Chapter 39

Unfortunately, they were too late. As they ran, Kamiki Yūhaku was struck. The Kamiki Clan had come for him in the first place, so of course they paid no attention to the people fleeing.

Just as they were about to deal with Kamiki Yūhaku, Kamiki Yukimi returned.

The young man stood in front of Kamiki Yūhaku, choosing to protect him despite the Kamiki Clan's threats.

"I've never thought of Yūhaku as some curse on the clan, and I don't think he's the demon they say he is."

His voice was firm, and his eyes showed that he was ready to die. "Yūhaku, don't listen to what they say. I've always believed that you're a treasure the gods bestowed on this world."

"Kamiki Yukimi, do you know whom you're protecting?" The strange old man in the capture team glared at Yukimi. "He's a sinner of the Kamiki Clan. As long as he exists, the clan will be destroyed. The Kamiki Clan has never treated you poorly, and this is how you repay it?"

"You're the real sinner of the Kamiki Clan, aren't you, old man?" Kamiki Yukimi refused to give an inch. "Yūhaku was just born with a Cursed Technique. He's never done anything."

The old man stared at Kamiki Yukimi, then sighed. "It seems we'll have to eliminate you along with him."

Kamiki Yūhaku was gravely injured at the time, his consciousness hazy, but he could hear the old man giving an order.

"Eliminate Kamiki Yūhaku and his accomplice Kamiki Yukimi at all costs."

A Semi-Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer was naturally no match for the Kamiki Clan's capture team. Kamiki Yukimi tried to escape with Kamiki Yūhaku, but the capture team had already set up a Curtain around them that prevented them from leaving. Unable to open it, Kamiki Yukimi could only do his best to shield Kamiki Yūhaku.

Even in death, he never gave him up.

He said, "I'm sorry, Yūhaku. You finally managed to escape, and we dragged you down."

He said, "Jujutsu High is a good place. If you survive, remember, never come back."

"...Yukimi."

"Don't cry, Yūhaku. You're the strongest... Jujutsu Sorcerer. You have to become the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer in the world, praised by countless people and surrounded by flowers."

Through his hazy consciousness, Kamiki Yūhaku listened to Yukimi's words amid a clamor of noise. The old man was checking with the others to make sure everything inside the Curtain had been set up. Kamiki Yūhaku knew what it was. The principal had once told him about it: a facility that prevented Curse Users from becoming Cursed Spirits after death.

"Is everything ready?"

"Everything's ready. With all these precautions, he definitely won't open his eyes again."

"What a shame. With a little more training, that brat could have become a representative of the clan."

"Since he sided with the demon, that means he doesn't care about the clan at all. He might have betrayed us if he'd lived, so let him die."

...Become the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer in the world, praised by countless people and surrounded by flowers.

"Send him on his way."

Live. I have to live.

"Is he dead?"

"He's dealt with. Now the Kamiki Clan can be saved."

The instant Kamiki Yūhaku stopped breathing, Cursed Energy surged toward him like a gale. Countless negative emotions poured into his lifeless body. His eyes were closed, as if he were merely asleep, but this unexpected development threw the entire capture team into disarray.

"What's going on?! Didn't you say the facility was set up?"

"The facility is operating normally!"

"Then why is he turning into a Cursed Spirit?!"

The Special Grade Cursed Spirit Kamiki Yūhaku looked almost exactly human, except for the two chains extending from the bones of his arms at his wrists.

One chain represented the sins the Kamiki Clan had imposed upon Kamiki Yūhaku; the other represented Kamiki Yūhaku's fixation on himself, an obsessive, self-tormenting refusal to accept it.

[Recognition increased to 93%]

Having turned into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit and lost control, Kamiki Yūhaku slowly rose from the ground. Every person there was reflected in his dark green eyes. It could be called a berserk rampage.

"Domain Expansion." Kamiki Yūhaku reached out, and white light surrounded those people.

When Kamiki Yūhaku regained consciousness, he found himself standing in the Kamiki Clan's courtyard.

The Kamiki Clan had been wiped out. Everyone lay dead and silent on the ground, with no external wounds or signs of struggle, as if they had died in their sleep. Kamiki Yūhaku looked at his palm and suddenly understood why he had never touched upon a domain before: as a human, he had been unable to sustain the Cursed Energy consumption a domain required.

After he became a Cursed Spirit, countless negative emotions gathered Cursed Energy for him. That was why, at that moment, he had succeeded in using a domain.

And wiped out the entire Kamiki Clan in his rampage.

At the end of Prophecy lay annihilation.

Chapter 39

He had to live, become human, and become the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, praised by countless people and surrounded by flowers.

But how could it be that easy?

Cursed Spirits possessed intelligence and could also possess Cursed Techniques, but they did not have human hearts. Of course, that was not their fault. All Cursed Spirits were formed from negative emotions, so it was only natural that they treated humans with the same attitude.

