In the dusty, blood-tinted streets in front of the hotel, Midas stood opening and closing his right hand slowly, feeling the familiar cursed energy pulsing just beneath his skin. It was there, strong as ever, but locked behind an invisible padlock. He held the key, yet the hole remained sealed by his own Binding Vow. He knew that with one or two well-placed Black Flashes he could theoretically bypass it, but the risk was high.
Beside him stood Mel, the resurrected Exorcist now turned into something new. Her long gray hair flowed down her back, large dark wings folded neatly, and her skin shifted between ashen gray and the pale stitched tone that matched Midas's own. She wore simple casual clothes — a black tank top and shorts — and tested small bursts of her new cursed energy. Hers glowed a unique yellow mixed with deep purple, while Midas's remained a violent pink-red with hints of violet.
"Welcome to the Happy Hotel and— why the fuck is the sign Hazbin Hotel now?" Midas said with a completely neutral face, one eyebrow raised. Wasn't the name change supposed to happen years from now?
"You're not very… specific with names," Mel replied calmly, still focusing on the flow of her cursed energy.
Midas didn't answer. He suddenly turned toward the hotel and shouted, "No… DEE DEE, MARKY, JOEY! GET IN THERE AND SEE IF YOU FIND A RED DEER BASTARD!"
The three tiny cockroaches immediately scurried into the pipes. A few minutes later they returned, clearly traumatized and spaced out.
"Yeah, he's here," Midas muttered. He filled his hand with cursed energy and pushed open the doors.
The interior had changed slightly. The layout was different, there was no Angel Dust yet, but a small bar already existed and a chaotic little gremlin was causing trouble behind the counter.
"Hello! I'm the host of this last-minute science project!" a cheerful voice said from behind Midas.
He spun and threw a punch on instinct, but only hit empty air.
"Charlie, what the fuck is this Disney-rejected Bambi doing here!?" Midas growled with clear hatred.
A violent burst of static exploded beside him. Alastor simply flipped him off with a wide grin.
Vaggie tried to speak, "Hey cabrón, watch how you—"
"Vaggie?" Mel said softly, recognizing her old comrade.
Midas ignored them. "A good help? This asshole is only here for two reasons. One, he's actually interested. Two, someone who has him on a leash sent him here and—"
The entire room fell deathly silent. Husk just raised his bottle in a silent farewell to Midas.
"Excuse me… What did you just say?" Alastor asked, his head turning 360 degrees with a sickening crack.
"Oh? The lapdog got angry?" Midas stepped forward until they were face to face.
"Take back what you said, you little shit—"
"What? Your owner didn't fill your ego enough today? I know exactly how you showed up here with your dick all the way down—" Midas let Mahito's sadistic nature bleed through completely. "After all, a hot dog barks… but has no teeth!"
He threw a reinforced cursed energy punch straight into Alastor's stomach. The Radio Demon used his own power to soften the blow but was still sent flying several meters, a visible dent imprinted on his midsection.
"Everyone please stop fighting—" Charlie tried, but her voice was suddenly cut off as Midas's face grotesquely stretched and deformed until it was inches from hers.
"When this is all over, consider me out of your last-minute science project," the distorted face said before snapping back. Suddenly there were two Midas in the room, flanking everyone.
"I'm going to enjoy tearing your soul apart~" Alastor laughed, shadows rising as he prepared for battle.
---
The hotel exploded outward moments later. Alastor flew through the air with both arms crossed in defense as the real Midas chased him, overflowing with raw cursed energy.
Alastor summoned his shadow minions to deal with the copy of Midas, who fought them wildly, tearing through the little gremlins with transfigured blades and fists.
"You say alliances are for the weak, yet you did the exact same thing with HER!" Midas roared, transfiguring his right hand into a spiked club and smashing it into Alastor.
A small cracking sound was heard.
"You know too much, don't you?" Alastor said, a tentacle shooting out to slice Midas in half. It only cut empty clothes — Midas had already turned his body into a long worm, slithering up the tentacle before reforming and slashing with a blade-shaped hand.
Alastor's head twisted downward at an unnatural angle to avoid the cut, then bit down hard on Midas's shoulder. Midas immediately turned the bitten flesh into growing spikes, forcing Alastor to retreat with red stains now on his yellow teeth.
"This… is really good… Was this what you were talking about, Ryu? It's a familiar feeling… Leaving my old clay studio after a full day of work and inspiration, with a pudding waiting for me," Midas thought, adrenaline flooding his veins, blood hot, the thrill of possible death if he slipped up making everything sharper.
"Binding Vow…" he whispered internally, leaving the exact terms blank for now.
"Time to die!" Alastor shouted, slashing with claws.
For a split second, Midas completely abandoned all defensive cursed energy reinforcement and charged straight into the attack.
Pow!
Alastor's claws sank deep into Midas's stomach. At the same time, Midas's fist, burning with cursed energy, smashed into Alastor's face.
Both staggered back. Midas deliberately chose not to heal the wound, letting the pain and blood flow freely to feed the adrenaline and inspiration.
---
Inside the VVV tower, Vox was literally drooling, screen glitching with excitement.
"VOX! VELVETTE COME HERE QUICK, I'M HARD AS FUCK WATCHING ALASTOR GET HIS ASS BEAT!" he screamed, cameras locked onto Midas as the boy began transfiguring his body for better combat efficiency.
---
"I'll tell you the truth," Midas said, voice low and almost dreamy. "When I was alive, I loved my art… but I loved it even more when I finished and could eat a nice dessert afterwards."
He transfigured his white hair to flow like Ryu's jacket, giving Alastor a look of pure sentimental hunger. For a moment, he didn't see a fraud — he saw a delicious, massive banquet of inspiration.
