The light of the Sword of Promised Victory shimmered within the cave.
In Eichi's expectations, this strike should have shattered the earth and broken the dome.
With Qiongqi's help, the two rushed out from underground and soared into the sky.
But reality turned out differently.
"Gurgle~"
Strange, heavy noises echoed from all directions.
The overwhelming sound forced Eichi to cover his ears with both hands.
The ground trembled violently.
However, it wasn't the type of shaking Eichi had imagined, as if the earth was collapsing.
Rather, it felt like a massive ship breaking apart in the middle and sinking into the sea from both ends.
"Ria."
Qiongqi passed by Eichi. He jumped onto its back and pulled Artoria up as well.
Once they had ascended into the sky, Eichi finally saw the true form of the Cursed Spirit.
It was a turtle-type Cursed Spirit, several tens of meters in size.
"So small?"
Considering the Ryugu Palace he and Artoria had just explored was several hundred meters wide, and including the underground cave, the total area would have spanned nearly two kilometers.
"A barrier that manipulates spatial dimensions? Did it withstand Ria's Noble Phantasm by relying on the barrier's properties?"
Looking at the turtle Cursed Spirit, whose body had largely dissipated and was now struggling to recover, Eichi came to a conclusion.
"If Excalibur had been unleashed from outside, that thing would already be dead."
"Mahoraga."
Mahoraga emerged from Eichi's shadow.
Falling from a great height, Mahoraga charged straight toward the turtle Cursed Spirit's head.
The Sword of Exorcism pierced the Cursed Spirit's skull without resistance.
The turtle's massive body scattered and faded away.
"It only took two hours to resolve?"
Eichi found the ease of the mission suspicious.
Was this really not Kenjaku's doing, just a coincidence?
As he pondered, Eichi took out his phone.
2:05 PM.
How did the time advance?
Did the phone get damaged?
His gaze shifted, and in the next moment, Eichi's eyes widened in disbelief.
The date on his phone had already moved forward by two days.
The turtle, the Dragon Palace, the goddess, the strange flow of time.
Urashima Taro?
At this moment, Eichi finally understood the true nature of the incident.
Urashima Taro is a figure from Japanese mythology.
According to legend, long ago, a man named Urashima Taro lived by the sea, surviving through fishing.
He had the classic protagonist archetype—poor, kindhearted, and brave.
One day, after fishing, Urashima Taro saw a group of children teasing a turtle on the shore.
He immediately intervened and drove the children away.
Whether something had happened between him and the turtle before was unclear, but despite being a fisherman, he didn't take the turtle home to make soup. Instead, he released it back into the sea.
Years later, while fishing again, the turtle returned to find Urashima Taro.
The turtle spoke in human language and expressed a desire to repay his kindness.
It then carried Urashima Taro, who conveniently could breathe underwater, to the Ryugu Palace.
In the Ryugu Palace, Urashima Taro lived an idyllic life with a goddess, eating seafood, enjoying ocean views, and playing daily.
But soon, he felt homesick and decided to return to his village, wanting to see his long-lost mother and find out if the village had changed.
Seeing his longing to return, the goddess had the turtle take him back.
Before he left, she handed him a box.
Most importantly, she told him never to open it.
Upon returning to his village, Urashima Taro discovered that everything had changed.
His house was gone. His mother had vanished. The village was unrecognizable.
Curious and distraught, he opened the box.
In an instant, he transformed into an old man.
It turned out that hundreds of years had passed.
This tale is widely known in Japan, so the moment he saw the turtle, Eichi made the connection.
But now, Eichi felt no fascination from witnessing a legend firsthand.
Only an intense sense of dread.
Two days had passed.
His mind began rapidly searching through the plot.
This was bad. There was no time.
"Ria, hold on. We're going full speed."
"Don't worry about me, Eichi. I have riding skills."
Artoria had also sensed Eichi's urgency.
In the next second, Qiongqi shot forward at full speed toward Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The light of the Holy Sword shone on the nameless island.
The person Kenjaku had placed to monitor Eichi's movements immediately noticed the situation.
After seeing Qiongqi fly in the direction of Tokyo Jujutsu High, he picked up his phone without hesitation.
On the other end, Kenjaku's previously good mood disappeared completely.
Yesterday morning, he had received a report from Nagasaki: Emiya had successfully killed three Curse Users, exorcised a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, and rescued all the hostages by nightfall.
Since then, Emiya's whereabouts had been untraceable for a full day.
The only bit of luck was that Emiya didn't use any form of transportation and didn't have the ability to fly.
But now, even worse news had come.
Azuma Eichi was already on his way back to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Should I give up?
Kenjaku, well-versed in the Way of caution, began to reconsider.
Would he ever get another opportunity like this?
He hesitated.
If he gave up this chance, he might have to wait another 500 years.
And next time, he might not find a pawn as suitable as Fushiguro Toji.
This "suitability" wasn't about strength, but rather Toji's complete lack of Cursed Energy.
Heavenly Restrictions weren't rare in the Jujutsu world.
Most involved sacrificing something to gain something else.
But the key word was "something."
Cases like Mechamaru and Kokichi Muta were already considered rare.
An extreme case like Fushiguro Toji's zero Cursed Energy, however, was something entirely different.
It was a power born from the Cursed Energy System yet completely unbound by it.
Kenjaku could wait 500 years.
But whether he would ever again meet someone who could break the karmic constraints of the Cursed Energy System, he didn't know.
Toji couldn't be turned into a Cursed Object.
Kenjaku had converted many ancient powerhouses into Cursed Objects, intending to revive them later.
But extreme cases like Toji couldn't be sealed that way.
Let's prepare both options.
Kenjaku made up his mind.
If Toji succeeded, he would stall for time. If Toji failed, he would flee immediately.
Kenjaku stood and headed to his collection room in Tokyo.
Over the past millennium, he had gathered and crafted countless Cursed Objects.
This meant Kenjaku had prepared numerous hidden rooms to store his collections.
Even within the Kiko of Tokyo Jujutsu High and Jujutsu Headquarters, there were many Cursed Objects planted by him.
Occasionally, when he found someone with high compatibility, he would place the Cursed Object inside their body, allowing it to incarnate when the time came or retrieve it himself.
This time, he didn't spend time choosing carefully.
He simply stuffed a large number of Cursed Objects into his robe.
(To be continued.)