No matter what, he had to kill Mahito.
It had nothing to do with morality, profit, or even fear.
It was a mission, a sacred mission urging him to kill Mahito, even at the cost of his own life.
He imagined a future where Mahito did not exist, hoping to find some solace, but there was none.
The boundless fear did not leave him; instead, it grew deeper.
Precisely because Kokichi possessed an excellent brain, he could calculate that lightless future at the fastest speed.
Even if he really killed Mahito, only despair would remain in the future.
Why?
Because Mahito was not unique.
Besides Mahito, Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon were also intelligent Cursed Spirits.
They could play the same role as Mahito.
In fact, if it was true that Mahito had only been born less than two months ago, it proved that Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon were born earlier than him.
Before Mahito, intelligent Cursed Spirits had already been born, and after them, there would only be more and more.
As long as Cursed Spirits do not fundamentally disappear, they will sooner or later form a race sufficient to impact human society.
Finally, just as modern humans replaced earlier humans, Cursed Spirits will replace humans as the new masters of this planet.
—Unsolvable.
"What exactly do you want to do, King of Curses!?"
Kokichi's voice trembled, and in his panic, he couldn't help but shout.
"The question-and-answer session isn't over yet, Kokichi-san," Mahito said nonchalantly.
"It's my turn to ask a question."
"Even now, you're actually going to continue?"
Kokichi asked back, trembling.
"Why not?"
Mahito asked.
"Are you going to violate the Binding Vow?"
"I—!"
"Kokichi! The Binding Vow is absolute; think clearly before you speak," Kinji Hakari suddenly said coldly from the side.
Kokichi felt as if he had been struck heavily on the head and fell into a daze.
That was right.
In his emotional agitation just now, he had wanted to disregard everything.
He had been thinking that no matter what, even if it cost him his life, he had to tell Gojo Satoru the information here so that Gojo Satoru could prepare for a war between species.
But he couldn't do it.
He couldn't do it even if it cost him his life.
Because of the Binding Vow.
Unlike a Binding Vow with oneself, if it was a Binding Vow with others, one wouldn't know what kind of price the heavens would exact as backlash for violating it.
If Kokichi violated the Binding Vow now, he might die the very moment he tried to pass on the message.
Even if the message was sent out at the cost of his death, it might be distorted during transmission, or perhaps even if the message was sent correctly, it would end up being intercepted.
All sorts of possibilities for violating the Binding Vow echoed in Kokichi's mind, and he eventually fell silent.
He hadn't expected that the Binding Vow, originally meant to protect himself, would become the chains that bound his hands and feet at a critical moment.
Kenjaku glanced at Kinji Hakari, shrugged his shoulders, and sighed.
"It seems this question-and-answer session is about to end."
"Perhaps we can talk again next time?"
"I still have one last question, if I may, Kokichi-san?"
Mahito asked.
Kokichi remained silent for a long while, giving no response.
Mahito didn't mind and asked casually,
"Kokichi-san, are you interested in becoming a 'new human'?"
"New human?"
Kokichi asked.
"Kokichi-san, what do you think is the biggest difference between Cursed Spirits and humans?"
Mahito said slowly.
"I just listed the ways Cursed Spirits are superior to humans, proving in every aspect that Cursed Spirits have the ability to rule this planet as a higher existence."
"But that is only potential."
"Humans have a threshold that Cursed Spirits, at this stage, cannot cross no matter what."
"My question is, do you know what that threshold is?"
"What is it?"
Kokichi asked subconsciously.
He didn't realize that while the session had indeed started as a mutual exchange of information where both sides gave and took, at this moment, Kokichi was being completely led by the nose by Mahito and had lost his capacity for independent thought.
No matter how much of a genius the teenage Kokichi was, at this moment, he exposed the most fatal flaw in his dialogue with others.
He wasn't composed enough.
He had experienced too little, such that as long as a sufficiently shocking topic was thrown out, he would surely be at a loss—just like now.
He had completely lost the initiative in the conversation and had been reduced to a puppet in this exchange.
"It's the physical body," Mahito said, looking at the metal disc, his voice sounding like a divine oracle.
"Do Cursed Energy organisms need a physical body?"
"That should be a burden, shouldn't it?"
Kokichi said.
"No, the physical body is very important, far more important than you can imagine," Mahito answered seriously.
"Because only a physical body can contain positive energy."
"If a Cursed Spirit wants to become a complete organism, it must have positive energy."
"This is a talent of humans; Cursed Spirits cannot produce positive energy on their own."
They indeed could not.
The original work had proven many times that positive energy was the bane of Cursed Spirits.
Forget producing it—just touching it would kill a Cursed Spirit.
"I... I don't quite understand."
Kokichi admitted that this was already a topic he couldn't keep up with.
If he hadn't been able to confirm that the being before him was a Cursed Spirit, he would have thought he was conversing with some great academic master of the jujutsu world.
"Have you noticed that the more powerful a Jujutsu Sorcerer is, the more problems they have with their head?"
Mahito asked.
"No!"
Kokichi wanted to say that categorically, but he couldn't speak.
Thinking carefully, it seemed that was indeed the case.
It seemed that all the powerful sorcerers he knew had more or less something wrong with their heads.
