There's no guarantee that a sorcerer will always be able to receive a briefing on a dangerous situation before running headfirst into it, particularly in cases where an emergency suddenly arises without warning. The unexpected emergence of what might potentially be a divine curse here most certainly qualifies as one of those 'emergencies.'
A problem, to be sure. But at least it's the type of problem that can be resolved by killing it.
Shiki and Sun-san end up leaving the curse users behind as they hurriedly make their way towards the Ganesha temple from where the ominous cursed energy is emanating.
Perhaps keeping the curse users in their hand might prove to be an advantageous bargaining chip against Geto-san. But even though Geto-san is her main goal, Shiki knows that her responsibilities as a sorcerer mean that there are other matters that take precedence over this–
Namely, exorcising the cursed spirit first.
Shiki is a skilled combatant, but she has no intentions of purposefully making things more difficult for herself by dragging along two dead weights into a fight. If the curse users end up getting rescued or escaping themselves during however long it took them to deal with the cursed spirit, then that would be that.
There is the option of binding them and putting them under a sleeping spell as a temporary measure since Shiki currently has no proper means of restraining and containing them–
But Shiki is rather curious to see where they would attempt to run to, if left to their own devices. That would be its own clue, in a way, since both of the curse users seemed so determined to keep Geto-san's secrets. Rather than wasting time forcing words out of their mouths, it might be more effective to let their actions speak for themselves.
Would they lead Shiki directly to Geto-san, if she gave them the impression that she had left hastily in order to deal with a more pressing task?
"… Huh. So that's why you asked me to come along with you instead of staying back to stand guard over the curse users?" Sun-san lets out a soft 'ah' of understanding. "I thought it was a little strange that you were willing to let them go just like that."
"Like what?" Shiki blinks.
"Like… y'know," the other sorcerer makes a vague gesture with his hand. "Just letting them off the hook without making any death threats or maiming them a bit or what have you. Uh, discounting the broken wrist and legs, I guess."
In Shiki's defense, the curse user brought that upon herself, for the most part. The broken wrist was because she'd attempted to stab Shiki with a knife, and the broken legs were what Shiki had warned would be waiting for her if she attempted to run. Surely the fault does not rest entirely with her.
Shiki says as much to the other sorcerer.
"You're kind of a scary person, aren't you?" ends up being Sun-san's response to it. But there's no trepidation in his words; instead, he almost sounds thoughtful. "… Wow, Japan must be a lot more cutthroat than I thought if they're churning out kids like you these days."
The man sighs loudly, and shakes his head.
"Anyways! That's not my problem, thankfully," he decides. "On another note, regarding the task at hand –is there anything in particular that you have in mind for dealing with the cursed spirit? I was thinking that we should probably split up."
Shiki lets out a soft hum. It would be convenient in several ways, but, "You're not scared of potentially running into Geto-san on your own?" Wasn't that the very concern that had pushed him and Zhang Tong to ask for help to begin with?
"Okay, wow, that was blunt," Sun-san coughs with a slight little startled laugh. "So I'm going to be equally blunt here, princess. Yes, I'm scared. If that actually happens, then I plan to run away screaming at the top of my lungs. The rest, I'll leave to you."
His words are said in a half-joking sort of lighthearted tone, except there is also an undertone of something quite deliberate in it that indicates Sun-san isn't saying this as a funny joke. He can and will turn heel and run if he ends up having to face Geto Suguru.
"I'm good in a fight, but I'm not, like," Sun-san makes a vague gesture with one hand, "Good enough to take on a Special Grade sort of good. I'm a lot better at running away than throwing down in a direct confrontation."
Running away is not the usual sort of skill that one hears a sorcerer talking about so proudly and openly. Shiki glances slightly in the man's direction at this unusual quip, to which Sun-san only offers a wry smile in response.
"My personal philosophy is: Winning doesn't always mean being victorious in a fight. Sometimes it means just living to fight another day," the man nods sagely. "Truly, you would not believe the arguments that I used to get in with Mizuno over this."
