The sun hung low, casting golden light across the horizon, its dying rays painting long shadows across the treetops below. From high above, Gojo Satoru observed the world in silence.
He floated effortlessly in the open air, arms folded across his chest, blindfold unmoved, cursed energy layered tightly around his body like a second skin.
There was no sound but the whisper of wind through the branches, no movement but the slow retreat of the sun behind the skyline.
He had sensed it earlier. A domain. Brief and powerful, then gone in an instant. It had flared somewhere below him, its pressure unmistakable.
And yet, it had vanished just as quickly. No explosion. No aftermath. No death. At least not the death of anyone he cared about...
He could feel them now. Yuji. Nanami. Todo. All of them were alive. Not just barely breathing, but upright, walking, steady. They had some injuries, sure, but it was far from what one would expect when facing a Special Grade Curse.
Gojo was thankful that no one was hurt badly, but it was still quite strange.
Encountering a Special Grade Curse was the same as facing a disaster for a regular sorcerer. It was always bound to be difficult unless another equally powerful special grade intervened.
But now, there was only stillness. A quiet conclusion to what should have been chaos.
Gojo exhaled softly and tilted his head, the wind tugging faintly at the fabric of his uniform.
Perhaps he had underestimated the mad curse that had asked to be trapped within his domain.
Gojo could feel that it was Mahito who had saved Yuji, Todo and Nanami; he could feel the moment that the humanoid special grade curse had expanded his domain.
He had also felt Hanami's domain; he was seconds from breaking the barrier when Mahito arrived and intervened.
The Honoured One wasn't about to let such a good deed go unrewarded either.
With a clap, he instantly appeared in the middle of the forest, his pearly blue eyes staring straight at Mahito's purple ones.
"Hoh~ Satoru! You're paying lil ol' me a visit?"
Gojo blinked a few times underneath his blindfold; he could instantly tell. The Mahito that stood before him was different. Grown.
"Heh... I guess it's time I take you more seriously~"
_
_
_
Far beneath the surface, where the light of day could not reach, Kenjaku sat within the heart of a hidden shrine. The air was thick with humidity, the walls heavy with the scent of damp earth and old rituals.
Roots twisted through the stone like veins, and paper talismans hung from the ceiling in slow, rhythmic motion. The silence was broken only by the subtle hum of cursed energy that pulsed like a quiet heartbeat through the room.
Jogo paced near the edge, his footsteps sending small echoes through the chamber. Smoke drifted in thin streams from the peak of his molten head, his agitation barely contained.
Across from him, Dagon sat still, curled inward, his large red body slumped with something like exhaustion or grief. His tentacles moved only faintly, brushing against the ground in slow, uncertain patterns.
Kenjaku remained seated, one hand turning a weathered talisman slowly between his fingers.
"He betrayed us... How else could Hanami have died before the barrier was ever breached?!" Jogo muttered, his voice low, teeth grinding against each word.
Kenjaku did not look up.
"It is a possibility, we had no eyes inside the barrier, all the people that had entered it are dead... Or they're missing," he said.
"Mahito is the only one that is not dead... I could feel Hanami withering; Mahito's cursed energy only spiked, never died out. I waited at the meeting spot for a while, but no one came there."
Kenjaku turned the talisman once more. The symbols etched into its surface shimmered faintly, reacting to his touch.
"It is possible that he was also feeding information to the sorcerers... There were more Sorcerers than expected present."
Jogo turned sharply.
"You weren't monitoring his actions!!?"
"I was, but not closely enough, it seems..." Kenjaku replied, finally lifting his gaze. 'To think a newborn curse can act in such a shrewd way... This generation really is as interesting as the Heinan era~'
Kenjaku was not displeased; he only found the situation more and more interesting.
Jogo, however... Well, he was seemingly going mad. He trembled, clenching his fists, as the air around him warmed perceptibly.
Heat waves shimmered around his shoulders, but he did not speak further. Kenjaku's tone remained steady, but there was a current of warning beneath it.
"I saw him come out of the womb with my own eyes... That means he learned quickly. Too quickly. And now he was beyond our influence from the start."
Dagon let out a low gurgle, his gaze distant.
"He acted all innocent and peaceful..." Jogo said bitterly, eyes narrowing. "To think he fooled all of us-"
"Just goes to show how you can't ever truly trust someone... Be it a curse or a human."
Kenjaku stood, letting the talisman fall back into its place among the others. His footsteps echoed faintly as he moved across the shrine, pausing before a sealed archway at the far end.
The stone surface was etched with complex seals and layered symbols. Runic kanji pulsed softly beneath layers of cursed wax and black ink.
Jogo scowled. "Then we stop him. Hunt him down. Burn him from the inside out." The temperature in that dim underground chamber spiked, Dagon wriggling uncomfortably.
Kenjaku placed one hand on the seal. Power flared beneath his fingers.
"No, we can't seek him out carelessly either."
Jogo stepped forward. "Why? He betrayed us? Just give me the go-ahead, and I will turn him to ashes!"
"Because there is still more to learn. At this point, he may have the technique I had been looking for..."
The silence that followed was heavy. Kenjaku's voice did not rise, but it cut through the air like a knife.
"If he does have the ability to alter someone else's soul, as well as a fully realised Domain Expansion, you would die, Jogo.
If you went after him now without a plan, he could be able to kill you. We can't gamble you as well, not when Gojo hasn't been sealed yet."
The curse spirit's fists tightened. "I also have my domain expansion, even more refined than his!"
"Hanami also had a domain expansion, just as refined as yours. She was overwhelmed after you felt her use it, right?"
Jogo fell completely silent when hearing that.
It was true, he felt Hanami's cursed energy spike first, then Mahito's.
The Volcanic cursed spirit trembled in anger, before huffing and turning around, leaving the area with rage on his mind.
'Hah... So unreliable.' Kenjaku shook his head, but he still smiled in a relaxed manner. After all, he had plenty of allies.
He turned back to the archway and pressed his palm firmly against it.
The seals reacted at once.
Lines of energy snaked across the surface, racing through the engraved symbols. One by one, the locks gave way. A low groan echoed through the chamber as ancient mechanisms shifted. Behind the stone wall, something stirred.
Large black jars, sealed in layers of cloth and script, trembled faintly. Cracks spiderwebbed across their surfaces. The symbols that bound them began to fray.
Kenjaku's eyes gleamed in the dim light.
"We have lost a piece. But we still hold many more."
The three of the jars began to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling. Dagon flinched but did not move.
The lids of the vessels began to rise, slow and heavy. Darkness spilt out like smoke, thick and pungent. And within that darkness, something moved.
Kenjaku stepped back, his expression calm.
"Maybe not all of them are useful. But these three... Hehe~"