Yearning to Become an Immortal God

If he released it, Jogo would definitely use the fire technique he was best at in that instant and burn him to death in the blink of an eye! Jogo had mentioned killing him many times. He must have been waiting for Love Rendezvous to be released.

I can't release it! Kirara Hoshi thought. Although I'm confident I could help Akkin if I rushed to his side now, my technique is better suited for support than direct confrontation. I can't bring out my full strength at all right now.

But if I release my technique now, I'm as good as dead.

If he did not release it, he could still gamble on Akkin pulling himself together during his disadvantageous period. He could still gamble on Akkin ultimately defeating the King of Curses. If he released it now, he would be burned to death in an instant, because he simply could not react to Jogo's fire technique. The gap between them was far too great.

On the contrary, if he did not release it here, Jogo would not waste his Cursed Energy on a Domain Expansion while the King of Curses held the advantage. He still intended to help the King of Curses, and would not casually squander such an enormous amount of Cursed Energy.

So, Kirara Hoshi thought, the most correct choice now was to wait. He absolutely could not release his technique. That was what he thought.

Then, he took a step forward—Love Rendezvous, released.

"How could I gamble with Akkin's life?!" he roared. Cursed Energy surged across his entire body, reinforcing him as he leaped into the enormous pit! The logic was simple. Since he could not react in time, then he would not react at all. He would endure it head-on with Cursed Energy reinforcement! As long as he did not die, as long as he did not lose consciousness, as long as his technique could still function, then even if his arms and legs were broken, even if his entire body was burned so badly that pain left him unable to move, he could still help Akkin!

This was resolve.

"You—!" Jogo was caught off guard and only instinctively flung out a sheet of flames, but Kirara Hoshi vanished in an instant.

Jogo was both shocked and furious. If he had been prepared at all times, he would never have given Kirara Hoshi an opening. But he had not expected Kirara Hoshi to be so decisive, so utterly fearless!

In his eyes, all Old Humans should have been built upon lies and deceit. Whenever their own lives were at stake, they should betray everything out of fear, without exception! Yet today, Kirara Hoshi had taught him a lesson. Even Old Humans, whose nature was steeped in lies and deception, could still act for a greater cause just like Cursed Spirits.

"Hanami! Follow me! We cannot let Mahito's battlefield be disturbed! Even if it costs us our lives, we must pave Mahito's path to victory!" Jogo roared as he jumped into the massive pit.

With a thunderous crash, the kick that had punched through everything from the rooftop down to the underground Boxing Arena finally came to a stop. Mahito stood atop Kinji Hakari, and a huge shockwave spread outward from them. Even the entire Boxing Arena suffered a massive impact, trembling as if in an earthquake. Dust surged wildly upward, blotting out the entire space.

Kinji Hakari let out a savage roar and reached out, wanting to seize Mahito's foot, but Mahito had already lifted it from his chest. Mahito retreated sharply, his hands transforming into wings. He flapped them amid the dust, unleashing violent winds that scattered the smoke and debris.

There were no telling how many floors between the rooftop and here, and every level of the passageways between them had been blasted open. Yet even that impact had not seriously injured Kinji Hakari. He rose from the dust, Cursed Energy boiling around him. Cursed Energy reinforcement had reduced the damage he took to the greatest possible extent, but even so, his entire body ached. Perhaps the excessive impacts and final heavy blow had displaced his internal organs.

But that was not the biggest problem. The biggest problem was—"You have a technique that can blind people too," he said.

During their brief exchange, his eyes had suddenly gone blind in the middle of battle. If he had not been so tough, that sudden blindness alone would have been enough to kill him. Mahito had not held back in the slightest, because he clearly understood that Kinji Hakari, a Special Grade-level combatant, was not someone to be underestimated. From start to finish, he had gone all out, kicking a man while he was down.

"I thought we'd already decided the winner," Mahito breathed out slowly. He waved away the haze, his tone calm. "How long until you can deploy your domain again?"

After all Jujutsu Sorcerers used Domain Expansion, there was a period during which they could not use their Innate Technique. This phenomenon was called Technique Burnout. Even Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna could not avoid it. Kinji Hakari alone could defy this law. Though it required some time, he could activate Domain Expansion repeatedly within a short span, even without hitting the Jackpot.

"Thirty seconds," Kinji Hakari said.

