The chanting rolled from Mahito's many mouths in an eerie, layered harmony.
It wasn't the frantic, desperate incantation of a cornered fighter; it was deliberate, methodical, each note resonating in the air like a drumbeat before a storm.
The Lightning Special Grade, still smouldering from the Black Flash, twitched and spat arcs of electricity, the static crawling along the grass in angry ripples.
Yuki could feel the shift before she saw it, the air thickened, the temperature warped, and cursed energy began to knot itself around Mahito like an intricate weave.
Her eyes narrowed. "He's doing it again…" she murmured under her breath. She knew that she was about to witness his Domain Expansion herself.
The ground around them seemed to ripple outward, invisible waves emanating from Mahito's position.
There was no crackling shell of a barrier, no enclosed, warped space folding into itself. At least not in any visible sense. The horizon didn't bend or seal itself off. Instead, the air cleared.
It was unnerving.
"Domain Expansion"Mahito's voice carried, not shouted but laced with an authority that made the words settle in Yuki's bones. "Cursed Genesis"
The world didn't change. It simply… shifted.
Everything within a hundred meters in all directions, twice the reach of his original domain, was his now.
Yuki's brow furrowed as she realised exactly what he'd done.
No wall, no overt visual separation. He'd layered a binding vow into the very expansion, shaving away the defensive barrier in exchange for raw, oppressive scale and seamless integration with the real world.
Almost barrierless. That thought scraped uncomfortably across her mind. Even for a Special Grade, that kind of control was almost divine.
He had forsaken any defensive aspects of a usual Domain Expansion; the barrier that surrounded it was so thin that it could be disregarded altogether.
'I am close~ So close to a barrierless domain~ But not yet. Not today, it seems.' Mahito sighed internally; he did not let his thoughts deprive him of the excitement he felt in the moment.
The Lightning Spirit hissed, its cursed energy flaring, as if sensing that invisible claim being stamped into reality. It crackled backwards, trying to run away and escape the domain.
But Mahito's expression didn't shift, only his eyes gleamed, focused and unblinking.
"Careful, this thing's annoyingly fast! Don't let it get away!" she called out, her voice a measured warning. Mahito only smirked. "No need to worry. I've accounted for that."
And then, she felt it.
Not just the domain's oppressive reach, the pull. It wasn't physical. It was something more spiritual in nature, like the sensation of standing too close to the lip of a massive drop.
Yuki herself felt drawn to the centre of the domain, though she was able to cool her mind rather quickly thanks to her willpower, and the simple domain she employed around herself and the old man.
But not everyone had her willpower. From the curse's chest, something shifted. Not muscle, not flesh, it's soul. Mahito's technique snared it like a fisherman's hook, tugging without haste.
Yuki's eyes widened. "He can manipulate souls to this extent..?"
Inside the domain, Mahito's rules were absolute. The chanting that had begun as a ritualistic flourish was, in truth, a second binding vow.
A vow ensuring that, while he could draw another being's soul into his own, as long as they were within his domain. With the caveat that their personalities could overwrite his if his willpower was not strong enough.
It was a trade. A dangerous, almost arrogant one. But he'd balanced it. Making yet another binding vow.
Mahito stepped forward, closing the distance one smooth stride at a time.
The Lightning Special Grade lashed out, arcs of searing electricity snapped across the field, splitting the air with their heat. But now, inside the refined domain, its struggles meant nothing. He didn't need to.
The strikes hit him, or rather, they entered him. His form rippled like liquid, his soul's structure bending and knitting around each impact.
Burns flared and faded instantly, muscles knitting back together before they'd even torn fully apart.
"You're feeding me," Mahito said plainly, his voice almost conversational as the spirit struck again and again. "I like that."
Then his hand pierced straight through the curse's chest. No resistance, the soul was no longer a fortress; here, it was an unlocked door.
Yuki could see it happening now, in the subtle warp of cursed energy between them. Threads of lightning-bright power unspooled from the spirit's core and coiled inward toward Mahito, threading into him, disappearing beneath his skin like rainwater into sand.
His body arched slightly, eyes closing for half a second. When they opened again, faint arcs of pale electricity skated across his fingertips.
Yuki let out a slow exhale. "He's absorbing it…"
"Hmm, true~" Mahito corrected, his voice taking on an almost teacher-like cadence. "An application of my powers, it seems!"
The curse screamed, a sound that vibrated the teeth in Yuki's jaw. It tried to tear free, limbs flailing with desperate power, but Mahito's grip wasn't physical anymore; it was soul-deep, unshakable inside the domain's rules.
"You can thrash all you want," Mahito murmured, tilting his head slightly, "but this body, this technique… both are mine until your cursed energy burns out. Don't worry, I won't keep them. I'm not greedy. Just… curious."
Yuki's eyes widened, she felt her back filling with sweat as she finally realised... Mahito was learning in real time.
Every move, every exchange, every fraction of cursed energy was filed away into that strange, inhuman understanding of his.
The Lightning Special Grade's resistance faltered, its arcs becoming stutters instead of steady discharges. Mahito leaned in, his hand sinking deeper, until half his forearm seemed embedded in the curse's flickering torso.
"This cursed technique..." Mahito said quietly, almost like a compliment. Then his expression sharpened. "I'll take it."
The spirit's form began to collapse inward, its cursed energy unravelling like thread pulled from a spool. The arcs sputtered and died in the air, drawn into Mahito until nothing remained but silence and the faint smell of ozone.
When the last wisp of energy vanished into him, Mahito withdrew his hand. The domain dissolved in the same moment, no crash of a barrier shattering, no dramatic implosion. It simply ceased to be, like a dream fading upon waking.
The field was just a field again.
Mahito flexed his fingers slowly, watching pale blue-white sparks coil lazily around them. The arcs traced the lines of his knuckles, dancing briefly before fading into his skin.
Yuki's shikigami still hovered protectively over the old man, who now stirred slightly, murmuring something incoherent. She didn't take her eyes off Mahito.
"You've gotten stronger, just like that..." she said at last. It wasn't a question, more like stating a fact.
One that the Elders of the Jujutsu World were bound to dread.
Mahito's smile was calm, almost satisfied, but there was a glint in it, a spark that matched the arcs still ghosting his fingertips. "Not stronger," he corrected, looking down at his hand. "Just more enlightened~"
He let the electricity snap once more between his fingers, a single, clean crackle, before lowering his arm.
"Now then... How would you grade my performance, Miss Special Grade?"