Chương 2: Battle Against a Malevolent Curse
'Yuji Itadori' Stands in the middle of a shallow puddle of blood created after The Whale's destruction.
"I hoped it would taste better, I doubt even Urame could make something out of this disgusting fish." Sukuna said to himself.
"Well, brat. I killed the big guy, you can switch now…" Sukuna waited a few seconds.
"Seriously, this is getting annoying. Stop playing games with me and just switch already…"
'I'm trying to switch, but I can't!' Yuji responded.
Sukuna paused in thought and then grinned.
"Haha, I see, then this world really is wonderful. Finally, I get control over this body like I deserve." Sukuna Laughed.
However, his laughing did not last long. Only a few moments later when the red mist formed by The Whale's destruction finally cleared. The ground to his side was struck by a powerful yet invisible blow that kicked up a lot of dirt and blood.
This attack had the power of over 100 men. The perpetrator of this attack was rightfully assumed by Sukuna to be the green-haired woman holding a sword.
"You attacked our forces, and then slew The White Whale and almost hit us again in the process. Yet, there is only one question I have for you. And if you don't answer, I will kill you where you stand." She shouted across the red-painted grass.
"How arrogant, but I'm in a good mood right now so I'll humor you. What would you like to ask of The King of Curses?" Sukuna replied yet he knew she wouldn't be an easy opponent, her invisible attack had a raw power higher than he could use a cleave or dismantle at 3 fingers of strength.
"Are you a member of the Witch Cult?" She asked while holding up her sword in a ready-to-attack stance.
"So you think I am a member of some cult? I can't say I am."
"I see." She answered back yet she didn't move from her stance.
"Despite your slaying of a great Witch beast, I can't overlook your unprovoked assault on our retinue."
"so then, we will take you prisoner. I suggest you come without fighting. For we are strong as well."
"Oh, well this is cute… some lackeys think they can control the King of Curses, Ryommen Sukuna." Sukuna smiled widely.
"Well then, Come forward and get me! But be prepared for a fight for your lives!" Sukuna opened his arms invitingly, he was excited to fight these people, and after seeing some of their moves, he could tell they wouldn't be pushovers.
'Well, she isn't wrong about what you did, I guess you deserve to be arrested here Sukuna.' Itadori commented for only one audience to hear.
'Ha, that's hilarious. If one deserves to be arrested or not, isn't based on their actions, but on their strength. So, I would deserve it if they could beat me… But I'll definitely win against these fools.'
"How arrogant to declare yourself a King. Since you have no intention of surrendering, en garde!"
***
Crusch swung her sword down and unleashed a lethal invisible strike, yet, she felt in her gut that even her power to fell one hundred men in one blow, wouldn't be enough to defeat her current opponent.
Her gut was proven right when Sukuna jumped away from the strike's horizontal path.
'Even though I swung my sword down to confuse him, he still somehow predicted my blow's path.'
"Haha! Cheap trickery won't work on me!"
Sukuna rushed forward aiming to hit Crusch in the face, but just a few more steps from her, he felt the sharp impact of steel on his chest. The force of the impact sent him flying as he coughed up blood from his damaged lungs.
The perpetrator of this attack was evidently the old man with a sword standing between Crusch and him.
"Heh, so even in this world there are troublesome opponents." Sukuna grinned like a child while blood ran from his mouth, and then, everyone looking saw the gash across Sukuna's chest mend itself.
"That wasn't healing magic, was it? And I'm sure someone as cursed as you won't have a divine protection. Seems you are worthy opponent, Ryommen Sukuna." Spoke the old man
"Your speed and strength are decent as well." Sukuna responded.
"Wilhelm Van Astrea" The old man stated his name.
"Ha! If you prove yourself worthy, I'll be sure to remember it after I kill you!"
"Sukuna, while it's true that you have caused some casualties among us. You have also defeated the terrible Whale that once claimed my wife, And I sincerely thank you for that, and yet, I can't allow you to hurt Lady Crusch or our group any longer."
The king of Curses rushed forward with the speed and agility a racing car would struggle with.
He threw a right hook, and while he didn't expect this attack to be enough, he wanted to play with his food some before getting serious.
Wilhelm dodged just in time while swinging his sword downwards. Sukuna's right arm separated from the rest of his body, he swung his left, but to his surprise, Instead of hitting Whilhem who didn't even try to dodge, his face met the dirt.
