CRASH!
Another wall. Another wound. Another moment Megumi felt his ribs tremble beneath his own breath.
The Curse towered over him again, unrelenting, monstrous in shape—multiple arms snapping like wet branches, its torso twisting as if rebelling against its own bones. Its grin wide and starving.
Megumi leaned against the wall, blood dripping down his brow.
His head dropped…
…then rose with a smirk.
A sharp, devilish grin curled across his face.
The Curse lunged.
"You thought I'd summon Mahoraga, didn't you?"
The Curse paused, almost recognizing the name. A flicker of primal fear flashed in its thousand eyes.
"But not today."
Megumi raised both hands.
Cursed energy ignited around him in a violent storm, shadows bursting beneath his feet.
"Ryoiki Tenkai: Chimera Shadow Garden."
The corridor shattered around him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The cursed spirit flinched—its arms thrashed, looking for a wall, a ceiling, anything—but there was only murky shadow. The black swamp stretched endlessly, rippling with Megumi's cursed energy.
From every surface—walls, floor, air—Shikigami surged.
Divine Dog. Toad. Max Elephant. Serpent. All at once, amplified by the Domain.
A hundred shadowy blades stabbed upward.
The Curse roared—pierced, cornered, overwhelmed.
Megumi emerged from the shadows like a phantom.
He didn't yell.
He didn't blink.
He whispered:
"Exorcise."
The curse exploded into black ash.
[Real World – Gojo's House]
Plop.
A shadow opened on the wooden floor of a large, sunlit room.
Megumi's body slowly rose from the darkness and flopped onto the tatami mat with a grunt.
Gojo, sprawled across his couch with sunglasses and a bag of sweets, turned lazily.
"Oh? Back from hell already?"
Megumi blinked. "I didn't choose to come here."
Gojo grinned wide. "Sure, sure. You accidentally landed inside my personal space because you missed me."
Megumi sat up, breathing slow and heavy.
Gojo offered him a stick of Pocky.
"You didn't summon Mahoraga, did you?" he asked, mock serious.
Megumi took the snack and stared at it. "No."
Gojo smirked.
"Good," he said. "Would've been a bit overkill for a first date with a Curse."
Megumi slumped against the wall, still catching his breath.
"Shut up."
Gojo laughed.
"Welcome home, Shadow Boy."