The air in the ruined commercial district was thick with the silence of the dead. Downtown Fuyuki was a graveyard of skeletal high-rises and burnt-out storefronts, the wind whistling a mournful tune through shattered windows.
Cú Chulainn's briefing had been brutally concise. "She's a Lancer-class. Blindingly fast. At the end of her chain is a hooked blade—some kind of spear-head. She'll use it to control you from a distance before she moves in. Don't let her bind you. But her real weapon is her eyes. The second you see them start to glow, you break the line of sight. Whatever you do, do not let her get a clean look at you."
Olga, her face grim, had quickly inscribed runes onto a pair of flat stones, handing them to Mash. "I have prepared two of Stone A and one of Stone B. Power them only when Fujimaru gives the signal. They are our only surprises. Make them count."
At the end of a long, debris-strewn street, their target stood waiting. The Lancer, Medusa, watched them from beside a rusted, overturned bus, a slow, predatory smirk on her face. The bladed tip of her weapon rested on the asphalt, the long chain coiled patiently at her feet.
Medusa moved first. With a flick of her wrist, the chain dagger uncoiled, a black streak that cut through the air with an audible hiss as it shot straight for Mash's center mass. Mash sidestepped, her movements heavy, planting her feet to let the projectile fly past. But the chain, defying physics, twisted mid-air, its point changing course to aim directly for her exposed side.
It was a feint. Mash let out a small grunt of surprise, just barely managing to swing her massive shield into its path. The hooked blade struck the metal with a high-pitched PING, the force vibrating up her entire arm. The strike was deflected, but the Lancer was already using the moment to her advantage, closing the distance with a terrifying burst of speed.
Two hundred meters away, Gudako's heart leaped into her throat. "Mash!" she yelled, her voice raw with panic. "The ground! Shield bash the ground, now!"
Mash didn't hesitate. Pivoting on her heel, she swung the full weight of her shield downwards in a brutal, smashing arc. The pavement erupted into a massive cloud of dust, concrete, and ash, a thick, temporary smokescreen. She immediately used the cover to jump backwards, putting precious distance between them. A moment later, Medusa strode through the settling dust, her crimson eyes glowing with amusement, her chain already a blur.
A sweeping strike aimed at Mash's legs, followed by a dagger thrust from the right, then another from below. Mash became a bastion of clanging, grunting defense, her shield a blur of parries. But her footwork was clumsy. Clang! She blocked a strike but was forced back a step. Scrape! Another block, but her feet tangled, forcing her to stumble. She was being steadily pushed back, unable to mount any offense at all.
Medusa pressed her attack, her movements fluid and predatory, driving Mash into a corner against the wreck of a collapsed bus. Gudako watched her friend get overwhelmed, her knuckles white where she gripped her own sleeve. Medusa was just playing with her. She had to do something. Then, Medusa leaped, kicking off the bus to gain height, her chain dagger held ready for a devastating overhead strike.
It was an aerial assault. The signal.
"Mash, now! Stone A!" Gudako screamed.
Mash's eyes locked on the descending figure of Medusa as her fingers closed around one of the cold, smooth runestones on her belt. For a split second, her training screamed that this was a gamble, but she trusted her Master. With a grunt of effort, she channeled a small, sharp burst of her own mana into the stone and hurled it upwards. It glowed with a violent, blue light and then detonated—not with a bang, but with a silent flash of pure, blinding whiteness.
Medusa, caught completely off guard in mid-air, let out a hiss of pain and surprise, her senses overloaded. That was all the opening Mash needed. She charged forward, leaping onto the hood of the bus and launching herself into the air with a powerful roar. Before Medusa could regain her sight, Mash was on her, bringing the flat of her shield down in a devastating bash that sent the Lancer hurtling through the glass front of a long-abandoned department store.
Mash landed hard, her knees jarring from the impact, and immediately moved to press the advantage. She picked up her shield and, with a powerful cry, threw it not at Medusa, but at one of the main support pillars of the crumbling building. The shield struck with the force of a cannonball. The entire structure groaned in protest, then began to collapse in on itself in a thunderous cloud of dust and debris.
"Did... did we get her?" Gudako breathed, taking a tentative step forward.
Mash ran towards the wreckage to retrieve her shield, a faint spark of confidence blooming in her chest. They had done it. They had executed the plan.
The feeling lasted for less than a second.
From the ground beneath her feet, dozens of thick, white serpents erupted from the concrete, coiling around her legs and her shield arm, their hisses sharp in the sudden silence. Before she could react, a dagger on a chain shot down from above; Medusa had used the chaos to get into an even higher position. The snake trap had been a diversion. The real attack was from the air.
