Chapter 120: We Are a Match Made in Heaven!

Yuji hovered on the edge of death.

Through the blur of blood and pain, his grandfather's face appeared in his mind.

That weathered old man, lying on a hospital bed, still stubborn enough to scold him with his final breath.

Die surrounded by people.

Help others.

Have a proper death.

Yuji's fingers twitched weakly against the cracked floor.

If I die here...

If I die right here...

Would this count as a proper death?

The thought should have been absurd. There was no peace here. No warmth. No one gathered beside him except a Special Grade Cursed Spirit waiting to tear him apart.

He was not dying after saving everyone.

He was just dying because he was too weak.

His teeth clenched.

I thought I was strong.

He had been proud of his body. Proud that he could swallow Sukuna's Fingers and still remain himself. Proud that Asuramaru had shown even a little interest in him.

Maybe some part of him had believed that was enough.

That he was already strong enough to choose how he died.

But now, sprawled in his own blood with his body screaming from every wound, Yuji finally understood.

He was weak.

So weak it made him sick.

I don't want to die.

The thought rose from the depths of his heart, naked and ugly.

I don't want to die yet.

But death was already in front of him.

If he ran, he would die. If he fought, he would die. If he handed everything to Sukuna, others might die in his place.

Even so...

Even if death was certain...

I have to face it properly.

The moment that thought surfaced, Asuramaru's voice echoed in his mind.

"Then release your desire."

The voice was beautiful, cold, and sweet enough to drown in.

"Destroy everything. Give me your body, and sink into the abyss forever."

Black mist bloomed from Yuji's body.

His broken bones shifted back into place. Torn flesh knit itself shut. The stump of his wrist twisted, pulsed, and regrew into a complete hand as if time itself had reversed.

The twin swords formed at his waist once more.

A half-transparent demon mask flickered into existence over his forehead.

A pressure far greater than before poured out of him, rolling through the Innate Domain like a tide of night.

Yuji's eyelids grew heavy.

Yeah...

Maybe this is fine.

Just sleep.

Just let go.

Hand everything over to Asuramaru.

His consciousness sank.

There was no bottom beneath him.

Only darkness.

The sea vanished. The sky vanished. His body, his pain, his fear, even the sound of his own heartbeat began to fade.

Then Sukuna's voice tore through the dark.

"You brat, wake up right now!"

For once, there was no lazy mockery in his voice.

The King of Curses sounded genuinely furious.

No, not furious.

Anxious.

Sukuna understood the situation better than Yuji did. The brat's will had wavered. Asuramaru was using that opening to seize the body.

And no one, not even Sukuna, knew what would happen if Asuramaru succeeded.

Across from Yuji's body, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit trembled.

The thing that had been dancing with joy moments ago now stood frozen in place. Its instincts screamed at it. The creature before it was no longer prey.

It was a natural enemy.

A rabbit before a hawk.

A curse before something that devoured curses.

Its limbs shook so badly it could barely move.

Yuji's consciousness continued to sink.

One more second, and he would be gone.

Then a wolf's howl rang through the darkness.

It pierced the abyss like a blade.

Yuji's eyes snapped open inside his soul.

"That's... Megumi's signal..."

At the same time, Sukuna made his choice.

"Fine," he spat. "We change the Binding Vow."

Yuji could hear him clearly now.

"As long as you let me use those two Cursed Tools, I'll kill this Cursed Spirit for you. I won't attack anyone else."

Yuji drew in a ragged breath. It felt like he was dragging air through broken glass.

"Deal..."

The vow took shape.

And Sukuna smiled.

The black markings returned to Yuji's skin.

The extra eyes opened beneath his own.

The body straightened, no longer shaking, no longer hunched beneath the weight of pain. The fear that had clung to Yuji disappeared, replaced by something ancient, cruel, and delighted.

"This brat really is irritating," Sukuna said, flexing his newly regrown fingers. "But the Binding Vow is complete."

Black smoke coiled at his waist.

"Now then..."

The twin swords appeared.

Sukuna's lips curled.

"Let me properly experience the power of Asuramaru."

With Yuji's permission through the Binding Vow, the swords answered him.

Sukuna drew the one on his left.

The Wind Sword slid free with a clear, beautiful ring.

The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, he felt it. The air itself seemed to gather around the edge, eager to be cut, shaped, and commanded.

"So this is what it feels like to wield Asuramaru?"

His gaze shifted to the Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

The thing was still trembling.