Whilem Exhaled a large breath he had been holding. His instincts told him a single attack from Sukuna could be the end of him, and since his speed also made dodging him difficult. He elected to Strike Sukuna's ligament on his left leg instead to unbalance him and bring him to the dirt.
Ideally, now would be his chance to counterattack. But as a result of his advanced age, simply defending against Sukuna's first move forced him to pause for a second to recover his breath, which was all the time Sukuna needed to get back to his feet, limbs all fresh, and with the grin of a true battle junkie.
"Maybe if you were younger, you could have put up more of a fight." Sukuna taunted.
He put his hand forward, and Whilhem recognized it as the same move he used to cut up their artillery earlier. Time paused, or rather, it slowed to a crawl within his mind as he remembered everything he did and everything that he saw. His wife, his son…
'At least, I would get to see Theresa again.'
In the shape of a grid of squares, his skin was cut up and blood was spilled, and yet. None of the cuts reached bone or vital organs, it was also by miracle that his eyes were spared. Wilhelm remained standing.
Sukuna widened his eyes.
'That old man must be a lot tougher than I thought, or… No, It's you, isn't it shitty brat?'
The longer time went on, the stronger Yuji's struggle to get control over his body became. While his power may have been reduced by 50% before, by now, Sukuna estimated that his cutting power may be less than 80% while Yuji is resisting his control.
'So in truth, I can bring less than a finger's worth of power to this fight, I suppose it might be fair after all.'
The old man with a sword seized this opportunity and lunged forward. His speed was swift as he aimed to bisect Sukuna in half. And his sword struck true, though. It was stopped at his enemy's spine, which sent a shock to Wilhelm's hand.
'This is like trying to cut steel' he thought.
Sukuna kicked but by then Wilhelm jumped out of range as he held his sword guard up.
"For fighting me without a cursed technique, you aren't too bad."
"It sounds like you are spewing nonsense now."
Sukuna dashed forward to attack, however. His eyes widened as he killed his momentum. And just a moment later, the air in his path made a high-pitched noise like that of a thin blade cutting through the air.
Crusch held her sword forward after this failed attack. 'He predicted it again'
This fight was proving to be challenging for both sides.
"I wouldn't expect you to be weak since you have slain the whale, and yet. Your ability to see my attacks coming…" She held annoyance in her voice.
"For your information, your attacks are completely invisible. And yet, I might be in trouble if I couldn't predict where they'll land."
"What?"
"You make it obvious with the flow of your positive energy, seriously. You don't even know how your own blessed technique works?"
"By blessed technique, you mean my divine protection. Is that somehow related to whatever a 'cursed technique' is?"
"so even you are unaware of cursed techniques. This place is interesting."
Sukuna laughed at just how lucky he was to reach this world after being reincarnated. He brought his two hands together in the sign required to open his domain.
***
By now, Rem and Subaru have closed the distance to Crusch and Wilhem. While Subaru understood this opponent could destroy him in an instant. Rem insisted that she had to help fight against him.
"The stench he has is the strongest I've smelled, I know Crusch confirmed earlier he isn't a cultist but there is no question that he is dangerous." Rem stated
Subaru noticed Rem's eyes widen.
"Rem, what happened?"
"Just now, his stench increased over 100-fold!"
Subaru glanced at their opponent, there was a malevolent look in his eyes as he connected his hands together. This was seemingly a meaningless action. But after seeing what he was capable of earlier and hearing Rem's recent remark, Subaru connected the dots that their opponent was activating some kind of special attack. If his hunch was right, it could be the one that killed the whale, and if that was the case…
"Everyone! Get back now!!!" Subaru shouted before grabbing Rem's hand and they both began to run away as fast as they could.
Sukuna began to speak words, laced with cursed energy, a shrine began to materialize behind him. "Domain Expansion: Malovelovent Shr-Igahh!!!" His chant was interrupted as he coughed out blood. The shrine behind him disappeared as quickly as it came. This didn't happen due to an attack he received. But from Yuji.
He had already seen the damage this move could cause, and when he understood Sukuna would use it right here, surrounded by all these people, He brought out all of his will to prevent this action and subconsciously interrupted the flow of cursed energy within their shared body by attacking their lungs with it.
'Shitty brat, you care about these people so much? Fine, have it your way. I'll let you enjoy the company.'
