20. Mission (2)

For Veilhem this would be an easy mission as his physical strength was simply out of this world. 

However, upon arriving he noticed there was some anomaly that couldn't be resolved with strength.

The hallway that seemed to stretch endlessly. It didn't match with the exterior view of this building. He marked the wall with a scratch. Veilhem made sure not to show his action by acting as natural as he could. Afterward, he tried to sprint forward. 

But that same mark had appeared back like 3 times already.

That was when he realized the space itself had been alternated by this Curse Spirit. An annoying creature that lurked in the shadows. It waited patiently in the dark, not revealing itself. 

This wasn't a battle between one's strength but one that compared their wit. The sly bastard was watching and waiting till he collapsed and fatigued enough that it could kill him.

Unfortunately for that sly bastard, he was an undead who hadn't felt physically tired for a long time or more exactly, he couldn't. However, that didn't mean that his resilience didn't take any toll. For the human mind wasn't constructed to be alone for a long time.

A few months? Yep that's fine as he could endure that.

A year? He could also bear it.

A decade? His mind would start getting blurry and crumble.

His sanity would be chipped away little by little, on and on until there was nothing left but a husk of himself wandering in this endless hallway. 

But he still advanced forward. Now it was the fourth time he saw his own mark yet he didn't care even a slightest. 

Veilhem needed to devise a plan quickly but he still had some more time to do it. Although he was being watched by the Cursed Spirit somewhere, he couldn't feel it because this whole place exuded the same Cursed Energy signature. 

He could feel the faint presence yet it was spread everywhere. It was hard for him to pinpoint the exact location of the Curse. 

He needed to bait it out. 

Veilhem continued advancing through the corridor until it was the 34th time he saw his own mark. He then stopped and leaned against the wall to cover the stop that had his mark.

"Damn this is really frustrating. I'm trapped in this god forsaken place with nothing but a sly Cursed Spirit." He muttered as irritation was palpable in his tone. 

After a while, he slumped down with his back still covering that marking spot. He put down his craggy blade and held it in his hand. Its pitiful appearance reminded him of a distant memory. 

He fondled the blade in his hand with much respect, a fine craftsmanship from the blacksmith Andre. 

It was not a powerful weapon and even mundane but it certainly was the tool that he had spent his time on the most. Even after only god knows how long, it was still his trusted companion, a part of his body.

He sat there with his blade resting in his clenched palm, his head hung low as he started mumbling something seemingly nonsensical but that was part of the plan. His head sometimes cocked up as if he was sleepy even if he knew there was a dangerous Curse here.

Cursed Spirits were widely in variety but the majority of them didn't have much sentience and only relied on instinct. So a simple trick should do the work. 

But the Cursed Spirit didn't show its face even after he dozed off like that. It was a cautious specimen, Veilhem would give it that.

They were in a stalemate like that for a couple hours before a rift formed at the end of the corridor. The space itself was like a paper being torn through slowly and from the rift came a hideous Curse with malformed body structure.

It crawled on four of its limbs and slowly advanced Veilhem while making sure it wasn't making any sound. Faces of the devoured victims were clearly seen on the back of this creature. Terror and shock splashed across the faces of its victims. 

If a staff member of the Jujutsu High saw this, they would undoubtedly notice that they were all adjacent people that had been reported missing near the location of the Cursed Spirit.

Blood had long dried from their holes as the creature left the heads hanging on its back as its trophy. An achievement of a formidable hunter. It was a horror scene of an impeccably morbid joke of creation.  

The Curse slowly but surely made its way to Veilhem and once they were only 5 meters away from each other, it stopped. 

Veilhem was always on guard since the moment the Curse appeared but he still closed his eyes to indicate that he was still asleep. His opponent this time was a sentient Cursed Spirit, a highly advanced one at that seeing how it acted as a hunter waiting patiently for him to make sure he was asleep.

But it stopped abruptly, why? 

Veilhem judged that his action was not convincing enough. He even loosened his grip on the blade and his head slumped down even further, all for the sake of baiting this Curse.

Thud-

His body deliberately fell to the ground, not moving at all indicating that he was very tired and didn't put on his guard.

Seeing this sudden movement, the Cursed jerked back a few meters and reassessed the situation. But even after a while, Veilhem didn't move at all, indicating that he was still in a deep slumber. 

A sinister leer formed on its deformed face as it plunged at him, opening its jaw and aiming to finish him in one fell swoop. 