Mash was forced to wrench her shield up, blocking the dagger strike. It was a mistake. With her shield occupied, she couldn't break free as the snakes tightened their grip and violently hurled her through the air, sending her crashing directly towards the spot where Medusa was now gracefully landing.
She was playing with us, the thought shot through Gudako's mind, a panicked, desperate realization. This had all been a game. There was no time to yell. Gudako focused all her will down the fragile mental link to her Servant, a silent, panicked shout: THE OTHER STONE! STONE B!
Mash, still tangled in snakes, heard the command in her mind. Her free hand scrambled for the second runestone. Medusa, now prepared, her lips curled in a confident snarl as she simply closed her eyes, ready to rely on her hearing to avoid another flash. Mash threw the stone. There was no light. There was only a high-frequency BANG, an explosion of pure sound that shattered every remaining piece of glass on the street.
Medusa cried out, her head recoiling, her senses thrown into chaos. In that one moment of weakness, Mash acted. Still airborne, she twisted her body, kicking off the very snakes that bound her. "Haaaah!" she roared, bringing the full weight of her shield down in a desperate, powerful bash against the side of Medusa's head.
The Lancer was sent flying, this time into a much narrower, darker street. Mash landed hard, disentangling herself from the now-dissipating snakes. From the end of the dark alley, Medusa stood up, a thin trickle of blood coming from her lip. Her expression was no longer one of amusement; she snarled. A moment later, she had to leap backwards as Mash's massive shield was thrown with incredible force, embedding itself in the wall where her head had just been.
Mash charged into the alley, pulling her shield from the concrete. This time, she was the one to initiate, rushing at Medusa with her shield held ready for a final, decisive clash.
Medusa's crimson eyes, now burning with genuine killing intent, snapped open. And they began to glow.
Mash didn't falter. Cú's final warning echoed in her mind. Sight is her weapon. Blind her. In the last second before impact, she slammed the edge of her shield into the ground again. The world was once more plunged into a blinding cloud of dust and debris.
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Sukuna and Cú Chulainn watched the battle unfold from the rooftop of a ruined office building, concealed within a simple Jujutsu barrier. From their vantage point, the life-or-death struggle below looked like a sparring match between insects.
Sukuna observed the opening exchange with the cold, detached eye of a master craftsman. "Predictable," he stated, his voice a low rumble. "She fell for the most obvious opening gambit."
"Did she?" Cú replied, a confident grin playing on his lips as he leaned on his staff. A moment later, Gudako's shout cut through the air, and Mash slammed her shield into the ground. "Looks like improvisation to me."
Sukuna acknowledged the tactical retreat with a faint noise of assent. Creating distance was the correct move, but a meaningless one. "An opponent who is overwhelmingly faster renders such tactics futile." He was proven right an instant later as Medusa closed the distance, her chain and dagger a blur of strikes that immediately put the Shielder on the defensive.
As Mash was pushed back, her clumsy footwork on full display, Cú's confident grin began to falter. Then Gudako gave the signal for the first runestone.
"Flashbang," Cú breathed, just as it detonated. He then erupted into a boisterous laugh as Mash capitalized, brained Medusa with her shield, and brought the entire building down on her. "Are you seeing this, King?" he asked, his voice filled with pride. "That's potential!"
Sukuna responded with a simple, annoyed "Tch." A new surge of malevolent energy flared from the rubble below. A predatory smirk returned to his face. "The test is not over yet, sorcerer. Look closer." His prediction came true as Medusa's snake-and-chain trap sprang, ensnaring Mash perfectly. Cú's triumphant laughter cut off instantly.
Just as his grin dropped, Mash threw the second stone.
"A foolish move," Sukuna began. "The same trick will not work twice—"
He stopped mid-sentence as the sonic blast detonated. He watched Mash land another solid hit, driving the Lancer back.
"That," Cú said, his wide, predatory grin now firmly back in place, "is what I was talking about."
As Medusa's eyes began to glow, both observers reacted. Cú's hand tightened unconsciously around his staff. Sukuna's four eyes narrowed in sharp focus. He had seen enough.
The world of the fight below faded as his internal world took over. A rapid montage of memories—the ones he had assimilated—flashed through his mind. The Prodigy, Higuruma, whose blade was the ultimate weapon. The Cheat, Yuta, a sorcerer whose power was entirely borrowed from the vengeful spirit of a dead girl. The Heavenly Restricted one, Maki, a woman born with nothing who had honed her body into a weapon that surpassed his own raw strength. The Simple Domain Master, Kusakabe, who stood his ground against impossible odds. The irritating Swapper. The Brat. Individually, they were all flawed insects. Collectively… their interference had created the conditions for his defeat.
