November 12, 2018, Jujutsu Tech Tokyo Campus

Nadja stands under the massive tori marking the entrance to the campus courtyard, pensive and alert. Two days ago, Maki departed for the Zenin Estate in Kyoto with the intention of retrieving cursed tools from her family's arsenal. Following news of Megumi being announced as the next clan head, Nadja watched as something in Maki settled into place.

Now, it has been two days and there is no word, but Nadja does not believe it is because Maki is dead. Something feels like it's shifting, and she can taste it on the morning air. And even though cursed energy flows around her as river does a rock at its sandy bottom, she knows Maki is approaching.

It's the smell of blood that alerts her.

Maki is a smudge of ink in the distance, a tiny figure, but even from here Nadja can see the change in her. The chrysalis is shattered, and the new form emerges. She can see the edge in Maki, in her eyes which have a hollow look to them. The look of someone who has taken life.

A lot of it, it seems.

She's carrying a sword, a large one, but Nadja sees nothing else on her person, and her false eye can detect no other cursed tools or techniques. Her eyes widen when she realizes she can detect nothing but the cursed tool Maki carries.

Mai is dead, then. Nadja thinks grimly. She knows enough about the Zenin Clan to know that if the twin perished, it was not at Maki's hands. And if the twin perished, and Maki is here, then Nadja expects no opposition from the Zenins now or ever again.

"The armory was empty," is all Maki says by way of greeting. "But I got what I needed."

Nadja does not doubt that. She nods curtly, turning on her heel as they walk toward the main building together.

"You should probably clean up before you see the others," Nadja suggests. Maki blinks, looks down at her bloodstained clothes, the blood dried and flaking on her body. Nadja gives her a wry smile. "I may understand what you had to do, but the others may not. I doubt anyone will judge you for it, but…they've got enough on their plate, wouldn't you agree?"

Maki snorts. She doesn't sound like she gives a damn either way. "Huh. You're probably right. I'll go shower."

Nadja watches her go, wondering if this is how others perceive her when she is fresh from a fight, smelling of blood and steel. Then she remembers that there is no one waiting for her in that sense anymore. The only thing that remains are ghosts long buried, and her daughter.

There's Sukuna, but they are at an impasse. He is plotting something she cannot see and killing him now will be a waste when there's still fragments of him out there. She wants to tear him out of Yuji with her bare hands and be done with this entire mission. Every day she does not plunge her blade into Yuji's heart, Sukuna grows stronger. She wants to ask Satoru what his endgame is for dealing with him, and she begins to suspect his plan is more of a vague theory than anything concrete.

He's relying on his own strength to be able to handle this threat, but Nadja has seen firsthand the destruction Sukuna is capable of; displays of power that would make Shibuya look like a warm-up. Although, she wonders what became of his cursed tools. She did not return to Japan after having Sundari until she sought Noritoshi Kamo's assistance in sealing her. But she did not dare inquire about what became of Sukuna. There had been the general story, of course, but Nadja knew that it was more complicated than the legends and myths that sprang up in his absence. He did not have an extensive physical arsenal, memory serve, but Hiten and Kamutoke had always been in play during his battles. Nadja remembers because she watched him wipe out the most elite sorcerers the Fujiwara and Sugawara clans could muster. She knows that his penchant for destruction will only escalate.

She'd only been three months along at the time, but she is confident she made the right decision to leave him after witnessing that horrifying massacre. It had also been the first time she saw what his domain expansion could do, and it horrified her to think that their first night had been naught but play to him, as she had foolishly thought it was to her. Deep down, Nadja knows that when the time comes to truly settle their overdue score, it will take every shred of her grit and tenacity to strike him true, otherwise he will turn his wrath to those around her knowing he cannot slay her permanently.

But she knows Sukuna is clever in his cruelties. Whatever vengeance has festered in the place where his heart once beat is no doubt the worst thing he can think of; and Nadja bites her lip. Sundari.

Jujutsu is naught but skin and blood.

Jujutsu is not the only magic in this world.