Though it sounded harsh, the truth was that if they didn't actually possess supernatural power like Cursed Energy, all Jujutsu Sorcerers, including himself, should be in a mental hospital.
"The first lesson in learning to use Cursed Energy will tell you that Cursed Energy is produced from the negative emotions deep within your heart—anger, sadness, fear, pain, despair."
"These overflowing negative emotions, processed by a sorcerer's body, become the power known as Cursed Energy and continuously provide you with true supernatural abilities."
"This is the most basic chapter of Cursed Energy, called Cursed Energy control."
Mahito lightly tapped the table with his finger and continued:
"One of the prices of using Cursed Energy is that one must maintain a minimum level of negative emotion at all times, otherwise the Cursed Energy will dissipate."
"Therefore, for a Jujutsu Sorcerer, being accompanied by negative emotions is a very normal thing."
"If one can control it, then they are a Jujutsu Sorcerer."
"If they cannot control it, they become a Curse User."
"Curse Users take pleasure in spreading despair."
"This isn't because they are born killers—though that doesn't exclude such people—but because to obtain powerful strength, Cursed Energy will drive them to do so."
Mahito's finger suddenly stopped, and he said with absolute certainty,
"Cursed Energy will lead a Jujutsu Sorcerer into extremes."
"No matter what aspect it is, an extreme is an extreme."
"Extreme justice, extreme conservatism, extreme radicalism, extreme hobbies, extreme evil, extreme slaughter, extreme destruction, or extreme belief."
"Any Jujutsu Sorcerer with powerful Cursed Energy must possess such an extreme, without exception..."
"Let me repeat, without ex-ce-pt-ion."
Kokichi continued to remain silent; he could not refute it.
Even the Jujutsu Sorcerers present here—
Kenjaku, Kinji Hakari, Kirara Hoshi, and even himself—
were all like this.
Expanding further, all the Jujutsu Sorcerers he knew, including Gojo Satoru, were also like this.
It wasn't a matter of more or less; they all had extreme emotions, just as Mahito had said—
without exception.
"Theoretically, since all Jujutsu Sorcerers possess extreme emotions, they should have lost all reason long ago and let their moods run wild—but they haven't. Why?"
Mahito asked.
Before Kokichi could answer, Mahito answered it himself.
"Because of the physical body."
"The physical body can produce positive energy, which is the opposite of negative energy."
"This positive energy can effectively neutralize negative energy, allowing most Jujutsu Sorcerers to be pulled back before they lose control, enabling them to use reason to control their instincts, maintain the order of human society, and even become guardians of that order."
Mahito suddenly clenched his fist and held it before his eyes.
He stared at his fist as if staring at destiny.
"But Cursed Spirits have no physical bodies."
"So, when a Cursed Spirit goes to an extreme, there is no possibility of being pulled back."
"Cursed Spirits are products of natural extremes!"
"From birth, they are covered by extreme emotions, with no possibility of escape."
"Cursed Spirits can only immerse themselves in negative emotions and cannot extricate themselves."
"Therefore, except for us who have received an excess of Cursed Energy, it is almost impossible to produce an intelligent Cursed Spirit."
"Even if I personally perform the modification, ordinary Cursed Spirits still cannot suppress their instinct to harm humans."
"No, even we intelligent Cursed Spirits still cannot suppress it."
"The reason we can suppress it now is simply because we are waiting for a larger-scale disaster."
"As a simple curse, that would be enough."
"But I don't want to be a simple curse."
"Because of boredom, because of shame, because of disgust."
"To have finally gained intelligence and reason, only to use it to expand an even deeper layer of curses?"
"What's the difference between that and a savage who finally learned to make tools but still tries every possible way to hunt even more powerful creatures?"
"A savage is not a human; that is just a higher-level monkey!"
"I absolutely will not be a monkey."
"I want to become human."
"I will not be dominated by any extreme emotions, nor will I lose my Cursed Energy—"
"—a 'new human.'"
Kokichi was stunned.
This was the second time he had been stunned.
The first time was because the King of Curses personally said that Cursed Spirits were non-recyclable trash, and he was shocked by the sheer incredulity of it.
The second time was now—
he was actually being drawn in by the King of Curses, who possessed such a lofty ideal.
Mahito loosened his hand and smiled again.
"Kokichi, come help me."
"I will become the shared god of Cursed Spirits and humans."
"I will create a world where humans and Cursed Spirits coexist."
"I will make you a true... 'new human.'"
Kokichi's mind was a complete blank.
Suddenly, he thought of the reason why he had wanted to be a spy for the Cursed Spirits.
If it were Mahito, his Heavenly Restriction could surely be easily solved, right?
He also thought of his vision of truly meeting his companions face-to-face.
If it were Mahito, that could also be easily realized, right?
No, this shouldn't be a question; it should be an affirmation.
If it was Mahito, he definitely could.
And so, as if possessed—no, perhaps this was simply the voice in his own heart, but in his current state of mental blankness, he spoke it subconsciously.
He asked,
"Can my companions also become new humans?"
Done.
Mahito let out a chuckle and nodded in agreement.
"Of course," he said. "If that is your request."
Clap.
Kenjaku clapped his hands.
"The Q&A is over. The Binding Vow is released."
He said with a beaming smile,
"It seems both parties are satisfied; only this can be considered a true Binding Vow."
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 100 powerstones