Nana's POV
After changing back to our usual school uniforms, Megumi, Yuji, and I made our way toward the Tokyo No.1 barrier wall in order to officially enter the Culling Game.
"We need to beware of incarnated sorcerers from the past..." I stated out, staring up at the barrier in front of us.
"I couldn't agree more. But explain it to me, Nana." Yuji responded back with a serious look on his face, causing Megumi to deadpan at him.
"You don't get it, huh?" the ravenette boy muttered under his breath.
"Some are from 1000 years ago... but even people from 100 or 200 years ago valued life differently. Plus they are sorcerers. Fighting to death used to be a normal thing. In fact, they desired it. That may be why they entered into contracts with Kenjaku. It's entirely possible that Kashimo and Higuruma are past sorcerers. So don't expect any negotiations. But a modern-day sorcerer embroiled in this like Tsumiki would probably be happy to exchange information." I explained to him the whole situation.
"So aside from them, the cursed spirits are the most aggressive ones." Yuji pointed out.
"Especially at night." Megumi chimed in, slightly nodding his head before our Kogane popped out in front of us.
"Hi! I'm a Kogane. Inside this barrier, a lethal contest called the Culling game has begun. Step inside and you too become a player!! Are you willing to enter?!" Kogane asked.
"Yeah, no problem." Megumi replied.
"Nana Osaki and Megumi Fushiguro have joined the Culling game. Would you like to consult the rules?" Kogane asked again.
"No, that isn't necessary." Megumi replied while I shook my head in response before Megumi turned to face us again. "Itadori, Nana... First, we need information on Higuruma. Let's go."
"Yeah!!" Yuji and I responded back with determination before the three of us stepped into the barrier.
But just before I could even get the chance to realize what was going on, I found myself free-falling towards the ground with Megumi and Yuji nowhere to be seen beside me.
"Guh?! Where are Megumi and Yuji?!" I asked myself in confusion before quickly summoning out my Rashomon to protect myself from getting hurt.
When a player passes through a Culling game barrier, the game randomly transfers that player to one of nine established locations. According to an unofficial barrier rule that came about, certain individuals are positioned at those nine locations. They target players confused by phenomena that aren't addressed in the rules. And they pick off the newbies.
Giving up on finding Megumi and Yuji at that moment, I began to prepare myself for the landing when I noticed an unknown ravenette girl probably around my age or maybe even older than me, standing on the ground with her scorpion-tail-looking hair pointing in my direction, ready to attack me with that sharp edge looking like a stinger.
"Hellflame: Cremation!"
Wasting on time, I immediately blasted out a huge wave of blue flames in her direction, forcing her to step out of my way before she fell hard on the ground while I made a safe landing all thanks to my Rashomon beast.
"Damn it! We unexpectedly got split up!" I muttered under my breath, looking around to see if I could find the two boys. "If I can't locate them then this Culling game colony spans an area far larger than Shibuya. We could be over 2 kilometers apart. But we all know what to look for... Wherever they are I hope both of them are okay..."
"Ouch!" the unknown girl yelped out in pain through her gritted teeth, holding a hand onto her swollen red cheek and I snapped out of my trance before looking back at her. "That hurt you know! Why would you do that?"
Upon noticing, I realized that the girl was a bit shorter than me in comparison to her height where she was wearing a black-colored bodycon dress that reached just beneath her knees and a pair of black boots. Her raven hair was tied up in a pair of braids that looked like a scorpion tail while she possessed a slim yet voluptuous body figure.
"Because you attacked me!" I replied back with a frown, placing my hands on my hips in a sassy manner. "Do you know a sorcerer named Higuruma?"
"You think I'm gonna tell you just 'cause you beat me?" the girl asked with a pout, frowning back as she stood up from the ground.
"Just answer." I demanded, furrowing my eyebrows even more.
"Okay, sorry... Higuruma, huh... He's the guy with 100 points." She wondered, placing a finger on her cheek while tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah, so where is he?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.
"Oh, I got it!" she stated upon realization, her eyes widening a bit in response. "I can tell you but you gotta do something for me in return."
Not having much of a choice in hand, I agreed to it.
"Alright say it." I sighed heavily, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Say it... what?" she cooed with a smirk, cupping a hand behind her ear. "Say it... please?"
"Just spit it out already, woman." I hissed out in annoyance, furrowing my eyebrows at her once again.
"Okay, fine! Will you be my knight?" she asked with sparkly eyes causing me to give her a confused look.
"A what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A knight." She repeated.
What's up with this woman? What the hell is she even talking about?
"No." I replied back with a deadpan look on my face. "I'm not here to become your bodyguard."
"Oh you're no fun!" she whined out in defeat, pouting at me.
"I'm in a hurry." I stated and pulled my rifle gun out of the scabbard, just to show her that I was carrying a weapon, causing her eyes to go wide open in fear. "Now, walk ahead of me."
"Huh?! As my knight, you gotta protect me!" she protested while frowning at me.
"I didn't agree to this. Go protect yourself." I pointed out before narrowing my eyes at her. "Besides, what's your name?"
"Remi." The girl replied and I furrowed my eyebrows at her once again, throwing her a strict warning look.
"I'm Nana. So, Remi, I will protect you if you're telling the truth..." I stated in a serious tone and she gave me a surprised look. "Listen, if you're lying... You know what will happen, right?"
Flashback
"Hey, Nana... When Junpei asked about killing 'bad people', what was your thought on it?" Yuji asked.
"To be honest, I don't know..." I sighed, keeping my eyes fixated on the road, straight in front of me. "I never thought about taking a human's life other than exorcising cursed spirits. And when it comes to 'bad people', it's kinda difficult, 'cause when I was little, I was scared of 'bad people'..."
