After the loud battle cry of Star Platinum, the Stand returned to Jotaro's side. Adjusting his cap, Jotaro prepared to leave, his expression neutral since the biggest threat had been dealt with.
His steps, however, faltered as a chilling, oppressive aura washed over him. It emanated from one of the rooms in the building.
"Ugh?" Jotaro's sharp instincts immediately warned him to do something.
"This feeling…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes. This was unlike any aura he'd encountered so far—malignant, suffocating, and raw with power.
Turning toward the source, Jotaro faced a closed door at the end of a dark hallway. Without hesitation, Star Platinum materialized beside him and slammed a powerful punch into the door, sending it flying off its hinges.
The sight within made Jotaro's expression darken. In the corner of the room, a small, frail curse crouched with something clutched tightly in its small hand. Using his stand's ability to see further in the dark, Jotaro's gaze caught a glimpse of the object—a severed, gnarled red finger radiating malevolent energy. His stomach churned.
"Stop!" Before Jotaro could act, the curse opened its mouth and swallowed the finger whole.
"Damn it!" Jotaro cursed as his body surged forward instinctively, knowing he had to stop it before the curse can evolve. Star Platinum lunged with him, but it was too late.
An overwhelming surge of cursed energy exploded from the tiny creature, forcing Jotaro to halt in his tracks. He shielded his face with his arm as the pressure in the room grew suffocating. The curse began to change, its small frame stretching and warping grotesquely. In mere moments, it had transformed into a tall, humanoid figure with pure white skin, black stripes on its body, and three piercing, sinister eyes.
"A special grade…" Jotaro muttered, gritting his teeth. His shoulders tensed as he took in the creature's terrifying presence. This wasn't just any curse now.
Still, Jotaro forced a smirk onto his face. "Wasn't I the one asking for a challenge?" he mocked himself. "Well, here it is."
The curse, seemingly admiring its new form, turned its attention to Jotaro. Its face twisted into a hideous grin, its sharp teeth glinting in the dim light. Before Jotaro could react, the creature vanished from his sight.
"What the—!" Jotaro barely managed to exclaim before sensing the curse reappear behind him. His reflexes kicked in as Star Platinum materialized, intercepting the curse's attack with a bone-crushing punch.
"ORA!!"
The clash of their fists shook the room, a violent shockwave reverberating through the building. For a moment, it seemed like they were evenly matched, but Star Platinum's overwhelming strength began to prevail. With a powerful shove, the curse was sent hurtling backward, crashing through the wall and leaving a web like pattern on its surface.
The curse staggered to its feet, its expression a mix of surprise and rage. It let out a guttural roar and charged again, its fist now glowing with an intense yellow aura of cursed energy.
"KEA!!"
"ORA!"
The two titanic blows collided once more, generating an even more powerful shockwave that cracked the walls and threatened to bring the building down. Jotaro clenched his teeth as he felt the strain in his own fist. The feedback from Star Platinum's punches caused his knuckles to throb slightly.
"This place isn't going to hold much longer," Jotaro thought grimly, his gaze darting around the crumbling structure.
The curse showed no signs of relenting, following up with another vicious attack. Star Platinum moved to counter, its fists meeting the curse's enhanced strikes head-on. Blow after blow, they traded punches, the intensity growing with each exchange.
"ORAAA!!" Star Platinum's fists surged forward with even more power, forcing the curse to raise its arms defensively. The relentless fist sent the creature flying through several walls before finally crashing outside the collapsing building.
Due to the damage sustained by the walls, the building began to tremble as the roof started to collapse. The entire structure was falling apart.
Jotaro wasted no time. Channeling a small amount of curse energy into his legs, he fallowed the curse through the gaps left by it, the collapsing building trailing behind.
Star Platinum remained close to him, "ORA ORA!" his fists smashing the falling pieces of the building before they could touch Jotaro. A moment later JOJO jumped outside and landed in the open, where the curse was already rising to its feet, his body healed and its expression twisted with annoyance.
Jotaro narrowed his eyes, watching as an even larger amount of cursed energy gathered around the creature's fists.
"Star Platinum!" he called out as the curse launched its attack.
The two forces clashed once more, their blows creating explosive reverberations that echoed across the battlefield.
"Tsk," Jotaro hissed in frustration. Star Platinum mirrored his anger, its face hardening.
The curse pressed its advantage, unleashing another powerful shockwave of raw energy that Jotaro had no choice but to block, while his stand could ignore it the raw energy was a threat to Jotaro's real body.
The force sent him skidding backward, his body slamming into a concrete wall that stopped him in his tracks. His feet left deep grooves in the ground as he came to a halt.
The curse let out a shrill, mocking laugh.
"Kyaakyakyakya!"
The sound grated on Jotaro's nerves, his irritation mounting with each passing second. A faint purple aura began to shimmer around him as his frustration boiled over.
"I've had enough of this ugly bastard," he muttered, his voice full of anger, as a dangerous expression appeared on his stand's face.
Clenching his fists, Jotaro slowly advanced, closing the gap between himself and the curse. The creature's eyes tracked his every step as the human came to a halt, standing face-to-face with the special grade in a tense standoff.
The next moment the curse leaped into the air with incredible speed, preparing to unleash another energy attack to crush Jotaro. But Star Platinum was already winding up a punch, and...
"ORA!!"
"KYA!"
The impact shook the ground, the curse barely managing to keep up with the blow. For a brief moment, they were locked in a stalemate, their fists colliding in a show of power.
"You annoying bastard," Jotaro growled, his eyes blazing with determination. "Your laugh pissed me off to the very end!"
With a ferocious battle cry, Star Platinum's punch shattered the curse's arm, leaving it momentarily stunned. Jotaro didn't let up.
Taking a deep breath, Star Platinum unleashed a relentless flurry of punches.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"
The sheer speed and force of the barrage overwhelmed the curse. Its attempts to defend itself were futile as its limbs were broken in an instant. The curse's regen couldn't keep up with the devastating blows, its body reduced to a mangled mess under the onslaught. Within moments, its body exploded into a grotesque heap.
As the remnants of the curse began to decay, a small object was left behind amidst the remains. Jotaro stepped closer, kneeling to pick it up. His sharp eyes narrowed as he observed it, the cursed finger radiating dark energy.
"Why is one of Sukuna's fingers here?" he muttered, his tone full with irritation. Fighting a special grade hadn't been on his to-do list today.
He examined the finger, feeling the ominous energy leaking from it. "If I leave it here, more curses will be drawn to it. But if I take it with me…" He paused, weighing his options.
In the end, Jotaro pocketed the finger with a sigh.
"Better to deal with some grade 4, 3, or 2 curses later than risk another special grade forming," he thought, his gaze shifting to his bloodied fists. Jotaro was not afraid to face another monster like this but he feared what a special grade could do while he was not there to stop it.
This wasn't over just yet