Chapter 04 - Skeins of Power

…

"What kid could possibly be worth all this effort?"

Her bitter grumbling was barely audible even to herself, but even so, it felt better to vent, even just a little.

Her breathing centered, Lady Nagant took a running start and leapt into open air, little more than a shadow in the night. She landed on the next rooftop with barely a whisper, rolling smoothly to her feet with long-practiced movements.

Unfortunately, the downside of all this muscle memory was that her mind was free to wander more than it probably should.

"What is she seeing that I'm not?" She grimaced as she peeked over the low wall ringing the rooftop. At least this mission called on her to use more of her skill set. Not only did she have to avoid notice by the examinees, but she had to stay out of sight of the flying cameras broadcasting to the proctors.

Course, that didn't mean she was any less frustrated by the task in the first place.

"Seriously. Quirklessness isn't that uncommon. So why is he so important?"

She spotted her target down below. Raising an eyebrow, she had to admit, he seemed a deft hand with a knife, if a bit showy for her tastes. He could stand to learn more efficiency with his movements if he didn't want to find himself exhausted in a drawn-out battle such as this, but it did seem that his technique had its advantages. Psychological warfare for one. Even demons seemed hesitant to get close as he darted back and forth, a manic smile on his face as sprays of blood bloomed around him. And his more dramatic motions seemed to excel at pouring extra power into his blade work, letting him cut through even demonic limbs without needing enhanced strength.

But that was just it. Even now, he didn't show any clear sign of a quirk. Could Miss Makima really suspect that he was holding back? Hiding some kind of dangerous power? Why would he? Even with that dagger of his, he stood no chance of garnering enough attention to pass the exam compared to the other students showing off their own unique powers.

Blinking, she noticed he wasn't alone. The other two from the junkyard were fighting alongside him somehow, which surprised her. She'd been under the impression that the barrier around the site was specifically designed to scatter the examinees so they couldn't form teams ahead of time. So how had they gotten around that?

Shrugging, she dismissed the question. She was here to do a job, not sit here creating new problems to solve.

… but even still …

"Who are you, Ren Amamiya," she muttered, training her scope on his nimble, enigmatic form. "Why does she care so much about you?"

Feeling a shudder from her pocket, she retrieved her phone.

'Release him.'

'Affirmative,' she texted back immediately, feeling her mind shift gears as she turned all business. Reaching into another pocket, she delicately retrieved a special package, though part of her knew her caution was unnecessary. Despite its size, able to fit comfortably in her palm, the thing could survive being carpet bombed without suffering a scratch.

Still, she shuddered in distaste at handling it. She couldn't help it. The thing practically oozed a sense of filth and corruption that made her very spirit crawl.

She wished she could tell herself the feeling was all in her head. Unfortunately, she knew better.

Still gagging internally, she opened the palm in her right hand, reluctantly sliding the package into her ammo slot. She tracked its revolting passage down her upper arm and into the biological rifle extending from her right elbow. The feel of it slotting into place in the barrel made her battle a surging, feral instinct to tear her rifle off, and the horrible … thing along with it.

But she was a professional. She may not always like what she had to do–she may even hate it sometimes–but she did her job no matter what.

Suppressing one last full-body shudder, she returned her eye to her scope, aiming her freshly loaded rifle at the square below.

All that was left was finding an opening. She had only one shot at this, after all. She had to time this perfectly.

"Sorry, kid," she muttered, her rifle once more trailing the quirkless kid's movements. "Nothing personal."

… … …

Yet again, Ren found himself fending off a violent urge to sneeze. A potentially fatal reflex given that he was surrounded by literal flesh-eating monsters.

"Seriously, if I find out I'm allergic to these stupid things," he growled to himself, swaying back from a swipe of furious claws.

"Less talking, more fighting!"

"I know!" he shouted back at Jolyne, even if he grumbled a bit at doing so. With her Stand, she didn't even need to do any of the fighting herself. She could just stand there posing dramatically while Stone Ocean rained destruction down on the demons around her.

He wished he could call what he was feeling anything other than burning jealousy.

"Dammit! All that training, and I can't even use my frigging quirk!" Yusuke howled furiously. "You sure they'll fail us for accidentally blowing away a few testers?"

"I wouldn't recommend finding out," Jolyne shouted back, conjuring a string to redirect a massive demon's punch before it could reach her.

He'd thought Stone Ocean was violent before, but what he'd seen had nothing on what she did to the demon that dared attack her user.

Poor thing.

"I've got an idea," Jolyne shouted suddenly. "You want a chance to use your quirk?"

