Black keys flew all around the chamber, dancing across the air and piercing every single curse in its way.

"Soul Resonance!" Nobara's ultimate move dwindled the numbers just as effectively, eradicating the ghostly faces, though not without expending a great deal of her cursed energy. If not for Ciel fighting alongside her, however, Nobara would have used up more if not all her iron nails, so this was an acceptable trade-off.

Ciel finished off the final curse, a large frog-like entity that had been hiding in the dark. Two black keys into its mouth was all it took to exorcise the spirit, and it perished under the holy flames.

Soul Resonance... Ciel was impressed. A cursed technique that affects a curse from afar should one have a sample of it, not only purging the main body but its extensions as well, regardless of how many or how far apart. It was like being able to puncture one part of the body and spread "poison" throughout its existence, even if the rest of the body was dismembered and separated. A voodoo-type ability in every sense.

A technique like that would have done wonders against someone like Roa, though, it's evident that there were some limitations. Sukuna's continuing existence was proof of that. It would be unreasonable not to assume that it wasn't tried at least once against one of his cursed fingers. Perhaps the technique wasn't strong enough, his fingers too impenetrable, or some other reason.

It could also be the issue of its carrier. Nobara clearly held a level of care for Yuji. Perhaps there was some hesitation on her part. Either way, the elders saw no value in Nobara's ability, otherwise, they would have avoided sending her to this death trap of a place.

"That's the last of them." Nobara wiped off the sweat from her upper lip. "Now how do we find those guys?"

If what Ciel said was true, then Megumi and Yuji were dealing with the curse womb right now. They could still help if Nobara and Ciel hurried, the issue was that they don't have Megumi's tracker dog. It's a random guess to decide which tunnel would lead them right back to those guys.

Ciel's fingers pressed against her temple, honing in on where her other black keys were positioned. "…This way."

Ciel started for the one of the entrances. "We need to hurry."

"Ah- Right," Nobara decided to trust Ciel's lead and followed after her. Better to keep moving than standing around twiddling their thumbs. Rude as the nun was, she didn't waste time.

Stay alive, you two. Nobara thought of her classmates.

Blood dripped from Megumi's forehead and down across his nose. His head hung low as his body sat slumped in front of the wall, a massive impact among the stone behind him.

Yuji's feet hastily splashed through the water. His sprint vying to reach Megumi, only to be stopped by another powerful, white kick to his stomach. Yuji's figure was sent back flying, crashing into the water.

Droplets flailed from his spiky, pink hair as he yanked his head back, holding himself up with his hands submerged in the blood water. His breath stagnant from the loss of wind. His eyes fierce, but focused.

It's messing with me.

He watched the curse womb extend its arms from its sides, savoring the cries of the limbless victims like they were applause. The sight of its enjoyment through its abnormally wide, human-like grin, the glee in its four eyes. It was sickening.

Yet it was that sadism that kept Yuji alive. The fun would have been over too soon had the curse womb just killed him. Yuji wasn't oblivious. It had the power to take his head off easily. It wanted to torment him first, it wanted to see him fail again and again. Have him try to save Megumi only to deny him. That was Yuji's only speck of hope.

After Yuji had lost his arm, the curse womb shifted its attention to Megumi. The sight of the curse sent the first-year sorcerers into a paralytic shock. Their fears gluing them in place. The curse womb had been dissatisfied by its lack of kill of the shikigami, so it went for the summoner himself. A single thrust of its pale, large arm and it was lights out. Megumi didn't even get a chance to command his black Divine Dog before he was smacked into the wall. The loss of concentration immediately caused his shikigami's retreat into the shadows, dropping like a blob that could no longer hold its shape at the severed connection.

Yuji had been rushing to get to Megumi ever since. It was the third time he was kicked away like he was a pebble skipping across a pond. The first time he felt small, breakable, weak.

Yuji knew the gravity of what he was up against, but all that mattered was getting his classmate out of this. What came after that, the bleakness of their future, the very slim chance of survival - he'll get to that when he gets to that. Right now, he needed to do everything he could to save Megumi.

"Hey! You're watching this, aren't you?"

Yuji called out the cursed soul inside of himself.

"It's bad news for you if this thing kills me, right? If you don't want to die, help me fight it!"

It was a plea for assistance. For the aid of the strongest sorcerer in history. However...

"I refuse."

