front of me…"
As Kamihara Hajime pondered, the puppet again emitted a distorted voice: "These so-called Curse Masters and those Cursed Spirits are all the same. Their actions are simply ridiculous. For their so-called noble ideals, they often have to fabricate some meaningless ideologies…"
"What about you, Kamihara Hajime? What do you think about these things? The relationship between ordinary humans, Jujutsu Sorcerers, and Curses, mixed together in this world, inevitably leads to conflict. Even among humans, there are struggles, let alone among these groups with vast, unchangeable differences…"
Kamihara Hajime scrutinized this inexplicable puppet. This thing was not its true body; destroying it would be useless. It was just a mouthpiece.
He immediately understood the meaning of the previous words: human negative emotions give birth to Curses, which in turn foster Cursed Spirits, while Jujutsu Sorcerers originate from ordinary people, creating a strange state of balance with Curses.
Theoretically, humans and Curses are an inseparable "symbiotic" state; as long as humanity does not go extinct, Curses will never disappear.
Following this line of thought, there are two ways to permanently resolve the birth of Curses: the first is to eliminate all Cursed Energy from all humanity, making them completely devoid of Cursed Energy. The second is to make all humanity into Spellcasters; Jujutsu Sorcerers can control their Cursed Energy from leaking, thus almost completely preventing the birth of Curses. But both methods, upon closer thought, are absurd.
Kamihara Hajime had always been indifferent to such matters. There were very few people and things he cared about. Besides this objective world, he had his own small world. He wasn't a savior; why bother constantly thinking about such grand, world-encompassing issues?
So, in response to the unknown entity's inexplicable question, he merely sneered, "Someone who doesn't even dare to show their face, you're no better than this trash. What Cursed Spirits, humans, Jujutsu Sorcerers? I am human, and also a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Of course, I stand on my own side, but I also have no interest in undertaking some grand feat of changing the world."
"All I want to do is send you disgusting creatures to hell. There's no righteous excuse. You killed people; just be prepared to be killed by me and accept it."
"You…"
Nemikiri Hisashi struggled to his feet, solid Cursed Energy rising in his hand, from which a black spike emerged. Driven by an unknown surge of anger, he charged at Kamihara Hajime.
Blood splattered.
The headless Nemikiri Hisashi fell to the ground. The black, unidentified substance around the wooden puppet suddenly stirred.
"Domain Expansion: Realm of Empty Dreams."
Is this… is this thing a Curse?
The aura on the puppet almost perfectly concealed the entity, so Kamihara Hajime didn't notice it immediately. Now, the unknown Domain Expansion instantly covered the entire room. The corpses on the ground and the grief-stricken Larue all vanished. The surroundings were endless darkness, with Kamihara Hajime himself as the only light source.
A Special Grade Cursed Spirit? Partnered with Curse Masters? Would Curses ally with humans?
Technique Reversal, Time Stop.
The darkness vanished, and the room's scene reappeared. Half of the puppet's body had already sunk into the solidified darkness on the ground. Kamihara Hajime took in the sight of the room, and what made him frown was that the Curse Master named Larue was gone.
Never mind, let's deal with the current situation first. A regular mission has now involved a Special Grade Cursed Spirit and a sneaky individual. Am I some kind of trouble magnet?
With two slashes, he cut the puppet into pieces. As Kamihara Hajime dispelled his Technique, he saw a bizarre, four-legged creature being "squeezed" out of the ground. While the creature was still bewildered, Kamihara Hajime's blade flew over.
After pinning it to the ground, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi and Onikiri appeared in his hands. Although without the enhancement of a Technique, Kamihara Hajime's speed was incredibly swift. Streaks of light from his blades, leaving afterimages, fell upon this unknown Cursed Spirit, and after the curse sword's Technique was activated, it tragically lost its life.
"No… too weak!"
Kamihara Hajime, sensing something was wrong, had no immediate solution. He searched the surroundings but found no traces. It seemed to be a long-distance escape. One mission target was missing, but it might not be a bad thing that the mysterious entity saved Larue. If he could capture Larue again, it would mean he could get information about the former from him.
In an ordinary residence.
The man with a scar on his forehead opened his eyes. Behind him, a four-legged, long-nosed Cursed Spirit emerged from the darkness, and from it rolled out the severely injured Larue.
"The probing was quite successful, it seems. Unexpectedly strong. The plan needs some changes."Read 20+ Advanced Chapters At PA Treon
patreon.com/FictionOP