"It can drain things dry? That's terrifying... definitely not a fun ability," Toji muttered, resting the back of his blade on his shoulder. His words carried mock fear, but his smile was calm and confident.
With a body that had been honed to the absolute limit, he had every reason to be sure of himself. Very few in this world could even touch him, and he knew it.
"Disgusting… it tastes awful!" Shokushin looked at its hands as the wolf and tiger dissolved into ash, vanishing like cursed spirits that had been exorcised. Its mind couldn't process what had just happened, so it roared in frustration.
"Huuuuh!"
It inhaled again. This time, the suction didn't come, but its belly swelled grotesquely, puffing outward until it looked ready to burst like an overfilled balloon.
Wooosh!
The creature exhaled suddenly, blasting out a concentrated beam of cursed energy. It ripped through the air like a laser, streaking straight toward the brothers.
They jumped in opposite directions as the attack slammed into the ground, leaving behind a crater nearly the size of half a basketball court. White smoke billowed upward, and the air grew hotter with the stench of burning.
"Fun! Fun!"
The curse clapped its bloated belly like a drum. It twisted and danced like some mischievous monkey, giddy at its own power. Then it opened its mouth once more, preparing another attack.
Swoosh!
But before it could strike, it froze.
In the blink of an eye, Toji vanished from sight. One instant he stood on the ground, and the next, he was gone. Only faint bursts of sound echoed in the air around it, like footsteps on nothingness. Yet the curse couldn't sense his position at all.
For the first time, fear flickered across Shokushin's four-eyed face.
"Damn it!"
It drew a sharp breath, turning its focus toward Mukuro who still stood in place.
"Let's play something better. How many cuts do you think you can take?" Toji's voice sounded from nowhere, then his figure appeared right in front of the curse, his violent grin looming like a storm cloud over Shokushin's heart.
The suddenness made the creature choke. The cursed energy it had been gathering burst from its mouth prematurely in an uncontrolled blast.
"Tables have turned."
Toji tilted his head slightly, letting the beam pass harmlessly by. Then his blade came down.
The curse reacted quickly, leaping back, but not quickly enough. The edge tore across its chest, leaving an X-shaped gash. Rotten-smelling green blood sprayed through the air, stinging to the nose.
Only a single exchange, and already its body bore deep wounds.
"You're mine now! Hahahaha!"
But instead of anger, the curse cackled.
Because now, the fight had shifted into the air. And it had noticed that this man couldn't fly. If it wasn't cut down instantly, then in its domain above the ground, the advantage was its own.
"I can't wait... I wonder how you'll taste!"
Its ugly grin twisted further as it hurled both arms toward Toji, grasping greedily.
"Did you forget something? There are two of us."
Its reaching arms were pierced clean through by a trident as Mukuro's figure appeared before it.
"Tch, show-off." Toji clicked his tongue.
His body couldn't be measured by normal standards. Without cursed energy he couldn't truly fly, but his overwhelming physique allowed him to adjust midair with ease. For short bursts, he could even move as though stepping on air.
Chuckling at Mukuro's help, he spun midair. His leg cracked across the monster's skull.
Its arms ripped apart, and Shokushin plummeted like a meteor, smashing into the ground with a heavy impact that left a deep crater. A cloud of blood mist rose up from the hole.
"Let's finish this fast. I don't want to waste too much time on such a disgusting thing." Mukuro twirled his trident, flinging off the severed arms stuck to its tips.
"So hungry... so hungry..."
Smoke rolled from the crater as the curse stumbled out with heavy steps, muttering ceaselessly. The X-shaped wound on its chest healed rapidly, and at the stumps where its arms had been severed, flesh writhed and reformed. Within moments, its limbs had grown back.
At the same time, its body started to change. Cracks spread across its skin like crawling veins. From those splits, mouths began to form, dozens, hundreds, until its whole body was covered in gnashing jaws.
Cursed energy seeped from the mouths as a purple-black miasma. When the mist touched nearby objects, they corroded and melted as if eaten by acid.
"Here I come~"
All the mouths opened at once, laughter echoing across the domain in a nightmarish chorus.
Then the curse charged. Hands and feet pressed against the ground, turning its body into a four-legged horror that rushed like a monstrous beast barreling toward Toji.
Clang!
Just as the creature neared, he stepped back, slashing with his long blade, intending to cut it clean in half.
But the strike stopped short. His sword was caught.
Glancing down, he saw a bunch of mouths had clamped down on the blade, teeth shattering as they crunched against the steel, but still holding it for just long enough to stall him.
The poisonous mist spread, eating away at his sleeve. The heat of corrosion burned against his hand gripping the hilt.
"It didn't eat through…?"
The curse stared in disbelief. Toji's fist showed only the faintest red irritation, not the destruction it expected. Its four eyes went bloodshot, frustration boiling over.
It lunged, stretching its arms wide, trying to wrap him in a suffocating embrace.
Just one touch. It only needed one touch. With that, it believed it could drain him dry, leaving nothing but a husk.
"How should I put it... a curse is still just a curse. You're dumber than a monkey," Toji said and released his grip on the hilt, slipping past its grasp with a smooth sidestep.
"Stop bluffing! A man with no cursed energy, once he loses his weapon, is as good as dead!" Shokushin roared, certain of its logic.
It didn't know why these two could fight without cursed energy, but their weapons were real. Those could cut it. Once it took the weapons away, they wouldn't pose any threat.
But then, something it never imagined happened.
The sword it thought it had bitten into and trapped, vanished in a puff of smoke. Simultaneously, another identical blade appeared above, spinning through the air.
"Told you already. There are two of us."
Mukuro's calm voice rang out beside its ears, and every nerve in its body tensed. Its hulking form began to tremble.
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