Suddenly, the symbol on the wall emitted a light and a chain appeared out of nowhere to bind the Cursed Spirit.

Surprised by this unexpected event, the Cursed Spirit found itself bound by the chain with unknown scribbles on it. 

Veilhem had used his own body to hide it so that the Cursed Spirit would be caught off guard.

It had the same principle as the one binding him in the concealment room. He just alternated here and there to make it restrain the movement and Cursed Energy of the one that got binded.

"Surprise motherfucker." Veilhem grabbed his blade and banged the hilt into its head, stunting it for a fleet moment.

However, even if this had little to no effect for a Curse like this, it still managed to give him ample time. He threw the blade at the sly bastard that had trapped him in this enclosed space and dashed toward it.

The Cursed managed to block the incoming blade, making it flung away, embedding it slightly on the floor.

However, a flurry of fists and kicks violated the Cursed Spirit as it couldn't even defend against it.

Fists, high kicks, roundabout kicks, elbows, knees,... you name it, all of those connected with each other and violated the Cursed Spirit. Not a single part of its grotesque body was unharmed under his one-sided beat down.

It tried to raise its hand to plummet into the ground to break free of this unfavorable situation but Veilhem was one step ahead of it. 

He moved closer to its body and grabbed the part between the shoulder and elbow to make it couldn't exert full force. Using that at the starting point, he rolled over its arm and delivered a powerful back kick straight at its temple.

He grabbed its hand with his own at the same time he delivered that kick and-

-Crack!-

He broke its arm in a smooth movement as it wailed in agony. Yet he didn't stop at that.

It swung its other hand at him but he ducked under it.

Veilhem sent a palm to its jaw to shut it up as a counter and sweep its foot, making it fall to the ground. 

He quickly slammed his elbow into its throat. The hit landed impeccably as it was still stunned and the center balance of it was broken. 

To make it even worse, the Curse was still chained down by the incantation he used earlier. 

The hit was brutal as blood splashed out and the only noise it could make was some gurgling whimpers.  

In its desperate attempt to escape this combo of his, it got back up and tried to stomp the ground but once again, it was stopped as Veilhem stomped on its thigh while the Curse tried to raise its feet. It couldn't exert any power in its leg and was again beaten like a pup.

No matter what it did, he was always one step ahead of the Cursed Spirit. 

But the tenacity of a Cursed Spirit managed to surprise him. Even after being thoroughly beaten like that, it was still alive!

Veilhem grabbed its head and forcefully slammed it into the wall and ran across the endless corridor, dragging the Cursed with him. 

He dragged it until he saw that the wall got completely destroyed and with a powerful throw over his shoulder, the Cursed Spirit hit the ground hard and bounced back up due to the tremendous force behind it. 

Veilhem disappeared and reappeared next to it and grabbed its face and threw it down to the ground once more time. He finished the job by stomping its face one last time.

Seeing the Curse was still on the ground with its weakened lifeforce like a candle in front of the storm. Veilhem picked up the blade from where he dropped it and approached it calmly. 

For the Curse, it felt like death in itself had manifested in a physical form to slowly take its life. His scythe was gently placed on its neck as just one simple movement could take its life away. 

It gazed into his eyes with much struggle. There was no anger, no excitement, no thrill in those calm yet indifferent eyes. As though death awaited for no one nor did he have the luxury to spare for, he simply did his job.

It felt fear for the first time in its life.

It now felt how its victim experienced when it slowly took away their life. 

In its desperate attempt to escape, it swung its tattered and feeble arms in disorder, hoping some miracle would occur. Yet reality was equal for everyone.

He beheaded this abomination in a swift movement. It scattered into dust as he did so. He watched it all with no emotions in his eyes. 

Veilhem was used to this. 

No, it would be more accurate to say that he had grown used to this.

Now that the job was done, he should head back to the Jujutsu High to finish his report. 

Suddenly, he felt another presence here and it was behind him right now. He twisted his torso, spinning at his fastest speed to slash but his blade cut through the air, completely missing its target. 

'Where is i-' Before he could adapt to this sudden situation, a hand managed to touch his face and slammed him to the ground. The strength behind that caught him off guard as the back of his back crashed through the floor and landed on the first floor, creating a large dent on the ground. 

The impact affected the building too as cracks began to run across the structure and the entire construct collapsed, burying Veilhem in rubble and cement.

_______

A/N: well well well, look who is still alive my non-exist readers. In my defense, I just wanna violate that cursed spirit so I write this chap.