Bound In Love's Curse [Gojo Satoru x Female Readers]

146 ~ Hundred And Forty-Six

[T]he initial veil dissipated, fading into the air like a soft mist of darkness, still pulsing with a faint, familiar hum of cursed energy. Though not threatening, it left a heaviness in its wake—a subtle reminder of the mission that lay ahead.

Outside, the forest was no better. Moonlight barely cut through the canopy, casting warped shapes over the mist-laden ground. The air was heavy, suffocating, thick with something unspoken. Something dangerously.

You'd arrived as the veil weakened, and Nitta hadn't heard from the sorcerer sent in before. This wasn't just a cursed nest—it was a trap.

"How long have Maki and Toge been inside?" you asked, approaching the shrine nestled deep within the forest, the night heavy with an unsettling stillness.

"Exactly two hours," Nitta answered from a few paces back.

You were dressed in your newly customized jujutsu sorcerer gear—tight-fitting, sleeveless black dress, calf-length leather combat boots, and a cropped dark blue jujutsu jacket. A harness on your left thigh secured the dagger, a family heirloom Gojo had procured for you.

You paused briefly, glancing over your shoulder before directing, "Set down another veil."

Without hesitation, Nitta's fingers wove through a series of signs as she recited the incantation you'd often heard Nanami mutter during missions: "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

Dark, viscous matter began to drip from the sky, forming an outer barrier in the shape of a half-sphere. Nitta stayed outside, waiting for your mission to unfold.

The briefing had been straightforward—exorcise a semi-grade 1 curse that had taken root in the area, likely drawn by some cursed relic.

Yet, as you delved deeper into the forest, the oppressive weight of cursed energy grew heavier, pressing against your blockers. It became evident why Shoko had equipped you with earrings imbued with Gojo's cursed energy. They didn't just repel curses; they were designed to block any external cursed energy, from the lowest to the highest grade.

Your senses heightened as you stepped through the decrepit torii gate, marking the entrance to the shrine grounds. The air around you seemed to warp, as if the veil between the living and the cursed world was thinning.

You extended your cursed energy, pushing your inflow and outflow manipulation up to 5% to broaden your range, trying to locate Toge and Maki. Their signatures were nowhere to be found. Something was amiss.

The shrine loomed ahead, its wooden structure rotting and sagging under the weight of time. Despite its decay, it radiated an oppressive presence, as if it had absorbed centuries of malevolent energy.

Your skin prickled as you crossed the threshold, the dark, crumbling walls seeming to pulse with cursed energy. Shadows twisted unnaturally, almost alive, as if their eyes were following your every move. The faint stench of decay greeted you.

It soon became clear why.

Scattered across the floor were the remnants of cursed spirits, their bodies half-dissolved and grotesquely twisted. These weren't the casualties of Maki or Toge; they had been torn apart by something far more sinister.

How did you know that? You had been absorbing memories non-stop to pinpoint the kids' exact location since you arrived.

You knelt to examine the remains, drawing in their essence to sift through the memories of the destroyed curses. Faint traces of a powerful curse lingered, far stronger than the semi-grade you had anticipated.

You sprang upright, the pieces falling into place now.

They had been trapped for hours in a loop, likely caused by the relic's dark influence. The distortion in time within the shrine was the reason they hadn't completed the mission yet.

You ramped up your cursed energy to 7%, and this time, a faint but unmistakable flicker of Toge's signature emerged, accompanied by the sharp, distinct presence of Maki's cursed tools. They were deeper within the shrine.

Navigating through the labyrinthine corridors, you felt the structure's oppressive, shifting nature. The walls seemed to pulse and breathe, feeding on the growing malevolent energy with each step. The cursed relic was near, warping the shrine's very essence.

Then you heard it—a strained, echoing voice through the darkness. "Get Crush—" The words were garbled, but you recognized Toge's voice immediately.

You shoved through the tattered sliding door and saw them in the chaos.