Chapter 166 (Patreon)

“Far too weak. I can’t even bring myself to care.”

Kenjaku wore an easy smile. In contrast, Megumi Fushiguro lay facedown on the ground, every bone in his body creaking as though his entire skeleton might fall apart at any moment.

“A-Although an untamed shikigami can’t normally be used...” Megumi forced the words out through gritted teeth. “I can still summon it whenever I want... as part of the taming ritual.”

A strange surge of cursed energy suddenly enveloped Kenjaku.

“Hm? What is this cursed energy?”

At the same moment, the crushing gravity bearing down on Megumi disappeared.

Throughout the entire history of the Ten Shadows Technique, not a single sorcerer had ever succeeded in taming this shikigami.

The taming ritual began.

Darkness swallowed their surroundings. Every trace of cursed energy in the area seemed to converge upon Megumi.

Kenjaku’s smile faded slightly.

“Don’t tell me... it’s that shikigami.”

Kenjaku had lived for over a thousand years. Naturally, he knew about the strongest shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique.

Megumi brought his hands together.

“Furube, yurayura.”

“You can’t be serious!”

Kenjaku stared in surprise as something appeared behind Megumi.

Countless threads bound the enormous shikigami, making it resemble a weathered stone statue.

The statue slowly raised its head and opened its mouth.

“Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General... Mahoraga!”

Crack!

Every restraint binding Mahoraga snapped at once.

It was the strongest shikigami ever summoned through the Ten Shadows Technique. Its head possessed no eyes, while four wing-like protrusions extended from either side of its face. A tail-like appendage grew from the back of its head, the Sword of Extermination was attached to its right arm, and an enormous eight-handled wheel rested above its back.

Megumi immediately formed another hand sign.

“Nue!”

Nue emerged from the shadow beneath his feet, seized the back of his collar, and carried him into the air.

The first person Mahoraga fixed upon after being summoned was Kenjaku.

Kenjaku pointed at himself.

“I’m the one who has to fight Mahoraga?”

Bang!

The moment those words left his mouth, Mahoraga vanished.

Kenjaku’s body burst apart under the impact. Before the scattered pieces could even fall, Mahoraga seized what remained of him and hurled him through the surrounding buildings.

Rumble!

Dozens of towering buildings collapsed one after another.

High in the air, Megumi swallowed nervously.

“So this is Mahoraga... No wonder no one has ever managed to tame it.”

A hand suddenly shot out from the cloud of dust and grabbed one of the wing-like protrusions on Mahoraga’s face.

“So there really is no way to make you mine?”

With a violent tear, Mahoraga ripped the arm apart.

Kenjaku slowly emerged from the settling dust, his body already beginning to recover.

“As expected of the strongest shikigami. If I were a cursed spirit, that sword probably would’ve exorcised me instantly.”

Even Sukuna would have been unable to survive a direct blow from the Sword of Extermination if he possessed the body of a cursed spirit.

By using Idle Transfiguration to manipulate the shape of his own soul, Kenjaku could recover regardless of how Mahoraga attacked him. As long as Mahoraga could not destroy him in a single strike, he had little reason to fear it.

With Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration and Kurourushi’s abilities at his disposal, Kenjaku was as difficult to kill as the cockroach cursed spirit itself.

“I can keep this up all day.”

Mahoraga had no interest in conversation. It existed only to slaughter and destroy everything before it, including the sorcerer who had summoned it.

Its entire presence conveyed a single instinct.

Weak creatures—perish before me.

Kenjaku understood that the same attack would never work against Mahoraga twice. Once it adapted to something, repeating the technique became meaningless.

As the Saints would say, the same technique never works twice.

To defeat Mahoraga, he would need overwhelming power—enough to destroy it in a single attack.

“Honestly... what a troublesome creature.”

For now, Kenjaku had no choice but to engage Mahoraga in close combat while searching for an opportunity to deliver a decisive blow.

Watching from Nue’s back, Megumi began calculating his own chances.

Maybe this was his opportunity to tame Mahoraga.

Kenjaku and Mahoraga collided again, their battle tearing apart everything around them.

