Reincarnation

"Such a blasphemous act. The gods will punish us, but before we receive judgment, let the court suffer for their sins!"

I'm still alive. Somehow.

At least my brain can still think. And since I hear voices, can I assume that my reincarnation is finalized?

I open my eyes and take in the surroundings...

It seemed I was surrounded by a dozen people wearing black robes and animal masks. The room was surrounded with golden talismans written in Kanji. It was filled to the room's carrying capacity, but I did notice that there were chains wrapped in talismans on the ground. Fortunately, it didn't seem like I was chained.

I ask a man wearing a fox mask, "Excuse me? This must be Japan, right? Am I in isolation, or did you summon me?"

After a few moments, nothing happened. It seemed they didn't hear what I asked.

"As we discussed, the womb will release it in about a month. The infiltration will commence after the 'integration' process. For now, we will have constant surveillance on this thing. Report everything to Master. Don't forget to maintain secrecy." The fox guy told everyone in the room, to which they nodded.

Womb? I think I get it.

As I looked around, it seemed that my body was encased in a jelly-like substance. This confirmed that not only am I a cursed spirit now, but also a Cursed Womb.

A Cursed Womb is the uterus-like evolutionary stage of an immature curse spirit. Even the fox guy called me it. As a cursed womb, we are capable of producing powerful fully fledged curses after the metamorphosis is complete. They guy told me about a month until I burst, so I can only wait.

Being a cursed spirit, a spiritual being manifested from cursed energy as a result of the negative emotions that flow out of humans, my power will grow based on the fear people have about me. It's a similar concepts to Chainsaw Man devils.

They bring harm to humanity and are consequently the primary targets of jujutsu sorcerers. As long as Gojo Satoru isn't alive with his Six Eyes, I can find a way to live a life of luxury and turn my life around.

...

The first thing I did was think about the only two things I could do now as an immovable fetus.

The first is bring out Contracts. The second is my Cult Creation trait. I don't have a nose yet, so olfaction (sense of smell) is useless.

Contracts are a binding verbal agreement between a Devil and a Human.

They are similar to this world's binding vows, but instead they give more advantages to the person giving the contract. Contracts are binding in nature and cannot be broken without terrible consequences. When a devil offers a contract to a human and the human accepts, neither can go back on their word.

They come as four different variants of Contracts: Summoning, Supernatural Objects, Hybrid Transformation, and Devil Transformation.

If I play my cards right, this can really be my most useful trump card in this world. If there is really a Gojo Satoru, my life could be spared using it.

Anyway, the second trait I can use is Cult Creation. The information flooded my mind instantly, and I felt my fetus self smirk somehow.

Everything on the Cult Creation Trait is based on 'Faith' and 'Followers'. I outlined the flooded information in my head with 5 basic rules.

1. Physical contact on someone can leave a mark, which turns them into a follower. If they are not loyal or do not think about their leader regularly, the mark will slowly disappear and they stop being a 'Follower.'

2. A Cult can be created to connect to 'Followers' of the 'Religion.' The Followers will feel obligated to fulfil the demands of the leader.

3. Each follower gives a small amount of 'Faith' based on how much they think about their leader. More loyal followers give higher Faith.

4. I can create as many Cults as I want, if my faith is high enough.

5. Finally, the harvested Faith can be used to create more Faith marks or expand the Cult's 'Level'

I am starting to feel pretty happy about my choices. In Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen, something like this was like giving a Curse or Devil free publicity to become a Primal Fear. As long as the Cult expands, everyone will flood me with emotions and cursed energy, until I have enough to contend with that 'infinite cursed energy glitch,' Gojo Satoru!

Without hesitation, I use my instincts to make a 'spitting' motion. Although nothing happened, a flash of light appeared in my head with words on it.

[Cult: ?, Level: 0, Marks: 1, Followers: 0, Faith: 0]

The information slowly stopped giving me a headache as I could finally read it. More information gushed into my head, telling me that a 'Faith Mark' would cost 10 Faith. Also, I can freely set the name of my Cult one time.

The Faith required for a new Cult did not appear in my head, probably because it would be impossible to dream about the amount I would need for it.

"All this religion stuff... No wonder it's called the God Devil." I said to myself, noticing the guard couldn't hear my voice.

My attention focuses on the room once again. In front of me was one of the masked people turned away from me. It seemed they were guarding others from entering this room at all times.

Although it was very boring to wait, I had to other choice.

~One month later~

A cracking sound started to rupture around the edges of the jelly surface of the womb. The man with a monkey mask guarding me left to inform the others.

After a few seconds, I felt my arms tearing through the jelly substance and pull my body out.

It felt exhausting. I panted on the ground next to the chains which always sat on the floor.

A minute later, two masked men entered next to the monkey mask man. They had widened eyes as they looked at each other.

"It hatched with human form. Quickly enchain it and begin the information probing." The monkey masked man said to the others.

They grabbed my arms and locked them in chains, as my body was too weak to move. It felt like gravity was so heavy my body couldn't stand. Worse, the chains locking on my arms and legs made them feel numb and frail.

However, before they walked away, I touched the monkey masked man with my hand and told him, "Welcome to Yama's Court."

[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 0, Marks: 0, Followers: 1, Faith: 0]

He was surprised, but ignored my words. I smiled, thinking that I finally obtained a follower, however I instantly felt something repulsive.

