Chapter 111 : Poor Jogo (2)
Jogo broke the surface of the freezing pond, the water boiling against his molten skin. His single, bloodshot eye darted around.
What the hell just happened?
He tried to make sense of the last few seconds.
He hadn’t felt a single drop of cursed energy from that blonde man — to his senses the human was empty. Ordinary.
So how had he reacted to a supersonic ambush? What was that strength? It felt like getting hit by a truck.
A soft smack drew his gaze.
Mark had hopped over the shattered guardrail. Instead of sinking, his sneakers landed lightly on the water, like it was solid ground.
Hands in his jacket pockets, he walked casually across the surface, looking down at Jogo with bored eyes.
"Confused why you can’t sense my cursed energy?" Mark asked.
The disrespect snapped what patience Jogo had left.
Getting toyed with by Satomi was bad enough — being looked down on by a human with zero cursed energy finished off what was left of his pride.
The magma in his gut ignited. The pond didn’t boil, it flash-evaporated.
A shockwave of steam blasted outward, exposing the cracked, burning riverbed beneath him.
A pillar of fire erupted from the vent on his skull, lighting up the mountain sky.
"Damn you Jujutsu sorcerers!" Jogo roared, voice cracking as the earth melted around him. "Don’t you dare look down on me! I will kill you!"
"Wow, no wonder they call you a Special Grade," Mark said, flat as ever. He pulled his hand out of his pocket.
"Let me show you exactly why you couldn’t sense my cursed energy."
He snapped his fingers.
The sound cracked across the riverbed. For a second the world held still.
Then a wave of cursed energy exploded outward with Mark at the center — dense enough to snuff out Jogo’s flames outright, force the superheated air back down into the dirt, and fracture the bedrock around them.
Jogo’s eye bulged, breath knocked out of him. What the hell is this human?! His limbs locked up. It didn’t feel like facing a sorcerer. It felt like staring into an endless ocean.
The reason lived in Mark’s power.
His original ability had come from Cyclops’s mutation — kinetic blasts pulled from a dimension of endless energy.
When his body merged that with the Gojo template, his biology converted the gateway into a well of cursed energy.
Where normal sorcerers drew power from negative emotion, Mark had a direct line to an endless supply. He normally kept it locked down tight so it wouldn’t tear everything around him apart.
Until now.
Up on the melted asphalt, Satomi lowered her sunglasses, eyes widening at the power rolling off her boyfriend.
Wow... this guy is really a monster, she thought, grinning.
Even she didn’t have an endless well of cursed energy — her edge came from the Six Eyes, letting her manage what she had with almost no waste.
But this, the sheer amount Mark was putting out, was ridiculous.
Down in the crater, Jogo trembled, the magma in his body cooling fast under the weight of Mark’s presence.
A Special Grade... he’s unequivocally a Special Grade! Why hadn’t Kenjaku mentioned him? What kind of monster did that bastard leave out of the plan?
His pride overrode the fear. He wasn’t about to be intimidated by a human, let alone two in one night.
"Don’t mock me!" Jogo shrieked, the vent on his head flaring.
He thrust both hands forward, condensing his energy into a beam of magma that tore across the riverbed straight for Mark’s chest — enough to burn a target down to nothing.
It never connected.
A foot from his jacket, the magma scattered, splashing outward like it had hit a wall.
Jogo’s eye went to a pinprick. No way... same barrier?!
"You know," Mark said, brushing an ember off his sleeve, "I just bought some really nice figures. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t burn my clothes."
"You arrogant ape!"
Jogo abandoned the ranged attacks and closed the distance in an instant, fists wrapped in flame, throwing a right hook at Mark’s face.
This time Mark reacted — dropping Infinity for a split second, ducking under the punch, stepping straight into Jogo’s guard.
A plain, simple punch — but backed by an endless well of cursed energy, it hit like a truck.
His fist buried into Jogo’s gut, the shockwave blowing the remaining steam away and cracking the ground fifty feet out. Jogo coughed up a mouthful of purple, molten blood, ribs shattering under the impact.
Mark followed through instantly, spinning into a roundhouse kick to the side of Jogo’s head.
CRACK!
Jogo went flying, skipping across the riverbed, smashing through boulders and roots before slamming into the cliffside. The mountain shook from the hit.
Mark exhaled and walked toward the dust cloud, unhurried. Up on the road, Satomi was clapping, enjoying the show.
In the rubble, Jogo pulled himself out of the crater — half his teeth gone, skull cracked, magma leaking down his face. He was outmatched.
Physical hits did nothing against that strength, and even dodging wouldn’t matter with that barrier in the way.
There was only one way past a defense like that.
"Unforgivable..." Jogo hissed, blood boiling against his skin as his cursed energy flared to its limit, darkening the sky above. "I will turn you to ash!"
He raised his hands, interlocking his fingers into a sign.
"Domain Expansion: Coffin of the Iron Mountain!"