Chapter 91 (Patreon)

Kento Nanami followed the trail of transfigured humans Mahito had left behind, descending deeper into the underground passage.

Bodies lay scattered at his feet.

At a glance, they looked like Cursed Spirits.

But Nanami knew better.

They had been human.

His expression did not change, but the hand around his blunt blade tightened slightly.

“No matter how monstrous they look... killing them still feels disgusting.”

A light, careless voice drifted from the far end of the sewer.

“Good.”

Mahito stepped out from the darkness, a faint smile playing on his face.

“If a Special Grade had shown up, this might have gotten annoying. But if someone too weak came, it wouldn’t even make a proper experiment.”

Nanami silently rolled up his sleeves.

“I despise overtime.”

His gaze settled on Mahito.

“So let’s finish this quickly.”

Nanami moved first.

Ratio Technique: Collapse.

Mahito raised his arm to block, but the moment Nanami’s blade struck, his arm was forcibly torn apart.

His eyes widened.

“Huh?”

Nanami had divided the length of Mahito’s arm and forcibly created a weak point at the seven-to-three ratio.

No matter how tough the target was, once that marked point was struck, the blow became a critical hit.

But even though Nanami could damage Mahito, that did not mean he had the advantage.

Mahito’s Cursed Technique, Idle Transfiguration, reshaped the souls of humans and turned their bodies into grotesque weapons.

Every attack he sent toward Nanami carried something unbearable within it.

A voice.

A cry.

A desperate plea for help.

Nanami’s hand hesitated for the briefest moment.

Mahito did not miss it.

His palm brushed against Nanami.

The instant that touch landed, Nanami felt something crawl through him.

A cold, repulsive sensation spread beneath his skin.

He immediately kicked off the ground and retreated.

If he had not instinctively protected the shape of his soul with Cursed Energy just now...

He would already have become one of Mahito’s twisted toys.

Mahito laughed, delighted.

“Let me touch you a few more times.”

His smile widened.

“I’ll make you quit being human.”

Bang!

Before Mahito could finish enjoying his own words, a fist slammed straight into his face.

His head snapped back.

Teeth and blood scattered through the air as his body was sent flying.

A figure landed between him and Nanami.

“You’re Special Grade, right?”

The girl’s voice was calm, almost casual.

“Then I should be enough.”

Nanami narrowed his eyes slightly.

“You are...”

“Rika Orimoto.”

Her gaze remained fixed on Mahito.

“Leave this to me.”

Nanami glanced down at his watch.

Exactly six o’clock.

Technically, his shift was over.

“I can stay for overtime.”

“No need.”

Rika stretched her shoulders, then gathered her hair and tied it into a high ponytail.

“A Special Grade should be dealt with by a Special Grade.”

Nanami paused for a moment, then stepped back.

“Fair enough.”

He ceded the battlefield to her.

But he did not leave.

He remained nearby, ready to intervene the moment it became necessary.

Mahito’s face had been crushed beyond recognition, but his body slowly restored itself.

As long as his soul was intact, Idle Transfiguration could reshape his flesh as many times as he needed.

His broken jaw clicked back into place.

“A Special Grade I’ve never heard of.”

Then his eyes sharpened with interest.

“Wait... Rika Orimoto?”

His grin returned.

“The Queen of Curses?”

Rika lowered her stance.

“You know quite a lot for a curse.”

“Most Cursed Spirits feel it when they face you,” Mahito said, studying her with open curiosity. “That pressure. That difference in rank.”

He tilted his head.

“And now that I’m standing here, I can feel it too. So what are you? Are you really human?”

Rika did not answer.

Behind her, a shikigami flickered into view, its presence distorting the air around it.

Mahito’s smile twitched.

“Yeah... that’s pretty scary.”

Whoosh!

With a sharp sonic boom, Rika vanished from where she stood and appeared directly in front of Mahito.

Nanami immediately warned her from behind.