Mahito paused. He had thought Kinji Hakari would stall or lie, but he had not expected him to give such a serious answer at this moment. "I'm guessing the technique you used to stop me from hitting the Jackpot can't be used for free. You must need time to prepare it. Otherwise, you would have used it during my first Domain Expansion. You didn't use it until I opened my second Domain Expansion, which means that as long as I endure these thirty seconds, I can turn this around."

The corner of Kinji Hakari's mouth curled up. "But I won't do that." "You won't?"

"Because that would be way too boring!" Kinji Hakari suddenly let out a tremendous roar, his voice like thunder. As Cursed Energy boiled around him, he laughed loudly. "My heat is rising! You used brute force and every trick in the book. Since you're so desperate to defeat me, isn't responding with equal passion the only path I have left?"

Kinji Hakari planted his feet and took a horse stance. One hand bent at his side while the other clenched into a fist and pointed directly at Mahito. It was a traditional martial arts stance. Having reached this point, he finally cast aside all prejudice and regarded Mahito as his true opponent.

He roared, "Come on, let me see the true King of Curses!"

Even though I just beat you senseless? Mahito badly wanted to jab back, but he did not.

He breathed slowly and formed a hand seal. Idle Transfiguration activated without a sound. His body began to swell and change, while a black shadow gradually covered Kinji Hakari's body. Kinji Hakari's eyes were already blind, but his Cursed Energy perception had instead grown sharper. His head slowly tilted upward, because an enormous creature was taking over the entire Boxing Arena. Just to "see" the full body of that shadow, he had to raise his head high.

Then two bright lamps suddenly lit up amid the dust. In Kinji Hakari's Cursed Energy vision, those two lamps resembled vortices of Cursed Energy. Countless streams of Cursed Energy were sucked into the lights before being expelled again, the lamps flickering slowly.

"Hey, hey. I know you can turn into all kinds of beasts, but can you even turn into something like this?" Kinji Hakari's expression was dazed, as though he had witnessed some impossible fantasy.

Those were not two lamps. They were a pair of heterochromatic eyes—enormous heterochromatic eyes like bright lamps.

One gold, one blue—the heterochromatic eyes shone through the mist. In Kinji Hakari's Cursed Energy perception, an immense amount of Cursed Energy spread outward in circular waves like ocean tides. A gigantic creature rose and fell amid those tidal waves of Cursed Energy, like a ten-thousand-ton ship floating upon the sea.

The serpentine giant violently shook its body, scattering dust in every direction. Its snake-like body was covered in orderly fish scales, and every scale began to hum softly. Air split along the scales, fragmented currents wrapping around the serpent's body like drifting clouds. Eagle claws emerged from the mist—five-toed eagle claws with palms like tiger paws. Deer antlers broke through its crown, rising above its majestic head like ancient trees. Lion-like mane extended from the sides of its head, while a pair of long whiskers was lifted by the airflow and fluttered in the wind.

[Horns like a deer, head like a camel, eyes like a rabbit, neck like a snake, belly like a clam, scales like a fish, claws like an eagle, palms like a tiger, ears like an ox. This is how the world depicts dragons: a horse's head and a serpent's body.]

That was a dragon found only in myth.

Throughout the history of Jujutsu Society, there had been all kinds of imaginary Cursed Spirits, including dragons. The late Special Grade Curse User Suguru Geto had possessed a dragon-shaped Cursed Spirit called Rainbow Dragon. That dragon-shaped imaginary Cursed Spirit possessed extremely powerful defensive capabilities. Among Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirits, its defenses even surpassed those of Special Grade Shell Spirits.

Dragon forms unquestionably occupied the highest tier of strength in this country. Rainbow Dragon was merely a Grade 1 imaginary spirit.

Yet what Kinji Hakari saw now was the strongest class of dragon form recreated by Mahito.

The highest tier of strength and the strongest class of dragon form—this was a Special Grade mythical imaginary Cursed Spirit: a Dragon.

Kinji Hakari could scarcely believe the creature he saw through his Cursed Energy perception. It was as though myth and legend were unfolding before his eyes. Because he was blind, he could not see the full appearance of this majestic creature, but his Cursed Energy perception had already traced its entire body. Kinji Hakari heard a sound—the sound of dragon scales closing. In an instant, immense Cursed Energy spread outward, and the entire Boxing Arena shook as though the whole world trembled in fear.

"My technique is called Idle Transfiguration," the dragon suddenly spoke.

Its voice was deep, ancient, and weathered, like whales calling from afar. Technique Reveal!

