Junpei stared at Mahito with burning eyes.
Mahito clicked his tongue and scratched his head.
Somehow, Junpei had caught on to what was happening, and the plan to turn him into a monster and let Sukuna seize control had failed spectacularly.
'Ah, damn. This is no good. What now?'
If it had been Geto, he probably would have slipped away the moment the plan went south. But Mahito didn’t want that.
The thought of summoning Sukuna had already vanished from Mahito’s head. Right now, he just wanted to watch the idiot in front of him fall into despair.
Look at that twisted expression.
He seemed to have figured out, at least roughly, what Mahito had tried to do—and what he had already done.
“Mahito, no, just Mahito.”
“So you won’t even use honorifics anymore, Junpei? That hurts.”
“Shut up. Answer the question.”
So thrilled by the lesson and the favor he’d received that his vision had narrowed, but thinking about it now, it had been strange from the start.
Why would a curse that said life was worthless, a curse that saw humans as nothing more than toys, be so kind to him alone?
Why would he show up at the school at this point after saying he was busy?
Why had he tried to kill him?
And that finger that had caused his mother’s death...
There was no way Itadori had brought it here.
“That finger—does it have something to do with you?”
To Junpei’s trembling question, Mahito answered with a grotesquely warped smile.
“Yep!”
“.........”
“Hahahahaha!!! That’s it!! That’s the face I wanted to see!!”
How does it feel to be betrayed by someone you trusted?
What a contradictory little fool.
You said you don’t rely on people, and yet you still believed me.
“Your stupidity is what got your mother killed. You came to me because you wanted power, and that’s why she died. You had no idea you were being used, and there you were, all slumped over, going, ‘I think I know someone~’ How hilarious was that? The real culprit was right in front of you the whole time!”
Junpei couldn’t say a word.
He’d been used like an idiot.
Because I wanted power, because I talked to a curse, both Mom and I were used as pawns.
Mom died a miserable death because of me.
“U... ngh... ugh...”
Guilt surged up and swallowed Junpei whole.
He wanted to tear Mahito, who was cackling in front of him, into a thousand pieces, but what he hated even more was himself.
If only he hadn’t spoken to Mahito at the movie theater that day.
If only.
If only...
Itadori was the one who pulled Junpei out of that self-loathing and regret.
“Snap out of it, Junpei!”
Crack
Itadori finally tore off Mahito’s left hand with brute strength and grabbed Junpei by the head.
“If you just stand there, nothing gets done! There’s no time to regret things now! Focus on the enemy in front of you!”
“But... because of me, my mom...”
“It’s not your fault!”
The force of his voice, bursting straight from his gut, made Junpei flinch without meaning to.
“The one who used you is the bad guy. Don’t listen to anything that bastard says.”
You can atone later. It’s not too late.
“......”
He was right.
Even if it was nothing but an excuse for himself, Junpei wanted to hear the words that would get him back on his feet.
If he just collapsed here and let Mahito kill him, then what about his mother’s revenge?
He’d just stay a fool.
This happened because of me, so I have to be the one to finish it.
“Yeah...!”
Smack!
Junpei slapped his own face once, then formed hand signs and drew up his cursed energy.
Itadori, too, suppressed his cold fury and wrapped his fist in cursed energy.
“Let’s fight together, Yuji.”
“Yeah...!”
The sight of the two boys facing off sent a thrill through Mahito’s head.
'Ah, what do I do? What do I do?'
I’d pushed them all the way into the abyss, and now they were finding hope again.
I want to break it. I want to break it.
Fine, I’ve decided.
I won’t bother with schemes. I’ll crush them head-on.
Go on, Vessel of Sukuna—watch your friend die helplessly.
“I’ll kill you.”
“You mean exorcise him, right!”
-----------------------
He hurried the negotiation with Sukuna forward through hatred beyond understanding, and placed a binding vow on Itadori Yuji.
Hostages wouldn’t work on Itadori, who could throw away even his own life for the sake of others.
So he tried to draw out hatred from him.
If an enemy or situation came that he couldn’t solve on his own,
and if he hated that opponent enough to want them dead,
wouldn’t he rely on Sukuna?