"What do you mean?" Yuji asked curiously.
"My Mom, Akiko Osaki was a Special Grade jujutsu sorcerer. She was Gojo sensei's teacher and she was the one who taught him the basics of jujutsu sorcery. When I was six, Mom passed away. To be more specific, she was killed in the middle of a mission and the man who killed her was from one of the strongest jujutsu sorcerer families, the Zenin clan. I still don't know who that man was or what his name is. All I know is that he was a Zenin and he was very powerful. For a long time, I hated that Zenin clan. I was scared of them. I thought everyone from that clan was bad people. But it all changed when I met Megumi." I stated.
"Fushiguro?" Yuji asked.
"Megumi is actually a part of the Zenin clan. His father, who was a Zenin, married his biological mother and together they had Megumi. His father even changed his own surname after getting married to Megumi's mother and took her surname which was Fushiguro. That's why Megumi goes by Fushiguro now, not Zenin anymore. And then, unfortunately, Megumi's mother passed away shortly after his birth, so his father got married again or something like that I've heard..." I explained.
"I see..." Yuji replied, nodding his head.
"When Gojo sensei took me in and introduced me to Megumi, saying that he's part of the Zenin clan, I felt agitated, nervous, scared, angry, confused... A Zenin killed my Mom, so I hated Megumi for being a Zenin. I thought he was also a bad guy just like that killer. But when time passed by and I started to learn more about Megumi, I realized that he wasn't actually a bad guy. Megumi looks cold and stoic from the outside, but he's a total softie from the inside. He has a heart of gold. And before I could even know it, we became best friends. That's when I came to the conclusion that not every Zenin is a bad person. Just because my Mom's murderer was a Zenin doesn't mean Megumi or the other Zenins were bad people. When I grew a bit older and overcame the fear and hatred toward 'bad people', I realized that I was nobody to judge whether I should kill all the bad people or not, whether I should save all the good people or not. I'm not a God. I'm just a mere human being with some supernatural powers. I can't do a judgment on who deserves to die and who deserves to live. Nobody is born evil, so I can't go around and say a certain person is bad just because they are doing bad things. I don't know anything about them. I don't know their pain and suffering. But what I can do is reach out to them and hear them out. I'll listen to their explanations and their reasons for becoming a bad person. And if there's the slightest chance for them to change, I'll help them, a change for the betterment." I stated.
When I stopped talking, I looked over at Yuji and noticed him staring at me with amusement.
"I-Is something wrong, Yuji?" I asked nervously.
Yuji snapped out of his daze and quickly shook his head.
"N-No, it's just that, I always thought you're a good person, but I never realized you've such a good heart. You're a great person, Nana." Yuji commented.
My heart skipped a beat and my cheeks started to heat up after hearing his comment.
"I-I'm not that great." I stuttered out, looking away from him.
"But to me you are. You're the best, Nana." Yuji added, grinning at me.
Flashback ended
I'm not like Yuji. I have no qualms about scoring 100 points...
Though I'm someone who doesn't support killing a human being...
But this time it's different...
I need to save Tsumiki and track down that 'Angel' in order to release Gojo sensei from the prison realm...
And if that means I've to kill someone, then so be it...
"O-Okay..." Remi stuttered out in fear, flashing me a weak smile while I put my gun back into the scabbard, nodding my head in response.
And without dragging the conversation too long, Remi began to walk in a certain direction, leading me to Higuruma.
"Hey, you're not a sorcerer from the past?" I asked her in curiosity, raising my eyebrows at her.
"Why? Do I seem frumpy?" Remi questioned back with furrowed eyebrows, placing a hand on her hip.
"What's your reason for choosing to fight?" I asked, giving her a skeptical look.
"Well... non-sorcerers who are non-players got to leave the colony. But for players in the colony from the start, today is their 12th day of the Culling game. I'm not doing this because I wanna! It's killed or to be killed! Spending time pondering the reasons to fight and you're dead. You learn that after 12 days. I've seen some players go mad with power. So stop thinking in terms of past and present sorcerers." She ranted and I bit my bottom lip in concern, looking down at the ground.
Apparently, past sorcerers have inspired today's sorcerers to go into battle mode...
That means I misled poor Yuji...
I looked back at Remi, noticing that she began to move forward again.
"Wait... Tell me where you're going?" I asked as I jogged forward to catch up to her.
"No way! What's to stop you from bumping me off as soon as I do?" she snapped.
"But what if you die before we get there?" I asked, sweat-dropping.
"Like I said you gotta protect me!" she shrieked out and I let out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah but just in case..." I trailed off, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Okay, fine. I'll give you a rough idea." Remi sighed in defeat before flashing out a bright smile toward me, winking her eye in the process. "Higuruma is at Shinjuku... got it?"
"Shinjuku, huh..." I muttered under my breath.
I hope Megumi and Yuji are on their way there too...
As we continued to walk down the quiet path with no human to be seen around, I noticed her heading towards the Ikebukuro station.
"Hey..." I called out and Remi turned around to look over at me.
"What?" she asked while raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"If you're planning on going through Ikebukuro toward Shinjuku, don't. This area has lots of supplies so we will run into other players." I stated, causing Remi to give me a bright smile.
"There are two reasons to go this way; the route is simple and I have a base nearby. So at least let me take a shower. I have barely rested since yesterday..." she responded back and I gave her a skeptical look.
"But I don't have much time though." I tried to reason to which Remi gave me a pleading look with puppy dog eyes.
