November 19th, 2018, Tokyo #1 colony

  Shinji’s face twisted into a mad grin as he charged forward towards his opponent. Glad for having found something he could give his all towards while keeping his thoughts to a minimum. Waving his left hand in front of him, Shinji threw a fragment of ice towards his opponent. The berry-sized piece traveled at speeds that well surpased his current charge, becoming a frozen bullet in its own right—even without the added power he had added in the form of a thousand cuts.

  The sorcerer he had thrown it towards merely stepped to the side to avoid the seemingly harmless object. It was a simple movement, one they had performed with frightening reaction time. Shinji had of course expected as such, so it came as no surprise that they were able to dodge his attack; what instead surprised him is that they had bothered.

  She didn’t create a barrier of ice or strike it down. Dodging an attack is a natural response, but is it possible she knows how my—

  “Glacial spike.”

  Uruame raised their hand up from the floor in a throwing motion. A layer of frost began to spread across the ground in front of them nearly instantly. The frost and Shinji’s intersected a dozen feet in front of the sorcerer. After this, the sound of ice churning below him filled Shinji’s ears. Not bothering to think about what that might mean, he flexed his legs. Launching his body several feet into the air.

  Sparing a quick glance behind him midflight, he saw that from where he was standing, a giant chunk of ice had sprouted from the ground. It wasn’t connected to the frost from where it formed; instead, it was climbing the sky at a rapid pace.

  “You miss—”

  Shinji’s taunt was interrupted as he turned his head back towards where he shouldn’t have looked away from to begin with. Uruame’s hand was extended outward towards him, their face hiding all emotion beside that of disinterest. From their hand, another spear of ice was conjured, launching towards him.

  Shinji clicked his tongue at the development, annoyed he would have to expend it before he reached them. He brought his right arm out and gripped the ice's front as it barreled towards him. Even through the glove over his hand, he could feel the ice's frigid temperature. The bones in his arm began to crunch as they bore the force of the projectile, finding relief as soon as the pain began as the ice shattered.

  The ice broke with no set form or point of impact, breaking into countless fragments as it was destroyed. Only unlike the first chunk of ice Shinji shattered, this smaller piece was not blessed with such a kind fate. The ice’s destruction did not end with simple breakage; it was broken over and over again. Being diced until it was reduced to dust in the wind, all in the span of a few brief milliseconds. The nature of one of their pieces' destruction was something Uruame took great note of.

  Uruame didn’t have long to think about the reason for why it had met such a fate. They quickly coated their hands in a thin layer of ice as they brought them above their heads. The ice was soon smashed through as Shinji brought his foot down upon them in a downward kick. The force of the impact traveled through Uruame’s thin body and caused the ground below to crack under the weight.

  The two locked eyes for a brief moment. Shinji’s were full of excitement and glee. Uruame’s were full of anything but.

  “Not so good at close com—”

  As if spurred on by a desire to prove Shinji’s unfinished statement wrong, Uruame grabbed his leg and took a step back. Grunting slightly in exertion as they slammed his body into the ground with enough force that his back indented into the ground. Shinji took a shallow breath of frigid air as he felt his spine creak; his leg was numb—likely from the inches of ice it had become covered in from the brief contact.

  Shinji didn’t have much time to collect himself or assess his wounds; a blade of ice was being thrust down with the intent of piercing through his head after all. Shinji intercepted the blade halfway down its length with his right hand; the sword was stopped, but he felt his palm begin to bleed as his fist gripped tightly onto the blade. He was spared from having his hand further cut as the sword split in two.

  Uruame’s eye widened at the sudden development; Shinji hadn’t exerted any force onto the sword except to stop its movement. So then why had it broken? Their eyes darted from his gloved hand to his left, jumping back a few yards as he flung pebbles at their torso.

  Shinji tossed the blade aside as he threw the stones, ignoring the pain in his hand and reaching over to touch his frozen leg. The icey covering was completely annihilated upon contact; he quickly tossed himself backwards to get to his feet. Uruame had already begun approaching; a mallet of ice slammed into his body before he found his footing.

  Shinji brought both his arms up to shield his chest from the blow; the bones in his arms cried out for mercy as he felt them nearly turn to dust. His body flying dozens of feet back, he tumbled and bounced on the ground a few times. Managing to stop his momentum after he dug his right arm into the ground and planted his feet.

  “Icefall,” Uruame raised their arm as they announced their attack in a frigid voice. Countless sharpened foot-long icicles hovered in the air, all beginning to surge forward at high speeds.

  The amount of frozen spears that soared through the air numbered in the hundreds, completely covering the narrow roadway. As such, dodging and evading this onslaught would be an impossibility for even the strongest sorcerers—with the exception of Satoru Gojo—and blocking too would be a futile effort; even the most skilled of warriors

  couldn’t deflect the rain while it fell. Even if they were able to block a few drops, dozens of others would collide with them in that same moment.

  Shinji was able to realize the nature, goal, and reasoning of Ururame’s attack in the moments after it was performed. Understanding the brutal efficiency, Shinji did not despair at his oncoming collusion with the approaching bombardment. Instead, he reached down into the ground with his left hand, picking up a chunk of pavement with ease.

  As he gripped the stone, he pressed down on it with force that would make industrial machines envious, turning the solid rock into tiny fragments and dust. Shinji filled each tiny piece of rock he held with destructive force. Throwing it out in the air in front of him so the spears of ice hit it before reaching him.

  As expected, the icicles in were destroyed as soon as they entered the deadly cloud. The ones to the sides of him shattered upon hitting the ground, splaying ice all over the floor behind Shinji.

