[Date] July 2018 [Time] 3:40 p.m. [Location] An abandoned industrial park on the outskirts of Tokyo
As the release chant, "Born from darkness, darker still within darkness," rang out, the black, translucent Curtain covering the abandoned industrial park began to crumble from its dome like melting snow.
The slightly harsh afternoon sunlight pierced the gloom once more, spilling over shattered concrete and twisted rebar.
Feng stood quietly at the center of the ruins. His right hand hung at an angle, holding the slender Mikazuki Munechika.
His dark red eyes calmly watched the space ahead as purplish-black fluid left by the disintegrating Grade 1 Cursed Spirit dripped from the blade's groove.
His dark blue Jujutsu High uniform jacket bore patches of dust and dark red blood. The lingering effects of his cursed technique left the surrounding air unusually damp, and fine droplets slowly condensed on the tips of his slightly long black hair before sliding off.
Mei Mei rested her enormous battle-axe effortlessly on her shoulder, her pale blue eyes sweeping over the pool of cursed residue on the ground as it turned completely to ash.
She took out her phone, glanced at the screen, then tapped it a few times in satisfaction.
"Clean and efficient. Working with a combat-focused Semi-Grade 1 really does save time.
Even after deducting your share, the payment for this Grade 1 mission will still be quite substantial."
Mei Mei smoothed her long silver hair, her lips curling into a polished, elegant businesswoman's smile.
"Still, your margin for tactical error seems to rely entirely on that unusual constitution of yours.
Replenishing your cursed energy with water might let you keep fighting at full strength, but repairs for wear on a Special Grade Cursed Tool come out of your own pocket.
If I were you, I'd shift the angle of your next swing another two inches to avoid its hardest bones."
Just then, a shrill, urgent ringtone broke the silence among the ruins.
"Hm? My phone..."
With a slight turn of his wrist, Feng smoothly sheathed Mikazuki Munechika.
He pulled the violently vibrating phone from his uniform pocket. "Assistant Supervisor: Kiyotaka Ijichi" flashed on the screen.
Feng extended a slender finger, pressed the answer button, and raised the phone to his ear.
The instant the call connected, Ijichi's voice burst from the receiver, strained with heavy panting and extreme anxiety. In the background, Feng could even hear the dull pounding of torrential rain against a car roof.
"F-Feng! Have you finished your Grade 1 mission?!
Thank goodness you answered!"
Ijichi's voice trembled uncontrollably. He had clearly fallen into a state of overwhelming panic and despair.
"A special grade cursed womb suddenly appeared above Eishu Juvenile Detention Center in Nishi-Tokyo City!
The higher-ups ordered the three first-years, Itadori, Fushiguro, and Kugisaki, to check for survivors and guide their evacuation, but... but just a few minutes ago, the special grade cursed womb hatched!"
Feng heard Ijichi swallow hard on the other end. He spoke so quickly he nearly tripped over his own tongue, his voice steeped in guilt.
"The readings are completely beyond our expectations now. There's a genuine special grade cursed spirit inside!
And... and just now, I lost all contact with Itadori and the others!
Mr. Gojo is overseas on business, and none of the other Grade 1 Sorcerers can get away... Feng, I know this is against regulations, and you've only just finished your mission, but your current location is the closest to the detention center!
Please... save them!"
Standing nearby, Mei Mei naturally caught the fragments of the conversation leaking from the phone.
At the words "Special Grade," her smile faded slightly, and a calculating look flashed through her eyes.
Rather than interrupt, she stood quietly where she was, quickly weighing the risks of intervening in this emergency against its potential returns.
To her, a mission without a clearly stated price was not worth recklessly risking her life for.
At some point, gloomy storm clouds had begun gathering over distant Nishi-Tokyo City, and low thunder rumbled faintly.
"Understood..." Feng hung up and took a deep breath.
He knew Mei Mei would not intervene, but...
How did it happen so soon, right when I was out on a mission...? This is trouble. I can handle a special grade cursed spirit, but if it's already reached the point where three-finger Sukuna has awakened...
"Mei Mei, I'm heading out..." Feng's figure abruptly turned into vapor and gradually dispersed.
Mikazuki Munechika fell straight into the puddle below, then vanished.
Inside the abandoned industrial park, Mei Mei watched Feng disappear on the spot. Within seconds, the sky overhead turned completely dark.
A fierce wind swept up sand and stones from the ground. A mass of clouds so black they seemed ready to drip ink raced westward at a speed that defied all meteorological reason.
"He even expanded his domain without hesitation? He really does hold nothing back."
Mei Mei raised a hand and tucked her windblown silver hair behind her ear.
Watching the storm clouds recede, she took out her phone and checked her bank balance, then turned gracefully and walked in the exact opposite direction from the detention center.
"If a monster of that caliber has awakened, I won't be joining the fun without ten times the hazard pay.
Good luck, young 'exception.'"
Above Eishu Juvenile Detention Center.
The sky, already oppressive from the hatching of the special grade cursed womb, was forcibly blanketed by a lower, heavier layer of black thunderclouds.