But he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't go on like this.

To keep himself from losing control, he reminded himself at every moment that he was human. Kamiki Yūhaku ignored the character setting of the [Non-Human Jujutsu Sorcerer] and forced himself to be a person.

He could not let a Cursed Spirit's instincts consume him, so Kamiki Yūhaku needed to shut himself away. He went to Jujutsu High's principal for help.

The principal had been his teacher for half a year, and in the end, he could not bear to refuse. He told an enormous lie for him, telling the higher-ups that Kamiki Yūhaku had accidentally died when he returned to the Kamiki Clan to take care of school paperwork, perishing along with the clan. He had simply opened his eyes again as a special Cursed Spirit.

His Cursed Technique was unusual, with no offensive or threatening power whatsoever. All he could do was prophesy, and the reason he had become a Special Grade was that he was already too deeply attuned to Prophecy.

No one doubted it, just as no one would have imagined that the Kamiki Clan would be full of hatred for a Jujutsu Sorcerer with a Prophecy Cursed Technique. In any other clan, a Prophecy Cursed Technique would have been treasured.

They even believed that a Special Grade Cursed Spirit had feared Kamiki Yūhaku's ability to prophesy and killed him in advance to make him an ally.

But to those hidebound higher-ups, this was good news.

When Kamiki Yūhaku was alive, the higher-ups had hoped to use his Cursed Technique to deal with their opponents. He had refused then, but now he could no longer refuse.

They were overjoyed, as though they had gained a trump card, and failed to notice the principal's momentary unease.

Later, the Kamiki Clan's destruction was classified as an attack by a group of unknown Cursed Spirits.

Later, a rumor gradually spread among Jujutsu Society's higher-ups. It was said that a Special Grade Cursed Spirit was imprisoned in the darkest confinement room. He had no offensive power and was a special kind of Special Grade, because his Cursed Technique was Prophecy: he could see everyone's future.

Later, Kamiki Yūhaku finally learned to control himself and even concealed his Cursed Energy completely.

Even if he could not become human, he would not become a mindless Cursed Spirit.

Kamiki Yūhaku walked out of the forest, the chains on his wrists dangling toward the ground and swaying with each step.

Beyond the forest was an elevated bridge. Kamiki Yūhaku stepped onto it and walked onward, looking somewhat lost. He was like a child who had been reproached by a friend but could not understand why, silently walking on as he thought, desperately trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second. Kamiki Yūhaku remained seated where he was, looking up as the sky darkened and then brightened again and people gradually grew busy.

They passed Kamiki Yūhaku again and again, but not one of them could see him.

That was only natural. There were far too few Jujutsu Sorcerers among humans. Even the large Jujutsu school could recruit only two or three students a year.

"Like a ghost," Kamiki Yūhaku murmured. "Though I'm not that different from one."

In September 2018, Yuji Itadori and assistant supervisor Kiyotaka Ijichi came to Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, in search of Junpei Yoshino.

A few days earlier, staff at the Kinema Cinema in Kawasaki City had discovered the bizarre corpses of three high school students. Satoru Gojo had therefore sent Yuji Itadori over to learn from the Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer Kento Nanami. His current task was to search for Junpei Yoshino with Kiyotaka Ijichi.

Junpei was the only survivor of that movie screening. They needed to determine whether he could see Cursed Spirits to judge whether he was a suspect.

"But this is where the Window spotted that Special Grade Cursed Spirit who can prophesy, right?" Yuji Itadori asked.

"Huh? I think... that's right." Kiyotaka Ijichi was a little nervous. "What should we do if we run into him? Oh, right, we have to tell Mr. Nanami about this!"

Yuji Itadori blinked. "But I was actually kind of hoping to meet him."

"Why?" Kiyotaka Ijichi exclaimed. "He's a Special Grade Cursed Spirit."

"But he's never hurt anyone, has he?" Yuji Itadori muttered. "He doesn't seem dangerous. Didn't he stay at Jujutsu High for a few days before without doing anything? And the prophecy he gave us was true. We can't just assume he's a bad guy because he's a Cursed Spirit, can we?"

Kiyotaka Ijichi frowned slightly. "Itadori, you haven't been part of Jujutsu Society for very long, so you don't understand the nature of Cursed Spirits."

"Their nature?"

"Curses are an accumulation of human negative emotions. In other words, they're born full of negative, destructive impulses. All Cursed Spirits are the same; their only goal is to kill humans. The higher-ups allowed him to remain before because they judged him to be a Cursed Spirit who posed absolutely no threat."

Yuji Itadori tilted his head. "Then why did the higher-ups think he was a Cursed Spirit who posed no threat?"

"I don't know about that. Apparently, it was what the former principal of Jujutsu High said." Kiyotaka Ijichi pushed up his glasses, looking a little timid. "But the former principal was gravely injured on a mission and died of his wounds. That's why Principal Yaga took over the position."