Sun-san probably isn't the only sorcerer who thinks this way, although evidently he is one of the few who are brave enough to say it openly. Were he to repeat this in front of any of the higher ups back in Japan, they would most certainly heavily disapprove of such a 'weak-willed' perspective and censure him for it. After all, it's commonly espoused that sorcerers are meant to fight cursed spirits with their lives on the line. What can one expect from a sorcerer who is not willing to risk themselves for the greater good?
"Anyways, though. Back to the topic at hand," Sun-san clears his throat, "I suggested splitting up once we reach the temple since I think it would be better if we focused on different tasks. Am I right in assuming that you're more familiar with combat than stuff like rescue efforts?"
"Yes."
"And you're also confident that you can handle this curse?"
Shiki nods simply.
"Just checking," Sun-san also gives a small nod. "Although I guess it's an unnecessary worry, since you're apparently confident dealing with Geto Suguru and all…"
The man rubs a hand over his face.
"Okay. So that's what we'll go with, then," he claps his hands together. "My cursed technique is helpful for… keeping people calm, should we say, so I'll take responsibility for the civilians. There's probably a good number of devotees and tourists and what have you stuck in this mess. Hapless shopkeepers, too."
"You'll be able to take care of all of them?" Shiki blinks.
"Maybe not all of them, but definitely as many as I can," Sun-san responds honestly. "Also, just for reference –how flashy and prone to causing collateral damage is your cursed technique?"
"Not very." Shiki relies on the sword in her hands as her main weapon.
"So I'm not going to suddenly have to worry about buildings being uprooted from the ground and being tossed around willy-nilly?" Sun-san asks.
"… My cursed technique isn't Limitless," Shiki informs him.
"Gotcha," the sorcerer bobs his head. "That makes things a little easier for me, then, if I won't have to worry about covering up eye-catching supernatural phenomena. Curtains are useful for hiding things, but they don't really work if civilians are already inside ground zero from the get-go."
From the sounds of it, Sun-san has quite the versatile cursed technique, if it has such a wide range of utility even outside of exorcising cursed spirits.
"It seems that you have a very flexible skill set," Shiki observes.
"Hm? I guess, yeah. My cursed technique is–"
The ground shakes beneath their feet once more, a sharp tremor that causes Sun-san's words to break off on a startled note. He stumbles for a beat, but manages to regain his balance swiftly –yet promptly stumbles again as soon as he lifts his head to look forward again.
Sun-san sucks in a short, sharp breath. "What in the world–?"
Shiki can't blame him for his reaction.
The temple is in sight now; a quaint, colorful tower-like structure that is quite different from the temples that Shiki is used to seeing back in her home country. There are also other buildings surrounding it, as well as numerous shop stalls lining the well-worn streets–
All of that's completely normal, though.
What isn't normal in this scene, however, is the decidedly unnatural sight of dozens of people slowly rising into the air. As if they're being pulled upwards by invisible strings dropping down from the sky, all struggles and resistances utterly futile in face of this unseen force.
And in the middle of it all, there is a cursed spirit.
A very large cursed spirit, one that manifested near-instantly over the temple with the sudden earthquake. The gargantuan size of it is enough to dwarf the temple building entirely.
Its appearance is… unique. The head bears a vague resemblance to that of an elephant's, with the addition of what appears to be a golden crown sitting upon its brow. A face that matches descriptions of the god worshiped within the temple. Aside from its head, the rest of its body is humanoid. Bulky and pudgy, but unmistakably humanoid, with the sole caveat of two sets of arms sprouting from its sides instead of a single pair.
The titanic cursed spirit straightens slowly. Two hands fan out with palms facing upwards, and the remaining two slowly rise to meet in front of its chest in a gesture of prayer.
And with that single motion, all of the people suspended mid-air immediately fall.
Two separate lines of thought flash through her mind instantly in the moment that this occurs: I can't save all of them, and Prioritize killing the cursed spirit before there are more victims.
… They've finally reached the buildings now, and the temple with the cursed spirit is close.
