The four of them ran out of the entrance and into the courtyard, wildly searching their surroundings. However, there was nothing but silence, besides a soft breeze swirling through the street and nearby trees.
"...Something is off." Megumi murmured, bending down to touch the dirt with his fingers. "There's definitely faint traces of cursed energy coming from somewhere-"
Suddenly, there was a distant cry, followed by a series of frenzied screaming.
"I-I think it's coming from the road!" Qian shouted, rushing down the gravel path. As they approached the pavement, they turned to see a figure in the distance frantically racing towards them.
"Who is that…?" Yuji squinted his eyes, trying to see through the darkness.
"A man, it looks like." Nobara muttered, placing a hand on her hip. "Looks like the earthquake must've scared him."
"U-Um guys…" Qian gulped nervously, pointing her finger at a massive shadow towering right behind his heels. "W-What's that?"
The other three further narrowed their eyes and realized that the figure was, in fact, a human male, and behind him was a series of giant, green vines, waving wildly in their pursuit. Monstrous buds bloomed open at the tips to expose bright, razor-sharp petals that violently snapped open, revealing needle-like projections in the very center.
"H-HELP!" The man wheezed in panic, stumbling forward as his stubby legs struggled to continue carrying his large body.
The first-years immediately charged forward, with Yuji grabbing the man and throwing themselves back a few yards. Qian immediately rushed besides them, helping him get to his feet to escape as a vine tried to twist itself around his leg. Yuji punched it brutally into the ground, causing the stems to decimate into bits from the impact.
Megumi hooked his thumbs together to spread his fingers.
"Nue!" He shouted, and the owl burst out of the darkness, swooping down to pick up Nobara by her shoulders to fly towards the thick vines. The girl threw several nails downwards, whipping out her hammer to slam them into the stalks before the shikigami took her back high into the skies.
"Hairpin!" With a snap of her fingers, the tendrils exploded beneath her.
Despite being a distance away, Qian shoved herself and the man behind the inn's gates to avoid the explosion. She raised her arms as the raging winds howled and surged around them from the blast. Once the air settled, she turned and shook off her bag, pulling out a first aid kit.
"S-Sir, are you alright?" She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I-I-I-" The poor man blubbered, tears streaming down his oily cheeks as he remained unable to form coherent words. He crumpled to the ground, covering his face in violent sobs. "I-I was just getting cigarettes-"
She peered around the corner to see Nobara land softly on the ground, with Nue circling high in the air. Yuji and Megumi stood next to her rigidly, the three of them facing the cloud of dust. Once the smoke cleared, the destroyed tendrils suddenly began to grow again, more vines bursting forth from the broken pieces.
"Oh goodness, what happened?" Qian turned to see Adalaine rushing down the path, her eyes wide in worry.
"W-Would it be possible to hide him in your inn?" She asked, wrapping a bandage around his bleeding arm. "S-Something is after him and he's in danger if he continues being exposed."
Adalaine turned towards the streets, her shoulders tense in apprehension. "Is it a cursed spirit?"
Qian nodded solemnly and the two of them managed to pull the man to his feet. She quickly raised two fingers in front of her. "I will set a veil around this area."
The girl looked up at her. "Y-You can do that?"
She nodded and closed her eyes. "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
—-
"Ugh…this is such a pain." A sultry voice groaned from the darkness.
The three students shifted their stance as the vines retracted to reveal the woman with amber hair, her eyes glowing green in fury. She stepped forward into the streetlight, her mundane clothes now replaced with a dark Coleus-patterned jumpsuit. She raised her hands, angrily tying her locks up into a high ponytail. "Here I was, about to cultivate a new one-" She crossed her arms, tapping her finger in irritation, "-and some meddlesome sorcerers show up."
Megumi glared at her in suspicion, the tendrils appearing oddly familiar. "You…are you related to that special grade spirit, Hanami?"
"Who-?" She sighed and rubbed her temples in annoyance. "You know what- I don't care. Stop talking and get the fuck out of my way."
