"I had assumed we would at least meet face-to-face and exchange a few words before the battle began," Mahito said with a hint of regret. "I didn't expect you to attack right out of the gate. And with such blistering, cataclysmic fury, no less. Like ten thousand suns."
Yuki easily read between the lines of his elegant phrasing. She brushed her long hair aside and laughed. "I didn't think the Lord of Cursed Spirits would be in the mood to read the ancient Indian epic, the *Mahabharata*."
The *Mahabharata* describes the wars of ancient times. One particular passage reads:
*[A single projectile was charged with all the power of the Universe.
An incandescent column of smoke and flame, as bright as ten thousand suns, rose in all its splendor.
It was an unknown weapon, an iron thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death, which reduced to ashes the entire race of the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.
The corpses were so burned as to be unrecognizable. Hair and nails fell out; pottery broke without apparent cause, and the birds turned white. After a few hours, all foodstuffs were infected.]*
This text was written around 1500 BCE, roughly 3,500 years ago. The war it described eerily resembled modern nuclear warfare. But none of that was the point. The point was:
Yuki spoke slowly, "You've been educated very well, Mahito. You have a very patient teacher. A teacher who dedicated himself entirely to instructing you in everything—Jujutsu, swordsmanship, literature, and etiquette.
"This proves he doesn't just view you as a pawn to overthrow Jujutsu society. He genuinely treats you as his disciple, the inheritor of his legacy."
Mahito smiled. "I am a child who is loved. I appreciate all the beauty this world has to offer."
Mahito wasn't lying. He genuinely felt loved. Despite their immense power, Jogo and Hanami willingly submitted to him, dedicating everything they had to his cause. Dagon might not have understood much, but he implicitly obeyed Mahito's every word.
Kinji Hakari constantly spouted profanities, but ultimately cared for Mahito in his own twisted way. The newly joined Ashiya Sadatsuna viewed him as his true successor, holding absolutely nothing back.
The recently awakened Tsumiki Fushiguro had very pleasant conversations with him, patiently humoring his whims. Finally, the five newborn intelligent Cursed Spirits he had personally created viewed him as both their master and their father.
In other words, everyone gathered around Mahito—with the sole exception of Kenjaku—genuinely believed from the bottom of their hearts that Mahito was someone they could entrust their futures to. Many among them truly believed that if Mahito ruled the world, he could actually tear down the rotten old system and forge a brand-new one.
Mahito was even certain that the [Thought Imprint] barely played a role in this. The Imprint only guaranteed loyalty; it couldn't force them to enjoy his company. If it did, their mindset would warp into something tragic, like *'I am not betraying Mahito only because I must sacrifice myself for the greater good'*. Kenjaku was the only exception. Even under the Imprint, his mindset was purely to squeeze Mahito dry of all his worth, merely playing along with him in the meantime.
Therefore, regarding Kenjaku, Mahito's thoughts hadn't changed since day one—*I'm going to kill him eventually!*
Just as Kinji Hakari had said to Satoru Gojo: *This world is already rotten to the core. A revolution is coming. Why not roll the dice on it?*
Mahito wasn't a solitary king on an empty throne. He was deeply connected to this world. Over the past few months, the psychological detachment of being an otherworldly transmigrator had almost entirely vanished. He could no longer view this place as just a manga. He genuinely loved everything about it.
"Is that so? Then I can rest easy," Yuki said, her tone carrying genuine relief.
"Rest easy about what?"
"Rest easy knowing that even if I die, even if Satoru Gojo fails, you won't treat this world with cruelty." Yuki exhaled slowly. She extended her arm, holding her palm open in a beckoning gesture. Something was rocketing toward her from the distance.
Accompanied by a series of sonic booms, the snake-like Cursed Tool Shikigami returned to her hand. Yuki grabbed Garuda by the head, her palm locking seamlessly with its skull. Then, she swung Garuda violently. The serpentine Shikigami instantly transformed into a divine whip capable of cleaving heaven and earth.
"Now I can fight you to the death without any regrets!"
—Cursed Technique Release, Star Rage!
