CHAPTER 10.
Kaito and Mahi become even more confused; they can't understand what exactly is happening.
Mahi: "Someone explain to me what's going on!"
Kaito: "Now I'm sure this isn't a normal human."
As soon as Kaito says this and moves forward, Ryan suddenly appears in front of him at ultra-sonic speed.
Kaito can't understand anything — he's confused how Ryan came from there so quickly.
Ryan's eyes are still glowing golden.
Suddenly, a very powerful aura begins to emerge from inside Ryan. It's similar to the one that came from that man before — the one whose aura was dark and evil, who transformed everyone into curses — or maybe even stronger.
But Ryan's aura isn't dark or evil; it's pure power — so overwhelming that it spreads not just throughout the mall but across the entire nearby area. Even the people outside the mall can feel it.
Kaito becomes serious. He realizes that now, any wrong move could be dangerous.
As Kaito and Ryan keep staring into each other's eyes, face-to-face, a voice comes from behind.
Mahi: "Kaito?!"
Kaito gestures with his hand for Mahi to stop and stay where she is.
Mahi freezes.
Suddenly, hundreds of curses begin appearing again — from different places — some breaking the glass of floors, others emerging elsewhere, all roaring in unison.
Ryan looks away from Kaito toward them. Then suddenly, with that same ultra speed, he starts killing all those curses with his bare hands.
He's so fast that Kaito and Mahi can't even realize when he moved or how he's killing them — ripping their flesh apart.
Kaito: "Mahi, get everyone out of here — I'll stay!"
Mahi: "But staying with him will be dangerous for you!"
Kaito: "Whatever happens, right now he's helping us — hurry, we don't have much time!"
Mahi: "Okay!"
Mahi quickly starts rescuing everyone — the injured, the dead, and the alive — as fast as she can, while Kaito keeps fighting the curses.
Ryan too continues the slaughter — but the good thing is, he doesn't harm a single human.
In a very short time, Ryan kills more than half of the curses, while both he and Kaito continue their work.
All the people have now been evacuated from the mall; Mahi rescues everyone.
She searches to make sure no one is left behind.
Coming near a pillar, Mahi hears a little girl crying. She bends down and sees — a small girl, slightly injured, sitting and crying.
Mahi: "Hey baby, come here…"
The girl slowly stops crying, hiccupping as she wipes her tears and walks toward Mahi.
Mahi: "What's your name, baby?"
Mahi gently holds one of the girl's hands and lovingly touches her cheek with the other.
Girl (sniffling): "Manami."
Mahi (softly): "Okay, Manami, why are you crying?"
Manami (wiping tears, hiccupping): "I can't find my mommy!"
Mahi: "Oh, your mommy is missing? Where is your mommy?"
Manami: "She's up there — on the 8th floor."
Manami points upward.
Mahi: "Alright, come with me — I'll help you find your mommy!"
The little girl holds Mahi's hand and starts leading her upstairs, and Mahi follows.
---
Meanwhile...
Kaito — still fighting curses — notices Mahi going upstairs with a girl.
He wonders why Mahi is going up when everyone has already been rescued from there, and with a little girl at that.
He can't call out to Mahi because he's in the middle of battle, but as they go upstairs, Kaito suddenly notices something terrifying.
The girl (Manami) holding Mahi's hand… something strange begins happening at the back of her head — as if it's tearing open.
Her head does tear open, and Kaito sees a horrible curse eye emerge from the back of her head, looking around — and then directly at him — before sinking back inside.
Kaito instantly realizes this isn't a little girl, but a powerful high-level curse.
He understands that Mahi is in danger — she's walking straight into a trap — and he must save her.
Manami (pointing upward): "Up there."
Mahi and Manami keep walking up.
Kaito, still fighting curses, creates multiple clones using his technique — more and more clones appear — and he begins running after Mahi to reach her.
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Scene Shift: Mahi and Manami
Mahi: "How did your mommy go so far up?"
Manami: "We came for shopping, and then monsters attacked us."
Mahi: "Oh, it's alright — we'll find your mommy soon!"
They go up and reach the 8th floor.
Manami leads Mahi toward the mall's corner corridor where there are several rooms. She stops near one of the doors.
Manami (pointing to the door): "My mommy's here!"
Mahi: "Okay."
Just as Mahi is about to open the door, Kaito comes running up the stairs, panting, looking a little restless.
Kaito (angrily, urgently): "Mahi, move away from there — now!"
Mahi looks at Kaito, then turns back toward Manami — and as she does, she sees something horrifying.
A huge mouth with massive teeth emerges above Manami's head, coming down to swallow her.
But it's not coming from above — it's Manami's own mouth that's opening wide, transforming monstrously as she's about to devour Mahi — and it's terrifying beyond imagination.
