Looking Forward to Another World

Because their backs were turned, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara did not see the existence that had appeared behind them.

Only Riezel, who was standing some distance away and facing the three of them, had a complete view of that existence.

It was a monster with a humanoid form, yet it had pale skin and flesh, a wide, gaping mouth, and four eyes arranged in a claw-like pattern across its head.

There was no doubt that it was a cursed spirit.

Moreover, unlike the comical-looking cursed spirits from earlier, every part of this cursed spirit radiated a sense of horror and terror. It finally no longer looked like a clown’s doll, but instead resembled the demon from Riezel’s impression of the creature—grotesque and terrifying.

Its arms hung loosely at its sides, while its red palms were long and claw-like. Its split-open mouth was clearly curved into a wide smile that bared its teeth, making it very clear to Riezel that this cursed spirit was happy.

It was clearly enjoying itself.

As for why it was happy, why it was enjoying itself?

It was simple.

Because it was enjoying the situation of the humans before it.

It considered the humans before it to be its prey, its toys, so the thought that it could soon slaughter everyone present and freely savor the cursed energy formed from their fear, despair, anger, resentment, and other negative emotions made it especially happy and excited.

And that was also why Yuji and the other two could not move a muscle.

With their sharp senses, they had already realized that they had encountered a monstrous cursed spirit that wanted to torture them to death without mercy, so their bodies instinctively forced them to remain still, allowing them to survive for as long as possible before the cursed spirit’s desire to play eventually disappeared.

However, Riezel was not included among them, since he was not affected by the cursed spirit’s playful nature or its sadistic heart.

One should know that he had not been in a particularly good mood recently, which was why he had undertaken this dimensional travel in the first place—to change his mood.

Now, however, the cursed spirit’s happiness, its pleasure, and its smile had once again ignited the displeasure that he had only just managed to ease.

As a result…

“Take that disgusting smile off your damn face!”

As those words left Riezel’s mouth, a hand suddenly appeared in front of the cursed spirit’s face and seized it.

*BOOM!*

Amid a thunderous impact, the cursed spirit’s face was violently slammed into the ground, shattering the entire floor.

“!!!”

Caught in the explosive shockwave and flying debris, Yuji and the other two finally broke free from their frozen state. They each darted in a different direction, narrowly avoiding the fate of plunging into the collapsing ground along with the shattered floor.

Only then did they see the cursed spirit that had been smashed into the ground, as well as Riezel, who had suddenly appeared there with one hand pressed against the cursed spirit’s face.

‘Fast!’

‘What?!’

‘When?!’

Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara all had their pupils contracted as immense shock filled their hearts.

They had been standing directly opposite Riezel, yet they had failed to catch even a glimpse of his movement. They had not even seen when he had rushed in front of them and reached out to grab the cursed spirit by the face.

If he had attacked them instead of that cursed spirit just now, what would have happened?

Needless to say, the answer did not even need to be considered.

‘He really isn’t an ordinary person!’

When that thought was confirmed in the minds of the three, a strange roar of fury suddenly came from within the shattered ground.

“AAAAHHHHHHHH—!!!”

Amid that furious roar, a form of purest negative energy—cursed energy—was released.

*BOOM!*

A deafening roar erupted as a storm of cursed energy crushed everything in its path. As a result, the ground, which had already been sinking downward, completely collapsed this time and split apart into countless pieces.

And the culprit behind all of this, the cursed spirit that was on an entirely different level from the ones before it, shot out from beneath the ground while carrying an explosion of cursed energy that blossomed like a burst of light.

Its target was Riezel, who had leaped into midair at some unknown point and avoided the storm of cursed energy.

“ARGHHH!”

At this very moment, the smile on the cursed spirit’s face disappeared, replaced by a ferocious expression that clearly showed it had developed a hatred for Riezel.

In response, Riezel merely looked down at the cursed spirit flying toward him from above.

“Fool.”

Uttering those cold words, Riezel slowly extended his hand and grasped the hilt of his sword.

Under such circumstances, the cursed spirit continued to rise into the sky and rapidly close in on Riezel. At the same time, it raised both hands and gathered its cursed energy, concentrating it around its palms until the energy shone like golden light.

Anyone who sensed that terrifying cursed energy, compressed to its absolute limit, would understand that the attack that followed would be earth-shattering.

At the very least, piercing through several buildings would be absolutely effortless.

