Chapter 1

**The Cursed Church** (呪 (じゅ) 教会 (きょうかい) , *Jukyōkai*?) is the first chapter of the Jujutsu Shori series. Left behind by his master, the lone traveler Allen Walker finds himself entangled with an abandoned church where ex-followers have begun mysteriously disappearing.

## Summary

1888, the end of the fictional nineteenth century. England's Victorian Era, the height of Jujutsu Sorcerery and supernatural occurrences.

On a foggy night in a mall village somewhere in England, two Police Officers are required to investigate an abandoned, broken down, creepy church. Several people have disappeared there. Travelers use it to take shelter, but by the morning only their clothes remain. It was originally abandoned due to an accident two years ago and villagers have been complaining about a ton of unnatural occurrences involving the estate.

Moa prepares to go in but her partner cowers behind the gate, unwilling to go near the creepy broken-down building. He believes the church is cursed but she thinks that's ridiculous. She opens the door and the head inside where they're surprised to see a ruined interior of the church. They're spooked by a noise but it's just a cat. They relax just for a moment only to be frightened again by a swarm of bats that fly through the area, filling the corridor.

An unnaturally colored, a deformed hand reaches out and grabs the cat. She refuses to let go and gets swept up in the confusion of the bats. Moa ends up falling ina chair with the cat and someone claims they've finally got her. When the bats disappear, Moa handcuffs the deformed hand. Its revealed to actually be a normal human boy, who surprised to see a police officer with the cat. He claims to be a traveler who had no idea about the rumors surrounding the church. The cat apparently ate one of his valuable possessions, something obtained from his master. Moa asks about his master but apparently, the boy was abandoned by him.

Suddenly they notice a scream and she leaves to go get her partner, leaving Allen begrudgingly handcuffed to the chair. Moa finds her partner too late as he's cursed and dies. His corpse turns into a gas that the mysterious boy protects Moa from. He suddenly appears from behind her and covers her mouth from the gas. He claims it's poison from a cursed spirit and the officer faints after hearing something about curses.

Moa wakes up at the precinct where they question Allen Walker for the death of her partner. There's no info on Allen or proof he did it but they point out his red hand. They think he's some kind of religious zealot but one officer points out he's a minor and there isn't any proof against him. The captain berates Moa for fainting and Allen explains the culprit is a curse that only he can exorcise unless they want to let it to keep killing.

News of the incident spreads around town as a mysterious man passes through the crowd. He visits a sickly man, Moa's brother. She comes home to him with Allen Walker, who's been placed in her care under house arrest for the time being. She asks about the curse and claims that demons are just mythical beings used to explain misfortune in ancient times. She hates the idea of demons and curses but Allen explains to her that these types of spirits are born from negativity. They're very real and they prey on humans but Allen's explanation is interrupted by Moa's brother Marc.

Allen's eye reacts to Marc, able to see the cursed spirit hidden within his body. The cursed corpse within reveals itself and immediately levels up into a floating tank type of curse. It opens fire, imploding the building. Allen escapes outside with Moa but the cat is cursed and dies. Moa asks what happened to her brother and he explains that he was murdered and a curse is using his body as a host. The curse finds them but the police group arives. They can't see it and are immediately eliminated, horrifying Moa.

Allen reveals that he heard about the curse at the church and went to check it out himself on his travels. The curse inside Marc's body was probably once the spirit of someone he cared about. A nun he loved who died in the aforementioned accident within the church that ruined its reputation. After her funeral, the mysterious man who visited Marc, only known as "The Maker" offered him the chance to get her back. His negativity allowed the maker to transform her into a curse, bound to one of his dolls. That puppet killed Marc and wore his body like a suit.

While Moa stays there stunned, Allen steps up to face the curse. Energy flows from his left arm as he asks God to give him strength and to bring salvation to the fallen soul. His arm transforms into a giant claw that slashes the cursed spirit in half, exorcising it and freeing the haunted spirit. Allen assures Moa Sister Claire and Marc both went to heaven. However, he warns her that the Maker is writing the script of mankind's demise and it's the duty of exorcists to stop him.