"Does a fish want to swim?!" Yusuke hollered back, sending another demon flying with a right cross.

"Then be ready to fire when I say! And Ren? Be ready to run!"

"Awesome. I love this plan already," he groused. However, before he could unleash any further sass, a sudden prickling on the back of his neck made him leap back with eyes widened. Just in time, too. With wet, staccato thumps, crimson spears bloomed from the chests of the demons around him, and more than a few buried themselves in the pavement where he had been standing.

He didn't have to look far to find their source, though. Cackling wildly, another demon with strawberry blonde hair hurtled into the demons' midst, an enormous crimson mallet spinning in her hands.

At least … he was pretty sure she was a demon. The bloodstained grin and manic laughter certainly seemed to fit, though he knew he didn't really have much room to talk there. The short, ruby-red horns on her head definitely screamed demon, though. Not to mention the fact that she almost nailed him with that spray of spears.

But her clothes … the other demons were all dressed in rags, or in bizarre, outdated clothing. Her, though …she was wearing sneakers and slacks, and a tie hung loosely down the front of her (formerly) white, collared shirt. And she was attacking the other demons …

"Alright! Get ready to fly, Yusuke!"

Jolyne's shout stunned him out of his thoughts.

Fly? What does she mean, 'fly'?

He had no doubt the same question was running through Yusuke's mind, but if he planned to ask, he never got a chance. With a roar, a particularly large, gray-skinned demon launched itself at Jolyne, likely deliberately provoked by her Stand, given the fact that it was bloodied, but still vertical. Either way, it jumped … and a glowing blue thread was suddenly revealed, wrapped snugly around its middle and snapping taut in an instant.

Time seemed to slow as Ren's eyes widened further, tracing that line up into the air, where it looped over the top of a streetlight and back down into the horde of demons.

And wrapped tight around Yusuke's chest.

"What the shiiiiii-!"

With a much higher squeal than he would have expected from the guy, Yusuke went airborne, hurtling up and well past the streetlight in an instant until his spinning, screaming form all but disappeared in the lightless sky. Even the demons all froze to watch, seemingly torn between shock, confusion, and sheer amusement.

Then a light started to flicker in Yusuke's hands, and Ren understood. His knees tensed, not needing Jolyne's bellowed reminder to take cover. Even still, he hesitated, just for an instant. That strange demon girl was frozen just like all the others, golden eyes staring with open wonder at the shimmering light like a child watching their first fireworks, confused and astonished and eager to see what would happen next.

When Ren's feet finally moved, it was without any conscious input on his part. Even so, he felt no surprise when they carried him deeper into the horde. Distantly, he registered a panicked shout from Jolyne, but he ignored it just as he did the flashing strobe lights now bathing them all from their skyborne friend.

The demon girl squealed in alarm as he tackled her, but there was no time to explain. Hefting her onto his shoulders, and saying a quick prayer of thanks for all the time he spent working out before coming to this world, he sprinted through the half-blind horde, feeling new bruises blossom as she thrashed and kicked at him. A decent tradeoff in his book. He was just grateful her giant mallet was too awkward to use on him like th-

"SPIRIT GUN!"

No more time. Dispensing with gentleness, he tossed her to the ground in front of him. Ignoring her squawks, he dove on top of her, feeling his hair stand on end and his skin start to prickle like he'd burst into a sauna.

The world turned white. He felt a distant sense of motion, of everything turning end over end. Of a colossal roar of sound that almost went beyond hearing, filling him with a numb sense of deafness. Through it all, the only thing he could do was order his distant body to cling tighter to the girl beneath him. Or was she on top now?

The world came back to him with a violent slap of pain, broken shards of asphalt digging deep into his sides. Vertigo came as a swift follow-up, the world spinning round and round as they bounced and slid down the street.

As swiftly as it started, it all came grinding to a halt, his weeping skin screaming in protest. His muscles trembled and spasmed, trying to relax and squeeze tighter all at once. To top it all off, a rather magnificent headache took the opportunity to make itself known with a vengeance.

Battered so, he couldn't even summon an ounce of surprise as he felt a blade suddenly pressed to his throat.

"What … treachery … is this?!"

By the girl's panting, she seemed in as rough a shape as he was, but it certainly wasn't slowing her down as much as he would have liked. Even the bloody cuts and scrapes in her skin seemed to have clotted already. A healing quirk?

"Attacking … while my … back is turned … are you? A cowardly tactic!"

He refrained from mentioning how she nearly fragged him from behind with her little volley of spears earlier. He was just polite like that. Besides, one glance at the look in her strange, cross-shaped golden pupils, and he could tell it wouldn't have made the slightest difference anyway.

