Chapter 173 (Patreon)

Ragnar Kagenou approached the unconscious Satoru Gojo.

“So this is the only path that leads to the end of all curses?”

Before him, Sha Naqba Imuru—the Omniscient Omnipotent Star—revealed its answer.

“Destruction is rebirth.”

“Then I’ll have to be ready for the most twisted curse of them all.”

Not long ago, the System had completely separated itself from Ragnar. Since then, Sha Naqba Imuru had taken over its role and begun supporting him directly.

“Sorry, but I still can’t make my move.”

Ragnar carried Gojo back to where Shoko Ieiri was waiting.

“To think you managed to get yourself hurt this badly. You’re as reckless as ever.”

Shoko sighed before looking at Ragnar.

“Ragnar, even you can’t exorcise the King of Curses?”

As Reverse Cursed Technique flowed into Gojo’s body, his vital signs gradually returned to normal.

Ragnar remained silent for a moment before answering.

“Killing Sukuna would be easy. Exorcising him completely is another matter. The price would be enormous.”

Shoko lowered her gaze and continued treating Gojo.

“The price...”

Sukuna was the King of Curses—the existence that allowed the cycle of curses to continue.

Jujutsu sorcerers and curses stood on opposing sides. Whenever one side became overwhelmingly powerful, the other would eventually rise to match it, restoring the balance between them.

——————

A pillar of black cursed energy shot into the sky before spreading outward from Tokyo at a terrifying speed.

“So this is the Prison Realm in its complete form. A cursed object capable of placing the entire world under a curse.”

Kenjaku held the completed Prison Realm in one hand. Waves of pitch-black cursed energy poured from it without end.

“Sukuna... you’re the only one left.”

At that very moment, Sukuna was engaged in a confrontation with Yuji Itadori inside their shared soul.

“What’s wrong, Yuji? Does your love for humanity amount to no more than this?”

“Shut up!”

Sukuna’s soul was forcibly consuming Yuji’s. The most terrifying curse in existence was steadily eroding everything that made Yuji who he was.

“I... won’t let myself... become part of you...”

Nearly half of Yuji’s spiritual body had already fused with Sukuna.

Without warning, Yuji swung one hand while Sukuna’s guard was lowered.

An invisible slash tore through the air.

Sukuna glanced at the bloody cut left across his arm.

“So you still have enough strength to resist.”

A mocking smile appeared on his face.

“Unfortunately, in your current state, killing me is impossible.”

His fingers tightened around Yuji’s soul.

“Curse your own weakness—and that laughable resolve of yours.”

No miracle came to save him.

Against such an absolute difference in strength, Yuji never had any chance of victory.

After ten relentless hours of erosion, Yuji Itadori’s soul was finally swallowed and made part of Sukuna.

Sukuna slowly opened his eyes.

However, the destructive will surrounding him no longer felt entirely unified. A trace of contradiction had appeared within it, as though something foreign remained entangled with his soul.

The conflicting presences made Sukuna’s entire existence feel distorted in a way that could not easily be put into words.

“Kenjaku. Is it ready?”

“Of course.”

Kenjaku raised the purple-black cursed object in his hand.

“This is what you wanted—Prison Realm: Seal.”

Cursed energy had been compressed into a liquid state and now flowed steadily from its surface.

Sukuna stared at it with undisguised anticipation.

“Ragnar Kagenou... I’ll prepare the grandest funeral imaginable for you.”

His smile widened.

“And the entire world will be buried alongside you.”

During his previous battle against Ragnar, Sukuna had been forced onto the defensive from beginning to end. No matter how much of his strength he recovered, Ragnar had continued to overwhelm him.

That feeling had been intolerable.

Sukuna considered himself the Honored One, unrivaled throughout heaven and earth. There was no chance he would tolerate another standing above him.

Without hesitation, Sukuna placed Prison Realm: Seal into his mouth and swallowed it.

A tremendous surge of cursed energy erupted from within his body. Black curse marks spread across his flesh until they covered him from head to toe.

“Humans... your time is up.”

Every curse in the world began to be drawn toward Sukuna.

A black vortex formed over Tokyo, expanding as it consumed the curses pouring into it from every direction.

As the vortex continued to condense, the cursed energy gradually took physical form.

An enormous black sphere appeared high above the city.

Everyone throughout District 11 could clearly see the anomaly hanging in the sky.

——————

Hiromi Higuruma, who had recently grasped Reverse Cursed Technique, raised his head and stared at the unidentified black sphere.

“This is... cursed energy gathering together.”

Such an unimaginable amount of cursed energy had already begun taking physical form. If anything went wrong, the resulting disaster could destroy the entire island.

“What in the world is happening?”

Higuruma had no way of knowing.

However, if he headed toward the source of the phenomenon, he was certain he would find someone who did.

——————

Hana Kurusu saw the abnormality in the sky and immediately took flight.

“Disgraced One... what are you planning?!”

Angel had taken control of Hana’s body. Facing the colossal sphere of cursed energy, she directly confronted Sukuna.

“...”

Sukuna glanced at the winged figure hovering nearby but showed no interest in answering her.

“Hana! Move!”

An invisible slash flew toward Hana without warning.

“Vermin. Get out of my sight.”

Sukuna’s cold voice reached her a moment later.

“You have no right to question me.”

The slash was far too fast for Hana to react.

At the last possible moment, Angel forcibly seized complete control of her body.

The invisible blade still tore across Hana, leaving a deep, bloody wound.

She was no match for Sukuna.

A single slash sent her plummeting from the sky.

“Pathetic.”

Hana fell toward the ground at terrifying speed.

——————

At the same time, Megumi Fushiguro had finally regained consciousness.

He was walking through the ruined city, intending to search for Sukuna, when a shadow suddenly appeared overhead.

“What is that?”

Megumi looked up.

“A person?”

His eyes widened.

Before he could summon one of his Ten Shadows shikigami, Hana crashed directly into him, turning Megumi into a cushion for her fall.

“Ghk—!”

The unfortunate Megumi had only been awake for a short while before losing consciousness all over again.

“Ugh... That hurts, that hurts... Huh?”

Hana hurriedly checked herself.

“Why am I not injured?”

Despite falling from such a height, the impact had been nowhere near as severe as she had expected.

“That’s strange. Whatever I landed on feels soft.”

Hana blinked.

“Angel, did you save me?”

Angel’s mouth appeared on Hana’s cheek.

She remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.

“Look at what you’re sitting on.”

“What I’m sitting on...”

Hana lowered her gaze.

“Eh?! Th-this is...”

Her eyes lit up the instant she recognized Megumi.

“The one I’m destined for!”

——————

Meanwhile, the consequences of Kenjaku’s earlier preparations had finally begun to surface.

Back in February, Kenjaku had entered negotiations with the United States regarding the deployment of military forces to Tokyo.

At the time, Kenjaku had only intended to turn Tokyo into a lawless zone. He had never expected the situation to spiral this far out of control.

All of Japan had fallen, and the nation itself had effectively ceased to exist.

The only name left to the territory was its international designation—District 11—a title assigned through the United Nations by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

By then, the United States had already redirected every available unit of the Seventh Fleet stationed throughout Asia toward the waters surrounding District 11.

However, the Seventh Fleet’s carrier strike group and operational headquarters stationed within District 11 had been completely annihilated when Kenjaku initiated the Culling Game.

The remaining fleet had been forced to approach through international waters. It consisted primarily of task forces previously stationed in regions such as South Korea and Singapore.

The American troops finally landed on the island.

“This is District 11?”

The soldiers looked around the deserted coastline in confusion.

“There isn’t a single person here...”