“Be careful. His Cursed Technique is Idle Transfiguration. If he touches you, he can alter the shape of your soul.”

Mahito raised his hand.

But his attack was too direct.

Rika saw through it instantly.

“Then I won’t let him touch me.”

She knocked Mahito’s arm aside with one hand and drove her elbow into his chest.

Crack!

Mahito’s rib cage caved inward with a sickening sound.

Rika did not give him room to breathe.

In a fight, mercy only created openings.

Her next punch buried itself into Mahito’s liver.

Mahito spat blood, forcing his body to recover even as he twisted into a counterattack.

A black object shot toward Rika’s head.

“What?”

Rika shifted one step to the side.

The attack passed through empty air.

She gave him no chance to create distance.

Closing in again, she locked Mahito’s arms in a grappling hold.

Mahito immediately realized he had been caught.

He tried to twist free, but Rika’s grip did not loosen.

Her elbow came down.

Once.

Twice.

Again and again.

Each strike hammered into him with brutal precision.

Then Rika stomped down on his lower leg.

Bone snapped.

The moment Mahito lost balance, she drove her elbow into his temple.

Before he could fall, her hand struck his throat.

Then, with a heavy rising blow, she smashed through his guard and split his head open.

“Cough... cough...”

In only a few seconds, Mahito was on his knees, clutching his throat.

Blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Nanami adjusted his glasses.

“Impressive close-quarters combat.”

His voice was calm, but his gaze was sharp.

“Every movement is meant to kill. There’s no wasted motion.”

Mahito trembled on the ground.

“No...”

His fingers dug into the concrete.

“That’s... not possible...”

He tried to reshape his body again.

But the shikigami behind Rika pressed him flat against the ground, pinning him in place.

Rika looked toward Nanami.

“Nanami-san, can your technique exorcise him?”

Nanami walked closer to Mahito.

“I don’t know.”

He stared down at the Cursed Spirit beneath them.

“To be honest, I’ve never been the type to believe in souls.”

His grip tightened around his weapon.

“So I don’t know whether the Ratio Technique can be applied to one.”

The moment Nanami was about to strike, an invisible force slammed down over him.

His body hit the ground.

“What...?”

The pressure was immense.

Heavy enough to crush the breath from his lungs.

Nanami tried to force himself up, but the gravity pinned him down without mercy.

Rika’s eyes narrowed.

At the same time, she felt it too.

The gravity around her body had shifted.

Not enough to crush her but enough to make her understand what was happening.

“This feeling...”

She turned her head.

A figure slowly walked out from the shadows.

“Sorry.”

His voice was calm.

“He can’t die here.”

Rika’s gaze sharpened, and she was about to move.

The man spoke again.

“And I wouldn’t recommend acting carelessly.”

His eyes shifted toward Nanami.

“The man behind you might be crushed into paste.”

Nanami gritted his teeth.

“Don’t worry about me!”

Even so, Rika could not ignore his life.

Mahito lay broken beneath the shikigami, barely conscious, but the man reached out and pulled him free.

His limbs were shattered.

His body was ruined.

But he was alive.

The man looked back at Rika.

“Until next time, Queen of Curses.”

Then he vanished into the darkness with Mahito.

A moment later, the pressure disappeared.

Nanami exhaled sharply as the weight lifted from his body.

He pushed himself back up.

“Sorry. I slowed you down.”

Rika shook her head.

“No. This wasn’t your fault, Nanami-san.”

Her gaze remained fixed on the direction the man had disappeared.

“If I’m right... that was a Special Grade Curse User.”

Nanami’s expression hardened.

“A Special Grade... Curse User.”

Meanwhile, during an investigation connected to the same incident, Yuji Itadori encountered Junpei Yoshino, a student from Satozakura High School.

The two grew closer.

And because of that, Kenjaku and Mahito found exactly what they needed.

Junpei Yoshino’s life.

A tool to break Yuji Itadori’s heart.

A way to crush his will.

And through that, a chance to let Sukuna take control of his body.