While Yuji and Megumi were fighting Kashimo, Nobara and Kurusu were watching the situation from outside.
Given the nature of their techniques, which made direct combat ability weaker, it was hard to judge that they should recklessly go up against Kashimo.
Underneath that was also the belief that their teammates would buy them time somehow.
But that thought was overturned the moment they saw Kashimo’s true power.
Crackle, boom!
"W-What is that!"
"Megumi! No!"
As lightning tore through the air and blasted huge holes through the sides of Megumi and Yuji, Nobara hurriedly poured cursed energy into the marked medium.
Because the wounds were so severe, more than half her cursed energy was drained away by just two healings.
Unlike the two who were getting back up, Nobara wavered from the fatigue caused by the sudden strain on her cursed energy.
"Kugisaki, are you okay?"
"I can handle it!"
Even so, her expression was far from good.
She had managed to pull them back from the brink of death, but if attacks like that kept coming, she would hit her limit.
They needed something more fundamental than just enduring.
"....I’ll try it once."
"Kurusu...?"
That was when Kurusu stepped forward.
Supporting the swaying Nobara, she rose into the air with a solemn expression.
"What are you going to do?"
"If the two of you keep drawing his attention, I should be able to land my technique now."
Normally, with Kashimo’s reaction speed, he would never have taken a long chant-and-focus technique like [Jacob’s Ladder] head-on.
The same was true for top-ranked fighters like Ishigori and Uro, which was why she had been so careful to hold back against incarnated bodies.
But now that his attention was completely fixed on the two of them, she could do it.
"Wait, you can’t kill him! It’ll ruin the plan!"
"I know. But if we’re going to turn this around, now’s the time!"
Her control over cursed energy was still immature, so the Angel would handle the power adjustment entirely.
Until the incarnated object and the host were fully separated.
If they left him half-dead at that level, that would be enough.
Light.
Light that purifies everything...
As Kurusu began chanting the invocation in midair, Nobara shook her head with a conflicted expression.
"We have to trust her now."
If they kept fighting as they were, they would lose for sure.
All they could do was hope the Angel would adjust things properly.
By the time she steadied her nerves and looked up, a huge magic circle was being inscribed in the sky.
Remove sin, fault, and worry, and guide that one.
Baby angels with grotesque faces appeared around Kurusu as she loaded the technique with a trumpet in her mouth.
The sight of them floating freely and weaving through the air strangely gave off a sacred atmosphere.
And when Kashimo noticed the change in the air, her technique was already ready to fire.
"[Jacob’s Ladder]."
The Angel’s technique, [Jacob’s Ladder], purifies all manner of evil things.
Techniques made of cursed energy with negative properties are treated the same way.
And so are incarnated objects fused with their hosts through sorcery.
Goooooo!
"Kraaaah!!!!"
Inside the pillar of light crashing down, Kashimo twisted his body and screamed.
It felt as though his soul was being burned away whole.
Because it was not a physically acting attack, but one that forcibly separated soul and body, the pain was beyond imagination.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
By then, there was no joy of battle or Sukuna in Kashimo’s head anymore.
He wasn’t afraid of dying, but "pain to the point of death" was another matter entirely.
With pain at a level he had never experienced even 400 years ago, his brain gave up on thinking, and only screams that were no longer even words spilled from his mouth.
"That’s the Angel’s technique...!"
Yuji, who had kept his distance in case he got caught up the moment the light fell, swallowed hard.
For someone as strong as Kashimo to be getting helplessly crushed without even a single act of resistance.
It was similar to Mahito’s [Idle Transfiguration], but the principle was different. If Sukuna were inside that pillar, it wouldn’t change anything.
"If I die to the Angel, then I’d probably...."
Would I die in agony too?
While he was lost in thought, Kashimo’s body was gradually turning into ash.
Tssssssss!
"Grrrrrgh!!"
Even the screams were growing faint; it looked like he was reaching his limit.
If they really left him like this any longer, he would die.
They couldn’t let more than 400 points vanish.
"Kurusu! Stop the technique!"
Whether Megumi’s urgent shout got through or not, the pillar of light immediately began to fade.
Even after the technique ended, Kashimo still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Black smoke of unknown origin rose from his charred body.
"Is he alive?"
Megumi cautiously approached and poked Kashimo with the staff in his hand.
He twitched every time it stabbed him, so he was still alive, but if this kept up, he would die soon.
Parts of his body had been carbonized, and his breathing was irregular. It seemed to be a side effect of the significant drop in his degree of assimilation with the host.
"This is getting troublesome..."
"Yeah, no kidding."
The two of them clicked their tongues and carried the barely conscious Kashimo before jumping out the window.
After landing lightly on the ground, Nobara and Kurusu, who had been watching from outside, greeted them.
"He’s alive?"
