Cleanup

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"Satoru Gojo! That is the Special Grade vengeful cursed spirit, isn't it? This old man told you before that the boy carrying that curse should not be allowed to participate in the Goodwill Event. Your stubbornness caused this situation!"

Principal Gakuganji stared at the dangerous figure on the screen and blamed Gojo, who was still smiling.

Everyone present looked grave. Rika's pressure as a Special Grade vengeful cursed spirit seemed to smash into their hearts through the screen itself.

Gojo, the one being blamed, stood and stretched. "It is fine. Leave it to me. Rika has appeared out of control, but she has not made any aggressive moves toward the surroundings."

When the others looked carefully, they realized he was right. That figure looked frenzied, but she had not attacked the area around her. Under Mei Mei's difficult control, the crow that had flown far away sent back more information from the scene.

They could vaguely see several students nearby on the field. None of them seemed to be in serious trouble.

Gojo waved. "Then I will go first. Small matter. Do not worry."

Shoko Ieiri spoke from the side. "I will go too, in case someone is hurt."

Then Gojo and Shoko left the room and disappeared from sight.

In the air, the vicious presence was stunning. The lower half of her pale body had an unstable, smoke-like form. Her hands were broad, perhaps more accurately called claws. Her upper body exposed a rib-like shape, and many tube-like structures extended behind her head. Her face had no eyes, only a huge mouth lined with sharp teeth.

"Impressive," Shoko said as she and Gojo stood at a safe distance and looked up. "Satoru, how are you planning to handle this?"

Gojo removed his sunglasses. Rika's violent form reflected in his blue eyes. "It looks like Yuta's hard work was not wasted. Quite the opposite. He has been successful. Something just seems to have happened that pushed her beyond his control."

Snap.

Gojo snapped his fingers. "Then all we need to do is weaken Rika until he can control her."

Shoko knew his personality and rolled her eyes. "Satoru, you are not going to do something reckless again, are you? The students from both sides are still here."

Gojo smiled without concern. "I will be gentle."

With that, he vanished. When he appeared again, he was in the air at nearly the same height as Rika.

Rika looked at the small figure who had suddenly appeared nearby and instinctively wanted to attack. But the restraint from Yuta made her hesitate.

Gojo looked down and saw Yuta drenched in sweat on the ground, along with Panda, White Wolf, and Aoi Todo not far away. Then he looked back at Rika.

"Let's get you under control first."

Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue.

Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.

The two infinities clashed and collided, then released the imaginary mass born from that conflict.

Hollow Technique: Purple.

A point of purple light appeared at Gojo's fingertip, instantly dragging chaotic currents through the surrounding air.

Then Gojo flicked his finger. A clean circular path taller than a person punched through the sky, erasing everything it touched.

From Gojo's angle, he could see through Rika's damaged body all the way to the empty stretch of land behind her where the attack had bored a hole.

After letting out a sharp howl, Rika's body began to recover. But her pressure weakened visibly.

Seeing Rika charge toward him, Gojo waved goodbye. "Bye-bye."

Then he vanished from the air and reappeared on the ground.

When Ren arrived at the scene using his technique, he saw an anxious Yuta and the others. White Wolf ran to him with a whimper, clearly frightened by Rika.

When Yuta saw Ren appear, he hurriedly spoke while trying to control Rika. "Ren, where is Gojo-sensei? Rika is out of control. I cannot control her!"

Ren looked at Rika in the air. She was drifting without a clear target, only calling Yuta's name in a sharp, distorted voice.

Then he looked at Panda and Aoi Todo. Both were injured, though he could not tell how many of those injuries had been caused by Rika.

Ren roughly guessed what had happened. Most likely, Aoi Todo had found Yuta's group and pushed them into danger. Rika had then slipped out of Yuta's control and appeared to protect him.

Todo looked like he had suffered too. That made sense. Hurt the person Rika loved most, and she would tear you apart if Yuta were not holding her back.

Fortunately, no one seemed too badly hurt. Part of that was because Yuta had been desperately controlling her.

Seeing that, Ren did not need to reverse them with his technique. He instead tried using his own Reverse Cursed Technique to heal them. It worked, but compared to Shoko, the effect was still far weaker.

"Tch."

Seeing their heavy injuries turn into light ones, Ren decided it was better to wait for Shoko.

Yuta felt his injuries improve and could not help getting distracted. "Ren, is that your technique?"

Ren's face darkened. "Gojo-sensei did not tell you that either? Seriously... This is called Reverse Cursed Technique. You can learn it too. I will explain later."

Speak of the devil. Gojo suddenly appeared in the air. He seemed to raise a hand. Then something terrifying pierced the sky, and Rika suffered a heavy blow.

"Rika!"

Yuta looked frightened. Ren pressed a hand on his shoulder and comforted him. "Curses can repair themselves with cursed energy. Do not panic."

Sure enough, Rika's body began recovering at a visible speed. Only then did Yuta calm down.

When the others looked at the terrifying trail of destruction, they all showed surprise. Ren was calmer, because he vaguely remembered that Gojo-sensei could create even more exaggerated scenes.

Before they could marvel for long, Gojo vanished from the air and appeared in front of them.

"Hi. Is everyone all right?"

Yuta shouted excitedly, "Gojo-sensei! I cannot seem to control Rika right now. She is not listening to me."

Gojo looked at Yuta and smiled. "It is fine. You have already done enough. If you had not restrained her, this might have become serious. Leave the rest to me."

After Yuta relaxed, Ren saw Gojo look toward him.

Ren's heart gave an unreasonable twitch.

