Chapter 80 (Patreon)

“Ghh…!”

Megumi Fushiguro was blown back by the cursed spirit and slammed onto the outer platform.

“Nue!”

He tried to summon his shikigami again, but before he could finish forming the sign, the cursed spirit was already moving.

At the same time, the two Divine Dogs he had summoned earlier dissolved into shadow and vanished.

Boom!

Yuji Itadori drove his fist into the cursed spirit and sent it flying back, then rushed to Megumi’s side.

Megumi stared at him, stunned.

What was with that ridiculous strength?

He was moving like Maki Zen’in.

“You okay?”

Megumi sat on the ground, his head lowered.

“…Didn’t I tell you to run?”

“Is this really the time for that?” Yuji shot back. “If I ran away now, I’d probably have nightmares about it.”

Then his expression grew serious.

“Besides… I’m already involved in this curse mess too.”

Yuji truly wanted to help him.

But an ordinary person was still an ordinary person.

No matter how strong he was, physical strength alone meant nothing against a cursed spirit.

Megumi gritted his teeth.

“A curse can only be exorcised with cursed energy.”

Yuji, lying on the ground like a corpse, raised a trembling hand.

“Could’ve told me that part a little sooner…”

“I told you to leave more than once.”

Megumi forced himself back onto his feet.

“Take them and get out while you can. I’ll hold it here.”

He narrowed his eyes at the cursed spirit.

“Someone without cursed energy staying here won’t change anything.”

Yuji hunched forward, catching his breath.

“Hey… why does that curse want this finger so badly?”

Megumi answered without hesitation.

“Obviously, to gain stronger cursed energy.”

Yuji pulled the finger from his pocket.

“Then doesn’t that mean there’s a way to fix this?”

“Huh?”

Megumi froze.

Yuji held up the finger and looked at it.

“If I get cursed energy too… then I can fight it, right?”

“Right?”

Boom!

Before Megumi could answer, a golden flash cut through the air.

The dazzling light forced both of them to narrow their eyes.

A Noble Phantasm pierced straight through the cursed spirit, pinning it in place before erasing its presence completely.

The cursed spirit was dead.

No question about it.

Megumi finally let out a breath.

“This is… Ragnar-sensei’s Noble Phantasm?”

He had no idea where the attack had come from, but at least the cursed spirit had been exorcised.

“You okay?”

Yuji blinked.

“I’m… I’m fine. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

Yuji pointed at his stomach.

“When that light came flying in, I got so scared that I accidentally swallowed the finger.”

Megumi’s expression changed instantly.

“You idiot! What the hell did you do?!”

“I couldn’t help it! I panicked, it slipped into my mouth, and I swallowed!”

That was a special grade cursed object.

A deadly poison.

Megumi’s face went pale.

It’s over.

He’s going to die.

But while Megumi stood there stunned, Yuji’s body began to change.

A second pair of eyes opened beneath his own.

Black markings crawled over his skin.

His nails sharpened into dark claws.

“Haha…”

A low laugh escaped Yuji’s mouth.

Then Sukuna opened his eyes wide and grinned.

“As I thought… light feels best in the flesh!”

Megumi clenched his teeth.

This is bad.

Damn it… Ragnar-sensei, if you’re nearby, then show yourself already.

Can’t you see someone just got possessed by a Special Grade?

Sukuna glanced at the remains of the cursed spirit and clicked his tongue in contempt.

“A cursed spirit’s body is dull.”

His grin widened.

“Where are the humans?”

“Where are the women?”

He slowly sensed the surroundings.

“This era isn’t bad.”

“Women and children crawling everywhere… like maggots.”

Sukuna spread his arms wide.

“Wonderful.”

His smile turned vicious.

“A massacre.”

Then, suddenly—

Yuji forced his way back.

“Huh?”

His face twisted, half his expression still belonging to Sukuna.

“What are you trying to do with my body? Give it back.”

Sukuna, still holding control over part of him, narrowed his eyes.

“How are you moving?”

Yuji frowned.

“Huh? It’s my body, isn’t it?”

For the first time, Sukuna looked genuinely surprised.

He had been suppressed.

Megumi immediately formed the hand sign for the Ten Shadows Technique.

“Don’t move!”

Yuji turned toward him in confusion.

Megumi’s voice was tense.

“You’re no longer human.”

Yuji froze.

“According to jujutsu regulations, Yuji Itadori is now classified as a curse…”

Megumi’s eyes sharpened.

“And must be exorcised.”

Yuji quickly raised both hands.

“Wait, wait! I’m completely fine!”

But Megumi could no longer tell whether the one speaking was Yuji Itadori…

Or the Special Grade Curse inside him.

At that moment, golden radiance spread across the dark sky.

Megumi and Yuji both squinted and looked up.

“What now…?”

Above them, a golden flying craft hovered in the air.

A Vimana.

Megumi’s eyes widened.

“Ragnar-sensei?! Why are you here?! And what is that thing?!”

Ragnar Kagenou sat calmly atop the golden Vimana, looking as if he had only stopped by on his way home.

“Just passing through,” Ragnar said lightly. “I was accompanying someone for shopping.”

Yuji stared up at him in awe.

“Whoa! An SUV! I knew stuff like that existed in this world!”

Megumi looked at him with dead eyes.

“That’s a UFO.”

Ragnar stepped down from the Vimana and landed beside Megumi.

“I heard you were retrieving a special grade cursed object. So, what’s the situation?”

At the words “cursed object,” Yuji raised his hand.

“Um… sorry. I ate it.”

Ragnar looked him up and down.

“Really?”

“Really.”

Ragnar nodded thoughtfully.

“How was it?”

Yuji hesitated.

“I… don’t really know. I swallowed it too fast.”

“I see. That’s a shame.”

A moment later, Satoru Gojo appeared beside Megumi without warning.

“Yo.”

“Don’t just appear next to me like that!” Megumi snapped. “That’s creepy!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Gojo waved it off with a smile. “I came to see the kid who ate the special grade cursed object.”

A vein nearly appeared on Megumi’s forehead.

“How did you even know?”

Gojo chuckled and walked toward Yuji.

“Any problems with your body?”

Yuji shook his head.

“No.”

Gojo turned toward Ragnar.

“Mind if I warm up a little?”

Ragnar answered calmly.

“Go ahead.”

Gojo rolled his shoulders, then looked back at Yuji.

“You can switch with Sukuna, right?”

“Sukuna?”

“The curse you ate.”

Yuji thought for a moment.

“I think… I can.”

Gojo stretched lazily.

“Then let’s make it ten seconds. Switch back after ten.”

He smiled.

“It’ll be fine.”

His voice was casual, almost careless.

“After all, I’m the strongest.”

The strongest.

That was never a reassuring thing to say.

At that moment, Gojo looked exactly like an old general standing on a stage, covered from head to toe in death flags.

The last guy who said something like that was still drifting somewhere in space.

Gojo tossed a small box to Megumi.

Megumi caught it by reflex.

“What’s this?”

“Kikufuku.”

Ragnar watched quietly from the side.

He also wanted to see it.

Just how much power did Sukuna possess with only one finger?

How strong was the King of Curses from a thousand years ago—the monster who had crushed an entire era with his own hands?