Chapter 146 (Patreon)

Japan.

The nation still existed, but in name alone.

Nearly one hundred million cursed spirits had devastated the country. So few survivors remained that humans had become even rarer than cursed spirits had once been.

With Japan’s fall, even its name was stripped away.

From then on, Japan would be known only as District 11.

To seize control of District 11, the Three Great Sorcerer Families joined forces with the sorcerers awakened during the Culling Game and established the Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance.

Soon afterward, the Alliance issued a worldwide declaration:

“First: Satoru Gojo, Yuta Okkotsu, Rika Orimoto, Ragnar Kagenou, and their associates are hereby expelled from the jujutsu world. Any organization or individual found assisting them will be regarded as an enemy of the Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance.”

“Second: Suguru Geto has been confirmed to be alive. His death sentence is hereby reinstated.”

“Third: Masamichi Yaga has been found guilty of inciting a special-grade sorcerer and causing the Shibuya Incident. He is sentenced to death.”

“Fourth: The Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance will permit any military force to be stationed within District 11.”

The Three Great Sorcerer Families established their new headquarters in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Before leaving Jujutsu High, they raided its forbidden storehouse and took every cursed tool inside.

Without Tengen’s barrier protecting Jujutsu High, even ordinary people could enter the storehouse.

As enormous numbers of cursed spirits ran rampant throughout Tokyo, Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Yuta Okkotsu, and Rika Orimoto traveled across Japan to exorcise them.

Ragnar Kagenou, meanwhile, returned to Jujutsu High after learning that the Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance intended to execute Masamichi Yaga.

“This is interesting. The Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance actually dares to place bounties on five special-grade sorcerers...”

Only one explanation came to Ragnar’s mind.

Kenjaku was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Although his main body remained sealed within the Prison Realm, he could still use Tengen to relay information to the outside world.

Elsewhere, Masamichi Yaga was walking down an empty road when he noticed a masked jujutsu sorcerer standing atop a streetlight.

“Where are you going without your cursed corpses, Principal Yaga?”

“To see my son.”

Yaga removed his coat.

He already knew why the Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance had sent this man.

They had come for his life.

“You have already been sentenced to death,” the masked sorcerer said. “If you want to survive, hand over the method for creating fully autonomous cursed corpses.”

Sendai.

“Cough... cough... The smell of alcohol is overwhelming. Can cursed spirits even drink?”

Ragnar had only just reached the outskirts of the city, yet the intense fumes were already making his eyes sting.

“ROAR!”

Several figures emerged from within the mist.

Golden ripples spread through the air behind Ragnar, and Noble Phantasms shot forth, exorcising the cursed spirits before they could even reach the ground.

“The number of cursed spirits is beginning to surpass the number of humans who once lived here...”

At the headquarters of the Jujutsu Sorcerer Alliance, Kenjaku used Cursed Spirit Manipulation to determine Ragnar’s location.

Tengen turned toward Sukuna.

“Ragnar Kagenou is in Sendai. Sukuna... what do you intend to do?”

Sukuna swallowed one of his fingers before slowly opening his eyes.

“No. It still isn’t enough. My power has yet to fully return. I must consume all twenty fingers.”

Uraume nodded.

“Ragnar Kagenou is already formidable on his own, but the true problem lies with the weapons at his disposal...”

“Those special-grade cursed spirits have no chance of defeating him. For now, all we can do is hope they buy us more time.”

——————

The barrier enveloping Japan had been reconfigured into something of an even higher order—the Culling Game.

“The special-grade cursed spirit occupying Sendai... Shuten-dōji?”

Ragnar peered through layer after layer of mist, his gaze settling upon the source of the most powerful cursed energy at the heart of the city.

Before Sha Naqba Imuru—the Omniscient Omnipotent Star—nothing could conceal its true nature from him.

【Upon reaching 20,000 Cursed Energy, one EX-rank Noble Phantasm will be unlocked.】

【Activating an EX-rank Noble Phantasm requires 10,000 points of Cursed Energy.】

“Twenty thousand Cursed Energy... The four special-grade cursed spirits awakened by Kenjaku should be just enough to get me there.”

Golden ripples spread behind Ragnar, stretching between heaven and earth. Their radiance flooded the entire city.

At the center of Sendai, Shuten-dōji also witnessed the golden light illuminating the world.

“So this is the sorcerer even the King of Curses fears.”

Without warning, the tip of a colossal golden lance appeared in the sky.

The clouds and mist blanketing the city slowly parted before it.

“What... is that?!”

Shuten-dōji stared up at the sky and swallowed hard.

“Is this... the power of a god?”

BOOM!

Rhongomyniad unleashed the full extent of its conventional output, reducing Sendai to ashes beneath its radiance.

The entire world was dyed gold as heaven and earth were swallowed by an unrivaled brilliance.

Only Shuten-dōji remained.

Every other cursed spirit in Sendai vanished beneath the Holy Lance’s baptism.

“Hah... hah... Where am I?”

Shuten-dōji staggered to his feet in a daze.

No matter where he looked, there was nothing but endless ruins, rising smoke, and scorched earth.

Step.

Step.

Clad in golden armor, Ragnar Kagenou walked through the devastation and stopped before Shuten-dōji.

“Cursed spirit, your life ends here.”

BANG!

The ground shattered beneath Shuten-dōji as he launched himself straight at Ragnar.

“Foolish.”

Just as Shuten-dōji’s claws were about to tear into Ragnar, a clear metallic chime rang through the air.

Silver chains shot forward and bound his movements in an instant.

“These chains...”

Shuten-dōji struggled to retreat, but the Chains of Heaven pursued him as though they had already marked him.

“Do try to entertain me. This will be the final performance of your life.”

WHOOSH!

Thousands of Noble Phantasms surged from the golden ripples, transforming into a storm of steel that descended mercilessly upon Shuten-dōji.

SHNK!

“Broken Phantasm.”

Shuten-dōji’s body was riddled with Noble Phantasms.

The weapons embedded in the ground around him detonated simultaneously.

“AAARGH!”

The explosion hurled Shuten-dōji hundreds of meters away, black smoke pouring from his body.

“Special-grade cursed spirits certainly are durable.”

Ragnar reached into the Gate of Babylon and drew out two crimson demonic spears.

“Pierce. Impale.”

The two spears streaked after Shuten-dōji, following the path of his flight with crimson trails.

“What are those...?”

Shuten-dōji raised his arms, intending to block the spear rushing toward him.

“Block it...? No, I can’t!”

One of the demonic spears drove through his body and pinned him in midair, crimson cursed energy surging around it.

“Gáe Bolg.”

BANG!

The crimson demonic spear pierced Shuten-dōji’s heart.

At that same instant, cursed energy carrying the authority of death erupted from within the wound.

【Instant Death activated.】

“Why...? A cursed spirit’s heart... isn’t a weak point...”

Shuten-dōji fell to his knees, the crimson demonic spear still impaling his heart.

【Special-grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit Shuten-dōji exorcised. Cursed Energy increased by 1,000 points.】

Cursed Energy: 9,110 / 17,540

“Instant Death activated... What terrible luck.”

Ragnar had expected Shuten-dōji to endure at least a few more exchanges. He had not anticipated that Gáe Bolg’s Instant Death effect would activate so quickly.

It was yet another reminder of how important resistance to Instant Death truly was.

“It’s desolate.”

Ragnar walked across the silent wasteland. The only sounds surrounding him were the wind and the crackling of flames.

Before long, large numbers of cursed spirits began crawling out of the ground once again.

They seemed endless, with another wave appearing as soon as the last was exorcised.

“They just keep coming.”