"But of course … what other chance did you have?" He felt a moment of surprised relief as she removed the blade from his throat, but it swiftly passed as she replaced it with her sneakered foot on his neck.

"Die proudly, foolish human, for you fall at the hands of POWER!"

Beaming brilliantly, her wrists seemed to slit themselves before his eyes, blood swiftly flowing and coalescing into a crystalline spear.

Well, this is just perfect, he mentally groaned, watching her raise the crimson spear above her head with a wild grin. What a fantastic end to a spectacular day.

The spear began to thrust … and a glowing cord pulled taut between her wrist and her neck. She gagged as the cord strangled her, twisting her aim enough for her spear to bury itself in the pavement by his ear rather than in his face. Before she could recover, Jolyne yanked hard on the other end, making the demon girl stagger backwards and off of him.

To her credit, the horned girl reacted swiftly, the spear breaking apart in her hands. With a jagged fragment, she sliced the cord cleanly in half. Now, it was Jolyne who stumbled back, fresh blood flowing from her arm. But she grinned even so, and the reason was quickly made clear.

Yusuke stood next to her. His clothes were tattered, and he panted like he'd just run a race, but his hand was steady, and light glowed from his fingertip as he pointed it at the horned girl.

"Wait," Ren rasped, massaging his bruised throat as he struggled to sit up. "She's … an examinee."

"Oh, you're shitting me," Jolyne growled in exasperation.

"What?! With those horns, you expect us to believe she's human?" Yusuke's face looked more than a little disbelieving. Not to mention disappointed. Just how bloodthirsty were his new allies?

"How dare you?!" The horned girl drew herself up in outrage, the bloody blade growing in her hands. "I am no filthy human! Humanity could never hope to produce a specimen as majestic as myself!"

All three of them stared in silence as she flipped her long hair back, the very image of pompous indignation.

"Wait … so you are a demon?" Jolyne asked, confusion etched into her face.

"Aye!" The girl's grin revealed an array of sharp teeth. "Does the thought make you tremble in fear? Good! Amuse me with your groveling, and I might deign to spare your lives."

She cocked a hip and smirked at them all fearlessly.

"So … you're not taking this exam like we are?" Ren had climbed to his feet by this point, clutching his wounded sides as he stared at this strange girl. Even the smoking crater left behind by Yusuke's Spirit Gun failed to hold his attention.

"Of course I am!" Her brow furrowed at their open-mouthed confusion. "Tis worse than I thought. I had heard of humans and the depths of their idiocy, but it appears legends fail to grasp the true scope of your foolishness." The look she gave them was full of scornful pity. "Tis tragic indeed."

Ren felt like choking on his tongue. "I- … but you're … You shot at me!"

"I did no such thing," she insisted, folding her arms. "Human lies … another dreadful trait."

"Okay, can we just … move this conversation somewhere else?" By Jolyne's face, she was starting to get a headache from this whole exchange. "Maybe somewhere that we didn't just fire an enormous beacon for everything that creeps, crawls, and dines on human flesh?"

"Delicate stomachs. Another poor quality I had heard you humans possess." The girl smirked in condescension. "Meat is meat! Human, pig, it matters not!"

"Alright, well you have fun with that, Demon Chef," Yusuke grumbled, letting his power dissipate at last. "We're gonna leave now, but it's been terrible meeting you. There should be some barbecued demon ribs back there if you're feeling peckish, though. Help yourself." Jabbing a thumb back at the ruined slag heap his blast had left behind, he turned and followed Jolyne without another glance.

"Ah, fleeing in terror, are you? Wondrous! Perhaps there is hope for you humans after all," the girl crowed with a sharp-toothed grin. "Go forth, and spread your terror of Power the invincible! Do well, and I might just feed you the scraps of my kills!"

"Wait … you're coming with us?" Ren asked as she began to strut after the other two.

"Of course! Know you nothing of tactics?" Once more, she looked at him with scornful pity. "By letting my retinue precede me, spreading tales of my dreadful might, I shall decimate my foes' minds before stepping forth to slay their flesh! A perfect approach! Though I understand if your limited human brain fails to comprehend such devious brilliance." Stepping closer, she patted his head consolingly. "Fret not, minion. Simply stick close to your betters, and you will be assured of a valorous death!"

Grinning, she trailed a finger down along a split in his scalp before prancing away. He watched her go, feeling mental whiplash from dealing with this strange girl … demon … whatever.

So, what, some demons hunt humans, but some can work alongside them … somewhat? He frowned, watching her slip her blood-coated finger into her mouth with obvious relish. What a strange new world this is.