Kenjaku might not have been as powerful as Sukuna, but he was still among the strongest sorcerers in existence.

Megumi needed to intervene immediately before Kenjaku defeated Mahoraga. If he timed it perfectly, he could complete the taming ritual and take Kenjaku down at the same time.

However, just before Mahoraga was defeated, Megumi would first have to lure Kenjaku beyond the boundaries of the ritual.

Otherwise, Mahoraga’s defeat would not count, and the taming ritual would fail.

“Now that I think about it, this is going to be incredibly difficult...” Megumi muttered. “Still, taming Mahoraga might not be impossible.”

Kenjaku, you had better prove useful.

At least beat Mahoraga half to death for me.

Boom!

Although the Sword of Extermination could not kill Kenjaku instantly, Mahoraga still had him completely on the defensive.

Kenjaku reshaped his arm with Idle Transfiguration and raised its cursed-energy output to the limit.

His fist struck Mahoraga and sent the Divine General flying.

The instant Mahoraga steadied itself, Kenjaku followed. He descended from above, driving his enlarged fist toward Mahoraga’s body.

The blow never connected.

Mahoraga caught his fist.

In the next instant, the Sword of Extermination flashed toward him like an illusion.

Kenjaku attempted to withstand the attack with his body, but he had underestimated the sword’s power.

Half of his body was sliced away.

“Reverse Cursed Technique!”

Kenjaku restored his body in the next instant, but Mahoraga used that brief opening to close the distance. Its massive hand closed around Kenjaku’s head before slamming him into the ground.

This is bad!

Now that Mahoraga had caught him at such close range, a merciless beating was inevitable. If he was careless, even his current body might be killed here.

It was still too early to reveal this, but Kenjaku no longer had a choice.

“Cursed Technique Lapse: Antigravity System!”

“Cursed Technique Reversal: Gravity!”

The two opposing forces seized Mahoraga’s body from opposite directions.

Crack!

Countless fractures spread across the Divine General’s body.

“——!”

Mahoraga released a beast-like roar as its body began adapting to Kenjaku’s technique.

“Stop struggling!”

Kenjaku pushed gravity and antigravity to their limits, tearing Mahoraga’s body in half.

“I win—”

Before Kenjaku could finish speaking, Mahoraga’s severed body regenerated at a terrifying speed.

From that moment onward, Kenjaku’s gravity techniques were useless against it.

“Damn it!”

Kenjaku barely had time to curse before Mahoraga kicked him away.

How could this be happening?

It was only a shikigami. Why did it possess this much power?

Kenjaku had once witnessed Mahoraga kill a wielder of the Six Eyes who led the Gojo clan, but even then, he had never imagined that its true strength could reach such a terrifying level.

Boom!

Mahoraga caught Kenjaku by the head and forced him against the ground. The strength in its hand continued to increase, threatening to crush his skull.

Megumi watched as Mahoraga prepared to kill Kenjaku.

“No. He can’t die yet.”

Kenjaku could not be allowed to die now.

If he died, Megumi would be Mahoraga’s next target. Even if Kenjaku truly had to die here, he at least needed to take Mahoraga down with him.

Damn it. Do I actually have to save Kenjaku?

Megumi quickly dismissed the idea.

There was no chance Kenjaku would die so easily. A sorcerer who had survived for over a thousand years could not possibly be out of options.

“I’ll have to gamble on it,” Megumi murmured. “I’ll bet that Mahoraga can’t kill him.”

Descending now could easily be exactly what Kenjaku wanted—a trap designed to lure Megumi down and kill him.

As if confirming his suspicions, Kenjaku glanced up at Megumi flying overhead.

“What a shame. Even that wasn’t enough to lure you down.”

In that case, Kenjaku had only one option remaining.

He had to destroy Mahoraga with a single attack before it could finish adapting to his techniques.

Mahoraga shattered the ground beneath its feet and launched itself toward him.

At that exact moment, Kenjaku disappeared.

He reappeared behind Mahoraga and pressed one hand against its back.

“Idle Transfiguration.”