Sukuna closed his four eyes for a long moment, processing the bitter, undeniable truth. Cú was right.
He opened his eyes and turned his back on the fight below, a final act of dismissal. He looked at Cú.
"I understand what you are getting at," he said, his voice flat. I still believe them to be useless liabilities. But...
His spoken words were a simple, profound command. "Go. Finish it."
Cú's grin turned predatory, filled with the thrill of victory. "About time," he said.
In a flash of blue, he leaped from the rooftop with a speed that defied the title of Caster, plunging into the fray below.
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Dust billowed through the narrow alley. Through it, Mash saw a terrifying sight: Medusa's crimson eyes, no longer burning with rage, but glowing with an unnatural, sickly green light. Mystic Eyes, activated.
Medusa leaped through the cloud, a predator bursting from the mist. Her skin seemed to pulse with a dark energy as she activated her Monstrous Strength. For a single, fatal split second, her glowing gaze met Mash's.
Mash's body locked up. Her A-rank Magic Resistance fought against the petrification curse, a war being waged on a spiritual level, but the physical effect was instantaneous. A crushing "gravity gaze" slammed down on her, stunning her, freezing her muscles. She was a statue in the making, helpless.
The Lancer was on her before she could even process the sensation, her fist, now amplified with monstrous strength, smashing into Mash's stomach. The blow was a sickeningly dull, brute force impact that bypassed the shield entirely. Mash was launched like a cannonball out of the alley, the wind knocked from her lungs in a pained gasp. Her shield was torn from her numb grip, clattering uselessly to the pavement a dozen meters away.
"MASH!" Gudako screamed, her voice raw with terror, watching from her distant position as Mash crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap. "GET UP! MASH, PLEASE, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Mash tried to move, but her body wouldn't respond. The petrification effect was still warring with her resistances, leaving her limbs feeling like lead. Medusa strode calmly from the alley, her eyes still glowing, her chain dagger held ready for the final blow.
Gudako felt a searing heat on the back of her hand. Her Command Seals began to glow, a desperate, final gambit forming in her mind—
She never got the chance.
A flash of blue. A blur of motion moving with impossible speed. A brutal, audible CRACK echoed down the street as Cú Chulainn, arriving like a thunderbolt, slammed into Medusa's side, sending her flying. He didn't stop. He pushed off the ground, a Caster moving with the speed of a Lancer, and was on her again before her flying body could hit the ground.
Medusa spun in the air from the force of the blow, her gaze locking onto her new attacker. Her eyes glowed with their full, furious power, her violet hair writhing and transforming into a mass of hissing, striking serpents.
She was too late. Cú was already there, his wooden staff leveled at her heart. A single, complex rune flared to life in the air between them, its light so bright it cast the entire street in stark, violent relief.
"Too slow," the Caster said, his voice cold and devoid of all its earlier charm.
The rune flashed. A condensed beam of white-hot fire erupted from his staff, tearing through Medusa. She didn't have time to scream. Her serpents, her curse, her very existence were incinerated in that single, decisive blast. She turned to motes of golden light that faded into the ash-filled air.
The battle was over.
----------
The instant the motes of light from the defeated Lancer faded, Gudako was sprinting, ignoring the newcomer as she scrambled over the debris toward her fallen friend.
"Mash!" she cried, sliding to her knees beside the armored girl. "Are you okay?"
From the far end of the street, Olga marched toward Cú Chulainn, her initial terror now completely replaced by a Director's righteous indignation. "You!" she snapped, jabbing an accusatory finger at him. "What took you so long?! She nearly died!"
Cú just leaned on his staff, a wide, unrepentant grin spreading across his face. "Hey now," he said, his voice laced with theatrical charm. "A hero's got to have good timing, right? Always arrive at the last possible second. It's in the job description."
"Tch. The last moment," Olga muttered, turning away with a huff, but Gudako could have sworn she saw the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
As they reached the others, the effects of the Mystic Eyes were already fading. The gray, stone-like texture that had started to creep up Mash's gauntlets was flaking away. Mash groaned, her fingers twitching as feeling slowly returned to her limbs.
"You three did well," Cú said, his tone now one of genuine, professional respect. "Damn well, all things considered. I knew you had it in you."
Gudako looked down, a flush of shame creeping up her neck. "But we failed," she mumbled, helping Mash struggle into a sitting position. "We lost the wager. We couldn't beat her on our own."