Nadja makes her way to the infirmary where Sundari is running tests with Shoko. She's clad in her athletic gear: a pair of short black athletic shorts, and a simple sports bra. There's EKG wiring all over her torso, and Nadja studies her daughter who is walking in an easy stride on a treadmill. She is a marvel of divinely blessed power: tall, with the lithe and wiry muscle of a fighter, clearly defined. Her brown skin is overlain with her father's cursed markings: the black bands around her ankles, thighs, wrists, and upper arms; the jagged lines over her chest and back, the trishula on her forehead. She is still in her human form, no extra arms or maw on her belly. For all appearances, Sundari just looks like a tattooed fighter.

"I feel great, doc," Sundari is saying, stretching her arms over her head. "Honestly if I run, I doubt I'll stop for at least a few hours."

Suddenly, Sundari's lower set of eyes cut to Nadja, and her expression sours. Nadja ignores the sting to her heart and pride.

"Maki has returned," she informs Sundari and Shoko. "She doesn't appear to be injured but be forewarned that we may receive some troubling news in the near future."

Sundari rolls her eyes, resumes her exercise. She hasn't even broken a sweat yet. Nadja keeps her gaze on Shoko, who shrugs. There's not much to be done on that front, and Shoko has interceded as far as she dares. Aside, there's more important matters than a petty family squabble.

Nadja leaves the infirmary, heading toward Tengen's realm. She passes without incident and knows that Tengen has been expecting her.

"Daughter of Heaven," they greet, according her a nod. Nadja tries not to stiffen at the honorific. It is not one she has used in some time. This country was barely a civilization scratching in the dirt and seeking to name pieces of the sky when last she used that title.

"It's just Nadja," she says to Tengen, who regards her evenly. Or…at least that's the impression she feels when Tengen's gaze regards her with an uncomfortable gravity.

"Just because we cannot speak of what you are, does not mean you are not what you are," Tengen says with an amused tone. Nadja frowns. Of course, Tengen understands how to speak around a binding vow that forbids addressing the topic of her identity directly. She snorts.

"I suppose you have the right of it, Tengen-sama," she says with a resigned sigh. "Why did you let my daughter attempt such a foolish thing?"

Tengen gives the impression of surprise.

"I assure you; it was never my intention for her to come to harm," they say. "She proposed that she had figured out a way to open the Prison Realm, and requested I construct a barrier powerful enough to contain her cursed energy output. I had no idea she'd attempt to manifest a domain of…of positive energy?—within the barrier. She was touching the very pulse of divine strength, I trusted that she understood the dangers involved."

Nadja shakes her head. "She could have died, Tengen. Sundari is…there is none other like her and she is not someone we can afford to risk while our enemies make a mess of the board!"

Tengen seems a tad indignant. "Perhaps if you did not treat this situation like some game, you would see that your daughter is doing exactly what she has been called to do."

Nadja's mouth opens then closes.

"So, you blame me as well?" She asks.

Tengen seems confused. "For what?"

"Because I sealed her, she is not where she needs to be to kill her father. And he knows that, Tengen. He tested her in Shibuya, and he's aware and watching and planning."

Never has Nadja felt so utterly unmoored. She has moved through time and eras without much fuss. But then Sukuna crossed her path, and now she's tangled up in destiny's snare like a helpless rabbit. And she has Sundari to think about, always her. Even if her daughter disdains her right now, Nadja's priority is her safety in all of this.

Even if her life must end.

"I do not blame you for sealing her, Nadja," Tengen's voice is gentle, serene, but there is a compassion there that Nadja knows they struggle to maintain in this state of their evolution. "If I blamed every mishap for the current state of affairs then by rights I should not want Gojo unsealed."

Nadja gasps. The Star Plasma Vessel fiasco. In all these years she's never considered that Tengen may still consider its significance. Yet, they do not seem particularly troubled by the memory. Precious little troubles them these days.

"I suppose you're right," Nadja says. "I'm sorry. It seems I'm worried about my own child and it's making me anxious. I did not mean to accuse you…" She stops herself. "How close was she to doing it?"

Tengen doesn't hesitate.

"She almost had the seam split," Tengen admits, "but she would have perished in the process had she been allowed to continue."

Nadja frowns. "Who stopped her?"

Tengen says nothing. The silence is thick, the answer bubbling up like bile between them.

Sukuna.