"Please, Nana-chan. I won't take much time, I promise." She pleaded and in response, I let out another heavy sigh.
"Okay, fine. But be quick." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't waste too much of my time."
"Okay, Nana-chan!" she beamed out, flashing out a shining smile before she began to lead me towards her so-called 'base'.
I don't know what this woman is up to...
Or is she even taking me to the correct location or not...
Also, she's acting kinda fishy, so I need to hold my guard up just in case...
Cause there's no chance in hell, I'm taking any risk...
Tsumiki and Gojo sensei are our first priorities, so I need to be very careful before even taking a single step forward...
As soon as we reached a tall apartment complex that Remi claimed that it was her 'base' and made our way up to a certain floor, I noticed a man standing right in front of me in a large hallway, causing me to give him a confused look. The man was relatively average in height and was built with a toned physique. He had light-colored hair that had likely been dyed while his eyebrows and goatee were both darker colored. The tattoo on his left arm was three kanji that translated to "indomitable" in English. He was wearing numerous paper tags on his body which was enough to cover his entire torso all the way down to his upper thighs while his arms, legs, and feet were all left completely bare.
"Are you Higuruma?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Higuruma...?" the man chuckled out in a flamboyant tone. "Sorry, but I'm Reggie. She fooled you."
Hearing that I immediately went stiff on my spot with my eyes widening a bit in fractions and I slowly turned my head around to face a nervous Remi who was now trembling under my death glare.
"Why the harsh glare?" she challenged me with a shaky smirk. "You don't scare me! I'm warning you... Reggie is tough as-"
"Shut up!" I barked out in anger and annoyance before turning back to face Reggie and summoning out Rashomon from within my body, getting into a fighting stance. "We are wasting time!"
"Not bad! You pass." Reggie chuckled out in amusement, clapping his hands and I gave him a confused look.
"Huh?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows a bit.
"That's enough. Your cursed technique is sufficient. I can see you're strong. Otherwise, I would just kill you." Reggie added with a wide smirk and I scoffed at him in response.
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"You should join us. How much do you know about the Culling game?" he questioned back, tilting his head to the side causing me to give him a skeptical look.
Maybe I shouldn't mention Master Tengen...
"It's a ritual for using the cursed energy of players inside the barriers to take the Japanese people to the other side so they are no longer human..." I responded back, still holding my guard up.
"Hm? Do you know Kenjaku?" he asked with a toothy grin and my eyes widened a bit in surprise.
I knew it! A sorcerer with a connection to Kenjaku!
"I think what you just said about using players' cursed energy... is a bluff." He continued.
"Huh?" I asked in confusion, furrowing my eyebrows a bit.
"Or rather it's for a second or third plan. I think that for three reasons. The number of players. The differing levels of player skill. And the barrier rules. Suppose 1000 players are equally divided among ten colonies. That means each colony has 100. But among the players, some like Kashimo and Higuruma are much stronger sorcerers. Those two alone have already weeded out roughly 60 sorcerers. Each barrier probably has one player like that." he went on.
"I sensed that because the colony is too quiet..." I pointed out. "The strong weed out the weak early on. You are saying the game will reach a deadlock quickly?"
"Here in Tokyo No. 2, that's already happened. The transferal when individuals enter a colony is a way to spread them out but primarily it's for stimulating early second awakenings in modern-day sorcerers. Some die during the transfer. If the goal was using players' cursed energy, a lengthy melee among many sorcerers would be best. That bit about long-lasting in the rules is just a cover for the real plan. You can be certain that Kenjaku will drop a bomb when only the strong remain and then the Culling game will have served its purpose. I don't know what that bomb will be but it may drop any time now... So I'm preparing for gathering strong allies and storing up points." Reggie explained the situation.
"I have some questions." I chimed in before pointing at Remi. "She isn't strong."
"People let down their guard around women... so she tricks her marks and lures them in..." Reggie smirked in response.
"And when you're done using her, you will kill her for points, right?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him in suspicion.
"How can you say that? I would never!" Reggie chuckled, finding my words humorous.
"Bullshit." I muttered under my breath while Remi scoffed at me in response.
"Reggie is my true knight! If I do a good job, he protects me!" she noted out, crossing her arms over her chest.
"How lucky for you." I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her before looking back at Reggie again. "Do you and your allies' points total 100?"
"Yes of course." He replied with a smile.
Hearing that, I immediately ignited the palms of my hands with my blue flames while summoning out my Rashomon beast once again.
"A new rule is going to allow players to give each other points." I stated, taking a fighting stance. "Give me all of yours and I will consider joining you."
"Negotiation breakdown." Reggie replied with a smirk.
And right on cue, an unknown shirtless man with claws looking like the paws of a wild beast came out through the door of one of the apartments from behind me and was about to launch a surprise attack but I immediately used my Rashomon beast as a shield, defending myself before swatting him away from me using the Rashomon gigantic clawed appendage which extended from my arm, causing the man to lose his balance and fall off from the balcony. Both Reggie and Remi's eyes went wide open in shock and I looked back at Remi with a death glare.
"Don't ever let me see you again, woman." I warned her with a darkened expression and she flinched a bit in fear.
"Oh, I get it." Reggie smirked at me with a frowning face, placing his hands on his hips. "You were holding back. You want our points, so you can't kill us. But... if you don't fight to kill, you will wind up dead."
And just then, I noticed that from the upper floor something was tossed out of the balcony and it was falling towards the floor we were standing on; a human eyeball. Scrunching my nose in disgust, my eyes immediately went wide open in surprise, and before I could realize what was going on, a huge explosion went off right on my face. Though I immediately used Rashomon to shield myself from the attack, the left side of my face still burned a bit from the explosion. Luckily for me, because of my Reverse Cursed Technique, the wound quickly began to heal soon after the attack, leaving no trace of any burned mark.
