Suguru Geto stared at the woman in pure disbelief.
"Create a world without cursed spirits? How is such a thing... even possible?"
Yuki Tsukumo flashed a mysterious smile. "Allow me to give you a little lesson."
"The root of all curses is cursed energy. Ordinary humans cannot control the leak of energy from their bodies; over time, this runoff accumulates and coalesces into cursed spirits. Therefore, to create a world without them, we must start with the source: the humans themselves."
"Option one: Eliminate all cursed energy from the world. If humans stop producing it, new spirits will never be born. For a living example, look no further than those with a Heavenly Restriction."
"Option two: Teach all humans to control their cursed energy—effectively making everyone a sorcerer. If the energy is contained, it never leaks."
As Yuki spoke, Suguru's voice dropped to a low, chilling murmur.
"There is a third option. Kill every non-sorcerer."
Yuki blinked, surprised by the darkness of the suggestion, before giving a small shrug. "Logically? That would work too."
"It is more than just logical," Suguru continued, his gaze distant. "It might be the simplest path. Survival of the fittest, just like the natural world. But... we aren't that insane. Not yet."
"It won't work."
The sudden voice made them both snap their heads around. Souma Gojo strolled toward them, idly swirling a lollipop in his mouth.
"Are you two idiots?"
"Killing all non-sorcerers sounds simple on paper, but what happens next? Do you think sorcerers only give birth to sorcerers? Or vice versa?" Souma stopped beside them, his azure eyes sharp. "Look at Suguru. Your parents are both non-sorcerers, yet here you are. It is a matter of genetic probability."
"Even if you slaughtered every single 'monkey' on the planet today, new ones would be born tomorrow. The cycle of curses would just reset. Furthermore," Souma gestured vaguely to the world around them, "sorcerers are a tiny fraction of the population. Non-sorcerers are the foundation of civilization. Everything from the clothes you wear to the planes and trains we use was built by them. You kill them all and what is left? Are we all going to live in caves and play hunter-gatherer?"
The silence that followed was heavy. Yuki and Suguru stood frozen, the flaws in their grand theories laid bare by Souma's brutal pragmatism.
Souma noticed the flicker of light in Suguru's eyes dim significantly—the dangerous spark of his "ideal" snuffed out by logic. He then turned his gaze to Yuki. "Anyway, what the hell are you doing here looking for me?"
Yuki grinned, reverting to her usual self. "We can talk about that later. First, tell me, Gojo-kun... what's your type? What kind of women are you into?"
Souma paused, thinking it over. "Hmm. Someone refined. Kind. Someone who knows how to take care of others... maybe a doctor or something."
Suguru tilted his head. "So... exactly like Shoko?"
"Shut it, Suguru! Or I'll leak those photos of you in the cat-girl maid outfit from the last convention!"
Thinking of his past shame, Suguru wisely clamped his mouth shut.
"By the way," Souma asked, "did Haibara come by earlier?"
"Just left," Geto replied.
Souma's brow furrowed. "I need to find him. I'm heading out."
Yuki quickly followed. "Wait! Gojo-kun! Your domain's energy-stripping effect—I have an experiment I want to try—"
Suguru watched them leave, letting out a long, weary sigh. "A dead end, then..."
Hokkaido.
"Tsuchigami—The Land Spirit. Grade 2," Kento Nanami muttered, reviewing the file in his hand before drawing his charm-wrapped short sword.
Beside him, Yu Haibara was practically vibrating with nervous energy. "Nanami, a Grade 2 spirit has to be pretty tough, right?"
Though they were both technically Grade 3s, Haibara's role was purely supportive; he had never faced a Grade 2 head-on. Nanami nodded grimly. "Much stronger than a Grade 3. I was lucky to exorcise one solo during my evaluation."
Haibara's face paled. "Wait, then is it just the two of us? Isn't this a bit too much?"
Nanami gripped his blade tighter. "I forgot to mention—I was promoted to Grade 2 two days ago."
"What?! Since when?!"
"As I said, two days ago." Nanami looked at his friend's sagging shoulders. "Don't be discouraged. Supportive techniques like your 'Amplification Therapy' are rare, making your promotion path difficult. You're like Senior Utahime; you'll likely hit Grade 2 by graduation."
"Thanks for the 'encouragement,' Nanami."
"Enough talk. Let's work. The intel says this Land Spirit is on the weaker end of Grade 2. We exorcise it and go back to the school. I refuse to work overtime."
(Note: While Nanami's hatred for overtime canonically stems from his later trauma, here it manifests as a budding personality trait—he simply values efficiency and personal time above all else.)
They stepped into the shadows of an abandoned temple. The air was thick, a cloying, heavy pressure of cursed energy that made their skin crawl. Nanami scanned the interior. His eyes widened.
"Run! Now!"
He grabbed Haibara's collar and hauled him back toward the exit.
"What's wrong?!" Haibara yelled, stumbling.
"I saw two Grade 2 spirits just in that one glance!" Nanami's forehead was drenched in cold sweat. "If those are just the guardians, then the entity at the center of this hive isn't Grade 2. It is at least a Grade 1! This is a trap!"
Haibara felt a jolt of terror. They burst out of the temple, gasping for air, but the relief was short-lived. The ground began to groan.
Rumble—
In their horrified vision, the entire temple began to rise, the earth splitting open like a giant's wound. As the dust settled, a titanic shadow swallowed them whole. The "temple" was not a building; it was merely the decorative crown atop the head of a gargantuan cursed spirit. Its sheer mass and the suffocating aura it emitted confirmed the worst: it was a peak Grade 1 entity.
Nanami swallowed hard. "The windows... they only checked the temple. They never realized the 'Land Spirit' was the land itself."
Facing the two "ants" before it, the deity-spirit let out a roar that vibrated their very bones. The ground turned liquid, hundreds of stone spikes erupting from the earth in a jagged, unavoidable forest of death.
"Damn it!" Nanami cursed, the weight of their helplessness crushing his chest.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!"
A sphere of crimson light streaked through the air like a meteor. The Land Spirit's massive torso vanished in a violent explosion of red energy. Half of its body was instantly reduced to atoms.
"Senior Souma!" Haibara shouted, his fear instantly replaced by ecstatic worship as he saw the figure floating in the sky.
"One hit... total erasure," Nanami whispered, watching the remains of the Grade 1 beast collapse. "So this is a Special Grade."
Souma descended slowly, looking at the two with a sigh. "I told you guys to be careful. If I had been five minutes later, Yaga would be planning a funeral."
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