Unrestrained slaughter

My name is Jogo.

By the time you read this, I will already be dead...

Jogo stared dumbstruck at Araki Itsuki, who had risen to his feet again, forgetting even the ice slowly spreading beneath him.

He was a special grade cursed spirit born from humanity's fear of the earth, a man who had stood at the pinnacle of cursed spirits from birth. He possessed intelligence, considered himself a true human, and looked down on monkeys.

Yet now, the proud Jogo was utterly bewildered.

Was I really a jinx who always celebrated before the fight was over?

Why wasn't he dead yet?

What was this chill coming off him?

And where had that strange scythe gone?

Araki Itsuki slowly approached the stunned group, ice spreading relentlessly outward from him.

A mocking smile played on his lips as he said softly, "Do you know what makes a story dramatic?"

"Mortals die to the extraordinary, witches die for love, nightmares die in dreams, and Soul Reapers are trapped in the River Styx.

Scheming minds die to loyalty, seekers of secrets die to ignorance, the blazing sun snuffs out the ancient sun's light, and the twilight giant falls before dawn.

The visionary never existed, the traveler dies returning home, the thief ends up with nothing, and the fool who does not belong to this era falls in the city of bygone days."

Araki Itsuki raised his right hand slightly. A mass of deep, biting wind swirled in his palm, carrying shards of ice.

"And you, my dear little pot, I will freeze that burning heart of yours with a chill ten thousand years old."

The instant he finished speaking...

Araki Itsuki swung his arm, hurling the ball of icy wind straight at Jogo and the others.

The moment it left his hand, it violently sucked moisture from the air, condensing it with overwhelming force into a massive, hundred-meter-long icicle gleaming with cold light.

It slammed down toward the three below.

"Hyah!"

With no time to dwell on his confusion, Jogo channeled his cursed energy. Flame Pillar erupted around him in an instant, a colossal column of searing fire surging skyward like an eruption of lava to meet the enormous icicle.

At the same time, Hanami clapped both hands together. Countless trees grew rapidly, piling over one another as they climbed toward the sky, trying to support the massive icicle.

But the flames rapidly died out, and the towering trees turned blue the instant they touched the icicle, freezing solid before being effortlessly crushed.

Left with no choice, Suguru Geto stepped in to help.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation: Maximum Technique: Uzumaki!"

A bizarre black vortex of cursed energy appeared above Suguru Geto's head.

Countless streams of cursed energy twisted and expanded within it, stretching and compressing as they shrieked without end.

Apart from Domain Expansion, this was his most powerful attack.

It combined the cursed spirits in his possession into one mass, attacking with extraordinarily dense cursed energy. Its power was tremendous, but it sacrificed Cursed Spirit Manipulation's greatest advantage: its vast variety of moves.

Bang!

As Suguru Geto finally reached out and clenched his hand, countless dark shadows erupted from the vortex, swarming out like vengeful ghosts.

Screaming wildly, they raced through the air, jostling to crash into the enormous icicle overhead.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening explosions rang out one after another. The enormous shock waves frightened the timid Dagon into hiding behind Suguru Geto.

At last...

The collisions stopped.

The enormous icicle shattered completely. Yet countless hailstones formed from its remains, arranging themselves in neat ranks in the air. They glittered brilliantly in the sunlight, their tips gleaming coldly as they aimed at the group.

"It's not over yet."

Araki Itsuki gave a lazy smile and swept his arm lightly, directing the hailstones filling the sky to rain down on the cursed spirits below like a violent storm.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The cursed spirits each used their own means to block the hail pelting their heads. None were injured, but they were thoroughly disheveled.

At the same time, Araki Itsuki grinned savagely, and that utterly bizarre scythe reappeared in his hand.

He raised his arm slightly, and the strange scythe floated into the air.

An aura of brutality, darkness, cold, devouring, annihilation, and curses surged from Araki Itsuki.

As he raised his hand and pushed forward, purple-black death omen star energy streamed toward the strange scythe enveloped in blood-red light, as though returning home.

At last...

A terrifying, savage demon was born within the dark vortex.

Hideous, enormous teeth occupied almost half his face. His curved demonic horns were long and sharp, like blades that could cleave the heavens.

His entire chest cavity lay exposed, dark energy churning and flowing inside it. His sharp claws gripped a giant scythe that looked even more sinister and eerily alluring.

"Rhaast, don't let them disturb me."

Rhaast tested the strength of his body. Although it was weak, it was enough for him to enjoy himself, and he grinned with unrestrained savagery.

"Such delicious suffering awaits. Just thinking about it makes me tremble with excitement."

"Helpless little lambs, are you ready for me to tear open your throats and rip off your limbs?"

"Hah-hahaha!"

With a savage laugh, Rhaast charged straight at Suguru Geto and the others.

Sensing Rhaast's undisguised malice, Suguru Geto's gaze turned cold. Conspirators never liked unexpected developments.

Where had this monster come from? It wasn't a shikigami at all. Surely it couldn't have come from that weapon?

And this arrogant brat-even if I didn't know what his ability was, energy this dark and terrifying hardly made him look like a good person.