Nadja takes a deep, withering breath, exhales a single swear word in a tongue that humanity doesn't even remember it once spoke. Of course he'd pulled Sundari out before she could burn out her brain and free Satoru. But now Nadja worries to what end he would do such a thing when he promised to kill them both when he first met her. Whatever his motivations for saving Sundari, Nadja is certain they are far from benevolent. She makes a mental note to keep a close eye on Yuji, now that she knows Sukuna is awake and alert even when not in control of the boy's body. She wonders if the boy himself knows this. He must, and Nadja must endeavor to be more cautious.

She pinches the bridge of her nose, massaging the tender area as she feels a headache threatening to come. Sukuna has them in a bind: Yuji is his hostage, and trying to force him to comply will result in a battle so violent Nadja can already tell who will die and in what order just trying to visualize it. On the other hand, Sukuna has not made moves to try and kill anyone in their camp, yet. She thinks perhaps there is something not adding up here.

What is he waiting for?

"It is my understanding that he and his daughter are enemies," Tengen says. "But when Sundari's life began to ebb, I could not stop him. His exact words I believe were, 'I will kill you and all of humanity with you if you do not stand aside.'"

That gives Nadja pause, her brows raising in alarm.

"And he made no moves to harm anyone else?" Nadja asks, urgency making her tone terse. Tengen gestures around, indicating the intact barriers.

"It is my understanding that he convinced Itadori to relinquish control for this specific instance. After he stabilized her condition, he reverted control back to Itadori without a word."

Nadja is reeling. All of this? From Sukuna? And what for? Nadja knows he does nothing without reason or motivation. Everything about him beneath the deceptively brutish exterior is coldly calculating and meticulous. He's also exceedingly quick-thinking and adaptable. If he has plans for Sundari, winning her confidence by saving her life is a good start to realizing those plans.

Nadja takes another breath and exhales. This time, her mind is clearer. She fixes Tengen with a cold look.

"If anything like this happens again, please inform me immediately. And do not let Sundari convince you to go along with one of her mad-brained schemes. You may have a detached and relaxed view of everything unfolding as it has, but she is still my daughter."

She is loved. She is valued. She's a person who deserves to live a full life.

Nadja does not say those words, but she hopes the sentiment is impressed upon Tengen, who has no doubt evolved beyond such sentimentalities.

"She will do as she wills," Tengen says. "I can only attempt to stop her if she becomes a threat to the barriers I maintain, and I doubt even Sukuna would be so foolish as to interfere with those."

Nadja snorts. She isn't so sure. A thousand years of isolation, his soul fractured for so long, accumulating strength through the worst cursed energy across the ages…she does not think the Sukuna she once loved remains any longer. And yet, he had saved their daughter's life and harmed no one else in the process. Even so, he had convinced Itadori to relinquish control to do it.

It is something to note, at least.


November 17, 2018, Tokyo No. 1 Colony

As it stands, Nadja does not have time to act on her suspicions regarding Sukuna, because it was time to depart for the Culling Games. And they did, only five days prior.

She agreed to accompany Yuji and Megumi if only to protect them. As a person without cursed energy, she can slip in and out of the barriers without issue, but Megumi and Yuji are forced to become players. Tengen already explained the rules to them, and so Nadja is forced to rely on stealth, utilizing Megumi's shadows to provide cover as they attempt to convince the other players to give them points rather than slay one another.

Nadja must admit, she admires their resolve in refusing to kill other players, and she watches from the patch of living, amorphous shadow Megumi maintains for her to travel through. Nadja was disoriented at first, when they initially trained to work in tandem, but eventually she was able to understand how shadow travel worked. Ironically, it had been Yuji's idea to try and use the technique thusly.

And so Megumi and Nadja hid in his shadow, and the shadows of others, gathering information, and points.

On the other end, Yuta is slowly cutting his way through other players, a fact they only know thanks to Yuji adding a rule that allows them to see who the other players are as well as how many points they currently have. Nadja is pulling one of her blades out of an unfortunate sorcerer who ran afoul of them on their way through the colony when Yuji points out that Yuta has accumulated enough points to likely pull off their plan to rescue Tsumiki.

The only issue is there's no cell service in the colonies, and so communication is a scarce thing. Their only hope is that Yuta meets them at the agreed-upon rendezvous point: the hospital where Tsumiki is being held.

"If she was cursed by that sorcerer," Megumi says, as they make their way through the quiet streets. "Then it's likely she's awake already."

