"Mahito, run!"
Kenjaku lunged forward, a full-force punch forcing Souma Gojo to release his grip on Mahito's shoulder.
Mahito was elated. However, instead of following Kenjaku's order to retreat, he seized the opening and thrust his palm toward Souma's chest. Having just felt Souma's shoulder, Mahito realized the Infinity wasn't active.
This was a god-given opportunity!
Idle Transfiguration!
"I've got you!" Mahito's face twisted into a manic, triumphant grin.
But in the next heartbeat, the grin froze. Beneath the surface of Souma's skin lay a barrier of cursed energy so dense it was practically a fortress, shielding his soul with an absolute, iron-clad defense.
Souma looked down, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "You've got what, exactly?"
"A-le?!" Horror flooded Mahito's eyes.
Kenjaku cursed internally. Stupid brat. Whether it was Jogo or Mahito, why were they all so pathologically overconfident? When he told them to run, they should have run, yet they always insisted on these futile, suicidal displays of ego.
Souma's hands blurred, grabbing the heads of both Kenjaku and Mahito. With a brutal surge of power, he slammed them into the dirt and began to sprint. Their skulls plowed through the earth like heavy machinery, carving deep trenches in the ground as chunks of scalp and debris flew into the air.
"Maximum: Meteor!"
A gargantuan, flaming celestial rock shrieked through the atmosphere, hurtling toward Souma as Jogo arrived to provide backup.
Souma let out a feral grin. He swung his arms, hurling the mangled forms of Kenjaku and Mahito directly at Jogo. The three collided in a tangled heap of limbs and broken bone, skidding into a pile of rubble.
Leaping into the air, Souma's cursed energy flared, augmenting his physical strength to impossible heights. He reached out and actually caught the flaming meteor, holding the massive weight aloft with his bare hands before slamming it down onto the debris where the trio lay!
BOOM!!!
A pillars of flame and a mushroom cloud rose hundreds of meters into the sky. The earth buckled, mountains groaned, and the world seemed to turn to ash.
Kokichi Muta watched the spectacle, slack-jawed. Only now did he realize how naive his earlier plans had been. His "Mode Absolute," which he thought could rival a Special Grade, was nothing more than a toy in the face of this.
In the crater, the three villains huddled behind a flickering barrier of cursed energy, their bodies charred and missing limbs. Kenjaku scrambled to stand, placing himself between the others and the approaching threat.
"Go! Get out of here!"
Jogo and Mahito were stunned. What? Is this actually Kenjaku? Did swapping bodies rot his brain?
Kenjaku grit his teeth in frustration. It wasn't about nobility or camaraderie; if his plan was to succeed, Mahito's life was an indispensable variable. He couldn't let the brat die yet.
Jogo and Mahito didn't linger to ask questions. Seeing an opening to live, they turned and fled into the smoke.
Kenjaku's lip curled. "Damn cursed spirits..."
As Souma closed the distance, Kenjaku clapped his hands together, chanting a mysterious, archaic incantation.
"Emerging from the clouds..."
"Returning to the heights..."
"The heavens darken at its presence..."
"Yamata-no-Orochi!"
The ground beneath them shuddered violently. Souma looked down just as eight colossal serpentine heads erupted from the earth, roaring with a primeval hunger. It was a mountain-sized monstrosity—the legendary Eight-Headed Serpent.
Jogo and Mahito, watching from the distance, were shocked. "The legendary Yamata-no-Orochi? Kenjaku was hiding something like that?"
Kenjaku blurred past them. "Keep running! Do you really think that will stop Souma Gojo for long?"
Kenjaku's heart bled. The serpent was his strongest shikigami, a creature he had nearly died to subjugate. In terms of raw power, it was second only to the Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga. But compared to the necessity of Idle Transfiguration, even a legend was expendable.
"The Eight-Headed Serpent, huh?"
Souma looked intrigued. He didn't expect to see a myth manifest in the flesh.
ROAR!!!
The beast let out a cry that was half-dragon, half-serpent. Its eight heads gathered cursed energy simultaneously, preparing eight elemental blasts: Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, Wood, Earth, Ice, and Metal.
The barrage was cataclysmic, each strike capable of leveling a city. Yet, as the elements hit Souma's Infinity, they were simply deflected, the stray energy vaporizing a distant mountain range.
"Red."
A small orb of crimson light streaked forward. Upon impact, three of the serpent's heads were vaporized. However, within seconds, the bloody stumps bubbled and regrew with sickening speed.
"Reverse Cursed Technique? No... it's a Binding Vow," Souma mused, removing his sunglasses. "I have to take off all eight heads at once, or it regrows infinitely?"
Massive energy, bizarre regeneration, and multi-elemental attacks. Against any other Special Grade, this would be a nightmare. But it was facing Souma.
Souma gathered Blue in his left hand and Red in his right, merging them into a massive orb of Purple that he flicked forward.
The Hollow Purple expanded as it traveled, eventually dwarfing the serpent in size. The eight heads shrieked and fired their elements, but it was like throwing pebbles at a landslide. The serpent—heads, body, and tails—was erased from existence, leaving nothing but a massive, clean furrow in the earth.
"Hm?"
Souma noticed something glittering in the ash. Buried beneath the remains was a tailbone shaped like a longsword.
"The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi?!"
A loot drop? Souma picked up the legendary blade and walked leisurely back to where Kokichi Muta lay.
"That was... quite the battle, Gojo-sensei," Muta wheezed, his eyes closed in resignation. "Or rather... I no longer have the right to call you that. Do it."
After a long silence, Muta opened his eyes, only to be met by Souma's finger flicking him hard on the forehead.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Souma shook his head dramatically. "Sigh. I finally found a way to help student Kokichi Muta restore his body and came to find him, only to be ambushed by Kenjaku! Thankfully, teacher and student worked in perfect harmony to defeat the enemy and protect world peace... actually, delete that last part."
"..."
Muta stared in disbelief. "Sensei... my actions were treason. Are you really going to cover for me like this?"
Souma gave a playful, lopsided grin. "Covering? I'm telling the truth. Does anyone dare to disagree with me?"
Souma reached out and ruffled Muta's hair. "How does it feel to be reborn?"
Muta trembled, his throat tight.
"Born with a Heavenly Restriction, trapped in a tank, unable to live a normal life," Souma said gently. "Running, laughing, eating good food, holding the hand of the one you love... the things we take for granted were your impossible dreams. I understand, though I can never truly feel the depth of your pain and loneliness. If anyone owes an apology, it's not you—it's the teachers who couldn't help you sooner."
"Now, let's go home."
Muta watched Souma's back, his chest tightening. He wiped his eyes and stood tall. "Thank you, Souma-sensei! But I cannot accept this. Even if everyone forgives me, I cannot forgive myself. I don't want to live a life built on guilt."
He bowed deeply. "Please, give me the punishment I deserve!"
Souma paused, then turned back with a truly diabolical smile. "Punishment? Oh, I've already taken care of that."
Muta looked confused.
"I cancelled the scheduled delivery for your package," Souma smirked. "And I personally delivered one of the voice recorders to Miwa Kasumi."
"Eh?"
"It was a confession, wasn't it? Miwa-chan cried for a long time after hearing it... she kept calling your name." Souma's grin was wider than a crescent moon. "My, my~ 'As long as you're happy, that's all that matters.' So romantic~"
Muta's face turned a shade of red that defied biology. He felt as if he could dig a hole through the floor with his toes.
He understood now. This was the most terrifying punishment of all.
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