"By touching something, I can alter the shape of the soul I touch, thereby remodeling the body. The reason you saw me transform into countless beasts works on the same principle. As long as I transform my soul into the form of a beast, the body will be drawn by the soul and become that beast as well. And while transformed, all of my physical capabilities become identical to that beast's. My movements and instincts do too."

Mahito did not need to explain further. Kinji Hakari already understood the secret of "soul evolution."

"Of course, you can also alter human souls, bringing them closer to a higher form and allowing their bodies to evolve as well. That's why you can evolve ordinary people into Jujutsu Sorcerers and raise Jujutsu Sorcerers to an even higher level, right?"

"Correct," the dragon replied calmly. "And then, as you can see, if one further transforms one's own soul, bringing it closer to mythical creatures, this phenomenon occurs."

The ancient dragon suddenly released a long sigh. Kinji Hakari instinctively raised both hands to block, but the sigh did not hit him. It passed by his side instead. Something like a raging torrent swept past him, an unstoppable blast of Cursed Energy! With a thunderous explosion, the wall behind him and the outer wall of the entire Multi-story Parking Lot exploded together. Rubble and smoke swallowed him from behind in an instant.

That was Dragon Breath.

"Maximum Technique: Body Repel," the dragon declared in a voice like a tolling bell.

Maximum Technique was the highest-level secret art of a Cursed Technique aside from Domain Expansion. If Domain Expansion belonged to geniuses, then Maximum Technique was the final product of exhaustive study into one's Cursed Technique. Unlike Domain Expansion, Maximum Technique possessed no added attributes. It was simply the power obtained by elevating the effect of one's Cursed Technique to its absolute limit, what Kenjaku called the essence of a technique.

Idle Transfiguration was a technique that freely altered the soul, drawing the body along with it. Its ultimate extent was the ability to recreate even creatures of myth and legend.

In the literal sense—myth reborn!

Kinji Hakari had never expected to witness a Maximum Technique from a Cursed Spirit. The shock of it surpassed even the destruction of his own Domain Expansion. He could console himself over the destruction of his domain by saying he had been specifically countered, but the study and effort demanded by Maximum Technique could not be denied no matter what. It could only mean that the intelligence of the Cursed Spirit before him far exceeded his imagination.

The dragon lowered its majestic head. Its flickering heterochromatic eyes watched Kinji Hakari as its voice rang like a distant Buddhist chant. "Kinji Hakari, I'll give you one more chance. Submit to me now."

A black shadow suddenly landed, roaring loudly, "Akkin, I'm here to help you!" Kirara Hoshi had descended at top speed.

Kinji Hakari turned his head. His eyes were blind, but he could still see Kirara Hoshi's injuries through Cursed Energy perception. Half of Kirara Hoshi's body was wrapped in Cursed Energy like molten flames, indicating that he had been severely burned and could barely move. Yet he had still come here, wanting to share Kinji Hakari's burden.

Kinji Hakari smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"Don't think you can get away so easily!" Jogo roared from the air.

Jogo and Hanami landed beside the dragon with a tremendous crash. Jogo looked up at the dragon and said through gritted teeth, "Sorry, Mahito. I couldn't stop that human."

"No, this is enough," the dragon said lightly. "Because Kinji will not let her act again."

"Akkin!" Kirara Hoshi hurriedly tried to say something.

But Kinji Hakari barked, "Enough!" Kirara Hoshi froze.

"This is our battle, right, Lord of Curses?" Kinji Hakari asked. "That's right. This is our battle. It has been from the beginning," the dragon replied. This time, Jogo grew anxious. "Mahito, I—"

"Jogo." The dragon's voice rang like a bell, shaking heaven and earth. "This is a battle between him and me." Jogo froze.

Hanami stepped forward and gently pulled Jogo away.

Kinji Hakari breathed slowly. "Rest for a bit, Kirara. It won't take long." "Akkin—!"

"Do I have to spell it out, Kirara?" Kinji Hakari suddenly shouted, "Do you really have the right to step into the battle between me and the King of Curses in your current state?!"

Kirara Hoshi froze. He looked up at Mahito, transformed into a dragon, then looked at Kinji Hakari. Feeling the pain wracking his body, he finally collapsed to the ground.

"Yes... I understand."

"Good." Kinji Hakari exhaled slowly.

He spread his stance, pushed his Cursed Energy perception to its limit, and made his final preparations. "Sorry to keep you waiting, King of Curses.

Kinji Hakari, owner of the underground Boxing Arena at the former site of the Multi-story Parking Lot in Itaki Prefecture.

Please guide me!"

