Chapter 22

He waited for them to leave, the moment Nanami and Fushiguro were gone, he stepped into the middle of the room. Not a single divine user moved, nor could they. He sensed everything even with his eyes close, but, that was just to hide his form. "I have had enough of your antics, you constantly attack and wishing to obtain a dragon for all the wrong reasons." He scolded. "Quite frankly, had you maintained your ways, I would have shared what essence I had left with you, but it appears that will not happen…"

"Essence?"

He opened his eyes.

His body began to become ablaze in a few sparse areas, yet he looked about the room and noticed the faces. "The same people huh? You were that determined… such a shame you lost your way…"

"Who… what are you!?"

His eyes caught the one who spoke. "Kazue I assume?" he said gently. "I am the very thing you have been trying to obtain."

"You are nothing more than Sukuna's clone!" shouted Kazuo.

"Yes, for the moment, but it won't be long now… this soul is going to become complete once I fuse into it, our consciousness will become one. Our minds and spirits will be merged… and this so called clone of Sukuna… will become one with me."

No one in the room moved. "Impossible…" whispered Hifumi.

"Is it? You know of one way to become a dragon, and that is what has become of the former demon vessel. The other… is for a dragon's soul to fuse with your own. Granted, at the moment, Suiryu doesn't know I am doing this. He has no idea that I am attempting to fuse with him as we speak, but, until then. I will keep silent on the matter, until he is ready to accept me."

Still, not a soul moved.

"You… why… why chose him! Of all people! The clone of Sukuna is going to gain YOUR essence, WHY!" Kazue shouted in rage. "We are the divine users, your power should be shared among us! We are the ones who know how to use the dragon's strength! For it is the ultimate being!" she protested.

His look didn't lighten, nor was there any sigh of sympathy. "Your idea of power, has corrupted you. It is why you fail to see how weak you have become, and why those of the divine don't wish to help you." He said, but the smile on his face grew. "As to why I chose this one to fuse with? It was my plan all along,"

No one moved once more. "You… wanted Sukuna's clone to take your essence!?"

"I didn't think my life would be ending so soon, but being trapped for over 1,000 years really did something to me. My ambitions wouldn't be made true by my own claws sadly. But that is why I am where I am now. I have always thought of the perfect method against him, what better way than to take a part of Sukuna and turn it into something he hates more than anything? Not to mention, make him stronger than he could ever become. I've envisioned this, yet never knew how to go about doing it… until I met Itadori. That child… there is far more to him than I realized, and for that I am grateful. As well, he loves Suiryu. A true brother and one that would understand his situation, emotion and pain he has endured. I couldn't have asked for anything better"

"But SUKUNA!" shouted Hideki. "Master… dare I say… Ryujin."

"Ah, you figured it out! Well done," he snickered. "And why are you suddenly calling me master?"

They shook in their boots now. "It really was Ryujin… that boy… and now… this… thing possesses Ryujin's soul!?"

"Suiryu… you do realize his name was most fitting. It means King of the dragons, quite frankly, as I said before I had planned this all along. Part of the reason why I didn't leave the Itadori boy at the time, the moment I saw that speck of purified essence escape from Sukuna, my dream would be able to come true. But now, I do believe it's time to end this… I won't have you come after this child anymore… nor will you come after Suiryu when this is all said and done." The flames on his body began to go out

Yet a devious smile came over him. "Just so you know… the last time he was here and didn't kill everyone, was because I told him not to… you were still useful… but not anymore."

He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the room jumped as the sound of chains hitting the floor filled the empty void. All their summons… were released! The chains that bounded them no longer connected to their masters. They wasted no time and escaped out of the room as soon as they could.

When the flames went out, his eyes closed, only to open again, and the infamous curse marks appeared over his body.

#

Suiryu took in the room.

He peered about with confusion at first, not really understanding why he was there. "Huh… I don't quite remember getting here…" he muttered, but then his mind appeared to have filled him in, he knew Toji was going to take Yuuji, he sent Megumi and Nanami to protect Yuuji by remaining in his shadow. The whole fight with Geto was a mere distraction to get Toji to make his move… as well as put the hurt on that particular sorcerer. But to be here… He must have followed them once he felt Toji leave Japan.

Either way, he wanted to come here anyways. But he looked about the room and was rather impressed. "Wow… who ever devastated this place before me… nice work. The blood splatter on the wall is a good touch… even got it on the ceiling… Ooo, an arm in the crown molding on the top! Not too shabby…"

He then saw the look of utter terror on the faces of these divine users. "You… You…" stammered one.

"Don't act so shocked that I'm here… by the way… that voice that told me to spare you the last time… isn't telling me to spare you anymore… I've waited too long to do this…" His hands arched up, his talons sharp and at the ready.

Suiryu is about to paint the place red…