❛ 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄𝐒 ❜ ━━━ (𝗼. 𝘆𝘂𝘁𝗮)

| xxiii ; let the games begin

Y/N and Inumaki separated as they tried to get close to the cursed spirit. Most of their attempts were futile as they were mainly focused on avoiding getting pierced by the roots. Y/N jumped over an incoming root and found herself on another. She wasted no time as she ran on the roots, jumping and dodging all of the incoming roots as she swung her sword down.

A part of its branch was cut off, catching it off-guard. It quickly raised its other hand, sending another wave of roots to Y/N. The young sorcerer was sent crashing into a tree, her head pounding from the impact.

"Don't move."

The cursed spirit froze and Inumaki immediately grabbed Y/N by her arm. The cursed spirit was back moving after a few seconds, though Y/N and Inumaki were quite far from it. Y/N looked behind as she saw a root heading straight at them.

"Jump!" She yelled just as it shot into the ground, trying to reach them from under.

Inumaki didn't let go of her hand as he continued leading Y/N to a nearby temple building so that they could get some leverage from the cursed spirit.

"Megumi and Noritoshi are in the building," Y/N said after she detected their presence. "Come on, it's catching up with us!"

Inumaki nodded his head as the two ran even faster, sprinting towards the building. Root after root, it was a never-ending cycle. Y/N looked back just as she spotted the cursed spirit gathering a large number of roots to attack them.

Inumaki tugged on her hand, indicating for them to jump. Y/N followed as they ran along the roof. The roots grew incredibly large as they towered over the building easily. It bent into an upside-down curve where Megumi and Noritoshi were.

"Y/N-senpai, Inumaki-senpai!" Megumi yelled out.

The second-years looked at them and Inumaki lowered his tracksuit, "Run away!"

Their bodies listened to the command as they ran away from their spot and headed to the side. The roots crashed into the ground, causing dust and debris to kick up. Y/N and Inumaki jumped down from the roof as they joined Megumi and Noritoshi.

They ran along the wide path as the roots followed them obediently, not wanting to lose sight of its targets. The students turned a corner and spotted another exit. However, the door burst open as another bunch of roots appeared and shot at them.

Y/N quickly shifted her shadow to form a wall in front of them, shielding them from the dust and debris from the door and roots. The dust soon died down and Y/N lowered her shadow, still wary of any incoming attacks.

Just then, a veil began forming over the school, alerting the group.

"What the hell is happening?" Y/N muttered. "Another attack during the Goodwill event?"

"What do you mean by another attack?" Megumi looked at her.

"Last year, Kieran intruded in the Goodwill event and came after me. He did some crazy shit to me and then disappeared," Y/N summarised it for him.

Their surroundings began to change from the veil as everything became more yellow-greenish. Just then, the Cursed Spirit landed on the roof of the exit which was now blocked by its roots.

"Why would a Cursed Spirit be in school?" Noritoshi questioned. "Who cast this Veil?"

"Probably a Cursed User who cooperates with Cursed Spirits," Megumi answered.

"Megumi, Inumaki, it looks like his drawings, isn't it?" Y/N asked them.

"Yeah," Megumi nodded his head.

"Salmon."

"What is it?" Noritoshi looked at Y/N.

"I think this was one of the Special Grade Cursed Spirits who attacked Gojo-sensei," Y/N replied.

Inumaki did a call sign, "Tuna mayo."

"You're right," Megumi said and fished out his phone. "Let's contact Gojo-sensei."

"Wait a minute. You can understand him?" Noritoshi asked dumbfoundedly.

"That's not important right now," Megumi replied as he placed his phone by his ear. "The opponent might know how to use a Domain. We have to stay away and retre-"

The Cursed Spirit suddenly appeared by the side, alerting the four students. Megumi had lowered the phone subconsciously, which allowed the Cursed Spirit to break it immediately.

"Stop!"

The Cursed Spirit froze as Noritoshi threw out a blood pack. His right eye had a red cross as a result of him using his cursed technique. The blood pack exploded and Noritoshi took control of it, rotating it into a wheel at high speeds to form a bladed projectile.

"Blood Manipulation: Slicing Exorcism!" The blade shot like a bullet at the Cursed Spirit's head, yet not a single scratch was formed.

Nue came in from above, flapping its wings and lightning was shot down at the Cursed Spirit. While it was distracted, Y/N and Megumi came in by the side and struck a part of its body with their swords. However, it proved to have no effect at all as only a part of its pants were torn.

Damn it! Its skin is really tough! Megumi gritted his teeth in frustration.

Noritoshi then spotted Megumi's katana as he realised he had never seen Megumi use it during their attack. Where was he hiding it?

Just then, the Cursed Spirit began speaking in some sort of language before it finally connected with their minds. "Stop it, you foolish children."

"Holy shit," Y/N held her head after hearing its voice. It's speaking in a foreign language, yet I can understand it.

"I merely wish to protect this planet," The Cursed Spirit said.

"Don't listen to its nonsense!" Noritoshi exclaimed.

"It's not the same as those low-level Cursed Spirits," Megumi said.

"The forest, ocean and sky... They cry out in pain, saying they can't bear it anymore. They can no longer coexist with humans," The Cursed Spirit stood up straight. "They know that some humans are kind to this planet, but how much can that kindness make up for?"

It has its own language system, Megumi thought to himself.

"All they want is time."

"Ask Inumaki to retreat," Noritoshi said.

"If there's enough time, this planet can shine again." Roots shot out from under the wall behind the Cursed Spirit and fanned out behind it.

"A time without humans. Die, and become a sage!"

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