Chapter of 200 stones! It's the first time we've reached this number. I'm really glad you're enjoying the fic; it motivates me a lot to continue and finish this work.
---
The atmosphere was tense. Within the domain, the oppressive curse energy seemed to close in on them like a dense mantle. Kirara, feeling the weight of that dark energy, looked at Makima with a mix of fear and determination. Her hands trembled, but there was a fierce resolve in her eyes.
"Makima-chan... I'll try to buy you some time... you look for a way out," she whispered, aware that she was facing a special-grade curse. She knew it was beyond her reach; she could barely handle first-grade curses. But she couldn't let Makima, her friend, stay trapped here. "There must be some weak point in this incomplete domain... Run!" she exclaimed before throwing herself toward the monster.
The curse let out a mocking laugh, its eyes gleaming with amusement as it easily dodged Kirara's desperate attacks. The creature roared as it surrounded her, its deep voice resonating in the air, thick with malice. Kirara's frustration grew; she needed a strategy, something to distract the curse. "Damn it!" she thought. Quickly, she touched both the curse and a nearby tree, activating her attraction technique and forcing the monster to be pulled toward the trunk.
The cursed being, confused and unable to fully resist, was slammed against the tree. Seizing the opportunity, Kirara delivered a direct blow to its torso, forcing it to stagger back a few steps. But when she turned to check if Makima had found an escape route, she froze: Makima was still there, motionless, watching the fight without making the slightest attempt to flee. "What's she doing? Is she scared?" thought Kirara, but she had no time to process it. In a flash, the curse lunged at her, landing a blow that sent her crashing to the ground several meters away from Makima.
Before Kirara could get up, Makima leaned toward her. "Promise me you won't say anything about what you see in here," she said in a tone that mixed calm and severity. "I just helped you exorcise the curse, understood?" Surprised and not fully comprehending, Kirara looked at her, noticing a strange determination in Makima's eyes. "What are you saying?" Makima didn't answer; instead, her gaze was fixed on the center of the curse, which emitted a sinister glow from its chest. "Just promise," she insisted. Kirara, still disoriented and in pain, nodded slowly. "Okay... I promise."
With that, Makima gave a cold smile and, without another word, removed her coat and adopted a combat stance. The curse, sensing her intent, let out a booming laugh and charged at her with astounding speed. But Makima was even faster. She dodged the attack with ease, placed a finger on the curse's abdomen, and murmured softly, "Bang."
The curse screamed in agony as a hole opened in its torso, its guts flying in all directions. Without giving it time to react, Makima began to strike with precision and speed, using projection sorcery to enhance the velocity of her attacks. Each blow was devastating, and the curse, cornered, launched a desperate attack: a burst of fire surged from its mouth, engulfing Makima in a whirlwind of flames. "NOOO!" Kirara screamed, watching her friend disappear into the fire.
Meanwhile, far from there, Rika dropped a cookie from her mouth. She had felt a brutal drain on her energy. Shoko, noticing her expression of terror, asked, "What's wrong?" Rika looked out the window, clutching her chest. "I feel... like something terrible is happening..." she murmured, unable to hide the anguish in her voice. Shoko looked at her without fully understanding, but a shadow of worry clouded her face.
Inside the domain, the smoke began to dissipate slowly, and to Kirara's surprise, Makima was still there. Her face was burnt, but suddenly, as if time had stopped, the charred skin began to regenerate, covering her wounds and restoring her usual appearance within seconds. The curse, which had seen her burn, was in disbelief. "It seems that wasn't enough to kill me," Makima murmured with an icy smile. "Shall we continue?"
Without giving it a chance to react, chains emerged from Makima's body and shot toward the curse. The monster tried to evade them, but it was in vain. The chains wrapped around it, binding its body until it was completely immobilized. The creature struggled, but each attempt to free itself was futile; the chains tightened with each move. With terrifying calm, Makima placed her finger on the curse's head and, looking it in the eyes, whispered, "This was a bit boring."
With another "Bang," the curse's head exploded into a mass of blood and pieces of flesh scattered across the ground. Makima, without losing her composure, placed her finger on the corpse's chest and extracted a small mummified finger that emitted a dark energy. As the domain crumbled, Kirara watched her friend in awe, unable to understand how she had defeated such a powerful curse.
As the domain faded, they both reappeared in a secluded part of a forest, where the sunlight barely reached. Nanami arrived at the scene, alarmed. "Are you both alright?" he asked, frowning as he assessed the situation. Makima put on her coat and looked at the object in her hand, which gleamed with a malevolent energy. "It was a special-grade curse, probably drawn here by this special-grade cursed object." She spoke with a serenity that left Kirara full of doubts, and yet, she kept her promise: she wouldn't say anything about what she had seen.
Gojo observed the scene from the rooftop of a nearby building, wearing an amused expression as he analyzed the situation. His smile widened as he watched Makima dispatch the special-grade curse; the ferocity of her technique made it clear she was using abilities she hadn't yet revealed. Even so, Hoshi's intervention was unexpected—she must care a lot about Makima, and Gojo couldn't help but murmur to himself, "I knew you were hiding some things, Makima... but exorcising a special-grade curse so young? You don't see that every day."
Covering his eyes with his usual blindfold, he let out a small laugh. "I suppose when the elders ask, I'll say Hoshi was the one who saved her. But, of course... I'll have to ask her some questions to see if she'll keep quiet about what she saw." A spark of excitement lit his voice; few things managed to pique his interest, and this incident had captured his attention. "Next year is bound to be interesting... something tells me these students are going to surprise me."
Sighing, he looked down at the city that stretched out before him. With a shrug, he murmured to himself, "But, of course... I never get a break, do I?" Thinking about the task that still awaited him, he added in a resigned tone, "Now I have to go find a kid... seems like my day is just beginning."