Jujutsu Executor

by CrafterofTales

News of an awakened, ancient living curse catches the attention of the Holy Church. Sent as an agent of the Burial Agency, Ciel must determine if the host: Yuuji Itadori is a threat, and exercise her duty as Executor within Jujutsu Sorcerer's territory.

5. Cursed King, Cursed Bow

Warning: Blood. Cannibalism.

---

The stump of Yuuji's sliced arm bled as he tied the wounded limb closed with his belt, pulling the strap with his teeth. In just an instant, his arm had been taken by the cursed womb. His Demon Slaughterer shattered with ease, as if a mere toy to the Special Grade. The giggling curse danced in place, reveling in their evident fear and panic at its presence, and held its hands up supposedly to its ears as it listens to the painful horrors of the victims within the tunnel. An audience for the beast as it plays with its food.

"There's no way we can run from this," Yuuji assessed, despite the fear in his heart and the weightless feel of his now missing arm, he kept his focus on the curse. "Hey, Sukuna! You're listening, right? If I die, then you die too. If you don't want that to happen, then help us fight this thing!"

The only thing Yuuji saw as a way out of this, to keep his friends safe, was to rely on the strength of the powerful cursed spirit restrained inside himself. However...

"I refuse."

The egomaniac, malicious King of Curses was not a kind spirit. Sukuna's eye opened within Yuuji's scar and his mouth popped out from the teen's cheek. A grin at the despairing situation both first-year sorcerers are faced with.

"Even if you die here, I still have eighteen other fingers scattered all around. I'm completely safe. Even so, I don't have control over this body, so it's up to you if you want to switch with me regardless. But know this..."

Sukuna's eyes and mouth grinned even wider, "The moment you do so, I'll kill Fushiguro here. Then I'll hunt for those two women and enjoy my time with them. That Kugisaki's got spunk, and I'm interested to see what else that other woman is capable of. It should be a lot of fun."

"I'm not letting that happen..." Yuuji said in a low voice, disgusted by the cursed spirit's intentions as he thought the faces of Nobara and Ciel. The time at the restaurant where he got to see a softer side of Nobara. His moments with Ciel and her gentle smile. They didn't deserve that. How could someone be so petty and revolting? He refused to believe his teacher's words that Sukuna used to be a human once. This guy was just as bad as the vampire that did all this to these poor people here.

"I'll end up killing these people in the tunnel too. There's barely any of themselves left anyhow. But you should focus on the curse that's standing right in front of you-"

As the King of Curses said so, the cursed womb slowly takes a breath in, filling its cheeks with air.

"-or else your friends might really die!"

The cursed womb spat, and a blast destroyed the foundation between Yuuji and Megumi. The water parted for a moment, and there was destruction within the concrete floor, as if a small meteor had hit there. The victims around them shrieked, and the cursed womb ate up their fears in glee. It infuriated Yuuji just how much it was taking in all the victims' suffering.

Megumi was stunned, glancing back at the attack that was clearly just for show, to crush any hope of defeating this curse. A simple ounce of its own cursed energy, not even a technique, but a raw display of its power.

They were no match for this thing. Megumi realized this and was simply at a loss. Do they escape? But they can't abandon the girls to this domain. Was escaping even possible for them while this cursed womb was here?

"Fushiguro!" Yuuji shouted at his classmate, bringing the other teen out of his stupor. "Find Kugisaki and Ciel and get out of here!"

Megumi turned to Yuuji in disbelief, and the armless boy resumed. "I'll keep this thing distracted until you guys' escape. I don't care how but give me a sign that you made it safe outside."

"What are you-?!" Megumi started, finding his voice at last, "There's no way you can fight this curse! This is a Special Grade! You don't even have your arm!"

"Look at it," Yuuji said as he kept his eyes on the cursed womb and its movements, its arms spread out as if the cries and screams of the melted victims were an applause for it. "It's having fun. It's not taking us seriously in the slightest. I can buy you time and meet up with you guys later."

That was clearly a lie. There's no guarantee that Yuuji would be able to survive that long, even if this curse was only toying with him. "I won't-!"

"FUSHIGURO!"

The shouted name echoed down the tunnel, and Yuuji turned his head to his classmate. Under the sweat and stain of the murky water, Yuuji's face held no more fear. A gentle smile shown, entrusting Megumi with this very request. "Please."

Megumi stared at Yuuji for a moment, taken aback by how calm the teenager looked before Yuuji turned back for the cursed womb. Megumi glanced at the distracted curse as well, gritting his teeth.

From the side, he noticed the body of the inmate with the nametag: Tadashi. Steeling his heart, he went for the corpse and peeled off the nametag before making a break for it in the opposite direction of the screaming tunnel, his gritted teeth tightening as the shouts of plea grew more distant the further he ran.

The cursed womb finally turned back when it heard the splashing footsteps of Megumi fleeing, and Yuuji stood in front of the cursed womb alone. With another cackle through its teeth, the cursed womb reached down for its baggy pants, and ripped them off from its legs. A black loincloth only remained, and the cursed womb decided to honor Yuuji by making him its next victim.

Yuuji thought it was weird that a curse would be wearing a loin cloth, even more so that apparently the curse was wearing clothes at all, but there was no time to dwell on that. Removing its clothes meant that the curse could move easier, meaning it has strategic intelligence. Yuuji knew just by the sight of the cursed womb's body, his punches won't have any effect. He won't be able to harm this curse no matter what he does. But that was fine.

For all it mattered to him was to buy his friends time to escape this hell hole.

---

"-GYAAH! Get away! Get away! I didn't sign up for this!"

Nobara loudly sighed as she listened to the constant screaming of another person who was in the abyss room with her. The first-year sorcerer was hanging upside down as a large, frog-like curse held her by the foot. There were bodies of dead curses all around them. With no more iron nails left on her person, Nobara waited as the curse savored its time looking at her helpless figure, and wished for it to just hurry up and eat her so that she didn't have to hear the shouting of the other woman anymore.

"I came to hunt vampires! Not curses! No one told us there would be curses here!" The person who screamed this was a dark auburn hair woman. She wore a nun outfit the same as Ciel and in a predicament the same as Nobara. The woman, who had previously introduced herself as Noel before they were overrun by curses, squirmed within the hold of a large, red-cap mushroom curse, who grinned at her pathetic state with its white-cap twin beside them.

"...Hey," Nobara said, barely able to see the nun through her wounded eye, "Are you really partners with that girl, Ciel?"

"Excuse me?! You shouldn't be the one to talk! Especially to your seniors! Aren't you shamans supposed to handle curses like these?!" Noel said back, kicking her legs at the girl, though they were too far from each other for the older woman to reach. "I-it may not look like it right now, but you saw it too! Right?! If they hadn't knocked away my polearm, I would have killed these things for sure!"

"Well, they broke my hammer, but you don't see me complaining," Nobara said, turning her head for the woman, "You hunt vampires anyway. Shouldn't you, I don't know, be used to meeting monsters by now?"

"Getting taunted by a couple of mushrooms wasn't in the job description!" Noel shouted. "I'm just an ordinary woman who got swept up in all this because of tragic circumstances! I'm the victim here! I shouldn't have to deal with all this!""

"...God, I hate women like you." And she especially hated how much of Noel's words were akin to Nobara's words when the sorcerer first encountered with the dead. It really is such a sorry sight for someone who's supposed to be an exorcist, or hunter in Noel's case.

"Huh?! What was that?! Say that to my face again you little brat!"

"I'll say it again and again, since you nearly took my head when I first popped up here!"

"It's not my fault! I was busy fighting those undead! Maybe you need a better makeover!"

"That's it! I'm remembering your face and cursing you to my last breath!"

"EH?! Why me?! It's these monsters you should be blaming!"

The frog curse decided that it enjoyed its savoring enough and began to lift Nobara over to its gaping mouth.

"And as for you!" Nobara stated, pointing at the curse in her last moment of defiance, "I'll definitely remember your face! You hear me? I'll curse you and haunt you for the rest of your life!"

The curse paid her words no heed as it slowly descended her figure into its mouth. It abruptly halted its movement, however, when a large snake bit into its head.

"-?!" Nobara was surprised, and felt the curse lose its grip of her foot.

"What the-?!" Noel shrieked when the giant serpent's long body whipped against the white-capped mushroom curse, sending the curse into its red-capped twin's side and forcing the woman to be released. Before she would hit the ground, a black wolf caught her form from underneath, and brought her beside Megumi, who was glaring at the remaining curses in the room.

Nobara was caught in the mouth of his Frog shikigami, and she looked very unappreciative because of this. "I'm really not a fan of frogs right now..." If ever anyhow.

"Too bad! We're leaving!" Megumi announced, and together with the rescued sorcerer and executor, they rushed out of the room. Noel clings onto the black fur of the wolf's back, screeching all the way as they ran down the mangled halls.

"We still need to find Ciel," Megumi said, looking back at the black wolf carrying Noel, "We'll be able to track her and-"

"No! Don't stop!" Noel said, looking to Megumi. "Just get us out of here!"

"What the hell," Nobara said, barely hanging onto consciousness, "She's your partner. You seriously want us to abandon her?"

"Partner?" Megumi asked, looking back at Noel and noticing her wearing a nun outfit. Another executor? Is she the associate Ciel mentioned?

"I-I'm just saying it's pointless!" Noel stated, yelping as she nearly lost grip of the wolf, "Ciel can take care of herself! She'd tell you to run too! W-we need to get reinforcements anyway!"

"No," Megumi said, "We need to find her, and then-"

A black-tinted sword suddenly slid past them. Taken by surprise, they observed the blade of the sword trace along the floor, slicing through the stone with ease as it sped ahead of them. No wielder in sight.

"That's-!" Megumi recognized that sword, and Noel finished for him.

"That's one of Ciel's black keys!"

"What?" Nobara said, feeling lightheaded due to her injuries, she was almost certain that no one was wielding that sword, yet it was moving on its own regardless. "Why is it...?"

Suddenly, more black keys raced past them. Speeding ahead of the group, they watched as the black keys carved into the floors, the walls, and the ceiling in a spiral-like dance.

"Ah-!" Noel seemed to understand, stating out loud, "Sh-she must be setting up a bounded field! That means she's going to stay behind!"

Megumi fathomed Noel's words and debated to himself as he ran. He promised Yuuji that he would get everyone out of here, but if Ciel's determined to stay, then he doubts he'll be able to convince her to leave. Not only that, but Ciel is strong, and if she stays, then Yuuji might have a chance-!

"Hey..." Nobara said, barely keeping her eyes open as the gross yet warm sensation of the frog's body was lulling her to sleep. "What happened... with Itadori?"

Megumi kept his eyes focused ahead, looking at all the carved lines that Ciel's black keys have made. "...He'll be alright."

He said with hope in his chest, "If Ciel is staying, she'll bring back Itadori alive."

---

Smashed into the wall, Yuuji Itadori lay completely still. His missing arm that had been bleeding was cauterized by the heated blast of the cursed womb, an attack strong enough to incinerate his fingers. He was battered. He remained relatively intact due to his cursed body, but the weight of such an impossible obstacle before him finally beat his spirits to its max capacity.

"...I really got ahead of myself."

Help people.

The cursed womb looked at Yuuji curiously, surprised to see the teen still able to speak.

"I thought I was strong enough to do what I can, to at least die on my own terms."

