Chapter 23: The King of Curses Revived

Elle found herself trapped inside a separate space — an empty domain where nothing existed. Just an endless white space.

She slowly scanned the void, fingers absentmindedly playing with the bandana wrapped around her eyes.

A ripple distorted the space.

Another presence entered.

Elle smirked.

“Well… Megumi. You’ve grown.”

Megumi Fushiguro stepped forward.
“After I beat you half to death… you’re going to tell me about my father.”

Elle looked genuinely surprised.

She didn’t expect that.

“…Is that so?”

She removed her bandana.

Her Prism Eyes activated — light fracturing infinitely within her irises.

“You've got yourself a deal.”

Megumi felt it instantly.

He was fighting the strongest sorcerer of the modern era; the apex of Jujutsu Sorcerer 

One mistake… and she would punish him for it.

“Divine Dogs.”

Two shadows split from beneath him, forming into the black and white wolves. The three of them rushed forward at once.

Elle tilted her head slightly.

“You’re a shikigami user… yet you still prefer to come in close?”

She vanished.

The dogs’ claws tore through empty air.

Megumi pivoted, launching from her blind side and driving a kick toward her ribs—

His foot struck something unseen.

A transparent distortion in space.

The force reflected.

Megumi was blasted backward.

He flipped mid-air, landed, and rushed her again.

Same result.

Again.

And again.

Each time, his own power rebounded against him.

Elle sighed.

“This is getting boring.”

Before he could launch again—

She moved, near light speed.

She appeared in front of him and threw a straight punch aimed directly at his face.

Megumi slipped it by inches and countered with a body hook—

Her reflection ability blocked it.

Her fist moved faster than his eyes could track.

Impact.

Megumi was sent crashing across the domain floor.

As he struggled to breathe, Elle walked toward him casually.

“I’m disappointed, Megumi. After all that talk… you’re still this weak.”

Something snapped in him.

She went on to say. “I was hoping you could cure my boredom. I haven’t had a real fight since I fought your father.”

Megumi wiped blood from his lip.

“…Then maybe I can help.”

He pressed his hands together.

The chant began.

“Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General…”

The wheel manifested above his head.

It turned once.

Megumi’s cursed energy shifted colors — adapting to the refracted light and reflective distortions surrounding Elle.

Elle’s smile faded.

Second rotation.

The air cracked.

Mahoraga descended.

Its presence distorted the entire domain.

Megumi stood, breathing steady now.

“Just so you know…”

The wheel turned again behind him.

“We can both adapt to any phenomenon.”

For a moment, there was silence.

Then—

Elle began laughing.

“That’s it, Megumi.”

Her Prism Eyes flared brighter.

“Show me how much you’ve grown.”

The domain trembled.

Elle stood across from Megumi.

The wheel rotated slowly above his head.

Divine Dogs at his flanks, and Mahoraga towering behind him.

No one moved.

Then—

Mahoraga vanished.

He reappeared at Elle’s blind side and brought his blade down with overwhelming force.

Elle didn’t flinch.

An invisible barrier shimmered into existence.

The attack reflected.

The impact fractured the domain floor.

But—

Mahoraga did not stagger.

The wheel turned.

Adaptation complete.

Megumi’s eyes sharpened.

Now.

The Divine Dogs lunged at the exact moment the reflection triggered — the opening he had been waiting for.

“Shit.”

Elle twisted her body mid-step, slipping past the dogs effortlessly. Light bent around her form as she teleported behind them.

Two strikes.

Clean.

Precise.

The Divine Dogs shattered into smoke instantly.

Megumi watched carefully.

I’ve adapted to her reflection. Now we have to force her to use refraction… and her light manipulation.

Mahoraga pressed forward relentlessly.

But this time, Elle could not rely on reflection.

Mahoraga’s blade carved through space, forcing her into close combat.

She ducked beneath a swing.

Slipped inside his guard.

A straight punch drove into Mahoraga’s ribs—

Black Flash.

Megumi’s eyes widened.

Elle pivoted into a spinning kick to Mahoraga’s temple—

Black Flash.

The impact distorted the air itself.