Shaking his head, he shelved his questions and began to follow, only to draw up short as the horned girl froze mid stride.

"... Power?"

The girl still had her finger in her mouth. The one coated in his blood. He couldn't see her face, but he saw her begin to tremble, full-body shudders wracking her from head to toe.

"Power?" He was surprised by the alarm in his voice, but as his pace began to quicken, his ears caught something more startling.

The crack of a gunshot, and a howl of pain just over his shoulder.

These things have guns now?!

Without hesitating, he dropped into a roll. He felt something snag at his ragged shirt, but it barely more than grazed his skin underneath. Flipping to his feet, he glared at his would-be attacker … and stared speechless.

Another demon stood there, and unlike Power, this one was clearly not another contestant. Devoid of shirt or shoes, its pants were little more than tatters, clearly old and stained with blood. And as he watched, it grew even more stained with fresh blood pouring from the thing's side, where it clutched a small, deep wound in pained surprise.

A bullet wound, unless he missed his guess.

Drawing the shitty knife he'd found in the junkyard, he dropped into a combat stance. The gunshot … another examinee? One with a rifle? His eyes darted across the rooftops, scanning for the shooter as best he could without taking his eyes off the demon, which seemed to be recovering from the shock of its wound and was now glaring at him murderously. But who? And why'd they miss?

It had to be a miss. He'd barely known about these things for an hour, and even he knew a gut wound like that would barely slow them down. So what was going on? Anyone accurate enough to hit their target when it was as close to him as it was should have been good enough to land a clean headshot. So why didn't they?

The injured thing roared at him, all horns and claws and fury … and its eyes bulged, its entire body thrumming like a tuning fork.

What the hell?

"Ren!"

His eyes darted to the others. Jolyne was leading the charge, eyes shocked and concerned. Yusuke followed behind more slowly, hand cocked and eyes darting from one rooftop to the next.

Ren frowned in confusion at spotting Power on her knees, showing no reaction even as the others sprinted passed her.

Was she shot, too? No, that makes no sense. There was only one gunshot. No, dammit, stay focused!

He flung his hand out at them. "Stay back!"

They hesitated, just for an instant.

And then an explosion of shadows washed over them.

… … …

"Quite a fine collection of brave young men and women this year!" The teacher laughed boisterously. The screen in front of him showed a colossal demon that towered over the rooftops, bellowing a challenge to all the tiny examinees arrayed before it.

Its challenge was answered by an enormous fist crashing into its face, sending the creature tumbling through one building after another. The titanic challenger screamed its rage and dove after it, chased by cheers and joyous cries from the other students.

"You can say that again," another teacher agreed, watching a student with an enormous axe make mincemeat of entire swathes of enemies on another screen.

"And you, Director? You've been fairly quiet so far. How are our young people holding up in your estimation?"

The principal's tone was light and conversational, but even so, heads turned to watch the byplay.

"As impressive as always," she answered smoothly, eyes still locked on her own monitor. Almost imperceptibly, though, her small smile grew wider. "I suspect they still have some surprises in store for us, though."

… … …

Ren braced his arms in front of him, torrential winds ripping at his ruined clothes. He grit his teeth, expecting heat or shrapnel to pelt him next.

Only it didn't.

Squinting his eyes, he saw a street swept clean of the scattered rubble from Yusuke's attack, but beyond that, there seemed to be surprisingly little damage. Even the demon was still standing.

Though, on second glance, he wasn't quite sure it was the same demon. Its pants seemed more or less the same, barring a few new rips and tears. However, they seemed to hang far more loosely now, as if the demon had lost a fair few pounds. And that seemed to fit from what he could see. Whereas before, the demon looked like it would tower over him, now, he'd guess they would be within an inch or two of each other. Likewise, its form seemed far leaner and more symmetrical.

He wished any of this felt like good news.

Raising its hands, the demon revealed what looked like tribal tattoos running up and down each limb, and even across its face and torso.

Even more good news, he thought dryly.

Still staring at its hands, laughter began to bubble up from the demon's throat, deep and wild and vicious.

"Oh, at last! Finally, flesh! Oh, it's been too long! Far, far, FAR too long!"

Taking a chance, Ren took his eyes off the thing to look at his teammates. To his surprise, they seemed to have been far more affected by the blast than he'd been, only now beginning to pick themselves up from quite a ways down the street.

"You."

His eyes snapped back just in time to brace his arms. His shoulders wrenched in their sockets from the force of the thing's punch, sending him tumbling across the ground. With as much luck as skill, he managed to twist himself around, skidding to his feet with just a few stumbling steps to catch himself.