The dragon let out a booming laugh. Its voice spread like a gale, echoing through the underground Boxing Arena with resounding weight. The introduction made it feel as though they stood in an ancient samurai duel, and it drew a heartfelt laugh from him.

"The curse humanity holds toward humanity, manifested. Mahito.

Please guide me!"

Kinji Hakari and Mahito pressed their stopwatches at the same time. Seventeen seconds of the thirty had passed. Thirteen seconds remained. The countdown began!

10. Countdown

The final round had arrived.

Both Mahito and Kinji Hakari understood that clearly. Thirteen seconds would decide victory or defeat!

After thirteen seconds, Kinji Hakari could deploy Domain Expansion again, and the cycle of "Infinite Cursed Energy" would begin anew.

Everything that needed to be said had been said. Every resolve that needed to be made had been made. What remained was only one thing. Fight!

Thirteen seconds remaining!

The dragon suddenly opened its mouth, and a sun appeared deep in its throat. It was the phenomenon of Cursed Energy gathering. A colossal amount of Cursed Energy compressed and accumulated deep in the dragon's throat. It lowered its head, aiming that gathering sun of Cursed Energy directly at Kinji Hakari. Yet Kinji Hakari's first reaction was not to dodge or flee, but to charge straight toward that sun of condensed Cursed Energy. The man roared like a charging bull.

The sunlight fired—Dragon Breath!

The dragon let out a long sigh. A huge beam extended forward from the sunlight deep in its throat, making the entire Boxing Arena tremble as though heaven and earth feared the dragon's breath. The bombardment formed by excessive Cursed Energy seemed like Kamui. Before Kinji Hakari even touched it, he sensed that if he took it head-on, he would surely be vaporized by Cursed Energy, leaving not even ashes behind.

His heart pounded like a rapid drumbeat. He could practically foresee himself becoming human vapor. Fear nearly seized his mind, yet at that moment, he was still smiling. His smile was broad as he drew strength from terror and turned dread into courage. Just before the Dragon Breath arrived, he suddenly slid low across the ground. The torrent of power formed by Dragon Breath passed over him, the heat and violent winds raised by that massive flood of Cursed Energy blowing his hair about like seaweed.

With that unexpected slide, Kinji Hakari skidded all the way before the dragon. He leaped up in front of it, clenched his fist, gritted his teeth, and bulging veins crawled across his body as his muscles swelled. He threw a fierce punch!

The next instant, a dragon claw struck him.

The dragon's eagle claw and tiger palm swept across Kinji Hakari. The dragon had never intended to hit him with Dragon Breath at all, because it knew that Kinji Hakari had more experience fighting gigantic creatures. Kinji Hakari was an experienced Jujutsu Sorcerer and had likely fought more Cursed Spirits than the dragon had even seen. Most low-intelligence Cursed Spirits fit the pattern of being stronger the bigger they were. Therefore, compared to beasts in the forest, Kinji Hakari was certainly more skilled at dealing with massive creatures.

Kinji Hakari's past experience fighting giant Cursed Spirits had instead harmed him. The dragon had deliberately held back while breathing out, waiting for Kinji Hakari to rush over. And Kinji Hakari had indeed rushed over. Before he jumped, the dragon had already prepared. The instant he went airborne, the dragon claw swung, and he flew right into it.

A completely unguarded blow!

For a Jujutsu Sorcerer, being guarded and unguarded were entirely different concepts. Kinji Hakari had never expected to be attacked. Before the blow landed, he could only hastily make a defensive motion, but the dragon claw still delivered a heavy strike when it hit him. He flew away like a cannonball, vomiting blood in midair. Chunks of flesh from his internal organs mixed into the blood. The lethal agony made his brain swim, and then he slammed into the outer wall of the Boxing Arena. It was not over—he crashed straight through the wall and rolled across the plaza of the Multi-story Parking Lot.

Kirara Hoshi screamed and wanted to intervene, but flames covered his vision the next instant. Jogo watched him like a tiger eyeing its prey. Hanami slammed both hands onto the ground, and a ring of trees suddenly rose up, wrapping Jogo and Kirara Hoshi within it, while Hanami stood at the edge.

She gently nodded at the dragon.

[I'll handle this.] Hanami said. One second passed. Twelve seconds remaining.

The dragon did not spare Kirara Hoshi even a moment of attention, because its confident companions could easily deal with him. It focused all its attention on Kinji Hakari.