Feng had already sensed an enormous surge of cursed energy, and dread settled in his heart. Three-finger Sukuna had most likely awakened temporarily, and Itadori was struggling to suppress him.
The detention center's main building had been wrecked beyond recognition.
Amid the open-air ruins of the first floor, Megumi Fushiguro knelt on one knee on the shattered concrete, blood running from his forehead down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground.
He gasped for breath, his hands locked desperately in the hand sign for Mahoraga, but his fingers trembled uncontrollably from depleted cursed energy.
Directly ahead of him, a pink-haired boy stood atop a broken wall.
No, that was no longer Yuji Itadori.
Black tattoos covered his body and spread across his cheeks. The second pair of eyes beneath his own gleamed with undisguised brutality and mockery.
Ryomen Sukuna had just torn this body's heart out with his bare hand and casually tossed the still-beating lump of flesh beside his feet.
Just as Sukuna prepared to leap down from the rubble and deliver the final blow to Megumi Fushiguro-
Whoosh-!
Without warning, torrential rain poured down.
This was no ordinary natural rainfall.
The bone-chilling droplets ignored the remaining structures overhead, forcing their way into every corner of the space with absolute dominance.
Sukuna stopped and lifted his chin slightly. Rain struck his black-marked cheeks and slid down his skin.
He keenly sensed that every drop touching his body was neutralizing the dense cursed energy radiating from his skin by a tiny yet unmistakable amount.
"Oh? Domain Expansion... and there's no sensation of enclosure at the barrier's edge. Have you manifested your innate domain directly into real space?"
The second pair of eyes beneath Sukuna's own narrowed slightly. He showed not a trace of panic; instead, a feverish grin spread across his face, like a hunter spotting worthy prey.
He slowly raised his right hand, watching the rain pooling in his palm sizzle faintly, as though ice had fallen into boiling oil.
"Using rain to wash away and suppress cursed energy. The construction is fairly ingenious. However..."
While Sukuna analyzed the situation, the dense curtain of rain directly in front of him suddenly twisted unnaturally.
Dark red eyes were the first to gleam through the gray rain.
A dark blue uniform jacket whipped in the wind. Feng seemed to have been part of the downpour all along, only now peeling his body free of the water.
His feet planted firmly on the flooded floor of the ruins, his knees slightly bent and his center of gravity held low.
His right hand gripped Mikazuki Munechika's hilt tightly. The slender blade pointed diagonally toward the ground, its edge gleaming with a bone-chilling light beneath the rushing water.
Megumi Fushiguro knelt nearby, drenched by the rain.
He struggled to open his eyes and stared at the unfamiliar figure that had appeared out of thin air in the rain. Blood loss and shock left his mind briefly blank.
Sukuna looked down at the newly appeared Feng. His gaze swept over the long blade radiating unusual fluctuations of cursed energy, and his grin stretched wider, exposing stark white teeth.
"Another insect with a death wish. You think a little trick like this will let you snatch someone out of my hands?!"
Before he finished speaking, the concrete beneath Sukuna's feet exploded into countless particles of dust!
His speed far exceeded the limits of human sight.
With only a sonic boom as the air was violently torn apart, Sukuna tore through the downpour and appeared directly in front of Feng as though he had teleported!
So fast!
Without any flashy technique, Sukuna's terrifyingly powerful fist ripped through the rain and hurtled toward the boy's face with sheer, devastating force!
At the same time, two invisible, lethal slashes-Dismantle-silently skimmed the water on the ground, sealing off Feng's escape routes to either side!
This attack was not merely an overwhelming display of strength, but a perfect demonstration of combat intelligence.
Against an unknown opponent, the King of Curses opened with an unrestrained killing blow!
So he's still toying with me? If that slash were aimed straight at me, even I'd need some time to recover... Damn it, has Sukuna's manifestation lasted longer than it did in the original?
Faced with this crushing pressure, Feng's dark red pupils contracted instantly.
Mikazuki Munechika traced a swift, silver-white crescent through the air. Meeting the attack head-on, its blade rose from below to intercept Sukuna's fist, which carried enough force to shatter steel!
BOOM-!!!
The instant blade and fist collided, a deafening roar erupted!
A terrifying shock wave spread wildly outward from the center of their clash.
Every raindrop within several meters vaporized in that instant, creating a brief pocket of vacuum.
The violent gale lifted the deep standing water several meters into the air, sending it crashing outward in raging waves!
Megumi Fushiguro was sent rolling across the ground by the blast and only barely stopped after several tumbles.
At the center of the clash, the blade had cut a wound deep enough to expose bone in Sukuna's fist. Yet the absurd toughness of his flesh had actually trapped Mikazuki Munechika's edge!
You've got to be kidding!
Meanwhile, the tremendous recoil forced Feng's feet to plow two deep furrows through the ruined ground.
"Ha ha ha! Nice reflexes!"
Sukuna laughed wildly, utterly unconcerned by the wound on his fist.
Rather than retreat, he used the blade caught between his finger bones to drive forward. His other hand curled into a claw and lunged straight for Feng's heart!
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