Chapter 146: The Final Cursed War
Mei Mei did not doubt Yuji's warning.
She had already made her own guesses about Yuji Itadori's Cursed Technique. Although she had yet to see its full scope with her own eyes, the confidence behind his words told her enough.
Six Special Grades below.
That was not a battlefield she needed to enter blindly.
"Ui Ui, let's go."
The white-haired boy carrying her Cursed Tool immediately followed her command.
The two turned and withdrew without hesitation.
Yuji moved with them.
On the other side of the Curtain, the Locust Curse stared blankly for a moment, its small mind failing to understand why the prey it had waited for was suddenly leaving.
Then its wings vibrated violently.
It rushed out of the Curtain's range and gave chase.
"Don't run! I still have to catch you! Wait for me!"
Yuji glanced back and could not help retorting, "Who asks someone to wait while trying to catch them?"
The Locust Curse froze for half a breath.
It seemed to think that made sense.
So it immediately changed its words.
"Then I won't catch you anymore! Just wait for me a moment!"
This time, even Asuramaru had nothing to say.
The curse was pitifully stupid.
Unfortunately, it was also fast.
Its wings buzzed, and its insect-like body tore through the air. In only a few breaths, it had already caught up behind Yuji.
One of its fists shot forward with brutal force.
Yuji turned sharply and swung the Wind Sword backward.
"Sago-giri!"
A gale burst from the sword.
The slash tore through the incoming fists, severing them cleanly.
The Locust Curse's wings beat furiously as it retreated, staring at its severed hands with an aggrieved expression.
"What kind of sword is that? So sharp..."
Then it raised its head stubbornly.
"But I'm still smarter!"
Cursed Energy gathered inside its mouth.
The next instant, it spat out a mouthful of dark purple blood. The liquid shot forward like a blood arrow, carrying a corrosive stench.
Yuji stepped aside and avoided it easily.
Without looking back, he called out, "Mei-san, you and Ui Ui should leave first!"
"Then I wish you good luck in battle."
Mei Mei did not hesitate.
Since Yuji had said that, he clearly had his own plan. Forcing herself to remain might only interfere.
Even so, she did not simply leave everything alone.
As she withdrew with Ui Ui, she activated her Cursed Technique. A crow lifted from the shadows and circled nearby, watching the battlefield from above.
At the same time, Mei Mei took out her phone and called an Assistant Supervisor, arranging for reinforcements in a smooth, practiced sequence.
Behind her, the Locust Curse kept spitting corrosive blood from its mouth.
But to Yuji, the attacks were slow.
Far too slow.
The blood arrows traced clear paths through the air, easy to read and easier to avoid. The curse's Cursed Energy was strong, and its body was durable, but beyond that, there was nothing especially difficult about it.
Yuji landed, lowered his body, and charged forward with both swords in hand.
Seeing him rush in, the Locust Curse's face lit up with sudden joy.
I won!
Its grasshopper abdomen swung forward from behind its body, then shot out from between its legs in a violent thrust. The sharp tip tore through the air like a spear.
Yuji had already been waiting for it.
The Wind Sword erupted with gale-force power.
"Steel Tempest!"
The wind in front of him turned into a cutting storm.
The Locust Curse's abdomen-tail entered the gale and was split open from the middle.
"Wha... what?"
The curse stared at the severed tail, its expression freezing.
No matter how "smart" it believed itself to be, it finally realized one thing.
The enemy in front of it was not someone it could defeat.
But by the time it understood, there was no longer any path of retreat.
Only death remained.
Yuji stepped forward.
The crimson Arcana flashed.
The curse's head flew from its body.
Its life ended in an instant.
The corpse dispersed, condensing into a grasshopper mask that fell into Yuji's hand.
[Ding! Intense negative emotions detected from the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Grasshopper Curse, before death. Gained 10,000 emotion points!]
[Ding! Gained 9,000 Demon Power. Thirty percent will be given as Feedback to the Sword Master!]
Yuji had no time to study the mask.
In Asuramaru's Perception, several presences had already arrived.
"They're here."
The words had barely sounded when Yuji, who had been about to leave, froze.
He sensed the Cursed Energy behind him as well.
He turned immediately.
What greeted him was a red humanoid octopus.
There was no time to mourn the Locust Curse.
The one who arrived on the battlefield was the Ocean Calamity, Dagon.
Dagon formed hand signs with both hands.
A hoarse voice followed.
"Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha!"
Cursed Energy surged.
The Domain unfolded instantly, pulling Yuji into its territory. At the same time, Mahito and the others who had arrived behind Dagon were also swallowed by the Domain.
The world changed.
Yuji found himself standing on an isolated island.
Bright sunlight poured from above. Fine sand shifted under his feet. Before him stretched a vast, endless sea, shimmering beneath the light.
At the horizon, Dagon emerged halfway from the ocean currents.
Behind him, three figures stood atop a massive fish-like Shikigami.
Mahito.
Beside him were two incarnated Death Paintings, Kechizu and Choso.
Inside the Domain, Yuji was facing four Special Grades.
Even so, fear did not appear on his face.
Yuji calmly adjusted his stance and gathered his Cursed Energy.
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain."
A Simple Domain expanded beneath his feet, neutralizing the Domain's sure-hit effect for the moment.
Mahito looked down at him and smiled.
The stitches across his face twisted with his expression, making the smile look even more grotesque.
"Long time no see, Yuji Itadori. Did you miss me?"
Someone who knew nothing might have thought they were old friends.
Yuji gripped both swords.
The fire on their edges flared.
"Mahito."
His voice was low, every word pressed down by killing intent.
"I will kill you with my own hands."
When Mahito saw that flicker of flame, his expression shifted.
Then he burst into laughter.
"It seems the two of us have cursed each other, Yuji Itadori!"
He opened his mouth.
Several transfigured humans, compressed to the extreme, slid out from within. Mahito caught them in both hands and squeezed.
"Soul Multiplicity: Body Repel!"
Flesh twisted.
A mass of tentacles, formed from transfigured humans, burst from his palms and lashed toward Yuji on the shore.
The tentacles writhed and multiplied, their ends splitting open into bloody maws like serpents. They lunged again and again, striking toward Yuji from every direction.
Mahito laughed wildly.
"Hahahahaha! Get excited too, Itadori!"
His voice echoed across the beach.
"This is the final cursed war between you and me!"
Yuji's expression remained cold.
His anger was there, burning deep, but he forced it under control.
"Mahito," he repeated, "I will definitely kill you."
The tentacles descended.
Yuji raised both swords.
On his forehead, the flame-like Slayer Mark appeared again, flickering like a burning scar.
"Hinokami Kagura: Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
His swords spun.
Flaming slashes erupted in front of him one after another, sweeping outward with full force.
The incoming tentacles were cut apart and burned away.
Without Asuramaru's direct enhancement, Yuji's strength had already barely reached the level of a Special Grade.
But his greatest weakness remained.
He had not awakened a Domain.
Outside, a crow landed on a dim yellow streetlamp.
Its black eyes stared down at the pitch-black spherical shell of the Domain.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]