26) Helix of Gondul Pt. 2

"Although most cursed tools happen to be weapons, by no means do they HAVE to be weapons."

Gojo and Furōkawa stood in the place where they spent the most time with each other— the training room.

"Soooo why are you telling me this in the middle of our spar sesh?" Furō said as beads of his sweat hit the floor.

"I try to tell you something and you immediately dismiss it. Hopeless."

"But I-"

"ANYWAYS!" Gojo loudly interrupted.

"Some cursed objects can be worn but most of them have been utterly destroyed throughout history. Some may be intact, but good luck finding them. However, if you do, make sure to show me!"

______________________

Furōkawa gripped the helix piercing with his fingers and clamped it around his ear- the exact same spot the valkyrie had it. It bled a vibrant vermillion and glowed softly.

"Wish I could've gotten that professionally done."

'But I already feel the cursed energy in my body changing!'

The rain bounced against Onamazu as it began changing its shape into a metal handle with three whip-like extremities. As the drops hit the whips, they vaporized instantly, causing steam to emit from the new weapon.

"I'm gonna call you… Basilix. Now I need to give the other weapons names too."

The valkyrie let out a chuckle.

"Oh you human… you steal our heirlooms and have the audacity to name them in our faces. Your disrespect will not go unpunished!"

A gust of wind tore through the gap between the two fighters and the valkyrie closed the distance instantly, trying to land a massive punch to Furōkawa's face. However, Furō was already two steps ahead. After jumping in the air, he latched the whip around the same arm the valkyrie tried to strike him with and when landed, he pulled clean off.

It did not falter though, and launched its whip towards his back.

"Not so fast!" Furō said as he grabbed the rope, as painful as it was, and pulled the valkyrie towards him.

While the valkyrie flew towards him, he turned Onamazu back from the whip into its original oar form and spin kicked the valkyrie sideways, following up by striking Onamazu against its hard shell, fracturing it further and further.

At this point, both Furōkawa and the valkyrie were beaten up and badly bruised, and the next big attack could decide it all.

"Out if all humans I have faced in my past life, you have shown the most vigor. I commend you, but your road ends here child."

A ton of cursed energy gathered within the area as the valkyrie glowed magnificently, similar to the cursed energy-disrupting energy wave it did earlier. However, the sheer buildup of energy could be compared to the amount of energy inside a chant-enhanced spear from Furōkawa.

But the natural aspect of Furōkawa's cursed energy eats and dissolves the very core of cursed energy itself. As long as he can match the destructive force of his assailant, he can!

"Guess this is it, huh?" Fire burned in Furō's eyes as he materialized a bright green liquid spear in his right hand and tossed aside Onamazu temporarily.

'Spirit Spring'

'Lost Alioth'

'Shinsu'

He launched the spear directly into the valkyrie's explosion and reached for Onamazu to brace for the potential double-impact of both attacks simultaneously exploding.

"This is gonna hurt."

A massive bright explosion bursted and ripped through the space they both occupied, englufling everything within approximately 50 meters, leaving behind a giant crater and a dark cloud of dust and debris.

After the smoke cleared, the valkyrie could be seen on a single knee missing the following body parts:

-Entire right arm

-Left arm up to the elbow joint

-Right foot

-Left leg up to the femur bone

-Half its head

-A chunk of its torso

"That boy… there's no possible way he could have survived that blast, and even if he did, his condition can't be any better than mine."

"…"

The valkyrie looked ahead.

Witnessing chaos incarnate step beyond the horizon,

And his overwhelming intensity!

"Heh, thought I'd be a goner there, but turns out attacks hurt a lot less when they come from your own techniques."

Furōkawa slowly limped over to the valkyrie, dragging Onamazu in its axe form, renamed "Oryx." During the explosion, Furōkawa made a risky attempt to take the blast head on with Onamazu instead of trying to escape. He hypothesized that if he can turn Onamazu into its axe form, he could possibly block the majority of the damage.

"It's not WWII anymore; Japanese people don't need blow themselves up anymore but here I am.."

Furōkawa, with half his face bleeding profusely and scorched scars all over his body, raised the axe high above his head.

"Any last words?" He asked.

"…My sisters will take care of the rest." The valkyrie remained motionless and stared at the ground silently.

Furōkawa did not make any snarky remarks or gestures to salt the wound for the valkyrie. He immediately slammed the axe down into the spirit's nape and severed its head clean, successfully exorcising it. The storm let up a bit, but the drizzle continued as Furōkawa sat on the ground topless and with ripped up paints.

"Damn that valkyrie. Really did a number on me this time. And now I need to get to the rendezvous point… today really couldn't get any worse."

He slowly got up and took his leave, subconsciously turning Onamazu into a liquid form and absorbing it into the ring, which is a first.

As he limped over while holding his side and keeping his head down, a black vehicle could be seen off in the distance. Furōkawa wanted to yell out to the driver, but all his fractured ribs and damaged bones made it difficult to breathe. So, he walked further, hoping she would see him. Not before long, he was maybe a public pool's worth of distance away but noticed that the driver was on their phone the entire time.

"What. The. FUCK."

The sheer anger that just came out of Furōkawa made his blood rush too fast, causing his eyes to roll back and faint on the ground.

*Translated*

'I wonder where that kid is… its been a little under 66 minutes and he still hasn't returned. Fuko…no Foku?? I can't even remember his name.'

The driver stepped out the vehicle with an umbrella and opened it up, blocking the rain. She looked around and observed to see if she could find Furōkawa in the vicinity. Bit after bit, she noticed his body a little bit away but her heart dropped as she had no idea how long he'd been there. The driver dropped the umbrella and opened up the back door of the car, then scurried over to the bloody and bruised teen.

"Shitttt! Shit Shit SHIT!" She exclaimed out if nervousment as she pulled him over into the back seat. Warily, she pulled out a small mirror and put it up to Furō's mouth, waiting for the glass to fog up, which it did. The driver let out a huge sigh of relief and slouched behind the wheel.

"Okay, let's get going!"

——————————

FOUR DAYS LATER

Furōkawa slowly blinked, as a warm light buzzed across his skin with its inviting aura.

"Damn… did I finally die?" He said slowly.

"No you didn't, but glad to see you here in mostly one piece."

"Ha, you said one piece.." He smirked to himself.

Emilia did not find him very amusing, but she reached out her phone to Furō.

"Gojo had a message for you, something about his new first year."

Furōkawa grabbed the phone painfully and analyzed the screen.

>Heyyyy Mil, its me again!

>What do YOU want? and that isn't my name. It's Emilia, please respect that.

>Ughh youre so stuck up sheesh. 🙄 Anyways, i just want to check up on my student and show him his underclassmen!

>Fine. Be quick.

>Great!

>*sends selfie of him, Yuji and Megumi together on that rooftop in the 1st chapter*

>is that..Megumi? -Furō

>Sure is! And Ryomen Sukuna's new vessel.

>..? who's that?

>Ah- I thought I told you about him. You know.. the strongest and most fearsome curse in history?

>not ringin' any bells im afraid. wait, when did he incarnate?

>Around four days ago? Why do you ask?

Then it clicked in Furō's mind. That feeling of overwhelming evil he felt happen in Japan wasn't some coincidence, but it was Sukuna incarnating into his vessel!

>i felt his return right before i entered the cathedral that housed the valkyrie i just exorcised.

>You were able to sense it from there? That's honestly… incredible. But that's all for now, give Mil back her phone.

>uh..thanks? see ya i guess.

>👋

With that, Furōkawa handed Emilia back her phone and sunk into his bed, feeling sleepier each and every second.

"The strongest in history huh? Interesting.."