7 Chapter 07

Jumping back as a blast of magical energy exploded in front of him, Itadori was taken by surprise when the special grade curse suddenly appeared beside him, his eyes widening as he lowered his arms to block a slap that sent him flying across the length of the pool.

Boom!

"Itadori!"

Seeing the companion collide with the wall, Megumi immediately signaled with he hands to form a black shadow near the curse, a gigantic snake appearing and swallowing it in one fell swoop, smashing the curse into the wall while trying to contain it.

"Kugisaki! We need to get Itadori and get away as fast as possible!"

Nobara, seeing the whole chaotic situation unfold so suddenly, frowned at Megumi's words, her teeth clenching as she began to run towards Itadori.

"What a shitty situation!"

About to reach the spot where Itadori had been thrown, Nobara's eyes widened when a presence appeared beside her, her head turning to find the strange curse staring at her with a huge smile.

"Swerve, Kugisaki!"

Megumi tried to summon another shikigami, but he hands were no faster than the curse attack, which launched a slap towards Nobara's face.

Boom!

With the attack about to hit the woman, the curse was taken by surprise when her face was suddenly struck by a fist, her body being pushed back a few meters as her smile disappeared.

"Fuck! I fainted for a few seconds after that slap." 

Standing in front of Nobara, a bruised Itadori had blood dripping from his forehead, an angry smile on his lips as he raised his fists.

"Megumi, Kugisaki!"

Calling out to his two companions, Itadori quickly bent down and picked up the blade that had fallen from his hands, a vein appearing on his forehead as his face filled with irritation.

"Let's kill that curse!"

.

Throwing a stone in the direction of the curse, Itadori rolled to escape a blast of magical energy, immediately getting up and running towards Megumi, who had just conjured a black wolf.

"We must flee! It's a special grade of curse we're facing!"

Nobara, who was keeping his distance, tried to hit the curse with his nails, but they were beaten back with mere slaps.

"To escape, one of us has to stay behind, and that means certain death."

Itadori spoke as he picked up another stone from the ground, using his physical mastery to throw it at extreme speed towards the curse.

"We can win, I'm sure of it. We just need to work together."

Seeing the curse destroy the stone with a slap, Itadori frowned as he prepared himself.

"Kugisaki needs to keep his distance and take advantage of the slightest chance to attack with his nails. Your summons will be of great help in this, Megumi. I'm sure that if you weren't here, we'd be dead by now."

Opening their eyes wide as the curse filled their cheeks, Itadori and Megumi jumped away, narrowly escaping what was supposed to be pure magical power.

"I'm by far the most physically proficient here! I need any distraction to get close and attack with my knife!"

Sweat poured down Megumi's forehead, his face full of indecision as they stared at that curse, which laughed at them as if they were mere toys.

"He's underestimating us! We'll have a chance if we go all out!"

Megumi, who at this point completely understood the situation they were in, swallowed dryly as she positioned herself, he teeth clenching as he signaled with his hands.

"Shit! It's okay!"

Summoning the huge snake once more, which, although injured, was not yet dead, Megumi ordered it to attack the curse, the Shikigami emerging from the enemy's back and engulfing it once more.

"Now, Kugisaki!"

Nobara, hearing the signal, immediately hit some nails imbued with cursed energy with her hammer, sending them towards the curse.

But as Megumi prepared to undo the snake, his eyes widened as the Shigakami in the huge Shikigami's mouth was torn open at once, blood spurting from its lips as the curse revealed itself in full.

'What was that?! A barrier?!

The nails, hitting the head of the curse, ricocheted away in a demonstration of their frightening durability.

"Son of a bitch." Nobara cursed.

The curse, with a huge smile on his lips, turned to Nobara, a laugh escaping his throat as he prepared to advance towards her.

"Kugisaki, run!"

Megumi warned her, but Nobara already knew what to do from the moment the curse faced her, the nervous sweat dripping down the back of her neck as she began to run away.

But her speed could not be compared to the curse, which reached her in an instant.

