Smoke rose from the broken city.
Aki sat by the base of a collapsed tower, his body covered in dust. His fingers trembled slightly. His cursed energy was still active, glowing dark red under his skin.
He had used too much of it. And the cursed spirit inside him was getting louder.
> "You're weakening, vessel. One more fight, and I'll take over."
Aki didn't answer. He just closed his eyes and breathed slowly.
Then—he heard the sound of steps.
He opened his eyes.
Three figures were running toward him across the cracked street—Kael, Yumi, and Rei.
Ren followed a moment later, slower, scanning the ruins around him.
They reached Aki, panting.
"You look awful," Kael said, trying to joke.
Yumi dropped beside him and held his wrist. "You used the cursed power, didn't you?"
Aki nodded once.
Rei looked around. "What happened here?"
Aki pointed toward a shattered store down the road. "A man. Normal-looking. But he changed. Became something else. Like a cursed monster."
Ren frowned. "We saw that in another zone. Same thing. They're calling them curseborn now. People who lived too close to the red zones. Some changed slowly. Others… overnight."
Rei crossed her arms. "How many zones like this exist?"
Ren opened his Spiral device. "So far, we've confirmed nine. But there are probably more."
Yumi stood. "This isn't just one city. It's the whole world."
---
The group walked through the ruins. They saw old memories everywhere—places they used to visit, streets they once lived on.
Destroyed.
A playground covered in vines and dust. A school split in half, desks floating in cursed mist. Cars stuck in the middle of the road, some flipped, others crushed.
"This was home…" Yumi whispered.
They stopped near a bridge that had collapsed into a cursed river below. Red mist flowed like water, glowing softly. Strange creatures crawled in it, but none came close.
Ren opened a screen on his device again.
"Cursed energy is everywhere now. It's like the Spiral energy—but twisted."
Kael frowned. "Is it even usable?"
Aki nodded slowly. "Yes. But it's dangerous. We can't treat it like Spiral energy. This power is alive. It fights back."
Rei asked, "So how do we learn it?"
Everyone looked at Aki.
He looked away. "I don't know… not yet. But we'll figure it out."
Suddenly—something flashed in Ren's mind.
He turned toward the mountains in the distance. A ruined city sat under the red clouds.
"Zone 87," he said. "We should go there."
Yumi blinked. "Why?"
Ren looked serious. "I saw something. A memory. It wasn't mine—but it was from a Seeker. A survivor."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "There are more of us?"
Ren shook his head. "Not sure. But someone left a message… and it's calling for help."
---
Later That Night
They set up camp in an empty building. The roof had holes, but it kept out most of the red mist. They found some clean food from Spiral storage—still safe.
Yumi drew small protection symbols on the walls. Her sketch-soul power was weaker here, but it worked.
Kael stood watch near the window.
Rei sat with her blade across her lap.
Ren watched the stars—or what was left of them.
Aki sat apart, alone in the corner. He wasn't sleeping.
The cursed spirit inside him wouldn't let him.
> "Why don't you use all my power?" it asked.
> "We could fix this broken world in minutes. We could control it."
Aki clenched his fists. "That's not saving. That's ruling."
> "You really think your team can handle this war? They'll die before Episode 60."
Aki gritted his teeth. "You talk too much."
> "You're the one who asked me to stay alive."
---
The Next Morning
The group packed up early. They were ready to move.
As they walked through the city ruins toward Zone 87, they passed more strange places—homes that had become twisted by cursed energy, streets filled with red fog.
They found a group of people hiding in an old subway station. Survivors. Normal humans who had not turned into curseborn.
Yumi gave them clean water. Ren left behind a protection mark. The people were scared—but thankful.
Rei said quietly, "If cursed energy spreads faster, these people won't survive long."
Kael looked at Aki. "You said cursed energy can be learned. But how?"
Aki stopped walking.
"There is one way," he said. "A special place. I saw it in a dream."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Where?"
Aki turned his head toward the horizon.
> "The Temple of Curses."
The name made everyone freeze.
"I don't know where it is yet," Aki added. "But I'll find it."
Ren placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find it together."
---
Meanwhile…
Far from them, in a sealed chamber deep underground, a figure in black robes stood in front of a glowing screen.
Red symbols moved across the glass.
The figure smiled.
> "So… the Spiral children have returned. And they brought cursed blood with them."
Behind the figure stood rows of bodies—curseborn in sleep, waiting.
> "Let the game begin."