Chapter 93: Hagoromo Gitsune: In the End, I'm the One Shouldering Everything
"Hahahaha!"
Crouched inside a toad-shaped cursed spirit, Geto Suguru watched the battlefield—flames lighting up the sky—and laughed.
"Subarashii! To think a cursed spirit could actually withstand a strike from that man!"
Having experienced it firsthand, Geto understood the sheer weight of Hikigaya Hachiman's power better than anyone. While that crimson sword strike wasn't quite as world-shaking as the golden light he'd seen before, it was still a terrifying display.
It was hard to believe such an attack was just a "basic swing" for him.
More importantly, the cursed spirit had survived.
This was excellent news for Geto. He had been hiding inside his spirit "matryoshka" style to bypass the [Curtain] and survive the extreme cold. Initially, he thought a curse user was staging a rescue, but he realized the cause of the commotion was a Special Grade spirit with human intelligence.
His mind immediately jumped to the legend of the [Mistress of the Frost Moon], Hagoromo Gitsune, a spirit sealed a thousand years ago.
Her beauty meant nothing to him, but her strength was a different story.
While his [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] possessed Tamamo-no-Mae, she was merely a "branch" of the legend. This Hagoromo Gitsune was the real deal—her value was verified by the fact that she hadn't turned to ash under the Emperor's Cleaner's blade.
Geto had been keeping a low profile lately. The encounter with the mysterious powerhouse during his last clash with Gojo had shaken him. He had even doubted if his dream of a "world for sorcerers" was possible when faced with power that didn't feel human.
Seeing Hachiman in his "Angel Mode" had made the future look dark.
But now, he saw a potential counter: Hagoromo Gitsune. Her cursed energy alone was greater than all 6,000 spirits in his collection combined. If he could absorb her, his technique would undergo a qualitative transformation.
'A roll of the dice could turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.'
He prepared to strike while she was weakened. He didn't realize that Hagoromo Gitsune, despite looking like "fish on a cutting board," was actually a dormant volcano of rage ready to erupt.
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Inside her mental world, Yukinoshita Yukino was safe, but her face was grim. She realized she had just brushed past the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
As a high school girl, she never expected to be this close to death. She now understood that being a Messenger for the Post Office meant danger not just from missions, but from the powerhouses of the Jujutsu Association.
The silence during those 11 seconds of destruction had nearly driven her mad. She had clutched a photo of herself and Hachiman, praying for survival.
Fortunately, Hagoromo Gitsune's technique held.
However, Hagoromo Gitsune was fuming.
"Is your man always this ruthless?"
She had used her "Origin Power"—her very foundation—to protect Yukino. Because they were two minds in one body, if Yukino died, she died. But then she realized her mistake.
'I'm so stupid.'
Affected by her thousand-year-old habits, she had tried to tank the hit. She forgot she had a "thick thigh" to lean on: the Post Office. She could have had Yukino recall them to the safety of the Post Office for those 11 seconds, completely avoiding the damage.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
"Damn it, I'm going all in!"
Even a mud doll has a bit of temper, let alone the Mistress of the Frost Moon. As an ice-type, she hated heat, and Hachiman's high-temperature attack had sent her blood pressure soaring.
Her pride was wounded. She had the Post Office as a safety net; as long as she wasn't insta-killed, she could escape.
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Above the "cliff" of the ruined prison, Gojo Satoru and Nanami Kento looked down. Even though they knew Hachiman was strong, the sight of a melted, lava-filled crater where a prison used to be was breathtaking.
"Is that [Divine Departure]?" Nanami loosened his tie, the scorched air making it hard to breathe.
Beside them, the lightning giant Gongping Yilong was paralyzed with fear. That terraforming strike had whistled past his ear.
"My god, that was intense." Ten years of free room and board at the prison had sapped his fighting spirit. He was just glad his intuition to surrender was still sharp.
"Is it over?" Gongping asked, looking at the charred remains of the beast below.
"Not quite," Gojo muttered, stroking his chin.
"Hikigaya-kun held back at the end. He could have leveled the whole prison if he wanted to. She might even be unharmed."
Hachiman didn't deny it. His "Seventh Sense" had told him he would regret it if he went all out, so he had dialed back the cursed energy by 35% at the last second.
Suddenly, the ruins began to shake violently.
"..." Gojo's expression shifted from playful to grim. His old friend had arrived.
Geto Suguru had made his move. Five Grade 1 spirits, each nearly 60 meters tall, burst from the ground like Godzillas, forming a wall between Hachiman and the "corpse" of Hagoromo Gitsune.
Black cursed energy swirled in their mouths as they charged their "Cursed Fire Cannons." Three aimed at Hachiman, two at the Association camp. Geto sprinted toward the remains of Hagoromo Gitsune. Even for you, this should be a distraction, he thought.
But what happened next left him stunned.
Gojo stepped forward to block with [Limitless], but Hachiman stopped him. "Gojo, your Limitless will just deflect it everywhere. Let me."
Hachiman activated [Izanami].
He raised his hand as if brushing dust off a table. With the first wave, the three combined energy beams were simply erased from existence. With the second wave, the beams aimed at the camp vanished.
With the third wave, he spoke a funeral rite for the spirits. "I'll send you on your way."
He didn't just target the beams; he targeted the five "Godzillas." As his hand fell, five massive heads vanished into thin air.
SHIII—!!!
Five fountains of purple-black blood erupted from perfectly smooth neck stumps. Five 60-meter Grade 1 spirits were insta-killed.
Gojo could do it too, but never this casually. This was the [Izanami] Hachiman inherited from Fujiwara no Yoshifusa.
"Monster!" the watching sorcerers thought.
"If you don't chase Geto, he'll run again," Hachiman reminded Gojo.
"You haven't forgotten how to use Domain Expansion, have you?"
"I know," Gojo replied bitterly. He leaped off the cliff.
As Gojo searched the area with his Six Eyes, a heart-stopping pulse of cursed energy erupted.
Hagoromo Gitsune had awakened.
An ice-age shockwave swept the field. The 200°C crater instantly plummeted to -50°C. The five headless spirit corpses were frozen into giant sculptures. Snow began to fall in the middle of summer.
"Exaggerated," Gojo muttered.
Suddenly, a 200-meter ice spike slammed something into the prison wall next to Gojo. Gojo's pupils shrank when he saw who it was.
"Yo, Satoru."
Geto Suguru, his black robes torn and his chest sporting a massive hole from an ice spike, coughed.
He wasn't smiling anymore. "A woman in a hysterical rage is truly terrifying." He punched the ice spike in his gut, shattering the exterior but leaving the tip inside to prevent a fatal hemorrhage.
He had tried to use [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] on her charred remains, and she had exploded in fury.
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In the snow-covered valley, the new Hagoromo Gitsune appeared—white fur, nine flowing tails, and red markings on her face. Most striking was the crescent-moon-shaped halo behind her. This was the [Mistress of the Moon] in her full state.
She had Yukino's permission to go all out. They were both tired of being bullied.
Hagoromo Gitsune looked at the "little man" walking toward her. Compared to her mountain-sized form, Hachiman was tiny, yet he walked calmly through the blizzard, his chainsword sparking with heat that melted the snow around him.
"Cursed Spirit, I have a question," Hachiman said calmly.
"Why does your aura feel so familiar?"
In the mental world, Yukino felt the same thing. She looked at the man on the screen and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Hagoromo Gitsune felt incredibly awkward.
'This is what you called "not close"? Just a club member? Liar.'
She really wanted to tell him the truth. But she couldn't. If she revealed the Post Office, they would both die.
In the end, she was the one shouldering all the secrets alone.
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