Chapter 252: The Second Tengen (Patreon)

Riko Amanai opened her eyes.

She found herself inside a massive underground cavity.

Her thoughts were a fog, and it took several seconds before her mind began to clear. Fighting through the sluggishness, she slowly pieced together her situation.

I've... been kidnapped?

Riko Amanai remembered now. Not long after the Cursed Spirit rain had begun, she'd been preparing to head out with the other Assistant Supervisors to support the Jujutsu Sorcerers, just like last time. She'd been brimming with confidence back then. She'd gained the power of a "Magical Girl," and she no longer thought of herself as the weak girl she used to be. That was exactly when Jujutsu High was invaded.

The Barrier had been shattered with ease.

The enemy had crushed and defeated the Jujutsu Sorcerers and Assistant Supervisors without even trying.

She'd fought back too, but she'd clearly been no match for him. The terrifying gap in strength was enough to drive anyone to despair. She remembered what he looked like...

"—!" A sound close behind her made the girl, still seated on the ground, whip around.

She saw a figure in a white robe, a pure white mask covering his face — yes, it was him! The one who had invaded Jujutsu High just a short while ago, the one with terrifying strength and an eerie Cursed Technique!

"..." Her heart raced with fear and tension. Riko Amanai gritted her teeth. "Who are you...? Why did you kidnap me?"

Now she had a chance to study his appearance more closely.

His mask was bizarre. A normal mask left two openings for the eyes, but his had a third one on the forehead. A third eye sat there, with a vertical pupil.

His build looked like that of a boy — he had to be quite young.

But how could someone so young be this strong?

Riko Amanai knew she wasn't qualified to judge people on the level of Satoru Gojo or Miwa Ran, but the oppressive presence radiating from the man in front of her felt far stronger than either of them.

How could a world hold so many monsters?

Just as tension gripped the girl, another voice sounded nearby.

"Damn you! Damn you! Who the hell are you?! Where did you even come from?!"

There was someone else here?

Startled, Riko Amanai turned and found a disheveled, grime-covered old woman beside her. The girl was simply sitting on the ground, while the old woman was bound hand and foot, now screaming curses at the top of her lungs.

Was this... another kidnapping victim?

The old woman was caked in mud, which made her look almost comical. But the girl suddenly found her strangely familiar.

Wait, she thought she remembered now — this old woman was...

"Ha ha, long time no see. Good to see you're still so full of energy." A phantom figure appeared out of nowhere before them, chuckling. "It seems your New Shadow Style disciples have stockpiled quite a bit of lifespan for you."

"Huh?" The old woman looked the phantom Kenjaku up and down, and when she noticed the stitching across the top of his head, her pupils contracted. "You... it's actually you?!"

When the masked man had attacked Jujutsu High, he hadn't taken only Riko Amanai — he'd also seized the old woman, head of the New Shadow Style, from the prison beneath the school.

Both of them had lived since a thousand years ago as Jujutsu Sorcerers — how could the old woman fail to recognize the man with stitches across his skull?

She was shocked, and fury followed close behind. "You bastard, what do you want with me?"

They'd known each other for a thousand years — of course she knew that whatever reason he'd dragged her out of Jujutsu High's prison for, it was nothing good. Not to mention the Star Plasma Vessel had been brought along too.

Damn it...

She kept cursing aloud, but sweat had already soaked through the back of her clothes.

Farther off, she spotted a muscular man with ox horns atop his head. The Cursed Energy radiating from him felt like a sun in the middle of exploding — how could something so terrifying even exist?

And then there was this white-masked man right in front of her.

She couldn't even sense the strength of his Cursed Energy, but instinct told her he was like a bottomless abyss — his threat level was probably no less than that of the ox-horned man!

In an instant, realization seemed to strike the old woman. "That system called the Culling Game — it's your doing! Isn't it!"

"Ha ha ha," the phantom Kenjaku laughed at that. "So you figured it out."

So it was true!

"I see," the old woman said, feeling everything click into place at once. "That blue existence — the one who's neither a Cursed Spirit nor human — is your enemy. She kidnapped Tengen to stop your plan. You're the one who actually wants to consume this world!"

The phantom Kenjaku clapped, laughing. "My, my. As expected of an old friend — you understand me so well..."

What...?

Listening to the exchange between the two of them, Riko Amanai's eyes went wide.

This person right in front of her, the one with the stitches on his head... he was behind the tides of Cursed Spirits?

And the Blue Existence's goal was to stop this mastermind's plan?

Was the Blue Existence... good?

But if that were really true... if the Blue Existence really was good... then didn't that make all of them — the Jujutsu Sorcerers who'd opposed her — the villains?

"Hey..."

Riko Amanai could hardly believe any of it. The truth had come too suddenly, and it was far too hard to accept.

She still remembered how Miwa Ran had died — the one who'd truly killed her hadn't been the assassin who struck her down, but the Blue Existence.

So you're saying... that Miwa Ran, who'd sacrificed herself, was actually the villain?

The phantom Kenjaku had no reason to lie.

Even though the girl was desperate to argue against it, she couldn't force out a single word in rebuttal.

"So what's your goal?" the old woman snarled, baring her teeth.

"Since Mahiru ruined my plan and saved your world, naturally I'll be taking back everything I lost." The phantom Kenjaku laughed, spreading his arms wide. "Tengen was taken from me, so I need a second Tengen."

"A second Tengen?!" The old woman's eyes trembled. "You don't mean..."

The phantom Kenjaku turned his head, smiling as he met Riko Amanai's eyes, sending an icy chill down the girl's spine. "Why don't I help you become the second Tengen — a god of the Jujutsu world? How does that sound?"

"There's no way you could pull that off!?" the old woman shrieked.

A deep rumble shook through the air—

The underground cavity trembled violently.

"Oh? This Cursed Energy signature... Satoru Gojo?" The phantom Kenjaku looked up, arching an eyebrow. "Found this place already? Not bad at all."

"I'll take care of him." The masked man, who hadn't spoken until now, finally broke his silence.

"No, let Dabura handle it." The phantom Kenjaku waved a hand. "The current Satoru Gojo is no match for you, but you have more important work to do."

"You must be senile..." The old woman was still gritting her teeth, repeating herself. "The Star Plasma Vessel and Tengen are two completely different things."

"Yes, I know. But it doesn't matter." The phantom Kenjaku answered the old woman. "Because we happen to have an omnipotent sorcerer on our side — you'll see for yourself very soon."