"Hey! I'm down here too you know!" Reggie yelled out, looking up from the balcony while I immediately began to run away as soon as I recovered from the explosion.
"Is she dead?" an unknown masculine voice asked from the upper floor in amusement.
As I was about to pass by Remi, she tried to attack me with her scorpion-tail-looking braided hair but I quickly dodged her attack before kicking her to the side, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Had enough?!" I snapped at her in annoyance while pinning her down.
Just at that moment, an unknown man jumped down from the upper floor and landed on our balcony while Reggie pulled out two paper tags from his attire and threw them in my direction. I used my Rashomon to shield myself from any upcoming attack before noticing that the paper tags got stuck with my Rashomon shield and melted away in liquefied form. A strong smell was coming off from the liquefied paper tags causing my eyes to go wide open in surprise.
This smells... gasoline!
I noticed that the new unknown man who was standing beside Reggie had a slim yet well-toned physique and was of relatively average height. He had long-light colored hair that reached just past the back of his neck and round eyeballs with thick eyebrows. The outfit he was wearing consisted of suspenders that hook onto his long pants that were cut very wide around the ankles. It didn't include a shirt and he wore the suspenders across his bare chest. He left a little bit of space between the bottom of his pants and the thick dark boots with white lines that he sported. As soon as Reggie threw those paper tags, that new guy threw a piece of his teeth in my direction and that was when the realization hit me.
This guy is the one who threw his eyeball at me... And now he's throwing his tooth... His cursed technique allows him to remotely detonate his own body parts and use them as bombs...
In mere seconds, I used my Hellflame Cremation to burn down the door of a nearby apartment before entering it while dragging Remi with me along the way. Another explosion went off causing the whole apartment complex to shake up from its effect, a few pillars and ceilings crumbling down in the process.
"All done?" I heard Reggie asking who was still standing on the balcony.
"Not yet. Like you, she ducked into a room before the explosion." The new guy replied in amusement.
"She's good, but... you've worn her down, right?" Reggie asked.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance before looking down at an exhausted Remi who was now kneeling down on the floor.
"Do you understand now? They'll never protect you." I pointed out with a series of small coughs, furrowing my eyebrows in annoyance before I started to walk away from her, entering further into the apartment we were in. "If you get that, then get lost."
"Then say it..." she spoke up in a shaky voice and I looked back at her in confusion before she started to yell at me with teary eyes. "Reggie said it! Say you'll protect me! And that you like me! You gotta say it!"
"So you're like that, huh?" I asked through my gritted teeth, giving her a death glare. "Trash who cares more about words than deeds..."
Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, another unknown masculine familiar voice spoke up from behind me.
"Not bad back there... but you're in rough shape. It wasn't easy clambering up here."
I turned around to look and noticed an older man standing in a doorway with a hand placed on his hip; probably another one of Reggie's friends. The man was relatively tall with a slim build and a toned figure evidenced by his abs. He had light-colored hair that was styled so most of it was cut low. However, there were longer locks of hair going down the middle of his head that extended into a ponytail. He also had very thick eyebrows and small dark eyes. He wasn't sporting a shirt and only wore cargo pants tucked into combat boots with a sash hanging from his waist.
"Should've taken the stairs, moron." I hissed at the new unknown man, frowning.
Four-on-one is gonna be tough... but I need their points no matter what.
And just then three Kogane popped out of nowhere which belonged to me, Remi, and that new unknown older dude.
"A player has added a rule to the Culling game! Rule 10: Players may transfer a number of points of their choosing to another player!"
Hearing that, a small satisfied smile appeared on my face.
Either Megumi or Yuji has added this new rule... Great job, guys...
"Huh? That rule..." the older man wondered in confusion and taking this chance, I dashed forward and kicked him in the face.
Although the man quickly recovered from my attack, when he took his fighting stance and was ready to attack me back, I immediately used my Hellflame Cremation technique and blasted him out of the window before flying out myself as well with the help of my flames which ejected from my back and my feet, propelling myself forward through the air.
"She's taking off again!" the older man yelled out.
I quickly summoned Rashomon again which changed its shape into a tendril-like form before wrapping around the older man in mid-air and lifting him up. The tendril was wrapped around all over his body which took the shape of a sphere causing the man to get trapped inside my sphere like Rashomon. This startled the man as he tried to free himself from the restrain, but nothing worked in his favor. As soon as I safely landed on the ground and noticed that the man whom I kept lifted in the air was at an appropriate height and distance far away from me, I commanded Rashomon to do the final attack. In response, Rashomon exploded into several finely-developed flower spikes which pierced through the body of that older man, finally causing him death. Finally, I was able to kill someone.
What am I doing? We'll need more points in the future.
But there's no longer any need for Tsumiki to participate in the killing.
Don't lose your head. Trust in others.
You don't need these guys' points.
All you need to do is wave away any sparks that fly your way...
"You have won 5 points!" my kogane announced while I released my Rashomon and the dead body of the older man fell hard on the ground where I noticed several holes all around his body, bloodied and bruised up.
"Aw, what a waste of points!" Reggie sighed in annoyance, frowning down at the dead body of the older man as he and the bomb guy appeared in front of me. "Killed before even using his cursed technique... Appalling!"
Wasting no time, the bomb guy again threw another one of his teeth toward me and before I could defend myself from the attack, someone jumped in front of me, protecting me as a shield. Another explosion went off and it happened on that new guy's face.
"Hey, careful!" the new guy chuckled out in amusement while I gave him a confused look at his weird action.