Nadja frowns. "Yes, and if that sorcerer cursed her, she likely does not know what to do with her newfound powers. We need to be quick. Yuji, how are our points looking if Yuta can't make it in time?"

Yuji frowns, summoning the Kogane and querying for players nearby.

"Who's Hiromi Higuruma?" Yuji asks. "He's the only player with over a hundred points." His voice sounds tight, as he thinks of the implications of one man demolishing sorcerers left and right.

"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Megumi says. "Look…"

Nadja frowns as the new challenger approaches. She snorts to cover her derisive laugh. Is he wearing a fucking suit? She studies him a little closer, her false eye reading the cursed energy and pulsing it into her nervous system for processing. Oh. Oh.

"I don't think he's friendly, boys," Nadja says in warning, hands hovering near the hilts of her disrupting throwing knives. Yuji holds up his hand.

"Let's try and talk to him first," he says, and when Nadja and Megumi frown at him he looks at them with that plaintive shimmer in his big brown eyes and Nadja just knows Sukuna is vomiting everywhere in the boy's head. Gods above she hopes this boy does not get them all killed.

"Alright," Nadja relents. "We'll ask him politely to help us make a rule to stop the game, and if he refuses what then, Yuji?"

Yuji cracks his knuckles. "Then we make him see reason."

Good boy.

Nadja relaxes her stance and gestures for him to take the lead. Yuji makes his way toward the man in the suit and when Nadja gets a good look at his face—especially his eyes—she knows exactly how this conversation will go. He stares at Yuji, taking him in, the shadows under his eyes doing nothing to dim the glimmer of cold determination within him. Yuji holds up a hand in greeting, and even smiles. Nadja wants to palm her face, but she keeps herself at the ready, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet as Yuji greets the man and explains what it is they're trying to do.

Hiruma does not seem to agree.

"Why the hell should I help people who don't want to help themselves?" He asks, and Nadja can taste the contempt in his tone. The contempt of a man who has been too often disappointed or let down by life. She knows exactly where his contempt stems from, and as the conversation continues, she knows that Yuji is at a disadvantage here.

"Do you feel that?" She asks Megumi in a low whisper. Megumi never takes his eyes off Yuji and Hiruma.

"Yeah," he agrees. "This guy's not a trained sorcerer. Must be one of the transformed non-sorcerers. His cursed energy is…"

Nadja's false eye burns from the contact and she wants to rip it out. Every time she's near immense cursed energy she wants to tear at her face, but it is the price she pays for trying to circumvent her heavenly restriction. There is a price for greed.

"I'd rather kill people who annoy me," Hiruma says. "I never thought much about killing others before, but now that I've been doing it—especially to people who deserve it…"

Nadja knows she has only a heartbeat to react, but Hiruma acts first.

"DOMAIN EXPANSION—"

Nadja barely has time to grab Megumi before the domain's barrier locks them both out, trapping Yuji and Higuruma inside.

"Oh, for fuck's sake…" Nadja growls going for her sword. She hates having to draw it, but it's the only way she can shatter domains effectively. And when the time comes, it will be the only way she can truly end Sukuna's life…and Sundari's.

Can't think about that now, she must rescue Yuji. Unless…no, she can't afford to cut into the domain either and risk being hit by whatever is inside. She can't imagine a previous non-sorcerer being awakened only to already have a grasp on domain expansion has anything good going on in that barrier. She remembers the look in his eyes. The cold, exhausted apathy.

"Hikmat-sensei," Megumi says, already frantic. "I can use my domain to—"

"No!" Nadja says. "Let's wait, see what Yuji does. If we barge in there's no telling what the effects will be, and we must save your strength. Can't afford to take more of us off the field because of rash actions."

Megumi doesn't look like he wants to agree but he defers to his senior in this and the two wait outside the swirling surface of the domain's barrier while Yuji fights inside. Nadja is counting, trying to see if the sure-hit effect will take root, or—

The domain disperses, unraveling to reveal both Higuruma and Yuji, seemingly unharmed. Megumi is at his side instantly, limning Higuruma in a cold glare promising a world of pain if harm has come to his friend. Yuji is looking at his hands, an unreadable look on his face. Nadja frowns.

"What have you done?" She demands of Higuruma who is adjusting his jacket and shirt. He meets her gaze and Nadja sees momentary confusion flash across his face. He knows how to perceive cursed energy and likely he is realizing that she has none. He is not part of the jujutsu world, and so of course he doesn't know what people like her are called. But he—like most sorcerers—chooses not to acknowledge her as a true threat. Yet.

