Hearing that, Yuki Tsukumo turned her head away guiltily. She was pushing forty and still single; was it really so wrong that, for the first time in her life, she'd felt her heart flutter and wanted to taste a much younger man!
Yuki wanted to declare that righteously—her personality was bold enough for it. But now that it was actually happening, she realized she was still embarrassed.
She'd never even been in a serious relationship before; she honestly had no idea what to do in a situation like this.
Seeing how flustered Yuki was, Takumi chose not to press the issue.
Being thirsty for someone's body was a two-way street; it wasn't like he wasn't interested.
With that unspoken mutual understanding, he just added, "Then it's a deal. I'll drop the fee to two million this time, but from now on you're on call whenever I need you."
"OK. I was planning to settle down in Kuoh Town for a while anyway. I promise I'll show up on time!"
At that answer, Yuki's face broke into an excited grin, and she slung an arm around Takumi's shoulders, acting like they were best bros.
It was just that this "bro's" figure was too voluptuous; the heavy, soft pressure leaning into him sent Takumi's heartbeat climbing.
Especially with the two of them walking through the pitch-black tunnel like this, it suddenly felt exactly like a couple sneaking into a haunted spot for thrills.
Yuki seemed to feel it too, and she fell silent.
Tap, tap, tap!!
In the silent tunnel, only their footsteps echoed.
No one knew how long they walked before the two of them stopped at the same time.
"It's here. Strong cursed energy—special grade."
The light, teasing look vanished from Yuki's face, replaced by a solemn one. She had originally assumed there'd be, at most, a first-grade cursed spirit here; she hadn't expected a special-grade.
Takumi's expression didn't change much. His eyes just glowed faintly green. An instant later, an old woman with a head of white hair and a hideous, shriveled face appeared in their field of view.
[Name: Turbo Granny]
[Rank: Special-Grade Cursed Spirit]
[Traits: Speed of 100 km/h (Purple), Urban-Legend Curse (Blue), Spirit-Devourer (Blue)…]
[Speed of 100 km/h (Purple): Can run at 100 km/h anywhere, anytime.]
[Urban-Legend Curse (Blue): One of the urban legends; possesses extremely powerful curse abilities.]
"Turbo Granny!?" As Takumi recognized her, Yuki also gasped.
She had never imagined that such a powerful hypothetical cursed spirit would actually show up here!
Turbo Granny's legend was already widely known. The fear she inspired made her a top-tier existence even among special grades.
The moment she appeared, the darkness around them was dyed scarlet. Blood-red light flickered along both sides of the tunnel, and a huge, warped old woman's face filled both their path forward and their way back.
"You two are sorcerers, aren't you? Coming into my territory to make trouble… I can't just sit back and watch!!"
Cursed energy crashed over them like a roaring tidal wave. Curse-killing power rained down in the next instant.
Yuki immediately mobilized her cursed energy, ready to block that terrifying killing intent—but Takumi stepped in front of her.
To her shock, he didn't even seem to circulate any power. He just used his body to tank Turbo Granny's curse-killing attack head-on.
"How is this possible?!" x2
Turbo Granny and Yuki both cried out in disbelief.
Takumi didn't so much as flinch; he only brushed some dust off the hem of his clothes. Trying to kill a god like him with something as petty as a curse was child's play.
He raised a finger slightly, and an incomparable weight came crashing down from above.
Rumble!!!
Turbo Granny's domain and the entire tunnel began to collapse under the pressure of that gravity. The sheer impact shook both humans and cursed spirit to their cores.
"This is bad. He's a major threat!"
Realizing the danger, Turbo Granny bolted.
Even under several hundred times normal gravity, she still sprinted at a hundred kilometers per hour, and her target wasn't Takumi—it was Yuki behind him.
Anyone who could physically tank her curse-killing attack wasn't human anymore. As a yokai, she didn't want to go head-to-head with that kind of monster.
Turbo Granny decided to grab the woman and use her to force Takumi to back down.
"So fast!" Watching Turbo Granny charge straight at her, Yuki let out a shout. Then she realized she'd just been underestimated.
"Seriously? Even I get looked down on? That really ticks me off!!" Yuki growled and immediately shifted into a fighting stance.
A surge of cursed energy roared through her body, triggering her technique.
"[Cursed Technique – Star Rage]!!"
In the next instant, she threw a punch straight at the onrushing Turbo Granny.
Boom!!!
At the lightest touch, Turbo Granny's body exploded. The half of her face that flew up into the air was still filled with shock.
Not only was that man in front of her impossible to mess with, even the woman behind him was bad news!
Takumi, who had deliberately let Turbo Granny pass him, watched Yuki's technique with his own eyes.
Star Rage was a technique that could bestow hypothetical mass upon herself or other objects. Put simply, it made her heavier without changing her body.
A ping-pong ball and an iron ball, thrown with the same force—no question, the latter could kill a person in one hit.
Once she added hypothetical mass to herself, her destructive power could skyrocket without limit.
"Nice technique." Takumi watched with real interest—he'd already taken a liking to that technique, but being shattered once didn't kill Turbo Granny.
As a cursed spirit, having her body smashed to bits wasn't nearly enough to count as dead. The half of her body still left flew through the air as she shouted. "Earthbound Spirit!!"
As her voice rang out, the crumbling tunnel suddenly blew apart! From the shaking ground, a gigantic crab with countless human faces growing out of its back crawled out of the mountain.
"That's the earthbound spirit here!?" Before Yuki could fully process it, the giant crab's claw came crashing down.
RUMBLE!!!!!
The ground caved in and collapsed completely. The impact blew the tunnel's structure to pieces. Falling chunks of rock rolled like waves, burying everything.
Seeing herself about to be crushed to death in a landslide, Yuki panicked. "You've got to be kidding me—I am not dying like this!"
Just as she was about to summon her Garuda, Takumi reached out and grabbed her hand. "No need to make this so complicated."
As he spoke, Takumi lightly pointed with his index finger. His research into gravity magic had long since surpassed its original bounds. To control gravity was to control the field of force—and both attraction and repulsion were contained within it, part of the fundamental forces themselves.
"[Shinra Tensei]!!"
A terrifying repulsive force erupted from Takumi's body, blasting outward in all directions!
BOOM!!!
The repulsive force became a tangible barrier, grinding the falling rocks and concrete to powder. The stretch of mountain range before them split apart, blown open into a massive circular crater.
....
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