That was the core of Mahito’s plan.
For it to work, Mahito had to be overwhelmingly stronger than Itadori, but...
Thud!
“Hm?”
He learned it after taking a hit.
That guy could hit my soul.
A natural enemy.
'Because there’s always another soul inside him, he’s aware of the outline of souls!'
'He keeps changing shape. I have to avoid grapples and throws.'
Then, cutting through Itadori and Mahito’s thoughts, a surprise attack came in.
Squelch!
“You really want to keep getting in the way, Junpei?”
“Damn it.”
Junpei couldn’t damage Mahito, since he couldn’t perceive the shape of the soul.
But he wasn’t attacking blindly.
'Even if I can’t land a fatal blow, I can still be a nuisance!'
Junpei’s technique was poison.
Not poison that existed in the real world, but poison refined from cursed energy.
And it gnawed away at Mahito’s body continuously, regardless of the soul’s shape.
'His regeneration is slowing down. The moment he draws his soul in, Itadori’s strike lands.'
Junpei couldn’t land effective blows on Mahito, so he sent his shikigami in from afar to support while Itadori pushed in from the front.
The accumulated damage wasn’t huge, but the staggered assault was deeply annoying.
He also kept losing chances because he had to insert [Moonlit Wave] in between to block their attacks.
'Target Junpei first!'
He took on a form for a more refined slaughter, an inspiration meant for killing.
Mahito changed the shape of his right hand into a blade and slashed at Junpei.
Slash!
“Agh!”
“If blunt force doesn’t work, then how about a cutting slash?”
The tentacles of [Moonlit Wave], neatly severed, drifted through the air.
As Junpei staggered, wounds opening all over his body, Mahito transformed both legs and charged in fast.
The distance closed in an instant.
“[Coffin]!”
At the moment of crisis, Junpei remembered his fight with Itadori from just now, pulled out his spikes, and scraped them across the floor.
As Mahito’s foot caught in the grooves and he hesitated, Junpei grabbed himself with [Moonlit Wave]’s tentacles and hurled his body outward.
In a short span of time, he released the hand signs and rebuilt his stance.
Before he hit the ground, Junpei summoned [Moonlit Wave] once more and felt its soft texture press against his back.
Wobble
“Tch!”
Mahito clicked his tongue at [Moonlit Wave] shifting positions in an instant.
It was another moment proving the usefulness of a shikigami that could be summoned into empty space with no medium at all.
He had taught him, but he hadn’t expected him to fight this annoyingly well.
“Over here!”
Itadori’s fist, after briefly creating distance with a slash, filled Mahito’s vision.
He gave up an arm and pulled out spikes.
He blocked a kick with his arm, shattering the spikes that had been thrust in at close range.
Using the opening created when his stance broke, he struck back with a blunt blow and shoved Mahito outward.
The exchange flew back and forth at high speed, leaving one wound after another on both bodies.
When he tried to chase after the distant Itadori, [Moonlit Wave]’s tentacles appeared from above, grabbed Mahito’s legs, and tripped him.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
“Stop getting in my way!”
Mahito ignored the uneasy sensation crawling up from the wound in his back and transformed his arm again.
Kiiiiing!
A rotating drill shot out with a shrill scream, aiming for Junpei, but Itadori, with monstrous reflexes, grabbed the connection point and yanked him back instead.
Even after Junpei pulled the spikes out of the connection point, the force was too weak to fully pierce through his hand.
'Damn it, there are too many places I have to worry about because of the poison!'
As the control and strength of his transformed body kept dropping, the balance of power collapsed, and Mahito was dragged entirely toward Itadori.
Flying through the air, Mahito let out a laugh.
To think he was getting pushed around like this by just two brats. This wasn’t going to be easy.
But at the same time, he also found himself thinking it was fun.
How far will I grow from this fight?
“More! Give me more! Entertain me more!”
“What’s so entertaining about this!”
Stab, stab
[Moonlit Wave]’s spikes pierced both of Mahito’s eyes.
Even if he cut the tentacles away, it would take a few seconds for his vision to recover, and in that brief window Itadori’s barrage hammered his body.