At his breaking point, he sat in the same position as those who suffered this very fate. At the hands of curses, helplessness fills him completely.

"But I'm weak."

He looked at his missing fingers and arm.

"I'm weak. I'm such an idiot."

He grabbed his face. Tears begin to fall as the gravity of his situation finally crashed into him.

He was going to die.

And he didn't want to die.

It was painful. It was depressing. No matter what people told him, how strong he was, it was in fact nothing at the face of his own demise. Not by age, not by anything humanizing.

"Aaaaahhh-!" Frustration. Regret. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Fear. Fear. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

He'd been toughing it out all this time, from when he fought with his first curses, to when Gojo told him he was going to be executed. The dam that held his heart and mind together broke, and he expressed his true feelings in full.

"But I am! I am about to die!"

In possibly the same fashion as those people melted on the walls. Or those inmates who had their bodies defiled and twisted. And he didn't even get to save anyone in this mission.

No Jujutsu Sorcerer dies without regret.

A natural death. What a truly naive goal it was.

But if that's the case. For all his feelings. His negative emotions. The hatred he holds against those who murdered innocent people. The fear he has at the face of his own painful death. The regret of having been put into this situation in the first place ever since he swallowed the cursed finger.

All of that. Deep in his heart, mind, and gut. His trembling fist clenches with what remained of his fingers, and a flicker of cursed energy is given birth.

"Yuuji-kun!"

Several swords darted from the ceiling. The cursed womb, having been fixated on the despair of his victim, reacted too late as black-tinted swords suddenly embedded itself into its flesh. The curse was forced away as an elemental was casted, coating the curse in flames.

Yuuji flinched when a figure dropped in front of him. He felt himself be picked instantly, and the rush of wind overtook his form as he was suddenly distanced from the ground.

"Ciel-?!" Yuuji recognized the backside of the executor, particularly her posterior area as she carried him over her shoulder. Ciel ran up the wall and for the doorway she had just came through, but upon closing in, the doors suddenly shut itself before her.

Ciel attempted to kick it open, but upon doing so, she only managed to destroy the doors. What's revealed behind them was simply another wall she left a powerful impact to. Jumping to the side, she tried to look for another exit as she continuously ran along the wall while carrying the shocked and injured Yuuji.

Did the cursed womb manipulate the area? Was it that, the closer they are to the curse, the stronger its influence is to its surroundings?

Ciel spotted an opening through the destroyed wall where the cursed womb and Yuuji must have broken through. It's a miracle that the boy was able to survive this long from such an obvious, one-sided onslaught. Before she could sprint for it though, several shots of cursed energy fires in front of her and she jumps back.

Her tongue clicked against her teeth as she started retreating across the wall, with several more blasts of curse energies following her. "My black keys didn't effect it?!"

The cursed womb stood relatively unharmed at the center of the walkway, a bridge that hangs overhead a deep pit that must be the sewers. The curse grinned up at the girl, its body barely scuffed by the flames of her black keys that has since been destroyed. Her weapons shattered along the floor.

It's immune to fire-!

Ciel was forced to jump back down when more curse energies were hurled at her. In that case, I'll have to break it down another way. It's possible to puncture it. I'll weaken it first and allow Yuuji the chance to escape.

Her other black keys were already on its way outside. They'll create a barrier that will subdue all the curses and undead in the facility, which will let Yuuji be able to flee so long as he doesn't stop moving.

"Yuuji-kun!" Ciel called as she dropped him back to the floor. She fought back the urge to visibly wince at Yuuji's state, wanting to heal him but knowing that there was no time. His superiors should have a healer on standby anyhow. "I'm going to create an opening, run to that hole in the wall as soon as I tell you to!"

With that, Ciel sprinted for the cursed womb, head on.

"Wait-!" Yuuji shouted purely out of instincts. He was worried, but then he remembered how easily Ciel was able to kill all those curses and zombies at that other cursed building. Seeing her brave assault at the face of the cursed womb, he felt that she might have a chance at winning against it.

But...

These curses aren't like those zombies.

I may not have experience with these types of curses...

Is this really okay? Megumi even said that she'll need help from sorcerers against a cursed womb. Yuuji doesn't want her to risk herself, especially if it's just to keep him safe. He wants her and everyone else to get out of here so that he can release Sukuna-!

With a single motion of Ciel's arm, several Black Keys shot like arrows for the cursed womb. The cursed womb appeared to be taken aback, understanding that this was not an easy prey like those first-year sorcerers. It instead kept its guard up, raising its arms and defending itself against the swords that came like bullets.

Now-! Ciel sees her opening as several Black Keys embedded themselves into one of the cursed womb's arms. She flicked her fingers forward and her keys reacted.

The swords wedged itself further into the cursed womb's limb, surprising the curse. Before it could react to remove the swords, the swords forced itself further into its flesh, through its muscles in their joined efforts, and sliced through the arm of the curse. The limb broke free from the rest of the curse's body, and the curse actually shrieked in pain.

"She cut it-!" Yuuji shouted in awe. He didn't know how Ciel got those swords to move, but she was able to harm the powerful curse. From being able to move so quick, wall-run without breaking a sweat and all while carrying Yuuji despite her slim figure, Ciel-senpai really is on a whole other level!

"Next one-!" Ciel said. She jumped over the cursed womb who was clutching its sliced arm, her focus on the next set of keys stuck in its other arm. While the curse suffered, this was their chance.

"Now Yuuji-kun! Run-!"

Her attention turned back to the cursed womb's sliced arm when she sees its white flesh beginning to close over it. Its mass quickly rejuvenating. Her mind clicked with recognition.

Regeneration?

Yuuji also noticed that something was wrong, and as he too spotted the regrowth of the curse's sliced limb, his body immediately started to move for the cursed womb and Ciel before he could fully process it. Shouting her name before he would even hear it himself.

Ciel's eyes widened in realization of her error, Oh no-!

The cursed womb's arm regenerated, and it extended into Ciel's chest. A powerful puncture through her torso, blood and bone fragments sprayed everywhere as the curse's arm broke through her back. Her heart completely destroyed. The life in her eyes immediately dimmed, and the air in her lungs went without return.

Yuuji's own heart seemed to stop completely. His eyes wide as he saw the life instantly vanished from the girl's body. The cursed womb swung its healed arm, and the girl slid off from its stave-like limb, falling into the pit beside the walkway.

Yuuji stumbled to the edge, his only arm reaching out but he was too far away from her, and could only witness as the girl's body dropped to the lower floors with a slump. Her body did not move. Blood began to taint the water she fell into, and all Yuuji could see was her vacant eyes.

"Ciel...?"

She was dead. She was absolutely dead.

The cursed womb openly cackled through its teeth, rubbing its face with the blood of Ciel, and dragged its regrown hand down to its abs. It soaked in its pleasure of killing the girl, and the sheer shock look of Yuuji as it silently pegged the boy to fall in after her. A suggestion it was more than happy to answer as the curse casually walked closer to Yuuji.

The curse stopped, however, when it heard a distant howl in the facility. From that sorcerer with the white dog? It could have sworn it killed that animal though.

The curse turned back to face Yuuji, and is met with a strong, curse-fueled punch to its blood-smeared face. A display of volcanic fury that erupts in Yuuji's fist as the boy stared death in the face with one of his own. Eyes that only wanted to see the curse bleeding and dead on the ground. It didn't matter to the boy how much his hand and entire body hurt, he wanted this curse dead.

The curse barely flinched at Yuuji's punch though, not even after Yuuji tried to go for a second punch that the curse merely reacted by swatting the boy back, sending him into the wall he had crashed into earlier. The curse lunged for the boy then, deciding it was time to end their little game and hurtled that boy down towards where the girl fell, maybe even use him as a bat to further pulverize the dead figure he seemed to care so much about. Now wouldn't that be funny?

The cursed womb brought forth its arm and was ready to pierce through the boy the same way he had done to the girl. Instead, it was met with the solid foundation of Yuuji's bare hand. Nothing broke through, it was just flesh that stopped the curse's pure strength, and the cursed womb was taken aback.

A shiver of absolute evil crawled the body of the curse, as the color and smeared blood drew away from its face.

"You really are an annoying brat." Invisible markings drew Yuuji's face, the voice and soul of Sukuna fully emerged as it stared in disinterest at the cursed womb before him, like it was hardly worth any of his time and effort, "And all for a woman too."

---

Megumi watched as Nobara was tended to by an on-site medic, having relayed everything to Ijichi. Understanding that this situation has clearly surpassed what their intel gathered, they agree that the best course of action is to retreat and regroup with other sorcerers who can step in and deal with the cursed womb. Not that there is any hope for one to arrive anytime soon.

"Are you not going to be joining us, Fushiguro-san?" Ijichi asked as Nobara is helped into the car, Noel joining alongside her much to Nobara's complaints.

Megumi stared back at the facility with an unreadable expression, standing out in the rain that drenched his figure. "I'm going to wait here until Itadori and Ciel gets back. Just take Kugisaki and Noel for medical treatment. I'll send word of any changes here."

Ijichi hesitated before looking back at Nobara sitting in his car. "I understand. After I drop off these two, I'll come back here."

"No. Call in a Special Grade or Grade One Sorcerer. If something goes wrong..." Megumi paused for a moment, "Well, I doubt there's anyone who'll show up. Either way, if Itadori goes on a rampage, I'll need to be here and help Ciel put him down."

"...Very well. Take care of yourself, Fushiguro-san."

Megumi did not answer, not looking away from the detention center once, and Ijichi started the car. The car drove away from the field, followed by multiple other vehicles, and the area was completely vacated apart from one single sorcerer, and the two people within the detention center filled with dangerous curses and undead.

"Come back safely you two..."

Megumi clenched his fists, hoping deeply that he made the right choice in leaving them there.

"Itadori... Ciel..."

No matter how long, Megumi will wait for their return, even if he has to stand out here in the rain for hours. All night if that's what it takes.

---

"I was trying to slice you into three pieces. But you really are weak, huh?" Sukuna's voice echoed throughout the sewer system that have since been reverted back to its normal state. Destruction everywhere, but Sukuna himself wasn't harmed in the slightest. He even regrew Yuuji's arm and fingers which had been unintentional, since he wanted the brat to suffer a little longer before he would switch back.

It was a mild flavor of amusement for the King of Curses. The moment he was forced to deal with the cursed womb, after it was ensured that Megumi and the others were far enough away from the king's reach, Sukuna wanted to lure the cursed womb to their location where they could easily enjoy tormenting and killing Yuuji's friends. He even commended the cursed womb for killing that girl in front of Yuuji, patting the shoulder of the other curse like he was giving a "good job!" sticker, but the cursed womb was aggravated by Sukuna's behavior. Ordering the curse around, and not even caring for how strong the cursed womb thought itself was.

So the cursed womb fought with the King of Curses. It was a one-sided battle however, as Sukuna proved to be far superior to the cursed womb in every way, and the cursed king made sure that the other curse knows this.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't have worked out even if I did lure you to those other brats," Sukuna admitted. "Curses are supposed to only linger in their place of origin, not that I have that same problem."

After having summoned his Domain Expansion, even despite the cursed womb's ability to use Reserve Cursed Technique, there was no healing itself once it had a taste of Malevolent Shrine. Not enough to completely restore itself in time.

Sukuna waltzed up to the sliced curse, and casually plucked out the very source of the cursed womb's power. From its supposed breathing hole, a severed cursed finger is pulled out, and the cursed womb terrifyingly acknowledged what this meant for itself. Upon removing the finger, the cursed womb is engulfed in flames, and completely fell apart into ashes.

Sukuna then walked away from the curse without batting another eye or thought to its existence, "Hey, brat! I'm done. Way to keep things fun from me for now..."

He closed his eyes and waited for Yuuji to regain back control. "Hurry it up! If you're going to change back, get it over with it already!"

There is only radio silence. Not a single effort of his soul being pulled back. "...Brat?"

No answer. Sukuna waited in the middle of the sewers, assessing what this lack of response may mean.

And he grinned deviously.

"I see..." Sukuna looks back to where he can perfectly pinpoint the presence of Megumi. "In that case, go ahead and take a backseat..."

While Ciel was dead and Nobara had already left, Sukuna will enjoy his moment of freedom with Megumi for now. "I'll be spending a little more time out here-"

He stopped when he sensed a sudden blockade around the facility. His maniacal grin fell. A barrier?

There wasn't any other sorcerer in the area. And he very much doubts that Megumi had this kind of power either, despite the boy's capabilities though he went cold feet when faced with a 'Special Grade'. Apart from those lost causes in the tunnel, with all other curses having fled at Sukuna's presence, the only other presence he felt was-

"?!"

Sukuna swung his arm back. A black-tinted sword pierced through his limb, entering through his elbow and exiting from his palm. "This sword-"

Several more black keys rain down around him, and a pink light instantly coated him. Sukuna remained still, his intuition telling him to be wary of the pink barrier.

"So you are the infamous King of Curses."

Sukuna raised his bemused eyes to the speaker, who calmly approached him in her completely unscathed form. "You are as destructive and blood lusted as they say you are."

...Hold on, Sukuna eyed at her torso and saw not even a scratch of her nun outfit. I'm pretty sure I saw this woman die.

Not even Reverse Cursed Technique would have saved that woman from death itself. No human could have regenerated themselves from that. If they were hanging onto life just barely while the heart was pierced, then it's possible for even a mortal to recover. But Sukuna was confident that the attack by the cursed womb obliterated the woman's heart, which not only broke through her ribcage but her spine as well. It was an instant kill; he and the brat saw it clear as day. Even if a second party were to heal her, she'd just come back brain dead with a beating, barely put together heart.

Yet the uninjured woman before him stood conscious, and it's as if a switch had been flipped, turning from a savior to the boy to an emotionless assassin for the cursed king.

Sukuna looked at his sword-embedded arm, This is... not filled with cursed energy. Holy magic?

He flexed his injured arm to quickly destroy the sword and restore his limb. However, the instant the sword shattered, pink sparks shroud his arm, and the barrier around him reacted to it.

"Ah-"

The pink barrier brightened and shrunk. The pressure around Sukuna suddenly increased by thirty-fold, and the surprising weight of gravity going against him forced the King of Curses to his knees. He felt his muscles compressed, his limbs immobile, like he's about to be squashed under a ten-story building. Of course, it would take more than that to kill the King of Curses, but it was enough for him to acknowledge that this wasn't some small-time technique being used. Not cursed energy at all.

"Perhaps some time in that Confinement Tower will help you cool your head off," Ciel said, arming herself with more black keys. "Your date of execution has been rescheduled to now. I will exorcise you here, and in the name of our Lord and Almighty, grant you your last rites."

"...Hey, how are you alive?" Not even regarding Ciel of her promise to kill him here, as he still has several of his other fingers he can survive with, Sukuna's curiosity is more centered on her apparent easy recovery.

Ciel courteously answered, though her cold tone remained, "Just as you have the ability to regenerate, I do as well."

"No. That wasn't any kind of regeneration," Sukuna said as he looked at the black keys surrounding him. "Hmph. Not bad. So these are the weapons you 'hunters' use in the west?"

"What you see there is an old model that dates back around your time, perhaps even further than that," Ciel said. "You've never met an executor before now. Unfortunately for you, we work very differently from sorcerers. While my skills mainly center around hunting the undead, I do know how to exorcise an evil spirit such as yourself."

She closed her eyes, "It's unfortunate, but I did warn Gojo that this would happen. While tonight hasn't exactly gone the way I was hoping, this does save me the trouble later down the road. You are far too dangerous to let linger in this world, even more so should you gather all your remaining fingers."

"Oh? So you're even willing to kill this boy?" Sukuna taunted.

Ciel opened her eyes, not a flicker of emotion to his words. "Of course. If that is what it takes to keep this city, and Japan as a whole, safe from your complete revival, then I will do what I must. I am a murderer, so I won't say that I'm righteous by doing this. If that boy whose body you're possessing ends up cursing me, so be it. It's no secret that, should the vessel lose control of you, then even his classmates would have to kill both you and him if necessary."

She raised her hand for the barrier around Sukuna. "In a way, this is mercy compared to what you may end up doing in that body of his. I had in mind to befriend him, gain his trust and stay close, then should the opportunity present itself, kill him when it's proven that your existence was too much for him to handle. This skips that whole process, so I should thank you for your selfishness."

Sukuna would give the woman credit that she is a very good liar. Although her actions are anything but that. She may have actually intended to kill this boy from the very beginning, just as that strong sorcerer said she would, which is pretty cutthroat. He honestly wanted to see that happen just to witness the boy's despair. Of course, that meant getting Sukuna himself killed, but it probably would have been worth the show.

Except now it's anything but that. While it's true that Sukuna would be fine so long as one of his fingers are out there in the world, he wasn't just going to let this woman off after forcing him to his knees. He's already faced humiliation at the hands of that Satoru Gojo, he won't let a second person do the same.

"With how tight this space is," Sukuna stated, eyes wandering back to the pink barrier around him, "You're going to crush me as you exorcise me."

"Correct. I would have preferred a less painful death for you, in case that boy were to feel it too, but it's the only sure-fire method that I can keep you still as I execute you. I could just crush you completely, but I'm uncertain how effective your Reverse Cursed Technique is even as you are weakened, so this will be a slow execution process for you."

Ha... Sukuna inwardly smirked. She really is a softie.

To explain the whole procedure so that he will know what to expect. Such a sentimental killer.

"This will be the last time we'll speak," Ciel said, "Take this opportunity to think over your sins. Should you revive again and still intend to spread death and mayhem, know that you will be put down, again and again, until not a piece of you remain. If not by sorcerers, then by us members of the Holy Church."

With that, she spoke the first verses of the Baptism Rites, and began the exorcism-execution of Sukuna:

"I will kill. I will let live. I will harm and heal. None will escape me. None will escape my sight."

The light barrier around Sukuna started to shrink further. An interesting burning sensation against Sukuna's flesh upon finally making contact with the barrier. He's usually immune to fire, or perhaps while he's only retrieved and eaten a few of his fingers, his immunity isn't as strong. Or it could be that this type of barrier is more than being simply hot. He wonders if this woman uses this same barrier to hunt or trap the 'vampires' he's been hearing so much about lately.

"Be crushed."

The pressure around Sukuna's body tightens, the weight of additional levels to this building mass. What's more, with every word spoken by Ciel, he felt his cursed energy react violently to it. It's as if being faced with Cursed Speech, one that's particularly effective against spirits like himself.

This woman...

To think there was someone like her in this era. He ought to consider going overseas sometime.

He clenched his right hand, pretty thankful that this wasn't the arm he used to stop that black key from earlier, especially since the woman had intended to strike him there.

"Judging by your barrier," Sukuna said in a calm voice, remaining unfazed in spite of his situation, "You were able to gauge my power and adjust the strength in this enclosure accordingly."

Ciel stopped in the beginning midst of her baptism rites.

"Too much would have killed me too quickly and I'd regenerate before you would exorcise me, too little and I would have broken free. In that case..."

In Sukuna's right hand that held his cursed finger, a new mouth split open in his palm, and he pulled the cursed finger in with his extra tongue. "What would happen if I suddenly disrupted the flow of your barrier, by gaining more power?"

Like air being added into a balloon when it has already reached its max capacity. Ciel flinched at Sukuna's words, and upon quickly looking at his figure, she finally noticed one of his hands clenched.

To suddenly disrupt the flow... It can't be-!

With a gasp, Ciel pushed her hand to close the barrier around Sukuna further, enough to incinerate his arms.

But it was too late. Sukuna's hand swallowed the cursed finger, and he allowed cursed energy to surge from his body; an intentional action he had to push himself. A rumble in the air, the pink barrier around Sukuna began to crack.

Ciel swiftly tossed more black keys to reinforce the barrier, but in just a meager motion of Sukuna's hands, still feeling the weight of the barrier, but gaining enough strength for a split second, the barrier is sliced open and completely disintegrated into fading shards. The black keys darted for where the King of Curses had been sitting, but the curse himself was already gone.

Ciel dashed back by several meters. Her feet slid against the water with a swoosh as she tried to look for Sukuna. "Then, that cursed womb...!"

To think it had been carrying that here. No wonder it's influence and power within its incomplete domain seemed so strange. It had one of Sukuna's finger this whole time!

"Now then..."

Ciel stilled when she heard the deep voice of the curse behind her. His breath brushed against her right ear.

"What should I do with you?"

His arm snaked in front of her, a finger slipped under the chain of her cross by her collarbone, and Ciel could feel the tip of his nail close to her neck.

"Should I kill you quickly, the same way I killed that cursed womb?"

Her pulse raced urgently, and Ciel was certain he could sense it too, as the cold touch of his finger felt like a knife against the vein in her neck. "Or should we make this last, until your body gives out?"

Ciel's only response was to swipe at the cursed king's arm with her black keys. Sukuna avoided her strike, a pull of his dagger-like nails that cut loose her gold cross necklace. As the accessory fell into the water with a plop, Ciel lunged away and fire more of her black keys - pulled from the side of her long skirt, as if she was a human bow and quiver.

The cursed king stood still and threw his arms forward, swatting the black keys into shattering pieces. "Good. Good! That settles it then. I'll see yet how you were able to survive that curse's attack."

He closed the distance in an instant, his fist struck against Ciel's keys who blocked quickly. Her voice and muscles strained under the pressure of his immense strength. "For now, I'm going to fulfill my promise to this brat, and have fun with you."

A series of fists and blades clashed. Ciel braced through all the attacks with teeth clenching effort of the greatest feat.

"Go ahead and offer a prayer to your God, but the only almighty to be revered," Sukuna struck at Ciel's hand, forcing her to lose grip of her black keys and caught hold of her wrist, "is me."

He pulled her arm to his side and swung his knee for her stomach. Ciel reacted quickly, however, and blocked his knee with her own. She felt the painful strain of her bones against his unyielding skeleton and winced, pressing her free arm over her knee to keep it in place. She glared at the vicious curse who grinned at her trembling expression under the weight of his strength.

"Very nice." He pressed his knee further into hers, relishing in her struggle and utterance of increasing pain, like she was pressing against a slow-moving semi-truck. What's more, he hardly seemed to be putting much effort. He could easily crush through her knee if he so chooses to, but he wanted to savor her try against him. "For someone who doesn't have much muscles, you could take on a bull."

He kicked her leg aside and goes for another knee-strike at her abdomen, but she blocked it with her other knee. She nearly faltered under the second strike that was strong enough to create gust, the ache of her other and surely bleeding knee almost cost her balance. "Ngh-!"

"And you're hardly using anything to protect yourself!" Sukuna commended. No cursed energy or any other kind that this woman could use, simply her own peak human strength and durability.

Ciel reached for her long skirt to pull out more black keys, but then Sukuna suddenly pulled her into a spin. While all this was happening, he had one hand in his pocket, only using three of his limbs as he toyed with his opponent. He swiftly kicked away the new sets of black keys Ciel tried to grab, unrelenting his hold of her wrist as he threw another kick for her body.

Ciel braced against his kick to her shoulder-arm. The impact of his truck-like kick sends a terrible shockwave throughout her skeleton and she even felt her organs agitated. "Guh-!"

Seeing her disorientated, Sukuna watched in amusement as she could barely stay standing and delivered a merciless blow into her gut with another strong kick.

The wind was knocked out of her, and she crumbled to her knees. Sukuna still clutched her wrist as Ciel held her stomach in pain, she puked water but surprisingly no blood. Of course not, he was going to take his time with her, after all. This was also payback for her attack from earlier.

"It's true that I've never fought executors before. But by the looks of it, you've never fought a curse like me either. It's pretty clear to me that you prefer keeping your distance. Once that's no longer an option, you're no more a threat to me than an ant."

As Ciel coughed, fighting for the urge to breathe, Sukuna resumed his casual talk, "It's almost insulting how that Jujutsu school categorized both me and that insect curse as 'Special Grades', as if we're equal. That cursed womb was nothing compared to the curses in my time. But I'll be bringing back the good ole days, and now that I know there are plenty of fighters like yourself out there..."

He yanked her from the water and have her stand once more. Spinning her, he twisted her arm up behind her head. Her shoulders locked up, threatening to break if she so much as dared to move free, her only free hand still held over her abdomen that felt the fracture of a few ribs.

"I think I'll spread my wings and see what else this world has to offer."

From behind, Sukuna's face drew close to the in-pain expression of Ciel's, "Do you think your Church can stop me then? Or are you going to crawl to your God like worms and 'pray' that I just go away?"

A black key suddenly shot up from the waters and fired for Sukuna. Sukuna only offered it a side-glance, removing his other hand from his pocket, and swatted the black sword aside. "Telekinesis, huh-?"

He was about to admit his mild interest to it when he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword stabbing through flesh. It was not his own flesh that was cut, however, and he looked back to see a black key embedded itself into the arm of Ciel he held, and the blade sliced through her limb without hesitation.

"Don't you dare-!" Ciel said.

Freeing herself at last from the cursed king's hold, she utilized an enhancement magecraft throughout her body and sends a kick to Sukuna's waist, "-talk so selfishly!"

The cursed king would have dodged, and he certainly could have, but something had happened after he swatted away the first black key, hurtling it behind himself without a second thought. He didn't shatter the sword, and simply let it stab into the water. Somehow, his body seemed to cease all movements, his extra eyes gaze back at the sword behind him in befuddlement, and this pause allowed Ciel the opportunity to grant the king a powerful, prana-fueled kick into his stomach.

The force of the impact shook the waters, and a small air left Sukuna's lips, having in mind to dodge and so he didn't even bother to guard himself with cursed energy. Ciel used the unmoving king as a surface to kick herself away from the curse, summoning several more black keys from the water that had been lying in wait since Sukuna broke free from the barrier. They shot for the curse. Appearing unaffected, Sukuna swiftly knocked them back, destroying them this time. One black key he shattered, however, released a petrifying ability, freezing his limb.

Sukuna stared in continuing bewilderment at his petrified limb that held Ciel's self-mutilated arm, not just fire these keys can expel it seemed, and observed as one black key was able to pass his defense and stab into Ciel's severed hand.

Breaking out of his grip, the black key carried her limb through the air and returned to Ciel's side. She caught her severed arm easily as she gained back her breathing, recovering from Sukuna's kick and telekinetically removed the sword from her sliced arm.

"I'll admit, I underestimated your cunning," Ciel breathed out. She held her severed arm over the wound it was sliced from. "Truth be told, I came to this facility underprepared. While black keys alone would have been enough to deal with a Dead Apostle, I didn't expect to use them against the likes of a cursed womb or the King of Curses."

The low apathy in Sukuna subverted when he witnessed the blood from Ciel's severed arm retreat to the wound from her body. The arm floated up towards the wound and sealed it completely. The line of blood that showed proof of having been sliced was closed like a zipper, and under the torn sleeve of her outfit, the limb of the executor became fully functional as she grasped for more black keys.

...That's not any kind of technique at all.

She neither regenerated and made a new limb for herself, nor healed herself in anyway. It was a Reverse type of ability in a literal sense. The best way Sukuna could describe it was through the brat's knowledge. In Yuuji's term, it was as if he was watching a video on rewind. Her arm simply reverted back to where it originally was, as if it had never been sliced.

What is this?

Ciel paid no heed to the incredulous look in the King of Curse's face, and said further, "This will be a good learning experience for myself. In any case, I would like to suggest something to you."

She glared at the king defiantly, "If you intend to survive this at all, then just by fighting for your own pleasure, you're no more of a glutton to me than the vampires I've killed. Calling me an ant would be a mistake, I'd say a 'dog' is a more fitting term, and you are certainly a lion that I will have to take seriously now. However, I've hunted many lions before you. So if it's not too much trouble..."

She gripped the white collar of her nun outfit and ripped it off from herself.

A blue battle dress was shown underneath, with high blue-leather boots that reached to her thighs, and black gloves that suddenly appeared around her hands. A flicker of magical outline across the bare skin of her arms, drawing wings and other markings in a blue, moonlight-like glow. "Please don't make such a dull approach in playing with your food. I've faced many deaths and came back from every single one of them. A little more creativity is all I'd ask for, and I'd hope not to expect anything less from a 'king'."

Sukuna pulled his hand behind himself. His fingers moved in a clean swipe for the black key that stood there in the water. Although there was some distance between himself and the key that he could never grab it from where he was, the black key was nonetheless reached and cut in half. Sukuna felt himself able to move, and he straightened his back.

He grabbed his chin and looked in honest wonder at the girl, who didn't seem fazed by his freedom at all. "...I see."

The cursed king let out a small huff of laughter, extending his hand towards her, "Well, please excuse my manners then. I didn't realize I was dealing with an experienced woman."

He took hold of his own shirt. "In that case, let's start over."

With ease, Sukuna tore off the Jujutsu sorcerer's uniform from his body. A ripped physique was exposed, uncertain if due to Sukuna's own influence, or it was the natural physique of Yuuji Itadori. The cursed king threw the torn shirt to the floor, as if finally waking up for the evening.

"I figured you were just bad at killing curses. When really, you just don't fear the consequences of fighting them." His eyes narrowed, "Now that you know not to make the same mistake twice, I can already feel you powering yourself up to face me. Alright, I won't insult you by holding myself back any longer. Before we should begin though..."

He raised his hand to his chest and unhesitatingly stabbed into it. In a spurt of blood between his ribcage, he yanked out his own beating heart, showcasing it to the girl as he bled through his smiling teeth. "I'm going to make sure that this brat doesn't interrupt us while we cut loose here. Should anyone else intervene from the outside, then consider this kid a hostage."

"...Very well," Ciel said, sighing briefly. "Truly your cruelty knows no bounds. Not that it makes a difference to me. Your execution is still in process after all. Whether I exorcise you, or kill that boy, it all ends the same."

"Then come at me with your axe and aim right for my head." With this challenge, Sukuna tossed the beating heart aside and entered into a fighting stance, the air around him completely changed. For the first time in their fight, cursed energy flowed across his body, flaming red and burning with inhuman malice.

"Let's go, Executor Ciel."

"So be it, King of Curses; Sukuna."

For a moment, it was a stand-off. With nothing but the fall and drips of water around them. Their eyes alighted with their respective energy - one carrying a vicious cursed grin, the other carrying intense focus of prana, and both opposing forces vanished into thin air, leaving behind ripples in their wake.

---

Megumi gasped when he felt the presence of the cursed womb and its domain vanished. Looking up at the detention center, "It's dead? Then Itadori... or maybe Ciel-!"

He flinched when a fog-like barrier suddenly surrounds the facility. He looks back at the black keys that were positioned around the building and could feel every one of them emanating power. "Is Ciel doing that?"

It was different from when Ijichi summoned his veil to conceal all activities from the detention center. The visibility of the whole building was shrouded, as if Megumi was looking at a castle fort in the midst of a fog.

"But why would she? The cursed womb is dead, unless..."

Realization slammed into him, and Megumi gritted his teeth, "Itadori... Yuuji-!"

What should he do? Should he go in and help Ciel? But to fight against the likes of the King of Curses himself, Megumi will be blunt, he doesn't stand a chance. He would have assured Ijichi all the same though if he had been here alone, that he would put down Yuuji if he went on a rampage. But now that the situation has possibly delved into that worse-case scenario, and if Sukuna were to break free from this barrier...

No. Maybe not the worst, not while Ciel is there. But Ciel has never hunted curses like Sukuna before. Could she do it? Megumi doesn't know what or who killed the cursed womb. He didn't have any idea what's going on inside the facility. Maybe it wasn't a case of Yuuji losing control. It could be some other dangerous enemy he couldn't sense. The Dead Apostle perhaps? He worried that if he goes in, he'll just get in someone's way, or if he'll be of no help at all. What's the best choice for this?

"Damn...!"

Was he always like this? To be so insecure of himself and his own power? Megumi was always a realist, but now, he can't help but feel that he's leaving Ciel and Yuuji to die if he just stood out here doing nothing. Just as he was willing to abandon those poor people in the tunnel, having no other choice, no matter how much it truly pained his heart to do so.

Please. The face of Yuuji's calm smile in his memories made Megumi's fists tremble. "Dammit!"

---

The entire sewer system quaked underneath the detention center. A trail of impacts across the waters like cannonballs. Stone being sliced and stabbed by both hands and swords. Pillars and walls broken through. Black keys by the dozens rained all around, several tracing across the surface. And a hail of bullets scattered after the fleeting curse figure who skidded across the water.

"Where the hell have you been hiding that?!" Sukuna laughed openly. He dashed aside as another hail of bullets chase after him.

Ciel aimed her machine-gun single-handedly and fired an onslaught of projectiles meant to penetrate the impure body of an inhuman, be it vampire or spirit. She wasn't lying when she said that she came underprepared, as she only brought two types of weapons with her. The black keys she had carried underneath her nun outfit counted up to a hundred, twenty to thirty of them already destroyed, and continued to increase as Sukuna sets his sight to destroy every last key.

The King of Curses have closed the distance between them several times. His speed surpassed Ciel's, but the executor's reactions were on point. Deflecting each and every attack as soon as he came close, her black keys being her saving grace. They traveled all across the sewer system. Their battle brought them to and through the upper floors. Reaching the ground floor of the detention center that has since returned to normal. Sukuna the pursuer, and Ciel the retreater, but their ability to carve into each other were relentless.

Sukuna's hand was able to slip past Ciel's defense and slashed through her left eye. Ciel bit through the pain, and she returned the blow with a sword to Sukuna's face, gorging his right eye, and he only grinned at it. Within the next moment as they sped through the whole facility, their faces were restored, and it was a rinse and repeat deliverance of slash and cut after slash and cut. Spilled blood returning to Ciel, as new flesh regrew for Sukuna.