His action also startled Reggie and the bomb guy as they stared at him with wide eyes and confused expressions. This new guy was a tall man with his short dark hair slicked back and tapered sideburns and he was wearing his weird superhero-looking costume.
"Two against one... Does that really seem fair?! There is a word for people like you... yeah, that's right!" the new guy went on as smoke from the explosion started to dissipate away from his face, the right side of his face had now a small burned mark. "Cowards... And cowardly attacks don't work. See?!"
And then he finished his own rambling by doing a stupid superhero pose with a wide goofy grin on his face.
"Zero damage!!" he added causing me to give him a deadpan look.
Who is this guy anyway?
"Nana!" a familiar masculine voice called out from behind me and turned around to see Megumi making his way toward me on Nue's back.
"Megumi!" I called back as a smile appeared on my face in relief.
As soon as he got closer to me, he jumped off the back of the gigantic bird and landed beside me with a bloodied sword in his hand.
Looks like he also killed someone or maybe more...
"Are you okay?" he asked, inspecting the wounds I received from the bomb guy earlier.
"I'm okay." I replied, still smiling and Megumi sighed heavily in relief. "How about you?"
"Alive as you can see." He responded back with a small smile.
"I'll help you kids!" the comedic man spoke up again causing me and Megumi to look back at him. "At the ripe age of 35, I can tell from one's face whether they are good or-"
"Huh?" I asked in confusion.
"Yikes! You have got one bad face!" he added, pointing at my face and I deadpanned at him in response. "Oh well! It's all revisionist!"
"Don't you mean relative?!" I asked in annoyance, raising an eyebrow before looking back at Megumi in confusion. "Megumi, who is this guy anyway?"
"He's Fumihiko Takaba-san; an old-school comedian. I met him not so long ago. He's the one who helped me to track down your location. He also protected me before, so we can trust him for now..." Megumi explained while the comedian named Takaba kept on doing all these weird poses and dance moves.
"What do you think, Hazenoki?" Reggie asked the bomb guy.
"I don't know him. It's faster just to ask." The bomb guy named Hazenoki stated before looking over at Takaba. "Hey, you! Which... are you?"
"I see... you want to know... whether I'm funny or not!" Takaba replied, pointing at himself.
"No, I want to know what time period you are-" Hazenoki stated before getting cut off by Takaba.
"Look at my costume! It's based on the superhero who first got me to laugh my guts out! With this costume at stake... I got a knock them dead!" Takaba stated with a serious look on his face. "So here's a joke to impress your crush."
"Be ready for an attack!" Reggie muttered, pulling out a paper tag from his attire but also got cut off by Takaba again.
"Marry me and be my Wi-Fi!!!" Takaba laughed with a wide grin, doing his weird pose again.
Hearing that, the whole environment went completely silent, only the sound of dry leaves rustling could be heard. No one said anything or even laughed at his joke. Megumi and I looked away from Takaba with a deadpan look on our faces while Reggie and Hazenoki stared at the comedian with a confused expression, trying to understand what he just said.
"Damn! What a tough crowd!!!" Takaba cried out with a frowning face. "Stiffs like you left your laugh in the womb! And you always sit in the front row!"
"No. You're the problem." Megumi grumbled under his breath.
"What a weird guy..." I sighed, shaking my head in disapproval.
"He reminds me of somebody..." Megumi added with his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, thinking of someone specific.
"Todo senpai, huh." I let out a small giggle and Megumi huffed in response.
"Nevertheless! I do what I do for you stiffs too!" Takaba spoke up again before dashing forward and kicking Hazenoki in the face in the blink of an eye, causing Hazenoki to fly back and crash hard against the wall of a nearby building. "Because... I am an entertainer!!!"
"Wow! He's fast!" I gasped out in awe, even Megumi and Reggie stared at the comedian with wide eyes in shock. "The cursed energy increased dramatically! The shift in output is massive! This guy is strong..."
"Be careful... I'm an old-school performer who's pro-violence!" Takaba smirked at Reggie. "Your move... kid!"
And right on cue, Megumi disappeared and then reappeared under Reggie with the help of his shadow technique and was about to attack him but Reggie was fast enough to dodge his attack, jumping out of the way. Megumi clicked his tongue in annoyance while Takaba went up towards my ravenette best friend, leaning on his face.
"Now we should split them up." Takaba stated in excitement. "That cursed technique involves exploding body parts and uses a reverse cursed technique to-"
"Not too close!!" Megumi scolded, shoving the older man out of his face.
"Kogane, show me stats on Hiromi Higuruma!" I called and my Kogane popped out in front of me, showing me the stats of Higuruma.
Hiromi Higuruma, Point: 01, Rule: 01, Colony: Tokyo No.1
Seeing this, a small smile appeared on my and Megumi's faces in satisfaction and relief.
"Yuji was the one who added that rule..." I mumbled and Megumi nodded his head in agreement.
"We're done with this colony." Megumi announced.
"Huh?!" Reggie asked, scowling at him.
"Back off and we'll let you go." I added, placing my hands on my hips.
"Don't get uppity, little girl! You killed Hari, so I need to make up for lost points!" Reggie stated with a frowning face, talking about the older man I just killed minutes ago.
"Hey, you two! Call me Takaba." Takaba pouted, dancing around me and Megumi.
"If you're gonna kill the bomb guy..." Megumi trailed off before looking over at Takaba from the corner of his eyes. "I'd like you to steal his points first, if at all possible..."
"Were you talking about me?!" Hazenoki asked through his gritted teeth, scowling over at us who just recovered from Takaba's earlier kick.
