The warped hall vibrated like a giant drum, every surface humming with cursed energy. The curse's hollow body thrummed louder, each beat distorting the space around it.
Arata raised his hands, calmly letting cursed energy coat his forearms. The faint blue glow shimmered evenly, controlled.
Kusakabe's voice carried from the back of the hall, firm but distant through the stretched space.
"Remember, resonance works in waves. Stay steady. Don't get caught in the pull."
Arata nodded once. His eyes never left the curse.
BOOM.
The curse slammed its chest cavity, sending a shockwave racing forward. The ground warped in a ripple, wooden boards popping up like water disturbed by a stone.
Arata braced, crouched low, and drove his reinforced fist into the floor. The cursed energy surged outward, anchoring him as the ripple passed beneath. The warped ground cracked back into place around him.
Without hesitation, he lunged forward.
The curse shrieked—a high-pitched note. The sound twisted the air, stretching the distance ahead. What should have been five steps stretched into twenty.
Arata's eyes narrowed. "So it pulls space itself apart…"
Instead of wasting energy running, he focused. Cursed energy flared in his legs. He stomped down hard, heat radiating beneath his foot. The warped wood splintered, and the force shot him forward like a cannonball.
In a blink, he closed the false distance.
The curse raised its long arm and slammed it down. The limb vibrated like a giant whip, carrying compressed sound through the strike.
Arata met it head-on. He reinforced his right hand and struck upward. The clash cracked the air like thunder, vibrations scattering into sparks of cursed energy.
For a moment, they were locked.
Then Arata twisted, dragging heat into his strike. His fist flared red-hot, and the curse's vibrating limb recoiled, smoke rising where its skin had seared.
The curse reeled, then exhaled through its hollow chest. A deep bass hum filled the hall.
The walls shook. The ceiling bent inward.
Suddenly, the air compressed around Arata, pressing him down like a giant invisible hand. His knees buckled.
He gritted his teeth, cursed energy wrapping his whole body in a thin shield. His voice was calm, steady even under pressure.
"…It's compressing space now. If I push back at the same frequency—"
He drew his hands together, cursed energy condensing between his palms. A low vibration pulsed in rhythm with the curse's hum. Arata then clapped his hands together.
The sound of his clap cracked like a gunshot. The compressed air wavered, breaking apart for a brief moment.
The curse staggered, holes across its body shuddering out of sync.
Arata didn't waste the opening. He dashed forward, fists blazing with cursed energy, and drove a punch into its chest.
BOOM.
The blow landed square in the center cavity. Heat surged through the curse's vibrating body, forcing it back into the warped wall.
But the curse wasn't finished.
Its whole body pulsed, and suddenly every hollow hole screamed at once. A wall of sound blasted outward.
The hall bent violently—pillars stretched, beams twisted, and the entire floor collapsed into a downward slope.
Arata stumbled but caught himself, channeling energy into his soles to stay rooted.
Kusakabe's voice echoed faintly through the warped chamber.
"Don't match force with force! Cut through the sound!"
Arata's eyes sharpened. "…Right."
He closed his fist, cursed energy compressing tightly around it. Instead of raw power, he honed it to a sharp edge. Heat flickered faintly, like a blade glowing in a forge.
As the sound wave crashed toward him, Arata punched forward.
The strike wasn't heavy—it was precise. His cursed energy tore through the vibration, splitting the wave apart like slicing fabric. The wall of sound collapsed into scattered echoes.
The curse faltered. Its rhythm broke, and its body spasmed as holes across its chest whistled out of sync.
Arata advanced, calm but relentless. Each step was steady, cursed energy reinforcing his frame.
The curse tried one last time, raising its arms and slamming them together. A final shriek tore through the hall, twisting space into a crushing sphere aimed at Arata.
Arata inhaled deeply, cursed energy surging. He coated both fists and heat shimmered around them, the air itself bending from the intensity.
"…Time to finish this."
He charged forward, slipped through the warped pressure, and leapt.
Both fists crashed into the curse's chest with blazing force.
BOOM!
The sound barrier shattered. The cursed body collapsed inward, its vibrations scattering into dust. The warped hall snapped back to normal size, wood cracking as space corrected itself.
The curse let out a final hollow note before dissolving into black fragments of cursed energy.
The silence that followed was heavy.
Arata exhaled slowly, his hands cooling as the cursed energy around them faded. He stood composed, no panic in his eyes.
At the back, Kusakabe lowered his sword and dispelled the barrier. He walked forward, surveying the damage.
"The technique was space manipulation through sound. Dangerous if it had time to build resonance." He glanced at Arata. "…But you broke it before it could stabilize."
Arata nodded, dusting off his hands. "Once the rhythm faltered, it couldn't recover."
For a moment, Kusakabe studied him. No sarcasm, no mocking tone—just a quiet recognition of the fact that the boy in front of him was truly special grade.
He turned away, voice steady. "Mission's done. Let's report back."
Arata followed calmly, his expression unreadable. Inside, though, he knew—this fight hadn't pushed him to his limit. He had room to grow.
And more importantly, stronger enemies would come.