Mahoraga

"Furubebbe, Yurayura, Yatsuka Sword, Otherworldly Divine General, Mahoraga!"

As Eiji's voice fell, a towering figure emerged from the shadows stretched long by the lights.

A floating Dharma Wheel hovered above its head. It had no eyes, but four small wings grew from either side of its head, while a tail like an insect's long abdomen extended from the back of its skull.

It was immensely tall and powerfully built. Comparing himself to it, Eiji estimated that Mahoraga was likely four or five meters tall.

A plain arm blade was attached to its right arm, yet it carried an indescribably sacred aura.

It was the Demon-Slaying Sword, especially effective against Cursed Spirits.

Eiji leaped backward several times and hid behind Mahoraga. At that moment, after Yota Zenin's death, the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit's gaze also fixed upon Mahoraga.

From his earlier observations, Eiji had discovered that the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit selected its targets according to their distance from the center of the overpass. Now that he stood behind Mahoraga, he was no longer its target. Mahoraga, who stood closer to the center of the overpass, was.

A somewhat crazed smile appeared on Eiji's lips.

Because he saw the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit trembling.

"Hahaha, so Cursed Spirits can be afraid too? Kill her, Mahoraga."

The second Command Spell mark on the back of his hand vanished.

Under the Command Spell's effect, Mahoraga immediately locked onto the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit crawling on the ground as its target.

Mahoraga stomped down, instantly shattering the ground beneath its feet. Its massive body shot toward the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit like a cannonball.

The next moment, ropes materialized out of thin air, wrapped around Mahoraga's neck, and hung it from the overpass.

"Wooo—"

A familiar sound rang out as the Train rushed toward Mahoraga hanging from the overpass at tremendous speed.

Boom! Screech!

The Train slammed viciously into Mahoraga's towering body, and the domain instantly turned into the scene of a train wreck.

Mahoraga's formidable defense meant that although the Train injured it, it did not sever Mahoraga's body as completely as it had Yota Zenin's.

Instead, the Train itself twisted and warped from the impact before finally derailing.

The Dharma Wheel atop Mahoraga's head turned, and its injuries rapidly healed.

At the same time, two pieces of information appeared in Eiji's mind.

One was that Mahoraga was adapting to and analyzing the ropes around its neck. The other was that, after being struck, it had begun prioritizing adaptation to and analysis of the Train's impact.

Though Eiji was delighted, a trace of worry also rose in his heart.

He was happy because he knew this round was secure. The Half-Body Vengeful Spirit was no match for Mahoraga.

His concern was that Mahoraga had also added the Command Spells to its list of things requiring adaptation. It was merely a low priority because it was currently fighting.

Mahoraga had judged the Command Spell's commanding effect to be an attack from Eiji, the one who had tamed it.

Damn it. If I'd gotten the system earlier, I could've directly used all three Command Spells to order Mahoraga to kill itself.

If he directly ordered Mahoraga to kill itself now, then during the brief interval before he could summon it again after it vanished, the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit would immediately target him.

He could not withstand the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit's attacks.

Similar to Yuta Okkotsu, the External Technique Eiji had obtained was a Technique for summoning and controlling Shikigami, activated through the Holy Grail placed within his body.

However, after the original Heroic Spirit Summoning was assimilated by this world, it became the summoning of Imaginary Heroic Spirits.

Imaginary Cursed Spirits required a sufficient degree of fame to be born. In other words, Eiji needed to make the Heroic Spirits he wanted to summon famous enough before he could summon them as Imaginary Cursed Spirits.

This left Eiji, who had originally planned to directly summon Heroic Spirits to protect and take care of him, quite frustrated.

After being localized, the Holy Grail operated in connection with the Cursed Energy system, and the Cursed Energy system was only active in the Island Nation. On top of that, the legends of Heroic Spirits in the Type-Moon world differed somewhat from those of this world, so Eiji had to find a way to gather Imaginary Cursed Spirits related to Heroic Spirits from the Type-Moon world.

Fortunately, after the system's modifications, Command Spells could affect not only Heroic Spirits, but also the Shikigami he summoned through the Ten Shadows Technique.

After all, Command Spells had originally evolved from magecraft used to control familiars, and the Shikigami summoned by the Ten Shadows Technique were likewise familiars.

Bang.

Having recovered, Mahoraga grabbed the edge of the overpass for leverage, then made a huge leap and landed heavily before the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit. Amid the spirit's terrifying shrieks, it was once again flung off the overpass by ropes.

"Wooo—"

The Train came again, but this time, it failed to harm Mahoraga.

