Chapter 31 (Patreon)

The rain and mist hanging over the city had finally begun to clear.

In the square, only Ragnar Kagenou and Yuki Tsukumo remained alive.

“So heavy...”

With Yuki Tsukumo unconscious, Ragnar carried her back to the hotel.

After the Rain Spirit incident, the city’s population had dropped drastically. During that day’s rain and mist, many people had been killed by the Cursed Spirits assimilated by the Rain Spirit.

Not long after Ragnar left with Yuki, countless police cars, military vehicles, and medical teams flooded into the city. In barely any time at all, the entire area was overflowing with emergency responders.

“Logically speaking, there’s no way the only thing that exists is the Prison Realm: Back in my hand...”

Ragnar turned the small silver cube over in his fingers.

It looked harmless enough. No one would have guessed that, only a short while ago, it had been a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

“Forget it. I’ll ask Yuki after she wakes up.”

He casually set the Prison Realm: Back on the table, then sat down on the sofa and glanced at the status window in the upper-left corner of his vision.

Name: 【Ragnar Kagenou】

HP: 820 / 1000

Cursed Energy: 2140 / 3540

Stamina: 440 / 500

Ragnar swiped a finger downward through the air and opened the system interface he had not checked in quite some time.

Friends: 【Amanai Riko】 【Gojo Satoru】 【Geto Suguru】 【Ieiri Shoko】 【Okkotsu Yuta】 【Orimoto Rika】

Map: 【Kyiv, Ukraine】

Noble Phantasms: 【Gate of Babylon】 (Triple Seal)

【Enkidu, the Chains of Heaven】 【A++】 【True Name Release: 800 Cursed Energy】

【Gáe Bolg】 【B】 【True Name Release: 300 Cursed Energy】

【Gáe Dearg】 【B】

【Caliburn】 【B】

【Aestus Domus Aurea】 【B】

【Rule Breaker】 【C】 【True Name Release: 100 Cursed Energy】

【Banji Himei】 【C】

...

A little while later, the unconscious Yuki Tsukumo finally came to.

“Is this... over?”

“Yeah. The Cursed Spirit has been exorcised, and we’re in an international hotel right now.”

Yuki sat up and shook her head, still looking a little dizzy.

“Right! Someone took the Cursed Tool that the Cursed Spirit turned into!”

Ragnar raised the silver cube in his hand.

“You mean a Cursed Tool exactly like this?”

Yuki’s eyes immediately landed on the Prison Realm: Back in Ragnar’s hand, and she nodded.

“Ragnar, did you get that Cursed Tool back?”

“If I’m not mistaken, you also killed a Cursed Spirit, and then it turned into this cube too, right?”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”

“That’s the problem.” Ragnar looked at her calmly. “I also killed a Cursed Spirit, and this is the Cursed Tool she turned into.”

Yuki froze for a moment.

“...In other words, there were two Cursed Spirits. So after they were killed, there should’ve been two Cursed Tools.”

“Exactly.” Ragnar nodded. “Yuki, do you remember who took the other one?”

Yuki frowned and tried to recall it.

“I only remember it vaguely. It was a woman with short hair. Her build looked pretty young, but her face was too blurry to make out clearly...”

She paused for a second, then added:

“But she had a scar on her forehead that looked like stitches.”

“I see...” Ragnar murmured. “Well, it’s not that big a problem. If the other party is part of the jujutsu world, this Cursed Tool will come to light eventually.”

“And they can’t have gotten far. If they want to leave this city quickly, the only real option is by car.”

Yuki let out a sigh.

“That’s true. But this time, it was my mistake that let the Cursed Tool get taken.”

The two talked for a while longer before Yuki headed into the bathroom to wash up.

After hearing her description of the short-haired woman, Ragnar had already figured out who had taken the Prison Realm.

“Kenjaku... I’ve been searching for you for so long, and all this time, you were right next to me.”

At the moment, Kenjaku was inhabiting Itadori Kaori’s body and had also obtained the sealing-type Cursed Tool, the Prison Realm.

Just then, Yuki cracked the bathroom door open and shouted from inside:

“Ragnar! There’s no bath towel in here, bring me one!”

“Tch, what a pain.”

“What did you say!?”

“Nothing.”

Ragnar grabbed a bath towel and tossed it into the bathroom.

“Hurry up and finish. We might still be able to catch the person who took the Cursed Tool.”

“Huh? We’re going after them?”

Ragnar looked at her like she had said something absurd.

“That’s a stupid question. You want me to just let them walk off with it?”

“Besides, there are barely any survivors left in this city. The fastest way out is by car.”

“Then why didn’t you say that earlier!?” Yuki shouted back in frustration.

“...”

Ragnar opened his mouth slightly, but in the end, decided not to say anything.

When Yuki finally came out after washing up, she was wrapped in a bath towel, casually shaking out her smooth blonde hair.

“Well? Impressed?”

“Put your clothes on. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Ragnar pointed at the clothes laid out on the bed, then turned and walked straight out of the room.

“Honestly...”

Downstairs, Ragnar had somehow already gotten his hands on an SRT muscle car.

He had also removed the Noble Phantasm resting on his head—Spectator: Omnipotent Observer. With that Noble Phantasm, Ragnar could pinpoint Kenjaku’s exact location.

Standing in front of the powerful muscle car, he waved at Yuki and called out:

“You ready? Then get in already.”

Yuki quickly walked over, her hand brushing across the body of the car. Her eyes were full of surprise and curiosity.

She couldn’t help blurting out:

“Whoa, it’s actually a Dodge Challenger! Where did you even get something like this?”

The corners of Ragnar’s mouth lifted slightly, but he didn’t answer. He only motioned for her to get in.

The engine roared to life, and the signature thunder of the Dodge Challenger rose into the air.

Not long after, Yuki—now sitting inside the car—couldn’t hold back her excitement anymore.

She turned toward Ragnar in the driver’s seat and put on a pitiful expression.

“Please, Ragnar, let me drive too!”

Faced with her relentless pestering, Ragnar couldn’t hold out for long. In the end, he let out a helpless sigh, got out of the car, and gave up the driver’s seat.

The instant she sat down behind the wheel, Yuki’s face lit up with excitement.

Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she savored the raw power of the Dodge Challenger.

Compared to the motorcycle she usually rode, this Dodge Challenger was clearly far more intense—far more thrilling.

But Ragnar, now sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly looked a little uneasy.

As he fastened his seatbelt, he warned her in a tense voice:

“You need to drive slower. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

But Yuki, completely immersed in the joy of driving, clearly wasn’t listening at all.

She answered at the top of her lungs:

“How am I supposed to drive slowly? If I do, we’ll never catch the target!”

The next second, she slammed the accelerator all the way down.

The car shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, leaving behind only the sharp howl of its engine echoing through the air...

Noble Phantasm: Spectator: Omnipotent Observer

Rank: B

Classification: Anti-Unit (Self) Noble Phantasm

Description:

A Teigu once wielded by Zank the Executioner from Akame ga Kill!.

It possesses five abilities: Insight, Clairvoyance, Perspective, Precognition, and Illusion.

Respectively, those abilities allow the user to read the human heart, observe distant objects, see through visual obstructions, glimpse the future, and cast illusions.