Chapter 54: The Descending Angel
The enormous, scarlet vertical pupil of the [Eye of Baal] was surrounded by a circle of eight smaller, satellite pupils. The [Eye of Baal], large and small, moved together like living things packed into a narrow fissure, giving an extremely ominous and malevolent impression.
This directly caused large areas of the purple flower sea to vanish. The flowers, as if drained of all nutrients, withered, exposing the bare ground.
"We harbor two angels in our bodies; one lives in light, the other waits in blood and terror."
This is the reality of the Blood Angels. Fujiwara no Yoshifusa wasn't trying to obtain his body; Hikigaya Hachiman was merely showcasing a portion of what he carried.
But this display was a burden the world could not bear, the ultimate form of a curse.
Hikigaya Hachiman was not something that a short-lived being, living only a century and aspiring to immortality through evil methods, could touch.
Forget looking directly at the [Eye of Baal]; even being radiated by its shining light would result in a lethal dose of Cursed influence.
Mental corruption makes no distinction between friend and foe. Therefore, 0.00001 seconds before the [Eye of Baal] tore through the Domain and opened, Hikigaya Hachiman had already used the rift to teleport Mei Mei and the others out.
As the target of the technique, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa suffered terribly.
Even though his eyes were scorched, in Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's mental world, the Blood Eye still burned like the sun in the sky.
The terrifying gaze was ubiquitous, and Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had completely broken down.
"How can such a curse exist in the world?"
Even during the peak of the Jujutsu era, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, with his authority second only to the Emperor, collected almost all the Cursed Techniques in the land but had never encountered a curse that exhibited such extremity.
It induces extreme negative emotions, leading to self-destruction. Maintaining sanity is a luxury.
"Ah, my brain is trembling."
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's Reverse Cursed Technique on his brain was overloaded, blood streaming from his nose and eye sockets, yet there was no improvement.
Both of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's eyes were beyond healing, even with the Reverse Cursed Technique, because the horrific curse had scorched them, causing them to completely wither at the core of his soul.
Now, his previously handsome face was covered in many prominent, throbbing veins around his eyes, as if countless worms were wriggling under his skin.
"Kill me."
The agonized Fujiwara no Yoshifusa continuously scratched and clawed at his face and neck. Soon, he had torn the flesh off his face and neck himself.
Hikigaya Hachiman watched coldly as he was tormented by pain.
Finally, Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, whose face was now a bloody mess and almost resembled a skull, smiled foolishly, slapped the back of his own head, shattered his cranium, and pulled out his brain, which was now mostly "well-cooked."
Seeing this scene, Hikigaya Hachiman looked quite helpless.
What he had just done was merely sharing a tiny, insignificant part of his past experience with a dog, and the dog committed suicide after hearing it.
What could Hikigaya Hachiman do?
And with Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's suicide, his Domain did not completely collapse. In the process, it even became much more solidified than the Domain that had initially shattered.
This was within Hikigaya Hachiman's expectation; he had even actively induced it.
Who said he could only plot against Hachiman; Hachiman couldn't plot against him?
The corpse of the dead Fujiwara no Yoshifusa began to undergo a transformation. It inflated like a balloon being pumped up until it burst with a "pop."
In its place, countless Cursed Spirits of varying sizes, grotesque appearances, and overwhelming resentment burst out from his body and rushed toward the sky.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's current body was originally constructed from the blood of Special Grade Cursed Spirits and the continuously released resentment over a thousand years. It was equivalent to a super-large Cursed Spirit collective.
Soon, these Cursed Spirits passively merged into a large mass of flesh, rapidly growing and expanding. Various colorful hues merged together, forming a colossal giant monster.
It had the shoulder height of the Ancient Skeleton. The monster's head had uneven left and right sides, resembling a hybrid of a tiger and a monkey, with eighteen staring, blue-green beast eyes, and a large mouth filled with sharp teeth.
All four limbs were sharp claws, and its tail was composed of hundreds of living Cursed Spirits, resembling giant pythons.
As the entire monster coalesced, a very distinct human torso grew from its head, outwardly resembling the deceased Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, but only the upper body; the rest was completely merged with the monster.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa had completely degenerated into a Cursed Spirit, and Hikigaya Hachiman watched quietly without intervening.
Fujiwara no Yoshifusa possessed the mechanism to forcibly shut down Cursed Techniques. The applicability of this ability is undoubtedly understood by those in the know.
The strength of Hikigaya Hachiman's [Crimson Blood Manipulation] Cursed Technique only returned to normal after Fujiwara no Yoshifusa committed suicide.
