"Kill you!"
Seeing Mahito get shot, Jogo, who already had a lousy temper and a short fuse, finally snapped.
He clapped both hands together.
At once, along the edge of a wall, a miniature volcano surged up out of the concrete.
"Boom!"
Magma roared out.
In the stillness of the night, it erupted into a pillar of blazing light.
The surrounding buildings were almost instantly swallowed and melted by Jogo's lava.
Unsurprisingly, the commotion would draw plenty of attention very soon.
At the same time, many of the clones who failed to react in time were burned to ash by the magma.
As mentioned before, even among special grade curses, there were great differences.
In clone form, cursed Kurumi was still a step weaker than Jogo.
Which was exactly why his attacks were so devastating against the clones.
Of course, if her main body was here, the outcome would have been very different.
Where that main body actually was, however, remained a mystery.
Even as she watched many clones being destroyed, Kurumi did not seem bothered at all.
There would always be more where those came from.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Gunshots rang out again and again.
Pure cursed energy poured forth in volleys, cascading like a waterfall.
Right now, her pistols had essentially become submachine guns.
"Rat-tat-tat..."
Every bullet slammed into Jogo and Mahito.
Their bodies were riddled with holes, clothes shredded to tatters.
They looked like puppets with their strings cut, bodies jerking and staggering under the storm of bullets.
All around them, every Kurumi wore a blank expression, firing as if bullets cost nothing at all to her strength.
The situation seemed to flip in an instant, crushed beneath her overwhelming firepower.
But Kurumi herself knew very well that this barrage might seriously injure Mahito...
Yet for that volcano-headed Jogo, it probably would not be enough.
"Raaah!"
Sure enough, Jogo let out a furious roar.
Smoke billowed from his mouth, nose, ears, and even his eye sockets.
"So, big move time?" Kurumi chuckled softly.
You are welcome to try, if you can actually get it off.
The cursed energy in her guns shifted.
The Kurumi clones around them each surged with a slightly different flavor of cursed energy.
Clearly, these clones all possessed their own will.
"Second Bullet."
The time of the target struck is slowed.
"Fourth Bullet."
The time of the target struck flows in reverse.
"Seventh Bullet."
The time of the target struck comes to a complete stop.
Three different kinds of bullets flew from different Kurumis' guns.
Many of them were vaporized by the intense flames cloaking Jogo's body.
But there were simply too many bullets.
In the end, all three types managed to land on him.
Second Bullet took effect.
The technique Jogo had been about to unleash stalled, frozen in its build-up.
Fourth Bullet took effect.
His time began to rewind. His technique unraveled, step by step, back to the point where his cursed energy was just gathering... farther back, until even that energy dissipated.
Seventh Bullet took effect.
Like Mahito, Jogo's body had its time locked in place.
"Breaking into someone else's territory and talking big, that kind of arrogance comes with a price, you know."
The clock etched over Kurumi's left eye flared with light.
Scarlet clock faces bloomed beneath Mahito and Jogo's feet, glowing ominously.
...
Tokisaki Kurumi's apartment
Shun had already lain down and was about to sleep when a thunderous boom in the distance jolted him awake.
He sat up sharply and looked out the window.
Even without activating Six Eyes, his field of vision far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Not that he needed it right now.
A pillar of magma reached toward the sky in the distance.
In that direction, more than one kind of cursed energy was clashing.
Shun's expression grew serious.
"Looks like Sendai has more than one special grade curse."
That magma column alone was beyond anything a lower-level curse could produce.
As for the other cursed energy, he did not even need to guess.
That was the cursed Kurumi.
Shun's mind snapped fully awake and he got ready to head out and investigate.
But just then...
"Knock, knock, knock..."
Urgent knocking rattled the door.
He frowned and went to open it.
Kurumi, in her pajamas, launched herself straight into his arms.
A wave of fragrance hit him, soft warmth pressing against his chest.
Her sleepwear was thin, but the fabric felt surprisingly high-quality.
Even through it, he could feel the heat of her body.
" Gojo san..."
Kurumi's body trembled slightly.
Right now she was like a frightened little kitten.
She lifted a weak, trembling hand and pointed toward the window, at the distant place where the explosion had bloomed.