Elsewhere in the labyrinth of Shibuya's underground, the battle raged on.
Mei Mei elegantly sliced through another transfigured human with her massive axe, her scarf fluttering in a slow pirouette through the air. Blood didn't even have the dignity to land on her—she was too precise.
"Ui Ui," she called.
"Yes, sister," he said, still behind her, watching the carnage unfold like a ballet.
"I think it's time we split our power."
Ui Ui nodded without question.
Mei Mei turned to Itadori, who was standing to the side, fists clenched. "Itadori. We can handle this part of the subway. You go. Find Mahito. Or whatever special grade freaks are nearby."
Itadori blinked. "Are you sure? These curses are strong—"
Mei Mei raised an eyebrow and adjusted her scarf.
"Oh, my apologies. Would you prefer I send you flying to the stratosphere instead?"
Itadori immediately stiffened, raising both hands in surrender. "Nope. Got it. Loud and clear."
And just like that, he vanished into the tunnel, running like the wind.
Ui Ui watched him disappear and chuckled. "Sister… maybe that was a bit too intense?"
Mei Mei glanced at the dark corridor Itadori had entered and twirled her axe once. "If he's not scared, he's not running fast enough."
—
Itadori's footsteps echoed through the winding tunnels of the subway. Every few meters, he'd pass a wall dripping with cursed residue or a half-collapsed ceiling oozing grotesque sludge. The air was thick. Dense. Something was nearby.
He stopped. A shadow moved.
Then—
"KEKEKEKEKE!"
A horrible screech erupted from the left side of the tunnel.
Emerging from a broken part of the subway wall was a massive, bulbous grasshopper-like curse, arms twitching, mandibles clicking rapidly, legs long and spindly like spider legs—except they bounced.
It grinned. "I'm very intelligent, you know!"
"…You're a grasshopper," Itadori deadpanned. "That's literally your whole vibe."
The curse screamed and launched itself forward, slicing the air with its serrated forelegs. Itadori barely ducked the first blow, then kicked the side of the wall, bouncing off to meet the curse mid-air.
He punched it in the jaw.
It twitched—but didn't fall.
The grasshopper cursed spat out acidic sludge, but Itadori spun mid-air and slammed both feet into its face, sending it crashing through a rusted subway door.
"You talk big for a bug."
The curse screeched again and threw a barrage of rapid slashes. Itadori ducked, weaved, then slammed his cursed energy into a precise right hook—
CRACK.
The curse's head twisted violently as its body flailed into the ground, twitched once… then stilled.
Exorcised.
Itadori breathed heavily, wiping his forehead.
"Okay… that was one."
He looked deeper into the subway tunnel, where more cursed pressure seemed to grow.
"Now let's find the real monsters."