Mahoraga staggered but did not fall.

Elle stepped to his blind side.

A sharp strike into his kidneys—

Black Flash.

Mahoraga roared.

Then—

An uppercut, aimed at the back of his head

Perfectly timed.

Perfectly aligned.

Black Flash.

Mahoraga was launched across the domain, tearing through the void and sliding past Megumi.

Silence.

Megumi stood frozen.

Four consecutive Black Flashes.

Only two sorcerers had ever achieved that before—

Yuki Itadori and Jaden Ryūmen 

Megumi smirked.

The wheel turned again.

Mahoraga rose slowly.

Then melted into a shadow.

Elle began walking toward Megumi calmly, brushing dust from her sleeve.

“I must admit… you’ve grown stronger.”

She vanished.

Megumi’s instincts screamed.

She reappeared behind him.

“But you’re still holding back.”

Her voice was cold now.

“Put more curse into your strikes.”

Megumi turned—

Too late.

Her fist drove into his back.

The world folded inward.

Black Flash.

The shockwave rippled through the domain like a detonation.

Megumi’s body lifted from the ground.

For the first time in this fight—

He felt fear.

 

Back at the Death Arena

The arena was silent.

Smoke drifted between shattered stone pillars.

Ashley stood over Yukino’s defeated body. Blood stained the ground beneath her.

She calmly retrieved her katana and wiped the blade clean against her sleeve before walking toward Cyan.

Cyan laid motionless, unconscious and broken. A massive hole tore through her chest — part of her lung exposed, barely moving.

Ashley crouched down, studying her face.

“She’s so young…”

Ashley placed a finger into her mouth.

One by one, she forced them down Cyan’s throat, then she stepped back.

She bowed her head slightly.

Nothing happened.

The wind passed through the ruined arena.

Ashley lifted her head to check on Cyan's body.

Still nothing happened.

Then—

A violent eruption of red cursed energy exploded outward.

The arena cracked.

Windows shattered across the surrounding district.

Cyan’s body convulsed.

The hole in her chest sealed itself in seconds: her flesh reformed, bone reconstructed.

Dark markings began crawling across her skin- like ink spreading through water.

Two eyes opened.

Then two more.

Four in total.

Cyan was gone.

He stood up slowly.

It was Jaden.

He scanned the battlefield with mild curiosity.

Ashley waved casually.

“Hey.”

Jaden looked at her.

Then he lighltly flicked her forehead.

“Ow!” she protested, rubbing it.

He smirked.

“You’re late.”

Near Jujutsu High

Steel clashed.

Cursed energy tore through the battlefield as Dean and the Zenin Clan Leader exchanged blows.

Mid-swing—

They both froze, when they felt the air shifted.

Dean’s eyes widened.

“No ways… not now…”

Across from him, the Zenin Clan Leader slowly lowered his blade.

His expression hardened.

“…It feels the same as back then.”

For a brief second—

Neither of them were enemies.

Because they both knew exactly what that presence meant.

Back at the Death Arena 

Ava’s blade carved through a curse spirit.

Fugaku incinerated three more.

Then—

The swarm stopped attacking.

Every curse spirit around them turned in the same direction.

Toward the source.

Then they began moving.

Rushing toward the source of the cursed energy surge.

Ava frowned.

“…Why are they running toward it?”

Fugaku’s face went pale.

“They’re not running.”

The ground trembled as the swarm surged forward.

“They’re answering a call.”

 On the other side of the death arena

Megumi Honda staggered as the pulse of cursed energy reached them.

His breath hitched.

He had felt this before.

That suffocating pressure.

That overwhelming malice.

His body remembered before his mind did.

Kevin steadied himself, gripping his rope dart.

“You think it’s her…”

He glanced toward the source.

“…or Jaden?”

Megumi didn’t answer.

Because deep down—

He already knew.

 

Jaden stood in the center of the ruined Death Arena.

Four eyes open.

Cursed energy coiling around him like a living storm.

The sky above Tokyo darkened slightly.

The balance of power had shifted.

Again.

End of Tokyo Cultural Exchange — Part 1