Mahoraga.
Full name, Eight Handed Sword Divergent Sila Divine General, Mahoraga.
It's the strongest Shikigami of the Ten Shadows technique, and perhaps even the strongest Shikigami in the world.
And yet, no Ten Shadows user until today has ever subjugated him.
The answer was simple: Mahoraga was too strong.
And yet, someone else was able to achieve that same feat which none of the Zenin Clan ancestry was able to accomplish today in Shibuya.
I did it.
But what was the point when I didn't even have the Ten Shadows Technique?
Technically, I should be getting any and everything from my opponent as long as they died in my domain.
That was the rules of the trade, since they too will receive everything that I owe if I were to die by their hands.
And even though when I beat Mahoraga, I didn't have a completely domain, neither the sure hit effect, nor the barrier. The technique itself was still valid.
I had to remove those parameters to make my domain lighter so my overloaded brain could execute my domain, and in exchange for those parameters, I also got a good buff against Mahoraga back then.
However, the point still stands that I should get Mahoraga's powers, since he technically died inside my domain when my technique was active.
Then why didn't I?
Well, that's cause of the bottleneck.
Not the technique itself, but me. Apparently, my body wasn't capable of adapting like Mahoraga and thus I couldn't get his adaptations.
It's like going after Gojo's Six Eyes. Let's say I somehow get my hands on them, jump on Gojo while he was bathing and had his Infinity down or something.
Even if I were to beat him, and trade those eyes, I can't use them. Cause those eyes are coded to him. His bloodline.
I mean think about it, if Six Eyes were really such a big deal, one would think that the Gojo clan would preserve eyes from their last user and at least try to implant them to a normal Limitless user born with six eyes.
Considering how incredible healing with Reverse Cursed Technique was in this world, one might even think that the Six Eyes user himself produces dozens of those eyes himself.
He just has to pluck them out, heal, and repeat.
But that doesn't happen, cause they won't work for others.
My technique gives me whatever I want as it is. It can't make the thing or myself adapt to each other.
Mahoraga's adaptation was the same.
So, one might ask. Did I not get anything after being nearly killed in that encounter with that monster?
Of course not.
Here the very nature of Mahoraga which wouldn't let me have his power once again came into place. Since he was a Shikigami, my technique can just shift his allegiance towards me.
But, then there was another issue at the horizon. I didn't have Ten Shadows either to control him.
So my technique did the next best thing it could. It made Mahoraga my domain-specific Shikigami under the trade of absolute obedience towards me inside my domain, in exchange for not being able to summon him outside of my domain.
However, there was a big problem with this approach.
I learned when I fought against Mahito and opened my domain, that Mahoraga will only manifest when I land my domain and it's been completely manifested.
Meaning, it can't appear during domain clashes. Only when my domain has completely taken dominance.
What was the point of that?
If I were to land my domain, why would I rely on that monster when I can just put right trades to win my way out?
Completely and utterly useless.
So what to do?
And thus…
I underwent another binding vow…
"KLNK"
That was the sound.
Maki forced her body to move, turning her head, she came face to face with a giant structure.
A cross. With two weighing plates hanging on its arms. It was huge. But that was what surprised her. There was something else on the cross, no rather someone else.
It was a massive white-skinned humanoid behemoth with four wings growing from his face, and a snake-like tail emerging from the back of his head.
Above his head was a wheel. A golden wheel hovering just above his head.
But what really surprised her was that this massive figure was…
Crucified To The Cross.
The vow was simple. In exchange for not summoning Mahoraga to fight anyone inside my domain, he shall take over the functioning of my domain.
Basically, I put him in the pilot seat of my domain.
Now I just have to launch the domain, and provide curse energy. He does the refining for me.
Since now he was an integral part of my domain, he manifested immediately as soon as I opened my domain, not waiting until my domain was completely manifested. Taking over my load of domain execution and refinement completely.
I honestly didn't think it was possible, but it worked. Currently, Mahoraga was adapting to Sukuna's domain and using those adaptations to refine my own domain against him.