"I'm going ahead," she informs Sun-san.
"Eh? Wait a second–"
Shiki hastens her speed, pushing off the ground and easily scaling a nearby wall in a single leap, then touches down on a weather-worn rooftop. She ignores a screaming civilian who is fortunate enough to have their fall cushioned by the sturdy tarp of a street stall, and reaches out a hand to safely catch and toss aside another civilian who would've otherwise been gored through by a sharp weather vane.
But even so, there are still dozens of other screaming, crying civilians.
And the fact of the matter is: Shiki is not fast enough to go around catching each and every one of these falling civilians. She knows that the best thing that she can do right now isn't trying to save all of these victims, but instead killing the root source of the problem and ensure that things aren't exacerbated.
Shiki turns her gaze on the cursed spirit, whose four hands are beginning to perform a 'rising' motion once more, cursed energy sparking in a clear indication that it intends to repeat this feat–
In response to this, Shiki loosens the iron grip of her control on her own cursed energy.
The cursed spirit's head instantly snaps towards her, black-yellow gaze focused unerringly in her direction, having sensed her as a distinct threat.
Good.
Two hands press down, while two others push towards her in a 'shoving' motion. The rooftop instantly disappears beneath Shiki's feet –no, the building itself vanishes entirely.
That's a little less good.
Shiki manages to find purchase on a nearby streetlight, and uses it to vault atop a neighboring building without breaking stride.
One thing is clear: The cursed spirit's technique isn't something as simple as 'levitation.' No, it's definitely something a lot more nuanced than that. It's also interesting that it chose to target the building underneath her instead of Shiki herself. Was that a deliberate choice, or was it unable to?
The cursed spirit repeats the same trick twice more, both times to no avail. With eyes narrowed in frustration, the cursed spirit slams its hands down, and this time–
The building beneath her doesn't disappear, but crumbles instead. Hundreds of blocks of rubble are sent flying everywhere in this messy implosion as a result.
None of it touches Shiki.
… Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that none of it affects her, instead. But the end result is the same; Shiki weathers the rain of rubble completely unscathed. In a way, it's even convenient, since the broken pieces can effectively be used as footholds for her to continue advancing forward.
And in the blink of an eye, she's finally in front of the cursed spirit.
Or rather, she's above it, thanks to the convenient footholds that it created for her.
For a single moment, Shiki remains suspended in the air above it. Sunlight at her back, wind whipping through her hair, and cursed energy swirling around her like a storm. When she looks down, the beady yellow-black eyes of the cursed spirit stares back at her. Just a single one of its eyes is already larger than the entire upper half of her torso. If Shiki were on the ground right now, she'd likely stand only slightly above its ankle, yet currently it is the cursed spirit that cranes its neck back to look up at her.
The moment passes. Gravity catches up with her, and she begins to fall. The cursed spirit reaches out one of its hands, as if attempting to grab her and crush her within its grip.
But it's–
"Useless."
It doesn't matter that there's a thick layer of cursed energy glowing around its hand, nor does it matter that she can sense it readying another technique.
Because the red lines are right in front of her.
Shiki draws her sword as she hurtles downwards, facing the cursed spirit head-on, and cleaves.
The cursed spirit's blood is purple. A vivid purple that splatters everywhere in a thick, relentless flood as Shiki splits the cursed spirit cleanly into two halves with a single unceasing stroke of her sword.
It's not quite enough, though. Rather than toppling down, there are long strands of viscous purple blood determinedly keeping the two halves of the cursed spirit together. That seems to be slowly pulling it together with herculean effort, even–
But it's completely useless.
The moment that the cursed spirit had chosen to use cursed energy to defend itself and meet Shiki's blade directly instead of putting more distance between them, its fate had been decided.
Upon alighting on the ground, Shiki immediately cuts off its feet at the ankles before the cursed spirit has any chance of reacting. Then she leaps upwards once more, following the trail of red lines across its body. Even though the length of her blade isn't long enough to fully pierce through the cursed spirit's colossal form, this does not prevent her from cutting it into pieces all the same.