"Your face … I know your face."

Nothing in the demon's voice let on that it had just nearly punched a hole through his chest. Tapping its lips thoughtfully, it eyed him.

Ren gave a small start as seeing four eyes on the demon's face, though he wasn't sure why anything should surprise him anymore.

"Mortal … have we met before?" the demon called out. "Your countenance seems familiar to me."

"Not sure. You spend much time in maid cafes?" he called back out of sheer reflex. "I could see you in a dress and apron."

This time, he barely saw it move before stonework erupted around his back, the thing casually holding him against a shattered wall with a single tattooed hand around his chin.

"Yes … I've definitely seen this face before," the demon mused, turning his face this way and that, stone grinding into dust with each movement. "Was it … in a dream?"

Ren felt his consciousness flicker like a gutted candle. His lungs didn't just struggle to draw breath; they froze entirely like a puppy before a mountain lion. With a dim thought, he thanked the fact that the force of the blow seemed to have stunned his body into numbness. He could not imagine how much pain he'd be in otherwise.

"No … not a dream," the demon continued, dark eyes hardening in realization. "A contract! How could I have forgotten?"

Ren gasped as the thing let him go, his lungs finally drawing breath again. Powdered dust poured around him like waterfalls as his body peeled free of his cratered wall. With a dull thud, he hit the ground bonelessly.

"Transitioning from curse to flesh … who knew it could leave my memories so jumbled?"

He felt a bare foot press down between his shoulderblades, and then a colossal force drove him into the pavement, plates of asphalt bursting up around him from the sheer force of the creature's strength.

"Pity for you, kid," the creature intoned in a voice that had clearly never known the faintest scrap of pity. "Seems you have enemies. Well, had, I suppose. Why they'd trade your death for my freedom, I couldn't say, but mortals can be funny like that. Not that it's my problem anymore."

Stone ground beneath its feet as it turned and walked away, its laughter echoing along the empty street.

"And how about you fine children?" the demon's mocking voice called out. "Do you plan to avenge your little friend? Oh, don't be shy! Come take your shot! I promise to let you each land at least a few hits before I kill you! I assure you, that's a far more generous offer than I give most humans!"

Its wild, booming laughter almost drowned out the grate of stone against stone, but even he couldn't fail to notice how the humans' eyes bulged, and not with fear as he would have expected.

Turning, the demon's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Well, now … that's interesting."

Ren stared down at himself, watching bits of pavement tumble free of what little remained of his clothes. With an uncertain hand, he brushed the skin of his torso.

Unbroken. Hell, not even bruised.

"You're telling me," he replied.

This time, there was no pretending he saw the slightest bit of the thing's movement. One moment, it stood there staring at him in bemused curiosity, and the next, it was gone, and he was flying through the air.

Did it … punch me in the gut?

The way he was doubled over seemed to support his guess, but once again, he felt a distant sense of impact, and his body rocketed into the ground, bouncing cruelly surrounded by bits of pavement.

Finally, he saw the demon, grinning as its limbs blurred. Ren felt himself tossed about like a ping-pong ball between two paddles as the thing unleashed an inhuman volley of attacks on him faster than the eye could see.

This … feels familiar.

With a final, horrendous punch, Ren once found himself skipping like a stone down the road.

Well … maybe just a little bit.

Suddenly, the thing was behind him. With a gleeful smile and a mighty roar, the creature spiked him into the pavement, the street cracking around them like glass.

And once again, as the dust settled, Ren rose from the shattered asphalt.

"... What's your name, boy?"

The demon's tone was almost conversational, its expression curious.

"Ren Amamiya," he answered, delicately feeling at his sides. Uninjured now. "What's yours?"

"Ryomen Sukuna, the undisputed King of Curses, at your service," he replied with a grin and a mocking bow. "That's a rather interesting body you have there. Somehow, you actually seem to be healing from my blows."

"So it seems," Ren said, leaning backwards and popping his back with a satisfied grunt. "Much appreciated, too. I wasn't too thrilled about those cracked ribs."

"So I had noticed." Sukuna slowly prowled a circle around him, studying him from every angle. "How does that work, exactly? Do certain types of damage injure you while others restore you? Does it have to do with the type of opponent you are facing? Or is it an active ability you can only maintain for a limited amount of time?"

"That would be telling," Ren retorted, keeping his expression flippant. "What about you? What's this about a contract to kill me? Someone put you up to this? Was it the same person who shot your host, or are they just another lackey?"