And he will keep on doing that, given enough time, until my domain prevails.
"KLNK"
Another time the wheel on top of Mahoraga spun, and the domain felt much more stable. The constant shuddering and impact felt inside the domain when under collision with a more refined domain's sure hit was gone, almost.
However, exactly at the same time, I felt my heart hammering and I stumbled down to my knees.
My breathing got heavy as soon as I opened my domain and it was getting worse.
Well, I guess not everything is sunshine and rainbows huh…
"Cough… cough."
I coughed a mouthful of blood as the pressure on top of me increased as time passed.
This was cause my curse energy reserves were running dangerously low. Almost empty. I only had a little bit left with what I took from Maki and regenerated over time.
I barely healed my abdomen before once again I had to open this domain.
I was running out of curse energy reserves.
However, that was just half truth. In reality, it was Mahoraga.
Since he was an integral part of my domain now with my binding vow acting up, that means every time I expand my domain, I also have to expend additional curse energy to summon him.
Every single time.
And he wasn't a cheap Shikigami to summon. Far from it.
So, while he took over the execution of the domain itself, the cost of the domain raised alongside it.
I might not get technique burnout like this, but I'll completely burn my reserves out for sure.
A dark chuckle escaped my lips and I finally couldn't take any more and coughed up more blood. The expenditure was killing me.
On the side, Maki's eyes went back to the domain which was surprisingly stable all of a sudden now, and then back to the crybaby who…
"What's wrong with him?" Maki's eyes narrowed; he was panting and kneeling down and coughing blood. All the blood seemed to drain from his face.
Yuki too had gone completely still, whether she lived or not was unknown. Maki only spared one second looking at the fallen woman and shifted her attention back to him.
She gritted her teeth and dragged her wounded body to him somehow, and indeed, he was breathing heavily.
If he failed, then all three of them would die, him staying awake and conscious was far more important.
"Hey, what's wrong. You doing good?" She grabbed onto his shoulder and steadied him, but the boy didn't reply. He just stood there with both his hands in the domain sign, shaking while barely holding onto the domain.
"What's wrong, is it the domain?" Maki pursed her lips, She didn't know why he was like this, neither she had any way to help him. She could only do one thing. She went behind him and held him to stop his shaking.
"You're fine. I got you." Maki shouted, her bloodied figure overlapping with his to keep him straight and prevent him from falling.
Little did she know that I was dying from keeping the domain up. Mahoraga was adapting to Sukuna's refinement first. It had almost adapted to his refinement.
So I have to do both, maintain the outside barrier and supply curse energy to keep the domain from collapsing.
Not to mention, every time Mahoraga seems to make minor adjustments into the domain parameters, it used up more of my curse energy.
Crack...
It was the barrier, even after I reduced its size, it was cracking up under the full-blown assault of Malevolent Shrine attacks from outside.
Mahoraga was currently handling the refinement, basically the internal stability of the domain; he needed time to adapt to that, only then he can handle the barrier.
And I neither had enough curse energy to maintain the barriers, nor the power to keep the barrier up for much longer.
I gritted my teeth.
I am so freaking close to this nightmare, come on, don't die just yet.
But no matter how much I can motivate myself like that, my vision was already going dark because of the load.
I have already tried to make binding vows to somehow fix the barrier and curse energy problem but nothing seems to work.
Crack...
Another crack opened up in the domain, almost breaking it apart and I was losing hope.
Barely keeping my eyes open I tried to think, anything to keep the barrier up. But nothing came to mind.
And just as I thought I'm done for.
That same lightheadedness washed over me for a second.
And the next moment, I felt it...
".."
Curse Energy.
'B-but how?
xXx
A/N : Hehehe.... like the role I had for Mahoraga in this story.
Honestly, I had to think a lot about it, giving him Mahoraga or his powers would have distracted the story away from its main highlight, the Trading Technique itself.
But not giving him anything just felt cheating. So this was the best possible outcome for him.
Tell me, did you like this approach?
Would appreciate stones if you can spare any. Thank you.
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