And this time when she touches back down, the cursed spirit falls with her –in bloodied chunks that rain down from the sky, causing clouds of dust to fly up where it impacts heavily into the ground and surrounding buildings.
Temple included.
… Which might be troublesome to create a cover story for, if it's truly as important a cultural and religious spot as stated to be. But at least she'd managed to kill the cursed spirit swiftly and decisively, before damages spread through the entire area. The current results aren't perfect, but things could've also ended up being a lot worse.
Shiki waves a hand in front of her face, coughing slightly from all the smoke billowing about in the air.
Not all of it is completely from the destruction that she'd caused, though. There's not just dust and dirt from the broken rubble, but also a faintly acrid scent that's lingering about.
As well as a distinct pulse of cursed energy mixed within the smoke.
Which might be slightly alarming, if Shiki didn't recognize the signature and source of that cursed energy.
"That cursed spirit is… dead?" Sun-san's words are filled with distinct incredulity. The sound of his voice is swiftly followed by the sight of the man himself emerging from the smoke.
Aside from being a little harried and wide-eyed, Sun-san doesn't look too different from when Shiki had separated from him earlier. It doesn't seem that he's encountered much trouble, then. The only difference is that he's now holding an elegant smoking pipe between his fingers. Sun-san woodenly raises the pipe to his lips and inhales deeply, then blows out a billowing cloud of white-gray smoke, suffused faintly with his own cursed energy.
Shiki observes the small movement curiously. There are a few clansmen whom she knows of that have the habit of smoking, but none of them tend to do so around her. Shoko-san also smokes, but it's not something that she usually does in front of students in the school.
The other sorcerer breathes out another steady stream of curling smoke.
"You –I don't even know what to say about this," Sun-san finally lowers his pipe. "It barely took you a minute to kill it, my god."
Some fights are like that. Like when there is a great disparity in strength, or when one side grossly underestimates the other. The cursed spirit had pinpointed Shiki as a threat based on her cursed energy, but at the same time, it had also failed to recognize the degree of danger that she posed. Perhaps the fight may have been more difficult had the cursed spirit changed its tactics, but–
Its chance had passed, and dead is dead.
Compared to her recent fight against the reanimated Sorcerer Killer, this was honestly nothing. There's no need for Sun-san to sound so impressed by it.
"… That was a Special Grade curse just now, wasn't it?"
Shiki shrugs noncommittally. Based on the level of cursed energy that the cursed spirit had exuded, it would certainly fit the description of Special Grade, but as for its technique…
To be fair, it hadn't even really gotten a chance to properly use its cursed technique before Shiki had killed it, so it was hard to know the level of its technique for certain. That was probably for the best, though. Shiki wasn't interested in testing the cursed spirits abilities, only in killing it.
"No wonder you're brave enough to go looking for Geto Suguru," Sun-san murmurs, and breathes out another mouthful of smoke.
Shiki ignores the stray comment, instead glancing around at the dense combination of smoke and dust obscuring their surroundings. "Is this your cursed technique?"
"Ah, yes," Sun-san taps lightly at his pipe with a single finger. "Sorry if you're averse to the smell. In my defense, it's not like I chose to have a cursed technique that requires me to be a chronic smoker… but it does have its uses. I 'solidified' the smoke a bit earlier to act as a cushion of sorts. There are some broken bones and a lot of pretty bad bruising among the civilians who fell from the sky earlier, but no one's actually dead yet."
Shiki nods. That's a piece of good news, then, that Sun-san had saved the civilians while Shiki had been preoccupied with the cursed spirit. She did not possess the ability to save them, and so she'd immediately prioritized killing the cursed spirit in order to limit casualties; Sun-san possessed the ability to do so, and so he'd instantly chosen to focus his efforts on rescue while she'd gone on ahead.
"I see."
"Mhm." Another mouthful of smoke, and Sun-san lets out a long exhale. "… This is going to be such a pain to cover up, I feel sorry for Zhang Tong already."