Yuji felt Sukuna relinquish control, he immediately seized his body back as the cursed tattoos faded from it along with the two extra eyes.
Everyone who was running earlier turned around. Before they felt the presence of death emanating from this person with pink hair. But now, their instincts told them the threat was over.
"His stench, it's almost gone compared to before!" Rem stated
"His ability must have halted, and yet, it feels like that's not everything." Crusch added.
"Don't let your guard down, this could be a trick." Whilhem said, yet he had a hard time seeing the one before him as dangerous as before. His experience told him he was staring at a different person, though such a thing should be impossible.
Yuji took a breath, he was finally able to control his body again. His lungs ached from what he did. though the damage wasn't severe. And Sukuna already coughed up the blood inside when he was in control.
"At least I figured out how to use this cursed energy thing." He said to himself.
"Are you still Sukuna?" Wilhelm asked Yuji a strange question.
"Ah, no, Sukuna took control of my body earlier but we are different people."
Crusch looked surprised at the answer, yet Rem and Wilhelm looked as if they almost expected it.
"Even if you aren't lying, that still doesn't rule out the possibility that you are a lunatic." Crusch spoke.
"Now that you say that… Nono! This is totally real, you see, my name is Itadori Yuji. But inside me is a cursed spirit named Ryommen Sukuna!"
"And, did you let Sukuna do all this?"
"Um, well… Yes and no?"
"Usually he just sits around inside my head, but I let him control my body for a little while. I tried to take back control when he attacked you guys, but it took a while."
"Crusch-sama, is everything he says true?" Wilhelm asked.
"Yes, it is, though, even if the case is that an evil spirit is possessing this boy, it doesn't mean he is clear of suspicion. For example, could Sukuna take over again whenever he wants, or do you have to allow him out?" She asked Yuji.
"Only if I let him out! I thought doing so was safe since I did it far away from anybody. But I suppose I underestimated Sukuna."
'You sure did brat.' Sukuna responded inside his head.
"Anyway… I sincerely apologize for all the trouble we caused you!" Yuji took a deep bow to signify his remorse.
"Alright, I want to ask you one last question."
"Yes?" Yuji responded curiously.
"Now that you have seen what the spirit inhabiting you is capable of, would you ever let him have free rein of your body again?"
"I…" Yuji thought back to before all this happened, he was recently briefed about how strong curses could be. Yet he didn't feel scared back then, because he knew he had a 'trump card' to fall back on. "If I ever let him out again, it will only be to save others, and I'll make sure to make a very specific vow too!" Yuji's words rolled cleanly, and he felt that if Gojo Sensei was grading him, he would get a high grade, which is something that doesn't happen often, outside of sports that is.
Crusch knew his words were sincere. "You have responded well Yuji, am I correct to assume having this spirit inside you wasn't something you had a choice in?"
"Not exactly, I chose to be Sukuna's vessel. It was that or letting my friends die."
'This guy sounds like he lives the life of a shounen protagonist.' Subaru thought.
"Well then, I guess the world is lucky to have an evil being that strong being caged inside someone kind like you."
"That's right, if we fought for longer, I would have certainly lost." Wilhelm added.
***
Yuji's interrogation was over, and the group who had fought against the white whale split into two camps one heading back to the royal capital of Lugunica, and the other waited for reinforcements to arrive before setting out towards their secondary mission today of battling the Witch Cult.
With them was a cat girl called Mimi, who despite being only a year younger than Yuji, had the size of a child, Although, her physical prowess would put MMA boxers to shame. And she cheerfully approached him.
"Itadori-kun, are you also from Kararagi?"
"Eh, no, besides. I'm probably not from anywhere you have heard of." Yuji responded to Mimi who asked him
"Oh, so where nya from?" The boy froze for a moment, not only was a he talking with a real catgirl, but she was talking like a cat in anime too!
"Well, I lived in Sendai until recently. But now I go to a new school in Tokyo where I live in the dorms."
"Mimi never heard of any of these places, and you go to school there even though you are an adult?"
"I'm only 15 though."
"Well, that's an adult here in Lugunica, although, Since Mimi is from Karagai I'm already an adult since I'm 14!" She declared proudly. "If nya from a place where a 15-year-old isn't an adult yet, that makes me your senior!"
