Chapter 12: Signs of a Superior Cursed Womb
"Mr. Ijichi! What the hell is happening?!"
Outside the building, the auxiliary supervisor guarding the perimeter had already collapsed to the ground.
Just moments ago, the curtain surrounding the structure had suddenly deepened into an inky black. It was an unmistakable sign that the concentration of cursed energy inside had spiked violently.
And the aura leaking out from within
It was despair made tangible.
"This feeling... could it be a Special Grade curse?!"
Ijichi's teeth chattered uncontrollably.
According to the original assessment, the building should have contained nothing above Grade 2.
If a Special Grade had really appeared, then the four students trapped inside
Would all die.
"No! We have to get them out right now!"
Ijichi fumbled frantically for his phone and tried to contact Satoru Gojo, only to find that the signal had already been completely blocked.
His face went white.
"It's over..."
Inside the building, the shaking only grew worse.
The walls cracked open one after another, dense fractures spreading like spiderwebs through the concrete as though the entire structure might collapse at any second.
The air had grown thick and viscous.
Every breath felt like inhaling sand.
"What's going on? An earthquake?"
Yuji Itadori braced himself against the wall, barely managing to keep his balance.
"No. Not an earthquake."
Megumi Fushiguro stared upward at the ceiling, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"It's a curse."
"A curse?"
Nobara Kugisaki's expression stiffened.
"You mean there's a Special Grade being nurtured in here?"
"Very likely."
Megumi forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"And judging by this level of cursed energy... it's either a semi Special Grade on the verge of evolving, or a real Special Grade already."
"Damn it! The intel was completely wrong!"
His eyes sharpened immediately.
"We retreat. Right now."
It was the correct decision.
Against a Special Grade, first years like them had no realistic chance of winning.
Staying meant death.
"But... if we leave now, what happens to the people living near this building?"
Yuji looked toward the trembling structure, reluctance flickering across his face.
"This is not the time to worry about that!"
Megumi snapped, his voice rough with urgency.
"That's a Special Grade! Something we cannot beat!"
"If you want to die, then stay. I'm taking Kugisaki and getting out!"
He reached out to grab Nobara's arm.
Then Yami, who had been silent until now, spoke.
"We can't leave."
Everyone froze.
He turned slightly and looked toward the direction they had entered from.
The hallway leading back was no longer open.
A black barrier had sealed it shut.
Its surface shimmered with an eerie sheen, dark and impenetrable, like a wall forged from solid iron.
"The curtain's been forcibly reinforced," Yami said as he walked over and lightly pressed a hand against it.
"And it's the kind sealed from the inside."
His voice remained calm.
"That means unless we kill what's in here... no one is getting out."
Despair.
Real despair.
It wrapped itself around them at last.
They were trapped.
Not trapped in a building, but in a cage.
The soon to be born superior cursed spirit had sealed them inside and was about to use them as its first meal after birth.
"How can this..."
Nobara's hammer slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a dull clatter.
She was still young.
She had just come to Tokyo.
She had not even gone to Harajuku yet.
Had not bought the clothes she wanted.
Had not properly started living the life she had imagined.
Was she really going to die here?
Fear spread through the group like poison.
And just as their resolve was about to break apart completely
Clang.
The sharp, ringing sound of a blade leaving its sheath cut through the suffocating silence.
It was not loud.
Yet in that atmosphere of helpless dread, it sounded impossibly clear.
Everyone looked up.
Yami slowly drew his sword.
His movement was steady.
Unhurried.
His face held no panic, no fear, no desperate struggle.
Only stillness.
A calm so deep it resembled stagnant water.
"Don't be afraid," Yami said quietly.
Then he turned his back to them and faced the source of that monstrous pressure alone.
"Whether it's a Special Grade or anything else..."
"As long as it's an evil thing that harms people..."
"We cut it down."
His voice was not passionate.
He did not shout.
He did not try to inspire them.
And yet those simple words struck harder than any battle cry.
It was as if a needle had pierced through the haze clouding their minds.
The trembling in their limbs slowly eased.
Their breathing steadied.
Looking at that back, not broad, not imposing, and yet strangely unshakable
Megumi suddenly felt ashamed of his own panic.
Yes.
How could he decide they had lost before even fighting?
Even a Special Grade was not invincible.
"Haa..."
Megumi drew in a deep breath and reformed his hand signs.
Yuji clenched his fists, his fighting spirit rekindling in his eyes.
Nobara bent down, picked up the hammer she had dropped, and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
"Seriously..."
"I actually got comforted by someone with no cursed energy."
She ground out the words, then lifted her chin stubbornly.
"This girl's not losing to you."
At the exact moment the group's resolve returned
Crack.
The ceiling above them shattered.
A massive lump of flesh dropped from above and crashed heavily into the open space before them.
Its surface was covered in bulging veins and slick mucus, pulsing with a revolting rhythm like some grotesque living cocoon.
Pfft.
With a nauseating tearing sound, the flesh split open.
Something crawled out.
Its body resembled that of an infant, but only in the worst possible way. It was swollen, malformed, and covered with several twisted human faces. The moment it emerged, it released a shrill cry sharp enough to feel like it was scraping directly against the soul.
A Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Fully hatched.
Yami narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the creature.
The tip of his blade slowly rose and pointed straight at its forehead.
"So this is what a top tier curse looks like..."
His expression remained calm.
Then he spoke with quiet disgust.
"It's really ugly."
.....
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