The Dharma Wheel overhead made a gentle rotation, and Mahoraga once more leaped before the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit.

Eiji knew that this time, Mahoraga had adapted to the ropes' Binding Vow.

Sure enough, when the ropes appeared again, they failed to tighten around Mahoraga. They merely stripped a single wing from its head.

This was not because Mahoraga had no better way to neutralize the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit's rope attack without injury. It was simply more efficient to defuse the opponent's attack at a negligible cost.

A more sophisticated solution would require more time.

And it was only one wing on its head. It returned to normal in less than a second.

Mahoraga stepped before the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit and raised the Demon-Slaying Sword in its right hand high.

"AAAAAH!"

The Half-Body Vengeful Spirit let out a piercing scream. Cursed Energy like blood erupted from the stump of its severed right arm and formed a massive Blood Scythe.

"AAAAAH!"

The Half-Body Vengeful Spirit drove the Blood Scythe viciously into Mahoraga's waist, trying to cut Mahoraga in two. But before the scythe could strike Mahoraga, the Demon-Slaying Sword in Mahoraga's right hand had already slashed across the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit.

The Demon-Slaying Sword in Mahoraga's right hand carried Positive Energy identical to that of the Reverse Cursed Technique. Even a Special Grade Disaster would die on the spot if struck directly.

With a scream, the body of the Special Grade Imaginary Curse Spirit, the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit, began to turn to ash.

With a clatter, a Dark Red Withered Finger fell to the ground beneath Eiji's astonished gaze.

"Why is Sukuna's Finger here?"

Eiji picked up the finger from the ground, somewhat puzzled.

"I see. That's why this Cursed Spirit was clearly strong, yet felt rather stupid."

Earlier, Eiji had found it strange. This Cursed Spirit had been far too brainless. While intelligent Cursed Spirits were rare, one capable of opening a domain should have at least some intelligence. After all, this Half-Body Vengeful Spirit had not had its spiritual intelligence erased by Geto using Cursed Spirit Manipulation.

Even a Grade 3 Cursed Spirit in the story had known to threaten Nobara with a child, and some High-level Cursed Spirits outside the Four Calamities could manage basic communication.

Yet the Half-Body Vengeful Spirit was already Special Grade, but it seemed to do nothing but charge in recklessly.

But after seeing Sukuna's Finger, Eiji understood. This was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit that had been force-grown after consuming Sukuna's Finger.

"Hey, before you die, tell me your name."

While he was lost in thought, Satoru Gojo, who had been standing at the edge of the overpass, walked up behind Eiji.

"Eiji. And who said I'm going to die?"

At first, Eiji had thought Satoru Gojo intended to eliminate him, a competitor, here and now. Later, though, he felt that Gojo was not that kind of person.

"That thing is still here."

Satoru Gojo pointed at Mahoraga, which was watching him from nearby, then pointed at the two bodyguards behind him.

"I asked them just now. No one here can deal with that thing. Or can you kill it?"

Satoru Gojo's face was full of curiosity.

As the Six Eyes Divine Child who had grown up surrounded by countless people, Satoru Gojo had constantly studied and trained his Six Eyes. Naturally, he knew of this Technique, which had once killed a Six Eyes user.

Mahoraga, the strongest Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique. A Shikigami that had never been tamed, one the Zenin Family had always treated as their final method of perishing together with their enemy.

Eiji's mouth twitched.

"No need to worry."

The Command Spell on his right hand, hidden behind his back, flashed, and Mahoraga began to disappear.

Feeling Mahoraga's adaptation progress toward the Command Spells increase by a large amount again, Eiji felt rather helpless.

"Oh!"

Satoru Gojo's eyes widened, and the two bodyguards behind him were also stunned.

"You've already tamed Mahoraga?"

"Not completely."

"How did you do it?"

"...Secret."

Had Satoru Gojo started lacking any sense of boundaries at such a young age? No, this guy seemed like he had never understood what boundaries were in the first place.

Grrrrowl~!

Just then, a sound came from Eiji's stomach.

He had not eaten dinner to begin with, and after all that running and fighting, Eiji felt like he could eat three huge steamed buns right now.

Oh, on this side, it was onigiri.

"Let's go get something to eat."

"Sure, but not in Kyoto."

"Why?"

"There are too many Zenin Family dogs there."

"No problem. Follow me."

After they left, an Old Man with Stitched Seams across his head appeared in the center of the overpass.

"Interesting. It was only an attempt without much hope, but I unexpectedly got to see something interesting."

The Old Man cleared away the remaining Cursed Energy from the scene, then turned and left.