The moment Yukinoshita Yukino saw the body, her mind went blank.
She thought that after experiencing a curse attack and a battle, she had grown and could accept the ugly and fierce appearance of curses and fight them without hesitation.
However, when she first witnessed the bloody scene of a curse harming humans, the courage she had built up like a castle made of blocks was easily destroyed.
Her whole body felt frozen, her mind couldn't think, and her body couldn't move, as if she would be the next one to have her head twisted off and fall to the ground with her belly cut open.
The fear, like a flood, was constantly eating away at the girl's spirit, making her lose the will to fight.
"Watch closely."
Hayashizaki's voice sounded in her ear, and then Yukinoshita Yukino found her head uncontrollably turning, her eyes forced to stare into the curse spirit's large yellow eyes, facing the bloody scene she dared not look at.
"This is the fate of humans attacked by curse spirits."
His voice was low and serious, "Yukinoshita, don't avoid it. Think carefully about why you are fighting."
"No, don't..."
Yukinoshita Yukino wanted to shake her head, but her head was held firmly in place, her beautiful eyes blurred with tears.
The scene before her, seemingly created to challenge the limits of human tolerance, kept assaulting her eyes. The nausea caused by her physical reaction made her retch continuously, saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.
The girl no longer had any semblance of her usual high and aloof demeanor. Tears wet her cheeks, and a mixture of saliva and stomach acid dripped from her mouth, making her look extremely miserable.
Yet her body was still controlled by Hayashizaki, unable to escape.
The curse spirit with a fly-like head didn't take this chance to attack. Instead, it tilted its head, observing the girl in front of it, as if enjoying her current pathetic state.
Seeing that Yukinoshita Yukino couldn't adjust her weak mindset for a long time, Hayashizaki sighed inwardly.
He stopped pushing her with words. After all, she was his student. He decided to help Yukinoshita face the enemy in a slightly gentler way.
"Don't be afraid, I'll guide you. Follow my instructions."
Hayashizaki said, suddenly giving her back control of her body. "Stand firm."
Yukinoshita Yukino's body suddenly relaxed. With Hayashizaki no longer supporting her, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Stand up."
Hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino quickly stood up.
"Get into position and focus on the enemy in front of you."
The calm and short command had more power. Even though she was still panicking inside, Hayashizaki's voice was like a stabilizing force, helping Yukinoshita Yukino stay basically calm.
Facing such a cruel scene alone might be impossible, but with Hayashizaki's words, Yukinoshita Yukino thought she could try a bit harder.
After wiping her face with her sleeve, the girl got into a fighting stance, trying to focus on the curse rather than the gruesome corpse.
"The curse's attack is coming, be ready to dodge."
The fly-headed curse finally moved, seemingly bored.
It opened its mouth, and the sharp mouthpart hidden inside shot out like an arrow towards the girl.
With Hayashizaki's reminder, Yukinoshita Yukino, who was already focused, slightly moved to the side, dodging the curse's attack. The sharp mouthpart stuck into the wall behind her, deeply embedded.
"Break its mouthpart."
At the moment Hayashizaki's voice sounded, Yukinoshita Yukino reacted—she swung her hand like a knife, cutting off the hard mouthpart of the curse spirit that was nailed to the wall and hadn't had time to retract it.
With purple blood spraying out from the broken mouthpart, the curse spirit let out a sharp screech of pain.
Its small body suddenly arched, its slender limbs touched the ground, and it scurried around the not-so-spacious living room like a beast, moving so fast that Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes could hardly catch it.
Walls, ceiling... where is it!?
"Stay calm, no matter where it is, its final attack target will definitely be you, just aim for that moment."
The panic that had just started to rise was suppressed by Hayashizaki's voice, Yukinoshita Yukino nodded, took a deep breath to calm herself down again.
Her eyes continued to follow the rapidly moving curse spirit, and in this brief observation time, Yukinoshita Yukino was gradually able to catch its movements.
"Behind you!"
Without Hayashizaki's reminder, Yukinoshita Yukino had already made a judgment.
The fly-headed curse spirit jumped from the living room ceiling to the opposite wall in the hallway, circled behind the girl, and then launched another attack on her.
Unfortunately, its little tricks and movements were all seen through by Yukinoshita Yukino.
She quickly turned around, dodging the curse spirit's sneak attack while raising her knee to hit its abdomen hard, the strong impact leaving it suspended in the air, purple blood spitting out from its mouth.
Then came a spinning kick infused with curse power, the heel of her round-toed shoe whipped the curse spirit's fly head like a whip, sending it spinning and crashing heavily into the living room wall.
"Nice kick."
Hayashizaki commented on Yukinoshita Yukino's attack.
Although the girl didn't respond, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but lift.
Yukinoshita Yukino saw the headless body and the head lying on the ground again, but this time, she just pursed her lips and then refocused on the curse spirit.
Despite the strong smell of blood in the living room, and still feeling a bit nauseous at the sight of the body, these discomforts were gradually becoming bearable.
"It's not over yet."
As Hayashizaki's voice sounded, the curse spirit suddenly lay down, and four pairs of translucent insect wings emerged from its back.
The wings flapped rapidly, lifting the curse spirit shakily off the ground, its abdomen suddenly swelled, and a series of black stingers shot out like bullets, Yukinoshita Yukino quickly dived to the side to avoid them.
Taking advantage of the girl's dodge, the curse spirit broke through the wall and escaped down the hallway.
She thought it was entering the second stage, but it turned out to be running away!?
Yukinoshita Yukino quickly got up and chased through the big hole made by the curse spirit.
The curse spirit's curse power reaction was always within her perception, it definitely couldn't escape!
After chasing down the hallway, Yukinoshita Yukino saw the curse spirit flying straight towards the window at the end of the hallway, and its intention was obvious.
It wanted to break the window and escape!
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately chased after it, but running was ultimately not as fast as flying, the curse spirit smashed the window and flew outside the apartment building.
Thinking that Yukinoshita Yukino, who couldn't fly, couldn't catch up with it, it even had the leisure to turn around and mock the wingless human.
However, what greeted it was a vase wrapped in curse power, flying rapidly.
The vase shattered on the curse spirit's head, leaving it dazed and seeing stars.
And Yukinoshita Yukino had already rushed to the edge of the window, she stepped onto the window ledge, her thigh muscles suddenly exerted force, and her whole body flew towards the curse spirit in mid-air.
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned, clenching her teeth.
She clenched her fist, and the powerful curse energy ignited on her fist like flames.
I am angry!!!
Her fist swung down, and the curse energy pierced through the front of the curse spirit's chest to its back, then burst out, creating a hole in its chest.
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