"If you say so, Mimi senpai!" Yuji cheerfully responded.
They both chatted a bit more before Subaru approached Yuji.
"So, how's Tokyo these days?" Subaru asked as if starting small talk in Japan.
"It's great! Yesterday I was at Roppongi and besides the curses, it's everything they say about it!"
"Good to know, I was there last year and it was a fun time."
"You did?! Wait, do people from this world visit Japan often?"
"I wouldn't know about that, After all, I'm the mostly clueless and not broke anymore Natsuki Subaru!" Subaru declared while pointing a finger in the air.
"...Haha, That's right!" Yuji had the heart to laugh, despite not finding the joke funny. He had to quickly change the topic to avoid cringe from eating away at his amused facade, and luckily for him, he already had a topic standing in front of him.
"So you must be from Japan too, right Subaru?"
"Yeah, I was living a content shut-in life in Kyoto before being summoned here to this world about a month ago."
"Well, same deal for me, I was… out with my friends a few hours ago and then I was suddenly in this world."
"So, Yuji-bro, you mentioned something about curses earlier, and you also said Sukuna is cursed or something like that, what's that about?"
"Oh that, well it's a long story and I'm also kind of new to all of this. But basically, there are spirits that appear in Japan called curses that sorcerers go to exorcise.
Does that make sense?"
"Did you just tell me the main theme for a shounen manga?"
"No! It's all real, anyway, don't you think being summoned to another world is totally something out of a light novel?"
"Fair point, but I'm used to supernatural stuff since arriving here. So I guess Japan having crazy Shounen stuff shouldn't be surprising."
Yuji and Subaru continued to talk and share details about themselves and the stuff they knew about the supernatural systems they got roped in, which was next to nothing for both of them.
***
"No way, 30 meters?!" Subaru exclaimed
"To be fair, it stopped on the goalpost. If it continued to roll it could have gone further."
"Yuji, you are seriously strong. I hate to ask of you this… no I shouldn't." Subaru shook his head.
"Ha? Do you need a favor with something? Is a bully bothering you?"
"You could say that, actually it's nothing like that. You see, this world has an evil group called the Witch Cult, they will attack a village, and our group will set out to battle them. I was going to ask you to join us. But that would be wrong."
"They'll attack a village? Why?"
"Nobody knows, the Witch Cult is crazy like that, if they have their way they'll… well it will be a bloodbath." Subaru had horrible flashbacks which he preferred to not describe in detail.
"...I think I get it, so they are like terrorists… or curses?"
"Yeah, you said curses attack people for no reason right? Well, they are like that."
"Then, I've made my decision. I'll join your fight, If it's to save people I will risk my life." Yuji said seriously.
"Thank you… I guess I should have known you wouldn't hesitate to risk your life after what you told me before. I guess we are similar in this way, we will both stand before death to save those we care about."
"When you say it like that it does sound kind of scary, though. We will all die one day, so it's better to die doing something we care about." Yuji stated his worldview.
"I guess that's true, I just wish death wouldn't be so familiar."
***
"Despite there being injuries caused by him, they are nothing my healing magic couldn't fix." Felix said to Wilhelm.
"It almost feels like a miracle. So many people ended up getting hurt as a result of his rampage. Yet not a single one received permanent damage."
"It does feel strange, Sukuna's presence was pure evil. And to think his actions ended up helping us more than anything. While I do trust Itadori, I would advise keeping a watch on him, spirits can be tricky things after all."
"Felix, are you suggesting we might have to kill him if Sukuna regains control again?"
"It's certainly a possibility. But even if we resolve ourselves to do it, carrying out the act might be a matter out of our capability."
They looked ahead into the distance where they saw the second half of their group riding on top of ground dragons en route to their location. Their eyes gazed upon the finest knight within that group, this knight also happened to adorn violet hair.
"Julius could beat Sukuna, but it's possible he won't have the resolve to kill Itadori after meeting him." Felix stated and Whilhelm nodded his head. They both wished it wouldn't come to that.
***
Somewhere inside the kingdom of Lugunica, a red-haired knight was talking to one of his compatriots.
"If Satella was to escape her seal, would you be able to beat her?" He was asked.
"Well, if she used her time magic, she might give me trouble."
"But would you lose?"
"My strength is modest at best, It's best not to think about such things." The Sword Saint of Lugunica replied.
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực