"I already said before, although I have a good relationship with them, we're just ordinary friends. It's not worth risking my life to save them. It's all…
Forget it, forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained. Blame that old man in my family for filling my head with strange ideas."
Suddenly, a small object fell out of Sasaki's pocket.
Yuji Itadori picked it up and asked, "Is this what you were looking for?"
"Yeah, that's it. A special-grade cursed object—Sukuna's finger. It's a miracle it hasn't been eaten."
Yuji Itadori's expression turned strange. "Eaten? Why would someone eat it? Does it taste good?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
Megumi Fushiguro replied, "Eating it grants immense cursed energy. This thing is extremely dangerous—hand it over, now."
"Beg me."
"...What?"
"Beg me. This thing is really important to you, isn't it? So, beg me for it."
Megumi's eyelid twitched. "Is that any way to talk to the person who just saved your life?"
"Hey, what life-saving? You saved Sasaki and the others, not me."
"This thing is dangerous. An ordinary person like you shouldn't mess with it."
"I know. I'm not planning to keep it anyway."
"Then why are you—"
"I just wanted to see what a 'three-no' guy looks like when he's begging."
A few black lines appeared on Megumi's forehead.
"You bastard. Someone must have beaten you up in school, right?"
"Of course, but they couldn't win against me."
"..."
"Pfft!"
Yuji Itadori laughed and said, "Alright, I was just messing with you. Here."
Before he could finish speaking, Megumi's expression suddenly changed. He shoved Yuji to the ground and shouted, "Watch out!"
A curse spirit suddenly descended from above, its massive fist closing tightly around Megumi.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Megumi forced out a sound, "W—!"
Before he could finish, the curse hurled him away, sending him crashing into a concrete-reinforced wall. With a sickening thud, blood spurted from his mouth.
With a deafening boom, the curse spirit smashed through the wall and charged toward the rooftop, seemingly intent on crushing the sorcerer to death.
But Megumi was battle-hardened. Despite his injuries, he forced his body to roll away, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.
"Yuji Itadori! Get them out of here—RUN!"
Yuji Itadori froze on the spot. Right now, the best choice he could make was to flee.
After all, even Megumi Fushiguro, a skilled jujutsu sorcerer, was beaten so badly. He was just an ordinary person—what could he possibly do by staying here?
But still!
"Abandoning someone who saved me and running away—that's not how I live my life!"
With a fierce punch, he struck the curse spirit hard!
Megumi Fushiguro roared, "Yuji Itadori, what the hell are you doing?! Don't throw your life away—run! Listen to me, the best choice you have right now is to abandon me and escape with your friends!"
But Yuji Itadori moved nimbly across the high-rise buildings, as if he hadn't heard a word.
Megumi shouted, "Curses can only be exorcised by other curses! You can't defeat it!"
Gritting his teeth, Yuji Itadori replied, "Even so, how could I just stand by and watch you die?!"
"If I run now, my conscience will haunt me—I'll regret it for the rest of my life!"
"Besides, I already have an even bigger curse on me!"
That damn old man! Always preaching about saving as many people as possible! What a pain in the ass!
Just then, Itadori made a misstep and was caught directly by the curse spirit. The monster's massive, bloodstained jaws opened wide.
"Damn it… Is this the end?!"
…
Meanwhile, a small group was hiding behind the power room.
Paimon muttered, "Hey, aren't you gonna step in? If you don't, that guy's gonna die."
"I'm just analyzing the curse's strength first."
When traveling across countless worlds, caution was key.
"Besides, it's your fault for wasting time eating non-stop. If not for that, I'd have been here sooner."
"Uh…"
Paimon was at a loss for words.
After watching for a while, Zephyr finally came to a conclusion.
This curse…
He should be able to defeat it.
Judging by its apparent level, it was around Level 15—about the same as his. However, its attack patterns were simple, and it had already taken considerable damage from the two fighters.
So, Zephyr figured he could handle it.
Seeing that Yuji Itadori was truly at his limit, Zephyr decided to step in.
With a sudden burst of speed, he appeared right in front of the curse spirit. A single Wind Vortex Slash sent the massive creature flying. He followed up with three basic attacks, finishing it off instantly.
"You okay?"
A girl dressed in casual clothes stood there, her expression calm. The words "Cutest" were boldly printed on her shirt.
Yuji Itadori, unfortunately, had hit his head in the chaos and passed out.
"Uh… I didn't do that on purpose."
Megumi Fushiguro was utterly shocked.
A jujutsu sorcerer? No… he couldn't sense any cursed energy from her.
But then, what kind of "technique" was that just now?!
And… what was up with that mascot beside her?!
As if hearing Megumi Fushiguro's inner thoughts, Paimon retorted, "Paimon is NOT a mascot!"
"It talked?! Is this some kind of new curse spirit?"
"Paimon is nowhere near that ugly!"
"…" Megumi fell silent.
Meanwhile, Zephyr hurriedly shook Yuji Itadori. "Tiger, Tiger, wake up! Wake up!"
Thanks to Yuji's exceptional physique, he groggily came to his senses. "Y-You… who are you? Where's Fushiguro? What about the curse spirit?"
"Fushiguro is fine. I already defeated the curse."
Only then did Yuji, still a bit dizzy, stand up and finally get a good look at the person in front of him.
"I see… Thank you so much… uh… little girl?"
Yuji Itadori blinked and asked, "Little girl, were you the one who saved us?"
A vein popped on Lumine's forehead. "Little girl?! You're the little kid here!"
She kicked him.
Lumine swore—she really just kicked him lightly.
Who could have guessed that her foot would accidentally land in a very sensitive spot?
Yuji Itadori immediately doubled over in agony, momentarily disappearing from existence.
"Uh… I didn't do that on purpose."
Lumine turned to Megumi with an innocent look. "You saw that, right? It was an accident."
Megumi gulped and nodded quickly, afraid that hesitating would earn him the same fate.
Paimon muttered, "So ruthless…" then introduced herself, "I'm Paimon, and she's Lumine. We're travelers."
Megumi swallowed hard. "Travelers?"
If a mere traveler was this strong… then what was even the point of jujutsu sorcerers existing?!
Paimon continued, "You look seriously injured. Need some healing?"
"Healing? You guys know healing-type jujutsu?"
"It's not jujutsu."
"Not… jujutsu?"
"Just answer—do you want help or not?"
Megumi hesitated. These people didn't seem to have any reason to lie. And if they wanted to harm him, there was no need for tricks—he was already badly injured as it was.
//END