Outmatched and paralyzed by fear, Yuji attempts to stall the curse while Megumi rescues Nobara.
Yuji loses his left hand and his cursed tool, the "Slaughter Demon," is destroyed. Facing his own mortality, he channels his despair into a fist reinforced by cursed energy to buy time.
They find mutilated bodies, including a detainee named Tadashi. This sparks a philosophical clash: Yuji wants to retrieve the body for the boy's mother, but Megumi refuses, noting Tadashi's criminal history.