"-More! More!" Sukuna demanded, slicing through Ciel's black keys that have suffered enough of his beating, and his hand slashed right into her torso.

"Kuh-!" Ciel felt her ribs cut through, blood spurt from her collarbone down to her liver before she raised her gun, blocking a body blow from Sukuna's fist.

"Don't stop." He delivers several slashes to her body and face with a maniacal grin, "I haven't felt this pumped in ages!"

Ciel did not respond as several keys shot for Sukuna. Two were able to pierce through his liver and kidney, a burst of Cremation Rite that charred through his flesh before they easily regenerated, snuffing out the fire without even reacting to them. As for the rest of the black keys, Sukuna merely swatted them away to scatter and strike against several other keys. However, the deflected keys that remained relatively intact, despite the chips and cracks, embedded themselves into the ceiling, walls, and floors, and Sukuna instantly noted their surge of energy.

"-!"

His grin dropped and he instant-vanish in a burst of speed, backing away just in time to avoid another pink light barrier. The black keys then moved for his figure, dragging the wall of light towards the King of Curses. Sukuna sends winds of slashes for the swords, but the keys moved in a spiral to avoid his attacks, and he resumed his retreat down the hall as the square barrier quickly pursed him, their role of cat and mouse reversed now.

He could break through the ceiling or windows, but looking out there through the glass, there was a deep, thick fog surrounding the entire area. A complete cut off from the rest of the world that Sukuna can't even sense Megumi's presence, so it won't be easy to simply go through that fog. It was a barrier that not only imprisons but fortifies this entire facility. Which explains why despite Ciel's heavy use of artillery and Sukuna's unrestrained attacks, this place was still standing.

To summon a barrier like this, all while using these black keys to chase after him, and not once relenting her focus as her body steadily yet perfectly reverts to her original state. Such a feat could only mean that this girl's magical output was incredibly vast. He had a feeling that she was strong the moment this brat Itadori first met her, all by noticing the energy-infused weapons she had been carrying in that purple bag of hers.

He did, however, notice the flaws in her abilities. While Ciel's 'regeneration' - no, maybe immortality would be better stated, seemed limitless and somehow doesn't involve spending any energy, it was slow compared to Sukuna's Reverse Cursed Technique. There was also how much she was expending her magic abilities, wasteful spells in favor of power-housing her way over anything.

How boring. She was better than that, so there had to be a reason why she was willing to waste so much of her energy even if it's to defeat the King of Curses. He was also certain that she could use cursed energy. An intuition of his really, so why wasn't she using it? Why wasn't she using something that could quicken her ability to heal? Did she not know how to? No, that's not it. Something felt off.

"I don't get you."

He suddenly declared as he sliced through the ceiling, causing the second floor to collapse and fill the hall with debris. The embedded, cracked black keys lost their grip of the surface and tumbled, the barrier failing as a result. Ciel retreated at the end of the hall. She felt goosebumps on her back, and turned just in time to clash with the King of Curses' fist, straining her muscles to hold her black keys against his strength.

"Why are you willingly holding yourself back?"

Sukuna's point-blank question that was inches from Ciel's face broke the executor's stoic expression. He threw a kick at her and she parried it with her own, sending only herself back towards the piling debris. She stopped herself with a drag of her feet before she would become buried with the rubble, and stared at Sukuna in bewilderment.

"It's not an issue of whether you can or can't despite your talents. Not like that Fushiguro," Sukuna suddenly stated, his grin completely gone, and there was something else to his apathetic expression. Not quite annoyance, but just a blatant regard to something that was too obviously strange to his liking. "Is it a binding vow? No, you wouldn't have let yourself die if it meant risking this brat's life when you were trying to save him. You're not conserving your energy at all, and yet, not giving your best either."

Ciel's expression wavered slightly at that. It seemed the King of Curses misunderstood something, for she genuinely was giving it her best.

"That face tells me you were doing just that," Sukuna read her thoughts perfect, surprising the executor. "But that's wrong. You're only giving your best at what you chose to limit yourself to. It's almost like you don't even want to use your powers."

If it was a binding vow that prevents her from utilizing her powers completely, so to deliver them more impactfully, all while abusing her immortality to escape the punishing conditions of the binding vow, she could have still tried to conserve her energy for a more effective means of fighting. Instead, she was just gushing out energy like using a hose to give water, when it could have been distributed better by the ounces instead of gallons.

"Answer me," the King of Curses commanded, a malicious glare at the girl as if his gaze alone could sever her in half. "Just what are you trying to hide?"

Her body fully restored once more after Ciel felt her blood crawl up to her back, closing the wound in her torso as she magically repaired her battle dress. The executor straightened her posture. She has already accepted that she was outclass in battle experience, strength, and speed against Sukuna. Her powered form without the use of her most essential weapons is what's been keeping her up with the curse, having damaged him more than several times now, yet none of that seemed to matter as he had enough cursed energy to heal himself of all the serious injuries she inflicted.

Like the cursed king, she too acknowledged the weakness of her abilities. That's why Ciel concluded that she needed to last against him long enough until she could force Sukuna to spend all his cursed energy for her to perform her exorcism rite.

With the lack of heart that prevents Yuuji from fully emerging without dying as a result, she had hope it would slow the cursed king down a bit, but it hardly seemed to effect Sukuna at all. Trying to save Yuuji was no longer possible unless Sukuna was willing to heal his own heart. Though Ciel doubted he'd do that, considering how devious he was to use Yuuji as a hostage to begin with. Thus, her only other option was to have the curse drain all his cursed energy, however plentiful he must have.

Of course, Sukuna had already suspected her plan, but the girl's reluctance of using her powers garnered his attention more as he doesn't even bother to expose her intentions.

With a shift of her footing, Ciel answered after some hesitation, her face becoming unreadable once more, "I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm flattered that you'd think I might have something up my sleeve, though. Are you getting worried?"

"Not really. I'm just more or less curious," Sukuna paid no heed to Ciel's taunt, checking his nails as if losing interest to the conversation already. "It makes no difference whether you're hiding some big secret weapon to use against me. I'll just have to kill you before you get the chance to use it. It's the same reason you have by constantly aiming for my arms."

He smirked, "Even if you don't actually end up dying the second time, I'll keep killing you to the point where you won't be able to do anything. How many swords have I broken, by the way? There's not so many now as there were in the sewers."

Fifty-seven. Ciel answered in her mind. Only forty-three - no, twenty-eight black keys left. Three of them in my hand, the rest of them on standby. I need the other fifteen to remain outside and keep Gothic Fort active. Even if he could find them, he won't be able to get close to them so long as the fog exists.

There was no worrying over the machinegun in her other hand, as its ammunition is endless so long as she has prana. Yet even so, they seem to do hardly anything but tickle the curse before her, though it must have been eating away his cursed energy. Despite these odds and her path to victory growing narrower by the minute, the cursed bow gave her response to the cursed king without a semblance of fear.

"I have more than enough black keys to use against you," Ciel said as she coldly glared at Sukuna. "Hence, the reason why I'm not utilizing all my magical knowledge, is simply because I don't need them to defeat you."

"That is such a bold-face lie!" Sukuna unhinged his jaw in a distorted face of utter amusement before shrugging. "But fine. If that's your answer, then I won't try to fish out your real reason."

He eyed her with renewed bloodlust that glowed red. "You can die with that stubborn attitude of yours as many times as you like, but I'll have you regret not using all of your strength from the very beginning."

To Ciel, he looked far more vampiric than he did cursed, and this caused her to be on her best guard. Readying for the next strike by the King of Curses.

However, to her surprise, the King of Curses didn't immediately attack. Instead, he casually bent down on the ground, finding something suddenly interesting there.

"Cleave: Spider's Thread."

After pressing his hand against against its surface, the floor fell in cubic slices like that of a spider web. With the power of only three Sukuna's fingers, it never even reached Ciel, but concentrating his attack to this particular area, right between center of the building and the fog where he's certain had Ciel's black keys hidden, the structural damage they've done underground reached its breaking point.

"You fortified this place," Sukuna said, raising his eyes to Ciel with a lax expression, "But even steel can't hold out after its been bent to its limit."

Ciel realized Sukuna's ploy, and felt the entire floor, along with them, descending back into the underground.

This...

Ciel could feel the earth itself begin to crack under the pressure of the entire building collapsing in on itself, her black keys that held her Gothic Fort losing its composure, just enough of them for her to know that the fog will be lifted.

This can't be happening. This is a bad dream.

Sukuna's technique just now. She could tell that it didn't make it that far into the field outside, where her black keys were planted, but taking advantage of the carved lines left in their wake after she had the keys telekinetically move there, the shockwave from Sukuna's attack stretched the new scars of the earth towards them, and the black keys sunk into them, robbing them of a surface to continuously activate Gothic Fort. To have done this within the span of a minute in their fight, evaluating her every move and flaw, all while setting up a trap by causing as much damage underground for this very moment so to destroy Gothic Fort, an Idea Blood taken directly from a Dead Apostle Ancestor she's killed.

Such battle intuition, mastery over his forte, and complete adaptability to even against a foreign ability, it was nothing short of an absolute genius at work, a master fighter. He could have been a legendary hero with this kind of feat, and yet he uses his finely-honed skills for only his own whimsical, blood-craven desires?

"This is how you use your power?!" She shouted at the King of Curses as if to call him an idiot.

"Heh heh." Sukuna chuckled at her with a face too comical for Ciel to call him a curse, and more of a pranking teen as they descended with the raining rubble of the entire building.

---

Megumi managed to stay standing as he felt the entire area tremble. He watched as the fog of Ciel's bounded field slowly lift, and he was able to see the detention center crumble into the earth. Dust and dirt swarmed the area, and Megumi had to raise his arm to protect his eyes from the flying small debris.

"What the hell happened...?" Megumi said, momentarily stunned. "The barrier's gone... Shit! Ciel! Itadori!"

Deciding that he waited long enough, Megumi ran for the collapsed building. He stopped at the edge, seeing only buried rubble. It looked like there was a sink hole the facility dropped into. The sewer system? He bent down in front of the area, clasping his hands together into a dog-sign to summon his shikigami hound.

"Find them-!"

Danger.

His curse sensory warned him, and it happened before he could summon his cursed energy to guard his body. There was a puncture through his back and out his abdomen, a burning sensation of pain. Megumi froze, feeling the solid object of someone's hand right beside his stomach, and he looked down.

"Nice of you to stick around," he heard the deep voice of the dreaded and unmistakable curse, seeing the sharp fingers of what could only be Yuuji Itadori - his body that is. "If you had left, I would have gone into the city. Saves me the trip."

Megumi saw a burst from the rubble. Stone and dirt rose like a geyser, and the blue figure Ciel appeared out of it. "Megumi-!"

She stopped when Sukuna forced his hand further into Megumi's back and Megumi cried out. The dark-haired sorcerer forcibly clenched his teeth, his body recoiling from the painful insertion through his gut.

"What do you think?" Sukuna asked over Megumi's shoulder, a vile grin distorting the face of the innocent boy he's possessing, "Is this creative enough for you, executor?"

"Sukuna-!" Ciel clutched her black keys, her mind racing with all probabilities of every possible scenario she can pursue, everything and anything to do to save Megumi.

"There's only one way for you to save this boy," Sukuna kicked the back of Megumi's legs. The boy fell to his knees, feeling relief at the removal of Sukuna's hand before he felt his head grasped, eyes watery from the rain and pain as Megumi looked to Ciel.

Don't worry. Don't worry about me! Whatever he says, don't do it!

Megumi wanted to shout it at Ciel, but the pain took hold of his throat, his tongue tasting blood. Despite death and despair embodiment standing behind him, his mind remained strong as that of a sorcerer. In the span of several seconds, he instantly acknowledged the situation for what it was. He was taken hostage. Sukuna wanted Ciel to do something. And there's no fathomable way that it can ever be good when a curse makes a demand from anyone - most especially by the King of Curses himself.

"Show me what you're capable of," Sukuna's grin dimmed and his eyes glowered at Ciel. There was no mistaking that tone of voice as he brought his other hand to Megumi's neck. It was a voice that swore he would kill the boy should she deny his request. A kill with Yuuji Itadori's body, and so should the deed be done, by proxy, Yuuji Itadori would become a murderer.

Ciel remained still. She looked at Megumi and could read the plea in his determined gaze. Not one that begged for his own life, but for Ciel to not abide the cursed king's demands. He was willing to die if that's what it takes. She thought up all the possible scenarios, but none of them would suffice. Sukuna was faster than her black keys could reach him. She was too far away from them and even if she were to run all her might, Sukuna would take Megumi's head before she would take his. Even if she can chance it, there's no guarantee Megumi's survival even if she healed him afterwards. No, it was too risky. She won't let him go through that.

She knew, personally, the terrible experience of having one's head cut off all too well, and to come back from that, the phantom pain of experiencing death to the point of going numb over life. She refused Megumi to go through that very same ordeal.

"Senpai..." Megumi whispered out when he saw her decided, at-peace look, "Don't...!"

Ciel smiled at Megumi. The executor was gone, and what came in her place was the friendly girl who walked with him from school the very first day they met. "It's alright, Megumi-kun. I did promise Gojo I would look after all of you, and I don't intend to let anything else happen to you."

She tossed away her black keys. "So all I need to show is what I'm capable of, is that it?"

"Pretty much," Sukuna said with a single-shoulder shrug, "If I'm satisfied with what I see, I'll let you two live a little longer - well, let this guy live, since you won't have that problem."

Move. Move...! Megumi commanded his body, but his arms felt heavy. It wasn't the pain, but the unmistakable terror that has him in a chokehold. Even so, with trembling hands that slowly raised in front of himself, he dared to take a risk under the hold of the King of Curses.

He felt his hair yanked back, and the King of Curses' face was next to Megumi's. "Try anything and I'll kill you both, then set my sight on everyone else in this city. Your classmate Kugisaki including."

Megumi's arms shivered under the coldness of the rain, his wound, and the voice of the curse that shot fear through his system. But as Megumi kept his eyes on Ciel who was calmly ready to comply, he steeled himself, his heart and mind, as he waited for the perfect moment to act.

"Very well," Ciel said. With a gentle smile aimed for Megumi, she raised her left hand, showing the back of it. "If that's all you want to see, I'll show you every bit of it."

A star-like glow appeared on her hand. Then her chest, and then her abdomen. A blue outline drew all across her arms, symbols of wings and circles. An aura began to emanate from her body, and she let it flow.

"Hmmm...Hm?" It was at first an impressed look, then as the aura continued to grow from the girl, Sukuna bared a longer, more focused stare, and they slowly widened at the scope of her magical output.

He was right that there had been a dose of cursed energy in her, but that's not all. Light energy. Dark energy. Alchemical. Magecraft. Positive energy. Negative energy. Holy magic. Unholy magic. There were a great variety of magical knowledge within her. This girl wasn't simply talented. She was a unit that could reach the sky if she put her mind to it. A living rainbow in the night.

"You had something like that this whole time...?" Sukuna said. If a typical sorcerer had somewhere around 20 to 40 energy production, or even up to 100, then this girl was up to 5000. No wonder that sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, had his eye on this girl. This was like striking gold and coming across diamonds along the way.

"What the hell? Is that all natural?" Sukuna laughed, a truly wicked laugh that held ulterior motives. He could see the raw flow of her energy output. Untampered. She had not once made so much use of it except when it's to put it all into a single attack. "What an absolute waste! All that raw talent and you barely want to scratch its surface!"

He can't fathom why she would refuse such a gift, and he frankly didn't care. Right now, though, he's never felt more eager to completely dismember this woman.

With the King of Curses' eyes completely focused on the girl, Megumi interlocked his hands. "Great Serpent!"

A giant serpent erupted from his shadow and tackled Sukuna, trapping his body in the shikigami's jaws as it pushed the curse away from Megumi. Megumi felt his head scratched, deep enough to draw blood, but he'll take that over losing his head any day.

"Megumi!" Ciel's magical output vanished as she sprinted for the first-year sorcerer who fell to the ground. "Hold on!"

Her hands glowed a warm color as she pressed them against his wounds. The wound in Megumi's stomach closed, and the first-year sorcerer was able to breathe better, gasping into a brief fit of cough before Ciel quickly made work to his injured head.

The Great Serpent pushed Sukuna to the sky, until its head exploded from within by the mere strength of the cursed king. He dropped back to the ground as Ciel finished her healing of Megumi and stood right in front of the boy immediately.

He just killed Megumi's shikigami effortlessly-! Ciel was appalled. How could he be this strong after consuming only three fingers?!

"I knew it. You could even heal others," Sukuna grinned maliciously. "You've really been holding out on me."

"Megumi-kun. Can you stand?" Ciel asked, glaring at the curse, "If you can, then I need you to run and inform the other sorcerers of the situation."

"No," Megumi, having enough of turning tail and run, stood up behind Ciel. He held his aching stomach, though thankfully the bleeding had stopped. "I can't do that. Not anymore."

"I will take full responsibility. A first-year sorcerer shouldn't be allowed to fight against-"

"It's not a matter of being experienced or not," Megumi interrupted as he went to Ciel's side, much to the executor's surprise. "Believe me, I would love it if a First-Grade or even a Special-Grade sorcerer could show up and deal with him, but I told you before. There isn't anyone else. We're on our own here."

Ciel wanted to persist, to tell Megumi to simply run. She won't allow him to be put into further danger, especially considering how clearly terrified he is at the face of the cursed king. However, Sukuna ahead of them started to chuckle.

"That's fine by me. I'll gladly take both of you on. But I am going to need some refreshments first," Sukuna interlocked his fingers and stretched his arms in front of himself, licking his lips like needing water after a good exercise. "I commend you for being able to exhaust me of some of my cursed energy, just as you wanted me to. I'll concede that you executors certainly aren't something to sneeze at. Makes me wonder just how tough these vampires are to get you to be this way. I'll allow you time to take a breather as well, but I'll be back after I replenish myself."

With that, he bolted right for them. Megumi could not catch Sukuna's speed at all, but Ciel could. She darted to Megumi and pushed him and herself away as the curse and executor stared down at each other. "Don't go anywhere, Ciel."

With that, he suddenly disappeared into the rubble with a huge impact. A geyser of dirt and stone right from the hole Ciel came out of, only this time, it was an entryway for the cursed king.

"He's going underground?" Ciel's eyes widened. "Replenish himself. Don't tell me-?!"

In that boy's body? How heinous can he be?!

Ciel instantly ran for the hole Sukuna departed to and-

"Malevolent Shrine."

-a sudden danger signal slammed into both her and Megumi's senses, and she immediately retreated, carrying the surprised Megumi along with her over her shoulder.

"Ch!" Ciel clicked her teeth. She had seen the effects of Malevolent Shrine when she hid herself from the cursed king's senses, stilling her heart from uttering any pulse. She saw how the cursed womb was sliced into five pieces. That ability of Sukuna, his Domain Expansion, was extremely powerful.

She didn't care if she died, but the same can't be said for Megumi as she carried him quickly out of the perimeters of the detention center. She didn't know how far Sukuna's Domain Expansion reached from underground, but it was a gamble she was not willing to take. Sukuna would be so willing as to use the remainder of his cursed energy for a decisive blow against her, that it didn't matter if she chased after him alone. If he were to immediately kill her, then he'll take the opportunity to not only 'replenish' himself but kill Megumi afterwards, and then have the rest of the city his next target before her body can fully restore itself.

She mustn't panic. She had to think over this logically and consider all her options. She was underequipped with a limited number of black keys, and her machinegun was lost in the rubble. There was only so much time to spare, and with this opportunity of the cursed king's departure, if he were to get his replenishing just as he said he would, then he'll become even more powerful however momentary it will be.

There was only one option left then. "Megumi-kun! I need you to do something for me!"

Megumi looked at the back of Ciel's head, a bit taken aback by how fast she was going before she stopped at the forest area, the detention center still viewed from afar before Ciel makes a complete stop. "Senpai, what are you-?"

"Please. I need you to listen to me," Ciel said with the utmost sincerity. She sets down Megumi and looked at him in the eyes, "You're the only one I can rely on. If we don't hurry, not even I can stop Sukuna."

Megumi blinked at the soft, entrusted gaze in Ciel, a gaze that reminded him of Yuuji. He hesitated with a faltering look, before meeting her eyes again, "...What do you need me to do?"

---

Within the underground of the collapsed building, Sukuna was able to swiftly dig his way through it all with the help of his summoned domain. It helped as well that his domain was able to keep the executor from pursuing, prioritizing Megumi's life even if she herself would just revive again. He'll figure out how her immortality works, but for now, should that woman decide to get serious, he'll be needing all the energy he can accumulate, and arrived to the place of his solution.

"Hoh. Looks like they've died during the collapse."

Despite his precision of his Cleave attack, all the melted victims in the tunnel have fallen apart. The tunnel remained somewhat intact that it didn't completely cave in on itself, it makes for easier access and all. But the shockwave had rupture the bodies of the victims enough to rip them off the walls, essentially tearing themselves away from their life essence. They probably never even realized what happened before dying right away.

"Ah well. It was bound to happen anyway. At least their blood is still fresh."

With the swift movement of his arm, his fingers sliced into the blood packs of the once living human beings. He wanted to eat them alive or kill them himself just to torment the brat inside him, but it seemed this was the result of having only swallowed three of his cursed fingers so far.

"Pretty sure when that woman said she'd 'take care' of these people, she was just going to kill them. Good thing she didn't get a chance to."

He'll offer that dead cursed womb a small bit of his gratitude, though that's the furthest his kindness will reach for that foolish curse.

"This might also keep you suppressed. Not that I'm worried. After that pathetic display over your life, you're not gonna come out with a missing heart."

Which reminds him, he'll have to rip it out again after his cursed energy replenishes. His hands dove into the bodies of the blood bag victims, carrying several stilled hearts in a single hand, and feast into them with a ferocious chomp, unhinging the bones and muscles of his facial features for better intake as he sunk his slimy teeth into their red flesh.

---

Ciel stood underneath the rain, alone in the middle of the field, the ruined facility before her. Megumi had left not too long ago on his shikigami Nue, leaving her mind free of any worries.

She took a deep breath in and exhaled, her heart beating calmly, her body powered with her max capacity of energy, and black keys stood all around her, having called them from their respective places. She needed every key at her disposal, and so decided against using Gothic Fort a second time, having no other weapons on her person except for these swords should Sukuna be able to escape the barrier again. It was certainly a risk, but the potential cost of that alternate path should her barrier fail was too great for her to take.