"I can't control what Judgeman does, only deliver the evidence and verdict," Higuruma explains and Nadja realizes he's talking about his technique; specifically, his domain. "This kid plead guilty, so Judgeman passed a sentence. Confiscation."

Yuji looks a little sullen. "Took my cursed energy," he mutters.

"You're lucky that's all he did," Higuruma says coldly. "Had you been found guilty of a more heinous crime I'd be forced to execute you."

Nadja smirks. "And then I'd mount your head on the fucking Skytree if you harm him."

Yuji and Megumi look visibly shocked. It's not like Nadja to make such violent threats. Both have fought her, so they know her threats carry the weight of promise in them. They do not doubt for a second that she will do exactly as she says. She and Sukuna are very much alike in that regard. More than that, Yuji was not aware that Nadja had become protective of him and the other students, especially with Gojo gone. It gives him a sense of security to know he is not alone in facing this chaos.

Higuruma does not seem to share the sentiment that Nadja is as dangerous as she looks. Instead, he frowns and regards the three of them.

"The object of the game is to kill the other players," he says, and Nadja sees his expression shift, brows knitted in consternation, eyes looking past them as he struggles with this new reality foisted upon him. "And I thought that killing people who were guilty would make up for all the times I failed to protect the innocent from violent offenders and other scum. But the truth is…everyone is so fucking weak."

Nadja's hand goes to her sword hilt.

"Hikmat-sensei, wait!" Yuji cries and she does not look at him, but her hand visibly relaxes around the hilt. Higuruma looks at her as if he doesn't expect much from her and she almost wants to pity him. She can see he's not a natural fighter, nor a trained one. This man is a suit-wearing paper pusher suddenly burdened with unfathomable power and extraordinary abilities. That he took up killing does not shock her, but she knows she can have his head off his shoulders in less than the time it takes for him to form his thoughts.

"If you give us your points," Yuji explains. "We can help those people you claim you failed to protect. I promise you, what's going on now is way worse than a few repeat offenders allowed to go free. But if you help us, we can stop this sick game before any more innocent people get hurt."

Nadja waited for Higuruma's response, but inwardly she beamed with pride. Yuji will make a formidable foe, but there is no denying that he is an even better friend to have in one's corner. She wonders if Satoru saw in him when she sees now. Did the Six Eyes show him the vast potential of this young boy?

Did they need to for anyone to see it?

Higuruma stares at Yuji and his earnest face and can't help but sigh. It goes against his nature to kill indiscriminately, and even worse, he had enjoyed it some of the time. He realizes in that moment that he has become…something else. Something new.

"You were a public defender," Yuji says, no longer plaintive but firm. "Your job was to protect the clients, right? Especially the innocent ones? Well…we're trying to protect people too. Innocent people who don't deserve to be caught up in our war. And we'd rather not have to fight you on this."

Part of Nadja really hopes the man refuses Yuji's pleas for cooperation because she's agitated with him already. They simply do not have time for this. Every day they have spent in this forsaken game has been hell. Yuji has already had to stomach witnessing Nadja brutalize sorcerers who refuse to cooperate; and though the boy has come a long way since being saddled with the problems of jujutsu society, Nadja knows his stomach turns when he sees her hands weltered in blood and gore. Sorcerers are excellent with their magic, but Nadja is a master at unmaking the flesh with her blades.

It's what she was made for, after all.

"It's in your best interest to work with us, Higuruma," Nadja says. "Aside, your technique is burned out since you used your domain. You would not even be hard to kill at this point. We'd just rather not."

She's lying. She doesn't trust this man, but Yuji wants to, and she must be patient and let him find his way. She just hopes this doesn't result in something else coming to bite them in the ass.

"I get it," Higuruma says. "I do. But what makes you any different than any of the other sorcerers I've killed?"

Nadja's had it. She steps forward and, in a blink, closes the distance between herself and Higuruma, her Executioner's Blade at his throat. He gasps, recognizing it immediately.

"How did you get this?" He asks. Nadja smirks at him knowingly, saying nothing.

"Hikmat-sensei," Yuji's alarmed tone momentarily pauses her actions, and she spares the boy a glance over her shoulder. "Please, we don't have to kill him."

"Why not?" Nadja demands. "The man is wringing his hands over a moral dilemma because he recently discovered the illicit pleasures of murder. Why shouldn't we kill him before he can kill someone else?"

Yuji frowns, coming to stand beside her.

"Because a cycle of poison is still a cycle," he says. "We need all the help we can get, and he can be a powerful ally."

Nadja turns her gaze to Higuruma, who meets it unflinching. One flick of her wrist, and she can have his head rolling in an instant.

"Well, Higuruma?" She asks, her arm as steady as a tree rooted to the earth. "Are you a powerful ally? Or are you a speed bump on the road to our goals?"

Higuruma sees Nadja and knows that even though he is new to killing, and has only been doing it for a few days, this woman has waded through unfathomable oceans of blood. To her, he's just another dead sorcerer, but it seems the boy has managed to stay her hand. He takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes as he relents.

"Alright," he says. "But only because the boy confessed to a crime it's clear he didn't commit. I don't know all the details of what's going on with you people, but I know when I'm outmatched. Kogane!"

The little creature appears, cheerfully greeting Higuruma as he makes a request to add a rule to the game, requesting the ability to transfer points to other players. After he phrases it to his liking, the Kogane agrees. The broadcast goes out of course, alerting all players of the new rule. No helping that. Higuruma then transfers the points to Megumi and Yuji. Nadja withdraws her sword, sheathing it along the length of her spine. The hilt vanishes into the layers of suede and reinforced weave of her garments. Higuruma swallows momentarily, taking her in for the first time now that the hostilities have cooled between them.

He is not entirely displeased with what he sees. And he still wants to know where she got that sword.

"We've got it," Megumi says. "We've got enough points to get Tsumiki!"

Nadja allows herself a small, triumphant little smile. They need a win, and this is as close to one as they've gotten in what feels like forever.

"A new player has entered the game!"

They pause, blinking at one another in shock. When Yuji checks Kogane for the details of the new player his eyes go wide.

Sundari Hikmat's name is listed. She has no points, but none of the trio seems particularly worried on that front. What's concerning is why she has entered the Culling Game.

"A player has added a rule to the game!"

"For fuck's sake…" Megumi mutters, relieved that Nadja doesn't seem particularly concerned about foul language.

"Sundari Hikmat's life is worth 5,000 points!"

Yuji locks gazes with Nadja who stares at him. She knows from behind his eyes, Sukuna is watching her. She knows without having to see his face reflected in Yuji's features, that he finds this highly amusing.

"It's like sending pigs to a slaughterhouse," Megumi says. "She's going to pulverize them."

That's what Nadja's afraid of! If that fucking sorcerer wearing Geto's body has put a price on her daughter's head, every sorcerer in the colonies is going to descend on Tokyo in a matter of hours, especially with the rule about transportation between colonies being added for players. Nadja takes a deep breath and hopes Sundari has the restraint to evade and mask herself. Why she isn't back at Jujutsu Tech is a conversation they will have when they retrieve Tsumiki and are free of this accursed game.

But right now, she has a promise to keep.

"She can handle herself," Nadja says tersely. "Let's press on. Higuruma, you might want to recover your cursed energy. We may meet resistance on the way."

Higuruma shakes his head. "You all go on ahead. Something tells me the trouble you're in is beyond me."

It's been a shit fucking week for everyone, apparently.

It gets worse when they arrive at the designated rendezvous point and find Ijichi, Maki, and an unfamiliar face waiting for them. Nadja greets Ijichi calmly, running through cursory introductions as Megumi reunites with who Nadja comes to understand is Tsumiki. At first glance, Nadja doesn't think much of the slip of a girl, but she seems to be in good health.

Megumi explains the Culling Game to her.

She nods, seemingly shaken but understanding. Megumi then offers her the points for her to exit the game. Nadja thinks, at last, a victory that will boost the morale of these children who carry burdens they shouldn't. Maybe they can kill the sorcerer responsible for all of this and get back to business.

She needs a vacation.

"Hikmat-sensei," Maki greets and Nadja smiles warmly. "This has been…one hell of a week."