"Since the points haven’t gone through, he’s alive."
"But if we leave him alone, he’ll die. Kugisaki, do me a favor."
"I really don’t want to heal this bastard. But whatever, I guess I have no choice."
With a face that clearly said she really didn’t want to do it, Nobara raised her hand, and white lilies bloomed from Kashimo’s body.
As cursed energy with a positive property circulated and repaired the damaged parts, the charred flesh, like overcooked meat, gradually regained its color.
After confirming that Kashimo, who had lost consciousness, looked much more at ease, Megumi irritably dropped him onto the ground.
Thud!
"Hey, at least he’s a patient."
"He tried to kill us, and now he’s lying there sleeping peacefully. It’s annoying."
The lightning that had torn through the air at the end.
Anyone who couldn’t use advanced reversed technique would have died to that one attack.
If he had marked the head or heart instead of the side, Kashimo would surely have died without even a chance to recover.
That was how threatening Kashimo was. Just remembering the sensation of flesh being blown away in chunks gave him chills.
"Anyway, good work. Surviving is enough to be grateful for."
"Agreed."
"And thanks, Kurusu. You saved us."
"No, I barely did anything."
Kurusu waved it off modestly, but without her, they really might have been in danger.
Even if the two of them had done the fighting at the front line, the credit was still credit. Megumi, who couldn’t stand owing people, bowed his head and thanked her despite her protests.
Because of this fight, they could now call her a "teammate."
Kurusu, her face reddening, got carried away and said something she didn’t need to say.
"I’m just repaying what I received back then."
"Huh? Back then?"
"Ah, it’s nothing!"
Everyone looked at the flustered Kurusu strangely, but they more or less let it go, thinking she must just have some reason to keep it secret.
Kurusu let out a relieved breath and recalled a memory from her childhood.
-Ah, yes! A little girl, alone! Around five years old? She’s in terrible shape! Hurry and send a cop!
She had followed a dog with soft white fur.
Waiting for her there were a boy about her age, who looked a little younger, and a white-haired man.
They hadn’t exchanged words, but even at that young age she could tell they had saved her.
Back when her emotions had already grown faint, and she no longer even thought about the meaning of life.
She had kept the boy who pulled her out of that swamp in her heart all her life.
And like fate, they had reunited here.
"I’ve been trying all this time to become someone worthy of you."
She could not say those words out loud.
Megumi didn’t remember her.
So until he looked back at her, she would prove it through her actions.
"Back then, you helped me. Now I’ll save you."
Kurusu Hana’s clear eyes shone with resolve.
Kashimo Hajime opened his eyes in the darkness.
"I’m alive."
His whole body still ached and his cursed energy control wasn’t working well, but in any case, he was alive.
When that pillar of light had hit him head-on, he had sensed death for sure, but it seemed his opponent had been softer than expected.
As expected, modern sorcerers were probably very different from the ones of now. If this had been 400 years ago, he would never have dreamed of being treated like this.
Clink
He tried moving his body in the unseen darkness, but something pulled tight around his wrist with a dragging sound.
Judging by the hard, smooth feel, it seemed like a chain wrapped in insulating tape and bound in double layers.
He was in bad shape and tied up with all sorts of restraints. Had his life as a sorcerer ever been pushed into such a corner?
"Heh-heh-heh."
He had considered himself the strongest, and yet he had been subdued by a single technique and had his right to life and death taken away.
A dry laugh escaped him.
"You’re awake."
A familiar voice reached his ears as he was mocking himself.
With that low, cool tone, it had to be the boy who used shikigami out of the two.
After a moment’s thought, Kashimo opened his dry mouth and answered.
"Where am I?"
"You don’t need to know that."
"That’s a pretty harsh way to treat a prisoner."
"You’re the one who attacked first. Put up with it."
From the way he spoke, it didn’t sound like he was planning to kill him right this second.
Unless he was an idiot who believed everything could be solved through conversation, there must be something else he wanted from him.
Since Kashimo was the type who couldn’t stand not knowing, he immediately asked the question.
"Why keep me alive? Opportunities to kill the number one ranked fighter don’t come around easily. If you entered the Culling Game, you must be after points."
"That’s a story for battle maniacs like you. Our goal is different."
"Can I hear it?"
"We’re going to end the Culling Game."
At the completely unexpected answer, Kashimo burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! You’re funny bastards!"
"What’s so funny?"
"Do you think the Culling Game is some kind of Nintendo thing you can just end whenever you want? Kenjaku isn’t as stupid as you think. Whatever plan you’re trying to pull off, it’ll fail."
His tone was full of mockery, but there was also a note that genuinely worried about them.
After a brief silence, Megumi deliberately spoke with contempt to needle him.
"We’ll see once we try. It’s not for some lingering spirit like you, who couldn’t even settle your regrets, to judge."
