Suzune and Sudo hid in a part of the school as Sudo said, "It's going to be fine. Ayanokoji will handle it. You know how he is."
Suzune hugged her legs and said, "I feel like... this situation is something dangerous even for Kiyotaka."
Sudo sighed as he sat down next to her and said, "Yeah, I know how you feel, but if anyone can do it, it's him. I trust my buddy to handle it."
Sudo then said, "Kogane. Can you show us Ayanokoji's status?"
Sudo's Kogane popped out and said, "Processing... Processing... Processing..." before showing the information;
Name: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka
Rules Added: 1
Points: 3
Current Colony: ANHS Colony
Sudo smiled and said, "See? He's doing better than just fine."
Suzune let out a breath and said, "I'm glad."
She looked to Sudo and asked, "Did I... do enough?"
Sudo nodded and said, "If it wasn't for you, a lot of people would be dead. The school would probably be a graveyard at this point if you hadn't given out that order."
Suzune gave him a weak smile and said, "I... you're right."
Then they heard some movement as Haruka and Miyake walked over, saying, "There they are!"
Miyake was holding a bow with a quiver of arrows attached to his back as he asked, "Are you guys doing okay?"
Name: Akito Miyake
Rules Added: 0
Points: 20
Current Colony: ANHS Colony
Haruka stood there and said, "You need to get moving. Something has been closing in on you this entire time."
Miyake nodded, saying, "I saw it heading this way. It's a Curse. It has a player impaled on its hand, and it's forcing the player to relay your location while keeping him alive."
Haruka then said, "You two need to get clear of here. Go now", as Sudo and Suzune ran off.
Haruka looked to Miyake and asked, "Are you ready now, Miyachi?"
Miyake nodded, stinging an arrow and said, "Yeah. Do it now, Haruka."
Haruka touched his quiver and said, "It's set", as the glass of the window shattered and a tunnel of air appeared in front of Miyake's arrowhead, and he fired as the arrow accelerated following the path of the air tunnel, and the arrow hit something and exploded.
Akito Miyake's Cursed Technique is Explosive Momentum. Anything imbued with his Cursed Technique will accelerate faster at a constant rate and then will release all of the built-up momentum in a single kinetic explosion.
Haruka looked happy, asking, "Did you get it, Miyachi??"
"Don't spring up that flag! Check it."
Miyake said this as Haruka sweated and said, "Okay."
Haruka focused as she felt the air and found the target forming a tunnel towards it, saying, "It's not dead."
Name: Haruka Haesebe
Rules Added: 0
Points: 15
Current Colony: ANHS Colony
Haruka Haesebe's Cursed Technique is Wind Sorcery. It allows her to manipulate air around her and sense Cursed Energy within a 50-meter radius.
Mikya strung and fired two arrows as they followed the path of the tunnel, exploding consecutively at a closer distance than the last.
Haruka Haesebe was using her Cursed Technique to aid in the acceleration of Akito Miyake's arrows by removing all air resistance and controlling the flow of the air to manipulate the arrows' trajectory forward. Doing all these things at once required an immense amount of focus, which meant she wouldn't be able to move an inch while doing this.
Miyake then asked, "Well?"
"It doesn't even look hurt."
Haruka said this as Miyake clicked his tongue and said, "We're shooting the player, it's holding hostage. Form three different tunnels."
"Got it."
Haruka said this as she focused and formed the tunnels as Miyake turned and fired three arrows, and they exploded at a closer distance consecutively as Miyake turned to Haruka, asking, "Well?"
Haruka looked mortified, saying, "It... blocked them..."
"All three of them?!! They all attacked from different angles, hitting from within a second of each other."
Miyake shouted this as he sweated, thinking, 'Aren't we like... massively out of our league then?'
Haruka then shouted, "Miyachi! It's getting closer!"
Suddenly, glass shattered as the creature moved through the building, ignoring them completely.
Miyake lifted his bow, but his hands trembled, and eventually he lowered his bow, thinking, 'Not a scratch... not even a scratch. If I attack it, we'll both die. Both me... and Haruka...'
The Curse passed by them, a player impaled on its hand. A Special Grade vengeful entity. The pressure was so strong that it made the duo want to vomit on the spot as they thought, 'Our best combo was casually parried. I know we're new to this power thing, but... seriously? What the hell even is this thing? What does it want with Horikita and Sudo?'
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Suzune and Sudo back off towards the wall as the Curse approaches them. A gigantic maw across the top of its head, the jaw points being in the front of its face the had two bloodshot eyes without pupils, and the other side of the jaw was big on the back of its head. Its head had hundreds of smaller eyes scattered, and its arms had fingers protruding from every space, and then there was the hand that was impaling a player who called out to them, "Please help me."