Seeing that she would inevitably be hit, the woman turned around while raising her arms to defend herself.

!

But to his delight, the white wolf that had been hit by the curse suddenly jumped off the curse's back and bit him directly on the neck, causing the curse to be distracted long enough for Nobara to get away.

'Thanks, doggy!

The curse, seeing that Shikigami only as a nuisance, grabbed him by the neck and smashed him to the ground, his smile never disappearing from his lips.

"Got it!"

But while the curse seemed distracted from killing the wolf, Itadori suddenly appeared above him, his teeth clenching as he plummeted while slashing.

"..."

*Crack

But to the surprise of all the sorcerers except Itadori, not only was the blade unable to do a single bit of damage to the curse's skin, but it also split into several pieces.

'I knew it would happen.'

Turning to look at the curse, Itadori saw her stand up imposingly, her smile widening.

'It was silly of me to believe otherwise.'

Boom!

Being thrown away by a barrier that exploded from the body of the curse, Itadori fell to the ground with enough force to crack it.

"Itadori!"

Megumi and Nobara approached, Itadori spitting out a mouthful of blood as he sat down, his expression grim as he rested his arm on his knee.

"Run away, I'll give control to Sukuna when you're safe."

He wanted to do things differently, but it was obvious that even if they were all together, they didn't have enough power to fight a curse of this level.

The best thing to do was to give control to Sukuna, and try to sort things out from there. 

Fighting this curse would only get Megumi and Nobara killed, since even if he was in danger, he could always give control to Sukuna, and he didn't want that.

At the moment, this was the best thing to do.

"What? What are you saying? We're not leaving you behind." Even though Nobara wasn't the nicest person in the group, she wasn't one to abandon one of her companions, so it was normal for her to be against the idea.

"You understand, don't you?" Turning to Megumi, Itadori stood up while wiping the blood from his lips. "That's the best thing to do at the moment."

Megumi bit his lips. He didn't want to abandon Itadori, but he knew that with Sukuna, Yuji was unlikely to die.

In the end, he didn't have enough power to change this situation, and at the moment, he couldn't do anything about it.

The most he could do was survive so that in the future he would be strong enough to prevent this from happening again.

"Come on, Kugisaki. The faster we go, the better Itadori's chances will be."

Nobara was silent for a moment, but soon nodded reluctantly. She understood the gravity of the situation, and even if she didn't agree, she could only accept the facts.

"Survive, you idiot!"

As the two turned and began to run, Nobara shouted to Itadori one last time.

Itadori, seeing the two walking away, turned to the curse, which followed them with its eyes as if wondering what to do.

!

But Itadori didn't give him time to think as he swept the distance between them.

"Focus here, dickhead!"

Hitting the curse with a straight punch, Itadori immediately jumped up and kicked it with both feet, pushing him backwards.

But his attacks were clearly effective, the curse flashing a smile as it hit him with a punch coated in cursed energy.

Boom!

Itadori flew until he hit a wall, his body plummeting to the ground as he was unable to hold back the vomit of blood.

'That fucking hurts.

Standing up with difficulty, Itadori wiped his lips, his face filling with fatigue as he slowly put his hands together in front of his abdomen.

'To tell you the truth, even though I'm in this situation, I'm not scared.

With his uneven breathing slowly returning to normal, Itadori looked at the curse cautiously.

'Being on the brink of death like this really doesn't make me feel the fear I should feel.

Putting his fists next to his body, Itadori took a deep breath, his eyes filled with flaming determination.

'Actually, it's making me really happy.

The curse, which had been staring at the young sorcerer with a disdainful laugh, suddenly ceased in silence as a strong cursed energy exploded from the boy, his smile disappearing completely.

'Because it made me find something I'd been looking for for some time.

Itadori, his body emitting cursed energy wildly, smiled as he placed his fist in front of his face, the cursed energy concentrating mainly in his hands.

"I must thank you. Seeing you use your energy in such an uncontrolled way made me understand how to do it!"

Curse grunted in annoyance, Itadori laughing at this before his expression hardened.

"Anyway, let's keep going."