"Come now. You can't expect something for nothing," Sukuna scolded him, popping his neck. "Unfortunately for you, though, I can find answers to my questions all on my own."

"Let me guess … by attacking me?" Ren begrudgingly guessed.

Sukuna's smile showed far too many teeth to even pretend at friendliness.

"Exactly."

Fuck.

He braced himself for another head-on assault, but this time, Sukuna simply waved his hand, and Ren found himself flying as pavement and walls erupted in a line around him.

Ranged slash attacks? Perfect. That's just what he needs.

Once more, he found his momentum arrested by Sukuna's hand, driving him into the ground as more invisible slashes shredded his shirt and pavement alike in a spiderweb pattern.

"Hmm. So it isn't just physical strikes that you can absorb," Sukuna mused, stepping back.

Coughing up a lungful of dust, Ren glared at Sukuna.

"Keep tearing up my clothes, and I'm going to get suspicious about what your actual motives here are."

Laughing, Sukuna watched the tattered remains of Ren's shirt fall free. "Your bravado serves you well. It almost hides your nervousness."

"What's there to be nervous about? You haven't put a scratch on me yet," Ren retorted, doing his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach.

"But you aren't convinced that I can't," Sukuna observed with a smirk. "You're not invulnerable, or you wouldn't have been injured earlier. There are conditions to your ability, and therein lies vulnerability."

"If you say so," Ren replied, trying hard not to swallow.

Come on, Persona, where are you? Arsène, Raoul, freaking Jack Frost, anyone! I'm in se-hee-rious trouble here!

Again, Sukuna raised his hands, and Ren clenched his gut, expecting even more invisible slashes, but of course, things couldn't be that simple.

"Open," Sukuna hissed, making a curious gesture with his hands.

And a wave of fire blasted towards Ren.

Ren clutched his eyes shut as fire washed over him, biting his tongue in a desperate effort to hold back screams of pain. It wasn't just out of pride, either. If he breathed that fire into his lungs, they'd collapse, and he'd die.

In moments, the fire dissipated, but to him, it felt like eternity.

"I knew it!" Sukuna laughed victoriously. "You aren't immune to everything!"

For a long, trembling moment, Ren swayed on his feet, fighting tooth and nail to keep upright.

His knee betrayed him, and he buckled.

"Ren!"

His head wobbled as he raised it. With bleary eyes, he spotted a trio of figures running towards them. Frankly, he was surprised they had caught up this quickly. It felt like Sukuna had been batting him halfway across the city.

"Oh, no. I think we'll be just fine without any interference, won't we," Sukuna purred, smile growing twisted.

Ren struggled to catch his breath, to shout out a warning, to scream at them to run! Sukuna raised his hands, and he kneeled there, powerless, as Sukuna interlocked his fingers in yet another unfamiliar gesture.

"Domain Expansion."

Once more, darkness swallowed up sight, only this time, it felt different, like it was enclosing him rather than battering him. He watched the others disappear, still running, still screaming at him, and felt relieved. He'd been afraid Sukuna was about to kill them.

Then he paid attention to his surroundings, and his relief vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

"Where … are we?" Ren finally managed, looking around in open horror and disgust.

"Put simply … inside me."

Blood coated the floor like a crimson pond, soaking into his pants and coating his hand in a revolting, scummy film. Skulls and bits of flesh bobbed about idly, sometimes gathered into mounds like an inverted burial cairn.

And directly in front of him, the largest cairn of all, countless corpses and skeletons piled high in a hideous staircase, and at the top, lounging on a skeletal throne, waited Sukuna.

"Welcome to my Malevolent Shrine," he intoned, a smug grin on his tattooed face. "Do you like it?"

"... I've seen worse," he retorted, doggedly rising to his feet with a nauseating splash. "My friend Yusuke's apartment, for one." He had no need to fake his dry heaves.

"Cute," Sukuna murmured. "Defiant to the end, I see. I appreciate that."

"Figured you might," Ren said, carefully studying his surroundings. The ocean of blood and viscera seemed to go on forever, and even the starless black sky seemed to be taken over by a murky, reddish black haze like some kind of gruesome sunset. "What … is this place, exactly?"

"My Domain," Sukuna explained without hesitation. "In a sense, you could say that I've enveloped you within my own soul. Normally, I wouldn't bother to enclose my Domain, but I thought I'd take my time with you, and I'd hate for you to be distracted by me killing your friends before we're ready."

"How thoughtful," Ren retorted dryly.

