This wasn't earth.

That much became immediately clear as soon as he cut his way out of the metal prison he'd awakened in.

The second thing he noticed immediately was that this was not his original body and neither was it the body of that pink-haired brat. For starters, it was... incalculably stronger, more durable, and it came with a host of other features he didn't think were even possible, organs he never knew existed, and a brain that was... quite simply, not human. Oh, he would have so much fun with it later. It was even better than his original body, after all, better by a margin of thousands and thousands. And it was still growing; after all, his form now was that of a child – a very tall and physically imposing child child, but a child nonetheless.

The only problem now was that this wasn't the playground he knew and loved. In fact, he had no idea where he was, what he was doing here, or how he even got here. This place was unknown. And, he should know, he'd traversed the breadth of the world at least once before, after all, seen all that there was to see, sampled the delicacies in every nation of every culture.

He turned over his shoulder and eyed the metal thing that'd held him mere moments ago. Etched upon its matted and ruined surface was a symbol, a Roman Numeral, a system of writing he knew very little of and cared very little for - XI. He recognized it, however, as a symbol that meant the number eleven. However, that was the extent of it. A cursory investigation of the metal capsule itself yielded no tangible results, only that – at one point – it had been attached to a series of tubes, likely constantly feeding and flushing some form of liquid in and out of the capsule, the same liquid he'd briefly felt before he awakened fully, much of it now seeping into the soil in the ground.

It smelled... almost like... amniotic fluid, but not quite; there were a myriad of other things mixed into it – chemicals. Not quite sorcerous in nature, since he did not feel the touch of Cursed Energy, but seemingly entirely chemical – though far from mundane.

Curious.

Shrugging, he turned away from the metal object and scanned his immediate surroundings. Charred and barren rock. Soil that had not felt the touch of rain for many years – so dry it might as well have been a single, solid mass of stone. Dark in color, like obsidian, but matted. There were tall mountains in the distance, but not a single one of them had even the barest green – only dark gray or black. However, the fact that he was breathing at all meant there had to be an oxygen-producing mechanism somewhere, which meant there had to be some form of life here.

At least, that's what he hoped. Otherwise, it'd be terribly boring to wander an entire world alone with nothing to entertain him. But, wouldn't that be a rather ironic way for him to finally meet his end? Granted all the power and all the strength he'd wanted, with nothing to use it on, no enemies to fight – nothing. The thought was almost depressing, but not nearly enough to curb his enthusiasm at exploring an entirely new world.

The King took a single step forward before he leapt high, immediately climbing out of the hundred-meter crater he'd stood at the center of. The land around him looked more or less the same, a seemingly endless expanse of barren rock, lifeless crags and ashen mountains as far as the eye could see and his eyes could see quite a lot, especially now – enhanced as they were by some form of mortal bio-alchemy. On a whim, the King turned his gaze to a nearby boulder, a ten-meter thick chunk of solid stone. A simple exertion of his will, followed by a lazy gesture with his pointer finger, saw a clean line appearing right down the center of the boulder, a cut so precise and so perfect that it was as thought he boulder itself hadn't even realized that it had been cut.

That was a relief. His Cursed Technique was still there – still present. The new body he now possessed, which was superior to his old one in about a thousand different ways, was sure to slowly alter it. Body and soul existed as one, after all. The shape of the soul dictated the shape of the body; the opposite was also true. For one cannot exist on physical matter alone. As for now, however, his Cursed Technique stayed the same; whatever changes wrought were so hilariously tiny that it could be said that they did not exist at all. However, his total Cursed Energy reserves were... not nearly as much as they should've been. As of now, was certain that this body only contained about thirteen or, maybe even fifteen, fingers worth of Cursed Energy.

But, as with everything else, he couldn't really do much about that. So, he accepted it and moved on. And, honestly, if this was the price to pay for waking up in a new world... then... he was fine with that.

There was a mountain in front of him, tall and imposing, looming over much of what he could see forward.

A single gesture reduced it down into a collapsing sea of tiny stone cubes that then streamed around him. The King strode forward and anything that stood in his way met the same fate.

It wasn't until an hour or so later, during which he simply walked in a single direction, forward, did something of note and interest finally happen. His ears perked up at the faint bestial howl that echoed across the winds – distant, incredibly so. Still, his head snapped to the side. Only a living creature could've created such a sound – or maybe a weirdly-shaped cave with wind flowing through it. But not going out to investigate it would be a huge wasted opportunity. If he was wrong, then all he'd lose would be... well... he wouldn't lose anything, really. If he was right and there was something alive in this barren land of rock and stone, then he'd rejoice.

Either way, he was going to win.

And so, he turned from his path and raced across the barren land. The ground broke beneath his feet, rock and stone crunching and breaking apart with every step he took. He'd never quite measured just how fast he was able to sprint before, mostly because he never had to, but he knew that he was fast and that there were very few beings, most of them sorcerers, who were as fast and even fewer could claim to be faster. But, he was rather certain now of the fact that this body was much faster – and he hadn't even begun to inject any volume of Cursed Energy into his limbs or anywhere, really.

Another hour passed by quickly enough, an hour of silence, during which he – surprisingly – came across a very thin and very shallow stream of water that flowed from one of the thousands of mountains that surrounded him. A quick taste test of the water, however, revealed its toxic nature as a single drop of it would've been deadly enough – by his own estimation – to kill over a hundred, fully grown men.