The King of Curses gloated, emerging as a grin and one eye on Yuji's cheek. "Even if you die, I still have eighteen other cursed fingers as insurance. My life will not be in jeopardy, and I'll simply wait for my next vessel. Of course, you can still switch with me if you choose to. I don't have the power to resist that."

His grin widened, "But know this, once you do, I'll kill Fushiguro. Then I'll hunt down and kill Kugisaki and Ciel as well. I've had my eye on that nun for a while now. It'll be interesting to see what else she can do. With her finesse, I'm sure I'll have fun with her the most."

Yuji was shocked by the curse's words. A cold sweat that left a sinking, sick feeling in Yuji's gut. He remembered Ciel's warm smile on the train ride and his temper flared. "I'm not letting that happen."

"Then you better think of something, brat. Because if you don't, you really will die!"

His sheer glee - a sadistic ecstasy at the plight of the helpless. This was a curse.

Yuji took a deep breath, the air slightly trembling in his throat. He tightened his grip in the water. He lifted one knee, and then he bolted for the curse womb once more.

The curse womb happily welcomed him with another large swing of its pale arm. However, the moment it touched Yuji, a sharp pain embedded through the curse womb's hand. "-!"

The black key of which Ciel had thrown earlier protruded through the curse womb's palm. Yuji took advantage of its hesitation, ducking under the arm and sprinted past the curse womb.

He reached Megumi at last. Yuji grabbed the collar of his teammate's uniform. "Fushiguro! Hey!"

He lifted Megumi's collar. Yuji saw his eyes were closed, and the wound on his forehead from the curse womb's backhand attack. The faintest breathing through Megumi's mouth.

-! He's alive.

Unconscious, but alive. Whatever Megumi did right before the curse womb hit him, it somehow dulled the impact and avoided his head be instantly crushed. The instinctual act of using one's own cursed energy to reinforce the body like armor - as Gojo-sensei once talked about in class.

Yuji didn't waste a second to express his relief. They weren't out of the woods yet. He lifted Megumi over his shoulder and carried the sorcerer on his back.

The curse womb snapped the black key in half. It looked at its hand where a cut was made, but nothing that penetrated all the way through. It was surprised to have not felt the burn of that blade as much as before. It then quickly understood that the boy did not posses the same abilities as that girl, the kind that would whisper curse-expelling power into the weapon and ignite like dynamite.

Fwip-!

The next one, however, was most certainly the real deal. The curse womb's arms shot up to guard and felt the impact of more black keys - others that were left behind by Ciel. They tore through its white flesh like scooping its skin with a spoon, spilling dark ectoplasm as its blood.

Yuji faced the direction of the curse womb to shield Megumi. He looked upon the onslaught of black keys in surprise, the weapons moving on their own and surrounding the curse womb in a distracting tango. Too fast for the naked eye.

Is that Ciel?

There was no other explanation as to who else could be doing that. Which meant she was alright. Hopefully, she and Nobara were together.

Yuji looked up at the ceiling where the trapped people still hung. His face strained with agonizing confliction, until he felt Megumi's blood seep over his shoulder. His indecisiveness coming to an end. ...I have to move.

He couldn't carry them all, but he could, at the very least, ensure their survival a little longer. Ciel was clearly keeping the curse womb busy to give him and Megumi a chance to flee. With some luck, the curse womb would be exorcised, and if not, it would go after Yuji rather than these people. It's sadism wouldn't risk losing an audience. Yuji would just have to be fast enough.

"I'm sorry! I'll be back with more help! Just hold on!" Yuji shouted at the people, his heart weighing like an anchor as he did so. He adjusted his hold of Megumi and turned to the tunnel.

Ssssssssss-!

"-!"

Ahead of him, the barrier that Ciel had set up started moving towards him. There was a gap in its barrier, as if calling for him to move through it. Yuji ducked through the gap and watched the barrier sped for the curse womb.

"-?!" The curse womb dashed away from the barrier, knowing the purification energy it carried that could incinerate the curse. The barrier moved in front of the startled victims, cascading them in a protective shield.

"Ciel...!" Yuji couldn't help but let out a relieved smile. Thank you.

With the people safe, there was nothing holding Yuji back. He immediately broke into a dash, bolting through the dark hallway like the chains were off.

I have to find Ciel and Kugisaki!

The best plan was to regroup with everyone. Without Megumi's dog, he was running blind. He'll just have to trust his gut to find his way around.

"...Leave..." Megumi muttered, his consciousness coming to.

Yuji jumped over obstacles, containers and pipelines, finding solid ground that brought him out of the water.