I sniffed the room like a hound and noticed the room smelt worse than puke and moldy socks. Even a corpse wouldn't smell like the room.

One of the men wearing a rat mask said to the monkey one, "The situation is escalating with news of His Majesty."

The man responded, "The Emperor? What happened?"

With a sigh, the rat masked man answered, "What else? Rumors of the Fujiwara and Tachibana Clan have spread even more. His Majesty is newly appointed and too soft. Master has said to prepare for integration with haste! Monkey, the orders are to begin the questioning. We will have the ritual ready soon, we just need the item."

Monkey just nodded and everyone left us alone.

...

As the door closed, I was asked a question, "What is your name and what are you the reincarnation of?"

He was holding a golden spear which made me instinctively feel nervous. I decided to play into the identify I plotted for the last month:

"My name is Gabimaru, the Seven Deadly Sin of Gluttony. I have not been reincarnated since... Oops, I spoke to much. Haha."

When I said this, I noticed that the amount of Cursed Energy I had instinctively was practically zero. I was barely maintaining a physical form. It was an abnormal phenomenon, as I was just born and was using a fake identity to start my journey as a curse.

That's when I felt something inside my mind instinctively...

+ 1 Faith

It was impossible to know what time it was, but I decided to ask. "Also, what time is it?"

He was still a little surprised from my words and gathered himself, "The sun just set. However, what is more important is your purpose. Your existence is special indeed, but the restrains and barriers in this room prevent you from leaving or killing. Keep in mind that you will be refined into an object in at most two weeks. We have deci-"

"Hold up. First of all, none of that is happening. Second, in ten days, you will bring in that guy with the fox mask. Also, forget everything I said just now while carrying that out." I interrupted him, making my words seem as hypnotic as I can try. Followers should be suggestive to my orders.

He refused immediately to my surprise, "Are you insane?! Or did you not listen to my words? This room will force all Curses to become helpless. Just wait your time and become a tool for the royal court's suffering!"

Monkey immediately turned around and ignored my words for the next days, only leaving rarely for supplies.

~Ten days later~

I sat in my room chained up for over a week. Thankfully, I didn't need to eat or sleep, so I focused on learning more about the world through history books which kept me distracted. It seemed these guys allowed me to read, so I wouldn't cause a ruckus while imprisoned.

What I learned was that Emperor Montoku was the newest Emperor, appointed this year. Everyone disliked him according to recent news, since he was unlike the ones before him: Emperor Kanmu (reigned from 781 to 806), Emperor Heizei (reigned from 806 to 809), and Emperor Saga (reigned from 809 to 823).

The current year was 850 and this group of masked people were being led by someone of the four clans. The 'master' of them came from the Sugawara clan.

However, a surprise happened today as the doors opened and the man wearing the fox mask appeared. I felt surprised, but instantly created a mark using 10 faith I collected over my days of waiting. Every sunset, each faith I received would give me hope for another follower.

Now he arrived unexpectedly. It was the leader of the masked men too.

He nodded to Monkey and said, "What was the information that you sent in your letter which was so crucial for me to hear in person. Monkey, keep in mind that we are at a critical point in the plan and distractions will be punished accordingly..."

Ahh, now I understand what this fellow is doing here.

Monkey didn't show his face, but he seemed as surprised as I was with Foxy's arrival. It seemed that my suggestions worked at a very subconscious level, as Monkey wasn't loyal but still followed the rules of the cult and thinks about me always. He probably sent the letter without knowing to attract Foxy here, but doesn't remember.

As if to confirm my thoughts, with a stammering voice, Monkey answered, "Sir Fox, I cannot say for cer-"

"Foxy! Monkey wants you to check my pulse. He must have told you that I am the cursed Sin of Gluttony. If I don't eat, my heart will be eaten by my own body. Check my pulse and notice how much it jolts." I interrupted Monkey again with a smile.

The Fox saw nothing wrong with what I was saying. He was suspicious, but I could tell he felt confident in this room's sealing power.

He creeped closer as I smirked like a joker inside. Just come and touch my arm! Hurry! I don't have all day! Foxy bent down on one knee and put his finger on my wrist to check my pulse, then on my neck. He had a look of surprise.

He didn't notice any strange pulse, in fact, there was no pulse! This idiot thinks curses need hearts... Ha.

However, I was more focused on something else. It was sunset...

+ 2 Faith

[Cult: Yama's Court, Level: 0, Marks: 0, Followers: 2, Faith: 2]

Hahaha! I'm taking my first steps to the top. I shouldn't become conceited yet. First, I need to mediate the situation I'm stuck in.

"Foxy, I was just playing a small prank on you! And you fell for it! Hehehe, but the situation about my hunger is still true. For now, you must bring me a meal consisting of human thighs. Oh! And don't forget the neck! Yeah! Shoulders too! You know what... Just bring an entire human corpse every few days. Freshly killed please and blood drained into a container for me to drink. Keep it a secret too."

When I said this, I could swear Foxy was going to throw up through his mask. However, he just ignored me and walked away.

It's been so long since I've been stuck here. It's just me and Monkey doing nothing. Over time, Monkey would eat a beef dinner and I couldn't help but think of the old leftovers in my fridge.

With this new suggestion for Foxy, I would be getting a meal to quench my desires and Faith daily.

Finally some good fuckin' food!

...