  After the dust ice shattered, both sorcerers stood still, Shinji panting and steam rising off his arms and legs, a sign his reverse cursed technique was hard at work repairing the damage inflicted by his opponent. Uruame’s posture was slouched, a sigh leaving their lips after seeing Shinji’s survival. Clearly in a much better state than he was.

  “You’re not so bad—”

  “Your mouth isn’t the only part of you that’s adept at running, it seems,” Uruame’s eyes narrowed as they made their distaste clear.

  “What can I say? Is there anyone who doesn't like to hear the sound of their own voice?” Shinji smiled, the joy at having finally managed to finish a sentence making the tenseness that filled his body from his trouncing leave. His retort was received by Uruame merely staring blankly, letting out a tired sigh soon after.

  “I don’t want to kill you, so please just give me Lord Sukuna’s finger.”

  Uruame extended their hand in front of them, their intentions clear. Shinji could just give it back; it wasn’t as if he had any real use of it. Its owner had already incarnated, so keeping it as a precaution to avoid letting him rise in this new world was long since

  pointless, but that just meant this finger was of value to him in a way that Shinji didn’t know. Therefore—

  “Sorry, but I’m afraid my stance remains the same. As much as I want to put him behind me and let you have it, I think I hate him a little more,” Shinji shrugged as he confessed to where his priorities truly lay.

  “I see…”

  The two lingered in silence for a moment, waiting on the other to make a move. Their standstill didn’t persist for long; Uruame quickly crouched down to the ground. Placing both their hands upon it, as words Shinji could only conflate to gibberish left their lips.

  “Seven wheels, blazing night, frozen star, falling sky.”

  Shinji was left utterly confused by their words, only to quickly jump back as he felt Uruame’s immeasurable output.

  “Cursed technique reversal, maximum freeze.”

  Amani paced around the store's front, his mind doing more wandering than his legs were. Everything seemed to be going as well as they could given the circumstances. He was about to leave the colony; he had successfully managed to orient himself near those who were strong, and soon he could probably take a flight out of this country and get away from all the ensuing madness. So then why did he feel so uneasy?

  Amani was not so heartless as to not care about the people who were dying from this game; he found Yuji’s goal of ending the game to be quite admirable. Even more so did he find himself silently applauding Higiruma’s desire to provide what assistance he could. If everything went smoothly, Higiruma would link up with Yuji in the coming days, in which case Amani would likely have the opportunity to follow him.

  Amani was well aware he was not the kind of person to take action. He was strictly a follower, content to be a sheep in the herd known as society. Could he really drift into a group working towards saving all of Japan and merely follow them? He wanted to help them, but a coward like him had no place besides Yuji or the others that were surely as brave as him. Amani didn’t want to lower that group of heroes by having them stand beside him. He didn’t want a constant reminder of just how weak he was at every moment.

  Without warning, a sound Amani could only conflate to an explosion rang throughout the colony; he grabbed his ears instinctually to shield himself from further auditory harm. The noise was as brief as it was intense, making Amani confused as to what the source could have been. Before he could think about what he should do, someone came falling from the roof above him, landing a few feet in front of him.

  The man—whom Amani was able to recognize as Higiruma based on his suit—quickly turned around to look at him after landing.

  “Amani, tell everyone to stay inside. There's an unknown person up ahead; Shinji went to deal with it, but I think they're fighting now—what?” Confusion filled Higiruma’s face as he saw the color drain from Amani’s expression.

  “BEHIND YOU!”

  Falling backwards, Amani desperately pointed at the object Higiruma couldn’t see. Its shadow is cast over the place where Higiruma stood. Higiruma turned around quickly to see what Amani was reacting to. Beginning to run forward a moment later, jumping into the air after a few quick steps. Amani was grateful he had sprung into action; who else could stop the massive chunk of ice sailing towards them?

  It was difficult for Amani to ascertain its exact size at first; originally, he had believed it to be as big as a building. Thankfully, while massive, the block of ice was far from that gargantuan size. As it closed in on them, Amani was able to tell it was far smaller than it had appeared from so high in the air. To his untrained eye, the chunk of ice only looked to be of similar mass and size to that of a bus, traveling at a speed comparable to one as well. Amani couldn’t find it in him to be relieved at his overestimation; the ice block was more than enough to kill him several times over after all.

  Higiruma’s gavel appeared in his hands as he took off from the ground, growing to a size nearing his own body's height. Higiruma met the massive icicle head-on a dozen feet off the ground, swinging his gavel into its front. The two forces' collision caused them both to halt in the air for a moment. The frozen projectile caved in upon itself, the ice shattering across its length starting at the massive dent in its front. Falling to the ground harmlessly.

  The one who had both shattered and stopped the ice was flung backwards from the projectile’s force. His body collided with the ground and bounced off the pavement as he tumbled towards Aamani. The weapon with which he had destroyed the ice was in a free fall for but a moment—appearing in his hands soon after.

  Higiruma gripped the comically large hammer with both his hands and swung it down in front of him. His legs went stiff as he dug them into the ground; his body leaned forward, opposite of the direction he was currently going. His efforts were rewarded with much of the ground being dug up and his body coming to a halt a few short meters in front of the store.

  “Higiruma!”

  Amani yelled his name as he quickly ran over to him, kneeling down next to him in order to place both his hands onto Higiruma’s right forearm. Quickly beginning to use his technique to apply the minimal treatment he could.

  “Guess we know what they're doing now,” Higiruma began to stand up but stopped after Amani grabbed him, knowing better than to break physical contact after he started.

  “Amani, how long till you're done? I need to ensnare whoever he’s fighting in my domain as soon as possible.”

  “I’m not… Thirty seconds, maybe? I’m trying to increase your bodies—”

  Amani’s next words were drowned out in a cacophony of destruction. Countless

  massive pillars of ice rose out of the ground inside of the cityscape that lay before them. The glaciers cared not for what stood in their way, destroying whatever

  they collided with.

  It was the work of an instant; in mere moments, a large portion of Tokyo had been frozen over. The sounds of stone, glass, and ice shattering rang out as buildings left partially destroyed by the rising ice fell. Dust rose into the sky all across the horizon.

  Amani could only stare in horror at the wide-scale destruction, it having been nothing short of a miracle he and everyone else here had been spared from such a fate. Higiruma tore himself free from Amani’s grasp, beginning to run forward towards the destruction, stopping just as quickly as he began after Amani yelled after him.

  “You’ll just get yourself killed if you try and help him!” The sounds of destruction had died down, but Amani still felt the need to yell to be sure his voice would reach him.

  “It doesn't matter how strong whoever Shinji’s fighting is. My domain renders someone’s combat ability a mute point,” Higiruma turned around and took a step forward. Quickly being halted as Amani ran up to him and grabbed his arm.

  “You said domains can fight other domains, right? Someone this strong has to have one; if you try and use deadly sentencing, they’ll just expand their own domain.”

  “I can’t just stand here and do nothing, Amani!” Higiruma shook off Amani’s light hold as he aggressively placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

  “If I don’t confiscate the technique of whoever’s causing all this, it’s only a matter of time till everyone here dies,” Amani noticed how Higiruma clenched the fist of his remaining hand, the grip he held on his shoulder tightening by the moment.

  “I know…” Looking down, Amani admitted Higiruma spoke the truth of the situation; he had to seal the opponent's technique as soon as possible. For even Shinji’s ludicrous strength would likely not be enough to defeat someone of this magnitude.

  However, Higiruma’s domain, while powerful, still held the same flaws all domains held, flaws Higiruma had understood intuitively and informed Amani of on his asking. Such flaws were likely to arise if Higiruma went to fight as well—on second thought, it wasn’t likely; it was a near certainty. Someone of higher skill than Higiruma would be able to open their domain faster than him, leading to a sequence of events that would surely end in his death. Of course, there was a simple solution to this inherent flaw.

  “I’ll come with you. I… I can distract them for a split second so you can expand your domain.” Taking a step forward, Amani managed to project bravery he didn’t feel. His projection only held firm if one didn’t notice the quiver in his voice or the shaking in his legs. The skeptical sorcerer before him had seen both, however.

  “Sorry, but no, it’s too dangerous for you. Besides, I doubt such a rudimentary strategy would catch them off guard; just stay here and make sure everyone stays put,” Higirum spoke quickly, likely due to how he wanted to leave as quickly as he could. It was a pace Amani was grateful for; it left him no time to reconsider how stupid he was being.

  “I know it’s dangerous, but you have to know going in alone is a death sentence. Besides, I can use my technique to strengthen you and Shinji temporarily.”

  Higiruma’s stern face wavered ever so slightly; it seemed to Amani he was actually considering his ridiculous plan.

  “Amani, you—”

  “I'm a total idiot, I know,” Amani cut Higiruma off as he decided to finish the sentence with the words that best fit with what he was attempting to do.

  “I just… I can’t just sit back and watch people die...”

  Amani was not oblivious to the kind of things he had spent his entire life enabling. He had followed those who bullied others and took advantage of the weak; in doing so, he knew he was just as to blame for their suffering as the ones who actually did it. The reality of it was always present in the back of his mind, but in his weakness he never bothered to change. Believing it was a fate he couldn’t escape.

  He was content with enabling a system where the less fortunate were abused, but he couldn’t just stand by and let people die. What that said about him as a person, Amani didn’t have time to place, as Higiruma quickly picked him up and began running while carrying him bridal style. If Amani had a pride to damage, he probably would have been more upset with the display.

  “Well spoken, Amani.”

  With their resolves having been hardened, the pair of sorcerers entered the frozen portion of Tokyo, moving towards the sound of battle. The two weren’t meant to step into such a hazardous realm—but that did not mean they couldn’t find a place in it.

  Uruame stood up as they lifted their hands off the ground; the area around them was covered in frost for a few hundred feet; countless colossal pillars of ice jutted out of the ground. Each was facing clockwise and was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle with the ground. As they rose up, they laid waste to whatever was in their path; the remains of the affected cityscape covered the ground in piles of mortar and wood.

  Uruame’s breath crystallized as it left their mouth, the area’s temperature cooling several dozen degrees from proximity to the massive amounts of ice. They spun around to get a good view of the area; their eyes never managed to find the talkative sorcerer they were fighting.

  Such a thing was of little concern to them, though; their focus was instead directed towards the frozen landscape. After taking in the sight of the city laid to ruins by their handiwork. They had but a single thing to say.

  “Magnificent,” Uruame’s lips cracked into a smile, their eyes twinkling with joy.

  “If your goal was to hit literally everything except me, you did a stellar job.”

  They turned around to face the sorcerer. He was leaning against one of the pillars with his arms folded in front of him. His laid-back position and general demeanor were undermined by the slight tremor in his voice, one Uruame decided not to comment on.

  “I admit hitting you with this particular attack was a rather low priority of mine.”

  "You expended all this cursed energy for what, a display of strength?”

  The boy stood up straight as he stepped forward; the disbelief in his voice was palpable. His opponent had just used up an incredible amount of cursed energy; it was a feat that if he himself tried to perform would surely leave him nearly drained. It was more than just a simple insult to his pride; he questioned the sanity of the one who stood before him.

  “I’d never do something so crude. If you must know, I was enjoying myself, finally having a chance to let loose,” Uruame scoffed at the boy's insinuation, correcting him quickly.

  “... Letting loose. That’s what you call this,” The sorcerer waved his hand towards the debris that was left behind to emphasize his point.

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  “Indeed. I’ve had to conserve my strength since the games began, but the end of my current task stands before me. So I figured, what’s the harm in indulging myself a tad? It’s beautiful, isn't it?”

  Taking a few steps forward, Uruame placed their hand upon one of the ice pillars. Letting the cold seep into their skin, a sigh left their lips out of its own accord. Their faces grew softer as they planted their foreheads against the ice; they simply couldn’t help themselves.

  When Uruame looked back towards the sorcerer, they found them staring blankly towards them—an outcome they had expected, of course. Their disappointment did not show; instead, they focused back on this ice. Leaning their head against it and looking down once more.

  “Don’t worry; no one’s ever agreed with me before on this matter, aside from him…”

  Uruame ran their hand slowly down the ice, taking care to not apply too much pressure for fear they would leave a blemish.

  “Before we continue, I’d like to ask for your name.”

  “...Shinji,” the sorcerer—Shinij—gave his name after a brief pause.

  “Shinji, why is it you aren’t taking advantage of my distraction to attack me? You’re one of a handful of people who’ve seen my technique be used to this extent; all of the ones before you I had to kill so I could observe my creation in peace. Pardon my bluntness, but I’m intrigued as to why your hesitant,” Uruame’s hand was still moving down ever so slowly, finally reaching as far down as their wingspan would permit. Uruame turned their head so they could rub their cheek against the ice, a childlike smile appearing on their face—hidden from view.

  “You wouldn’t be a very good distraction if you died from a cheap shot.”

  “Hmmm. Yeah, that makes sense,” Uruame’s voice was soft as they admitted to the logic behind Shinji’s reasoning. The cold from the ice was sapping many things more than just their body heat

  “So, are we going to keep fighting now, or do you like... need a minute?”

  Uruame managed to pry themselves free of the masterwork they were against. Letting out a sigh and a childlike pout as they frowned at the loss of contact. They turned to face Shinji—who looked more confused than a deer in headlights—soon after.

  “I’d prefer not to, but it seems neither one of us can get what we desire without conflict.”

  Coming to realize the frustrating reality of the situation, Uruame let out a breath of air in annoyance of what would probably happen to the area they stood in.

  “Good, so we can—”

  Shinji brought their arms up and took a step forward, prepared to attack once more. Such notions were put to a halt once he saw the gesture Uruame was making, holding up a single finger towards him.

  “I’d prefer if we both took a few more minutes to ourselves before we begin again.”

  Narrowing their eyes, the sorcerer who stood as the closest to Sukuna and Satoru Gojo demanded an extension to their ceasefire. Akin to how a child would ask for a few more minutes of recess at school. The response their request was met with was, of course—

  “You… you can’t be serious,” Shinji’s arms fell to his side, eyes widening ever so slightly at both the absurdity of the request and the utter seriousness with which it was made.

  Utter disbelief—having borne witness to the Frozen Stars most destructive technique. Shinji had come to understand the true depths of their power, a strength that surpassed everything else he had ever known. Including the demon lord whose finger they were trying to recover. It seemed the said demon lord had grown in strength since then, but to have surpassed his power at the time when Shinji knew him was still quite the monumental feat. So to have such a powerful being ask for more time to rub themselves against ice…

  Disbelief was the only word he could find to describe the feelings that ran through his mind.

  “Think about it like this: you can take the time I’m so generously providing you to deduce a plan to outwit and defeat me,” Uruame smiled and placed their hands on their hips as they explained their reasoning. Feeling triumphant, they had phrased their selfish request in a way that no one could refuse.

  “No, I’m good... My current plan will work fine,” Flatly refusing the time allotted to strategize, Shinji deadpanned at the awkward silence that arose.

  Uruame frowned at the rejection of their proposal. Their eyebrow arched as the words spilled from his lips; he didn’t actually think that would work did he?

  “The one where you touch me with the glove or another object you’ve imbued with destruction?”

  Shinji didn’t make any outward reaction to Uruame’s statement from what they could tell, but at this point in their bout, such confirmation wasn’t necessary. After having seen it been used so many times in quick succession, even a monkey could have deduced how the technique worked in the broad strokes.

  “I can assure you I’m not foolish enough to let anything you’ve had contact with reach me. So why don’t you take the time I’ve offered, come up with a plan to catch me off guard, and I can go—”

  Shinji whipped his left arm toward the sorcerer—who was doing their best to negotiate—firing an object that no doubt held a power well beyond its small size.

  Uruame didn’t flinch as the deadly stone was tossed towards them, a small tower of ice rising in front of them to intercept the projectile. As expected, the barrier collided with the rock, bouncing harmlessly off it before the tower vanished. Uruame closed their eyes, opening them a split second later—annoyed.

  “I’m sorry, I should have specified. A good plan to catch me off guard,” Uruame smiled mockingly at the faulty attack, quickly stopping after they realized they were acting like that flea.

  “Don’t need one,” Shinji threw another stone from his standing position, meeting the same fate as his original projectile.

  “Yes, because you’ve been incredibly successful so far,” Uruame creased their brow as their frustration grew at Shinji’s stubbornness. Continuing after a slight pause.

  “Tell you what, I’ll make this easier for you so I can get this over with quicker.”

  Uruame took a step forward as two thin rods of ice rose from the ground, stopping their ascent once they were a few feet tall. The tops of the rods changed into hilts, the length of the rods thinning out and becoming sharper. Uruame grabbed the two ice swords and brought them in front of them. Soon after, a thin layer of ice began to surface around their body, covering everything with the exception of their head.

  “I’ll limit myself to close quarters for the rest of our combat. Your technique seems to be more effective up close than at a distance, so I presume you have no objections?”

  “Why would you…” Shinji trailed off as he stared in a stunned stupor, something Uruame supposed was natural given the advantages they were throwing away. But such things mattered little to them.

  “I’m going to beat you anyway, so I’d rather do so in the method that results in the quickest ending.” Uruame didn’t move as they declared the imminent victory, a breath of frosty air leaving their mouth and crystallizing in the air.

  Shinji took pause at their declaration, outrage showing on his face for a moment before he began to chuckle slightly. He must have noticed the confusion on Uruame’s face since he began to elaborate a moment later.

  “Your bluffs are as cold as your technique.”

  “I don’t do bluffs; I find them to be little more than junctions to delay the inevitable.”

  “Then what do you call your declaration?”

  “A promise,” clearing up the confusion with two short words, Uruame charged.

  Slashing upwards with the blade in their left arm. Shinji evaded the attack by leaning backwards and ducking down, the sword gliding inches over his head. Uruame took another step forward and brought their other sword downward on Shinji’s head. The blade was intersected by Shinji’s right hand, his left tossing a few pieces of ice towards Uruame, no doubt filled with the power of destruction.

  Uruame let go of both their swords as soon as Shinji touched one, the sword being reduced to ashes in the wind moments later. Uruame took another step towards Shinji and ducked down to avoid the deadly ice he had tossed. The two were a few inches apart at this point. Uruame used this proximity and their own momentum to slam their right fist into his gut, creating a thin coating of ice at the point of contact for good measure. He was sent flying backwards, blood spilling from their lips as they crashed into a pillar of ice a few dozen feet behind them.

  Like I thought, there is a delay between the point of contact and when the damage occurs; if I let go of the weapon I’m using before then, it won’t reach me.

  Uruame didn’t waste time mourning the damage they were inflicting on the area. A spear of ice appeared in their hands while Shinji’s body was still flying through the air, throwing it towards him by the time he landed. He was prepared for such an attack, however, managing to catch the spear with his left hand before it pierced through his torso. Planting his gloved hand onto his stomach as the ice Uruame had dealt was destroyed.

  Shinji tossed the weapon aside as he quickly got to his feet. Stepping backwards further up the pillar of ice as Uruame brought their fist—which was covered in a gauntlet of ice—down onto the area where Shinji had been standing. They didn’t stop at a single blow, continuing to throw a series of punches strong enough to turn concrete into paste. Each strike Shinji managed to dodge by a hair, being pushed back further and further up the ice all the while. Making not a single motion to fight back

  This cycle of evasion continued for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few dozen seconds in reality. It reached its conclusion after Uruame dealt a kick that swept across the narrow space, forcing Shinji to take a particularly large leap back. Finally reaching the top of the pillar, they looked down on the city floor over a hundred feet below them.

  “Nowhere left to run,” Uruame let the ice around their hands dispel as a single, larger blade was formed instead, holding it with both their hands in front of them.

  “That’s my line,” Shinji cracked a wry grin as he swung his left hand forward and jumped over Uruame’s head, tossing yet another chunk of ice. The ice soared between Uruame’s legs and landed a short distance behind them, causing a clean cut at the point of impact. The section of ice Uruame was on began to fall as a result.

  Uruame clicked their tongue in annoyance as they realized his intention. Letting go of the blade they had brandished as they spun around while jumping back onto the ice. Their eyes locked with Shinji, who was rapidly approaching. Uruame raised their arms and prepared to make another weapon. They stopped before they even began as they noticed an inconsistency in Shinji’s appearance: the glove they wore had vanished.

  At the same time, Uruame realized the inconsistency; they felt a light pressure on their shoulder. Turning their head to look towards the source of this unidentified pressure, Uruame found the missing glove colliding with their shoulder. They reacted with astonishing speed, ice beginning to sprout out of the point of impact as soon as they realized what was about to occur. The few centimeters of ice Uruame had managed to form were quickly broken seconds later—Uruame’s right arm being cut off in the process.

  Blood sprayed from the wound as their arm started falling to the ground below. Uruame barely managed to keep her stoic demeanor at the sudden pain. Their arm was severed perfectly horizontally at the shoulder bone; muscle and flesh could be seen as if it were a cross section because of it. Uruame quickly turned their head back to the oncoming sorcerer, inwardly cursing themselves for having made the same mistake twice in mere moments.

  As Uruame suspected, Shinji had ripped out more ice from the pillar and had already thrown the dozens of small pieces towards them, and even larger chunks of ice rested in his hands; chunks Uruame suspected were meant to be used in place of his gloves. Facing down countless objects charged with near-lethal force and the one who had filled those objects with such energy. Uruame had to admit his strategy was impressive.

  He had brought the battle somewhere that both their movements would be limited, then launched an attack that Uruame only had one way of evading from. Finally, he had used up whatever ice he was holding on purpose to deceive them into thinking he was out of ammo, only to launch his own glove as a projectile. It wasn’t overly complex and was quite simple in hindsight. However, it was precisely that simplicity that had managed to catch Uruame off guard. The fact that Uruame’s opinion of Shinji’s intelligence, given his earlier remarks, was quite unflattering was another reason he had succeeded as well.

  Such a plan had one glaring flaw, however. A flaw so great that if his strategy were to be considered a B-plus, the flaw would downgrade it to an F automatically. It was not a flaw unique to his plan; in fact, Shinji himself had no reason whatsoever to think this very flaw existed given the items he had been throwing at Uruame most of the battle.

  That being said, Uruame couldn’t help but ponder why he seemingly dismissed this flaw as a possibility when coming up with his winning strategy. It was a trait not just unique to Uruame’s cursed technique, but one nearly every single technique that operated with similar fundamentals to Uruame’s possessed.

  Such a fundamental was arguably the most common trait shared amongst cursed techniques as a whole. It was something that even a child would know of if they were born into a sorcerer clan. This fundamental trait is that cursed techniques that create things build those items out of cursed energy. Be it a weapon, shikigami, or in this particular case, ice. That, of course, was to say that in most cases—barring certain exceptions—the caster of the technique could dispel their creations at any time they wished.

  The ice that Shinji held in his hands, the pieces he had thrown at Uruame, and the very footing with which he stood upon all ceased to be at once. The entire pillar of ice the two had climbed throughout the last minute or so had disappeared; as a matter of fact, not a trace of its existence was left behind. The section of ice that Shinji had cut off also vanished from its free fall.

  The confident, victorious grin that had been plastered on his face was quickly replaced by confusion as soon as he realized what had disappeared. His eyes widened as his gaze focused on Uruame, even more confused by how they were hovering in the air. The answer came to him as he looked slightly beyond them. They had connected them back to the other pillars with half a dozen small strands of ice.

  It was a feat that seemed impossible given the size of their connection cables, but Uruame was running more cursed energy than usual through each of the individual strands. Making them far more durable than steel.

  Shinji began rapidly moving his limbs as he began to fall, most likely a futile gesture to gain some control over his current state. He wasn’t given much time to continue his ministrations, however; Uruame raised their remaining arm up into the sky.

  “I take back what I said—”

  By some miracle, Shinji quite literally fell into the perfect position to see best what was occurring above him. He was lying parallel to the ground with his head facing upwards towards the sky, looking Uruame in the eye as they began to speak. As he did so, a feeling he had only ever experienced once before ran up his spine. Making him feel even more frigid than he already was.

  Uruame’s eyes contracted, their iris’ narrowing in on their target. A different emotion than the cold indifference Shinji had seen throughout their battle was found in them; such a change was reflected in the way they spoke as well. Before it was as cold as it was uncaring, it gave Shinji the impression that was simply how Uruame was and that he was not the direct focus of such affections. Now? Their voice was undoubtedly cold, but more focused, more directed, and more furious.

  “I think I’ll take my time killing you,” Looking down at Shinji with eyes full of malice, Uruame waved their arm down. A building-sized pointed piece of ice slammed into his body moments later, following him as he went crashing down back to the ground.

  Uruame looked away from Shinji’s rapidly descending body after he was struck. They highly doubted such an attack would manage to kill him since he could use reverse curse technique. If Uruame wanted, they could follow up the singular attack they were sure Shinji would shatter with half a dozen more like it. All bearing down on him till he was reduced to a pile of blood and broken bones, but they had meant their words to the fullest—that man's death wouldn’t be an easy one.

  Uruame’s eyes and face softened from their hateful scowl as they looked down at the area where the pillar of ice they had, regret and sorrow mixing on their face to form an expression one could only call pleading—pleading for a way to undo what they had just done, but of course no amount of pleading could ever possibly change the past. Uruame knew such things well.

  It’s all gone.

  Uruame finished healing their severed limb as soon as that desolate thought ran through their mind. The pain the realization brought them was far greater than what they had endured when losing their arm. Reaching out towards the missing ice with their newly restored limb, Uruame grasped at the air in vain. Attempting to hold what was now lost.

  There was beauty in destruction; that was something they had to admit to, even if they far preferred creation's splendor. It was naive to think their creations would remain untouched for all eternity; everything has an end. When such an end came, Uruame welcomed it, savoring the sight of their ice leaving them.

  What had just occurred however, was not simple destruction. It was eradication, indiscriminate erasure with not a shred of beauty to be found. There was nothing to bear witness to. There was no watching of the ice melt as it endured the sun's rays for days, persisting valiantly against the inevitable only to finally succumb. There was no marveling at the way the ice and flame shrunk together, hot and cold commingling for mere moments before they snuffed each other out. A dance of destruction that ended with both sides losing and gaining nothing in return.

  This ice simply was—and then it wasn’t.

  Gone before Uruame could think anything of it. They had done it more times than Uruame cared to remember; they had stopped counting after the number had reached well into the thousands. It had been over a decade since Uruame was forced to eradicate their creation in such an unrefined manner.

  Except... this time is different.

  Before, whenever Uruame had dispelled their technique, it had been out of a fear of discovery. Only thrice had traces of their creations been discovered.

  The first was when they had done it on instinct before knowing what their ice truly was. They don’t know how long they stood there, marveling at something more exquisite than anything they had ever known. They soon realized they had to show their family; it was unjust to keep such a treasure all to themselves. Little did Uruame realize they were one of the two people who would ever understand the true value of their craft.

  The second occurred soon after the first. Ever the free-spirited child, Uruame ignored their demands and did so again; however, their defiance was quickly found despite Uruame’s best efforts to leave their work somewhere concealed. After its discovery, Uruame was given a mere warning. Ordinarily much stricter discipline would have been given; however, Uruame wasn’t like their siblings. Their talent, and in turn the favor they received from Mother, was probably the largest reason why all of their siblings despised them.

  The third and final time came months after the first; Uruame had continued crafting their ice in secret. Only they erased it after doing so to ensure their acts would never be found, something that pained their soul every time. Eventually they grew fed up with such a cycle and attempted to burn the ice away instead of willing it to vanish. After they did so, it felt… better.

  They would have preferred to have simply let it fade at its own pace, but tearing it down themself was better than erasing it. Surprisingly, even this was not enough to slip past their families watchful eye, and when they found it, Uruame was punished severely.

  After the third and final time Uruame had given up attempting to hide it, their spirit and body were quite literally broken down by their family's efforts. They still created their ice whenever they found themselves the time, but now they dismissed it soon after. Having accepted the reality of the life they were to live and that their passion held no place in it. It wasn’t until much later, when they met him, that they finally broke away from the curse their family placed on them.

  Before, I didn’t have a choice with their hooks sunk so deep into me; now I do. Despite that, I still choose to erase it.

  Uruame didn’t have to remove their ice in order to render Shinji’s attacks useless; there surely had been other more difficult ways to achieve the outcome they had. Instead, they took the simplest and surest way to escape, sacrificing their wonderful creation to preserve their own lives. They could throw as much blame onto Shinji as they wanted, while he undoubtedly held some of it; Uruame could not escape from the fact that they too were responsible for having let their ice be culled.

  Uruame hung their head as they reproached themselves for their weakness. Their survival was simply more important to them than preserving their ice. For if they died, they could never repay the massive debt owed to the one who gave them everything. Until the day came when Uruame could show him the same things they had shown them. They would survive through any means necessary.

  Shinji felt like he was getting split in two when the glacier crashed into him. It was unlike any pain he had ever felt before; he wanted to scream out as he felt his bones crack and organs burst. Only whatever air was in his eviscerated lungs came out of his mouth. Followed by untold amounts of blood, being left behind in the air as he plummeted down along with the glacier that was impaling him.

  In a panic, Shinji took both his arms and dug into the ice, ripping out fist-sized pieces of it. He spared a glance down while the ice he had removed was being charged with his technique; the frost-coated ground seemed to still be far away.

  Shinji looked back up as he swung this smaller piece of ice he held into the one intent on splatting him against the ground. They made contact at the same time, managing to disperse countless slashes into the large piece. In fact, it was annihilated nearly instantly, being diced down into atoms.

  Shinji didn’t take much time to observe its destruction as he threw the pieces of ice in his hands away. Not bothering to spend time wondering why uruame hadn’t caused those pieces to vanish or the others he had thrown before the moment his victory was nearing. He had a far more pressing issue—that issue being the ground he was rapidly falling towards will beyond terminal velocity.

  Shinji tried to swing his legs to somehow become right side up from his horizontal position. Only they were unresponsive; he couldn’t feel anything in the lower half of his body. The rushing of the wind, the freezing cold of the area, the way he pounded his legs desperately to smack some feeling in them—all his attempts were met with failure. It seemed his reverse-curse technique needed more time to repair the damage dealt from their last attack.

  “Dammit.”

  Giving up on getting his legs to be operational, Shinji moved his arms with enough force to spin his body around so he was facing the ground. He reached out and extended them downward and covered them in as much cursed energy as he could, intending to sacrifice them to break his fall as much as he could.

  His eyes widened as he saw the ground again; he was only a few dozen feet away from making contact by the time he looked down. Given his proximity, he could see the ground more clearly than he had from higher up, meaning it was easy for him to notice Amani kneeling down, looking up at him with frantic eyes. Though Amani’s presence was not the main reason he was surprised.

  It was certainly unexpected and something Shinji hadn’t counted on, but the giant tower of the see-through orange-yellow substance below him was the main reason why his eyes expanded. Shinji wasn’t given much time to dwell on what exactly it was before he fell into it.

  Amani cringed at the squelching noise that rung out as Shinji collided with the jello tower he had constructed. He hadn’t used his curse technique to make this much before at once, so Amani was concerned it wouldn’t work very well. However, it seemed his worries were for naught. Shinji’s momentum slowed down nearly instantly, sinking down inside of the jello till he was a few feet off the ground—at which point Amani dispelled his technique.

  All traces of the massive food item vanished as Shinji fell from its grasp onto the frost-covered floor. Amani quickly ran over to him and placed both his hands onto his bicep, beginning to use his technique. Shinji coughed violently a few times, spitting out blood onto the ground as he rolled over.

  “Why are you here?”

  Wiping the blood from his chin, Shinji directed the question at Amani with concerned eyes.

  “To help you, Higiruma’s waiting somewhere nearby. You need to distract whoever you’re fighting so he can—”

  “Get out of here; you’re both just going to get yourselves killed.” Shinji shook Amani off his arm and swung both his arms forward, seemingly in an attempt to launch himself up. His legs only jerked slightly at the notion before he fell back to the ground, his face twisting to a scowl.

  “No way,” Amani quickly put his hands upon Shinji’s skin, ignoring his sizeable and realistic pleas for them both to flee.

  “Look around you; all this was from a single attack. Neither of you can do anything to—”

  “SHUT UP!”

  Amani’s grip on Shinji’s arm tightened as he yelled. Shinji flinched back away from him as he raised his voice; he no doubt felt no pain from Amani’s meager attempt to vent his frustration at understanding the truth of what Shinji was saying. This was not a battle he could do anything in; the fact that he had managed to prevent Shinji from sustaining injuries from crashing into the ground was in itself a one-thousand-to-one odds. Countless things had lined up for Amani to be able to offer any amount of aid; now that chance had passed, he would without a doubt be powerless to do anything more. Despite all that—

  “I’m not just going to sit back and watch anymore.” Amani looked away when he saw the confusion fill Shinji’s face. He didn’t understand and probably never would, but that was fine. So long as he understood one thing.

  “I won’t watch you die…” It came out as a faint whisper; one so quiet, Amani wasn’t sure he heard his own voice. Looking up, he once again met Shinji’s eyes, his own filling with something he long since thought he never could hold.

  “I won’t let you die,” Rin amani held his head high as he declared his resolve; it was a futile effort, and he knew that. But it was one he would give regardless.

  Shinji stared wide-eyed at the statement, going quiet for a few moments as Amani saw the gears in his head turning.

  “Thanks… I think, but you really need to... Why am I feeling so energetic?” Shinji stood up off the ground in mere moments; it was so quick Amani didn’t even realize what he was doing before Shinji had dragged him up. His legs found footing quickly as he hung off of Shinji’s arm.