"Aren't I just," Sukuna chuckled, leaning forward on his revolting throne and placing his elbows on his knees. "Your power intrigues me, little one, even limited as it is. You may not have nullified my fire attack, but you do seem to have resisted it somewhat, given that you aren't a pile of ash."

Ren winced, suddenly remembering his injuries. Looking down, the skin on his torso was shiny and red, and already, a mass of blisters and welts was starting to rise.

"That's not all there is to you, though, is it," Sukuna observed. "Whoever contracted me to kill you, they didn't do it because you're a bit tougher than most humans. Even now, I can sense it. A dark power lurking just out of sight. Why so shy? Come out and play with me, why don't you?"

"What's the point? You plan to kill me either way," Ren pointed out.

"Is that what you think?" This time, Sukuna's laughter was as rich as it was mocking. "That would be terribly wasteful, wouldn't you say?" Rising from his throne, his eyes gleamed wickedly as he stalked down the cadaverous staircase.

"And yet, I somehow doubt I'm going to like your alternative," Ren noted.

"Join with me," Sukuna hissed, raising a hand to caress Ren's cheek, though he offered no protest as Ren stepped backwards. "You would make a powerful host. Much better suited than this scrap of flesh." He plucked disparagingly at his gray skin.

"I was right. I don't like it at all," Ren answered. "What would I even get out of being worn like a cheap suit?"

"How about the lives of your friends?" Sukuna asked, making another gesture with his hands.

Before his eyes, the crimson sky wavered and vanished, and suddenly, his friends appeared, leaning forward with hands raised like they were pounding on a wall. With shrill cries, they stumbled forward into the lake of blood.

"Run! Get ba-!"

Ren cut off with a gag as Sukuna seized him by the throat.

"Oh, none of that now," he murmured with a grin. Tossing him aside like trash, he gestured with his hands once again, and the sky wavered and vanished, turning red and bruised, and the empty city disappeared into the horizon.

"You son of a b-!"

Yusuke gurgled as a slash suddenly opened him from chest to chin.

"Yusuke!"

Jolyne darted forward to catch him before he could fall, fresh blood pouring heavy and thick down her hands. Ren glimpsed blue threads around her hands as she eased Yusuke back, but that was all he saw before Sukuna forced him facedown in the lake of blood.

"You see now?" he asked, ignoring how Ren choked and struggled beneath him, drowning in a scant few inches of blood. "All within my Domain reside in the palm of my hand. My attacks will never miss, and my victims will never escape."

Seizing a fistful of hair, Sukuna brutally wrenched Ren's face free of the blood. He gasped and heaved as his lungs caught air once more, but he was given no time to celebrate.

"Here is the contract I offer you," Sukuna hissed in his ear, forcing him to stare at his dying friend. "Surrender yourself to me, and I will spare the lives of your friends. Resist, and they will die, slowly. Now, decide!"

Time seemed to slow as Sukuna waited for an answer. Jolyne's face was twisted in anguish as she desperately tried to stop Yusuke's bleeding. Yusuke himself gurgled and fought, no doubt trying even now to find a way to attack Sukuna.

Sukuna laughed, twisting his grip in Ren's hair and forcing him to watch as he lifted a tattooed hand towards the others. All for show, of course. He'd already proven he could kill them all with a thought inside his Domain. But show or not, his intentions were clear.

They were going to die.

Sukuna was going to kill them.

And he couldn't do anything to stop it.

No.

He wanted to shake his head in denial. But at the thought, or at what was happening?

No!

No … he wasn't helpless. He refused to be! There had to be something. Anything! He refused to just watch them die!

NO!

Domains … enveloped within his soul … manifestation of the consciousness … he knew this place. Or he had known places like it.

A Domain … was a Palace. A place between waking and dreaming.

A place where Shadows roamed.

'So … you've found me at last.'

He felt a pulse run up and down his spine, fire searing into his mind.

It didn't hurt though. How could it? It was him.

'Indeed,' the familiar voice chuckled. 'I thought you might have forgotten me. Forgotten yourself. But you haven't, have you? You remember your rage, your defiance, your refusal to surrender!'

"Oh? What's this now?" Sukuna purred, sounding delighted. Beneath him, Ren began to scream, shadows twisting and whirling around him, within him. A mask burned itself onto his face, gleaming white and black as sin.

A mask he knew all too well.

'You would slay gods to pursue your own justice,' the voice continued. The voice that was his own. 'You would burn Order itself to free the people of the world. So prove it! I am thou, thou art I! Call forth my name, and let Chaos run free at long last!'

"SATANAEL!"