Nadja laughs, full-throated and unfettered. It's an understatement that's for sure. Nadja has killed so many sorcerers in the last few days that she knows Toji would laugh to see it. All her principles about leaving jujutsu sorcerers alone she's not contracted to kill or who aren't impeding her progress, up in smoke. She's run through men and women alike, and when she wasn't running them through one of the boys was beating them to hell and back.

Nadja doesn't realize it, but she is tired of being alive.

"Why is Sundari in the game?" Maki asks in a soft voice. "I thought she was supposed to hang back unless shit hits the fan."

Nadja is about to open her mouth to reply when a commotion catches her attention. She looks up sharply to see Tsumiki laughing, but it is the shrill and mad laughter of a woman, not a teenaged girl. Megumi looks alarmed, but Nadja has already deduced what may be happening.

"Why, Megumi!" Tsumiki says, with mocking shrill laughter, almost theatrical in its tone. "I'm your big sister!"

Nadja's hand goes to the hilt of her sword, but the next few seconds will have her hating herself for the next month at least.

Yuji's body goes rigid, and he grits his teeth as if in pain. Nadja spots Sukuna's markings fading into the boy's skin. Both she and Maki have their swords drawn as Tsumiki calls up Kogane, adding a new rule.

"I challenge Sukuna to a duel!" She crows.

And Sukuna, now in full control of Yuji's body, laughs.

The laughter bounces off the concrete, echoes across the ghost town that most of Tokyo has become because of the Games. He laughs maniacally, victoriously, triumphantly.

And then he promptly rips off Yuji's left pinkie finger. Nadja doesn't understand what he's doing, wondering if he means to simply maim the boy for no other reason than to cause him pain. She knows that's the partial truth.

The other is impossible.

Megumi's hands come together to form the mudra to cast his domain, but Sukuna is so much faster, and Nadja is too far to get to him in time as Sukuna grabs Megumi's face and shoves the severed pinkie in the boy's mouth, covering it and forcing him to swallow it or suffocate.

The markings on Yuji's body fade…and manifest on Megumi's face.

"Fuck." Nadja whispers. "Maki!"

Maki doesn't need to be told twice, but Sukuna is ready for them. In a fresh vessel—gods how could she have been so blind to his intentions?—Sukuna takes Yuji first, landing a well-placed hit to the boy's stomach, forcing him to cough up blood and fall to his knees. He kicks him aside for good measure.

"Now," he says, cracking his neck and knuckles. "Let's play."

Tsumiki's shrill laughter is cut short when Maki knocks her clear and pivots sharply to come after Sukuna, who looks pleasantly surprised, even impressed.

Two heavenly restricted women close in on him, and Nadja realizes that Sukuna is not only faster but stronger. Even when she fought him at his peak a thousand years before, he was not nearly as precise and cunning as he is, now. And it is in the moment when he forms the signs to summon Megumi's shadows that Nadja realizes she has erred.

"How long do you think you can keep this up?" She demands, slashing the cursed energy of his attacks in two with her sword, grunting as they nick her anyway. The cuts are shallow, and even Sukuna seems to look surprised. He should be bathing in a spray of blood, but the most he's done is cut her face. Nadja smirks, and she and Maki swing around, trapping the sorcerer between the hammer and the anvil.

In this case, both were the hammer.

Nadja's blade severs Sukuna's left-hand fingers, and Maki scores a deep gash in his chest, driving Sukuna back.

"You two make a fine pair of useless fighters," Sukuna taunts, even as he repairs his injuries with ease. "But I've plans, you see, and you're going to make me late."

Nadja doesn't realize why her breath is fogging on the air until she finds herself unable to move. Yuji returns but gets caught in the frost as well. Only Maki is mobile, and Nadja cannot help the swell of pride in seeing her fully realized. She is almost a mirror of Toji, and for a moment, Nadja feels giddy to not be the only one bound in a pact with the divine again. For a moment, she sees everything she told Sukuna would happen so long ago.

Maybe in the future there will be others but for now I am the only one…like this.

Nadja shuts her eyes for a moment, realizing the biting cold has seeped into her limbs, her body trying to resist the urge to shut down as she shivers in the icy prison, teeth chattering. As her eyes drift closed, she sees shadows welling up beneath her, Maki being swatted aside by a laughing Sukuna, and his eyes falling on hers with mad glee.

Her consciousness slips away to the warm dark, and her mind is filled with Yuji screaming Megumi's name.