"Idiot... just... leave me."

Yuji did not adhere to Megumi. "Shut up. I'm listening to you guys now. We're getting out of here. All of us."

Although, Yuji would be going back for those people, once Megumi and the others were safe.

"Liar..." It was as if Megumi could read his thoughts, and promptly called him out on it, even gripping Yuji's shirt as if to tear himself away.

"Don't be a hero, man." Yuji was aware that he shouldn't be the one to talk. "I'm the one who ends up having to save you twice-"

He passed by a doorway, and the grinning curse womb stood there.

There wasn't any time to react. The curse womb struck before Yuji could move out of the way. It slammed its fist against Yuji's side, the weight behind it like the nose of a speeding car. It made Yuji nearly puke. He just barely managed to turn at the last second before he broke through a wall, taking most of the hit as he took Megumi along.

-Shit!

His arms slipped as they they tumbled across the floor. Megumi was the first to slow down, the sorcerer partially awake enough to stop himself. Yuji tried to stomp his feet to cease his slide. He looked straight ahead for Megumi, only to see the blink of another white fist.

It was the very hand he had just wounded with Ciel's black key, only there wasn't even a scratch left on it. The wound now fully closed. Yuji was able to distinguish this in a split second before he was punched in the face and was sent flying.

The curse womb healed itself? Yuji deduced as his back broke through another wall. Through the dust, he saw the large shape of the curse womb's humanoid figure. It's after me. It wants payback for hurting it.

Yuji could accept that. As long as Megumi was no longer its concern. "-Guh! Run-! Fushiguro!"

"Itadori-!" That was the last Yuji heard from Megumi before Yuji and the curse womb vanished into the dark.

"This isn't good," Ciel said as she and Nobara rushed through the dark corridor. Ciel kept her pace steady and close to Nobara's, ensuring she would not leave the other girl behind. "My black keys aren't doing as much damage as before. In the three hours the curse womb has been in its domain, its gotten stronger."

She felt the disconnection of a few black keys, meaning the curse womb had adjusted to their speed and destroyed them. Normally, no spirit could withstand the holy sacraments of her blades. Its body must have seriously toughened since its last altercation. Could it also possess some form of regeneration ability? The same as a dead apostle?

The curse womb's adaptability was admittedly astonishing. It's growth seemed almost human.

"You can tell from here?" Nobara asked under her breath.

"Yes. I can also pinpoint where the curse womb is. It's moving, but not as instantly." This was Ciel's chance. If she could reach the curse womb while it was distracted, she'll be able to exorcise it.

They ran through a doorway, a path where Ciel was certain would lead them back to the others, and they came into a large room. "-!"

Within the room, three people were sitting on the floor. They sat inside a glowing shield of light, held down by black keys. Their uniforms showed that they were the inmates of the detention center.

"Huh?" One of the inmates raised his head. His sullen, tough look brightened at the sight of others. "H-Hey! Over here!"

Nobara squinted her eyes, reading partially the inmate's name tag: Tadashi.

"Hey! Are you Tadashi Okazaki?" Nobara stopped in front of the barrier. "Holy cow. You're actually alive!"

She didn't even try to hide her surprise. They must be the other group Megumi picked up on earlier. That means we're close by that tunnel! Back to where they were before.

"Who is it?!" The second inmate from behind Tadashi piped up, getting up on his feet. "Is it a rescue team- Wait. Are those girls?"

It was a befuddlement that slightly drew him away from the insanity of their setting. Nobara misinterpreted that tone as awe and flipped her hair back. "Don't worry. You haven't died and gone to heaven. Us lovely ladies are here to rescue you."

Ciel had her attention elsewhere, focusing on one of the entrances. "...Kugisaki. I need you to stay with the inmates."

Nobara was surprised by Ciel's request.

"Something is wrong. I don't believe Yuji-kun and Fushiguro are together anymore," Ciel bit back the nervousness that slipped into her heart, keeping her composure. Several worst-case scenarios ran through her mind: either Yuji or Megumi were killed, or they got separated and the curse womb was fighting one of them right now. Neither left a confident feeling in her. Megumi was not yet ready, and Yuji...

"There's no telling if the environment will change on us again until the curse womb is dead," Ciel added as she summoned more black keys in between her fingers. "I'll set up another barrier here, but there shouldn't be any more curses. That swarm we just fought through, I'm certain they were the last ones."

This was just in case the curse womb shows up before Ciel would intercept it.