Cú let out a hearty laugh. "Nah, don't worry about that." He grinned, jerking his head back in the general direction of the distant rooftop. "Even if you didn't win the fight, the big guy was impressed enough. You got a passing grade."
The words hit them with a surprising warmth. A smile bloomed on Gudako's face, and even Mash, through her pain, managed a small, relieved smile of her own. For a single, fleeting moment, they weren't just a cobbled-together team of survivors. They had faced an impossible challenge, and in the eyes of their monstrous observer, they hadn't been found wanting.
Suddenly, Cú's entire body went rigid. He spun around, his playful demeanor vanishing as he looked back towards the distant mountain. "Incoming!"
A flicker of light in the distance, followed a split second later by the high-pitched whistle of a projectile screaming through the air. Cú planted his feet, staff held ready to intercept—
But the arrow never arrived. About a hundred meters out, the projectile seemed to hit an invisible wall. It didn't explode. Its trajectory was simply… bent. It was violently deflected upwards, tumbling harmlessly into the blood-red sky.
Cú followed the deflected path, his eyes eventually landing back on the rooftop where they had left their observer. The four-armed King of Curses stood there, one of his lower hands still extended, a finger casually pointed in the direction of the foiled attack. Cú stared for a long moment, then gave a single, sharp nod of acknowledgment.
He turned back to the girls, his easygoing grin returning. "Alright, ladies, that's our cue to leave before the sniper gets any more bright ideas." He looked directly at Olga, whose face was still a pale white from the near-death experience. "So, lass, what'll it be? Fireman's carry or bridal style?"
Olga's face flushed a brilliant crimson. "Wh-what are you talking about, you oaf?!" she spluttered.
"Bridal it is!" Cú declared cheerfully. Before she could protest further, he scooped her up into his arms. Following his lead, Mash, still groaning but steady on her feet, did the same to her own Master.
"M-Mash?!" Gudako squeaked, her face now a perfect match for Olga's as they were carried through the ruined city, back towards the relative safety of the bunker.
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Inside the bunker, Cú Chulainn watched as Mash helped Gudako and Olga settle in. The meal, if you could call the bland military rations that, was a welcome respite. He offered a piece of dried meat to the four-armed man who observed them from a shadowed corner.
"Here, King," he said. "Better than nothing, right?"
Sukuna took the ration, his expression unreadable, and ate it in a single bite. "It is… sustenance," he allowed. A memory, now his own, of a well-cooked meal shared with family, passed through him and was immediately dismissed as an irritating sentimentality. Cú, however, caught the briefest flicker of something other than pure disdain and smiled to himself. His gaze shifted to the girls. They were huddled together, Olga's posture still stiff but her initial terror having finally subsided into a weary exhaustion. Gudako was laughing at something Mash had whispered, a small, fragile sound in the grim silence of the bunker.
Sukuna's calm facade then broke, his focus snapping back to the tactical situation. "Now then, sorcerer," he began, his voice a low rumble. "Your plan?"
"My plan?" Cú countered, his smile turning sharp. "Are you ready to include them in it?" He jerked his chin towards the girls.
Sukuna closed his four eyes for a moment, the images of his own past defeat flashing in his mind—the collective of flawed, weaker sorcerers who had managed to do what no single individual could. He opened them, his expression one of grudging acceptance, and gave a single, curt nod.
"I will face the Saber," he stated. "If she is as impressive as you claim—"
"Damn right she is," Cú interjected.
"—then I cannot be burdened with protecting them," Sukuna finished.
"Don't have to worry about that," Cú agreed. "I'll take the girls and keep the Archer busy. Create an opening for you to get past him." He sighed. "Though just getting to the mountain will be a nightmare with that sniper watching."
A memory surfaced in Sukuna's mind, clear as day. Shinjuku. A battle between the Strongest. He recalled with perfect clarity how he himself had been so focused on the close-range battle that he hadn't perceived the true threat—a 200% Hollow Purple—until it was almost too late.
A slow, predatory smirk spread across Sukuna's face. He looked at Cú. "About that..."
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Sukuna stood on the flat roof of the tallest remaining skyscraper in Fuyuki, the wind whipping at his kimono. Beside him, Cú Chulainn leaned on his staff, his red eyes fixed on the distant silhouette of Mount Enzo. An impeccable Jujutsu barrier surrounded them. Woven into its very fabric were a dozen of Cú's elegant, glowing runes, each one designed for a dual purpose: to amplify the barrier's ability to conceal the massive build-up of Cursed Energy within, and to supercharge the very attack that energy would fuel.
