Curses for Rotting Relics

The purple waters of the Soul Domain were no longer still. As the outside world shook, frenzied ripples spread across them like boiling water.

—That old immortal was on the same level as Suguru Geto, perhaps even above him: a "Special Grade."

Against a "Special Grade," any carelessness was a one-way ticket to death.

—Mai's bullet had indeed pierced his soul, but that reaction had been a little too exaggerated. Was it a trick?

[Remember this site's domain. Read novels daily and cure your reading slump—super useful.]

But even if it was a trick, there was no helping it. This was probably their only chance...

—A Special Grade sorcerer who had crossed hundreds of years, with cursed energy on this level... he really was a genuine "monster"!

If that monster got even a moment to catch his breath, then unless that white-haired bastard arrived, I, Todo, Mei Mei, Utahime, Mai, Miwa, and everyone behind us—would all die! (Kamo Noritoshi: So I don't have to die?)

"Old immortal, have you always been curious about why I can wield the Gojo Clan's technique so smoothly without the Six Eyes?"

Mizuki Makoto steadied himself at the center of the soul's void. The purple cursed energy was no longer mere specks of light; it surged wildly across the domain's ceiling like an aurora.

At that moment, he revealed to Ashiya Dōman—and to this invaded space of consciousness—the most deeply buried, absurd truth behind [Limitless].

"This is my [Technique Disclosure]."

His voice echoed over itself within the domain, carrying a playful mockery of fate.

"My technique is indeed called [Limitless]. But this 'Infinity' does not refer to infinite mathematical extension. It refers to the sole condition for gaining power: having absolutely no moral bottom line."

On the barren mountain, Ashiya Dōman's half-flesh, half-bone face froze for the first time.

"In essence, it is a form of 'cognitive plunder.' As long as the 'rumors' I fabricate distort the audience's perception, I can share the target's power. The greater the gap between lie and fact, the higher the target's cursed energy grade, and the more people who believe it... the closer the power I receive comes to the real thing."

Makoto grinned, the flames in his eyes nearly mad.

"To obtain this 'Limitless' privilege, I screwed my teacher over pretty badly—drew erotic doujins of him, spread pornographic rumors about him, and turned the happiest, most unforgettable years of his life into smut stories—"

"...What?" Ashiya Dōman's pupils trembled violently at the sheer absurdity.

"That's right, that look! Though an ancient relic like you probably can't understand how much my teacher's purity is worth. But as long as everyone in Jujutsu Society sincerely accepts the rumors I created... the power I share can come infinitely close to that 'strongest.'"

Makoto stepped forward sharply, and the water beneath his feet exploded.

"Since you now know the secret of [having no bottom line], take that absurdity with you and sink into nothingness forever!"

[Real World · Domain Clash]

Once he realized that these modern sorcerers, inferior even to the Five Void Generals, could truly put him in danger, Ashiya Dōman finally fell into hysterical fury.

"Mere mediocrities... dare toy with this monk?! Do you think you are Seimei?! Such blasphemy... is absolutely unforgivable!!"

A shriek powerful enough to rupture ordinary eardrums suddenly burst from the grotesque, writhing "mouth" in Makoto's right palm. The sound waves twisted the air as though they had substance—

At that moment, Ashiya Dōman forcibly released the lock he had placed on Makoto's consciousness within the Soul Domain.

—Things are already coming loose inside. I must quickly kill these irritating ants outside and drive that lying brat into complete despair. Only then can I stabilize the foundation of this incarnation!

"—Domain Expansion: Withered Glory Nirvana Realm!"

A true Special Grade domain descended completely upon the real world!

The subway station, ravaged to the verge of collapse, was instantly replaced by a grim gray forest of stone. Every pillar became a half-body stone Buddha with closed eyes, sunk in meditation. Vast, viscous cursed energy pressed the air until it nearly liquefied, while the sure-hit law of Soul Lock swept across the entire field like a tide.

"New Shadow Style—Simple Domain."

Miwa Kasumi drew her sword. Her feeble domain, once useful only for self-defense, erupted with unprecedented resilience at that moment.

"Useless Miwa" gritted her teeth and shielded the mostly depleted Mei Mei and the exhausted Mai behind her.

"It's not over yet... A 'Buddha' on this level can't suppress my brother's soul!!"

