Just as the blonde girl was about to leave, something on the ground caught her eye-a pendant shaped like a fallen angel's wing.
She quickly bent down to pick it up, realizing it had fallen from Miko Yotsuya's belongings.
The moment her pale, delicate fingers touched the charm, a faint ripple of light stirred within it.
There was a sudden flash of white in her vision, but the next instant everything returned to normal. Eriri Spencer Sawamura, thinking it was just sunlight in her eyes, didn't pay it much attention and casually called out:
"Hey, you dropped something~"
Miko Yotsuya turned around, instantly spotting the pendant. Her expression lit up with deep gratitude.
To her, this wasn't just a trinket-it was a protective charm, perhaps the only thing standing between her and the madness she'd encountered today.
"That's really important to me… thank you so much," she said, a bit breathless, visibly relieved.
"Let me buy you a drink. It's the least I can do."
Eriri hesitated, glancing around. Her gaze landed on the storefront of "Spring Blossom," the place she'd been heading to. A small crowd had gathered in front of it.
Truth be told, she had only come out today with the intention of quietly buying a few doujinshi-strictly for research purposes, of course.
She had even changed into a middle-school gym uniform to disguise herself. The last thing she wanted was to be recognized.
Realizing that Miko didn't seem to recognize her, Eriri relaxed slightly and gave a small nod.
Neither of them said much as they walked together in silence toward the drink shop. It was early evening, but the line stretched far beyond the store's entrance.
They stood one behind the other, trailing the end of the queue. After a few moments of awkward silence, Eriri tried to spark a bit of conversation.
"Hey, uh… your pendant's really pretty. Where'd you get it?"
"Ah… it wasn't something I bought. It was… given to me."
"Oh? From where?"
"A-A church, I guess."
The conversation fizzled out quickly after that. The air between them grew heavier with silence.
Eriri stared at the charm in Miko's hands, puzzled.
What kind of church would hand out something that looked like a fallen angel's wing?
Miko looked just as uncomfortable, clearly unsure how to respond.
There's no way she could say, "A fallen angel gave it to me."
Honestly, even she still hadn't fully processed everything that had happened to her today.
The silence around them deepened, but faint murmurs from others in line reached their ears.
"What are those two doing?"
"No idea. Just standing there like statues. Anyone else would think they're waiting for something."
Both girls heard it clearly.
Eriri blinked and looked around. Her eyes followed the line ahead, tracing it toward the storefront… only to realize that the drink shop's line was actually on the other side.
"Wait… that's the drink shop's queue. Then what's this line for…?"
She tilted her head and followed the line they were standing in-only to see it led into a nearby alley.
At the alley's entrance, a grotesque creature loomed.
Its bloated, maggot-like body writhed, and beneath it extended six human arms. Its gaping maw opened wide as it devoured one curse after another in the line ahead.
Eriri's pupils shrank. Her body froze in place.
What the hell is that thing!?
Miko, following her gaze, saw it too. Another curse. Another monster.
Thankfully, Adrian had already explained to her the basics of what these things were. Otherwise, she might have completely shut down.
"Don't-"
"G-GHOST!!"
Before Miko could stop her, Eriri screamed.
Immediately, every head turned toward them-both the humans and the curses.
The people just looked confused.
But the curses... the curses twisted their heads in a grotesque 90-degree angle and locked eyes with the girls.
Even the maggot-like creature stopped feasting and slowly turned its bulging, waterlogged eyes toward them.
A chilling voice echoed from its maw:
"You can see me…"
The resonance of that voice hit like a shockwave. Both Eriri and Miko turned pale.
"Wh-what the hell!? What is this nightmare!?"
Eriri spun around, trying to escape-but found the path behind them also blocked by curses.
These creatures, born from human negativity, had nothing but malice in their twisted forms.
Trapped with no way forward or back, Eriri was frozen in sheer terror.
"This can't be happening. I just wanted to buy some doujins…"
"Hold still. Grab me-tightly!"
Miko's voice broke through the panic. She held up the fallen angel's pendant.
As the curses approached, the charm began to glow faintly, forming a light barrier around them.
"It works!"
Miko's voice cracked with relief. The charm was holding.
But beside her, Eriri was trembling, pointing at the giant maggot-like curse drawing closer.
"I-It's coming!"
The bloated monster opened its mouth and exhaled a cloud of noxious green gas.
Zzzzzzt!!!
As the poison touched the barrier, it hissed violently, like oil hitting a hot pan.
Neither girl dared to breathe.
The curse, realizing it couldn't break through right away, resorted to brute force-wrapping its tongue around low-level curses and hurling them at the barrier like missiles.
BOOM!
Each one exploded on impact, reduced to ash.
But the barrier's glow flickered.
The light within the pendant was draining with every attack.
Miko felt the pressure mounting. If the light ran out, they'd be done for.
Just as despair began to take hold, a voice rang out behind them.
"Either hit it with the charm or run for your lives. Standing there like idiots won't help."
It was Adrian Blake.
Like a crack of lightning, his voice cut through the panic. Miko turned in stunned relief.
"Master… Adrian!"
She didn't care who was watching-her face lit up as if salvation had arrived.
Even Eriri, still clutching her, turned to look.
The moment she saw Adrian, two thoughts collided in her head:
He's incredibly handsome… and strangely familiar.
Before she could make sense of it, Adrian stepped toward the curse.
"Wait! Don't go near that thing!"
Her warning came too late.
Adrian raised a hand, his voice calm and clear.
"Gravity Magic: Hammer Strike."
He pointed downward.
A crushing force condensed into a single invisible blow.
WHAM!
The bloated curse's body exploded like overripe fruit under pressure.
But Adrian didn't stop there.
As the shattered fragments of cursed energy lingered, he stretched out his hand.
A whirlpool of darkness formed in his palm, like a black hole.
One by one, the fragments were drawn in, along with all the remaining nearby curses.
They screamed as they were devoured, torn apart by the swirling void.
In moments, the street fell silent again.
The monsters were gone.
And Adrian stood amidst the stillness, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.