The smell of ozone and rotting meat filled the narrow alleyway. My lungs burned, and my vision blurred as I stared at the Special Grade Cursed Womb towering over me.
It was a mass of twitching eyes and jagged teeth, and it wanted me dead.
"Move, Ren! Get out of there!"
The voice belonged to Nobara Kugisaki. I saw her at the end of the alley, her hammer raised and a nail between her teeth, her orange hair messy from the fight.
She looked beautiful even when she was screaming at me, but I couldn't move. My legs felt like lead.
"How pathetic," a voice purred.
It wasn't Nobara. It wasn't the monster. It was a cold, velvet-smooth voice that echoed inside the very center of my skull.
"Seriously? This is the body I get? You're shaking in front of something that barely even thinks." the voice continued, dripping with boredom. "Part of me is tempted to let it finish you off."
"Shut up, Valthazar," I hissed under my breath, clutching my chest.
Three days ago, I had accidentally swallowed a pitch-black, crystallized heart I found in the school basement. Since then, I've had a roommate—a Primordial Demon from the Heian Era who spent most of his time insulting my choice of breakfast and my lack of "warrior spirit."
The Curse lunged. Its claws were inches from my throat.
"Let me take over ," Valthazar commanded.
"Right now. Or she dies."
I didn't have a choice. I let go.The world turned crimson. I felt my consciousness slip into the "Backseat," watching through my own eyes as if I were a passenger in my own body. My back straightened, and a sinister, elegant smile stretched across my lips—a smile I would never make.
My hand moved with lightning speed, catching the Curse's claw mid-air.
"Such a noisy creature," my own voice said, but the tone was deeper, ancient, and terrifyingly calm.
Black, vine-like markings crawled up my neck and around my eyes. With a single flick of my wrist, the Curse's arm shattered into purple mist. But it didn't fall.
The monster screeched, its remaining limbs slamming into the ground as cursed energy erupted around it. Jagged spikes of bone shot forward like spears.
Valthazar stepped into the storm.
My body moved with terrifying grace, sliding between the spikes as if time itself had slowed. One hand sliced through the air—an invisible blade of cursed energy severed the spikes in mid-flight, sending fragments raining down like shattered glass.
The Curse lunged again, jaws wide enough to swallow a truck.
"Pathetic."
Valthazar vanished.
In the next instant, my fist was buried deep in the monster's face. The impact shattered its skull with a thunderous crack, sending shockwaves through the alley. The creature was launched backward, crashing through a concrete wall.
Before it could rise, my body was already above it.
A black sigil flared beneath my feet.
I slammed down, driving the creature into the ground so hard the street caved in, forming a crater. Cursed blood splattered like dark rain.
The monster tried to scream.
Valthazar didn't let it.
Dark tendrils burst from my arm, piercing straight through its core.
The Curse convulsed violently, its form breaking apart as the tendrils ripped out its cursed nucleus.
With a sharp twist, Valthazar crushed it.
The Special Grade Cursed Womb disintegrated into ash, fading into nothing but silence.
Nobara froze, her hammer lowering. "Ren? Is that you?"
My body—still controlled by Valthazar—didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned my head toward her. He looked her up and down with a slow, predatory curiosity that made my heart race in the backseat of my mind.
"So," Valthazar whispered internally to me while his eyes stayed locked on her. "So this is her? Huh… you didn't do too badly for yourself. There's something intense about her. I can feel it."
'Don't you dare touch her, Valthazar!' I screamed in our shared mind.
Valthazar ignored me. He took a step toward Nobara, his movements graceful like a tiger. He reached out, his fingers gently lifting her chin.
"You have spirit, little sorceress," Valthazar said through my lips, his voice dropping to a husky, dangerous whisper. "So tell me, sorceress… do you like the shy one… or the one who actually gets things done?"
Nobara's face turned bright red, her eyes wide with a mix of confusion and a sudden, sharp spark of attraction she couldn't hide. "W-what are you talking about, you idiot?"
Valthazar chuckled, a dark sound that resonated in our chest.
"Don't worry, Ren," he mocked me mentally.
"Relax, Ren. I'll save everyone. As for her… well, she's already looking at me, not you."
"What?"Nobara shocked
"Yes my boy..... Valthazar Smile.
In one fluid motion, he turned back toward the Special Grade Curse. It let out a deafening roar, sensing its end.
"Silence," Valthazar commanded. He raised my hand, snapping his fingers.
[Cursed Technique: Void Collapse]
A sphere of pure, crushing gravity materialized in the center of the monster. For a second, the alley went silent. Then, with a sickening crunch, the Curse was sucked into itself, compressed into a tiny point of light before vanishing completely. The alley was suddenly empty, save for the drifting purple dust.
Valthazar sighed, his eyes—my eyes—scanning the destruction.
"Boring. "People in this era are way too soft."
'Give it back,' I demanded from the darkness of my mind. 'Give me back my body!'
"Fine. You're giving me a headache with all that shouting," Valthazar grumbled.
"But remember, Ren... "She reacted to me. You felt it too."
The black markings on my skin receded like burning paper. My knees buckled, and I gasped for air as the "weight" of the world slammed back into my consciousness. I was me again.
"Ren!" Nobara ran over, her boots clicking on the pavement. She grabbed my shoulders, her eyes searching mine. "What the hell was that? Your energy... your voice... even your eyes changed."
I looked down, unable to meet her gaze. My face was burning. "It's... it's a long story, Nobara. I'm sorry. Did he—I mean, did I say something weird?"
Nobara's hand lingered on my shoulder for a second too long. She bit her lip, and for the first time since I'd known her, she looked flustered. "You called me a 'little sorceress.' And you... you acted like some kind of arrogant prince."
She turned away quickly, huffing as she adjusted her hammer. "Don't do it again! It was creepy. But..." she trailed off, her voice getting quiet. "It was also... actually, never mind! Let's just get back to the school."
I watched her walk away, my heart thumping against my ribs.
"She's lying," Valthazar's voice echoed, sounding incredibly smug.
"Her pulse quickened when I touched her. She likes the 'Prince' much more than the 'Puppy.' Face it, Ren—I'm the best thing that ever happened to your love life."
'I'm going to find a way to exorcise you,' I thought fiercely.
"Good luck with that," the demon laughed.
"Until then... I think it's time we planned our next date. I have much to teach you about women, little vessel."
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. This wasn't just a curse. This was a nightmare.