Mahito immediately broke into a sprint. With every breath, he commanded his Cursed Energy to flow fluidly through his limbs and bones. This was the most fundamental form of Cursed Energy reinforcement. Even without formal training, any Sorcerer with Cursed Energy could apply it instinctively. But the *technique* behind that application was the absolute dividing line between the weak and the strong.
Previously, Kenjaku hadn't specifically trained Mahito in Cursed Energy reinforcement because there was no need. For Mahito, who possessed Idle Transfiguration, the immediate gains from basic reinforcement were negligible. Kenjaku's curriculum for Mahito simply didn't prioritize it.
But with Ashiya Sadatsuna's arrival, Mahito's combat system finally underwent proper integration.
Unlike Kenjaku, who constantly oozed malice, Ashiya truly treated Mahito as his successor. When Mahito asked about integrating his skills, Ashiya didn't even hesitate: *Elevate your Cursed Energy reinforcement first, then we'll talk.*
Because every single technique relied on it. It was the fundamental 'horse stance' of general Jujutsu.
*If you haven't even mastered the horse stance, how dare you try to practice anything else?*
And now, Mahito had mastered it perfectly!
He hadn't even entered the specialized sensory state utilized by the Zen'in clan, yet as Garuda was whipped toward him, the world in his eyes seemed to slow down by several magnitudes. He was utterly unhurried. Even though Garuda carried world-shattering kinetic force, he easily stepped out of its trajectory.
Mahito finally understood the world Satoru Gojo lived in. Gojo's Six Eyes could perceive the flow of all Cursed Energy in the world. Mahito couldn't do that. But as long as he focused, every shift in the air currents could be captured by his eyes.
In other words, as long as he was within the atmosphere, no frontal attack could ever hit him.
Cursed Energy reinforcement didn't just boost the physical output of his limbs; it elevated his kinetic vision, his reflexes, and even the tactile sensation of air currents brushing against his skin.
The upgrade was astonishingly comprehensive. Just as Ashiya Sadatsuna had said—
*—Cursed Energy reinforcement is the horse stance of the Jujutsu world. All training stems from it. You can only get better at it; there is no such thing as a limit!*
Garuda struck the ground. The sheer, colossal pressure generated a deafening sonic boom right before impact, creating a momentary vacuum where all sound seemingly vanished. The cataclysmic force blasted the desert sand upward, forming a literal tidal wave of grit.
Yuki stood before the tidal wave. A massive fissure split the ground before her, like Moses parting the Red Sea. Suddenly, something flew toward her. She focused her eyes—it was a bamboo hat.
*Clap.* A crisp sound echoed.
—Soul Creation, Aoi Todo.
—Boogie Woogie!
Mahito swapped places with the bamboo hat, violently bypassing the tidal wave of sand and appearing directly in front of Yuki. With his hat gone, the blazing sun beat down on his white hair, making it shimmer with a golden-red halo. His heterochromatic eyes were fully open, glaring down at the world like a majestic, divine entity.
—Cursed Technique Release, Divine Authority!
Yuki prepared to counterattack, but her body abruptly froze in place! Suspended in mid-air, Mahito swung his blade. His white hair seemed to blot out the sun as Kirigiri carved a beautiful arc toward Yuki.
Teleportation ambush. Divine Authority immobilization. Cleaving Line execution.
One hit, one kill!
*Squelch!*
An arm flew high into the sky, the severed stump as smooth as a polished mirror. Yuki gritted her teeth and leaped backward. As she retreated, Garuda followed her will, catching the severed arm mid-air and retreating alongside her.
Mahito didn't pursue. He landed gracefully. A trail of blood leaked from his left eye. His entire left eyeball was pulverized, reduced to a bloody paste sunken into the socket.
Yuki gritted her teeth and spat:
"Ogi Zen'in's Ame-no-Habakiri. Ranta Zen'in's Divine Authority. And my idiot disciple's Boogie Woogie... I should have known. If you have the ability to force 'evolution' upon others, grafting their techniques onto yourself is entirely possible!"
Mahito didn't answer immediately. He activated Idle Transfiguration. Under the technique's influence, his pulverized eyeball rapidly knitted itself back together. He blinked; the explosive backlash caused by Divine Authority was completely healed.
This was Mahito's first time using the Divine Authority eye. In the original canon, Ranta Zen'in used it to paralyze Maki Zen'in even after she had fully awakened as a Tyrant of Heavenly Restriction. Mahito had assumed that even if he took the backlash, holding the paralysis for just 0.2 seconds would be more than enough for Kirigiri to slice Yuki's throat. But he hadn't even managed to hold it for 0.002 seconds.
Star Rage was far more terrifying than Mahito had imagined. She was the ultimate stat-monster.
The raw physical power of a Heavenly Restriction was already immense, yet Ranta's Cursed Energy could still pin it down for a second or two. Yet, with *Mahito* as the caster, Yuki Tsukumo merely twitched, and the instantaneous backlash blew his eyeball out of its socket.
"My Reverse Cursed Technique is called Soul Creation," Mahito said.
Showing One's Cards!
"By simply touching a target's skin, I can instantly perceive their soul's information. By simulating the structure and information of their soul, I can replicate their Innate Technique. Furthermore, the power of the technique isn't static; it evolves and grows as I deepen my understanding and development of it."
An infinite arsenal of techniques. And the condition to achieve it was even simpler than Yuta Okkotsu's Copy—he only needed to touch their skin, completely bypassing the requirement of consuming a piece of the target's flesh.
The replicated techniques weren't even locked at a fixed power level; they could be trained and evolved autonomously. Not even Yuta's Copy could do that! This was genuinely unprecedented, horrifying new intel.
Even more terrifying: this was his *Reverse* Cursed Technique, not his standard Lapse. In other words, this Lord of Cursed Spirits standing before her still hadn't revealed his true trump card.
Yuki reached out and snatched her severed arm from Garuda. Pressing the stump to her shoulder, she unleashed Reverse Cursed Technique. Dense Positive Energy rapidly regenerated the wound, and in the blink of an eye, her arm was perfectly reattached.
She extended her newly healed arm, flexing her fingers. Good as new.
"My technique is called Star Rage," she declared.
Showing One's Cards!
"My technique grants me virtual mass. This massive increase in mass causes my physical density and durability to skyrocket, granting every one of my strikes physics-defying power. As you just saw, I can literally kick a nuclear explosion into existence. But since I don't feel the increase in mass myself, my speed remains completely unaffected."
Yuki whipped Garuda violently. The Shikigami struck the desert with a deafening boom, like a thunderclap in broad daylight. The colossal impact sent a massive wave of sand rolling outward from Garuda's impact point by Yuki's side, expanding in all directions like a tsunami.
Mahito exhaled slowly and rested Kirigiri at his waist, assuming an Iaijutsu stance.
His opponent was Yuki Tsukumo, a monster capable of infinitely increasing her virtual mass. In the canon, she had literally initiated a suicidal technique expansion that condensed the Earth into a 2-centimeter marble. There was no doubt about it—a single clean hit would pulverize Mahito's body instantly, and even Idle Transfiguration might not be able to save him.
It wasn't that techniques couldn't affect the soul; it was that most techniques simply didn't carry enough Cursed Energy to reach the shores of the soul. Star Rage was the ultimate exception. If she could generate a black hole capable of swallowing the Earth, it was pure delusion to think she couldn't damage the soul.
Furthermore, the Garuda she wielded was an incredibly troublesome weapon. Canonically, this Cursed Tool was literally constructed from Yuki's technique, meaning Garuda could also utilize Star Rage.
Originally, Yuki could only apply Star Rage to her own limbs. But with Garuda, she could launch ranged attacks. Just like her sneak attack earlier—by kicking Garuda, the Shikigami flew deep into the desert like an artillery shell, generating a nuclear-level explosion upon impact.
Yuki Tsukumo with Garuda and Yuki Tsukumo without Garuda were on completely different tiers of power!
Without Garuda, Yuki had to use Star Rage cautiously, because excessive destructive force could easily catch her in the blast radius. But with Garuda, she instantly became the world's most terrifying mobile artillery battery, casually dropping nukes with every strike.
*—I have to disable Garuda! And I absolutely cannot let her fists or feet touch me. I've only just started Cursed Energy reinforcement training; there's no way I can tank Star Rage.*
Mahito cursed internally, finally realizing just how obscenely impressive it was for Kenjaku to have tanked Yuki's Star Rage in the canon while only losing his arms. Kenjaku had definitely been holding back when teaching him!
