Jogo looked at the humans in front of him fighting the curse in front of him, a special grade to be exact, according to human ranking. The overall fighting is good to say the least but not enough to the point that 'Geto' needs to worry about it.
In fact, only one who is remotely close to being a threat is the boy, who seems to be using curses with an unusually large amount of cursed energy. But his current self is something. Jogo was puffed up with his single flame, and the boy didn't even seem to fully use the curse energy.
But the problem is it was not the boy that 'Geto' wanted to take care of; it was the girl called Maki. Precisely, it was between Maki, Mai and Mei; since Maki was with his range, he decided to take care of her. And 'Take care' is also hard, as according to 'Geto,' it was made to fight with an extremely strong curse in front of a large audience.
"I didn't know what he was thinking; that Maki girl is weaker than most of the sorcerers here. With how things are going, they would die. The only chance of their escaping is for that boy to awaken his true power."
Either way, these people weren't much of a threat to them individually, much less for 'Geto' to change his plan.
Jogo looked at Maki, the girl who was getting beaten up and had a lot of injuries already formed in her body, and the boy from the Inumaki clan also seemed to reach his end of the line as his curse speech was not producing from his mouth.
The only one who seemed to be taking the now-incoming attack was the panda. Jogo read about him in a report; Panda seems to be a curse puppet who is able to grow with time. "Humans do bring something fascinating from time to time." Just then, Jogo feels that atmosphere about him change. "I think it was a good idea to instruct the curse to not use its domain expansion. Look at him reaching his potential."
Was that what 'Geto' wanted? Maybe. He didn't know.
"Should I go and take care of Geto's subordinate, or should I wait for here to give him some more tasks?" After much condemnation, Jogo decided to stay for a bit more. "I wanted to see his power after the awakening."
---
Yuta's breathing had become ragged.
His arms felt heavy. Every swing of his katana was slower than the last. The battlefield around him had become a nightmare of broken concrete and shattered buildings.
Not far away, Maki lay against a collapsed wall, struggling to stand. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises. Even with all the cursed tools Naoya had provided, fighting a Special Grade for this long had pushed her beyond her limits. But she was still trying to get up due to her indomitable spirit of not wanting to wait for her death.
Inumaki was in even worse condition. Blood stained the front of his uniform. His throat had already been pushed beyond what it could safely handle. Every use of Cursed Speech against the monster had damaged him further.
Panda was still standing but barely; he was also one step away from falling.
Panda threw another punch, but the Special Grade casually blocked it before sending Panda crashing through a nearby building.
Dust exploded into the air where Panda landed.
Yuta watched everything unfold, his legs were trembling, but he didn't run away, not like he could, with the curse blocking all the exits.
He watched his friends fall one after another, and for the first time, he truly understood what Panda had been saying. Why isn't it using its Domain Expansion?
The curse wasn't serious.
It wasn't unleashing its strongest techniques because it simply didn't view them as threats.
The realization made Yuta's stomach twist, and the realization dawned that this entire battle had been a game to it.
The special grade's hundreds of eyes settled on him. Its mouths stretched into grotesque smiles.
Yuta tightened his grip on his katana. His hands trembled; his leg started to twitch. He knows he can't win.
Fear was still there. The fear of dying never left, from the beginning, but he thought they would overcome it somehow. But now he realizes the true terror of war; he can hear another curse and sorcerers scream in battle, but they don't come to where he is because they can't, as they also have battles they are facing.
Fear was there, it was undenialbel truth, he was scared to point he didn't want to swing his sword of move his leg But something else existed alongside it now.
Resolve. A resolve to see an end to this, with whatever price is given.
"I can't end like this." His voice was quiet. Yuta's gaze shifted toward the ring on his finger. Toward the one person who had never left him.
"Rika." The cursed energy around him began to stir. "I was always afraid."
For the first time since the battle started, the wide, ghostly smile of the cursed spirit hovering around Yuta faltered slightly.
Yuta took a step forward. "If I stay like this...everyone will die."
The ring glowed in a dim glow.
"Rika. I'll give you everything. I'll stay with you. I'll spend my life with you. I love you."
The monstrous cursed energy exploded into existence. A gigantic figure materialized behind Yuta. "I love you, Yuta. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."
The sheer pressure radiating from Rika paralyzed the battlefield, forcing the Special Grade to recoil in uncharacteristic fear. The strongest curse born of love had finally answered his call, shattering the limiters that once held her back. Rika let out a soul-piercing scream that shook the very foundations of the district. As Yuta surged forward, raising his sword, Rika moved in perfect, terrifying synchronization with him.
The special grade attempted to repel the assault, yet the effort proved futile. A monumental surge of cursed energy erupted toward the heavens, illuminating the entire vicinity with its intensity. Following a series of harrowing cries from the entity, an eerie silence descended upon the battlefield. As the brilliance subsided, Yuta remained standing, while the special grade had been reduced to nothing more than dissipating remnants of black smoke.
For several seconds, nobody spoke, then Panda slowly pushed himself out of the rubble and stared at Yuta.
"...Remind me never to make that kid angry."
Not far away, Maki looked at Yuta's exhausted figure and allowed herself a small smile. It was supposed to end beautifully, not until a humanoid-shaped curse, with one eye and what looked like a volcano for a head, appeared in front of Maki.
And the next second, Maki started bursting into flame.
~~~
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