A Fleeting Glimpse of Malevolent Shrine

Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction gritted its teeth in fury, shifting its body upward as it tried to kill the bastard who had looked down on it.

"That's right, put some more effort into it." Ryomen Sukuna smiled as he lifted his foot and stomped it directly onto Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's face just as it was about to rise.

"Boom!"

This time, the sturdy ground shattered and collapsed completely. The two fell through the break, and in the midst of their descent, Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction grabbed Ryomen Sukuna by the ankle and violently hurled him aside.

"Pfft!"

To its utter surprise, Ryomen Sukuna was already sitting atop a falling boulder the next moment, leisurely holding one of its severed arms. "Still can't bear to part with your arm?"

"Urgh... pfft..." Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction finally showed an indescribable expression of fear. Purple blood trickled from its mouth as it fell, as though plunging into an abyss.

"Ha... hahaha... hahahahaha!" Ryomen Sukuna threw back his head and laughed, his mouth splitting wide. It had been a long time since he had felt this kind of delight in toying with someone in the palm of his hand.

Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction and the massive boulder crashed into the water below, throwing up enormous splashes.

By then, Fushiguro Megumi and Nobara Kugisaki had already made it outside. Only now did Nobara Kugisaki's injuries truly reveal themselves, leaving her barely able to stand.

Jutochi Kiyo and Fushiguro Megumi helped her into the car. The latter said, "Please expand the evacuation zone to ten kilometers."

"What about you, Fushiguro?" After getting into the car and taking the driver's seat, Jutochi Kiyo prepared to take Nobara Kugisaki to the hospital for treatment.

"I'll wait here for Itadori to come back. By the way, Mr. Ijichi, have you seen Lin Ran?" Fushiguro Megumi had no idea where Lin Ran had gone. To be honest, he was worried. Lin Ran had faced a Special Grade Cursed Spirit alone. Although the cursed spirit was dead, Lin Ran had vanished as well.

"Lin Ran? You haven't seen him either? I didn't see him." Jutochi Kiyo had found it strange from the start that Lin Ran had not come out with them. Apparently, not even Fushiguro knew where he had gone.

After a moment of silence, Fushiguro Megumi said, "Please take Kugisaki to the hospital first."

"All right. Once I've taken Miss Kugisaki to the hospital, I'll return as quickly as I can." Jutochi Kiyo nodded. There was nothing else they could do now.

Fushiguro Megumi shook his head. "No, Mr. Ijichi, there's not much use in you staying here. If possible, please have a Jujutsu Sorcerer of Grade 1 or above come... though I doubt there are any available."

Jutochi Kiyo felt a little awkward at Fushiguro Megumi's words. He truly would not be much help here; he was never a combatant to begin with.

"I'll do my best. I'm leaving first." With those words, Jutochi Kiyo drove away.

Fushiguro Megumi no longer intended to enter the Juvenile Detention Center. In his current condition, he simply could not. Besides, Yuji Itadori inside might already have been possessed by Sukuna.

"Hey, did you know? We're both classified as Special Grade—you and me." Ryomen Sukuna stood on a rock protruding from the water, calmly looking at Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction embedded in the wall some distance away.

Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's hands and feet had all been severed, embedded in the wall along with its main body.

Yet it was unwilling to submit. Especially after hearing Ryomen Sukuna's words, it became even more agitated. Its body burst through the wall as its arms and legs rapidly regenerated.

Not every Special Grade possessed this regenerative ability, but Special Grades incapable of regeneration were exceedingly rare. So long as it did not suffer a fatal injury, having its limbs cut off was little more than humiliation for Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction.

"Very good, Special Grade. Put some more effort into it. Come on." Ryomen Sukuna smiled at Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction.

Once its body had fully recovered, Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction leaped down onto the same rocky platform as Sukuna, opening its mouth to reveal a row of huge, neat incisors.

Suddenly, it threw back its head and let out a long howl, seemingly sending some sort of signal to its surroundings.

"Calling for a companion?" Ryomen Sukuna sneered. "That companion of yours is even weaker than you, and you're actually counting on it? What a pity. It was already killed by another brat."

As he said this, Ryomen Sukuna's expression shifted slightly. He wondered how Lin Ran had done it—what ability he had used to kill a Special Grade.

As far as he knew, none of these brats, male or female, could possibly be a match for a Special Grade Cursed Spirit at present.

The sole exception was the brat who had taken his fingernail in a manner that defied all reason. He was clearly different from the others, yet even his companions seemed to know little about him.

Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's expression changed upon hearing Ryomen Sukuna's words. Sure enough, it could no longer sense the other Special Grade's presence. Not even a trace of its aura remained—or rather, only the Residual Filth left behind after death remained.

"Well then, should I praise you now?" Ryomen Sukuna looked at Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's restored body with a smile that did not reach his eyes. "But unlike humans, healing isn't difficult for cursed spirits. You and this brat know absolutely nothing about curses. This is a good opportunity. Let me teach you what a real curse is."

As Ryomen Sukuna finished speaking, he formed a hand sign with his fingers and looked at Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction.

"Domain Expansion—Malevolent Shrine."

The next instant, a suffocatingly powerful domain enveloped the area, and the entire space transformed. A massive ancient Gate Courtyard appeared behind Ryomen Sukuna, beyond which endless crimson cursed energy surged toward the heavens.

Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction seemed to see boundless terror in its eyes. Its entire body could not move in the slightest, its face still frozen in terror—yet its body had already been sliced into dozens of pieces, suspended motionlessly in midair.

"I was going to cut you into three pieces, but you're just too weak." Ryomen Sukuna walked over, somewhat disappointed. "Oh, right. There's also this..."

There was a small hole in Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's chest. Ryomen Sukuna reached into it and pulled out a dark crimson severed finger. "I'll be taking this."

The moment he removed the severed finger from within Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction's body, it burst into spontaneous flames. Violet-red fire instantly reduced Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction to ashes.

Lin Ran had already left the Juvenile Detention Center. He had achieved his goal, and as for Cursed Womb: Heavenly Restriction, there was no need for him to worry about it. If things proceeded as they normally should, there ought to be no problem.

But Lin Ran feared that events would not unfold the same way as before. That would be extremely troublesome. More importantly, he was badly injured now—his left shoulder and collarbone had been pierced through, and the ribs on his right side had also been damaged.

If not for his ability to rely on cursed energy to support himself, he might have collapsed already.

Even the weakest Special Grade Cursed Spirit was not so easy to deal with. But Lin Ran had done it this time. He had successfully killed a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

He had also gained 102 Points. Beyond that, Lin Ran had received an unexpected bonus: after the "special ability" broke down the Ryomen Sukuna "fingernail" he had obtained earlier, he received exactly 100 Points—not one more, not one less.

And that was only one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingernails. What if it had been an entire finger? How many Points would that be?