---
Slow Motion:
Mahi stares in shock, her mouth open, eyes wide — frozen — as a voice echoes from behind in slow motion:
> "Mahi, move away from there!"
---
Normal Speed:
Mahi instantly rolls aside, dodging.
Hearing Kaito's voice, Manami (the curse) closes her mouth back to normal.
Kaito uses Hikari Enerugi and strikes at Manami (the curse).
The curse jumps back using her hands and legs, dodging the attack.
As she lands, her body begins changing grotesquely — she shapeshifts into her true curse form.
Mahi and Kaito both stare at her.
Mahi is shocked, unable to understand — how could the innocent little girl searching for her mother suddenly turn into such a terrifying curse?
How did she not notice it?
Then suddenly, the entire place begins to change — as if the whole environment is shifting.
The floor transforms into a dark, gloomy ground — everything around turns black — the floor now covered with a liquid that isn't water, but blood.
The darkness feels like an empty dream.
The curse, now in its true form, slowly steps forward, emitting dark aura.
Mahi moves back toward Kaito's side.
The curse, still at a distance, walks closer.
Mahi (shocked and saddened for the real Manami): "How is this possible? How could I fall for her trick?!"
Kaito: "This isn't a low-level curse — it's definitely the most powerful one we've seen here so far!"
Mahi: "And the real little girl whose form it took — what about her?!"
Kaito: "It killed that girl!"
Saying this, Kaito begins aura farming and moves toward the curse.
As he advances, he starts running at it. The curse also charges at him.
Both confront — the curse throws a punch, Kaito dodges, grabs its other arm, and throws it forcefully to the side.
The curse flies up into the air, and instead of falling, creates a massive, long chair in midair and sits on it, crossing its legs — aura farming — resting its cheek on its hand.
Curse (mocking laugh): "Hahahahaha! You people don't have the power to kill me!"
Mahi (confused, slightly panicking): "Curses aren't supposed to talk — that means…!"
Kaito: "Yeah — this is a first-grade curse! It'll be hard for us to kill it!"
The curse suddenly descends, attacking them.
Kaito rushes forward to counter.
As both go to strike each other, Mahi also runs behind the curse to distract it.
The curse glances back at her — distracted.
Kaito takes advantage of that moment — jumps — and knees the curse hard in the mouth, sending it staggering backward but still on its feet.
As the curse regains balance, Mahi kicks its leg from behind, tripping it.
Quickly, Kaito appears in front of it and drives a knife — pulled from his back — straight into its chest.
The curse looks at Kaito — Kaito tightens his grip on the knife.
Curse (laughing): "Hahaha! You don't even know — we human-type curses can shift our hearts to different parts of our bodies!"
---
Fun Fact about Cursed Valley:
> Curses can only be killed in a few specific ways — one of them is by destroying their heart.
But that works only for certain curses — many can't be killed even if their heart is destroyed.
---
Kaito's face shows a trace of fear.
Kaito (shouting): "Mahi, get away from it — now!"
Both of them jump apart, landing some distance away.
At that exact moment, a sphere forms around the curse — covered with thousands of huge spikes — hiding it inside.
Kaito and Mahi steady themselves, standing on their feet.
Just as they stand, the sphere disappears — and Kaito's own knife (the one he stabbed the curse with) suddenly shoots back and pierces his hand.
Kaito starts bleeding and screams slightly.
The curse, aura farming again, slowly advances toward Kaito.
One of its hands transforms into a huge, thick, root-like limb, and it strikes Mahi from behind — throwing her far away, injuring her.
It returns its hand to normal.
Curse: "Enough of this game — let's end it!"
The curse charges toward Kaito at the highest speed.
Kaito stands his ground — unable to follow its speed — but somehow ready.
Suddenly, both the curse and the others feel another aura — even stronger.
The ground begins to tremble slightly, and in front of this new aura, the curse's own aura seems weak.
Curse: "What is this?! I'll deal with you after I'm done with him!"
Saying that, just as the curse comes close to Kaito to attack — as they confront face-to-face — the curse's domain suddenly breaks apart.
A hand grabs the curse's face and smashes it into the wall.
The curse crashes through it — and the person keeps punching it, blow after blow, deforming the curse's face until its insides are visible.
From the curse's back, two root-like extensions emerge, trying to strike that person — but he escapes, moves at sonic speed, grabs the curse again, and throws it with tremendous force to the other side — sending it flying far away.
Smoke fills the area — thick dust everywhere.
Through the smoke, Kaito and Mahi look at the figure standing between them.
The person steps forward slowly through the dust — aura farming — eyes glowing golden.
It's none other than — Ryan.
THANKS FOR READ MY NOVEL＼(^^)／
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