The last ones... Ciel sounded so sure, it was almost hard to believe, and then Nobara remembered. It's been three hours since the curse womb manifested. Ciel had been here that whole time, fighting and exorcizing curses and dead left and right, and even secured the inmates. She's been busy.

Ciel started walking forward. "If either Yuji-kun or Fushiguro come by here, try to find the exit together. I'll see if I can assist you from afar, but my attention might be divided."

Between searching for the lone shaman who got separated, or the shaman who was in the middle of battle - a matter of life and death, the choice was obvious. The dead apostle was currently no where in this building, Ciel was sure of it. The curse womb was a top priority now.

"I'll entrust their lives to you," Ciel said.

Nobara gave a light salute. "Alright. You can count on me."

"Are you serious?! We've been sitting here for hours!" A third inmate said, about fed up with waiting. The stench of his cellmates was especially getting to him.

Nobara promptly kicked one of the black keys. A loud clang of her heel against metal, and the inmate was silenced. "Keep it down! You think you're the only one out of patience?!"

A little appreciation was all that's warranted. She pulled her foot back down as she looked at Tadashi. "Your mom has been worried sick about you, you know?"

"Huh? My mom...?" Tadashi said. Ciel overheard the conversation as she examined one of the entrances.

"We've met her briefly. She's probably taken back home by now, but she's been crying for your sake." Nobara pointed at the stunned Tadashi. "An idiot friend of mine wants to bring you back to her. Take this as an opportunity to better your life, seeing how hard he's been fighting for it."

She was, of course, talking about Yuji.

"..." Ciel at last found the tunnel, and she dashed into it, leaving behind black keys to guard the area behind her.

"Something has definitely gone wrong," Kiyotaka Ijichi's fingers nervously thrummed the stick of his umbrella. "They should have been out by now."

The rain pelted his umbrella's black shade as he stood outside the detention center. The police and his co-workers have successfully evacuated all civilians and news reporters from the area, leaving just himself and a handful of other sorcerer assistants to oversee the operation.

Admittedly, the onset of this mission was rather peculiar. It was the first time his superiors had given an assignment to first-year students without speaking to their teacher. It was self-explanatory as Satoru was overseas, but Ijichi would have thought they'd at least give the man a phone call. Desperate times calls for desperate measures, and Ijichi was in no position to ask that many questions while lives were at stake - despite being assistant manager.

Now, though, it's possible that even more lives were at risk. Did the students encountered the curse womb? Should he go in and verify? His order was to wait, but the longer he stood out here, the more his nerves began to eat away at him, and the less and less this mission started to make sense.

And who would be responsible to inform Satoru of what happened here as soon as the strongest sorcerer returns? To explain why three newbie shamans were sent into the crux of what could be a severe hazard to even first-grade sorcerers. Of course, that'd be Ijichi.

"I'm so fired."

"-I know she said to leave if we have to, but..." Nobara closely examined the black keys that surrounded the inmates. "How's anyone supposed to lift these things?"

Just from her kick, Nobara could tell that these weapons were a lot heavier than they looked. It'll take more than a body lifter to move them. "And you guys never stepped out once?"

"Like hell I'd want to. It's a whole lot safer here than out there," one of the inmates said.

"'Sides, it shocks us if we touch it," another said, like being forced to heed a warning. He was still in disbelief that this was apparently their rescue. He'd have no complaints since its been too long since he'd seen and talk to a woman. The problem was she had an awful attitude.

"Fair enough," Nobara straightened her back and shrugged. She suppose this was better than being swamped by depraved delinquents. These guys didn't have any sex offenses in their records from what she looked into before coming here, but you can never be too sure.

They were damn good at hiding it too, looking legitimately uninterested in her. Even asking when that "nun chick" was coming back as a diversion. Ha!

Step... Step...

"Huh?" Nobara turned at the sound of footsteps. "Ah-! Fushiguro?!"

Leaning against the wall, dragging his shoulder across the stone, Megumi's head bled over his eyes. His uniform scuffed with what looked to have been from a serious fall.

Ciel leapt over potholes and ditches that had no end, only the void between the large gaps. The walls around her corroded with negative energy, and the air thickened the further she went, closer to the source.

I'm almost there!

Authors's Note: Surprise! Another short chapter. I hope I've been keeping you at the edge of your seats. Let me know how these shorter chapters fair for you guys. I might need to work on better titles tho...

Here's to the first, latest chapter of 2025! :D