Chapter 10: Yorozu

Chapter 10: Yorozu

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The severely injured Cursed Pikachu hid in the shadows of a cave deep within the mountains. Its body still crackled with unstable energy, but it was slowly recovering. Every fiber of its being seemed torn from the fight against Tsubaki and Angel, but it had not yet been defeated. The Pikachu knew that its time was limited. The mages would return for it soon, and in its current state, it would not be able to withstand another attack.

Desperate, it began making binding vows, a risky agreement with its own cursed power. If it met certain conditions, its abilities would increase exponentially in exchange for limiting its freedom or inflicting other kinds of sacrifices on it. In this case, it offered some of its control over the cursed energy to speed up its regeneration.

As its wounds began to heal, something disturbed it. The cursed Pikachu sensed that the two women he had fought were not his only pursuers. Something else was stalking him in the forest, something just as deadly.

Among the burnt vegetation and rocks, a figure silently emerged. Yorozu, a woman with long, dark hair, walked slowly forward. Her eyebrows, thick and slightly rounded at the inner ends, gave her an air of confidence. Her body looked young, but there was an aura of maturity and danger about her. An untied haori fluttered slightly with each step she took, only partially covering her body. With no visible weapons, Yorozu's appearance might seem fragile, but those who knew her knew she was an extremely dangerous sorceress.

Her innate technique, Creation, allowed her to form semi-autonomous beings from pure cursed energy. A swarm of dark, ethereal insects surrounded her, ready to hunt down their target. The bugs flew in spirals, accurately tracking the trail of cursed energy the injured Pikachu had left behind. The forest around them rustled as Yorozu slowly advanced, each step bringing her closer to the creature's hiding place.

"You're not far, little rat," she muttered with a wicked grin on her face. "You thought you could escape me... but you're wrong."

The bugs, created to be tireless hunters, detected the Pikachu's fluctuating energy and moved quickly toward the mountains. Yorozu was in no hurry; she knew that, sooner or later, she would catch her prey. Her only mission: to finish off the creature before it fully regenerated and became a much bigger problem.

Deep within the cave, the Pikachu sensed something was chasing it. The air in the cavern grew thicker, and the sense of danger was unmistakable. It was not yet in a condition to face another adversary, but it knew it would have no choice. The cursed Pikachu roared in fury, releasing erratic blasts of cursed energy to protect itself.

Yorozu's bugs scattered, surrounding the cave entrance and blocking any possible escape routes. The sorceress stood in front of the cavern and watched with satisfaction as her creations executed their task.

"You have nowhere to run," she said, her eyes shining with a mix of malice and control. "I will finish what those girls could not."

The trapped Pikachu knew that the final battle was about to begin. The accelerated regeneration from the binding vows gave it a small amount of room to maneuver, but facing Yorozu would not be easy. With each pulse of cursed energy, its wounds began to close, but the cost of its vows began to take a toll on its mental and physical stability.

Yorozu raised a hand, preparing its innate technique for the ultimate attack. The bugs, obeying its will, launched themselves towards the cave, ready to finish what it had started.

The cursed creature, furious and weakened, let out a final roar as the darkness of the cavern was illuminated by the spark of chaos.

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