Even when he landed unavoidable blows at close range, [Moonlit Wave] covered for him, so Itadori took no damage.
The two boys’ effective teamwork drove Mahito back hard.
I’ve won.
Just as Itadori thought that and drew back his fist,
“Got you.”
Mahito shrank his body and placed a hand on Itadori’s stomach.
The deathly touch that followed was [Idle Transfiguration].
'Switch with Sukuna, now...'
[How dare you touch my soul?]
Slash
“Huh...?”
-------------------------
He hadn’t planned to completely ruin him the way he had intended with Junpei.
He meant to knead his internal organs a little, render him unable to fight, and then summon Sukuna...
[Disgusting. Get lost, insignificant thing.]
He realized, unmistakably, the fragment of the King of Curses.
Eight Trigrams.
The slash that acted on a target carrying cursed energy tore Mahito’s body to shreds.
Thud.
“What happened...?”
“I don’t know what just happened, but this is our chance! Don’t stop, Yuji!”
Relentless attacks rained down on the fallen Mahito.
Fists smashed his face, feet kicked his stomach, and tentacles relentlessly went for his vital points.
His body was becoming a wreck.
'Is this death?'
For the first time, Mahito’s body trembled with excitement at the feeling.
But it was still rough. It was missing that last 2% to truly reach death.
If the one standing there had been the 7:3 sorcerer instead of Junpei, it might have been different.
Just a little more, and I think I’d have the feel for it...
Papat!
“Ghk!”
“He still has some left in him...!”
Mahito blasted spikes from all over his body to create distance, then vomited out the transfigured humans from his mouth.
“Go kill that brat.”
“....!”
“......”
Itadori was visibly shaken.
By contrast, Junpei’s expression was calm.
The grotesquely transformed transfigured humans swarmed Itadori.
Just as Itadori was about to counterattack with a fist packed with cursed energy,
“P-please... save me...”
Hesitation
he gave them an opening.
“So you can’t kill humans!”
As soon as Itadori was buried under the transfigured humans, Mahito surged his cursed energy and approached Junpei.
“Your front line’s gone now. If I transfigure you and make you fight that guy, won’t you start crying?”
Even in an unfavorable situation, Junpei looked at Mahito without expression.
There wasn’t a single tremor in those eyes.
“Who knows. Yuji’s got a stronger heart than a guy like me.”
“That’s what you call an idiot who can’t tell reality from ideals. You’re so obsessed with reality that you threw ideals away, and he’s an idealist all wrapped up in the naive wish to save everyone. You two make a perfect pair.”
“You don’t know anything. I’ve learned from you all this time, but now I get to teach you one thing.”
You’re the idiot.
Boom!
With those words, the flesh of the transfigured humans covering Itadori flew through the air.
Itadori, drenched in blood, rose with fierce momentum.
“So you really did kill him...!”
“Sorry, Junpei. I hesitated for a moment.”
I won’t...
make that mistake again.
“Round 2, Mahito.”
Deadly attacks rained down on the snickering Mahito.
“That guy gathers cursed energy right before he changes shape.”
“Don’t give him any room! Push him back!”
Feet, fists, and spikes came flying in so fast he had no time to recover his senses.
Whenever he tried to transform his body, poison was injected into his veins at the perfect moment.
He didn’t even have time to create a substitute.
He was losing the sensation of being hit little by little, and this time it really did look dangerous.
'I’m going to die. I’m really going to die.'
The brat he’d looked down on, the idiot who couldn’t even bring himself to kill one person.
They were driving him toward death.
What a fresh inspiration...!
Now, I can do it.
No, I will do it.
Idle
Trans
fig
uration
The core of cursed energy seized at the end of life.
Mahito’s mouth opened, and a small hand shot out from inside it, forming hand signs.
Just as the two sorcerers, sensing something absurd in that impossible growth, moved to finish it quickly,
“Self-Embodiment of Perfection...”
Slash
“Nanamin!”
“Sorry I’m late, Itadori-kun.”
Mahito’s head was split cleanly in two at a 7:3 angle.
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