The mask burst free, and shadows raged, burning with a wild storm of vicious blue flames. Sukuna shouted in surprise as he was blown free, landing deftly with a splash. However, he raised his hands in astonishment. Black char reached down to chalky gray bones, his hands little more than melted stumps.

"Impressive," he admitted, but with a ripple of his flesh, his hands reformed, and his wounds closed. "But to be honest, I had … expected … more?"

Sukuna's voice trailed off uncertainly, and for good reason. Through the hazy red fog overhead, something had begun to descend.

Claws. Feet. Sukuna leaned farther and farther back to grasp the scale of what was emerging from his crimson skies.

Wings shrouded the horizon, blacker than pitch, and ribbed like a bat's. Two of them … four … six.

"What is this," Sukuna whispered, for the first time in millennia shocked nearly speechless.

An enormous rifle like a tower was held in the thing's clawed hand, and ever so slowly, it began to rise.

"I don't think so!" With freshly restored hands, Sukuna signed, and slashes wrent the air around the colossal black devil, accomplishing nothing more than stirring the murky red clouds still shrouding its face. Enormous downturned horns were revealed, sloping down along its jaws. And above its head, a massive halo slowly turned, seeming like a collection of outstretched wings.

And still, the enormous rifle rose.

"You dare?! Here?! I am Ryomen Sukuna, King of Curses, and this is my Domain!"

Fire bathed the dread angel, and for once, there seemed to be an effect. It stirred, ever so slightly, black char building against its titanic chest, making its ruby-red sash sway.

"I knew it! You aren't immortal either!" Sukuna practically howled with glee as even more flames appeared from thin air to bathe the spirit. "You cannot stand against me! None can! Not here! Not in my own shrine!"

So enveloped, he almost didn't notice the flickers of white light that began to grow, but eventually, his gaze lowered, and once more, he found himself surprised.

Still collapsed in Jolyne's arms, glowing blue stitches held Yusuke's gruesome wounds shut. His face was sheet white, and his eyelids drooped on the edge of consciousness, but his smirk held strong, and his hand was steady.

"Spirit … Gun …"

A beam of searing light ripped free of Yusuke's grasp, the lake of blood hissing into steam below it as it traveled. Sukuna held out a hand to block it, only to stare as the blast passed him by.

"All that … and you missed?" Sukuna asked, eyes wide with astonished glee.

"Guess … again," Yusuke whispered faintly, still smirking as unconsciousness claimed him.

A heartbeat later, Sukuna's bemused sneer vanished as the blast struck the invisible barrier surrounding the Domain … and shattered it.

Crimson skies melted away like mist, and Sukuna reeled, collapsing to his knees in the lake of blood.

"Impossible," he breathed, eyes bulging.

In that shocked silence, Joker's footsteps sounded as loud as a gavel. Sukuna stared uncomprehendingly, eyes darting from curved, upturned boots to his long, three-tailed leather coat, and finally, to his eyes, black and merciless.

"Begone," Joker commanded, lifting a twisted, demonic pistol to Sukuna's head.

He fired … and Satanael fired as well, a massive, godless bullet ripping free of the colossal rifle. For an instant, Sukuna remained. Or rather, the image of him did, face snarling with shock and fear and disbelief.

Then his shadow collapsed, his body breaking down into motes of light that twirled and vanished, leaving nothing behind.

The lake of blood followed suit, vanishing between one heartbeat and the next.

Closing his eyes, Joker exhaled deeply, releasing his rage and desperation. Overhead, the fallen angel turned to smoke and vanished, returning to Joker's black and white mask.

One more breath … and coat and mask alike disappeared. Ren collapsed, distantly hearing someone cry his name, and the patter of running feet.

Future me's problem, he decided, and fell unconscious at last.

… … …

Pandemonium held the observatory in a fierce grip. Teachers and pros alike shouted orders or demanded answers. Some barked into phones while still others ranted at each other. There were cries for interference, or even suspension of the test entirely. Others called for an inquiry into the site's security, or boldly suggested culpability by any number of those involved.

Through it all, two figures remained silent. One, the diminutive principal, held stoic in the face of the mayhem, but his eyes weren't on the screens playing and replaying the footage of Sukuna's arrival, of his Domain, of his fall. No, his gaze was locked on the only other silent figure in the room.

Makima blinked as she found herself standing, clutching tightly at the screen in front of her.

Did I…

For the first time in recent memory, her small smile had disappeared entirely. Her expression unreadable, her golden eyes pierced the screen, staring frozen at the image of the six-winged angel.

Her hands trembled, shaking with untold emotion.

Finally, gradually, her smile returned, but this time, there was nothing soothing or gentle about it.

[End of Chapter 05]

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