It will indeed be a troublesome case to cover up, especially considering the number of people around that Shiki had passed in the nearby vicinity while she'd been rushing towards the cursed spirit. But this isn't the first time that curse-related accidents have happened in broad daylight without warning. There are protocols in place for dealing with such situations, even though Shiki herself isn't too familiar with them. That usually falls under the purview of assistant managers and the supporting staff.
Regular civilians are unable to see cursed spirits. However, the same cannot be said for the destruction caused by a cursed spirit's rampage, which is something that's reflected normally in the world around them and therefore more difficult to hide and explain.
In that sense, it's lucky that the divine curse had appeared here, instead of in the middle of the densely populated city proper. Even though there are still a number of people around the temple who'd gotten caught up in the mess, it will still be far easier to try to contain the situation in a relatively isolated area like this, instead of somewhere with a lot more people.
The Jujutsu Headquarters spares no effort when it comes to maintaining the veil of secrecy over jujutsu.
Sun-san lets out a long sigh. "… There's no mass panic or riots going on in the streets, so fortunately it doesn't seem like too many people got caught up in this mess."
That was the more optimistic interpretation of things. The less optimistic interpretation would be that there were a number of people who were already dead –who'd died before they managed to arrive on the scene. Which wasn't altogether an–
A faint tremor beneath her feet, accompanied by a distinct spark of cursed energy.
Shiki jumps into the air just as the ground cracks, revealing a giant centipede-like cursed spirit whose jaws clamp down onto empty air in the place where she'd stood. It's only the work of a split second to cut into into pieces, but–
But it's not the only one. Across the ground, dozens upon dozens of these giant red centipedes burst up in a swarm.
And instead of continuing to attack Shiki, they scatter.
Are these Geto-san's cursed spirits?
… It's possible. An infestation of cursed spirits like this isn't something that occurs naturally, and especially not in a place where there's already a powerful cursed spirit reigning over the territory –such as the elephant-headed cursed spirit that Shiki had just killed. The timing with which they had appeared and the sheer volume of them… there's no way for Shiki not to be suspicious of the possibility, especially when she already knows that there's a high chance of Geto Suguru being in the area.
"More cursed spirits?! Is this also Geto's handiwork?" Evidently, Shiki is not the only one who is suspicious of the curse user, if Sun-san's creased brow is anything to go by. The man's voice is tinged with disbelief, outrage. "What does he even think he's doing? Releasing cursed spirits on civilians like this is definitely going to get him onto the top of Headquarters' hit list, Special Grade or not."
"If we were in the city, then maybe." But since they're in a fairly secluded, less-populated area… it's also possible that the Jujutsu Headquarters will decide to let it slide, in this case.
Sun-san's head snaps towards her, clearly understanding the unspoken implications in her response. "… That's pretty messed up."
Perhaps. But–
"It's nothing new." The higher ups have always operated this way. Even as a curse user, Geto Suguru is someone who still has his uses. Unless Geto-san committed some unforgivable atrocity and truly went overboard… then, it was only natural that they would decide to leave him be. Because the only other option was sending Satoru-niichan after Geto-san, and a fight between two Special Grade sorcerers wasn't something that the higher ups were in any hurry to arrange.
This isn't exactly the time to be worrying about politics, though.
The centipede cursed spirits. There are a lot of them, and if they had purposely been released by Geto-san… then it was obvious that this was a distraction for Shiki and Sun-san. If they didn't deal with the cursed spirits, then the civilians here would fall victim to them.
This strategy was simple and straightforward, but nonetheless effective.
Will you continue your chase, or will you protect the civilians here?
… Shiki knows what her duties as a sorcerer are.
So when a four-winged avian cursed spirit rises into the air, flying overhead, Shiki does not go after it. She turns a cold gaze upon it and makes a mental note of its direction, but does not allow herself to pause in her movements. She swiftly beheads another centipede cursed spirit, then slices its body into quartered pieces–
"That's not Geto Suguru, is it?" Sun-san's voice sounds distinctly alarmed.
Shiki stabs another writhing cursed spirit and casts it aside to the ground.