The Curse touched the side of the player's head withi it's thumb and in one movement broke the player's neck as it tossed the player to the side, as its voice that sounded like dozens of voices called out saying, "Ayano....ayanokoji"
Suzune would not normally be able to see Curses, but this was the closest to a life-or-death situation she had ever gotten into, so she could see it as she looked horrified, saying, "What... are you? What do you want with Ayanokoji?!!"
She sweated as the Curse's maw opened as Yagami Takuya's head extended from it, saying, "Ah, President Horikita. It's good to see you."
"Ya-yagami?"
Suzune said this as Sudo's eyes widened, saying, "You're... Yagami?"
Takuya's distorted face smirked and said, "Yes. That's me. I'm tired of chasing after Ayanokoji, so I'll wait for him here. So stay put and act like good bait for Ayanokoji. Or..."
Takuya pointed to the player from before and said, "... I'll use you as a GPS next."
"Stay back, Suzune!"
Sudo shouted this, stepping in front of Suzune as he looked to Takuya and asked, "Yagami... what the hell happened to you? You were a messed-up kid, but you were still a kid like the rest of us!"
"A kid?"
Takuya asked this as his head tilted at an impossible 90-degree angle, the jagged teeth of the Spirit's maw scraping against his neck as he said, "I was a candidate, Sudo-kun. A masterpiece in waiting."
Takuya smirked and said, "I'm getting closer and closer to surpassing him. To surpass Ayanokoji!"
Takuya then looked to Suzune and asked, "I wonder what would happen to him if he watched me break your bones one by one."
Suzune froze in fear, her legs wobbling as she began to hyperventilate, and Sudo then shouted, "As if I would..."
"[As if I would let you]? Hahahahaha. Useless trash like you can't stop me."
Takuya reached out only for his hand to be cut off as his head retreated into the maw, and he backed off. A boy with light-purple hair was standing there as he spoke into a phone, saying, "Leave it to me, Kiyotaka. I'll hold him off until you get here."
"I'm surprised you're here and that you have a Cursed Technique, but... I'm glad."
Takuya's bloodshot eyes seemed to grow more red veins in anger as he shouted, "Ayanokoji! How are you? How dare you not face me directly again?"
Shiro looked to him and said, "You want to reach Kiyotaka's level? If you can't even beat me, then that'll be a pointless endeavour."
Takuya looked confused, saying, "Who are you?"
"I'm just a defector of the White Room."
Shiro said this as Takuya looked at him and said, "A defector? You're just trash then."
"Am I now?"
Shiro asked this as Takya's cursed maw grinned and said, "Yeah, you're trash that was thrown out because you couldn't keep up. Why would Ayanokoji even waste a phone call on you?"
Shiro sighed and said, "My objective isn't to exorcise you. After all, I can't accomplish that due to the nature of your creation. My job is to buy time for him."
Shiro looked to Sudo and Suzune and said, "You two are sitting ducks. Get clear from here."
They nodded, running off as Takuya looked annoyed, saying, "How annoying. Well, I can just use you to track them after I kill you."
Takuya swung his arm at Shiro, who caught it and said, "You're relying a lot more on power than skill. You're devolving."
Takuya looked at him with hatred and said, "I am evolving! I shall reach and even greater stage than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka!"
Shiro began blocking Takuya's attacks, thinking, 'That's not responding the way it should. It must have something to do with his Cursed Energy.'
Shiro then funnelled Cursed Energy into his fist and pumelled Takuya, defenestrating him as he fell to the ground, thinking, 'Huh? Why can't I float? I'm a Curse!'
Shiro landed on the ground as the two went into an exchange, making Takuya think 'What? I feel weaker and slower... and why is my Cursed Energy limited all of a sudden?!!'
Shiro took out two blades and said, "Let's see if you can surpass me."
Takuya looked to Shiro, thinking, 'Who is this guy?'
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Kiyotaka and Nanase stood before Atsuomi, who said, "You're late, Kiyotaka."
"I want to know. What exactly is your goal in being here?"
"The purpose of my life is fulfilled. No... maybe it's going to be fulfilled thanks to you. You'll be the template for an age where all people are equally superior. My life's mission is within my grasp, and it's thanks to you, my son. I'm proud."
Atsuomi smiled as Kiyotaka sighed and said, "I'm not your son. You are not my father. The only familial connection I have is a single Older Brother", while thinking of Choso.
"The Death Womb Painting. I suppose you are siblings thanks to Kenjaku."
Atsuomi said this as Nanase, then shouted, "You're the reason Matsuo died, aren't you?"
"Do you care not to interrupt?"
Atsuomi asked this as Kiyotaka put his hand on Nanase's shoulder and said, "I'll let you give him hell after, okay?"
Nanase bit her lip, drawing blood as Kiyotaka asked, "How did you restrain our Cursed Energy for so long?"