"Okay, kid. I accept your request. But I'm a performer, so whatever I do has gotta entertain!" Takaba announced and with that, he dashed towards Hazenoki.
"As long as you win, I don't care." Megumi sighed as he and I started to make our way toward Reggie.
And in mere seconds, the comedian and the bomber got engaged in a fight where Takaba kept on kicking Hazenoki's ass as if it was nothing. The comedian even performed the infamous Naruto-1000 years of death-style attack on Hazenoki in the middle of their battle, sending the irritated bomber high up in the sky in the process which also made me giggle, and Megumi smirk at the hilarious sight.
"I'm glad you aren't enemy." Megumi commented in relief.
"I've always wanted to hear that! See ya, kids! Stay alive, ya hear?" Takaba laughed out loud before rushing over to where Hazenoki had landed.
"Aw... Well, he's dead. Mock Hazenoki that much and he'll finally go all out." Reggie sighed with his eyes glued on Takaba's retreating figure.
"Worry about yourself. As Megumi said earlier, we already completed our objective in this colony. So we can fight for real without holding back." I stated with a frowning face, getting into my fighting stance while Megumi held out his sword towards Reggie, sending him a death glare.
And with that, a fight broke out between the three of us. Megumi summoned out his Max Elephant which attacked Reggie by shooting out a huge wave of water from its trunk. I started to shoot out waves of flames at Reggie but the older sorcerer kept dodging our attacks. Megumi even used his Rabbit Escape to block Reggie's view but the older man used his paper tags to summon knives in order to cut through the rabbits.
"You two have figured out my curse technique and decided fire and water are easy countermeasures." Reggie chuckled, standing a few feet away from us.
"You manifest what's written on receipts or something like that..." Megumi pointed out, frowning at Reggie.
"It's hard to put into words, but yes. I re-create contracts. For example, I can do this." Reggie smirked and pulled out a paper tag from his attire before his whole appearance and aura started to sparkle, looking all shiny and clean while Megumi and I simply stared at him with a deadpan expression. "The receipt I just used was for two nights and three days plus an oil treatment at the five-star Japanese-inn, Starry Sky, which means I now feel as refreshed as I would. After relaxing for two days in a hot spring... But how about you? You're injured from earlier fights and have deployed multiple shikigami. So you must be exhausted."
He then pointed at Megumi and continued to speak.
"You can rapidly shuffle through shikigami but maybe not once they're injured, right? Your rabbits can run, attack, and defend, but you can't use them right now, so you're limited in what you can do. We both lack big moves, so we have to peck away at each other. It's a lost cause. You can't kill me." he added with a smirk.
"Yeah. In that case..." Megumi trailed off before summoning out Nue who grabbed both me and Megumi by the arms with its claws, immediately flying away. "We'll run!"
"But you won't get away!" Reggie sang out, summoning out drones from his paper tags.
The drones began to fly towards us while Reggie started to chase after us by riding on a scooter. Upon noticing the drones, I immediately shot my blue flames in their direction, burning them to ashes. Nue flew us through the air as quickly as possible and within a matter of seconds brought us to a gymnasium. Megumi and I entered the building where my best friend started to take in the inner structure of the place.
"Good. It's as spacious as I'd hoped." Megumi muttered and I gave him a concerned look.
"Are you thinking about...?" I trailed off and Megumi nodded his head in response.
"Yeah." He replied.
"What are you two planning, you foul brats?" Reggie suddenly spoke up who was now standing at the doorway of the gym.
"I bet you're plotting something too." Megumi scowled at him.
"Who knows?" Reggie responded back with a devilish smirk. "A sorcerer is nothing but a con artist."
And right on cue, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, two big trucks entered the gym by breaking through the walls, making their way straight to us. Both my and Megumi's eyes went wide open in shock before I immediately stepped into the way and shot a huge way of fire in their direction, burning them to ashes. Taking this chance, Reggie stepped in and smacked Megumi on the back of the head with a knife when the ravenette boy was distracted. The older man began to slash the younger boy with the same knife where the latter almost barely dodged most of the attacks before finally the former kicked him in the face, sending him flying away. Because of the impact of the kick, Megumi flew back and crashed hard against the wall before the back of his head started to bleed.
"Megumi!" I cried out in concern and dashed toward him.
As soon as I reached him, I kneeled down beside him and started to heal his wounds with my Reverse Cursed Technique.
"Things I recreate act like shikigami. Knives don't usually fly, but a simple command will suffice. You two don't seem cooperative but I'll ask anyway. Give me your points and I'll give you two an easy death." Reggie stated smugly causing me to give him a death glare.
"Barrier techniques are difficult..." Megumi began to speak up in a weak tone and I looked over at him in concern while Reggie gave him a confused look. "It's hard to place an artificial environment over real space of different sizes for very long. So, I can use the space in this gym as the perfect fit for my domain."
And wasting no time, Megumi immediately clasped his hands together, intertwining his fingers and before Reggie could even realize what was going on, Megumi activated his Domain Expansion.
"Domain Expansion: Chimera Garden Shadow!!"
With that Megumi's Domain was activated and a pitch-black liquefied cover surrounded us by spreading across the whole interior structure of the gym, casting shadow and darkness all over the place.
"I never said I don't have any big moves." Megumi stated, furrowing his eyebrows at Reggie while the older man stared at Megumi with wide eyes in shock.
But then Reggie's expression quickly changed back to his usual smug face before clapping his hands together.
"Too bad." He sang out and a huge disco ball appeared from behind him, illuminating the whole room with that spherical object. "Esoteric Technique: Hollow Wicker Basket!!"
