"Are you Angel?"
With that distinctive appearance, Lu Yun recognized the girl before him at a glance.
"You know me?"
A second mouth appeared on the girl's face and spoke.
"Eek!"
The strange sight on the girl's face made Kana, who was still in Lu Yun's arms, cry out. When she saw them both staring at her, she squirmed uneasily in his embrace.
Lu Yun patted her head to soothe her, then set her down.
"Let's talk in a bit."
Realizing that the child had been frightened and that the approach had been too rash, Angel put away the extravagant adornments, handed control of the body back to Hana Kurusu, and quietly followed Lu Yun.
"Kana! Kana! Where are you?"
A woman stood at the supermarket entrance, shouting anxiously.
She had only gone into the supermarket to pick up some everyday supplies and food. She hadn't expected to turn around and find that the daughter who had been following her had vanished.
The tremendous commotion outside moments earlier had made her drop everything and rush out of the supermarket to search for her daughter.
"Ah, it's Mommy!"
Spotting her mother, Kana immediately let go of Lu Yun's hand and ran toward her.
"Mommy, I'm here!"
"Thank goodness! Kana, are you all right?"
Mother and daughter embraced and cried, finally giving Angel a chance to speak with Lu Yun.
"Now we can talk, right?"
Another mouth appeared on Hana Kurusu's face again.
Faced with the girl's intense gaze, Lu Yun shrugged helplessly.
"What do you want to know?"
"Why did you save that girl? And how do you know me?"
Angel stared straight into Lu Yun's eyes, trying to see what sort of scheme he was plotting.
Angel didn't believe that the other ancient sorcerers who had chosen to return through incarnation would make the same choice: coexisting with their bodies' original owners.
Angel had always assumed the worst of those ancient sorcerers.
No ancient sorcerer other than Angel would live peacefully alongside a host.
One of Angel's goals in returning through incarnation was to eliminate those despicable people who had taken over others' bodies.
And Angel was right. Without Lu Yun's arrival, Angel would have been the only one in the original story to choose to coexist with a host.
Now, however, things were different.
"You're a sorcerer from a thousand years ago, and your appearance is so distinctive. As a modern sorcerer, isn't it perfectly normal for me to know about you?"
Lu Yun answered with an air of absolute righteousness.
"As for why I saved someone, that's a strange question. Do you need a reason to save someone?"
Faced with such righteous words, even Angel, who took pride in having faith, felt ashamed.
Yes, saving others needed no reason. Angel's own resolve simply hadn't reached that level.
Angel was touched to discover that another ancient sorcerer with such a strong moral compass had appeared in the years since.
"Besides, I'm not an ancient sorcerer, okay?"
"I knew it. Hm? What?"
So Lu Yun briefly explained his relationship with Hajime Kashimo to Angel.
"So that's what happened. You've had it rough, too. That Hajime Kashimo is awful. But don't worry. Angel and I will definitely help you fulfill your agreement."
After hearing Lu Yun's explanation, Hana Kurusu sympathized with his plight.
If she hadn't been lucky enough to encounter Angel, some ancient sorcerer might have stolen her body, too, leaving her to die without ever knowing what had happened.
"Hm? Who called me?"
Hearing someone say his name, Hajime Kashimo awoke inside Lu Yun's body again.
"Oh, just some small fry."
After sensing Angel's strength, Hajime Kashimo immediately lost interest.
"What? You dare look down on me?! Taste my [Jacob's Ladder]!"
Enraged by Hajime Kashimo's contempt, Angel was ready to let him experience having his soul ripped away on the spot.
"Calm down, Angel! Mr. Lu Yun's soul is still in that body, too."
Hana Kurusu hurriedly tried to talk Angel down.
Since Hana Kurusu shared a body with Angel, she could naturally use Angel's cursed technique as well, so she knew what it did.
Angel's cursed technique could extinguish the effects of all cursed techniques. It could also inflict special damage on those who had returned through incarnation. But since incarnation was a fusion of a cursed object and a physical body, separating one from the other was extremely difficult. Under the technique's effects, the body's original owner could very well die along with the incarnated ancient sorcerer.
Still, when it came to the damage Angel's technique actually dealt, it wasn't all that impressive. During the battle in Shinjuku, it had failed to inflict any meaningful damage on a prepared Sukuna.
In the original story, Angel had even left Tokyo No. 2 Colony outright to avoid Hajime Kashimo. If the technique could truly kill incarnated sorcerers in an instant, there would have been no need to leave.
Hajime Kashimo kept provoking Angel. Unable to watch any longer, Lu Yun slapped away the mouth he had manifested, forcing him offline. Only then did Angel calm down.
"Sorry you had to see that."
A little embarrassed by the loss of composure, Angel nevertheless laid out a condition for helping Lu Yun.
"We'll definitely help you solve your problem, but I hope you'll agree to a request of mine as well."
Lu Yun knew what Angel was going to say, but teased anyway.
"You're not going to ask me to help eliminate every incarnated player, are you? No way. Wouldn't that be asking me to kill myself?"
"Of course not!"
Angel hurriedly protested.
"Even I'm not that naive. But there's one target I must eliminate, no matter what: 'The Fallen.' I'd like you to help me fight him."
"'The Fallen'?!"
Lu Yun feigned surprise.
"Do you know about The Fallen as well, Lu Yun?"
His reaction caught Angel off guard, prompting a curious question.
"How could I not? The Fallen is the strongest sorcerer from a thousand years ago, the King of Curses who reigned over the Heian Era, the golden age of jujutsu. Ryomen Sukuna, with his two faces and four arms, right?"
"That's the one."
Angel hadn't expected Lu Yun to know so much about Sukuna.
"Then let's go back to talking about eliminating all the other ancient players. Sukuna isn't someone I can handle."
Lu Yun gave a cold laugh.
"All you ever think about is yourself."
"Huh? How can you say that?!"
Lu Yun's words stunned Angel once again.
Angel hadn't expected such a blunt refusal, but given the King of Curses' strength, that reaction was only natural.
Unwilling to give up on such a capable ally, Angel persisted.
"Of course it wouldn't be just the two of us. We can gather more people to help. Oh, right..."
Angel was about to say more, but Lu Yun raised a hand, cutting the words short.
"I'm just messing with you. I'm actually going to fight Sukuna, too. I accept your request."
"Really? Thank goodness!"
And so, the Sukuna-Fighting Squad was formed.
Only Hana Kurusu stood to the side, quietly remarking:
"Mr. Lu Yun really has such a nasty personality..."
Before you continue