Chapter 173 – Striving to Become Stronger
"So you believe it was humans who refused to coexist with the Simurian people—and that's why this happened?"
Gojo Satoru looked at Alice and asked calmly.
Hearing this, Alice raised her gaze to the sky.
"Humans are suspects," she said evenly.
"So are the Simurian people."
She understood this better than anyone.
Among humans, there were good people and bad ones.
And among the Simurians, there were also those who opposed coexistence with humanity.
"After this," Alice continued,
"I will investigate whether anyone among the Simurian people interfered in this incident.
As for the human side—leave that to you."
She truly did not want the mastermind behind this to be a Simurian.
If someone was willing to sacrifice her sister just to ignite a war between the Simurians and humanity—
Then she wasn't sure she could stop herself from turning her blade on her own people.
"Fine," Gojo replied casually.
"Do you need me to take you back?"
He hadn't forgotten that the Simurian leader and high priest were still waiting at Jujutsu High to meet him.
And if his intuition was right, the true culprit behind this incident was very likely one of those two 'guests.'
"No need," Alice said, shaking her head.
"I didn't come with them."
This trip had been for one reason only—Ria.
"Then I'll be going," Gojo said.
He clapped his hands together once.
The ground beneath his feet caved in, forming a deep crater—and in the next instant, he vanished.
After Gojo left, a chill slowly surfaced in Alice's eyes.
"High Priest…"
She spoke softly, but the air around her grew cold.
"You'd better hope this wasn't your doing."
As someone who stood in a neutral position among the Simurian people, Alice did not truly care about the future relationship between Simurians and Earth.
She only wanted her sister to live happily.
Whether the two worlds coexisted peacefully—or went to war—made little difference to her.
If it was coexistence, she could live alongside humans in harmony.
If it was war, she would charge forward as a Simurian warrior without hesitation.
But—
If anyone dared to harm her sister—
She would stop at nothing.
---
Several hours later, inside the medical ward…
Ria lay on the hospital bed, her tightly shut eyes slowly opening, confusion flickering within them.
"Big sister…"
"Ria! You're awake!"
"Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
As Ria opened her eyes fully, she saw three figures standing beside her bed, all watching her closely.
"Kaon… and everyone else."
She propped herself up slightly, her memories gradually returning.
She remembered watching Zen'in Kaon brutally beat down the tiger curse.
Then—somehow—a dark shadow swept past her vision, and everything went black.
"…Did my sister come?"
Ria murmured softly. She vaguely remembered her sister's presence, as if it were a fading dream.
"Ria? Are you okay?"
"You don't look right—don't tell me you hit your head?"
Zen'in Kaon waved a hand in front of Ria's eyes.
"Should I call the doctor?"
"If it's a head injury, that's serious. Maybe we should go straight to Auntie Shoko—she's a professional at treating sorcerers."
Kaguya spoke up, genuinely concerned by Ria's dazed expression.
"I'm fine," Ria said quickly, snapping out of it and waving her hands in embarrassment.
"I just need a bit of rest."
Then her voice softened.
"I'm sorry… I dragged you all down this time."
The thought of being captured so easily made her cheeks burn.
She had come as an observer, yet she couldn't even protect herself.
It was humiliating.
"Ria, don't apologize," Kaon said gently.
"The enemy was incredibly strong. If the principal hadn't arrived in time, we wouldn't have been able to resolve it either."
Kaguya nodded.
"This was clearly premeditated. Those curse users acted as a group—and even sent someone that powerful."
"Yeah! Good thing the principal showed up!" Kaon added animatedly.
"Ria, you didn't see it—he was insanely strong! One move, and the entire mountain was split clean in half!"
Her expression grew exaggerated as she spoke.
"The principal is the strongest sorcerer of the modern era, so that kind of power makes sense.
But honestly, this was the first time I'd ever seen him fight for real."
Kaguya turned to the quiet figure beside him and gave him a light pat.
"Kamui, you were shocked too, right?
You probably never imagined you'd reach that level in the future."
"…Kamui?"
Seeing that Gojo Kamui was still staring blankly into space, Kaguya called out again.
Kamui finally snapped back to reality and turned his head.
"Anything else?"
"If not, I'm heading back."
Watching his father casually display such overwhelming power had shaken him more than he expected.
So this is what the strongest sorcerer of the modern era really looks like…
He had always believed the gap between himself and his father wasn't that large.
But today—after seeing that attack—
He finally realized there was an unbridgeable chasm between them.
It even felt like any special-grade sorcerer could toy with him the same way that enemy had.
For the first time, Kamui fully understood something he had long avoided—
He had truly been living in his father's shadow.
He needed time to calm down.
To reflect.
And then—to charge forward once more, toward the title of strongest.
Without another word, Kamui turned and left.
Watching his back, Kaguya's mouth twitched slightly.
"…What's wrong with him?"
Kaon asked, confused.
Kaguya waved a hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. He was probably just hit hard by the principal's strength."
"But why would that bother him?" Kaon frowned.
"Doesn't he already know how strong his dad is?"
After seeing the remnants of the Shinjuku battle from eighteen years ago, she already had a rough idea of what special-grade sorcerers were capable of.
So she accepted the principal's strength almost immediately.
If you're the strongest, isn't that kind of power only natural?
Besides, she was only seventeen.
She wasn't worried at all.
"Oh—by the way, Kaguya," Kaon suddenly asked, curiosity lighting her eyes,
"Do you know how old the principal was when he became the strongest sorcerer of the modern era?"
She wondered if she could keep pace with him at the same age.
Kaguya thought for a moment.
"If I remember correctly… around seventeen."
"What?!"
Kaon froze.
At her current age—he was already the strongest?!
She hadn't even reached special-grade level yet.
The gap was terrifying.
Her cousin had once told her that her technique, Star Rage, had the potential to reach special-grade.
Back then, she'd felt pretty proud of herself.
With Star Rage and the Ten Shadows Technique, she thought she was undeniably talented.
But now—
Reality had struck, hard and fast.
"Kaguya. Ria."
Kaon clenched her fists, her gaze firm.
"I've decided. From now on, I'm going to train seriously—
and become a special-grade sorcerer as soon as possible."
After a brief pause, she added to herself—
Looks like I'll have to ask my bargain-bin cousin for guidance on how to truly master the Ten Shadows Technique.
---