"Right. It’s not for me to judge. In the end, I’m just a piece on the board too. But so what? All that matters is enjoying yourself to the fullest in the position you’ve been given."
"You’re impossible to talk to."
"Fighting the strong is the joy and purpose of my life. I have no interest in anything else. If you’re trying to persuade me with some talk about helping your goal, you should stop. Or kill me now."
Kashimo had no intention of backing down.
He had joined the Culling Game to fight Sukuna.
He had already experienced death once.
If he could not achieve his goal, he was prepared to die without caring.
"I’ll let you fight someone as strong as Sukuna."
"...!!"
Only when Megumi made that tempting offer did Kashimo’s mind waver a little.
"Explain in more detail."
"If you’re close to Kenjaku, then you’d know that after death, Sukuna was split into 20 fingers."
"Yeah. I heard that before I made a contract with him."
"Do you think you could fight Sukuna and win?"
"Well, like you said... wouldn’t I have to try it to know? I don’t like the idea of assuming I’d lose."
Kashimo’s voice trembled slightly.
If what he had heard was true, then no one could beat Sukuna at full power.
Everyone just didn’t want to admit it.
Staring at the peak that lay beyond reach, telling themselves they would one day stand there—that was the only way they could keep going.
Having secured his certainty, Megumi smiled crookedly.
"There’s someone among our allies who’s collected 1,000 points. Under normal circumstances, he should have met you first, but even if things got twisted like this, it doesn’t matter."
"You mean the new number two? From what I heard about him killing Ishigori and Dhruv, his skill is real, but I don’t think he’s as strong as Sukuna."
"He has fought Sukuna and won."
At that shocking story, Kashimo’s mouth fell open.
"A Sukuna with 14 fingers, though. At the very least, that means he’s stronger than a Sukuna at 70%."
"Is that.... true?"
"I guarantee it. You will never beat Yoshino."
If he couldn’t beat that guy, then there was no way he could beat Sukuna.
"Heh...."
"So what are you going to do now? We’re going to meet up with Yoshino anyway. If you promise to stay quiet and not cause any trouble until then, I’ll guide you so you can fight him."
"Heh-heh, so that was your aim?"
"If you refuse, we can’t help it. We’ll just have to beat you half to death and throw you to Yoshino. You wouldn’t want to die like some worm, would you?"
"Ah, of course not. Of course not. Heh-heh-heh..."
As Kashimo wriggled his body and laughed meaningfully, his laughter suddenly cut off.
"The world really has gotten a lot better."
"....?"
"It’s different from 400 years ago. Science has advanced a lot, especially. I naturally learned that after being incarnated."
Instead of accepting the offer, Kashimo was saying something no one could understand.
Anxiety flared in Megumi’s chest.
"What are you ta..."
"Do you know what ionization is?"
At the same time, an enormous amount of cursed energy erupted from Kashimo’s body.
Crackle, crackle!
Because of the insulating tape, the restraints binding him were unharmed, but that wasn’t what he was aiming for.
A narrow storage room prepared specifically to prevent escape.
Gas in the atmosphere became ionized by the high voltage, creating a path for electricity to travel through.
"Kurusu!"
Calling out to Kurusu, who was waiting outside, Megumi swung his staff and tried to subdue Kashimo.
Whoosh!
"...!"
However, some unknown force slightly altered the staff’s trajectory, and Kashimo, ducking away with superhuman reflexes, smiled with a vicious edge.
"Like charges repel each other. Using an insulating weapon is fine, but it can be used like this too."
The negative charge Kashimo had been carrying had transferred when Megumi struck him earlier.
Because it was a property of cursed energy, it did not dissipate, and that became a fatal weakness.
Crackle, crackle!
Not missing the opening, Kashimo shot lightning along the completed path in the air.
An unavoidable blow.
But the result was different from before.
"Kyaaah!"
Kurusu’s scream came from outside.
The pinpoint lightning had struck her, the number one danger factor.
"Kurusu!"
"I didn’t kill her. I promised."
Bang! Bang!
It was less efficient than directly transferring the charge, but at close range he could do it this way.
After firing even stronger lightning than before and destroying the weak point in the restraints, Kashimo stood up.
His uncovered eyes gleamed fiercely.
"So you’re really going to see this through...!"
"Ah, of course I’ll accept the offer. I want to collect 1,000 points too, besides fighting Sukuna. Even if it hadn’t been you, I would’ve fought Yoshino at least once."
But,
"That’s something I decide for myself. Not something I’m forced into by someone else’s threats."
"......"
"More importantly, we still haven’t finished this properly, have we?"
-Now that the troublemaker’s been taken care of, let’s enjoy ourselves properly.
At the same moment Yuji and Nobara rushed in, sensing something was off, cursed energy surged from Kashimo’s body.
"Raise the pitch! Round 2!"
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