In his Domain earlier, it was directly shut down, making it impossible to guard against.
And Hikigaya Hachiman has the ability to devour high-grade Cursed Spirits and acquire their [Innate Techniques], so there was no reason to let Fujiwara no Yoshifusa go.
The surge in Cursed Energy caused by Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's Cursed Spirit transformation amplified the intensity of the Domain, which should have collapsed, several times over.
Now, the Domain's intensity, Cursed Technique power, and poison were all geometrically increased. The air was filled with a concentration that would be lethal even to an ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
But no matter how strong the opponent was, the [Eye of Baal] in the sky remained unchanged.
Instead, the newly born Special Grade Cursed Spirit began to melt like butter all over its body, likely to turn back into a pool of blood soon.
To test the quality of this Cursed Spirit, Hikigaya Hachiman raised his hand. A crimson glow flickered on his fingertip, and a Cursed Energy Cannon filled with destructive power erupted.
The destructive force screamed toward the target, but the Cursed Spirit also inherited another of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa's Cursed Techniques from his life. It slammed its forelimb down, and the Cursed Energy Cannon vanished without a trace.
It seems that Fujiwara no Yoshifusa perfectly retained this Cursed Technique even after becoming a Cursed Spirit.
The opponent's size was even more exaggerated than the Ancient Skeleton, but a large size did not mean Hikigaya Hachiman had no means to deal with it.
On the contrary, the appearance of this large monster presented Hikigaya Hachiman with an excellent opportunity to use a power that only existed in concept.
The illusory [Eye of Baal] standing in the sky was now invading reality from the realm of the ethereal, and the dripping blood became more substantial.
This blood dripped to Hikigaya Hachiman's feet, forming a massive blood-red lake, covering the ground and the area beneath the Cursed Spirit's feet as well.
This blood-red lake completely covered the Domain. As the barrier between the illusory and the real completely faded, a large golden sword rose from the blood pool.
Hikigaya Hachiman reached out and grasped it. The moment he drew the sword, a crimson pillar of light, running from top to bottom, completely enveloped him.
A huge figure gradually appeared behind Hikigaya Hachiman—a Blood Angel figure with angel wings on its back and clad in golden armor, somewhat resembling Sanguinius's Primarch Power Armor, the [Regal Splendor].
The golden giant god descending upon the human world, holding a burning golden greatsword, possessed an imposing and noble aura beyond words.
This armor was the source of Hikigaya Hachiman's Spiritual Energy and his most powerful reliance.
In the [Archangel] mode, Hikigaya Hachiman could feel "the Great Angel" Sanguinius right beside him. Endless glory accompanied him, and he felt as if he had returned to the era of campaigning with the Primarch.
Seeing the mighty and majestic super-large armored giant standing before it, the lion-like Cursed Spirit immediately roared, and an overwhelming Cursed Energy Cannon, filled with boundless resentment, was instantly brewed.
With a "boom," the funnel-shaped, ferocious Cursed Energy poured out, devouring everything in its path.
Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes were no longer the previous blood-red but now shone with a golden light like that of a god.
All he did was raise the burning blade, and the golden giant god behind him, as one with him, performed the same action.
It was the simplest of movements, yet it conveyed a feeling of world-shattering might.
And the fact was, it was true.
"Black Rage!"
The moment he swung his sword, a golden fury directly exploded, tearing apart the Cursed Energy Cannon and the Domain simultaneously. A massive amount of filthy blood gushed out immediately afterward.
Outside, Todo Aoi and Mei Mei, who had been teleported out by Hikigaya Hachiman earlier, recalled the scene and felt powerless.
The opponent's mechanism was so strong that they felt utterly helpless. In fact, they felt they had become a burden during the fight.
But fortunately, after leaving the Domain's range, the effects of the Cursed Technique shutdown they had suffered had been lifted.
However, before Mei Mei and the others could relax, a great terror of life and death suddenly descended.
A terrifying golden blade of light appeared from the Domain, tearing apart everything nearby. Seven or eight intact mountain peaks in the distance were simultaneously sheared off cleanly and evenly.
It was the sudden appearance of the colossal Cursed Spirit's beast head, which shattered the immense mausoleum, causing the entire structure to collapse. The cut surface of the beast head, perfectly smooth, was streaming with copious amounts of foul blood, the contamination of which was utterly horrifying.
Mei Mei and the others immediately saw the serene night sky and countless collapsing fragments of rock.
"Ui Ui!"
