The cursed spirit's blast met the distorted edge of Mirrorbound with a shriek of tension. Riku grit his teeth and poured cursed energy into his reflection technique, holding nothing back. Across the clearing, the cursed spirit roared in response, feeding more power into its attack.
For a moment, the air between them shuddered.
Then—
The blast rebounded.
The cursed spirit's arm was blown clean off in a shockwave of cursed energy and gore. It screeched in agony, but Riku didn't give it a second to recover. He panted, cursed energy wrapping around his limbs as he lunged forward and slammed a punch directly into its chest, sending the monster crashing into a wall with bone-rattling force.
It stood back up, half-skeletal, barely holding together—and it roared.
They clashed.
No more talking. No more strategy.
Just pure, delicious violence.
Riku weaved between claw swipes, landing hard punches when he could, his body coated in cursed energy. Mirrorbound flared with each successful reflection, sometimes redirecting blows, sometimes failing—and when it failed, Riku felt it. Blood spilled. Bruises bloomed. But each second, each reflection, made it more stable. More natural.
His body remembered.
Accelerated Development kicked in, and soon his counters were sharper. He dodged an overhead slam, rolled behind the curse, and elbowed it in the spine. A kick to the knee. A sudden twist. A reflected blast redirected into its face.
Momentum shifted.
Riku was winning.
The curse lunged. He caught the strike, twisted, and flung it off-balance, then jumped into the air and smashed a high kick directly into its chin, launching it skyward.
It flipped midair, roaring again, and kicked downward—
Riku looked up, eyes blazing. Cursed energy surged into his right hand, and he punched.
Flesh met flesh.
A shockwave burst between them, sending them both flying. Riku rolled through the dirt, panting.
"Shit... even though I'm growing, I'm almost at my limit," he muttered, eyes scanning the battlefield. "I'm almost out of cursed energy. I need to end this shit now."
The cursed spirit landed with a crash and snarled. Then—
Its mouth opened.
A new blast began to charge. Bigger. Longer.
Riku stood tall, shaking from exhaustion. "Looks like you wanna end it too, huh?" he spat, blood dripping from his chin. "Well... let's go, fucker."
The cursed spirit launched its final attack.
Mirrorbound shimmered to life in front of Riku.
He fed every last scrap of cursed energy into it, gripping his fist tight. The blast slammed into Mirrorbound—and didn't break it. He held, groaning from the force, until finally—
BOOM.
An explosion lit the sky.
Dust. Smoke. Silence.
Riku charged, body screaming, fists clenched. He funneled everything into his right arm. As the dust cleared, he was already in front of the curse—
And he punched.
Black sparks exploded from his knuckles.
The cursed spirit's eyes widened.
The blow pierced through its chest.
It was flung back, crashing into the earth, body unraveling into cursed particles. It twitched once—then dissolved.
[Congratulations! You have defeated a Grade 1 Curse and have received 1 draw.]
Riku stood there, hand still extended. Breathing hard. Chest rising and falling.
He looked down at his hand.
"Did... did I just perform a fucking Black Flash?"
[Congratulations! Due to repeated use, Regeneration has leveled up to Level 2. Heals the user faster.]
"Let's fucking go," he muttered. "Things are coming up Riku. I still can't believe I pulled off a Black Flash."
His limbs were shaking. Blood clung to every inch of him. His clothes were tattered rags, half burnt off, soaked in red. The sky was dim.
Night was falling.
"Shit... didn't think the fight lasted that long. It was morning when I started…"
He began limping home.
"Dude. You made a cursed technique. You actually made one. It's not perfect—far from it—but that's fixable. Train it. Shape it. You beat a Grade 1 spirit. You won."
He laughed, then caught himself, muttering again.
"Can't believe it. I actually talked to myself the whole fight again. Gotta stop doing that. Or maybe I don't. Who cares. Mirrorbound's real. That shit's mine. And a Black Flash?"
His eyes lit up. "That's the real flex. Suck it, Gojo. Okay no wait don't suck anything, he'd murder me."
He stumbled around the back of his house and climbed in through the window, carefully avoiding the front door. Everything hurt.
The shower stung. Every cut. Every scrape. Every bruise. But it felt good to rinse the blood off.
Clean. Fresh clothes. A hoodie and sweatpants.
He collapsed into bed.
Staring at the ceiling, he whispered, "I actually beat a Grade 1 curse."
His body stopped aching for a moment.
And then he was asleep.
========================================================================Quick chapter for you guys sorry it took so long I was sleeping....that's a damn lie I was watching YouTube and forgot to write.
If you guys have any ideas on rolls (since I'm running dry) let me know