The source of the noise came from somewhere on the other side of the mountain range before him. Briefly, he considered cutting it all down, before setting aside the thought; there wasn't much pleasure to be derived from the act of destroying things that weren't even alive. Sure, it was oddly satisfying to reduce a mountain down to a single stump or level a great forest into a grassland, but... it was eh. So, instead, he scaled the side of the mountain range and climbed to its ashen peaks, high above the clouds, which – surprisingly – was covered in ashes. Poisonous ashes, actually; so much so that he felt his skin immediately and violently hissing upon contact. A human, the King mused, would've already been reduced to a mere puddle of boiling blood and bone on the ground. But he... in this body... he could survive it, though not indefinitely.

Amazing... Whoever created this body – for it was very obviously designed and not at all a product of nature – was a true genius, he admitted inwardly. Just the fact the could still see at all when the very air seemed intent on devouring anything made of flesh and blood, his eyes included, was marvelous. If he wished, he could apply a thin layer of Cursed Energy over himself and that, more than anything, would halt the corrosive ashes from ever reaching him. Failing that, his mastery of Reverse Cursed Energy could easily undo any physical damage he'd sustain. But, as awesome as the view was – an endless sea of soft and silvery clouds, tinged red and gold and blue by the distant sun – he had no interesting in staying up here.

Actually, having a thick layer of clothing might've helped immensely, considering he was quite nude at the moment. But, eh, there was nothing around him but rocks and gravel and more rocks; so, there was nothing he could do about it for now.

He walked to the edge and glanced down. Whatever had made that noise was still down there, below the clouds. Before him was a steep drop, a cliff that bent concavely; anything that fell down here would fall straight down. The King smiled as he stepped right off. The winds howled at his ears, almost gently caressing his skin as he plummeted straight down without a single care in the world. There might've been a time, long ago, when falling from heights was mortally dangerous for him, a time when he was weak and feeble, when the world seemed out to get him and the only thing he could do was run and hide and train and hope to fight another die.

The King chuckled as he pushed through the clouds. And there, in the open air, he saw a portion of the vastness of the barren land he'd awakened in – more dead than a graveyard, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of miles of nothing but ashen mountains, black crags, cavernous caverns, and dark skies.

A tiny rush of Cursed Energy quickly enveloped him, forming an active aura that coated the entirety of his body, from his skin, his muscles, his organs, and even down to the core of his very bones – the most basic form of Sorcerous Augmentation, but also the most important. Solid stone gave way as his feet touched the ground, pushing through rock as though it was softer than air; a quick spell dispersed the kinetic energy to his immediate surroundings. A crater formed around him as a result, instead of his feet sinking into the soil, which would be rather annoying to deal with. With a soft and easy smile, the King stepped out of the crater.

The source of the howl was close by, he realized, since he could still hear it. His smile widened into a grin, because there definitely was an animal of some sort that was making all that noise, but it wasn't any beast he knew; that much was certain. Though, such a thing was also expected, considering this was an entirely new world. Ah, the very concept of it still excited him.

Unable to hold back his excitement, the King rushed forward, grinning. The creature was close – very close. Strangely, he could only hear it. But, whatever it was, it didn't seem to emit any sort of odor at all. It was equally possible that this might not be a creature of flesh to begin with. Whatever it was, the lure of the unknown excited him and his heart quickened at all the possibilities.

He rushed forward and went past a cluster of tall boulders and stone columns. And then, his eyes widened.

"Oh... this is new." The King grinned.

Before him was a beast. It definitely was shaped like a beast. Large and powerful, with thick and muscular limbs attached to a sleek body. It was built almost like a cat, an ambush predator. He knew and was familiar with all of those things. The only thing that he found... mildly interesting and unusual, was the fact that it was made entirely of metal. And that it was fighting another similar beast, some form of gigantic bovine creature with huge horns and massive hooves, also made entirely of metal. Neither of them emitted any sort of Cursed Energy. But... in that case, how were these things even remotely animated?

Their battle broke apart the land around them, gouging out large portions of the earth and ground, leaving holes on the sides of the mountains, and crushing boulders into dust.

His eyes narrowed as a modicum of realization and understanding dawned on him. Were these... automatons?

How was that even possible?

Sorcerers rarely ever made use of such... puppets.

And humans... well... humans couldn't have invented such wonders of technology in the time he was asleep. After all, the fools had just discovered steel when he separated himself into twenty cursed objects.

He leapt upwards as the thrashing beasts of metal came close to him, their forms crashing against each other like collapsing mountains. But... they weren't alive. However, such things could not have come about through the work of nature. Someone created them. Ryomen Sukuna grinned as he landed on a tall boulder that overlooked much of the surrounding area. He then sat down and watched. Whatever the case – whoever and whatever might've created these things – he was going to sit down and enjoy the spectacle before him, a sight the King of Curses couldn't rightly claim to have seen before.

Interesting and strangely calming. Though, some blood would've made it better.

And then, he felt it... flickers of Cursed Energy from... below... somewhere deep underground. So deep that he'd almost been tricked into believing there were no living things in this world. But, oh, how good it felt to be surprised. For a moment, the King of Curses found himself frowning. So, there were humans in this world? Oh good, it would've been terribly boring, otherwise. Still, why were they all hiding down there?