With this, she'll be able to buy herself enough time until Megumi's return. She considered using her other Idea Bloods, but they were either too destructive, time-consuming, or unfit for direct combat with the King of Curses unless she can change their structure in the midst of battle, but that would also take too much time and focus.

No, this is the only way. And so she waited before the edge of Sukuna's domain reach, being able to sense it now after getting in touch with her cursed energy despite her own inexperience and lack of use in it.

It felt vile. The sensation of Sukuna's malicious domain, and her own taste of cursed energy. The King of Curses was correct to perceive Ciel of not wanting to use her powers, and the reason for that was because she completely hated them. She hated her powers with every fiber of her being, and was thankful that, despite what the Holy Church had done to her, their zealous and albeit hypocritical stance towards magecraft was what kept Ciel from using them all that much.

If she were imposed to use them more just as Gojo wanted her to, she would have felt disgusted with herself to the point where she would rather skin herself alive and tear out all the energy outlet from her body, however pointless it was thanks to her innate curse.

Now, though, it seemed she had no other choice but to lean into them a little more. At this moment, she felt the presence of Sukuna's domain disappear.

"So that guy decided to run off after all? Good. It'll be just you and me then."

She heard the voice of the returned king, the epitome of a natural disaster without a heart.

"I told you I'd make you regret not using your full power from the beginning."

Ciel raised her head for the cursed king who stood upon the rubble, and she noticed with an impassive stare the new blood in his mouth.

"Now, because of that, because of you..."

His thumb and finger pressed against the corners of his smile, the face of true evil as he widely grinned at her with his bloody teeth. "This kid's a cannibal!"

For the first time and to the triumph of Sukuna, Ciel revealed her emotions at its barest in her gaze alone: anger.

"If you're done gloating," Ciel said in a leveled voice, "Then let's continue where we left off. Your judgement has come, and as executor, I will deliver you your penance you have long been due of."

---

Megumi braced through the rain as he held onto the bird's foot of Nue. His stomach hurt, but he ignored it as he focused ahead with the black key clutched in his other hand. He soon spotted the location Ciel told him of and ordered Nue to fly towards it.

The school of Metropolitan Souya High School was closed and vacant at this hour. His flying shikigami brought him to the roof and Megumi dropped right on top of it. He immediately summoned his next animal, the black wolf substituting his dead Divine Dog, and offered the shikigami wolf Ciel's black key.

"Find its scent."

The black wolf sniffed at the sword, then turned its nose down to the floor. It trailed across the roof, looking, searching.

Its head perked up and barked, running towards the wall of the roof's bulkhead that led back down into the school. The wolf shikigami pawed at the wall, but never crossing the open space between itself and there.

Megumi approached the spot where his wolf stopped. Reaching down, he felt the fabric of something invisible, and he yanked it.

The invisible cloak fluttered under his grip, as the treasure it was concealing now exposed itself under Megumi's sight. No doubt about it, this was what Ciel needed him to bring.

"But..." He grimaced deeply, "How the hell do I carry this back?"

Unfortunately, this was a detail the executor herself forgot to consider, as if not understanding that not everybody had super-strength like she does - well, apart from Yuuji anyway.

"…"

It was going to be a long trip for him. Unless…

---

At an abandoned building, two figures fired through like missiles, crashing from one side and bursting out from the other. Black keys flew all around the pursuing cursed king as he slashed through the body of the cursed bow repeatedly. His grin manic at what may as well be a toy at his very own disposal, while the executor battered against him with her keys like he was some mad dog in need of discipline.

They leapt between and over buildings, vacant due to undergoing constructions. They sprinted across rooftops, leaving nothing but carved destruction after every arrival and departure. Ciel was on the constant receiving end and couldn't afford to move beyond this. If she relents once, their fight would be driven further into the city where civilians roam. That absolutely cannot happen, and so all she can do is endure the cursed king's assault.

"If you're going to stand your ground," Sukuna said, reading her intentions like a book, "Then stop acting like a bow."

Several more black keys suddenly hailed down over him, and he backed away in time to avoid them. Being pierced by those swords, or even destroying them damaged his curse body greatly, expending his cursed energy to restore himself through Reverse Cursed Technique. They seemed to be the executor's only weapons, which means that if Sukuna were to destroy them all, then she'd be left with nothing by herself to fend with.

Sukuna observed as several black keys that were embedded on the rooftop began to chase after him, cutting through the stone, looking to create another barrier to pin him down.

"Or better yet," Sukuna suddenly said, "How about I show you what it's like to fight a real archer?"

The moment he swiped to break all of the four swords, they lifted from the ground and shot for him - proving his theory that Ciel was running low of black keys, and so would rather have them be used cautiously than risk their damage. Sukuna ducked and grabbed the handle of a black key, instantly dodging from the rest as he landed at the edge of the roof. His hand caught aflame as he moved, and the black key was swarmed in its element that was more intense than that of the Cremation Rite.

Ciel waited for a reaction to occur, but nothing of that manner happened. No rite that would explode upon reaching the curse, nor was it even responding to her telekinesis, and she was baffled. "How-?"

"Your swords aren't simply metal. They're made with energy," Sukuna determined, looking at the black key covered in his red flames, "Looks like a little bit of 'impurity' is enough to turn it into a dud."

Ciel bit down her teeth to avoid reflexively retorting. But that's still not possible!

The black keys are instruments of the Holy Church, no cursed energy or curse for that matter, not even if he were the king himself, could simply infiltrate the Holy Scripture elements of the black keys. Unless...

"It can't be... you-!"

Despite the foreign qualities the black keys were to him, he nonetheless understood their conceptualized existence. Such recognition of 'holy magic' could only mean the extensive knowledge the King of Curses possessed. He knew both sides of being havoc and healer. Had he truly been something of a saint once in his life-?

Sukuna merely grinned at her, as if knowing what was on her mind, and Ciel grimaced, realizing how truly in trouble she was in. Having these swords that could damage and purge the body of an inhuman such as a curse, it was her only saving grace. But should Sukuna be able to rid the effects of those, she'd not only be at a disadvantage, she'd be completely weaponless.

"At my state, with just three cursed fingers, this fire alone won't be enough to kill you instantly." He decided to leave it up to her imaginations whether that was a good thing or not. "That's why..."

He held up the cursed black key, "I'm going to borrow your 'arrow' for a bit."

A string of fire conjured in between his finger and thumb, he pulled the red handle of the black key back against it and to his ear. Ciel immediately threw the black keys from her hands to aid her defense. She could simply dodge, but behind her was a public area. Gauging the power behind that cursed black key, it has enough literal firepower to decimate a building.

The cursed black key was fired, and Ciel braced herself, feet firmly in place as several of her black keys flew directly for the flaming one. The first of her swords met the tip of the cursed black key, but it did not stop it. Black key after black key, they stacked onto each other to add more force into stopping the cursed black key. The final and fifth key - though certainly not the end of her steadily depleting stock, was able to crack into the cursed black key and had it stop in the air.

Then Sukuna punched into the handle of the cursed black key. His and all of Ciel's black keys shattered at the impact, and he pushed through, delivering a strong blow to her gut.

"Guh-!" Ciel felt the impact, it was too late for her to raise her one key which would have simply broke on contact, but at the last possible second, she reinforced energy to her stomach. It was akin to having her life saved by an air bag after her car was struck by a speeding vehicle. The attack still hurt, but it was better than to puke out blood or even her organs.

"Nice-!" Sukuna complimented as she was hurtled back by his punch, then his face was struck by her one black key. His head reeled back, feeling the petrification of Ciel's Internment Rite. Ciel dragged her feet against the concrete of the roof, her heel smashed through the edge of the building but she ignored its scrape, and rushed back for Sukuna.

At his brief moment of pause, Ciel focused more energy into her foot and delivered a strong kick to Sukuna's stomach. She hated the feeling of prana flowing through her veins, like cold water poured through her blood streams, but tonight was a special case. For the likes of the King of Curses, she will even use magic to defeat him.

However, she could feel Sukuna had guarded his stomach with cursed energy, and he grasped her ankle. He threw her over his body and smashed her back against the roof, the wind knocked out of her as the roof itself shattered. The ten-story building they stood upon began to crumble.

As they fell, Ciel's head bled, and Sukuna was ready to slash at her body when several black keys came to her defense, a few of them firing below his waist.

"Whoa!" Sukuna quickly kicked away the black keys that aimed for his 'sensitive' area. "You sure don't fight as nicely though."

He could easily regenerate, but he would rather not have that hurt.

One of the swords flew to Ciel and she grasped at its red handle. The black key pulled her across the air and away from the falling wreckage. The rest of her swords resumed their ceaseless assault on the curse as he deflected each and every one of them in his descent.

I think it's time to get rid of these 'arrows' of hers, Sukuna decided and brought his hands together, risking himself to be pierced. "Domain Expansion."

Ciel's eyes widened when she saw what he was about to do and immediately raised her hand. All of her black keys surround the cursed king, apart from the one she held and two more joining her in flight. A dozen of her black keys embedded themselves against the falling slabs of stone, pink energy emanating from them. The other dozen fired for the curse, igniting with Cremation Rite.

"Idea Blood No. 22-" The executor uttered. Ciel had to abandon all caution. At the threat of Sukuna releasing his domain, it was all or nothing now.

"Malevolent Shrine."

"Chromclay Pera!"

The pink barrier activated around Sukuna. An intense pressure within the enclosure as the light brightened, determined to crush the curse. At the same time, the ignited black keys exploded into the flames of her rite, and the orange fire swarmed within the barrier completely.

The building completed its collapse. A huge wall of dirt and debris smoked the entire area. Pulled by her flying black key, Ciel overlooked the damage from above, relieved that no one had been inside or anywhere near this part of the city.

Her relief came to a short end when Sukuna jumped out of the smoke. His body burnt and reached high into the sky, looking down over Ciel. The charred flesh regenerated over his grinning skull as he openly stated to her.

"I like you."

He held out the shattered remains of Ciel's black keys. Having destroyed every one of her swords with his shrine and escaped the barrier, he proceeded to fire the shards with his flaming bow-like fingers.

Ciel quickly retreated to the ground, grasping the last three of her black keys and sprinted across the street. She moved to dodge the hellish rain brought down by the cursed king, hearing his loud cackling at the irony of her swords now being used against her. She felt the pain of the cursed shards cut over her shoulders, arms, and legs, but she resumed down the streets without pause.

"-I welcome those who have grown old and those who have lost.

Devote yourself to me, learn from me, and obey me.

Rest. Do not forget song, do not forget prayer, and do not forget me."

Ciel began her chant of the Baptism Rite. While it would have been better if she could perform it directly to the cursed king, she knew she no longer had that option, and instead inserted the effects of her holy mantra into her three remaining black keys. By now, Megumi should have already reached the school. Should her exorcism fail, there was still her strongest weapon yet, their last hope of victory against the King of Curses.

But she won't let herself lax into that hope. Part of the reason she sent Megumi away was to keep him safe and didn't intend to let him back into the fray. Thus, she will put her all into this final attack. Just these three black keys will be enough. She will exorcise the curse here and now.

It is regrettable that an innocent person must die for her to achieve this, but this is the life of an executor, and the life of a sorcerer as well. However, she will not forget that boy, and she will not forget her prayers over his soul. Despite Yuuji and Sukuna sharing the same body, she truly hopes that Yuuji will not be dragged into hell along with that curse.