"Are you sure about this, big guy?" Cú asked, his voice losing some of its usual bravado. "This is one hell of a gamble."
Sukuna didn't answer. His four eyes were locked on their target. First, the declaration. He took a breath and let his Cursed Energy, his very presence, explode outwards in a wave of pure, oppressive energy that washed over the entire city. It was a King announcing his presence. On the distant mountain, the Archer stood up, his posture rigid, trying to pinpoint the source of the disorienting pressure. It was a challenge, and it was a feint.
With the stage set, Sukuna began.
He clasped his upper two palms together, and his lower two palms together, then pulled them apart. Between each set of hands, a ball of raw energy ignited, not the usual crimson of Cursed Energy, but a brilliant, searing blue. His upper left hand passed its blue flame to his lower left, which already held its own, doubling the orb's size and intensity. He did the same with his right hands. His abdominal mouth began the incantation.
"Kami-no…"
By inputting positive energy from Reverse Cursed Technique into his divine flames, a feat of incredible skill, Sukuna changed the very nature of his attack. No longer just a tool of pure destruction, it became a wave of purification. Combined with the amplifying properties of Cú Chulainn's runes and the power of a full incantation, the output had already reached a theoretical 250% of his...
"FUGA!"
A colossal arrow of pure, blue, purifying flame, the size of a siege tower, was unleashed, erasing the distance between the skyscraper and the mountain in an instant.
From the Archer's point of view, he was still scanning the city when his instincts screamed at him. He abandoned his post without a second thought, leaping from the torii gate an instant before a sun impacted the world.
From Saber's point of view, deep within the cavern, her Instinct skill flared violently. She felt the impossible attack coming. She raised an eyebrow.
Then, BOOM.
The peak of Mount Enzo ceased to exist. An immense pillar of blue and white flame erupted into the sky, so bright it momentarily turned the blood-red night into a pure, clean noon. A full minute later, the light cleared, revealing a new geography. The mountain was gone, replaced by a massive, flat-topped crater two miles wide, its epicenter a caldera of molten rock.
The Archer, having barely survived the edge of the blast, pushed himself out of a pile of rubble. He looked toward the center of the crater. Saber was there, unharmed, the corrupted Grail held protectively in her hand. But for a single, fleeting second, standing in the cleansing light, he could have sworn he saw her in her original attire—blue and silver armor, her blonde hair a lighter, purer shade. The illusion vanished, and she was the same dark king as before.
She was staring into the sky. He followed her gaze. A dot was growing larger, descending from the heavens. It landed a hundred feet from Saber, its impact sending a soft tremor through the molten ground. It was Sukuna, Kamutoke and Hiten held ready, a smirk on his faces. He said something, too far for the Archer to hear. Saber replied.
The Archer raised his bow, nocking an arrow. He had to—he was forced to leap back as a burst of fire exploded where he had been standing. He landed, turning to face his own opponent. The Caster, Cú Chulainn, was there, staff held ready, his expression a feral grin.
"Is the dog scared to be away from its master?" Cú asked, his voice laced with mocking contempt.
The Archer's expression twisted into an annoyed snarl. "I'll be the one putting down a stray dog today," he retorted.
Cú could see the pure, unadulterated annoyance on his face, and his grin widened. The stage was set.
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Author's Note
Hello everyone, and thanks for sticking with me to the end of another chapter. What a ride this one was.
I want to touch on the main event: the "King's Test." Some of you might have been rooting for the girls to pull off an impossible victory, but I want to be clear—Mash was never going to actually win that fight. The power gap was simply too immense, as I'm sure was obvious. The point of the test wasn't about winning or losing a one-on-one. It was Cú's gamble to prove to Sukuna that even weaker pieces, when used with intelligence and teamwork, can overcome the odds and create a result greater than the sum of their parts.
In the end, you could call the wager a draw. The girls failed to win on their own, but their incredible performance, their improvisation, and their sheer will to survive were enough to make Sukuna concede the point.
Now, for that final scene. I have to say, that mountain-busting sequence was a masterpiece to write, my favorite part of the story so far. The parallels to the legendary Gojo vs. Sukuna battle were, of course, entirely intentional. Seeing Sukuna on the other side of that kind of overwhelming, strategic attack was a blast, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.
Thank you again for reading. If you have any questions about the choreography, the characters, or where we're going next, feel free to ask in the comments!
The fuyuki arc has ended on pat-reon... A poll is up there for my next stuff, you can join the free tier to vote...
Signing out for now.
Ciao.