Chapter 181 - Is This Hell?

The figure that followed him through the broken window was a spectacularly wretched sight. Kinji Hakari was wrapped head to toe in bandages like a mummy, leashed to Toji by a single rope and dragged through like a piece of luggage.

"You damn gorilla! Be gentle!" Only Hakari's mouth was exposed, the voice weak but seething through gritted teeth.

"Ah, don't sweat the small stuff!"

Toji slapped the back of Hakari's head. "This kid got lucky, hit the jackpot inside the Domain and ground that Kashimo Hajime into the dirt. Too bad the showing-off went too far. Won't die, but every muscle in the body is in spasm right now, so the only output available is the mouth."

Megumi looked at Hakari slumped on the floor, the corner of his eye twitching. This is the strongest below the four Special Grades? Every way he looked at it, this was a severe disability.

"Dad, here's the situation."

Megumi quickly ran through the encounter with Hana Kurusu, leaving out the part about the Fallen being Ryomen Sukuna, and relaying only Angel's condition. Toji rubbed his chin and glanced over at Hana Kurusu, who was sitting somewhat stiffly on the sofa.

"No problem! Since it's Megumi's request, and it's to save my daughter, this deal works out fine!"

Toji gave a thumbs-up. "Megumi, Yuji — nice work! You found the target this fast!"

"Let's go. We're picking up Tsumiki right now!"

Just then, the phone in Toji's pocket rang. Toji switched it to speakerphone.

"Toji-san, can you hear me?" Yuta Okkotsu's gentle voice came through.

"Oh! Yuta, how's it going on your end?"

"Reasonably smooth."

There was a trace of exhaustion in Yuta's voice. "We just ran into five Special Grades. Took some effort, but we've cut them all down."

"What do you mean, 'took some effort'?! You only got to finish them off because I crippled them first with the Four Gates combined with Projection Sorcery!" Naoya Zenin's furious shout crackled through the phone.

"Bullshit! If it wasn't for my Boogie Woogie plus Black Flash, you would've been chewed to death by that three-headed monster! I'm Bestie's best partner!"

Aoi Todo's voice was even louder than Naoya's.

"You two, stop arguing..." Yuta sighed. "Toji-san, we heard about the rule additions you just made. Todo, Naoya, and I are at the edge of Ikebukuro right now. We'll head straight over and link up with you."

"Great! Perfect timing! Hotel, half an hour!" Toji hung up.

Half an hour later, the hotel suite was packed. Yuta had a long blade on his back, the white uniform stained with black blood. Todo had a mechanical metronome fitted to the left arm, and the moment Todo walked through the door made straight for Yuji to pull him into a hug.

Naoya stood in the corner with an air of arrogance, occasionally flexing a bicep, angling for attention. Add in Yuji, Megumi, Hana Kurusu, Hakari laid out on the sofa, and Fumihiko Takaba standing on the coffee table, striking a strange pose. Tokyo Jujutsu High's top combat strength was nearly all present.

"Everyone!" Takaba suddenly produced a large red plastic megaphone and shouted at the group. "Since we're all here, how about I perform a bare-handed lightbulb-swallowing act! The perfect joke to relieve stress in the Culling Game!"

Nobody paid any attention.

"Um..." Hana Kurusu raised a hand, looked at this crowd radiating terrifying Cursed Energy and killing intent, and swallowed. "Are you people... actually the good guys?"

Angel said nothing. The pressure rolling off the gorilla in front of her was too overwhelming.

"Of course! We're allies of justice!"

Toji broke into a grin, flashing a mouthful of white teeth. "Everyone's assembled. Now we move out! Objective: rescue Tsumiki!"

The group departed the hotel in full force.

Tsumiki had been placed in a concealed basement at the edge of Shibuya. When they reached it, Tsumiki was still lying quietly on a makeshift bed, breathing steadily, a clear line of suture scarring visible on the forehead. The mark of Incarnation. Megumi walked to the bedside and looked at his sister's sleeping face. His fingers curled tight without thinking.

"Alright. Proceed according to plan."

Toji stood to one side, the usual wildness set aside, eyes sharpening. "Megumi, use your points."

Megumi nodded and summoned Kogane.

"Transfer one hundred points to Fushiguro Tsumiki."

Kogane announced: "Point transfer complete. Fushiguro Tsumiki's current points: 100."

"Next is you, Hakari — you can go cool your heels."

Toji turned to look at the mummy draped over Yuta's shoulder.

Hakari spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "I'm taking a massive loss on this one."

"Kogane, add a rule — I want out."

Hakari called out in a muffled voice. The rule was successfully added. The Barrier's repulsion force vanished from Hakari's body in an instant. Officially expelled from the game.

"Alright, Yuta, find somewhere to dump this idiot. No use in the fight ahead."

Toji waved a hand.

Yuta laughed awkwardly and set Hakari down in the corner. "Hakari-senpai, rest up here. We've got this from here."

The room fell quiet. Every gaze converged on Hana Kurusu.

"Angel." Megumi stepped back half a pace. "I'm counting on you."

Hana Kurusu took a deep breath and walked to the bedside. The right cheek split open again. Angel's expressionless mouth came into view.

"Technique removal — begin."

