Koinokuchi Canyon, Yasohachi Bridge.
It was a very old bridge, built across the riverbanks with cold water flowing beneath. Wild grass grew everywhere, foxtails swaying along the shore. From time to time, a few yellow butterflies could be seen, but they quickly vanished, leaving only the wasteland of grass and the autumn sun slowly sinking toward the river.
Far in the distance, beyond the opposite bank, mountains stretched away beneath dense, luxuriant shrubs. They formed a dark mass whose details could not be made out.
"Kira-senpai."
Fushiguro Megumi looked down at the surging river beneath his feet and closed his eyes. Divine Dog: Black sprang from the depths of his shadow, nose twitching as it remained sharply alert.
"We've searched both the bridge and underneath it."
"We didn't find any traces of jujutsu."
Kira Nanami's expression did not change. He remained as calm as ever, glancing down beneath the bridge as the cool autumn wind brushed his face, carrying the distinctive damp scent of river water.
"Fushiguro."
"Hm?"
"Would you be willing to give your life for humanity?"
"I must respectfully decline."
Kira Nanami shook his head and said seriously,
"No, you would. I can tell from those sincere, crystal-clear eyes of yours that you would."
"When I look at you, I see myself back in my Jujutsu High days. I had the same strong sense of justice you do. Whenever anything happened, I would step in to help. I treated people sincerely and kindly, hated conflict, and even when fighting an enemy I would always hold something back."
"Kira-kun..."
"No matter what difficulty I faced, no matter what enemy stood before me, I was always the first to charge in and never once retreated—I believe you and I are quite similar, aren't we?"
The first to charge in...
"..."
Fushiguro Megumi held his head, visibly exasperated.
"So what exactly do you need me to do?"
"Jump from here."
Kira Nanami pointed beneath the bridge as he spoke to Fushiguro Megumi.
"Rituals are extremely important in jujutsu. You know that, right?"
"Bungee jumping. Jumping from here may very well be part of the ritual."
Kira Nanami spoke with complete certainty.
Fushiguro Megumi's face darkened as he leaned over the railing and stared into the seemingly bottomless drop. If an ordinary person fell from here, there would be nothing left to bury. Yet he had to admit that Kira Nanami's reasoning made sense.
Then he might as well jump down and see. Fushiguro Megumi swung himself over the railing. He was not someone who liked wasting words, so he simply leaped straight down.
His figure quickly shrank into a tiny speck against the night sky.
Only after Fushiguro Megumi had fallen completely out of sight did Kira Nanami murmur to himself,
"Come out, Cursed Spirit."
He leaned against the railing, the night wind tugging at his coat. It was impossible to tell whom he was speaking to.
"Come out. Hiding isn't a good habit, and I need to eat lunch soon."
A sound like a snake crawling came from nearby, a hiss of scales scraping over damp earth, rough and hoarse.
"You sent your subordinate away ahead of time?"
A cold voice sounded from behind him.
"At your level of jujutsu, you should have realized that the 'ritual' isn't as simple as jumping off the bridge."
"You truly are interesting, Master of the Amber Mansion."
Kira Nanami tapped a finger against the railing and answered noncommittally,
"It's only because it'd be troublesome if he died..."
Kira Nanami tilted his head back slightly, short blond hair shifting as he cast the newcomer a sidelong glance with his pale blue eyes.
"You know about me being the Master of the Amber Mansion... So what kind of freak are you?"
"Nothing more than a ghost from the past."
The snake rasped as it rose upright like a man. Its apricot-yellow pupils gleamed with chilling light as it stared straight into Kira Nanami's eyes.
"Master of the Amber Mansion, the Amber Mansion lies deep within your soul, doesn't it?"
The snake flicked its tongue, yellowish saliva dripping one drop after another from its sharp venomous fangs. It grinned hideously. Somehow, a snake's face displayed an expression as human as a real person's smile, warm and natural—but when that smile appeared on the face of a huge black python, there was nothing warm about it...
The uncanny-valley effect made the sight all the more unsettling.
Kira Nanami frowned slightly and said impatiently,
"You want it? How about I give it to you?"
Silence suddenly enveloped them both. An eerie silence in which only the howling wind, the whisper of grass bending low, and the gentle murmur of flowing water could be heard.
The next second, Kira Nanami vanished from where he stood.
A mass of pitch-black cursed energy crashed violently in midair. The black shockwave stirred the wind, tore it apart, smashed into the river, and made heaven and earth seem to lurch.
A pale pink shadow separated from Kira Nanami's back. Meeting the impact head-on, black skeletal fists came crashing down on the Cursed Spirit from every direction.
In an instant, the world looked as though a box of paint had burst open. Red sprayed outward—that was blood. Great surging masses of pink were the colors of explosions. And black, scattered among them, came from the dark flames blooming in Kira Nanami's hands.
Every spark erupted at a 7:3 division point, destroying half the creature's body with overwhelming force. One bloom, two, three—three consecutive Black Flashes struck in an unbroken chain.
And at that very moment—
"Domain Expansion: Serpentfall Fuxuzi."
It was as though someone had pressed pause on the world. Everything gradually lost its color and radiance as an invisible domain spread outward from the snake's body. Forest replaced the barren mountains, ivy crawled across the bridge, and coffins began to rise anew.
"My name is Snake Head. I am a Cursed Spirit born from humanity's fear of wild beasts, human!"
As Snake Head spoke, the body Kira Nanami had severed was already beginning to regenerate. Its scarlet pupils were so vivid they seemed ready to drip blood.
Kira Nanami's body suddenly froze. Every joint felt as though it had been filled with motor oil, stiff and completely unable to move.
At the same time, enormous waves surged through his mind.
Snake Head, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. According to the records of Jujutsu Society, it had already been driven out in the previous century.
Had it reincarnated and become a new Cursed Spirit?
There was no time to think about that now. Snake Head reared up, and its enormous tail swept directly into him. Kira Nanami failed to evade in time and was hurled away, smashing heavily into a tree and breaking several bones.
"My body's stiff..."
No, he had not been poisoned... There was nothing physically wrong with his body. This was the effect of the domain.
Kira Nanami panted, but the expression in his pale blue eyes did not change.
This domain could completely lock a person down.
It forcibly simulated the effects of poisoning inside the target's body. More than anything, it resembled hypnosis.
Kira Nanami was already beginning to feel dizzy and sick. Heat spread throughout his body, while his joints became rigid and weak.
In the past, when he encountered situations like this, Kira Nanami would rely on technique to break the domain. Every domain had its own flaws and shortcomings. As long as one found the right method, even a three-year-old child could walk out of a barrier.
But... Kira Nanami looked at the watch in his hand. It was nearly noon, and he was about to eat lunch.
He put the watch away, looked at the Cursed Spirit in the distance, and smiled.
He would take a more brute-force approach today.
He might as well try it. He had to try sooner or later.
With that thought, he reached deep into his own soul. Within that ocean of spirit, half of a parchment contract rose and fell upon the waves, while a black mansion flickered in and out of view.
There were only two ways to break a domain. One was to kill the caster.
The other was to overwrite it with a stronger domain.
A stronger domain...
Kira Nanami formed a hand seal before his chest as he faced Snake Head. Within his mind, the parchment suddenly burst into flame, and the outline of the mansion became clearer and clearer.
He could see that it had three floors. The first floor was a reception hall, the second was living quarters with a number of rooms, and the third was a warehouse...
Kira Nanami unfolded the image in his mind. The more he imagined it, the clearer the scene became, and more and more details began to emerge.
'Domain Expansion: Amber Mansion.'