Yuki was also strategizing her next move.
She genuinely hadn't expected the Lord of Cursed Spirits to possess the ability to copy a Sorcerer's Innate Technique. That meant he possessed infinite growth potential.
Why was Yuta Okkotsu classified as a Special Grade? Aside from possessing the highest Cursed Energy reserves in the world, his Copy technique was the primary reason. It was an absolute rule: any Sorcerer with access to an infinite arsenal of techniques possessed immeasurable potential.
And the activation condition for the Lord of Cursed Spirits' copy ability was even simpler than Yuta's. No one had any idea what other techniques he had hidden up his sleeve.
So far, he had used Ame-no-Habakiri, Boogie Woogie, and Divine Authority. Considering his ability to force 'evolution' upon others, his base physical specs had to be monstrously high; otherwise, forcing evolution would be impossible. Perhaps that was his still-hidden standard technique Lapse.
Offense, disruption, mobility, survival—he was flawless. He had no weaknesses.
This was a powerhouse with absurd physical specs and an infinite arsenal of techniques. The Jujutsu world's classification system for Cursed Spirits was completely meaningless to him. He was the strongest Cursed Spirit to exist in a millennium. He was the genuine, undeniable—
Lord of Cursed Spirits.
*—I have to disable his techniques! And I absolutely cannot let his hands touch my skin. If he touches me, he can copy Star Rage. That would be... catastrophic.*
*What do I do?* Both Mahito and Yuki pondered simultaneously.
Yuki suddenly groaned loudly, complaining, "Aaaargh, this is such a pain! I didn't think the legendary Lord of Cursed Spirits would be this ridiculously overpowered. I completely understand how you wiped out the Zen'in clan now. And you haven't even shown your ultimate form yet."
Her 'ultimate form' comment referred to Maximum: Advent. Mahito knew exactly what she meant.
Suddenly, Mahito's scalp went numb. His body locked up entirely.
A colossal wave of Cursed Energy blotted out the sky like storm clouds. They were standing in a desert under the blazing sun, yet Mahito suddenly felt as if he had been thrust into the vacuum of space. The immense pressure differential caused his blood to flow backward; in an instant, he felt like he was going to explode from the inside out.
Yuki Tsukumo wove a hand sign, flashing a savage, bloodthirsty grin.
"I'll be blunt. I have absolutely zero confidence in taking you down using just techniques. I have no idea what other cards you're holding. Since you can use my disciple's technique, it's safe to assume you have every technique from Kyoto in your pocket.
"You made a deal with Mei Mei. She's a cautious woman; if she met with you, she definitely brought Ui Ui along. During that exchange, you probably touched Ui Ui, didn't you? In other words, you have his teleportation technique.
"Satoru Gojo doesn't just stay in Tokyo; he runs around everywhere. That means, outside of the students he keeps heavily protected, you probably have a chunk of Tokyo's techniques too.
"Finally, you annihilated the Zen'in clan. In that battle, you definitely harvested every single technique they possessed. You've already used Ame-no-Habakiri and Divine Authority, so my assessment is spot on.
"I don't even want to imagine the kind of nightmarish combos you can pull off with an arsenal that massive."
Therefore. She declared:
"Since both of our techniques are this disgustingly troublesome, there's only one way to guarantee a decisive victory, isn't there?"
Boundless, suffocating darkness erupted from beneath Yuki's feet. In an instant, the darkness swallowed Mahito whole.
Mahito looked up. He saw Yuki standing within a dark red, cosmic void, her hands locked in a sign. Behind her head, Garuda rotated slowly, resembling the halo of a divine Buddha.
Gravitational ripples pulsed across the ground, every wave shuddering like the aftershocks of an earthquake. Countless compressed meteorites floated in the air, stretching infinitely into the void, as if a constellation of stars had descended into the mortal realm, surrounding Mahito.
"Domain Expansion—"
And directly behind Yuki Tsukumo, a pitch-black void slowly exhaled. It was a simulated black hole.
"—Sumeru Vajra Karma Wheel."