“Heeheehee, hahaha!”
“Can you find me?
I’m right here!”
Cradling the severed head of his Divine Dog, Megumi Fushiguro stared down the dimly lit hallway.
The eerie laughter echoed from the darkness, carrying a suffocating, sickening wave of malice.
Megumi took a few tense steps back.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Ronawa, who was completely ruining the horror atmosphere.
While he was locked in a life-or-death standoff with the local cursed spirit, Ronawa had somehow scrounged up an onigiri.
She was sitting on a ratty sofa, munching on her rice ball and watching the show.
She didn’t look like she was here to fight.
She looked like she had bought a front-row ticket to an immersive horror movie.
In that moment, Megumi really couldn’t maintain his composure.
What the hell are you doing, Ronawa?
We have a massive enemy right in front of us.
Snap out of it and show some dignity!
Just as Megumi was about to yell at her to focus, the nameless cursed spirit noticed her too.
In the cursed spirit’s eyes, Ronawa’s behavior was a blatant, unapologetic provocation.
“You ugly wretch, how dare you ignore me!
Drop dead!”
Accompanied by a furious, shrieking wail, a pitch-black axe forged from cursed energy was violently hurled straight at Ronawa.
It moved so fast that the air itself shrieked as it was sliced open.
Seeing that the strike was about to land directly on her, Megumi grit his teeth and threw himself in front of Ronawa.
He threw a punch with everything he had, desperate to deflect the axe.
But it was completely futile.
The very millisecond they collided, the cursed energy axe exploded.
The massive kinetic impact instantly shattered Megumi’s guard and sent him violently flying backward.
Just as he was about to crash into her, Ronawa finally reached out a hand.
Her pale hand was as delicate as a work of art, fragile as glass.
Yet, this seemingly weak hand effortlessly caught Megumi mid-flight.
Glancing at Megumi’s injuries, Ronawa’s expression read, Just as I expected.
She really shouldn’t have held any expectations for his combat strength.
But she had to admit, Megumi did have a great personality.
He might be weak, but he was undeniably brave.
When push came to shove, he actually stepped up.
He never threw his teammates under the bus.
Which begged the question: who did like throwing their teammates under the bus?
Ronawa mentally whistled and looked away.
I have no idea.
Casually tossing Megumi onto the sofa, Ronawa stood up.
“I generally don’t want to attack my own kind…
She was literally just watching the show, minding her own business.
Getting an axe thrown at her for that was completely uncalled for.
Furthermore, the ghost had actually called her ugly?!
Unforgivable!
That demanded the death penalty!
Her only response was three more razor-sharp axes flying rapidly toward her in a triangular formation.
The ghost gave exactly zero respect to the future King of Curses.
If that’s how it’s going to be, fine.
With a single flash of thought, crimson cursed energy rapidly condensed, pooling into Ronawa’s right hand.
It turned her entire hand the color of blood-red glazed jade.
Then, she casually tapped a finger forward.
The three incoming axes instantly shattered and dissipated into nothing.
They had all been completely killed.
And along with them, the incomplete domain enclosing the area directly collapsed.
“Goodbye, Miss Sadako!”
Ronawa murmured to the cursed spirit that had remained hidden in the shadows this whole time.
It sounded like a judge passing a final sentence.
As for how Ronawa knew her name?
Very simple.
While she was wandering around earlier, she had picked up a diary.
That was where she found the name.
Not that it mattered anymore.
Because the moment Ronawa activated her innate technique, a silent, absolute death descended without a sound.
The Grade 1 cursed spirit, Miss Sadako, didn’t even have time to let out a scream.
Every trace and conceptual proof that she was “alive” was completely obliterated.
In Megumi Fushiguro’s eyes, the sheer pressure radiating from Ronawa in that instant breached he had experienced till now.
He didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
Who could have guessed that the usually adorable Ronawa would be this utterly terrifying in combat?
She was quite literally a grim reaper walking the earth.
Just looking at her felt like witnessing the end of all things.
Having both bestowed and witnessed Miss Sadako’s death, Ronawa felt her cursed energy grow.
The increase was substantial—roughly equivalent to witnessing the deaths of a thousand ordinary humans.
But before she could carefully inspect her newly acquired power, Satoru Gojo’s voice cut in.
“How truly terrifying, Miss Ronawa.
Your technique really is so dangerous it makes my skin crawl.”
No matter how many times he saw it, Gojo couldn’t shake the feeling that Ronawa’s innate technique was absurdly broken.
Even for him, witnessing her wield the authority of death triggered a primal sense of fear deep within his soul.
It was faint, but it was undeniably there.
The way he was looking at Ronawa right now was like he had just seen a ghost.
Oh, wait.
Cursed spirits are basically ghosts anyway.
Never mind.
“Sadako was an unfortunate woman,” Gojo narrated later.
“She thought she had found a man she could entrust her life to, but in reality, he was a violently temperamental, hyper-aggressive brute.”
“After they married, what awaited Sadako wasn’t a happy new life, but endless domestic violence, verbal abuse, and humiliation…”
“…”
“In the end, Sadako died under her husband’s axe.
Her posthumous resentment twisted her into a cursed spirit, cursing all living things!”
From Miss Sadako’s diary, Gojo and the others had pieced together her past.
Honestly, it was pretty tragic.
However, as the strongest sorcerer, Gojo had seen countless similar tragedies.
He tossed it to the back of his mind in the blink of an eye.
Only Megumi was actually affected by the sad backstory.
“Let’s go.
The curse has been exorcised.
I’m taking you two out for a feast,” Gojo announced.
“If you know what you want to eat, speak now.”
With the curse gone, Gojo’s mission was complete.
The process had been a bit rocky, but it wasn’t a big deal.
They had exorcised the spirit and forced Ronawa to build a bond.
Never mind whether that bond was actually good or bad.
The point was, a bond had been formed!
After today, there was no doubt Ronawa and Megumi would remember each other.
Good memories or traumatic memories—the details didn’t matter!
“Let’s get yakiniku.
I’m craving beef,” Ronawa suggested.
Sure, she was a cursed spirit now, but she still loved meat.
“What about you?” Gojo looked at Megumi.
Megumi just replied with a flat, “Sure.”
And so, the trio headed off toward a yakiniku restaurant.
Along the way, Megumi kept shooting sidelong glances at Ronawa.
The current Ronawa completely lacked the overwhelming, apocalyptic pressure she had radiated during the fight.
Back to her normal self, she just looked excessively cute.
But Megumi couldn’t help but subconsciously flash back to the Ronawa in the haunted house.
Contrasting that image with the girl currently bickering loudly with Satoru Gojo…
it was jarring.
Is this really the same person?
Drop Stones to push the Story forward!