Mei Mei shouted Ui Ui's name directly. Under the influence of intense survival instinct, Ui Ui immediately activated his Cursed Technique, and in the blink of an eye, the three of them were back in the bustling center of Tokyo.
The surprise of the passersby did not lessen the trepidation in their hearts.
"Holy cow, what was that monster?"
If Ui Ui hadn't reacted quickly, the three of them would have been instantly caught in that horrifying atmosphere.
In the darkness, a golden light illuminated the world. An invisible, divine aura enveloped the entire area, as if a truly benevolent and great deity had descended upon the world.
Ordinary people saw this celestial anomaly.
"God loves the world... The Divine Lord has revealed himself."
It was only because the area of Hikigaya Hachiman's battle with the Cursed Spirit was sparsely populated; otherwise, in a crowded city center, he might genuinely be worshipped as a god by mortals.
The terrain of this area was completely altered by Hikigaya Hachiman's attack. What was once a mountain range was now essentially a basin.
The Cursed Spirit's head was cleanly severed and decisively smashed the former mausoleum. The head, embedded in the broken mountain, was being scorched by golden flames and was reduced to ashes in no time.
But the Cursed Spirit, with its tenacious life force, was still alive, yet its survival was a living hell.
The golden flames burning fiercely on Hikigaya Hachiman's blade were the Flames of Purgation, cleansing all filth.
The severed areas were engulfed in intensely burning golden flames, making a sizzling sound like roasting meat. Moreover, these flames could not be extinguished by any means; they only automatically went out after the medium supporting them was reduced to ashes.
Hikigaya Hachiman's maximum active time in this [Archangel] mode is three minutes, meaning he would enter a Spiritual Energy shutdown state after 180 seconds.
This is why he doesn't use it frequently.
However, 180 seconds is more than enough time.
The intense pain made the Cursed Spirit writhe in agony. Its entire body convulsed, and its flesh, which already looked like melting butter, was now covered in cracks. It was forced to claw off another layer of its own severed flesh with its hands.
This time, Hikigaya Hachiman only feigned an attack posture, and the headless Cursed Spirit, like a startled bird, instantly constructed seven layers of defensive Cursed Techniques.
But to Hikigaya Hachiman, this was simply a waste of effort.
If the Cursed Spirit had consciousness, it might realize that standing before a giant who wields a sword, when one is as tiny as an insect, whatever it does is futile.
Everyone in the Tokyo Jujutsu Sorcerers Association sensed the powerful surge emanating from that Cursed Spirit. A Cursed Spirit of this magnitude had not been directly observed in the human world for centuries.
The Jujutsu Sorcerers Association's headquarters immediately dispatched Gojo Satoru to the scene for investigation, determined to exterminate this Cursed Spirit.
But they were even more eager to know: who was engaging in combat with this extremely powerful Cursed Spirit?
The Cursed Spirit's powerful Cursed Energy fluctuations were like a beacon, making it impossible not to notice.
Geto Suguru was also extremely excited. As the holder of [Cursed Spirit Manipulation], collecting powerful Cursed Spirits had become his obsession.
He couldn't imagine how much his strength would increase once he acquired this Cursed Spirit.
Geto Suguru was so eager that he didn't care about revealing his identity and summoned his Grade 1 Cursed Bird to ascend into the sky to snatch the Cursed Spirit in front of everyone.
For stability, Suguru Geto summoned his strongest hypothetical Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae, without hesitation. He was determined to take that Cursed Spirit, even if he had to fight for it.
But even from a thousand miles away, the closer Suguru Geto got to the battlefield, the more difficult his breathing became.
"What a joke!"
When he truly saw the other golden deity battling the Cursed Spirit, cold sweat poured down Suguru Geto's back.
Although the terrifying attack was not aimed at him, it did not prevent Suguru Geto from clearly sensing the horror of the attack from the residual shockwaves.
He could clearly feel that if he dared to step onto the battlefield, he would be ruthlessly killed.
Suguru Geto seemed to see a golden giant god, full of power and covered in golden light, leaning back dramatically. The greatsword, held high above, gradually magnified in Suguru Geto's vision.
Breathing was incredibly difficult; it was impossible to breathe in this oppressive atmosphere.
By putting himself into the Cursed Spirit's perspective, Suguru Geto realized with sorrow that he was as tiny as an insect.
This was not his imagination.
"I will die."
Even Suguru Geto's body, which had been through countless battles, told him so.
"What's up?"
Hearing the familiar address, Suguru Geto was slightly stunned. He turned his head and saw Gojo Satoru also standing in the sky.
Hikigaya Hachiman also noticed the two individuals who had trespassed into his combat zone.
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