Reggie thought he could win this fight against us but before he could take any step further, Megumi's winged frogs appeared from beneath the older man and grabbed him by the leg with their elongated tongues. This startled Reggie while Megumi on the other hand sneaked towards the older man through his shadow and started to throw powerful kicks and punches at him by disappearing and reappearing from the sea of liquefied shadow, catching Reggie completely off guard.
Hollow Wicker Basket is the original form of a new shadow-style simple domain and neutralizes a domain to negate the guaranteed hit. When Jogo and Hanami used Domain Amplification in Shibuya, it was powerful enough to include a cursed technique that was sure to kill but they refrained from doing so thereby freeing the capacity to pour in Gojo's Cursed Technique and neutralize the limitless cursed technique. Hollow Wicker Basket and Simple Domain cannot neutralize cursed techniques themselves. These maneuvers neutralize barriers imbued with a curse technique to nullify the guaranteed hit. However, Megumi's domain is incomplete. Since Megumi forcibly enclosed the barrier by converting the gymnasium into his own domain the enclosed barrier does not incorporate a cannot-miss-attack. As of now, Chimera Shadow Gardens serves merely to extend the 10 shadows technique and expand its potential to 120%. However, that very imperfection caught Reggie Star off guard.
While getting his ass kicked, Reggie tried to summon multiple swords from his paper tags and Megumi took the opportunity to grab one for himself to attack Reggie. They got engaged in an intense sword fight where Megumi finally got the upper hand as he slashed Reggie right in the middle of the face, even though the cut wasn't that deep to kill him.
"Not snickering anymore, huh?" Megumi asked.
"You punk!" Reggie yelled out in anger through his gritted teeth before throwing three paper tags high up into the air. "Don't think you have won! I won't let that happen and that's so me!"
The paper tags he tossed earlier summoned three big cars which later fell from the air and into the liquefied shadow ground, increasing the weight of Megumi's shadow. Unable to bear the current weight, Megumi fell to his knees before glaring up at Reggie who now had a smug look on his face.
"I knew it." Reggie chuckled. "I had to reinforce my footing with cursed energy so I won't be sucked in. This whole Domain is your shadow. Being able to store and take things out must be handy! But I noticed something... you don't have many weapons in stock. I have only seen the one paltry cursed tool. With such a low capacity maybe you have to always save room for yourself. Or... maybe you're forced to bear the weight of what you keep stored in your shadow. That's it, isn't it? I have used the Domain's conditions against you. Your current weight is approximately 2.4 tons equal to 3 passenger vehicles. It seems you can't handle it but maybe you can still bring out a shikigami, so I won't lose sight of my footing... and keep piling it on until your own weight crushes you..."
This concerned me to no end and I glanced over at Megumi with a worried look in my eyes, noticing a small smirk curling upon his lips.
"You have missed something." Megumi stated causing me and Reggie to look at him in confusion. "An incomplete Domain is still a Domain. There's a shadow above you too!"
And just then Megumi's Max Elephant came out from the shadow of the ceiling and Reggie's eyes went wide open in complete shock. The animal then immediately dropped on top of Reggie who was still standing on the liquefied shadow ground, shaking the earth beneath us in the process.
"Who's getting crushed first, Reggie?!" Megumi asked with a wide grin curling upon his face while Reggie stood there, holding the huge elephant on top of his back.
It is said the average human being loses consciousness at five to six units of G force. That's 2.4 tons. If Megumi weighs 60 kilograms, he is currently being subjected to 40 units of G force. In order to prevent his blood from gathering in his lower limbs and inducing a state of decreased blood flow, Megumi lowered his posture and used cursed energy to reinforce his whole body paying special attention to his lower half. A mature African elephant weighs 3-6 tons. The Domain increases cursed technique precision so it replicates Max Elephant's weight realistically. Under that weight, Reggie Star's right fibula and heel bone fractured. The pressure that these two combatants are under could crush them to death at any second.
Reggie then tried to use his cursed technique again, but unluckily for him, he couldn't able to hold the elephant on his back any longer and was pushed into the liquefied shadow ground in the process. Upon his disappearance, I looked over at Megumi with a worried glance who was now panting heavily because of exhaustion, still kneeling down on the ground.
"Megumi... Is it over now?" I asked from where I was standing.
But before Megumi could even respond back to me, Reggie submerged from the shadowed ground with the help of a big car, and seeing this caused my and Megumi's eyes to go wide open in shock.
"Ugh... Things I recreate disappear soon after completing my command." Reggie coughed out, now sitting on top of that car. "I didn't want the cars to disappear, so I didn't give them a command. Because of that, I could still command one to rise and bring me up with it as well. That vehicle's weight no longer registers but it saved me. I admit you're strong, but I'm stronger!"
And with that Reggie pulled out another paper tag from his attire.
"Contractual Recreation!" he yelled out and a huge house came out from the shadow of the ceiling which was right above our heads. "A 132 square meter, two-floor wooden structure! It weighs at least 30 tons! So, it's gonna smash you to-"
Wasting no time, I rushed over to Megumi and covered ourselves with my Rashomon beast in order to avoid the building which was now falling from the ceiling, while Megumi helped us to flee away from the spot with the help of his shadow and immediately ended the Domain. As soon as his Domain ended, the building crashed down on the ground and created a huge hole in the floor which eventually led Reggie to fall on the floor beneath it; a swimming pool area. Reggie fell directly into the water body while Megumi and I landed safely on the dry land. Thinking of a new plan, I quickly walked away from the scene while also noticing Reggie coming out of the water and climbing up to the edge of the pool before Megumi started to walk toward him.