Sukuna's smile widened.

"Perfect. You'll do for target practice."

He poured Cursed Energy into the sword and swung casually.

A nearly invisible wind slash tore through the air.

The Special Grade had no time to react.

Its body split cleanly in half at the waist.

The upper half hit the ground with a wet thud. The lower half collapsed a moment later.

Sukuna looked at the sword with naked fascination.

"The Cursed Energy output was amplified dozens of times over by a single swing?"

He laughed under his breath.

"How interesting."

His eyes moved to the other sword.

"Arcana. The sword that strikes the soul directly."

Because of the vow, he now possessed Yuji's understanding of the twin swords. Their basic nature, their names, their functions, and the dangerous weight hidden beneath their forms had all flowed into his mind.

Sukuna approached the bisected Special Grade as it struggled to regenerate. Flesh squirmed. Its lower half was trying to grow back.

He reversed his grip on Arcana and stabbed down.

The sword pierced the curse.

The wound to the flesh was not dramatic.

The reaction was.

The Special Grade convulsed violently. Its four eyes bulged. Blood poured from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as it released a broken howl of agony.

Sukuna's eyes gleamed.

"One stab touched the outline of its soul. Is its soul leaking away?"

He observed with the focus of a scholar and the smile of a butcher.

Unless a being possessed a deep understanding of Cursed Energy and a firm grasp of the shape of its own soul, even a shallow wound from Arcana would leave damage that could not be described with something as simple as pain.

"Hahahaha..."

Sukuna's laughter echoed through the distorted detention center.

"Hahahahahaha!"

He was enjoying himself.

Not the battle. There was no battle here.

He was enjoying the swords.

The sensation. The response. The way power flowed through them. The way they turned killing into something sharper, cleaner, more complete.

Even the Special Grade Cursed Spirit began to look slightly pleasing to him.

"Well then," Sukuna said, raising both swords, "keep it up. Try not to die too quickly."

He rushed forward.

The next moments were not a fight.

They were a dissection.

Sukuna slashed the Special Grade apart over and over, testing the Wind Sword's cutting range, the shape of its gales, the sharpness of Arcana, and the feeling of striking flesh compared to striking the soul.

He had rarely bothered with twin swords before.

Now that he had the chance, he intended to savor every detail.

Inside the sword, Asuramaru watched silently.

To be honest, Sukuna was far more suited to being a Sword Master than Yuji.

Cruel. Decisive. Greedy. Talented to an almost disgusting degree.

The problem was that the system had chosen Yuji Itadori.

After a moment, Asuramaru's thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Jogo could not be killed too early.

The volcano-headed Cursed Spirit would still be useful later for collecting Sukuna's Fingers. The Disaster Curses were also excellent sources of emotion points.

As for Mahito...

Asuramaru's eyes narrowed.

Mahito was fine in every aspect except one.

He was still alive.

I'll find a chance to cut him down later.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the system's notification rang.

[Ding! Negative emotions detected from Kenjaku. Gained 1,000 emotion points!]

[Ding! Negative emotions detected from Jogo. Gained 1,000 emotion points!]

Asuramaru's lips curved slightly.

So they had noticed.

His existence had likely already entered Kenjaku's field of vision.

What would happen next?

Would they come to fight over him?

That might not be bad.

At least it would provide some entertainment during these otherwise boring days.

Outside, Sukuna had already grown familiar with the twin swords.

He spun the Wind Sword once in his hand, then let Arcana rest against his shoulder.

"Fantastic," he said, unable to hide his delight. "These two swords are practically tailor-made for me."

His smile turned wild.

"Asuramaru, we are a match made in heaven!"

Inside the sword, Asuramaru's expression did not change.

That is an illusion.

Anyone who picks me up feels that way.

Unfortunately, Sukuna knew nothing of that.

The Special Grade Cursed Spirit had been chopped to pieces. It was trapped in a state where it could neither live nor die, its shattered body still twitching weakly on the ground.

Sukuna crouched down beside it.

"You lasted this long, so I'll give you some praise."

He grabbed the top of the curse's head with one hand and pressed Arcana against its skull with the other.

"But I'll need your cooperation for what comes next."

The sword pierced straight in.

Majestic power poured into the Special Grade's body.

The curse shattered.

Its remaining flesh and Cursed Energy broke into fragments, all of it rapidly drawn into Arcana's edge.

When the last trace vanished, only a mask remained.

It resembled the face of that Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

.....

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