| xxiv ; wrath of union

                                    

                                          
Footsteps clattered against the hardwood floor, running away from the imminent danger. The shaking of the floor when something big and sharp collided against it caused none other by the roots of the Cursed Spirit. 
Y/N, Megumi, Inumaki and Noritoshi ran around in the building in an attempt to escape the hot pursuit. 
"Are you okay, Inumaki-senpai?" Megumi asked while they were running.
"Salmon," Inumaki replied after taking a few sips from his cough syrup. 
"It's coming!" Noritoshi warned as he turned around. 
"Stop!" 
The Cursed Spirit froze as Noritoshi followed up with his technique, "Convergence, Piercing Blood!" 
"Shadow Cursed Manipulation: Shadow Bindings!" 
Dark matter wrapped around the Cursed Spirit just as the blood shot at its head, damaging a part of it. 
"Hurry! It will heal itself soon and the bindings will be removed by then!" Noritoshi shouted. 
Inumaki coughed as his throat began hurting itself. While attempting to escape from the Cursed Spirit, the group had formulated a sort of attack plan. 
Inumaki would stop it first with his cursed speech, letting the rest of them to attack and gain distance. Y/N's shadow bindings would help keep it back for a couple more seconds to further the distance. Their end goal was to continue the pattern until they escaped the veil and meet up with the others. 
Toge's cursed speech is becoming less effective, Y/N glanced at him as they turned a corner, narrowly missing a bunch of roots as well. We can't let it find a way to beat his cursed speech. 
"Hurry up!" Noritoshi urged them as the roots grew closer to them in a span of seconds. 
They ran up a flight of stairs, passing through a hallway as it led towards an exit. Inumaki kicked open the door as they jumped out of the building and onto the connecting roofs. 
Megumi's Nue followed along from above as they tried to find anyone they could meet up with. 
The crashing sound of the roots piecing into the roof stopped the group as they turned around, face to face with the Cursed Spirit once more. 
Megumi reeled his left hand back as Nue approached him, "Inumaki-senpai will stop it, so don't worry and go!" 
"Stop-!" The word couldn't be forcibly activated as Inumaki collapsed onto the ground, heaving heavily. 
Nue had been stabbed by the Cursed Spirit's arm. 
"Toge!" Y/N ran up to his side. "Blood... You've over exerted yourself." 
Noritoshi's choked up grunts caught her attention as the sorcerer was slammed against the ground with a single hit. Megumi quickly caught Noritoshi, stopping him from going any further. 
"Are you alive, Kamo-san?" Megumi asked while maintaining eye contact with the Cursed Spirit. Though, he received no response since the older one was knocked unconscious. 
Inumaki's throat already gave out even without using powerful words. This shows that the enemy's far superior. Megumi gritted his teeth. 
He took a deep breath in, slowly pulling both of his hands together before he felt a tap on his shoulder. 
Megumi looked at his side, eyes widening when he saw Inumaki and Y/N.