The dragon altered the vision mode of its eyes, seeing through the smoke and the outer wall of the Boxing Arena. It saw Kinji Hakari rolling miserably like a loose stone across the Multi-story Parking Lot plaza. Taking a deep breath, it fused and condensed the force of the atmosphere with its own Cursed Energy deep in its throat. Its lion-like mane stirred without wind, shaking wildly. In less than half a second, the dragon opened its enormous mouth again and expelled a torrent of power.

Dragon Breath!

The sunbeam-like torrent of Cursed Energy pierced through the outer wall of the Multi-story Parking Lot like a giant sword and smashed toward Kinji Hakari. But Kinji Hakari had already risen before it reached him. He ran outward, and Dragon Breath struck the place where he had just been lying with a deafening blast. The spreading shockwave expanded outward in a crazed ring. Kinji Hakari concentrated his Cursed Energy reinforcement on his back. When the shockwave swept over him, it sent him tumbling forward as though he had been struck by a cluster missile. He repeatedly collided and scraped against the ground like a stone skipping across water.

Kinji Hakari was about to get up, but his body swayed.

He had gone deaf. His ears had been sealed!

Two seconds passed. Eleven seconds remaining.

The dragon finally moved, violently smashing through the outer wall of the Multi-story Parking Lot and entering the plaza. Its winding giant body seemed capable of filling the entire plaza. Its serpentine body did not touch the ground; some form of Cursed Energy held it aloft in flight. Its claws lightly brushed the earth, carving twisted gouges across the entire ground. The dragon charged Kinji Hakari, its claw sweeping without hesitation.

Kinji Hakari had only just gotten up and had no time to evade. He had assumed the outer wall of the Boxing Arena would at least obstruct the dragon's vision somewhat, but he had not expected the dragon eyes to adjust their visual function and see through walls. Therefore, he had not realized how deadly the dragon's successive attacks would be. He had barely steadied himself and managed to stand when the dragon claw was already before him.

He was blind now, unable to see anything at all. His ears had also gone deaf, unable to hear any sound. But the Cursed Energy rushing toward him told him an attack was coming. He gathered Cursed Energy across his body to defend. The dragon claw abruptly grabbed him, then smashed him into the ground, driving Kinji Hakari deep underground.

It was not over. The dragon did not stop flying. It clutched him and dragged him across the ground at high speed. Massive impacts and pressure from the ground constantly crushed Kinji Hakari. Although Kinji Hakari had already reinforced himself with Cursed Energy, he could still feel the pain of immense friction gnawing at him.

Kinji Hakari no longer had the Automatic Reverse Cursed Technique granted by Infinite Cursed Energy. He felt his insides churning while grievous external injuries continued to accumulate. He was nearly about to pass out, but he did not. He only felt burning heat throughout his body, unable to tell whether adrenaline or his own fervor had overwhelmed the pain. He suddenly grabbed one of the dragon claw's talons, then bent it with all his strength.

The dragon let out a shocking roar and hurled Kinji Hakari into the distance. It lowered its head. One of its dragon claws had been snapped. This was a dragon's claw! Its hardness even surpassed dragon scales, yet it had still been broken. If Kinji Hakari's fist struck it head-on, then even this dragon body would likely suffer severe damage.

Three seconds passed. Ten seconds remaining.

The dragon stared at its broken claw. The claw's bones reset themselves, and in an instant, it had healed. No, this was not healing. Because it maintained the shape of its soul, even if its body suffered grave damage, it would automatically recover according to the soul's shape. As long as the dragon form was not canceled, Idle Transfiguration would remain fixed automatically. Unless it was attacked by means that affected the soul, the dragon's body would never suffer true harm.

Kinji Hakari crashed down in the distance with a sound like thunder. A huge crater formed where he landed, and he lay in its center. He wanted to rise immediately, but he nearly fell again after failing to steady himself. He shook his head. Blood spilled from his mouth, but he swallowed it.

The reason he could not stand steadily was that he was blind and deaf.

Human ears were more important than people imagined. Losing sound also affected one's sense of balance, not to mention that he was blind as well. Someone without training would not even be able to walk normally, let alone fight. They could only slowly move while holding onto a wall or something else.

Yet even so, Kinji Hakari had not lost his combat ability. His Cursed Energy perception had not failed. Even without his eyes and ears, he remained as swift as before. The more troublesome part was his internal and external injuries. Internal injuries would affect his Cursed Energy circulation, while external injuries would affect his mobility.

He took a deep breath, wanting to recover quickly, only to discover that he could no longer smell anything. His nose had been sealed!