Sure enough, Gojo smiled brightly and said, "Ren, your teacher's attack just now heavily wounded Rika. I will leave the next part to you. If you weaken her a little more, Yuta should be able to control her."

Rika was already rushing toward them. Ren's face darkened. "Did you not say to leave it to you?"

Gojo gestured for Panda and the others to move aside while saying, "Isn't it natural for a student to share his teacher's troubles? Your teacher is only hoping you grow more."

"That is that. I will take them to Shoko first. You and Yuta stay here. When you finish, I will come back. Bye-bye!"

Then they disappeared.

Ren looked back at the approaching Rika. Yuta looked at him too, unable to speak. Ren sighed, patted his shoulder, and walked forward.

"Wait here. I will go calm your girlfriend down. After that, it is still your job."

Rika could no longer suppress her desire to attack. Although Gojo had wounded her badly, curses could slowly recover with their own ability as long as cursed energy remained and they were not immediately exorcised.

Rika's own cursed energy was already enormous. Because of the bond between her and Yuta, she could even draw on his cursed energy both ways. She still had combat power.

"Yuta..."

Rika charged with her huge mouth open, only calling Yuta's name unconsciously. Seeing someone block her path, she reached out with her claws.

"You stop here."

Before his words even settled, Ren vanished. Rika's forward momentum was instantly reversed. Only after that did the thunderous boom and the shock wave follow.

Ren looked at his clenched fist and felt the cursed energy boiling through his entire body. This feeling of being filled with power was intoxicating. The cursed blade was not suited for this. Its grade was not high enough, and if he poured in too much cursed energy, it would not withstand it.

"Shaaa!"

In the shattered forest, massive cursed energy suddenly rose. Rika's sharp scream rang out. Dust pulled violently in one direction, and her figure swallowed Ren's sight. Both claws tore through the air, leaving afterimages lined with flickering cursed energy.

"Too slow."

Ren quietly watched the path of the attack fall toward him. He had not even activated his technique yet.

As his mastery of the technique deepened, Ren gradually discovered that his nerve reaction speed was also growing faster. When he focused, ordinary high-speed objects moved clearly in his eyes.

Timewheel: Forward.

Ren walked to Rika's side, raised both hands, and clenched them into fists.

Maximum cursed energy output.

His first punch landed on Rika. The enormous cursed energy broke through her weakened defense, and the impact froze in the air. Ren could even faintly see the air twist.

Then came the second punch, and the third.

When it felt like enough, Ren stopped and released the technique.

Everything erupted in a single instant. The impacts compressed into the same moment exploded with a violent roar. A savage wind swept outward, blowing away the surrounding dirt, stones, and broken trees to clear an open space.

The cursed energy erupting with it almost shot into the sky, only to be twisted apart by the black light rising from within.

Rika had already been sent flying sideways like a cannonball. She smashed through several trees and disappeared from sight. Where she had stood, a crater had formed in the ground, the dirt and stones inside crushed into one solid mass.

Ren exhaled and used Cursed Technique Reversal to return his own state to what it had been before. The maximum cursed energy output and multiple attacks had consumed quite a lot, and one of those hits had been a Black Flash, increasing the damage by a large margin.

He had to admit that, as a Special Grade curse, Rika's defense was absurd. If the target had been a Grade 1 cursed spirit, it would probably have been reduced to ash. Even a normal Special Grade cursed spirit might have been beaten to the edge of death, perhaps even exorcised outright.

But in Ren's perception, Rika was still recovering quickly.

Still, this was about enough.

"One more."

Ren aimed at the place where Rika had landed and gathered his abundant cursed energy again.

Cursed energy release.

Brilliant cursed energy gathered continuously over his hand. The wind it stirred rolled leaves through the air. Gradually, the surrounding space seemed to distort. When the cluster of cursed energy at his fingertips expanded to the size of a human head, Ren stopped feeding it and activated his technique again.

It disappeared.

The cursed energy at his fingertips vanished abruptly, leaving only the leaves that had lost their pull and drifted to the ground.

Just as abruptly, a straight trench appeared, stretching from in front of Ren all the way to the place where Rika had been sent flying. The trees between them were gone, leaving a clear line of sight from one end to the other.

Now they could clearly see Rika's body damaged in many places. Under her cursed energy, her recovery speed had slowed considerably.

As she let out broken sounds of pain, Ren sighed and turned to greet Yuta, who looked like he was about to cry. "Do not worry. With her cursed energy and yours, she will recover soon. In a few days, she will be lively again."

'Why does that feel kind of weird?'

Ren silently roasted his own wording, then watched Yuta recall Rika easily. Rika made a whimpering sound, returned to Yuta's side, and sank into the cursed blade he carried.

Originally, the medium for the bond between Rika and Yuta had been the ring from their promise to marry when they grew up. Later, on Gojo's suggestion, Yuta had kept trying to pour the curse into his blade in order to better control it. By repeating that process, he would eventually fully control the curse.

Yuta half crouched, gripping the blade and staring at it for a while. Then he lifted his head slightly and looked at Ren. "Ren, thank you. You and Gojo-sensei both. Someone almost got hurt because of me again."

Ren looked at the self-blame on Yuta's face, walked over, grabbed his shoulder, and helped him stand. "Do not say all that. Without your control holding her back until Gojo-sensei arrived, things really might have gone bad. You did well. Everyone is fine, right?"

Yuta wanted to say something else, but Ren cut him off. "Come on. Let's get you to Miss Shoko and check whether you are injured. Perfect timing, actually. We can have Miss Shoko explain Reverse Cursed Technique to you. That is what she is best at."

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