Before they could even begin using cursed energy to rapidly heal their wounds, Hanami and Jogo had yet to recover from the attack.
So this was the King of Curses' domain?
An open domain that had never existed before, combined with an already terrifying slashing technique—it felt as if every strike was cutting into their very souls.
But gradually, they began to feel something was strange. With such overwhelming slashing power just now, unless the other party stopped attacking, they shouldn't have survived until now.
Turning their heads, they saw Locke sitting cross-legged on the shrine's throne, looking down at them with contempt.
"So this is Sukuna's feeling? He knows how to act better than I do? It seems he really couldn't find an opponent until he met Nishida Kagetatsu. He must have been very lonely."
After sighing a couple of sentences, Locke, having learned Sukuna's mannerisms, said to Jogo and Hanami with absolute firmness:
"I have to say, it's surprising that you have the courage to challenge me, to lure the tiger away from the mountain and buy time for your comrades. But... that's the only thing I can praise you for."
As soon as he spoke, Jogo and Hanami instantly fell into an ice cave. When were they discovered? Could it be... damn it, he mentioned Wave Fat on purpose to test us!
But why wasn't he panicking at all? Could there be a backup plan?
Sensing the confusion on Jogo's face, Locke smiled, waved his hand, and explained:
"My existence has long been erased. Even the Shadow Flow no longer exists. So I'm afraid no one knows. To be honest, our Shadow Flow has a secret technique called [Shadow Clone]."
As soon as he heard the name, Jogo's pupils couldn't help but contract, and he shouted in disbelief:
"Are you saying that?!"
"That's right. The one before you now is just a shadow clone with only one-fifth of the real body's power. The real body has already rushed back."
The moment the words fell, Jogo's body suddenly went limp, completely collapsing. Boundless despair was like hot lava, tightly enveloping his soul.
One-fifth—it's actually a clone with only one-fifth of the power, yet even then, they couldn't compete. It's just a toy to be killed. How can they say they're buying time?
Only at this moment did he suddenly realize that his and Hanami's sacrifice—their willingness to die without hesitation—had ultimately been meaningless.
He was wrong. He was wrong! Kagetatsu had already rushed back. Perhaps none of his comrades would survive. And all of this... was his fault!
"Don't be so pessimistic."
Locke laughed, his voice full of casual mockery: "Since you can entertain me, I'll give you a chance to live."
Before he finished, he gently clapped his hands together.
The shadows slid across the bones on the ground, and a pale demon god slowly rose from the depths of the shadows, standing before Jogo and the others.
"When I say 'start,' Mahoraga will begin to hunt you."
Locke raised his eyes, looked around, and casually announced: "At this moment, the radius of my domain is five hundred meters. If you can escape, I will give you a way out. Perhaps you two will be the only two special-grade cursed spirits to survive."
He deliberately looked at Jogo, his tone playful, and casually added:
"Oh, by the way, let me remind you. My shadow clone has an Achilles' heel—it will disappear if struck in a vital point. So you can try to hit my vital point~"
"Then—"
Hearing Locke's drawn-out sound, Jogo and Hanami nervously prepared to run, but they had no intention of actually fleeing. They had lost their will to fight, and their hearts were filled with only one thought: survival.
Seeing that the opponent had completely frightened himself, Locke raised the corners of his mouth, clapped his hands, and issued the ultimatum.
"Start!"
---
In the Star Palace, Tengen saw that on each of her containers were engraved the words "Chronicles of the Pacified Demon Realm," and she couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Clearly, something had just happened. Although she had forgotten it again, she had still used her barrier technique to leave clues.
Why had she forgotten? And why had she only left the words "Chronicles of the Pacified Demon Realm"?
Tengen couldn't find the answer, but she was certain of one thing. Perhaps she wanted to be simple, and she couldn't remember why she had erased the existence of Nishida Kagetatsu along with Kenjaku. Perhaps there was a deeper meaning to it.
Yes, she had certainly thought about Kagetatsu, but she couldn't remember what she had done at the beginning. A month had passed, and she hadn't found it. If she couldn't find it, there must be a problem. A big problem!
Perhaps, like the original intention of forgetting Kagetatsu, the reason they wanted to forget that memory was that there was an existence within that memory that needed to be forgotten.
Perhaps that was why they had decided to erase the past!
Having sorted this out, Tengen desperately wanted to find Locke and ask him what monsters he had defeated and sealed.
But as soon as this thought arose, before she could act, she acutely sensed that the barrier of the Star Palace had been forcibly breached. What shocked her even more was that the other party's barrier technique was extremely advanced, and it was breaking through the defenses she had layered, one layer at a time, at a very fast speed.
Judging by the sophistication and power of the barrier technique, the visitor was undoubtedly a master second only to her. And the only one who could have such power and dare to recklessly invade the Star Palace was Kenjaku.
"Why should we fear humans? We are cursed spirits, the true masters of this world, not that bunch of pests."
"Small Wind, calm down. We were born too lowly. We cannot defeat the sorcerers. We need time."
"Cursed Blue, what do you mean by that?"
"That's what I mean. We have to face reality. The reality is that Jogo and Hanami decided to sacrifice themselves to create opportunities for us. They could have sent any of us to die, but they chose to go themselves. So we must make their sacrifice worth it."
As the earliest moon cursed spirit, born with the strongest power aside from the four great natural disasters, Cursed Blue was so calm he didn't even seem like a cursed spirit. He made the most reasonable decisions, subdued the other siblings with his leadership qualities, and began assigning tasks.
"Jōso, Small Wind, Nishiki, you will act with me. We need to find Gojo Satoru and defeat him."
"Time Reversal, Dagon, Plague Bones, you go and retrieve everything, as that man said."
"The rest of you, go and cause a disturbance. Let these humans feel our anger. And... announce our existence!"
During the day in Tokyo's Ginza district, warm light streamed through the glass of a corner café, spreading across the exclusive window-side booth.
Gojo Satoru, who had been working non-stop for a month, exhausted by endless cursed spirits, teaching assignments, and those rotten oranges in the upper echelons, finally let go of the pressure at this moment. He collapsed onto the soft sofa, eating his favorite white peach daifuku and drinking freshly squeezed strawberry milk, enjoying his hard-earned vacation.
Just as he squinted, savoring the sweetness of the cream and strawberries, and even the cursed energy around him became lazy, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. The sharp ringtone shattered this rare comfort.
"Hey! I know. Something's happened at the school."
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