At that moment, Iskandar's attention was drawn to his suddenly enlarged left hand, which simultaneously blocked his line of sight.
By the time he realized what was happening, the guard's outstretched right hand had already touched Waver.
Thud!
Without hesitation, Iskandar swung his sword down, cleanly severing the right hand that had touched Waver.
"Are you alright, Master?"
"Yeah... seems like I'm fine..."
Waver checked his body, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
The moment that person had touched him, his heart had nearly leaped out of his chest in fright. Fortunately, Iskandar had severed the hand in time, and it seemed the guard hadn't managed to do anything.
He had been careless, completely letting his guard down around this guard.
After all...
Who would have thought there could be a humanoid curse?
"Hahahaha! Fine? Are you really fine?"
The guard laughed as if he had already succeeded, leaping back a good ten meters in one bound. His hands regenerated in the blink of an eye.
His hat fell off, revealing long, fluffy hair with a dull blue sheen, like that of a long-dead corpse.
His face, neck, and arms were covered in sutures that looked as though they held together pieces of a corpse. His eyes, divided by the sutures, were mismatched—one blue, one yellow. Though human in shape, his entire being radiated an unsettling strangeness.
"...He touched you?"
Roy landed on the ground just in time to see this scene.
He stepped forward, looking at Waver with a trace of pity in his eyes.
"What if he did?"
Being looked at like that, Waver suddenly felt a surge of unease.
"That guy can transform humans into curse-like beings. What do you think the condition for that is?"
Roy turned his gaze toward the humanoid curse across from them.
Just as he had expected.
The one causing trouble behind the scenes was indeed this creature.
From the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, born from humanity's fear, anger, hatred, and other negative emotions toward one another—this was a special-grade humanoid curse, the de facto leader of the curses: Mahito.
Roy remembered. This guy's technique allowed him to freely reshape human souls, molding them into whatever form he desired. The body, following the soul's lead, would then transform accordingly—this was the origin of the transfigured humans.
And the only condition for its use was...
"Contact...?"
Waver seemed to have realized it too, his face paling instantly. His lips trembled as he stumbled over his words, barely managing to voice his deduction.
Images of the transfigured humans who had died over the past few days flashed through his mind.
Without exception, they had all been twisted into grotesque forms, bearing no resemblance to humans whatsoever—their shapes and appearances utterly distorted beyond recognition.
And now, that same ugly, selfless fate would befall him.
The mere thought of dying in such a form made his stomach churn with nausea. Fear and disgust surged within him, threatening to drown him in a flood of negative emotions.
Upon hearing these words, Iskandar's expression darkened instantly.
"Hahahaha! Honestly, I really wanted to modify this big gorilla first!"
Seeing they had finally grasped the gravity of the situation, Mahito grinned with malicious delight.
"After all, this red-haired gorilla looks so strong—he'd definitely make a powerful modified human, right? Too bad his guard is too high. I had to settle for this weakling over here instead. What a disappointment, don't you think?"
This statement was tantamount to an outright admission that he was already capable of modifying Waver.
Realizing this, Waver's face turned ashen in that moment, his entire being as desolate as a withered tree shedding its leaves in the autumn wind.
In other words, he was doomed?
Roy glanced at Waver.
Those modified by Mahito's cursed technique were almost certainly doomed to die.
The word "almost" might seem to offer a sliver of hope.
But that hope rested entirely on Mahito—on his temperament and mood.
If he were kind-hearted and in a good mood, choosing not to modify Waver, then Waver might live on, spending each remaining day in terror, knowing death could come at any moment.
But if Mahito were in a foul mood or inherently cruel, it would mean certain death.
Unfortunately, Mahito was the latter.
Born from negative emotions, he was a monster who delighted in toying with humans—cruelty was his very nature.
"Cursed Spirit, what do you want?"
Iskandar's face was as dark as a king witnessing the downfall of his nation firsthand. His eyes burned with suppressed fury, locking onto Mahito like radar.
"What do I want?"
Mahito tapped his chin with a finger, as though he had never considered the question before.
"Honestly, I just want to kill you all—nothing too special... Well, maybe experimenting on some powerful magi would be nice? I'd like to learn magecraft too!"
"If it's magi you want, this king can find some for you."
Iskandar's expression softened slightly as he attempted to negotiate.
"Experiment or learn magecraft—do as you please. But release the ability you've placed on my Master!"
As he spoke, he sheathed his short sword, as if to demonstrate his sincerity.
Iskandar was no benevolent king.
Compared to his subjects and people, a few magi were insignificant.
Capturing enemy magi and handing them over to Mahito was not something he opposed.
But even as he spoke, he subtly turned his right hand, presenting the back of it to Mahito while signaling Waver behind him with his fingers.
The gesture was entirely improvised—they had no prearranged signals.
Anyone else would have been utterly confused.
But Waver, receiving this signal, snapped out of his daze. Forcing himself to stay calm, he activated his Magic Circuits, letting magical energy flow through his body as he searched for any anomalies.
Iskandar was buying him time.
Waver understood this instinctively.
He was a magus, not an ordinary person. While a normal human modified by Mahito would be doomed, as a magus, he might still have a chance to resist!
Wever temporarily ignored everything outside the arena, focusing entirely on examining himself.
"I see! Having you capture magi for me to study is indeed a great idea! This will save a lot of effort. You must be more useful than that guy called Oumaru, right?"
Mahito showed an expression of sudden realization, his face breaking into a delighted smile.
"However, I can't shake the feeling that you might pose a threat to me. Even if you're willing to help capture magi, you'd surely accumulate resentment in the process. If one day you found a way to undo my technique, wouldn't that be very disadvantageous for me?"
After all, this world seemed quite bizarre, and Mahito didn't believe he could recklessly dominate it relying solely on his technique.
He maintained enough vigilance to recognize that his technique might be unraveled by the magi.
After pondering for a while, Mahito suddenly snapped his fingers as if struck by inspiration.
"How about this—you cut off your right arm first!"