“Watch out!”

Yuji shouted instinctively.

“Moron!”

“Idiot!”

Megumi and Nobara went so far as to curse at Riezel.

In their eyes, Riezel’s refusal to dodge probably looked no different from seeking death.

However, it was precisely because of that that what happened next would be deeply engraved into their memories.

*Schwing!*

Suddenly, the sound of a sword being drawn resounded, its sound crisp and clear.

Less than a second before the humanoid cursed spirit, carrying an explosion of cursed energy, was about to touch Riezel with both hands, that sword-drawing sound rang out, piercing directly into their souls.

Right afterward, a cold flash of sword light swept past like lightning.

It was swift and sharp!

*SPLURT!*

Amid the sound of tearing flesh, the cursed spirit’s raised hands, which were filled with an astonishing amount of cursed energy, were effortlessly severed. At the same time, its explosive cursed energy immediately froze before dissipating after losing control.

“…”

Meanwhile, the humanoid cursed spirit had been preparing to open its mouth and laugh triumphantly, but at that moment, its entire body and facial expression froze along with it.

After remaining frozen for several seconds, a perfectly straight line appeared down the center of the humanoid cursed spirit’s body.

*Click—*

As Riezel landed from midair and stood at the edge of the shattered ground, the black sword in his hand slowly slid back into its sheath before he put it away.

Only then did the humanoid cursed spirit, which had remained suspended in midair, suddenly split into two along the line that had appeared down the center of its body, the two halves separating with perfect precision.

*WHOOSH!*

A moment later, the two halves of the humanoid cursed spirit’s body burst into flames. Before they could even fall to the ground, they had already been completely burned away.

Such was the fate of a cursed spirit without a physical body, one whose entire existence was condensed from cursed energy, upon death. It was much like a dungeon monster having its magic stone removed and subsequently turning into ash.

At the same time, the cursed spirit’s domain, which had been constructed from cursed energy, began to dissipate, causing the numerous multi-story buildings and the complicated network of pipes to disappear as well.

Only the ground remained completely unchanged, revealing the original appearance of the Juvenile Detention Center.

Just like that, the battle had ended in the blink of an eye.

“”Eh?””

At that moment, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara were all completely dumbfounded.

“…We won?”

“No way… right?”

“A special grade cursed spirit… got exorcised in one hit?”

All of them muttered blankly, as though they could not believe what they had just witnessed.

“Phew… that feels much better…”

Riezel, meanwhile, felt as though he had finally vented the frustration that had been weighing on him, and the last trace of displeasure in his heart finally vanished.

===

[Record from July 2018, West Tokyo, Eishu Juvenile Detention Center.]

[A special grade cursed spirit (name undetermined) successfully hatched. Three first-grade students from Jujutsu High were urgently dispatched to the location and entered the incomplete domain, where they encountered the target.]

[The special grade cursed spirit (name undetermined) was successfully exorcised. The exorcist was a mysterious sword-wielding boy. His identity, origins, and reason for appearing remain unknown. He possesses overwhelming strength capable of easily exorcising a special grade cursed spirit, but is unable to use cursed energy or cursed techniques (unconfirmed).]

[After the incident, the incomplete domain was dispelled. None of the missing personnel survived. All three first-grade students survived and are currently traveling together with the mysterious exorcist.]

[The mysterious exorcist—Riezel Brynhart—has been provisionally classified as a special grade curse user and entered into the records.]

“A special grade curse user?”

A voice filled with confusion, surprise, and keen interest rang out from a corner of the vast and bustling airport.

“So… Yuji and the others ran into something this interesting while I was away?”

Saying that, the speaker was, in a certain sense, an exceptionally eye-catching man.

He appeared to be in his twenties and stood over 190 centimeters tall. He wore a black uniform and had extremely conspicuous white hair. Even though his face had sharp, well-defined features that should have made him remarkably handsome, most of them were obscured by the black eyepatch covering both of his eyes.

He appeared to have just returned from a flight, but he carried no suitcase or luggage of any kind, simply walking through the airport empty-handed. One hand was in his pocket, while the other held a cell phone as he conversed with someone.

[Hey, this isn’t anything interesting. I was scared half to death.]

On the other end of the call, the person who heard the young man’s interested voice seemed somewhat helpless as they spoke.

Hearing that, the white-haired man grinned.

“Yeah, sending three first-grade freshmen who are still studying at Jujutsu High to deal with a cursed womb that could very likely hatch into a special grade cursed spirit… those old fogies should be worried—worried that I’m gonna settle the score with them. Don’t you think?”

Hearing those brazen words, the person on the other end of the call broke out in a cold sweat.

[Mr. Gojo, about that—]

He had just begun to speak hesitantly when the white-haired man cut him off.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t get nervous. Since Yuji and the others made it back safely, I’m not planning to do anything too extreme. Don’t let my appearance fool you. I’m actually pretty respectful toward my elders and really caring toward the younger generation.”

At that, the person on the other end of the call wanted to curse him a thousand times over.

Respectful toward his elders?

If the man was really respectful toward his elders, then that would be the real disaster.

He was certain that the man was already thinking of ways to cause trouble for the higher-ups of the jujutsu society. At the very least, he would probably make them furious before he was satisfied.

By now, those poor old men were already approaching their graves. After being infuriated by a man like him, who knew how many more years of their lives they might lose?

“Forget about that. I’m more interested in that special grade curse user right now.”

Wearing a smile, the white-haired man changed the subject and continued with obvious interest.

“He could easily exorcise a special grade cursed spirit, so he’s at least half as strong as me.”

“How old is he? Does he have a girlfriend? Are his parents still alive? If I go visit him, do you think he’ll wanna meet me?”

Hearing the question, the person on the other end of the call broke into another cold sweat before answering with a bitter smile.

[…I don’t know. You’ve read the report, haven’t you? Everything about the special grade curse user is unknown. His identity is unknown, his origins are unknown, and the reason for his appearance is unknown.]

[It’s as if he suddenly appeared in this world as an outsider. Even after investigating through government channels, we haven’t been able to find the slightest bit of information related to him.]

[We suspect that he may be an illegal immigrant from another country. I mean, his name certainly doesn’t sound like a Japanese one, but a Western one.]

[But we haven’t been able to determine which country he came from or where he is actually from.]

“Interesting…” the white-haired man muttered, seeming even more intrigued after hearing that. “Is he with Yuji and the others right now? What are those old fogies planning to do?”

[At present, the special grade curse user is indeed traveling together with Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki…]

As he spoke, the voice of the person on the other end of the call was filled with great seriousness.

[However, according to Fushiguro, he isn’t intentionally following them and could leave at any time, so the higher-ups haven’t taken any further action for now. They’re currently observing the situation.]

“Hah, sounds exactly like those cowardly old fogies. They’re probably worried that making contact with him recklessly will bring trouble on themselves, right? After all, he’s a special grade too,” the white-haired man said with a laugh before making up his mind right then and there. “Anyway, they probably want me to make contact with that curse user first, right? Fine! I’ll do it!”

Hearing that, the person on the other end of the call immediately became nervous before speaking up.

[Um… please don’t cause too much trouble. Although the curse user is also a special grade, he’s a special grade who can easily exorcise a special grade cursed spirit. Just like you, he is absolutely a special grade among special grades. If the two of you end up clashing, that would be terrifying. Please proceed with caution.]

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” the white-haired man said carelessly, his words carrying absolutely no credibility whatsoever. “I’ll be careful. Alright, that’s all. See you.”

Just like that, the man casually hung up the phone.

“Special grade among special grades, huh…?”

With both hands in his pockets, the white-haired man walked along while smiling and muttering to himself.

“I really want to see how I’d fare against him…”

Leaving those words behind, the white-haired man continued walking before suddenly disappearing.

No one nearby noticed what had happened, and the airport remained just as busy as before, filled with people coming and going.

===

“Well, this really is an unexpected development.”

At the same time, on the roof of a building, a man dressed in the attire of a monk was talking to himself.

“Hm, the whole setup was originally created just to test Sukuna’s strength, yet it unexpectedly attracted such a strange variable.”

“A special grade curse user?”

“Riezel Brynhart?”

Muttering to himself, the monk-like man rubbed his chin.

“Hmm… that’s certainly not a name I’ve heard before… and judging by the name, it seems he’s a foreigner… well, it seems I’ll have to test this special grade curse user as well.”

“However, which pawn should I use this time?”

“Just using a ‘finger’ definitely won’t be enough, will it?”

As he thought about it, the monk-like man soon came up with an idea and smiled.

“Mm, I’ll just set Jogo and the others in motion and let them go see what he’s capable of.”