"There's actually a job this good? Then I've got no choice but to take it!"
After discussing with Mukuro for a while, Toji almost burst out laughing over the phone.
"You'd better be careful. Don't end up getting flattened by that white-haired idiot."
"You think I'm that weak?" Toji chuckled and hung up.
Hearing the busy tone through the receiver, Mukuro sighed, a few dark lines forming on his forehead.
"Let's go," he muttered.
At this moment, he was already near the school, sitting in the car sent by Jujutsu High to pick him up.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, the car stopped in front of a mountain that had been sealed off.
"Fushiguro-san, we've arrived. The cursed spirit detected by the Window is just ahead," the assistant manager in the driver's seat said as he turned to wake Mukuro, who was resting with his eyes closed in the back seat.
"You're telling me this is a grade 1 case?"
Opening the door, Mukuro stepped out, laughing softly. He leaned against the car and glanced at the assistant manager.
"This… how could it be this massive…"
When the man got out and saw the mountain carefully, he froze on the spot.
Just last night, when the Window reported their findings, they'd said a cursed womb had been detected, but it hadn't yet reached special grade level.
So they had planned to send a grade 1 sorcerer to eliminate it early, before it grew too strong.
But now, before their eyes, the entire mountain was wrapped in an overwhelming, suffocating cursed energy.
The pressure alone, along with the feeling of being watched by countless unseen eyes, proved this was no mere cursed womb.
"Looks like a special grade cursed spirit has already been born. Judging by the aura inside the mountain, it probably has spawned several others too. This is no simple grade 1 or even a single special grade case anymore. Fushiguro-san, we should leave. This might need both Gojo and Geto working together, or even the return of special grade sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo from overseas to handle it…"
The assistant manager made his judgment instantly. This was far beyond what an ordinary grade 1 sorcerer could handle. And since Yuki rarely took missions, the only option left would be those two strongest prodigies.
"Pay more."
"Huh?"
Mukuro's sudden words stunned him.
"I said, tell the higher-ups to increase the payment. I'll take care of it." Mukuro stretched lazily and repeated himself.
"Fushiguro-san, you've only been at Jujutsu High for a short time. Are you sure you can handle something like this alone? This isn't a joke! Just enduring that cursed energy could drain you completely!"
Money wasn't the issue. Jujutsu High and the higher-ups never lacked that. What worried the assistant manager was losing a young genius right before his eyes.
"It's just a special grade curse. I'll kill it and show you." Mukuro waved him off and started walking toward the mountain.
"Wait, Fushiguro-san! Damn it…Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."
Seeing Mukuro ignore his words, the man quickly set up a Curtain and contacted Jujutsu High for emergency support.
* * *
Inside the Curtain, as soon as Mukuro stepped into the mountain, countless roars filled the air.
Cursed spirits appeared one after another between the trees, so many that he couldn't even see where they ended. What made it worse was that nearly all of them were grade 4 or higher. Some were even grade 2 and grade 1.
Normally, curses of this level would never gather in such numbers. Yet none of them attacked. It seemed like they were waiting for something.
"Despicable human! Why… why do you hurt my children!"
The ground trembled as a voice filled with hatred echoed through the mountain, reverberating endlessly through the forest.
"That sound… beneath me?" Mukuro frowned. For the first time, he wondered if he was imagining things.
When the voice echoed, he traced its source with his senses, only to find it came from within the mountain itself.
The leader of the curses was living inside the mountain?
"Answer me!"
Another furious roar followed when he didn't respond. The rage and hatred carried in that voice were enough to make an ordinary grade 1 sorcerer tremble.
"Answer what? I don't even know who you are," Mukuro replied, scratching his head casually.
"You humans are greedy and cruel! You slaughtered my children one by one, not even sparing the newborns!"
As the mountain shook, the ground in front of him split open. From it emerged a massive figure nearly two meters tall.
It had eyes like a tiger's, sharp and predatory, with huge antlers growing from its head. Its muscles bulged beneath its skin, and hot steam hissed from its back as if venting its fury.
"I see. So all these curses were once the animals hunted in this mountain," Mukuro murmured in realization, glancing around.
The curses no longer looked like animals, but based on its words, it wasn't hard to guess.
"That's right! All because of you humans! Without you, nature would've returned to its pure state! The world would be much better without your kind!"
The humanoid curse clenched its fists, its voice shaking with anger.
It had already decided: it would kill every last human and return the world to its original, untouched form.
"What's your name?"
"Hm? My name is—"
"Never mind. Don't really care."
The curse stiffened for a second, caught off guard by the sudden question. Just as it was about to respond, Mukuro cut him off.
"You filthy human! How dare you mock me! Remember this name! I'm Yamagon!"
The air shimmered as its temperature rose. Steam burst violently from its back, so intense that the lesser curses nearby scattered in panic.
Mukuro didn't flinch as he said evenly, "I won't deny the ugliness of humanity. But even if the world returns to its original state, do you really think your children will be safe? Survival of the fittest is the law of this world."
He did feel a flicker of sympathy for them. But that was all.
"Save your preaching!"
Yamagon roared, swinging its huge arm. The surrounding curses, already watching Mukuro with hunger in their eyes, surged forward all at once, ready to tear him apart.
"Not enough…"
Yamagon watched its spawn rush forward as a strange, gentle smile spread across its monstrous face. "I must become stronger. Then I'll create a world where my children can live in peace."
To it, these cursed spirits, no matter how twisted they had become, were still its children.
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