Inumaki beside her pulled down the colr that he usually used to protect the lower half of his face.

  The ers of his mouth and tongue were all covered with the unique markings of the curse.

  "Don't move!"

  Buzz!

  As the curse was activated, the power of the teique immediately immobilized the cursed spirit that had once been Tomoya.

  Cough!

  The immense differen strength between them caused Inumaki to suffer backsh, coughing up blood, his throat hoarse from the effort.

  "Now's our ce!" Maki shouted, determined not to waste the opportunity that Inumaki had created.

  With a fierce look in her eyes, she swung her spear and unched herself into the air, bringing her on down hard on the cursed spirit. The spear left a deep, jagged wound across the cursed spirit's grotesque form.

  "I did it!" Maki thought, feeling a surge of hope.

  But her relief was short-lived. The wound on the cursed spirit began to heal almost instantly, the flesh knitting back together at an unnerving speed. Worse, Inumaki's curse had worn off, and the monster regais ability to move.

  The spirit, now fully healed, let out an enraged roar.

  "Die! All of you, DIE!"

  It luoward Maki and Inumaki with terrifying speed. Maki barely had time to react, grabbing Inumaki areating as fast as she could, dodging the cursed spirit's attacks.

  As they scrambled backward, houses around them colpsed, reduced to rubble by the spirit's rampage. The deafening sound of crumbling buildings filled the air.

  Ordinary humans were insignifit against a monster like this. Maki gritted her teeth. It felt like they were fighting a losing battle.

  Boom! Boom!

  Debris rained down around them, the weight of the destru pressing in. Amid the aki spotted two figures Utaha and Eriri, who had foolishly stayed behind.

  Maki's eyes widened in anger. "Didn't I tell you to run?!"

  "W-we tried!" Utaha stammered, ging to Eriri.

  Eriri winced in pain. In their rush to escape, she had twisted her ankle, and now her leg was numb. She couldn't run even if she wao.

  "You should go without me," Eriri muttered through ched teeth. She was scared, but she didn't want Utaha to die because of her.

  "Don't be stupid!" Utaha snapped, gripping her arm. "I'm not leaving you behind!"

  Eriri felt a pang of emotion. Even though she and Utaha stantly bickered, seeiay behind now was... toug.

  "If we get out of this, we're both hitting the gym," Eriri muttered. "No more sprained ankles."

  Utaha cracked a small smile. "Deal."

  But deep down, both girls khey probably wouldn't make it out alive.

  The cursed spirit's attention shifted toward them. Tomoya's monstrous form roared and rushed at the two girls, hatred and rage burning in its glowing eyes.

  "Damn it!" Maki cursed, f herself between the monster and the girls. Her spear was ready, but she knew she couldn't hold it off for long.

  The impact from the cursed spirit's attaearly knocked her off her feet. Maki's entire body shook as she tried to block the force. She could feel herself losing ground, her strength quickly fading.

  "I 't die here! I still have too much to do!" she thought desperately, images of her past fshing in her mind. She thought of her sister, of her vengeance against the Zenin . She couldn't die here not like this.

  Cough!

  Inumaki tried to use his curse speech again, but the backsh was to. He colpsed to the ground, coughing up blood.

  The cursed spirit bellowed, raising its massive hand to crush them all.

  "Is this really how it ends?" Maki thought, her body trembling uhe weight of the attack.

  Utaha and Eriri braced themselves for death.

  And then—

  "Third Dimension!"

  A calm, indifferent voice echoed through the air.

  Suddenly, the crushing pressure Maki felt vahe overwhelming force of the cursed spirit disappeared in an instant, leaviumbling forward, pletely unprepared for the sudden relief.

  "What just happened?"

  Maki looked up, her eyes widening in shock.

  ch! ch!

  The space around the cursed spirit's upper body began to distort, twisting and ing as if reality itself was bei. Uhe immense power, the upper half of the cursed spirit was sucked into a vortex, its body disiing into nothingness.

  "How... How is that even possible?"

  The cursed spirit, which had been nearly invincible just moments ago, was torn apart as if it was nothing.

  Maki turoward the source of the voice.

  "Who...?"

  From the shadows, a figure walked toward them, hands casually stuffed into his pockets. It was Ryuji.

  "The cursed energy... it really ecial-grade," Ryuji muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He barely g the now-destroyed cursed spirit.

  "Ryuji!" Utaha and Eriri called out, surprised and relieved to see him.

  Even Maki and Inumaki were stunned by how effortlessly Ryuji had defeated the special-grade curse.

  "Be careful!" Maki warned, still reeling from the fight. "That ecial-grade curse. It's not something to be taken lightly!"

  Ryuji just smiled, his tone casual and fident. "Rex. I've got this."

  He turned his attention to what remained of Tomoya's cursed form, his expression unreadable. "So it's a mix of an urban legend and a cursed spirit, huh? No wonder ordinary people could see it."

  As he examihe twisted remnants of the spirit, something caught his eye. "Still... this thing shouldn't have bee a special-grade curse on its own. Something else must be at py."

  Ryuji waved his hand zily. "Well, whatever it is, I'm hungry. Let's finish this."

  "H-hungry?" Utaha, Eriri, and even Maki stared at him in fusion. What kind of exorcist talked about being hungry in a situation like this?

  Ryuji didn't bother expining. He raised his hand again, summoning s from the cracks in space behind him.

  "Soul Dev!"

  The s ed around the remains of the special-grade cursed spirit, binding it tightly. The creature writhed and struggled, but it couldn't break free.

  In one swift motion, the s dragged the cursed spirit into a spatial rift, where it was devoured whole.

  Ryuji let out a small burp, patting his stomach with a satisfied grin. "That hit the spot."

  Everyone else could only stare in disbelief.

  "You... ate it?" Maki asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

  Ryuji didn't answer. Instead, something else caught his attention. From the sky, a withered object fell into his hand.

  "Hm?" Ryuji exami briefly befhing. "So that's why it became a special-grade curse."

  He held up the obje a, shriveled finger.

  "That... That's a special-grade cursed object," Maki realized, her eyes wide. "It's one of the fingers of the King of Curses."

  "No wohe cursed spirit reached special-grade level," Ryuji said, tossing the cursed objeto his pocket as if it were nothing. "It ate this."

  "Thanks for the assist," Maki finally said, her voice grateful but still wary. She didn't know who this guy was, but she was smart enough tnize when someone had saved her life.

  Ryuji turo her with a smile. "Name's Ryuji. o meet you."

  Maki extended her hand cautiously. "Maki. Just call me Maki."

  As they shook hands, Ryuji's system activated.

  "Successfully tacted a target: Zenin Maki! A goldery has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"

  Ryuji smiled to himself, pleased. "Not bad."

  Inumaki, who had recovered enough to stand, approached as well, Ryuji a nod.

  "Salmon!" (Thanks!)

  Maki quickly expined, "His name's Inumaki. He 't speak normally because of his curse teique, but he's saying thank you."

  "Yeah, I know," Ryuji replied with a griending his hand to Inumaki as well. "o meet you."

  "Successfully tacted a target: Inumaki Toge! A goldery has been triggered. Do you want to load it?"

  Ryuji couldn't help but smile wider. His luck was really on point today.

  "Zenin Maki, huh?" Ryuji said, his tone light. "I've heard a bit about you."

  Maki flinched slightly, her face hardening. "Don't mention that st name." She hated it, hated the association with her toxic family.

  "Sorry," Ryuji said, his tone more uanding now. He knew all about her situation, after all.

  "It's fine," Maki muttered, though she couldn't help but feel a little better after Ryuji's casual demeanor.

  ******

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