(Update will slow for a while because I have a packed schedule for some while.)
Inside the guest room, the members of the Chat Group sat across from the representatives of Tokyo Jujutsu High, the air thick with palpable tension.
"So, let me get this straight," Principal Masamichi Yaga began, rubbing his brow in visible frustration. Seated beside Satoru Gojo, he cast a wary glance at the black cat lounging lazily across Yue's lap. "You're demanding we hand over all the Sukuna Fingers in our possession—or you'll take them by force?"
Ray, the feline in question, barely stirred under Yue's gentle strokes, his tail flicking idly. He cracked open a single eye to regard Yaga, entirely unfazed by the principal's stern demeanor—or the fact that the man wore sunglasses indoors.
Yaga's expression was a mix of disbelief and scrutiny. The existence of the Chat Group alone was difficult enough to process, let alone their audacious demand for some of the most dangerous cursed objects in the world.
Even Gojo, usually carefree, had sobered. The atmosphere was no longer lighthearted.
"Correct," Ray replied with a casual nod, lifting his head slightly. "Honestly, I don't need your permission. I could take them with a mere thought."
To demonstrate, he fixed his gaze on an empty spot in the air. Instantly, a wrapped Sukuna Finger materialized, its immense cursed energy surging through the room. Both Yaga and Gojo stiffened, eyes widening in shock—before the finger vanished just as abruptly.
Ray shook his head. "But where's the fun in that? It's their job to collect the fingers," he said, lazily gesturing toward the Chat Group members behind Yue.
"However," he continued, his tone deceptively mild despite the implicit threat, "since Satoru Gojo is now one of us, I see no reason to tear Tokyo Jujutsu High apart over this."
"I'd prefer to resolve this peacefully."
His words did little to ease the tension. The Jujutsu High members exchanged wary glances, while the Chat Group side remained skeptical—well aware of Ray's… tendencies.
Noticing the rising strain and Ray's thinning patience, Ainz decided to intervene before things escalated.
*Ahem.* "What Ray says is true," Ainz began, turning to Gojo. "Now that you're part of our group, unnecessary conflict benefits no one."
"I don't know the full history of your world," Ainz admitted, "but from what I've understand, this Kenjaku seems to be a villain seeking to resurrect Sukuna for his own ends."
He glanced at Gojo and Yaga for confirmation.
The two exchanged a look. While the name "Kenjaku" was unfamiliar—despite Gojo's investigations through the Gojo Clan and Jujutsu archives—anyone attempting to revive Sukuna was undeniably a threat. Especially since Kenjaku was known to collaborate with cursed spirits.
That much was certain.
Seeing the conversation shift in the desired direction, Ainz gave a slight nod.
"Our goal isn't so different. We, too, seek to gather Sukuna's fingers and bring him back—but only to eliminate him permanently." He studied their expressions carefully. "Surely, your people also aim to destroy Sukuna once and for all?"
Gojo and Yaga nodded—but neither agreed to the idea of reviving Sukuna in the first place.
Ryomen Sukuna was a legend of unparalleled terror. A thousand years ago, during the golden age of Jujutsu, he had been a human sorcerer whose power and malevolence earned him the title "King of Curses." It had taken the combined might of countless sorcerers to defeat him, and even then, his essence persisted—transformed into twenty indestructible cursed fingers.
Neither Gojo nor Yaga knew the full extent of Sukuna's strength—nor, for that matter, the Chat Group's. The risk of failure was too catastrophic to gamble on strangers.
Ray, of course, could read their hesitation like an open book. The quickest solution? Force.
He needed to prove—conclusively—that he could handle Sukuna if the Chat Group failed.
Sure, he could simply warp their perceptions into blind trust. But where was the fun in that?
(Definitely not an excuse to flex his power.)
Ray stood from Yue's lap, drawing a reluctant frown from the girl as she lost the privilege of stroking his impossibly soft fur. His gaze locked onto Gojo and Yaga, silencing Ainz mid-sentence and drawing the room's full attention.
"I see your doubt," Ray mused. "Perhaps I should enlighten you, Satoru?"
Gojo's lips curled into a grin. He'd been itching to gauge Ray's strength but lacked a pretext—until now. Pride and duty alike demanded he seize this chance, both as the "strongest" and as a guardian of the Jujutsu world.
The Jujutsu High spectators buzzed with anticipation.
The Chat Group, however, responded with pitying glances—the kind adults reserve for children unaware of their impending folly. Especially Kazuma who was already clasping his hands, praying for Satoru Gojo's unfortunate soul.
———
The sparring ground stretched before them, an open arena under the watchful eyes of spectators shielded by Ainz and Rimuru's protective abilities. At its center stood Ray, the inscrutable black cat, and Satoru Gojo, hands tucked casually in his pockets, his blindfolded gaze unwavering.
"Satoru Gojo," Ray mused, stretching languidly, "let me offer you some advice." His voice was calm, almost conversational, as if they were discussing the weather rather than an imminent battle. "Go all out. Hold nothing back."
A pause. Then—
*Crrrk—BOOM.*
The stone tiles beneath them erupted as darkness painted the ground like ink spilled into a lake as Ray's shadow exploded outward, tendrils of inky blackness surging forth, forming living chains with spear heads at each end. Satoru's instincts screamed. His body moved instinctively before his mind could process—leaping and twisting mid-air with supernatural agility along with his physical body enhancing with Cursed Energy as numerous spears of condensed shadow lanced toward him, each missing him by a hairbreadth. They coiled like serpents, relentless, hunting him with eerie precision.
"—Otherwise," Ray finished, smirking as Satoru landed in a low stance and his appearance looking much more disheveled, "you wouldn't even have a chance to act."
Gojo's pulse thundered in his ears. His Limitless Technique had always been an impenetrable shield—yet something primal in him knew these spears couldn't be stopped. Ray's shadow is not bound by the rules of his world. It wasn't something physical or made of Cursed Energy. Testing his barrier against those shadows was a gamble he wasn't eager to take.
Then, as abruptly as they'd appeared, the spears halted and dissolved away like melting snow.
Silence.
Ray hadn't even tried. This was a greeting, nothing more. A flex of power so casual it bordered on insulting his pride as the Strongest Sorcerer.
Satoru exhaled, recalibrating his thoughts. His instincts weren't wrong—his Six Eyes saw far more than just Cursed Energy. They perceived the flow of all forces, the underlying rhythms of existence itself. Even if he couldn't identify the energy Ray wielded, its effects were undeniably a violation of reality so profound it bordered on blasphemy to the scientific field.
Every power system had rules. Mana, Curse Energy was all bound by universal laws, whether thermodynamic, spiritual, or cosmic. But Ray's energy defied them all. It wasn't just bending reality. Ray rewrote it on a whim. No source, no conservation, no cause and effect. Just energy conjured from nothing at a whim and erased just as easily.
Absolute hax. The kind of power that probably made even gods nervous if their reliance on faith held true.
"My turn?" Satoru grinned, though his mind raced. He'd hesitated—just for a fraction of a second—but that was enough.
A flick of his wrist.
*Blue.*
Space distorted and warped above Ray, collapsing inward with the force of a singularity. The air itself howled as matter crushed inward, forming a crushing sphere of compressed debris—a makeshift black hole. Satoru snapped his fingers.
*BANG.*
The sphere detonated in a sudden reversal of gravity, stone shrapnel blasting outward—
—only for Ray to be *gone*.
"Damn," came a voice beside Satoru's ear, so close he felt the breath tickling against his neck. "Gravity manipulation via spatial distortion? Nasty."
Satoru flinched. He hadn't sensed any movement, hadn't seen a blur—Ray was just 'there', perched on his shoulder like a housecat observing a mildly interesting toy.
He instantly teleported away, his heart hammering even harder.
Ray landed gracefully on the shadow-tainted ground, tail flicking. "Impressive," he admitted, though his tone dripped with condescension. "You divided space to the point of singularity. A black hole in miniature size. Flashy. But…" He tilted his head. "Is that truly its limit?"
The air thickened.
Heat.
It came in waves, oppressive and sudden. The stone tiles beneath him cracked, then melted. Wooden structures dried out and ignited like kindling. Satoru's blindfold and clothes began to singe.
He looked up.
And saw hell.
A sun—no, a massive star—hung above them, a searing orb of boiling white plasma ocean so vast it engulfed the sky. The ground beneath them bubbled into magma. The very air burned and his lips cracked from the extreme dryness as the tangy taste of iron slowly permeated his tongue in his vain attempt to wet his dry lips.
"Is this the so-called Strongest Sorcerer?" Ray's voice cut through the inferno, amused and mocking. "How disappointing."
"Allow me to enlighten you, Satoru Gojo. The full potential of your Limitless Technique in my hand." Ray laughed as he lifted his paw up where the sun, compressed to the size of a marble, hovered eerily still and harmless.
But, before Satoru Gojo could gather these thoughts of what had just happened. Ray reappeared in front of the spectators, still holding the marble-sized sun on his paw while the spectator group behind him got swallowed by his shadow.
Two blue and red marble-sized orbs appeared around the miniaturized sun and rapidly orbited around it as a purple streak of lightning streaked berserkly around Ray.
"Be honoured, Satoru Gojo. You will be the first human of your universe to experience first hand, the force that creates a universe."
As the three orbs merged and formed a fist sized purple orb. Ray gently flicks his paw forward, sending the purple orb of berserk energy towards the dumbfounded and stunned Satoru who looks like he just went through an epiphany mid battle.
"Hollow Purple, Genesis."
At the utterance of the sentence, Satoru felt the world around him come to a standstill as if time was grinded to halt. But that sensation lasted only briefly before endless darkness greeted him. Or rather, it could be more appropriately described as total deprivation of all senses except for his own thoughts that had also grinded to a halt after seeing the display of Hollow Purple Technique in Ray's hand.
Then, a crisp snap could be heard and his vision immediately returned.
Satoru Gojo looks confused. The scene is exactly like the start of his supposed duel with Ray.
Ray sat calmly in front of him while he had both his hands casually tucked in his pockets. The sparring ground and the surrounding building seems to be untouched.
The only difference is the spectator group's absence that reminded him his experience a moment ago isn't an illusion.
A smile appears on Satoru's face as he chuckles softly until it turns to an uproarious laughter. He realized how utterly he had been defeated. Yet, he held no grudges or hard feelings toward Ray.
If he had never believed in the existence of higher power, Ray's existence now forced him to face the reality that a God is truly before him. Otherwise, he couldn't explain that absurd display of power, to reenact the creation of the universe using his Limitless Technique so casually as if nothing.
Special Grade Cursed Spirits? Kenjaku? Sukuna? They were nothing more than insects. No. Without a shred of doubt, Ray sees them as even lesser than insects just like he is.
Satoru felt utterly laughable that he even felt proud of his meager strength, thinking he is above all things.
By the time Satoru's laughter died out, the spectators had returned. The Chat Group members looked unsurprised but the Jujutsu High members were utterly shocked, probably having witnessed everything until the end.
————
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