"Does it matter?" There's a high chance that it's another one of Geto-san's cursed spirits. But they're not exactly in any position to be giving chase right now, are they?
"… I guess not."
White-gray smoke easily pours in through the open mouth of another monstrous centipede lunging towards Sun-san. The cursed spirit's body contorts, shifting erratically and twisting in on itself. When it finally falls at the other sorcerer's feet, its shape loses cohesion entirely, falling apart as a fine red mist in the air.
Sun-san cranes his neck backwards, looking up at the birdlike cursed spirit flying above them. His eyes flick towards Shiki, glances over the innumerable centipedes crawling everywhere around them, and then return to the cursed spirit in the sky.
Then, he finally seems to come to a decision.
"I must be going crazy," he mutters to himself, fiddling with the tobacco pouch dangling from the end of his pipe. "Gojo-san, I've got things down here if you want to take a shot at pursuing that bird. Maybe he only tossed out a bunch of cursed spirits here to tie us down, but I don't want to imagine what the consequences might be if he's heading out to repeat this somewhere else."
"Alright." Sun-san seems to be able to deal with the centipede cursed spirits here well enough. Shiki wouldn't say that the giant centipedes are very strong, but there are a lot of them. The man's cursed technique seems suited for covering multiple targets over a large area –if he's confident that he'll be able to take care of the centipedes, then that does free Shiki up for other things.
There's a chance that the four-winged bird might be another distraction, as eye-catching as it is. Shiki isn't discounting the possibility, but… there's only one way to know for certain.
Sun-san takes a deep breath, and aggressively bites down on his smoking pipe. "Watch your balance, princess."
Smoke curls beneath Shiki's feet, then propels her upwards.
It's an odd feeling, 'standing' on top of something as insubstantial as smoke. Physically, it's not something that's even supposed to be possible to begin with. But then again, the vast majority of cursed techniques all tend to treat the laws of physics as suggestions more than rules to be followed.
Wind rushes at her face, and in the blink of an eye, Shiki finds herself high up in the air again. Sun-san has good aim; she's close to the four-winged bird, close enough to catch sight of the man riding on its back–
–that's not Geto-san.
Shiki doesn't recognize this person.
Dark-skinned, wearing a long jacket and a round-shaped hat on his head. He's also wearing dark sunglasses, so its difficult to discern–
The man raises an arm, and swings it out towards her.
Long, whip-like ropes uncoil from his arm. His aim is a lot worse than Sun-san's, though, seeing as not a single rope gets anywhere near to reaching Shiki at all…
That's not his goal.
The ropes lash through Sun-san's smoke, instantly dispersing it and causing Shiki to lose her footing.
And in the next moment, she falls.
There's nowhere for her to put her weight on and use for a jumping point. She's also not nearly close enough to that four-winged bird to reach the curse user riding on it.
But in the moment before the acceleration of her fall kicks in, Shiki seizes the four knives tucked into her jacket and throws them all towards the man and cursed spirit. There's no time to aim properly, but judging by the startled shout that she hears before gravity pulls her down, it seems that at least some of them still found their mark.
Shiki turns her gaze towards her surroundings, trying to find something that will allow her to–
A sharp ringing breaks through her thoughts.
… Right at this extremely inopportune moment, her cell phone starts ringing.
Shiki flips, and lands deftly on the rooftop of a ramshackle building, skidding along the tiles. There's a faint urge in her that wants to ignore this phone call entirely, but… she recognizes the ringtone. It's the one that Tsumiki had set on her phone for Megumi, and Megumi never calls Shiki on his own volition.
She hesitates, looking upwards. The four-winged bird is still in sight, even though it's slowly getting farther with every passing moment…
But in the end, she finds herself picking up the incoming call on her phone.
Before she even has a chance to speak, Megumi's voice comes tumbling out from the other end of the line.
"Shiki, it's –it's Tsumiki. She's… I don't know what happened to her. Shiki, someone cursed Tsumiki and she's not waking up!"
.
…
.