  “My legs, they already... Your technique, what is it?”

  “I can turn my cursed energy into sugar. If I’m making contact with someone, I can essentially dope them, making someone feel less tired than they actually are. I don’t create energy though, so after what I add is gone, you’ll be feeling lethargic,” Amani explained his technique with a slight smile, hoping Shinji wouldn’t be mad he had started the process without his permission.

  “How’d that make my reverse cursed technique work faster?”

  “You’re what?”

  Both Shinji and Amani stared at each other in confusion. Mutually lost on what the other was attempting to insinuate.

  “It’s what—grab hold of me!” Shinji started to explain what he meant when he interrupted himself with an order. One Amani quickly complied, wrapping his arms around Shinji’s neck from behind.

  After Amani held on, Shinji leapt into the air, jumping away from where they were. Amani barely stifled his scream from the intense and sudden movement, crossing dozens of feet in mere seconds. He was about to ask why they had needed to make such a sudden movement when Amani heard the sound of something breaking from behind them.

  Turning his head to where Shinji had crashed down, a lone white-haired woman could be found in the center of a smaller crater. Their fist was covered in several inches of ice. Amani didn’t know where they had come from, but given Shinji’s trajectory, he could assume they had fallen from the sky in the same manner as he had.

  The woman looked towards the pair as they touched down on the ground; their eyes seemed lost for a moment before a smirk found itself on their face.

  “You brought allies? Good, I’ll make sure to kill him first.” Twin sabers of ice rose up from the ground as the sorcerer let out a breath of air that vaporized.

  Amani felt himself go stiff as the sorcerer addressed him, taking a gulp as he whispered into Shinji’s ear the simple yet only plan he and Higiruma had concocted.

  “Find a way to distract her; it only has to be for a moment. Higiruma’s watching nearby and needs an opening to trap her in his domain without letting her expand her own.” Amani hid his lips behind his elbow on the off chance their opponent could read them.

  Shinji didn’t make any movements after hearing their plan. Going quiet for a split second before muttering ‘alright’ in response.

  “I’m willing to give you—”

  “Shut up.” The sorcerer raised one of their blades as they cut Shinji off.

  “You had your chance; the time for words is over. All I want to hear from you are screams,” Declaring so with an icy calm, they took a step forward.

  “Come now; all I would have to do is toss Ryomen’s finger away, then you wouldn’t—”

  “What?”

  All the anger and aggression Uruame felt was quickly replaced by confusion. Their retort to what they presumed to be his attempt at a threat was on the tip of their tongue, only for it to fade even quicker than their anger at the mention of—

  “Ryomen’s finger… That is why you’re here to bring it back to him, yes?”

  Shinji’s eyebrow arched as he spoke, seemingly more confused than Uruame currently was. Yes, obviously they were here for his finger, but that wasn’t the point. It didn’t make any sense; no one should—

  “His name is Sukuna; why do you keep calling him by the name he had back...”

  Uruame’s eyes widened as they felt their body grow cold; a sense of foreboding surged through their being. The swords they held fell to the ground as their hands went numb. Countless memories surged through Uruame’s head, like pieces of a puzzle all shifting into place as they realized everything.

  “Ah, you’re the one Sukuna’s been speaking of so much. Come with me; there’s

  something I want to show you.”

  “Your cursed technique... You’re able to imbue objects you touch with one of two types of slashes. Either a singular powerful cut or thousands of smaller cuts,” Uruame spoke with an equal amount of confusion as they did clarity. The words seemingly came to them as they spoke them.

  “Yeah… Do you want a reward or something? I know you understand—”

  “I can’t take all the credit; there were three of us true, but Uro barely did anything. I have to admit he actually was of far more help than I had counted on; I underestimated how motivated he was to achieving the vision I showed him.”

  “It’s a variation of the inherited technique of the Setsu clan, slash projection: one where the user turns their cursed energy into invisible thin cuts. Your technique was the result of your mother’s inherited technique mixing with the Setsu’s.”

  Shinji had no response to Uruame’s claim, except to stare in confusion at their words. Something Uruame took as an answer all in itself.

  “Sorry to say they are all dead. Sukuna killed them all before I had a chance to invite any of them to the game. What a wasted opportunity.”

  “You’re one of the children Kenjaku raised alongside Sukuna in order to foster his strength. You’re Sukuna’s brother?” Uruame could hardly believe the words as they left their lips.

  “I’m what?” Shini blinked as uruame addressed him by the true purpose he held. Seemingly never having been told by Kenjaku.

  “I’m telling you because if you’re actually able to set him free from the curse that binds him,. It’ll be something that goes completely beyond my expectations, so please. Do your best to help him; struggle to save him. Agonize over how much you think he’s lost. Channel all the feelings flowing through you to try and set him free. I beg of you.”

  This was an opportunity unlike any other. Ever since then—since that piece of filth had told them everything they had done to their savior. They had been searching for a way to save them the same way he had saved them, but their search had been in vain thus far.

  They simply didn’t know what to try; they had searched far and wide for any of the people mentioned by him. But alas, it seemed he indeed had told the truth; in desperation, Uruame confessed to Sukuna that Kenjaku had told them what had happened. They hoped that he would refute Kenjaku’s claims about them all being gone; instead, he confirmed everything he said to be the truth.

  After that, Uruame gave up on looking into Sukuna’s past for the answer to set him free and instead focused on the present. However, now... now they could finally—

  “You have to tell me—” Taking a step towards Shinji, the look of rage on Uruame’s face vanished. Their eyes brimmed with an emotion they had not held in years—hope.

  “Domain expansion.”

  Jumping down from the top of the building where he had hid. Hiromi Higiruma held his gavel high as he expanded his domain, enveloping them both in darkness.