And should that be the case, well, she'll gladly apologize to him when she sees him there.

"I am light and relieve you of all your burdens.

Do not pretend. Retribution for forgiveness, betrayal for trust, despair for hope, darkness for light, dark death for the living.

Relief is in my hands. I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark.

Eternal life is given through death."

She could sense the curse right on her tail. Sukuna was faster than her, so she had to continuously enhance her own speed and make abrupt turns around buildings to keep herself ahead. She ultimately jumped through the window of a vacant establishment and turned back to the opening. Holding her black keys readily, she waited for the curse to arrive.

"— Ask for forgiveness here. I, the incarnation, will swear."

She only needed a moment. To stun the cursed king for a single moment, be it barrier or rite.

"Kyrie-"

However, she made an oversight. Rather than chase her through the window, Sukuna easily broke through the ceiling of this five-story building. Mere brick wouldn't deter the likes of the King of Curses himself, after all.

"Elei-khah-!"

Her three black keys were shattered in a single strike and Sukuna's hand jabbed into Ciel's throat. She smashed against the wall with enough force to crack the entire building in half, and the very half of it fell apart after Sukuna's destructive entrance.

The cold rain fell over their shoulders as Ciel struggled to breathe. Held in a chokehold by Sukuna's grip as she felt the stone behind her fracture, her skeleton barely avoiding the same fate after having imbued herself with reinforcement energy, which are now beginning to deplete the more her brain loses its oxygen.

"You should save that for someone who's actually looking to repent," Sukuna taunted. There was still some blood in his teeth as he grinned at her, "Still, though, you were a wonderful match. It's not often that a single person would have me use so much of my cursed energy. Twice, at that."

Ciel struggled to pry herself from the cursed king's grip, grabbing his arm that didn't budge. The air completely cut off from flowing in and out of her lungs as his strength alone could snap her neck easily.

"Now then," Sukuna's face drew closer to Ciel's, "Let's have a closer look at that body of yours."

He grasped the side of her increasingly pink face. With the sharp nail of his thumb, he cuts across her cheek. Ignoring Ciel's attempt to push him away with her foot, he watched as her blood fell from the wound, trailing down across his thumb before it suddenly stopped, then retreated back up to the cut where the wound sealed itself afterwards.

"Huh..." A look of genuine incredulity upon the usually apathetic curse. He held his chin with his free hand. "I've never seen that before. It doesn't look like you're doing it on purpose either."

He cuts her cheek again and watched the same process unfold. "It's not a cursed technique. Or any other kind like it."

It was the first time he was at a loss at what he was seeing. His eyes narrowed. "If you're not doing this, then what?"

He felt a familiar presence behind him and offered a disinterested glance back over his shoulder. "Decided to come back after all, huh?"

Megumi dropped under Nue as he and his black wolf shikigami angrily glared at the King of Curses. Sukuna felt Ciel flinch under his hold, seemingly surprised to see the boy returned. Sukuna didn't sense any other presence with Megumi. It more or less looked like the shadow curse user finally made up his mind to face the cursed king head on.

Sukuna would have happily obliged under any normal circumstances, but he was in the midst of a puzzling matter that he's determined to uncover. Maybe if he were to split open this woman's skull and get a good look at her brain, he might be able to find his answer there.

"Wait your turn," Sukuna ordered the first-year sorcerer. The curse turned back to Ciel who was repeatedly losing conscious, the fight in her limbs growing weak. "I'm trying to figure out something here. I'll get to you when I can."

"Eyes over here, king."

Sukuna stilled when he felt quite an impressive flow of controlled cursed energy from behind him, and he turned once more at the shadow curse user, who raised his stance to fight the powerful curse.

"Or you won't be able to see what will kill you," Megumi's face cleared of his earlier anger, and what simply stood here was a focused sorcerer ready to give it his all.

Sukuna stared at the curse-fueled sorcerer in genuine surprise. His mind over the woman's strange nature of her ability set aside, as he found another source of his interest.

This is one hell of an era, the King of Curses deemed, grinning at the sight of Megumi as the sorcerer ordered Nue and his black wolf to go towards the curse. To think that Sukuna would be striking two gold mines in one night.

Nue reached Sukuna first and dove for him. The King of Curses jumped back, taking Ciel along with him. He could see sparks of what might be lightning emitting from the bird shikigami, but because the cursed king still had Ciel by the throat, the first-year sorcerer wasn't going to risk hurting her. It gave the curse an advantage, although he wondered if Megumi was just being sentimental, or if the sorcerer was even aware of Ciel's immortality?

Megumi chased after the curse with intense focus, signaling Nue to circle behind the curse, and Sukuna's right the black wolf shikigami. "Alright then, Fushiguro. Show me if you can save this woman-!"

He heard the drop of a sword and his body ceased all movements. His excitement disappeared and he turned his head around. A single black key pierced at his shadow, dropped by Nue who had the sword hidden in its feathers. At the curse's forceful stop, Megumi dropped below Sukuna's outstretched arm, and pushed both his hands against the ground.

"OUT!" Megumi shouted after a deep breath, as if commanding some hidden beast from underground.

From the darkness that came from his feet, a weapon erupted, and the blunt, pointed end of it broke through the flesh and bones of Sukuna's arm.

Ciel finally gasped for air as she tore off the severed hand from her throat, without letting herself a moment to even recover, her body reacted. Reinforcement returned to her system as she grasped the side of the weapon by its handle. The pile-bunker, the Seventh Holy Scripture, was now in her possession.

Sukuna's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. From just that instance of feeling its razor point that was able to easily tear through the tough muscles of his arm, he felt his cursed energy shrieked and parted. Oh, that's actually not good.

It wasn't a mere weapon. It was a soul-destroyer.

Megumi hopped back at that instance, allowing Ciel the freedom to swing her pile-bunker without restraint, and she lets out a mighty yell.

Sukuna's severed arm regrew, instantly slicing the black key behind himself as Ciel drew the pulverizing end of her heavy weapon to his gorged-out chest. Megumi ordered his wolf and Nue to assist Ciel. The shikigamis rushed for Sukuna as the King of Curses raised his other arm for the girl.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. The sound of metal penetrating flesh boomed across the area, and a hand cutting through stone that could sever a body in half. Nue and the black wolf dashed past the two figures, and everyone stopped at the scene.

Ciel stared astounded as she felt Sukuna's cursed technique pass by her face, not even a graze. Instead, the attack left an enormous scar that sliced through the entire building behind her. An intentional miss.

"...Why... Why did you...?" Rain continued to pour down all around them as Ciel asked in a soft voice. Megumi also stared in shock as his shikigamis returned to his side.

There was no response to her question. However, the executor saw the very depth of the soul that she was about to destroy, in those eyes that regarded her quietly, and they said everything.

"...Ah," Ciel began, holding the trigger of her pile-bunker that never clicked. She looked down at her silent weapon. "I just realized. I never did thank you for stopping the train doors for me."

Another rumble in the sky as she spoke to the frozen cursed body.

"To tell you the truth, I was more or less putting up an act. I wanted our first meeting to seem like a coincidence, but when you didn't react to my mind trick, I almost didn't know what to do around you. But..."

Unseen by either Ciel and Megumi, the markings that declared Sukuna's existence began to fade away from his flesh.

"You were just so sincere, it really felt like we've known each other for a while." The voice of the executor was gone, and what came was the friendly girl who ran to beat the train, on a warm sunny day after mourning. "Even though I was planning to betray your feelings, disregard your own humanity, and kill you without mercy..."

She smiled as her beautiful gaze regarded the body in front of her. "I really did like you. I honestly wished that we could have been real friends."

"...I see."

With a smile, the boy - Yuuji Itadori - responded through his slightly bloodied mouth. "I see...! That makes me really happy to hear."

He rubbed the back of his head to express his bashfulness, though the action somewhat hurt a bit as he felt the pinch of the pile-bunker's blade inside his chest. "To be honest, I kind of like you too. I really wanted us to hang out more, spend time at your club. It would have been a lot of fun with everyone else along. Right, Fushiguro?"

Megumi's shikigamis retreated from this world, disappearing by the shadow sorcerer's feet before he slowly stood up. "...Yeah. It would have."

As if death wasn't at reach, or rather, welcoming it with a vibrant expression, Yuuji grinned at Megumi, "Yeah, with Kugisaki too, and... Gojo-"

He coughed out blood. A spot of it landed on Ciel's cheek, though the executor was unfazed by it.

"Ah..." Yuuji uttered, raising his trembling hand for her face. "Sorry... I'm..."

His thumb wiped off the blood from her face, washing it with the rain, and repeatedly traced the place where Sukuna had cut her twice.

"I'm really sorry..." Despite his smile, his eyes held regret as his hand trailed down to her neck, softly rubbing it with his thumb. His body grew numb, and he slowly leaned deeper into her weapon.

Ciel yanked the Seventh Holy Scripture from Yuuji's body, dropping the weapon by her feet with a loud clank. He fell towards her, and she caught him with ease. Holding his head against her shoulder, she stroked his pink and black hair. Her other hand supporting his bare back, right below the wound where her pile-bunker had pierced through. "There's no need to apologize. You're a good person, after all. Right, Megumi-kun?"

Megumi lowered his head for a moment before answering, "...Yeah. Before, you asked me why I bothered to save you. I didn't really have a reason. I just knew that you were a good guy I wanted to save. I'm a sorcerer, not a hero. But I don't think your way of being a sorcerer is wrong either. I had my doubts about you, but I don't regret ever saving you."

Yuuji breathed out a happy chuckle against Ciel's bare shoulder, though it hurt to do so. "You've really thought over this, huh? You're a pretty decent guy then... Sorry, I think I'm running out of time."

Ciel could feel his body becoming cold not due to the rain, and she continuously stroked his head as he said his last words. "You guys take care of yourselves, and look out for each other, okay?"

Ciel pressed her nose against Yuuji's collarbone, holding him tightly, "Of course. You have nothing to worry about."

"That's good..." Yuuji whispered, closing his eyes as he felt Ciel's soft blue hair pressed against the side of his face. The scent of curry that made the coldness inside him feel suddenly warm. "You're... a good person too... Ciel..."

Be sure to die surrounded by loved ones.

As Yuuji felt the warm body and comforting touch of Ciel, hugging his drenched and wounded figure, he felt that he was able to honor his grandfather's request, and darkness began to cloud his vision. Damn. I really wish I could have asked her out.

"Please... live a full life. All of you..." He breathed his final breath, and the life within Yuuji completely vanished.

Ciel stared over Yuuji's shoulders, then closed her eyes. Unrelenting her hold of his dead figure over herself, she began to say a prayer. "Our Father. Who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name."

Megumi gritted his teeth. He raised his eyes to sky, fighting back the tears as he excused his watery gaze with the pouring rain.

"Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven."

The weather continued its downpour over the executor and sorcerer, as they together grieved for another lost soul of this world.

---

Sukuna: Oh I see. You want to dance first before getting down to business. I can work with that. *Rips shirt off dramatically*

Author's Note: You know, writing this chapter I realize... that things are going to get SO MUCH WORSE for Yuuji and everybody else in this story. Ah well, I'll balance it out with some sweet moments... when we get to them eventually. I hope everyone enjoys this five-chapter story, ending the first arc of Jujutsu Executor. Please let me know what you guys think in the reviews!

And with all that said and done, I now return to my Hiatus shell. Until next time!