Atsuomi summoned his Shikigami and said, "My Cursed technique is called Contractual Obligation. I can mark people with my shikigami. These marks are called Contracts. Then I'm able to tax the target's Cursed Energy depending on their strength level. There isn't a limit to how many contracts I can make, and as long as the targets don't leave the country, I can keep them under contract. I can, of course, use the taxed Cursed Energy whenever I want. When you were all children, you were defenceless, so the tax rate was 100%. I kept it that way until the time came for you to have Cursed Energy."
Kiyotaka sighed, saying, "I thought. You and Kenjaku have been having a lot of fun with the White Room Students, haven't you? Reincarnating an ancient sorcerer in one of them and giving three of them Cursed Techniques."
"Three? Oh. Is that boy Shiro here? Kenjaku did not give him a Cursed Technique. That boy has talent unlike any other. He awakened a technique at birth, and that technique made it so I couldn't tax him completely. Then he went ahead and left the country and cut off the contract. Thought I doubt he knew that that was the condition to break the contract."
Atsuomi said this as Kiyotaka's eyes widened and thought, 'Shiro? He had it from the very beginning? Is that why he was able to keep up with me in the White Room to an extent?'
Atsuomi smiled and said, "But you shouldn't underestimate what Takuya has become. Not even a genius can defeat what he's become."
—————————————————————————————————————
Shiro stood there as he rushed towards Takuya, who thought, 'Our abilities are equal?!!'
Shiro slammed his foot into Takuya, sending him flying back.
Kanamori Shiro's Cursed technique is Equaliser, which allows him to equalise the Physical and Cursed Energy abilities of himself and his opponent, excluding their Cursed Techniques and abilities that are a result of their Cursed Techniques. His Maximum allows him to equalise Cursed Techniques in exchange for not being able to equalise anything else.
Takuya launched himself at Shiro, shouting, "Give it back! Give me back my power! The power that I need to surpass him! The power I need to surpass Ayanokoji Kiyotaka!"
Suddenly, Shiro sliced off Takuya's arms and said, "Your defensive reinforcement isn't actually as good as mine, is it?"
Shiro's Reversal Technique is Inequality, and it allows him to make exceptions in the equalisation. This means he can choose not to equalise in certain abilities where he holds an advantage or not equalise in abilities where his opponent possesses a disadvantage.
Takuya healed his arms, regenerating his hand and screamed, shouting, "How are you doing this?!!"
"Becoming a Cursed Spirit doesn't make you superior to Kiyotaka. It solidifies your place as inferior to him. A Cursed Spirit is composed of negative emotions. This means you can't think as logically as a human. You are no exception."
Shiro said this as more red veins formed in Takuya's Cursed Spirit eyes, shouting, "I'll kill you! White Domain:... What? Why isn't it..."
"I'd reveal my Cursed Technique, but I don't think I need to reveal my hand to keep you busy."
Shiro said this while thinking, 'I don't know how to use what you call [White Domain] and it's not your Cursed Technique or Domain Expansion, so of course you can't use it either.'
Takuya stared in disbelief as Shiro said, "I can't exorcise you, but I can drain you down to zero so it's easy for Kiyotaka when he gets here."
Takuya's eyes bulged as he shouted, "You!!!"
—————————————————————————————————————
Kiyotaka stood there and asked, "So? What are you planning to do now?"
"My life has fulfilled its purpose. I will now join the souls awaiting the merger. So go on. end my life and prepare my soul for the merger."
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "It won't be me. Nanase. I'll leave this to you."
Atsuomi looked to Kiyotaka and said, "What? You're telling me you're leaving this girl to do it?"
Kiyotaka answered simply saying, "Yes."
"I only allow it from you because I know I can't defeat you and that defeating you would be counterproductive. I'll kill this girl if you leave her here."
Atsuomi said this as Nanase prepared herself and Kiyotaka smield, saying, "It'll be fine. After all, you're kinda weak."
He perfectly replicated Gojo's tone as he triggered his desired effect as he walked away, and Atsuomi shouted, "Don't underestimate me, Kiyotaka!!! You'll regret it! The girl will be dead by the time you get back!"
Kiyotaka ignored him, walking away as Nanase said, "Shall we get started then? With your death, I mean", as she got into a fighting stance.
Atsuomi glared and said, "Don't get overconfident, girl. I'll send you to meet that [precious] friend of yours soon enough."
Nanase glared and said, "I don't need your help in seeing him. I'll choose when I want to see him. And at the very least, that won't be until you're dead."
Atsuomi stood up and said, "Fine then. Let's see how you do, girl. Let's see if you can do it."
Nanase Tsubasa's Cursed Technique is Dual Soul Inhabitance. Her body acts as a conduit for the dead. This increases her abilities by taking the averages of her souls' information and the summoned person's information. Each diseased person can only be summoned once.
Kiyotaka left thinking, 'I'll deal with Yagami once and for all. Leaving all of it to Shiro isn't a good idea. It's far too lax. It's better to finish things quickly and pacify this colony before something goes wrong. It's time to search and destroy.'
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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