Chapter 205: Who Said It's Your Turn Now?
Winning only through sheer numbers, Escape Rabbits was originally the weakest of all the shadow shikigami in terms of both offensive and defensive capabilities—bar none.
Not only were the individual ability stats lower than those of an ordinary Grade 4 cursed spirit, but even the entire swarm gathered together might not pose a threat to a Grade 3 cursed spirit. Its main value was aesthetic rather than practical.
However, to say they were completely useless would be an unnecessary slander.
Their massive numbers and tiny, mouse-like bodies allowed them to work wonders when searching for objects, and their near-perfect coordination allowed them to act as an incredible veil to obstruct and distract enemies during combat.
Of course, against an enemy like Jogo, who possessed wide-range destructive cursed techniques, they were normally of no use at all.
Therefore, in order to let Escape Rabbits play a sufficient role under the brand-new Ten Shadows Technique, Fushiguro Megumi had drastically reformed them.
Since Escape Rabbits had no inherent damage or defense to speak of, those attributes could be completely sacrificed as conditions for a Binding Vow, effectively erasing them. In exchange for being weakened into "useless" shikigami, Fushiguro added an effect to Escape Rabbits: "When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon one additional shikigami from the Graveyard"...
"The special effect of Escape Rabbits! When it is destroyed by the enemy while in Attack Position, I can Special Summon one shadow shikigami from my Deck—"
"The one I choose is this... I Special Summon Great Serpent in Attack Position!"
BOOM!
As Fushiguro Megumi's final words fell, a massive serpent-like creature immediately drilled out from beneath the ground, coiling and standing tall within the tunnel, which was approximately four to five meters high.
"Just what kind of cursed technique is this... not only is the number of shikigami wrong, but even the incantations are so bizarre?"
Jogo was already starting to regret not investigating exactly what the descriptions and effects of the enemy's techniques were before the operation began.
Not only were the trigger conditions for the technique so strange, but the shikigami could also be summoned without limit using these unknown triggers.
Jogo's combat intelligence was not poor, so it clearly realized at this moment: the longer the battle dragged on, the more shikigami this brat summoned would become.
Was the hereditary technique of the Zen'in family really this powerful? Was this why they had stood as a prominent sorcerer clan for nearly a thousand years?
In that case, I must leave...
Keeping its single eye fixed on Fushiguro Megumi, Jogo silently raised its other hand, which was not currently engaged in combat with Itadori Yuji. Unfortunately, just as flames began to emerge within it, the sharp Itadori noticed.
"I won't let you have your way! I'm the one who will protect Fushiguro!"
Sensing something was wrong, Itadori Yuji immediately swung his shield-axe again, exerting all his strength to strike Jogo, sending it flying over ten meters away. Jogo's short legs, which were dug firmly into the ground, even plowed two deep furrows—it was more effective than a hard-working ox.
"Hey, brat!!"
The most incredibly frustrating part was that no matter how angry it was, or how much it wanted to cut this brat into a thousand pieces, it didn't dare use any attacks or movements that might cause too much damage to Itadori.
Jogo had already put in so much effort for this, and even comrades had been sacrificed for it; how could it personally destroy their hope of wiping out humanity?
It was quite possible that in the entire world, Itadori Yuji was the only individual who could successfully host Ryomen Sukuna. It didn't dare gamble.
It was just thinking: 'I'm working so hard to hold back, why doesn't this brat understand gratitude!'
"Great job, Itadori. Leave the rest to me!"
After briefly praising Itadori Yuji's adaptability, Fushiguro Megumi quickly changed the hand seals in his hands and began the second stage of the chain: "Because of your previous attack action, and since a Special Summon does not count toward the Normal Summon limit, I can still Normal Summon a shikigami this turn."
"Normal Summon, Divine Dogs!"
As shadows converged, the familiar black and white pair of shikigami appeared, flanking Fushiguro Megumi on both sides, adding two more fierce warriors to the already massive army of shikigami. Strangely, however, Fushiguro showed no intention of letting his shikigami army step forward to attack for the time being; it seemed they really were just 'gatekeepers' used to fill the scene.
