Jogo paused on the path, fixing his gaze on the two teenagers. He raised a hand, fully intending to incinerate them and return to the shade.
Then he noticed the tall, dark-haired boy standing behind the girl. The dry grass around Jogo's feet ignited.
"Wait a second," Jogo said. "Harajuku. The pathway beside the main road. You're the one who bumped into the monk." The cursed spirit let out a rough laugh.
"What a fate it is AHAHA!."
Ren said nothing. He reached into empty air, accessing his System's Dimensional Inventory.
The pitch-black scabbard of the Special Grade katana, Nightfall, materialized in his grip.
Dark steel slid free, bleeding dense mist as Ren kicked off the stone path.
The force of his Heavenly Restriction launched him forward. Jogo recoiled immediately. The curse hadn't sensed any cursed energy from the attack. To him, Ren felt like a void moving at supersonic speed.
Ren slipped inside the Special Grade's guard and swung Nightfall upward in a two-handed arc, using his Zen'in footwork to close the distance.
Black steel tore through Jogo's right arm, severing it above the elbow.
Purple blood splashed across the stones. Jogo roared and forced cursed energy into the wound to regenerate the limb.
Nightfall's anti-regeneration field stopped it cold.
Purple static crackled around the stump as the curse's healing was violently rejected.
"What the hell is this?!" Jogo shouted, stumbling back while the severed limb dissolved into ash. He realized instantly that he couldn't heal the cut.
Ren didn't press the attack. One surprise strike wouldn't kill a Disaster Curse. He pivoted back toward Maki and grabbed her wrist.
"Call Gojo. Run."
...
Back in the clearing, Jogo stared at the sparking stump as the ruined flesh bubbled and rejected his cursed energy.
He raised his left hand.
A white-hot blade of fire ignited across his palm.
Without hesitation, Jogo sliced through his own arm six inches above the infected wound. The ruined flesh dropped into the grass and dissolved.
He immediately pushed cursed energy into the fresh cut. Muscle, bone, and rocky flesh rapidly rebuilt themselves into a new arm and hand.
Jogo flexed his fingers while staring down the trail of crushed grass the teenagers had left behind.
...
The trees blurred past as they sprinted through the dense woods. Ren's Heavenly Restriction made the pace effortless, but he stayed locked beside Maki.
Next to him, Maki pressed her phone tightly against her ear, listening to the hollow ringing tone.
"He's not picking up," she said, frustration sharpening her voice. "Straight to voicemail. That idiot's probably buying souvenirs."
"Send a text," Ren replied, scanning the canopy ahead. "Drop a live location. Just keep moving."
They didn't make it another twenty yards.
A wall of white-hot fire exploded across the dirt path, instantly incinerating a cluster of ancient oak trees.
Ren grabbed Maki's shoulder and yanked her backward before she could run straight into the inferno.
The flames parted.
Jogo stepped through the burning clearing, smoke pouring from the crater on his head. His massive eye locked onto Ren.
"Did you really think a head start mattered?" Jogo asked.
He flexed his regenerated hand and rolled his shoulder.
"I'll admit, the sword is annoying," Jogo said. "But you're still just a monkey relying on a cheap trick."
Ren tightened his grip on Nightfall and shifted his stance.
"Maki," he said quietly, stepping in front of her. "Send the message. and run."
Maki immediately reached into her tactical bag and ripped the shortened cursed blade free.
"Fuck that," she snapped, sliding into stance beside him. "I'm not leaving you here alone."
"You need to," Ren said flatly.
Heat rolled through the clearing as Jogo watched them with open amusement.
"Maki," Ren continued, not taking his eyes off the curse, "your weapon won't do a damn thing to him. If you stay here, I'll end up protecting you instead of fighting."
Her grip tightened around the hilt.
Every instinct she had screamed at her to stand beside him anyway. But the pressure pouring off Jogo was monstrous. Suffocating. Even holding her stance felt difficult.
She understood it.
This wasn't a fight they could win together.
If she rushed in, she would die instantly.
And Ren would die trying to save her.
Maki clicked her tongue in frustration and took a step back, pulling out her phone with her free hand.
"Fine," she muttered. "But if you die, I'm killing you myself."
Her thumbs flew across the screen as she opened Gojo's contact and attached the emergency SOS coordinates.
She hit send.
The delivery receipt flashed onto the screen.
A split second later, a concentrated spark of white-hot fire appeared above her hands.
The smartphone collapsed inward.
Glass, plastic, and molten lithium fused into a burning lump of slag. Maki hissed and dropped the ruined phone into the dirt, shaking the heat from her fingers.
Jogo lowered his smoking finger with a cruel grin.
Dry dirt crunched beneath Jogo's feet as he stepped closer, smoke drifting from the crater on his head.
"So," he rumbled, his eye shifting between them, "which one dies first? The girl pretending to be brave, or the rat?"
Ren stayed planted in front of Maki, Nightfall held low at his side.
He didn't answer.
Jogo tilted his head with a laugh.
"That first strike was impressive. You caught me off guard." Fresh lava bubbled across his scalp. "But tricks stop working once your opponent knows they exist."
He slowly spread his arms, exposing his chest without concern.
"Let's make this interesting," Jogo said. "Land one clean hit on me now—while I'm actually watching—and I'll let you both walk away."
His grin widened.
"I'll even give you a ten-second head start."