Were those higher-ups at Jujutsu High pigs? One look should have told them this brat was the real scourge of the world. He looked like a disaster that would destroy the world and slaughter monkeys at will.

And someone like him hadn't been executed?!

But Rhaast was already bearing down on him. Suguru Geto reined in his wandering thoughts and hastily activated his cursed technique.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation."

He summoned countless low-level cursed spirits, their ugly forms grotesquely varied, and sent them charging at Rhaast.

Rhaast swept his giant scythe across, cutting the cursed spirit sprawled on the ground before him in half. Then he clenched his left fist and drove it forward.

Crack!

The cursed spirit to his left had only just raised its arms to grab Rhaast when he smashed its head apart, sending blood spraying everywhere.

Rhaast laughed wildly, bathing in the cursed spirits' flesh and blood as he rampaged through them, brutally crushing every cursed spirit in his path.

His claws plunged viciously into a cursed spirit's chest, then clawed and clenched chaotically inside, grinding its innards into pulp.

Finally, his demonic claws slashed outward, forcibly ripping the cursed spirit's body apart. As strands of flesh snapped, slurry-like blood and meat spilled out in a horrifyingly gruesome torrent.

The giant scythe in Rhaast's hand never rested either, chopping, cleaving, slicing, and slashing.

He reveled without restraint in the cursed spirits' screams and flesh.

"What ecstasy! What magnificent horror!"

"Hahahaha!"

At last...

Bathed in a rain of blood and pulped flesh, Rhaast surged up to Hanami in a frenzy of savage fury.

"Your life is mine!"

The hideous giant scythe swung straight toward Hanami's neck.

Dense cursed energy gathered around Hanami's right fist. Leaning forward, Hanami fearlessly punched at Rhaast.

Bang!

Rhaast felt an enormous force surge through his hands, knocking his scythe off course. But he twisted his wrist, readjusting its path to slash at Hanami again.

Then he raised his left shoulder and lunged forward, slamming into Hanami's chest.

Thud!

With a dull impact, Hanami staggered backward. Rhaast pressed his advantage, staying close and slashing wildly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Just then, Hanami seized an opening and abruptly activated a cursed technique. Tough trees grew wildly from the ground, closing in on Rhaast from all sides to strangle him.

They climbed over Rhaast's demonic body like chains, twisting tight around his limbs and locking him in place despite his struggles.

The cursed energy around Hanami's right fist surged again. Taking advantage of Rhaast's restrained limbs, Hanami flashed in front of him.

Tremendous force gathered in that fist as it hurtled unstoppably toward Rhaast's head.

Just as smiles appeared on Jogo's and the others' faces, Rhaast suddenly stopped struggling against the roots and stared at Hanami with savage bloodlust.

Alarm shot through Hanami, but it was too late to pull the fist back. Steeling that resolve, Hanami increased the output of cursed energy and drove the punch toward Rhaast's head even more viciously!

A chilling sight unfolded.

Rhaast's hideous, bloody mouth suddenly gaped open, tearing even his lower jaw apart to expose razor-sharp fangs.

Then he twisted his neck, dodging Hanami's strike as his fangs snapped down mercilessly.

They broke straight through the defense of cursed energy, sinking deep into the flesh of Hanami's right arm.

"Aah!"

"Crack!"

Hanami's cry and the sound of the arm snapping rang out together. Clutching the severed stump, Hanami hurriedly retreated and stared at Rhaast in shock.

Bang!

Dropping his pretense, Rhaast effortlessly broke free of the trees binding him.

Amid a shower of wood fragments, he picked up Hanami's mangled arm and began gnawing on it with relish. Scraps of flesh fell to the ground as blood streamed down.

The entire battlefield fell silent, leaving only the demon's chewing and swallowing.

Even as a cursed spirit, Hanami felt a wave of fear while watching someone wolf down that flesh right before those eyes.

Swallowing the last piece of the arm, Rhaast threw back his blood-dripping maw and laughed wildly.

Then he pointed his hideous giant scythe straight at the timid, frightened Dagon hiding behind Suguru Geto.

"The forest tastes bland and boring. Let's try some seafood instead!"

Enveloped in Rhaast's savage, murderous aura, Dagon trembled in terror, growing even more frightened.

Seeing this, Jogo unleashed a colossal pillar of searing flame from his palm, trying to stop Rhaast.

But a thick, freezing wall of ice suddenly appeared, blocking Jogo's pillar of fire.

Araki Itsuki stood in Jogo's way with a wicked grin.

"A bunch of cursed spirits understand affection too?"

Dagon's relationship with Hanami, Mahito, and Jogo was as close as family. If they were considered a household, Dagon played the role of the second son.

And as the older brother, Jogo would never stand by and let Rhaast hurt Dagon.

Staring at Araki Itsuki blocking his way with that amused, wicked grin, Jogo burned with rage, fixing him with a murderous gaze.

The flames in his palm writhed, ready to erupt!

"You dare hurt my family, you little brat? I'll never let you get away with it!"

Araki Itsuki laughed loudly. "Is that the whimpering of a beaten dog?"

"What a laughingstock. You're so pathetic I could cry for you!"

"Hahaha!"