"Will Satoru and Shion be okay?" Amanai Riko gasped as she was tugged forward by Geto Suguru, running swiftly, her eyes flicking back over her shoulder.
Geto's face was stern, grim like storm clouds. "No, they won't be okay, Riko. They're in serious trouble."
Riko blinked, bewildered. "Huh? Aren't you friends? Shouldn't you say something reassuring, even if it's just a lie?"
Geto drew a breath, weighed down with worry. "If this were before, I wouldn't be concerned about either Satoru or Shion at all. But… this is the crisis Shion warned might come."
Riko's eyes widened. "So we have to hurry!"
"Hey, slow down! Wait — this isn't the path to the Tomb Chamber, right?"
Geto turned, confused. "What? Do you really want to merge with Lord Tengen and become one with him?"
Riko paused. "What? The idea that merging isn't death and that it's like living another existence — that's just something adults tell children, right?"
A small smirk tugged at Geto's lips. "This is your life, Riko. You should choose how you live it. Whatever you decide, we'll protect your future."
Riko froze as memories rushed through her — classmates, tutors, friends, Kuroi Misato, and these new protectors, Gojo Satoru and Gojo Shion.
"I… just want to stay with everyone," she whispered, tears forming and sliding down her cheeks.
Geto's lips curved in relief. "Then follow me."
They arrived in an open clearing where two figures had been waiting.
"Miri!" Riko cried out, recognition lighting her face.
Misato Kuroi turned, breathless, and embraced Riko tightly, tears in her eyes. "Riko! Oh, thank goodness…"
Geto smiled as he spotted an older man nearby — their teacher, Yaga Masamichi.
"Blocking the assimilation of Lord Tengen and the Star Plasma Vessel… You're really going through with this, Teacher? You'll lose any chance of becoming principal!"
Yaga chuckled, brushing off the criticism. "That brash Satoru… Come on, this old man's going to jump in with you young ones for once."
He then summoned a Cursed Corpse taller than a grown person, shaped like a rabbit.
"This is an isolation‑type Cursed Corpse Satoru asked me to prepare," Yaga explained. He unzipped the front and gestured at Riko. "I don't know exactly how they track the Star Plasma Vessel through cursed energy, but this will mask your aura and all energy signatures. You should stay inside for a bit."
Riko nodded and squeezed into the Cursed Corpse. Yaga zipped it up around her before turning back to Geto.
"Are you heading back out?" Yaga asked.
Geto shook his head with a grin. "Those two still aren't done fighting. I'm not about to sit this out."
Yaga nodded and warned him, "Be careful."
With Kuroi Misato and the rabbit Cursed Corpse, he left the clearing.
Geto retraced his steps toward the Tomb Chamber. As he entered the shadows, a figure stepped forward.
"About time," Geto growled. "Where are Satoru and Shion?"
Toji Fushiguro smirked, his voice flat. "Those brothers? Let me think… they should be dead by now."
Geto's jaw clenched, ignoring Toji's mockery. Though Shion had seen possibilities like this happening, anger still twisted in Geto's chest.
"Well, then… you die too."
Behind Geto, dozens of horrifying Cursed Spirits revealed their monstrous true forms. With a guttural roar, a massive sandworm ripped through the earth and swallowed Toji whole.
Boom.
In moments, Toji stabbed the beast from the inside with the Inverted Spear of Heaven, dismembering it in a shower of purple ichor.
Before Geto could process it, a colossal Rainbow Dragon serpent‑curse charged forward, winding around Toji and hauling him into the air.
Toji didn't slow. With a backward swing of the cursed spear, he cleft the Rainbow Dragon clean in two.
Geto's eyes widened. "What? That's the Rainbow Dragon!"
Toji stood, brushing off the carnage, when a voice echoed from behind him.
"I ask you… am I… am I… am I beautiful?"
A horrifying figure approached — a Slit‑Mouthed Woman, her hair hiding countless gleaming eyes, her disturbing grin chilling the air.
She asked a question that trapped both sides in uneasy stillness.
Toji glanced at her and replied dryly, "Let me think… you're not my type."
The Slit‑Mouthed Woman shrieked and rushed him.
Her scissors flashed — a strand of hair fell, blood trickling from the root of his ear.
But Toji didn't even flinch. With a single motion he pulled the Inverted Spear of Heaven and shattered her domain completely.
At that moment, Geto lunged toward a Cursed Spirit named Ushi, which clung to Toji's body. He didn't realize that this spirit was where Toji stored his cursed tools.
If he could just strike it, he thought, he could incapacitate Toji.
Before he could, Toji's reflexes kicked in. In a blur he turned, slashing across Geto's chest — a bloody cross marking his body — then kicked him through crumbling buildings.
Geto finally skidded to a halt among rubble, dizzy and bleeding.
Toji approached and placed a boot on his chest. "A sorcerer doesn't die from a few cuts."
He smirked. "Honestly, if you were a Cursed Spirit user, I'd kill you. But with Cursed Spirit Manipulation… I don't want the mess of all your spirits turning loose."
Stepping on Geto's face, Toji pulled a special grade cursed tool from his waist, the one Geto had coveted.
"I've wanted this for ages. The eldest son of the Gojo family bought it… who would've thought I'd end up with it?" Toji chuckled, stuffing the tool back into Ushi's mouth.
He looked down at Geto. "Now, tell me where the Star Plasma Vessel went. If you tell me, it saves time."
Geto lay there, half‑conscious, silent.
Toji sighed and started to turn away. With senses far sharper than a normal man's and years of tracking experience, finding the Star Plasma Vessel wouldn't be difficult.
But just as he stepped off…
Geto reached out, clutching Toji's ankle.
A crazed grin spread across Geto's face, blood streaming down his cheeks.
"Only by facing death can you understand life's true value," he muttered, recalling Shion's words.
He spat out a taunting smile. "Kneel and beg me, and maybe I'll tell you where she is."
Toji's eyes went cold. "Do you want to die?"
Geto laughed, unhinged and ferocious, crimson staining his features.
"Try me! If I die, every cursed spirit I controlled disappears. They won't trouble you!"
A challenge.
Toji saw the truth in Geto's deranged eyes. Killing intent flared within him.
"You brought this on yourself!"
With a swift, brutal motion, Toji drove the Inverted Spear of Heaven into Geto's chest. Geto's life faded under that strike.
____
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