Todo Aoi charged upstream against the tide!

Even as his skin began to split apart from bearing too much cursed energy, blood and sweat sprayed into the air.

But at that moment, Takada-chan seemed to be singing for him inside his mind. On the edge of death, the frequency of his soul aligned perfectly with that one-in-11.38-billionth-of-a-second instant!

"This is the first punch!!!"

—BOOM!!!

Todo's figure blinked before Ashiya Dōman. His heavy fist, wrapped in black lightning, slammed without reservation into Makoto's petrified chest!

[Soul Domain] synchronized—

"Todo, as expected of you!"

Without the domain's suppression, Makoto's will surged to its peak at that moment.

—There is only one chance. What I need is an absolute attack, one capable of killing a Special Grade soul in a single blow.

[Idle Transfiguration] belonged to a cursed spirit and could not be mimicked. Jacob's Ladder's passive effect would purify his own echoes. That left only one choice—the strongest, most evil, simplest, yet most incredible echo.

[Echo Mimicry—Malevolent Shrine]!

He pressed his palms together, forming a terrifying hand sign entirely different from Ashiya Dōman's, one that even carried a hint of divinity.

Purple tears of blood streamed from Makoto's eyes. His hands formed a perfect triangle before his chest as he pushed Echo Mimicry to its limit.

"[Dragon Scales]."

"It's not over! Brother is still fighting—are you going to stop here, Todo Aoi!?"

Todo Aoi let out a thunderous roar, his palms feinting through the air.

Though Boogie Woogie had already reached its limit, he interfered with Ashiya Dōman's senses through sheer willpower.

"The second punch!!!"

—BOOM!!!

Black lightning erupted again, directly shattering Ashiya Dōman's raised left arm!

Makoto felt the violent tremor transmitted through his body as his soul danced at the edge of destruction.

"[Recoil]."

"Is this all your teacher Yuki Tsukumo taught you? Will you disgrace her here, Todo Aoi!? Is this all your soul can scream, Todo Aoi?! Will you watch your brother be tormented by such a twisted evil, Todo Aoi—!!!"

Todo's muscles turned a terrifying purplish red from the overload. At that moment, his mental strength completely surpassed the limits of his flesh.

What he swung was no longer a fist, but the fury of his "self"!

"The third punch!!!"

—KABOOM!!!!!

A third consecutive Black Flash!!!!

The black thunder completely shattered Dōman's defense and blasted an irreparable breach into his domain's sure-hit technique!

Within that opening for certain death, Makoto spoke the final absolution.

"[Paired Meteors]."

—How could this be possible? At most, they are three Grade 1-level sorcerers, yet they have shaken my domain!

Ashiya Dōman stared at Makoto's bloodshot eyes and that familiar hand sign, one that made his soul tremble, and let out a despairing scream:

"No... that technique... how could you possibly mimic that one?! That belongs to the King of Curses—wait, stop! You will not survive using that either! I can abandon this incarnation! I can form a pact with you!"

Makoto ignored him.

His soul was being torn apart by the backlash of mimicking [Malevolent Shrine], yet he maintained the hand sign symbolizing Dismantle and recited the incantation that belonged to him alone, to [Limitless].

"Gray... Rave..."

"Crave... Deprave..."

His voice was low and solemn, like the pronouncement at a grand funeral.

"Grave me... grave for you!"

In the lingering radiance of Todo's final Black Flash, Makoto's will completely severed its last thread of attachment to reality.

At that moment, nothing could stop the activation of Malevolent Shrine any longer!

"—[Dismantle]!!!"

Countless invisible lines crisscrossed through the Soul Domain.

They were not physical cuts, but infinite slashes upon the soul.

Special Grade sorcerer. Demon monk. Ashiya Dōman. In that instant, he became like a sheet of white paper sliced into tiny fragments, his decayed obsessions, sins, and power accumulated over centuries all utterly shattered upon the purple waters.

The barren mountain collapsed, and the stone Buddhas fell.

The domain, [Withered Glory Nirvana Realm], withered away piece by piece within the hall like a shattered mirror.

"...At this rate, I'm really going to have to work for Mei Mei for ten years to pay off my debt."

Add Bookmark

Return to Contents

Report Chapter Error

Share with Friends: