A dimly lit room.
Covered in stitches, Mahito curiously examined the three small jars on the wooden board.
Strange creatures resembling cursed wombs floated inside, curiously studying their surroundings.
"Cursed objects like these... why not destroy them?"
Standing in the doorway, Suguru Geto answered Mahito's question.
"Special grade cursed objects can't be destroyed. Their existence can only be maintained through a binding vow to suspend their life and do no harm to others."
"Aren't Ryomen Sukuna's Fingers harmful?"
"Those are special. After becoming a cursed object, he was split into twenty pieces. Even after all this time, they still attract curses. He's a monster, plain and simple."
"That's why he's particular about his vessel. The Death Painting Wombs aren't picky, though."
After listening, Mahito picked up the cursed womb, strange liquid dripping from it, and approached the unlucky man they had abducted and pinned to the wall.
The man had been stripped naked, his hands nailed firmly to the wall. Blood ran down its surface.
"Hey!!"
"You want money, right?!"
"Don't kill me! I don't have much money, but I can borrow from loan sharks!!"
Mahito shook his head in disappointment, then stuffed the Death Painting Womb into the man's mouth.
"Will using someone like this really make no difference?"
"He's at death's door and still can't see me. He really doesn't have a shred of talent."
The instant he swallowed the Death Painting Womb, the man's eyes bulged, bloodshot and leaking foul blood.
Soon, a grotesque aberration appeared, his entire body bent out of shape.
Bloody tears streamed endlessly from his hollow eyes. Beneath his mouth was another terrifying maw large enough to swallow an infant.
"Hi. Sorry to trouble you when you've only just woken up, but could you do a little job for me?"
Elsewhere.
Araki Itsuki