When Locke's figure had completely disappeared into the depths of the forest path, leaving only the sound of wind and the soft rustle of broken branches and leaves, only then did Kenjaku and Mahito dare to slowly step into the chaotic forest. They finally stopped beside the nearly one-hundred-meter-long chasm carved by the sword.
The walls of the chasm were as clean as if carved, and faint remnants of pale white spiritual power still clung to the stone, carrying a lingering, intense aura.
Kenjaku leaned down and reached out, his fingertips lightly touching the cold stone of the chasm wall, gently rubbing the faint residual cursed energy. After a moment's observation, he turned to look at Mahito beside him, his voice firm:
"This power... there's no doubt about it. It's a pure positive energy release of cursed energy reversal. This guy is the natural enemy of your cursed spirit, Mahito."
And Mahito's reaction was the best proof.
He crouched far behind a broken tree several meters away, the cursed energy around him instinctively curling and contracting. He didn't even dare to look directly at the deep chasm, nor did he dare to come half a step closer. Because he could feel that what remained in the chasm was a fire capable of burning his very soul.
"That guy... when he transformed, even the appearance of his soul changed."
"Oh?"
Mahito's face was full of an undispellable fear. A flash of the scene from just now appeared in his eyes. Recalling that moment, a chill ran down his spine, and his voice was full of terror:
"Now that I think about it, his soul itself is very abnormal. The soul of an ordinary person already matches their own form and body. But his is different."
After a short pause, Mahito's eyes fixed on the chasm before him, his throat unconsciously tightened, and he swallowed involuntarily.
Originally, he had still been far from Locke and had only vaguely sensed that something was wrong with that guy's soul. But the distance had been too great to tell what was happening.
Until the moment before Locke transformed, his soul had suddenly exploded with extremely intense fluctuations.
For Mahito, this sense of presence was like a dark night at noon—impossible to ignore. Even from several kilometers away, it could be clearly perceived.
And now, calming down and re-examining that final perception, Mahito finally understood where the anomaly that had always been unclear lay.
"His soul... it actually gives me the feeling of a massive, whole soul that has been torn apart, one piece ripped away and stuffed into this body. It looks like it's barely holding together and disguised as an ordinary soul, but in reality, it's just a mutilated form of a soul."
He clenched his hands, his knuckles white. After a long silence, he continued, each word carrying undisguised fear:
"Especially now. His soul has instantly transformed on its own, becoming another form—more complete, but slightly weaker."
"The background color of the soul's body is, of course, the same as before. But its shape is completely different. It's not... it's not human at all."
His words fell, and the forest shrouded in night fell silent. Mahito, trembling all over, realized that Kenjaku had been right to bring him. Mahito, who could see the shape of souls, had indeed uncovered one of this guy's secrets.
"Fragment of a soul... transformation of the soul's form... this guy's release of positive energy... there's truly a great mystery here."
Standing up again, Kenjaku, who had a certain understanding of the situation, was in a good mood. He smiled and asked Mahito beside him:
"Mahito, want to come watch the second big show? It's the manifestation of the King of Curses~"
"No, no. I'd better go back first. Now that I think about it, Hanami and Jogo went to recruit new partners. Dagon will be very lonely at home alone."
Seeing Mahito so frightened, Kenjaku couldn't help but sneer and secretly mocked in his heart: As expected of a cursed spirit, truly unable to stand on the big stage.
"Alright, then I'll go alone. See you later. Bye."
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————
At the same time, at Sugisawa Third Middle School in Miyagi Prefecture, Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro had carried two classmates injured by a cursed spirit and were running through the school corridors to escape pursuit.
"Damn it! Why are there so many cursed spirits?!"
"Many? Under normal circumstances, even a special-grade cursed spirit shouldn't attract this many cursed spirits. In fact, it seems that since three months ago, all of Japan's cursed spirits have greatly strengthened in both quantity and quality, as if a second Gojo Satoru had been born."