She raised her arms and thick tendrils shot out from her fingertips. The three of them easily dodged to the side as the razor-sharp ends impaled the pavement where they were standing just moments before.
She clicked her tongue in frustration and, from the corner of her eye, saw Nobara reach into her pocket.
"Oh, no you don't." She grinned maniacally and shot a carnivorous flower out of her palm towards the girl, who barely managed to throw herself to the right as its petal jaws violently bit through the thick oak tree behind her.
"The fuck is that?!" The girl yelped as she rolled to her feet. "A flower that eats people?!"
"Less talking, more fighting!" Megumi shouted, clasping his hands together. "Divine Dog: Totality!"
The beast tore through the shadows with a howl, dashing forward towards the woman. She quickly raised her other arm, a flurry of vines bursting from her fingers once more to attack the shikigami. The wolf lithely ducked and weaved past each tentril, and she gritted her teeth.
"You all are SO ANNOYING!" She screeched, flinging her other hand upwards. A wall of vines shot up from the ground, forcing the canine to stop in its tracks.
She took a sharp breath before a shadow suddenly appeared above her head. She twisted her body around just in time as the pink-haired teen threw his punch, missing her head by a few inches.
"Damn it!" He muttered as he landed on the ground in front of her.
The woman peered up at the sky and scowled upon seeing the veil begin to fall around them. "You guys really know how to piss a lady off, don't you?" She grumbled as she cracked her knuckles together. "Not just three on one, but now it looks like someone on the outside is watching out for you."
She flipped her hair. "Well, let's make things a bit more fair, shall we?" She smirked and slammed her palms onto the ground.
Three towering bulbs suddenly erupted from the concrete, scattering rocks and rubble around the area. In an instant, they burst open to reveal three cursed spirits, each with their own grotesque physique of limbs, their meager eyes bulging out of their sockets as they released ear-splitting roars.
"What the-" Yuji stumbled back in shock. "Aren't those-?!"
"-the freaky plant things we've been dealing with these past few months?" Nobara grabbed a fistful of nails from her pocket. "Great observation!"
One of them unfolded large wings and propelled itself towards Yuji. Nue immediately swooped down to grab the boy out of the way as it tried to chomp at his legs, both soon giving chase into the sky.
Meanwhile, Divine Dog grabbed Nobara by her collar to throw her onto his back as they raced down the street, drawing the attention of the second one. It galloped after them with a vicious snarl.
Megumi gritted his teeth as he widened his stance, facing the last spirit and the woman before him.
"See? Not so tough are you, when you're outnumbered?" She sneered as she placed a hand on her hip. With a howl, the spirit charged towards him, its sharp claws breaking and tearing the concrete along the way.
He leapt to the side, shortly before getting whipped by one of the tendrils. As he flew back, his mind raced. I don't have enough energy to summon a third shikigami, I don't know how Nobara and Yuji are doing so I don't want to release my technique…but-
He flew into a nearby bench with a sickening crash, causing him to choke in pain. He coughed and heaved himself up onto his forearms. Shaking his head, he raised his eyes to see the veil almost completely formed around them. He clenched his jaw, placing one hand over the other. I don't have a choice, I have to try summoning Max Elephant-
Suddenly, a large shadow loomed in the corner of his vision and he barely managed to brace himself as the claws sliced through his shoulder. He shoved himself away as the spirit tried to swipe at him again, rolling on the concrete until his back hit the curb. He hissed and tightly clutched his wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
"Wow, this suddenly became a lot easier." The woman yawned as she approached him, peering up at the sky. "Now all I need to do is to take care of whoever put this veil up."
Megumi cried in agony as she stomped on his leg, digging her black heel into his shin. "You guys disgust me. Who do you think you are- acting as if you even had a chance against me."
The boy tried to throw a punch, but a vine had wrapped itself around his arms, pinning them to the ground. She pressed down harder and smiled sadistically as she heard a loud snap. Megumi screamed.
Her eyes glowed ominously as she regarded his broken form in cruel satisfaction. "I'm going to kill you nice and slow…to make up for all the time you made me waste."