"And that's what I am? A dessert?" Alastor sneered, using voodoo magic to transfer the damage to one of his contracted souls.
"I'll just say… Please… don't leave me hungry…" Midas replied, eyes melting with ravenous desire as he pointed a finger at Alastor.
A sweet, calm voice whispered only to Alastor: {Grant the young man's wish and I'll give you a small boost…}
*Play Jane Juliet*
Alastor's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in anger. His power began to increase gradually. Midas, however, had already permanently sacrificed half of his cursed energy reserves.
Fwoooon…
One of Midas's eyes hollowed out through transfiguration. The flesh around the eyelid reshaped into a four-pointed hatch. A sickly purple energy orb began charging inside.
He had just developed a new technique from his original soul — Granite Cannon.
Pow! Pow! Pow!
Three rapid shots fired. Alastor knew they were lethal and didn't dare test them, leaping behind a billboard for cover.
"Shit, Rosie…" Alastor muttered, hand on his neck, only to be slammed against the sign by another blast. He melted into shadows and advanced aggressively.
"Let's take a little walk," Midas said, feeling the vow's price growing heavier. His reserves were already cut in half, yet still massive.
He walked backward into a narrow alley while Alastor advanced.
"HERE'S YOUR SHOW!" Midas roared.
The hatches in his eye opened wide, firing at maximum output. The beams turned a brilliant red — raw cursed energy discharge, counted as an external cursed technique. Each shot carried enormous cost, but the more the fight fed his hunger for inspiration, the more the vow rewarded him. This Binding Vow was built on Mahito's soul epiphany and Ryu's dessert craving. In a fight where Midas felt real inspiration, he had to abandon defensive reinforcement and rely only on his body's natural durability. At first his techniques cost double, but the longer the battle went, the more his cursed energy efficiency and control skyrocketed, approaching Satoru Gojo levels, with nearly zero cost.
"What an insistent boy…" Alastor muttered from behind a door, a burn on his side. He transferred the damage again.
"He fires raw energy from his power… a contract… He manipulated his own body mass to handle the raw output and those eye hatches increase accuracy," Alastor analyzed while watching Midas use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the burns from constant Granite Cannon use.
"Fuck… The fight is so good, but it would be ten million percent better if I landed a Kokusen…" Midas muttered, so deep in the zone he didn't even notice he had used reverse technique.
He flooded his body with cursed energy focused purely on physical strength and charged straight at Alastor.
"Hey demon… How about we hold hands for luck…" Midas said, throwing a heavy punch.
*Play aizo forma now*
Alastor dodged and slashed three deep cuts across Midas's face, aiming for the neck. The cuts were brutal but didn't decapitate him.
"Take this!" Midas roared, kicking upward and forcing Alastor back. Blood covered his face, his eyes turning pure white for a rare moment of perfect sync with Mahito's soul, drunk on inspiration.
Alastor gigantified and smashed a massive blow into Midas's head. It looked like the end.
00:00:00!
The two-hour restriction on using his full Idle Transfiguration finally ended.
With the technique fully active, Midas subtly used Mahito's knowledge to wrap his body in a miniature Domain barrier, creating an explosive increase in offensive power.
POW!
A devastating knee strike slammed into Alastor, delivering real soul-level damage.
"What the hell? Where did he get this explosive power from!?" Alastor thought in panic, counterattacking. Midas didn't defend — he simply vomited blood and smiled wider.
"Love and hate with fervor!" Midas screamed, striking again. For a brief moment Alastor understood exactly how Midas's soul-touching technique worked.
Both of them began beating each other savagely. The ground turned red with blood. Neither cared who was watching. They only wanted to prove who was stronger.
With every blow, Midas's mind created new abstract artworks, each more beautiful and twisted than the last.
"This… is my inspiration…" Midas affirmed, the world dyed red through the blood in his eyes. He was limiting himself to the maximum. The Domain barrier cost was now almost nothing — if he had to guess, 0.75%.
[Come on… One last effort… THE GREATEST WORK OF JUJUTSU!!] Mahito screamed inside their shared soul, delighted even as damage reached him. The pain finally transferred fully to Midas, but both were drowning in ecstatic inspiration.
Midas exhaled. His fist glowed intense purple, then shifted into a wild, rough red.
Alastor felt the imminent danger of that punch.
Nanami once said landing a Kokusen wasn't what made you special — it was luck. His record was four in a row. Mahito's was three consecutive.
The Kokusen was a cursed energy amplification phenomenon occurring when a physical strike was delivered a millionth of a second after impact.
And in that moment… Midas entered the zone.
"KOKUSEN!!" he roared at the top of his lungs.
The sky book flashed intense red. A demon had been born — an extremely rare one, something that would be explained later.
Alastor was sent flying like a broken ragdoll, destroying everything in his path.
Midas stood there, breathing heavily, eyes half-lidded in pure satisfaction.
"I'm… satisfied… Tze…"
End.
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Explanation of the Binding Vow:
Restrictions
Initial Starvation: At the beginning of the fight, cursed energy efficiency is reduced by 50%. Midas spends far more energy on basic techniques, as if truly "hungry."
Soul Exposure: To progress the vow, Midas cannot use full defensive reinforcement. He must allow the "inspiration" of combat (enemy blows and pressure) to slightly alter his energy flow, leaving his form vulnerable.
The Reward (The Dessert)
Transcendent Efficiency: As the fight continues and he absorbs the "flavor" of battle, efficiency increases exponentially.
Saturation Point: When Midas reaches the peak (the "dessert"), the cost of his techniques drops to almost zero.
Result: Midas can fire massive blasts (Ryu style) with Mahito's fluidity and adaptability without exhausting himself, because his soul and cursed energy enter perfect harmony through the pain and joy of battle.
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Midas author: just this once for you guys be Full... Ok? *Make this goddamm cap*