Night.
Yoshino Nagi walked alone on the road home.
The cool night breeze gently ruffled the hem of her clothes.
Moonlight spilled down, casting her thin, frail silhouette upon the ground.
Ordinarily at this hour, she would be at home sharing dinner with her son, Junpei—sipping a bit of sake, trading jokes, passing another ordinary yet precious day.
But today, she had just walked out of a police station.
Her pretty face, usually graced with a smile, was now etched with unease and anxiety.
“Junpei…
how could he be mixed up in some murder case…”
At sunset, she had finished her usual grocery shopping and returned home.
When Junpei never came back, she had called the school to ask about his whereabouts, only to learn that he hadn’t attended class for several days.
More importantly, according to a teacher named Tomura who taught Junpei, her son appeared to have been taken away by a group of mysterious individuals.
Panicked, she had immediately contacted the police, only to be told that Junpei seemed to be involved in a murder case and had been taken in for investigation by official personnel.
Reeling from this shocking news, she had rushed frantically to the police station, hoping to see her son.
But the police told her that Junpei had not been detained there.
He had been taken by a separate, special department, and they were not at liberty to disclose any further details.
In that moment, she experienced, for the first time in a long while, the feelings known as despair and helplessness.
She didn’t even know how she had walked out of the police station.
By the time she came back to herself, she was already alone on the nighttime road home.
“Everything will be fine…
Junpei is a good boy…”
Nagi murmured to herself, over and over, trying to offer herself comfort.
But such thin, fragile words seemed to have no effect at all.
What she failed to notice was that tonight, for some reason, the streets had grown exceptionally quiet.
Her fragmented murmurs drifted through the empty streets, lending the scene an inexplicable air of eeriness.
But just then, a voice called out to her from behind.
“Excuse me…
are you Yoshino Junpei’s mother?”
Nagi turned around at the sound.
The person addressing her was a remarkably cute girl, dressed in a school uniform she didn’t recognize.
Her vivid orange-red hair blazed like living flames under the moonlight, impossible to ignore.
Looking at the unfamiliar yet lovely girl, Nagi’s expression showed a hint of puzzlement.
“Yes…
I’m Junpei’s mother.
Are you a friend of his?
Can I help you?”
But I did come here specifically for you.”
“Eh?”
Nagi was baffled by Ritsuka’s reply.
But even as she answered, Ritsuka’s gaze was locked firmly behind Nagi—on the Special Grade cursed spirit that had fought Nanami.
Mahito.
That was close.
Nagi was an ordinary person, so she couldn’t see him.
If Ritsuka hadn’t called out and stopped her just now, the woman would likely have walked straight into the cursed spirit’s waiting embrace.
After Ijichi had dropped her back at the school, an uneasy feeling had gnawed at her.
So she had rushed over here at top speed with Jalter—and arrived to find the harrowing scene before her.
“To think you anticipated my move…
Has Jujutsu High’s investigation already progressed this far?”
Mahito was somewhat surprised by Ritsuka’s sudden appearance.
But a guess quickly formed in his mind, and he grinned at her with keen interest.
“No…
if that were the case, it wouldn’t be just a single student showing up.”
“It’s a coincidence, isn’t it?
It seems, little miss, that your intuition is rather sharp.”
“But…
all by yourself, how exactly do you plan to stop me?”
The words barely left his lips before Mahito lunged toward Nagi.
Just one touch of his hand and—
A blazing inferno erupted right behind Nagi.
The dazzling flames illuminated the entire night for a brief instant!
Sensing the danger, Mahito halted his charge in the nick of time, then leaped backward with all his might to escape the fire’s reach.
But he was still a step too slow.
His outstretched right hand had grazed the edges of the flame, and before his astonished eyes, the fire swiftly crawled up his arm, spreading as if intent on consuming him entirely!
What kind of flame is this…
it’s as if it’s using me as fuel…!
No time to ponder.
In a split-second decision, Mahito tore the burning arm clean off at the shoulder and hurled it to the ground.
The severed limb was rapidly engulfed in flames, reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
“Whoa…
what terrifying flames.”
Though his words professed fear, Mahito’s tone remained as flippant as ever.
His gaze shifted to Jalter, who had materialized behind Nagi.
The curiosity in his eyes slowly gave way to bafflement.
a cursed spirit?
No…
you feel different…
But you’re not a sorcerer either…
Just what are you?”
“Hmph.
A mere evil spirit has no right to know who I am.
You need only carry that question with you as I burn you to ash,” Jalter declared with contempt.
On the other side, watching the image of Mahito’s arm being reduced to cinders, Ritsuka thought to herself: Just as I suspected.
From her time in this world so far, she had guessed that the reason Jalter had been summoned was due to a high degree of compatibility with this realm.
The fundamental power of this world was cursed energy—a force born from the negative emotions of humanity.
And Jalter herself had been born from the wrath of Gilles de Rais, from prejudice and one-sided obsession—all of it intermingling to produce the “other aspect” of the Saint Jeanne d’Arc, an existence that should never have been possible.
Due to this alignment, Jalter could actively draw in cursed energy from the surrounding air and convert it into magical energy—a process that visually resembled how cursed spirits absorbed ambient cursed energy.
This was precisely why Mahito had, at first glance, mistaken Jalter for a cursed spirit.
The elements comprising their respective existences were indeed highly similar.
More than that, Jalter’s power—the flames she wielded—was the inferno of vengeance itself.
In her name as an Avenger, she converted her own rancor and the grudges around her into magical energy and set them ablaze.
It was a fire of retribution that burned the unrighteous, the corrupt, and the self-righteous down to the very marrow of their bones.
And cursed energy was exactly that kind of existence.
In other words, the cursed energy, cursed spirits, and even the jujutsu sorcerers of this world were, to Jalter, nothing more than premium fuel—the ideal subjects to be consumed and incinerated by her vengeful flames!
This world…
was practically Jalter’s home field!
“What…
is that?”
Ordinary people couldn’t see cursed spirits, but Servants had no such limitation.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Nagi turned.
Seeing Jalter, who had appeared behind her at some unknown moment, and the raging flames blazing before her, her eyes flew wide in shock.
“I know you must be incredibly confused right now.
But please, trust me.
I’ll explain everything to you afterwards—including where Yoshino Junpei has gone.”
Ritsuka stepped up beside Nagi, shielding the woman behind her.
Her voice was steady and resolute.
Nagi looked at Ritsuka’s profile.
Though she had never met this girl before, and couldn’t make sense of the current situation, the unwavering determination etched on that youthful face made her want to trust, instinctively.
“…I understand.”