Meanwhile, having reached a certain level of rage, Jogo finally began to think about throwing caution to the wind.
Regardless, it only needed to focus its output on killing this one fellow, Fushiguro. One way or another, that vessel of Sukuna next to him would find a way to stay alive.
"It doesn't matter. No matter how many trash there are, they are always just trash. Even if I stand still, do you think they can actually hurt me?
Conversely, killing them is effortless for me!!"
As it spoke, Jogo raised its hands high. After forming hand seals, it slammed them down toward the ground.
RUMBLE...
In an instant, the ground of the entire tunnel began to shatter and collapse. Molten lava continuously poured out from the numerous newly formed cracks. In just a few moments, the footing for Itadori, Fushiguro, and the shikigami was compressed to the extreme.
If it weren't afraid that such a large-scale attack would damage Itadori, the vessel, to the point of directly forcing Sukuna out, it would have covered the entire tunnel in one blow and ended this battle cleanly long ago.
"What do we do now, Fushiguro?"
Itadori Yuji, who had jumped back to Fushiguro Megumi's side, had to place the shield-axe under their feet to barely ensure that the two of them wouldn't be swallowed by the lava for the time being. But this method was clearly just treating the symptoms, not the cause.
Never mind whether the shield-axe would conduct heat; in their current state, it was only a matter of time before Jogo flooded the entire underground space with lava.
Even Fushiguro's remaining shikigami could only barely find a place to stand by relying on the long body of Great Serpent, and Great Serpent, which was directly touching the lava, obviously wouldn't last much longer.
This was the effect Jogo wanted: to push these two brats who dared to anger it into a state of despair and helplessness, bit by bit, and then kill the useless one.
If it could also cause Sukuna's vessel to lose his will to resist in the process, that would be even better.
"Itadori, now is the time for us to counterattack. Watch closely."
Having squatted down slightly after clasping his hands together, Fushiguro Megumi had entered a state of complete "professional dueling."
"When the number of shadow shikigami on the field reaches four or more, I can ignore any conditions and directly activate the related Field Spell—which is to say, my Domain."
"Domain Expansion—Chimera Shadow Garden!"
Faster than the spreading speed of the lava, shadows poured out from beneath Fushiguro Megumi's feet, covering the majority of the underground space in a very short time. Even in this underground space, where the air appeared dark red due to the glow of the hot lava, shadows still existed.
Where there is light, there will be shadows; they are everywhere.
"A Domain?! Seriously... do I really have to use a Domain against these brats?"
A more mature Domain can override a lower-level Domain, that much is true. Jogo was also certain its own Domain was countless times more powerful than this "ugly" Domain.
But a Domain Expansion is a Domain Expansion; under the rules of the jujutsu world, the only thing that can counter a Domain is another Domain.
And even for a special-grade cursed spirit like Jogo, it could not escape the iron rule that Domain Expansion can only be used once per day.
After dealing with these two brats, it would surely have many more hard battles to fight. It would be a bit of a waste to expend its once-a-day Domain here.
But it had no choice; who told them that the only thing that can counter a Domain is another Domain?
"In that case, brat, I will let you see how powerful a real Domain Expansion should be..."
"Who said it's your turn now?"
Before Jogo could even finish speaking, it was crudely interrupted by Fushiguro Megumi.
"...Huh?"
Just as Jogo completely failed to realize what was about to happen next, Fushiguro Megumi had already begun a new round of chain explanations—
"When the White and Black within the Divine Dogs are on the field at the same time and are alive, they can be treated as two different shikigami.
Which means, it just so happens that there are a total of five shadow shikigami on my field right now..."
Fushiguro Megumi could almost no longer help but laugh out loud because he had never encountered such a beautiful opening hand.
"I offer three shikigami as Tributes to Special Summon—come forth, The Sealed Mahoraga, in 0 Attack Position!
And next, I offer two shikigami as Tributes to The Sealed Mahoraga to fulfill the conditions to activate its inherent effect, performing an Advance Summon for that legendary shikigami—
Come forth... Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga!!!"
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