The wings at Hana Kurusu's back snapped wide open, and blinding radiance instantly flooded the dim basement.

"Jacob's Ladder!"

A column of pure white light descended from above, punching straight through the reinforced concrete of the basement ceiling and pouring down over Tsumiki's body. The light held within it some kind of absolute purifying force. Megumi could feel it clearly, the murky Cursed Energy inside Tsumiki that belonged to the ancient sorcerer was being forcibly evaporated by that light.

"Aaaaaah!"

Tsumiki's body convulsed violently, and a scream that did not belong to Tsumiki tore from her mouth.

"Hold on!" Megumi's instinct was to lunge forward. Toji grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

"Don't interfere. This is the pain that has to come when you cut out the tumor."

Toji kept his gaze fixed on the column of light. The muscles in his hand pulled taut. Yuji stood nearby, so tense he forgot to breathe. He touched his own stomach, a wave of cold dread washing over him. If that light hit him, Sukuna inside his body would probably suffer horribly too. The light held for a full minute.

As the last trace of black Cursed Energy residue was obliterated by the radiance, the wings at Hana Kurusu's back folded, and Hana Kurusu slumped backward as if drained of all strength. Yuji's eyes were quick and his hands faster, catching Hana Kurusu before the fall.

"Did it work?"

Yuji asked.

Angel's mouth did not appear. Hana Kurusu opened exhausted eyes and nodded. "The ancient sorcerer's soul... has been completely erased. Tsumiki is free now."

On the bed, the convulsions stopped. Dead silence. Megumi walked slowly to the bedside and looked at his sister. The suture scar on her forehead was fading at a visible rate, dissolving into nothing.

"Tsumiki?" Megumi called out softly.

An eyelash trembled. Tsumiki slowly opened her eyes. The gaze was dazed, fixed on the ceiling. Then Tsumiki turned her head, and saw Megumi.

"Megumi..." Her voice was very soft, carrying a faint hoarse weakness.

Megumi let out a long, slow breath. The massive weight crushing his chest finally shattered.

He rarely did this, but the corners of his mouth pulled into a genuine smile. "Yeah. I came to bring you home."

"Megumi! Thank goodness!"

Yuji jumped excitedly behind him and grabbed Todo in a hug. "We did it!"

"A victory of youth!" Toji strode over and ruffled Tsumiki's hair without any restraint, eyes actually going a little red at the rims.

"Welcome back, kid. From now on, your old man will not let anyone lay a single finger on you again!"

Naoya sneered from the corner. "Tch. Making such a big sentimental deal out of this."

Just as the mood fully relaxed, just as everyone was breathing out over this hard-won victory, Tsumiki's head dropped. The shoulders began to tremble faintly.

"Tsumiki?" Megumi sensed something wrong. The smile on his face froze.

"Hehe... hehehe..."

A low laugh squeezed out from Tsumiki's throat. Quiet at first, as though suppressing something of extreme, intense excitement.

"Sister?" Megumi's outstretched hand stopped in midair.

The laughter grew louder. Sharper. Tsumiki's head snapped up. The eyes had changed. The gentle, dazed eyes from a moment ago were now filled with fanaticism, arrogance, and undisguised pathological killing intent. Those were absolutely not eyes that Fushiguro Tsumiki would ever have.

"Hahahahahaha!"

Sitting up on the bed, head thrown back, the laugh rang out without restraint. Vast, ice-cold Cursed Energy crashed through the basement like a black storm.

"What's going on?!" Yuji's face went white, dropping instantly into a combat stance.

"Angel! Did you not erase that soul?!"

Hana Kurusu's face drained of color. "Impossible... I clearly destroyed that technique already..."

"Destroyed? With that laughable holy light of yours?"

Tsumiki, no, the one now in control of this body, stopped laughing. One hand swept the stray hair from the forehead. The gaze passed over Angel, searching the air for something intensely desired. A tongue ran over the lips. The voice carried a bone-deep, unsettling obsession.

"Allow me to introduce myself."

Looking down at Megumi with contempt, the corner of the mouth curving into a wild arc. "A thousand years ago, they called me, Yorozu."

A slow breath in. The eyes went hazy.

"So. Where is Sukuna?"

"I can no longer wait, to offer him the most absolute love, using this body."

A roar rang through Yuji's head. Not erased. This monster called Yorozu had faked the appearance of being expelled, and had done it well enough to deceive Angel's Jacob's Ladder.

He shouted. "Give Tsumiki-nee back!"

Yorozu looked at the athlete standing there and let out a contemptuous little laugh. "With you?"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Naoya Zenin clenched a fist and stepped forward. Yuta Okkotsu's face went cold. The tachi slid free from its scabbard. Megumi's expression darkened, hands pressing together into a seal. And last. Toji Fushiguro shouldered through the crowd. Those eyes, usually burning with heat and passion, transformed in an instant into something that promised annihilation.

"You dare use my daughter's body to say something that disgusting."

His voice was as cold as shards of ice.

"Have you decided how you want to die?"

BOOM!

The floor beneath his feet cracked and spiderwebbed outward in every direction. Wave after wave of overwhelming pressure rolled toward Yorozu. Yorozu swallowed. Is this place... hell?

➤ Next: Exorcising Yorozu, Tengen Stolen Away