"Now your receipts are too wet to use." Megumi pointed out, holding his sword in his hand.
"You sure about that?" Reggie smirked, coughing out some water before getting into a fighting stance. "After all, I bet you are out of shikigami. So as you can guess from this point on... It's a physical fight!"
"Not really though." Megumi stated nonchalantly with a shrug causing Reggie to give him a confused look.
And right on cue, Megumi's Divine Dog and my Rashomon beast sneak-attacked Reggie from the back and slashed his sides with their sharp claws, cutting his arms off in the process. Reggie's eyes went wide open in shock as blood began to gush out from his new wounds before he looked over his shoulder and noticed me and Megumi's Divine Dog standing behind him.
"For your information, I still have another shikigami left; my Divine Dog." Megumi pointed out.
"And you got so engaged in your fight with Megumi that you almost forgot about my existence..." I added while retreating back my Rashomon beast into my body.
Hearing these, a small smirk appeared on Reggie's face before he fell to the ground.
"A sorcerer is nothing but a con artist..." he muttered out in a weak tone as Megumi and I walked over to his bloodied body. "The Domain... and the pool... concealed that you had the dog left... You didn't flee into the gym. You lured me in. Outsmarted by modern-day sorcerers and two kids to boot..."
"We couldn't flee. Nue can't carry people very long. I've had trouble with that before." Megumi mentioned.
"What's your relationship with Master Tengen?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows at him.
"Tengen? Oh right. That shut-in would still be alive." Reggie chuckled in a mocking tone.
Reggie said Master Tengen was bluffing about the objective of the Culling game. I have to consider the possibility that Master Tengen lied about that because he's secretly in league with Kenjaku. But Reggie's reaction makes it unlikely.
"Kogane..." Reggie muttered and his Kogane appeared in front of us. "Give these kids all my points. 21 points to the young lady, 20 points to the young man..."
"Okay!" Kogane replied before turning to us. "Reggie Star has transferred 21 points to Nana Osaki and 20 points to Megumi Fushiguro."
"Why did you do that?" Megumi asked in confusion, frowning down at the older man.
"You don't sound pleased." Reggie chuckled again with a small smirk appearing on his face. "Consider it a good deed before death. I'm just a spectator. Kenjaku and I aren't close. I have a feeling it will be more interesting this way. Just a hunch really... So, please... After all, you two are my executioners. Let fate toy with you both... before you die like a fool..."
And with that Reggie Star took his last breath and passed away.
"You have gained five points!" my and Megumi's kogane announced before showcasing our current stat.
Nana Osaki = 31 points
Megumi Fushiguro = 30 points
Letting out a sigh of relief, I glanced over at Megumi who looked really exhausted at that moment.
"Megumi." I muttered out before wrapping my arms around him and holding him to my side.
"Nana..." he mumbled out in a weak tone and I settled him down on the ground before I started to heal his wounds with my Reverse Cursed Technique.
"You did great, Megumi..." I mumbled with a smile.
"Thanks, Nana... It's all because of your support..." he smiled back.
I took my time to heal his wounds, making sure that he was completely okay but Megumi's head still ached because of what happened in the last bit of the fight with Reggie, leaving him feeling weaker than usual. I mean this was the second time he used his Domain and he used it for that long, summoning and holding elephants, cars, houses, and whatnot into his shadows. The weights of these extremely heavy objects overwhelmed him causing him to lose consciousness every few seconds.
After helping him walk out of the gymnasium, we walked down a small alleyway in a nearby neighborhood with Megumi leaning to my side for support to walk properly. I kept my arms wrapped around him and helped him to walk, making sure he didn't fall on the ground. As we quietly walked down the path, we came face to face with good old Remi who stared at us with wide eyes and a shocked expression.
"Rashomon!" I called out, summoning the beast to kill the girl off.
"No, Nana..." Megumi mumbled out in a weak tone, whispering into my ears while giving a light squeeze on my arms. "Don't do this... This isn't you... Tsumiki won't like this..."
Hearing his request, my face softened a bit in response. I looked over at Megumi who had his chin rested on my shoulder before our gazes locked causing Megumi to give me a soft look. His tired yet shining dark eyes were pleading me to stop and not to kill Remi. Knowing that what he wanted might be best for us now, I immediately retreated my Rashomon beast back before throwing a dirty glare at Remi.
"You're letting me go?" Remi asked in shock and I scoffed in response.
"Shut up, woman." I hissed at her in annoyance before returning my attention to Megumi who was completely passed out in my arms and my gaze softened at his sight. "Dammit, Tsumiki..."
Leaning back on a wall behind me for support, I pulled Megumi's unconscious body closer to my chest in a comfortable position for both of us and started to run my fingers through his spiky yet soft raven locks, massaging his scalp in a very gentle manner, making sure not to wake him up so soon. As I waited for Megumi to get some rest, I noticed someone descending from the sky in the most graceful way possible, causing me to look at them in utter confusion. The person happened to be a young girl with light-colored eyes and short light hair with bangs that curve inward. She was wearing a large turtleneck sweater, dark pants, and heeled ankle boots while appearing to have a halo and a pair of wings.
"Who are you?" I asked, frowning at the girl.
In response, a young girl simply smiled and stood in front of me.
"My name is Hana Kurusu... But I'm known as the Angel..." she replied in a very sweet tone and my eyes immediately went wide open in complete shock, causing me to unconsciously pull Megumi even closer to my body in a protective manner, tightening my grip around him.
So, this is the 'Angel' who can bring Gojo sensei out from the prison realm?!
A/N: Just found these pics from Twitter -
Isn't he just gorgeous, OMG!!! 😭😭😭