Sakiko had also realized how her ability had changed.
As long as she maintained a joyful state, she could trigger its healing effect.
But staying happy in an environment like this was obviously incredibly difficult.
Worse, Sakiko had spent so long under constant pressure back home that she could no longer remember the last time she’d genuinely smiled from the bottom of her heart.
She didn’t voice any of those feelings.
Instead, she gritted her teeth and resolved to do everything she could to control her emotions from now on.
‘I can’t let Kitano-kun down.
He’s a teammate I can trust.’ Under Sakiko’s healing, the minor wound on Makoto’s wrist quickly disappeared.
The two didn’t even have time to catch their breath before the pungent smell of blood drifted toward them again.
Sakiko couldn’t see Cursed Energy, but the screams were getting closer.
“What do we do now?
Keep running?” “No.
Get ready to fight.” Makoto took a deep breath.
“Running won’t solve anything.
Our real goal is to survive in the Main God Space, and we haven’t earned anything from this mission yet.
We need to fight.” “…Okay!” Sakiko nodded heavily before asking, “What can I do?” Makoto casually took hold of her wrist.
“I’ll lead.
When we encounter Cursed Spirits or Transfigured Humans, I’ll handle defense and close-range attacks.
You use your emotions to attack from a distance.” “That’ll also let us figure out exactly what your ability can do and where its limits are.” He had barely finished speaking when a girl’s head suddenly vanished at the entrance of the alley.
Blood erupted from the stump of her neck, splattering across the ground.
The sight left Makoto’s mind completely blank for a split second.
Screams immediately erupted from every direction.
The crowd desperately tried to flee, but the barrier stood directly behind them.
There was nowhere left to run.
Sakiko’s face went deathly pale, yet she remained firmly beside Makoto.
Makoto raised her wrist and aimed her hand toward a certain spot.
“The killer is over there.” In Makoto’s eyes, a grotesque Cursed Spirit with a dog’s head, six eyes, and a pair of wings was clutching the dead girl and tearing into her body.
Judging from the density of its Cursed Energy, it was probably around Grade 3.
A Grade 3 Cursed Spirit could already use Cursed Energy Reinforcement on its own body.
It wouldn’t be an easy opponent, but that also made it the perfect test for their abilities.
Sakiko held her breath.
The girl’s horrific death, combined with all the pressure she’d endured since entering the Main God Space, erupted at once.
She let out a low, furious growl as crimson light gathered in her palm.
The light transformed into a blazing streak and shot forward, piercing straight through the Cursed Spirit’s chest.
The creature shrieked in agony, interrupting its gruesome meal.
But it wasn’t dead.
In theory, Cursed Spirits could only be properly exorcised with Cursed Energy.
Ordinary physical attacks were largely ineffective against them.
So it made sense that Sakiko’s power wasn’t especially effective against a Cursed Spirit.
The creature clutched its chest with one hand and tossed aside the bloody remains it had been holding.
Its scarlet eyes swept across the alley before finally locking onto Makoto.
With a deafening roar, it charged toward them like a speeding truck.
People who had collapsed in terror were sent flying along the way.
Some had their limbs crushed outright beneath its advance.
To Sakiko, it looked as though an invisible force was effortlessly pulverizing human bodies.
In an instant, the crowded alley became a corridor of mangled flesh and blood.
Her mind had gone blank after releasing her first attack, but now fear flooded back in all at once.
At that moment, Makoto stepped in front of her.
His slender back somehow seemed as steady as a mountain, filling Sakiko with an overwhelming sense of security.
Makoto’s own face had gone slightly pale.
He might have lived two lives, but he’d never experienced a genuinely bloody battle before.
Yet he couldn’t retreat now.
Just as he’d stepped forward to protect that little girl before his death, he had to stand his ground again.
Makoto slowly exhaled and circulated Cursed Energy throughout his body.
As he experimented with reinforcing himself, he simultaneously activated his Cursed Technique.
His hands swept through the air.
A cross-section of his Storage Space unfolded in front of him, forming an invisible wall roughly two meters square.
From the outside, it was almost completely transparent.
Only the faintest distortion of light revealed that something was there.
The Cursed Spirit obviously couldn’t notice such a subtle difference.
Swinging its arms wildly, it slammed directly into the barrier.
Its vicious face flattened against the invisible wall and instantly distorted.
Momentum forced the rest of its body to fold in on itself until it resembled a grotesque cocoon of flesh.
Makoto’s spatial barrier didn’t move an inch.
He might only possess Grade 3 levels of Cursed Energy, but the inherent properties of space itself clearly weren’t something a mere Grade 3 Cursed Spirit could break through.
Still, the collision alone wasn’t enough to kill it.
The worm-like creature twisted violently, trying to reposition itself.
Makoto immediately shouted, “Sakiko!
Attack from my left!
Use whatever works!” Sakiko obeyed without hesitation.
She attacked from his left, hurling another burst of power from her hand.
This time, fear fueled her ability.
Dark-purple mist wrapped around the Cursed Spirit like maggots clinging to bone, continuously corroding its outer flesh.
In mere moments, nearly a quarter of its body dissolved away.
The effect was clearly much stronger than the crimson flames she’d used earlier.
“Good.
It’s working.
You have ten seconds—prepare another attack.” While giving the order, Makoto began gathering power for a Spatial Slash of his own.
At this distance, if he delivered a knife-hand strike coated in a Spatial Slash, he was fairly certain he could cut the Cursed Spirit cleanly in two.
Apparently, he wouldn’t need to.
Pale-golden light suddenly flashed across Sakiko’s body.
Her presence rapidly intensified.
She launched another stream of flame.
This time, crimson and gold intertwined within it.
The instant the flames struck the Cursed Spirit, they almost completely swallowed its body.
The sinister Cursed Energy collapsed into ash and vanished before Makoto’s eyes.
“How was that, Kitano-kun?
Say something!” Makoto slowly lowered the spatial barrier.
Then he turned toward Sakiko and gave her a gentle hug.
“Good job.” Sakiko’s entire body stiffened.
At the same time, a system notification sounded in her ears.
[Congratulations.
You have exorcised a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit.] [Reward: 100 Mission Points.] ‘We won!’ ‘And we even got a reward!’ Sakiko still didn’t know exactly how valuable 100 Mission Points were, but her entire body relaxed nonetheless.
She didn’t even resist Makoto’s embrace.
‘He must’ve been under a lot of pressure too, standing in front of me like that…’ A faint, unfamiliar emotion wrapped around Sakiko.
Yet the warmth it carried somehow also felt strangely familiar.
Rainbow-colored light began shimmering across the surface of her body.
Both of them suddenly trembled.
Neither could quite believe the changes occurring within them.