"Who is Gojo Satoru?"
"A bastard!"
Suddenly, the wall to their right shattered. A massive cursed spirit with six arms and eight eyes lunged at them. Unable to dodge, they crashed through another wall and headed straight for the rooftop on the other side of the school building.
After protecting the unconscious boy in his arms to the limit, Megumi Fushiguro was seriously injured and couldn't even maintain his technique. His two Jade Dogs instantly turned into shadows and vanished.
A first-grade cursed spirit, approaching special grade, originally with Sukuna's finger in Knotted's hand.
Its four arms clenched the guardrail, its massive mouth wide open to devour them alive. Knotted was crushed, with at least four broken ribs. Blood sprayed from his mouth, mixed with fragments of organs. His eyes were unfocused. The shadow of death completely enveloped him in an instant.
His only family had died today, but he believed his grandfather's death was a proper one.
Just now, due to the unsealing of the cursed object, the elderly and seniors in the community had nearly died at the hands of the attracted cursed spirits—that was an accidental death, an improper death.
And now, to save others, he was prepared to die at the hands of a cursed spirit.
His ribs ached so much, fragments seeming to pierce through his lungs. Breathing was difficult. His arm felt broken, his waist couldn't move at all, and his spine must have been fractured.
As he was about to be eaten, Itadori mentally described his physical condition, realized he was truly going to die, and his mind kept wandering.
In the vague impressions of his parents, various childhood photos appeared one after another: a statue called "Ghost Sword Dance," an abandoned amusement park, hydrangeas blooming everywhere, a scene of catching lobsters with friends whose faces he couldn't remember.
Going to a farm to see tall horses, spending all his saved allowance on ice cream until he vomited, and foolishly dragging snow chains on the car at Christmas to prove that Santa Claus really existed.
Before dying, Yuji Itadori's mind was full of these meaningless memories, as well as the last words his grandfather had left him not long ago.
What was the right thing to do? To save others and lead to a proper death among everyone? Was dying like this right now correct?
The moment Knotted was devoured into the cursed spirit's stomach, the digestive juices filled with cursed energy violently burned his skin. He tried his best to protect the senior sister in his arms, holding on tightly, hoping she would be safe before he was fully digested.
And in his last moments of life, Knotted's drowsy mind suddenly recalled a previous phone call.
"Huh? Miss Nurse, what do you think Dr. Locke wanted to say to me?"
"Yes, Itadori-kun. But I don't fully understand what it means, so I can only tell you as is."
"Knotted, listen. Your grandfather still had expectations of you before he left. You should respond to those expectations, but also do what you can."
"But if you truly decide to change all this yourself, then abandon everything afterward, take a step forward, and walk the... the path to becoming a warrior."
"Warrior..."
Knotted, burned all over, suddenly touched a sharp, hard object at the corner of his mouth. He struggled to barely open his eyelids. His vision was chaotic, but he vaguely noticed that a two-faced finger had somehow come to his lips.
Perhaps it was fate, perhaps it was coincidence. In short, Yuji Itadori exploded with a strong will to survive at this moment. To die a proper death, to correct an improper death, Yuji Itadori swallowed Sukuna's finger along with the cursed spirit's digestive juices into his stomach.
At the same time, Megumi Fushiguro, with only one breath left, feeling extreme rage and sorrow over Itadori's death, gently touched the inside of his right forearm with his left hand, slightly raised his hand, and quickly assumed a forward stance with both fists.
"Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden...?"
Before he could finish the incantation, in the next second, the cursed spirit exploded before his astonished eyes. Amid the fragments of the cursed spirit's bloody mist, Yuji Itadori appeared on the rooftop, bearing a sinister face, holding the half-dead senior sister in his arms.
And a series of unknown tattoos, as well as the complex eyes beneath his eyes, said one thing.
After a thousand years, the King of Curses—Ryomen Sukuna—stood once more on the earth.