Chapter 95: The Incident Concludes
When he felt the searing heat traveling up the chainsword, a burst of blood-colored flames exploded, enveloping Hikigaya Hachiman in a violent flare. The evil power contained within those crimson flames made even the curses born from human malice seem like child's play.
"What on earth is this?"
Hachiman retreated before the savage flames could fully surround him, escaping without a single scratch. However, he looked down at his weapon. The chainsword he had forged with his own hands was now covered in cracks where Hagoromo Gitsune had gripped it; the metal bore the marks of being melted by extreme temperatures. The internal chain was fused; even when he flipped the switch, the motor failed to turn.
He would have to melt it down and reforge it from scratch. Having his companion of two years fail him in such a place felt like an ill omen.
At the same time, the events unfolding with Hagoromo Gitsune were strangely familiar to Hachiman. During his long service as a Champion of the Blood Angels, he had encountered special cases like this. Just as he pushed an enemy to the brink of death, some meddling "philanthropist" would intervene.
Under the guise of rewarding a warrior's "unyielding will," a blessing would descend, and the opponent would stand back up with full health, more berserk than before.
That was the work of a very busybody deity: Khorne, the Lord of War, the Master of Blood and Rage.
The world Hachiman originally came from spent its existence fighting against Khorne and the other three Chaos Gods of the Warp.
He was no stranger to the Blood God. When the genetic flaw of the Blood Angels—the Red Thirst—arrived, the call from the Domain of Blood was the loudest.
Countless times, the Warp tried to tempt him to fall, offering titles like "Chosen" or "Daemon Prince."
But for Hachiman, loyalty to their beloved father, the Great Angel Sanguinius, was the only path for a Blood Angel. Yet, some could not withstand the temptation; in the burning galaxy, entire Legions had turned to Khorne. He remembered the World Eaters and their Primarch, Angron, falling into the abyss.
Hachiman shook his head. For a Cursed Spirit, their technique is their spine.
His [Izanagi] had snapped that spine, driving the fox into a corner. Whether it was her immense hatred for the Fujiwara or sheer luck, she was now erupting with a power completely different from her original source.
It looked exactly like a "Blessing."
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.
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Beneath the mask of Hagoromo Gitsune, on the forehead of Yukinoshita Yukino, the faint mark of a bull's skull appeared—the source of the power surging through her.
There is a color for support called "Courage Red." Even under the influence of [Izanagi], which had forced a meltdown of her cursed energy, the fox continued to fight this powerful foe. This spirit of the weak challenging the strong was particularly pleasing to that deity. Though Yukino and the fox hadn't completed the "Trial of Power and Courage," their desperation in the face of a powerhouse earned them a divine favor.
Hagoromo Gitsune felt her emptied reserves instantly refilled. A seductive voice whispered in her ear, telling her how to please the god to gain more power.
"Kill him!"
It was a simple battle cry, but she felt there was a second half to the phrase she couldn't quite speak—because she wasn't truly a follower yet.
In the mental world, Yukino witnessed the scene through a fragment of memory granted by the Ghost Post Office. Her nose was filled with the stench of sulfur. She saw a vast, endless plain of blood where a massive brass gravestone stood amidst crimson mists. She heard the roar of a beast and saw a colossal shadow bound within that monument.
Yukino, once a firm materialist, was stunned. A god was manifesting through her. Along with the blessing came a "gift package": a twisted greatsword burning with eternal red flames—the Blade of Hell. Its edge was serrated for maximum cruelty, and it bore a passive skill to summon five "Snowfield Hounds."
But Yukino was realistic. Would a sword and five dogs change anything against a man of his caliber? This "thick thigh" of hers had already been ground into the dirt twice today. The Post Office had rejected her request to retreat; she was currently a passenger in her own body.
"Damn it," Yukino muttered. The Post Office was gambling with her life.
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.
.
"Evil brat of the Fujiwara!"
With the Blade of Hell in hand, Hagoromo Gitsune felt invincible again. She shattered the ground as she lunged at Hachiman. Unlike her previous dying state, she was now bursting with inexhaustible energy.
Hachiman sensed her fervor through the mask.
"Foolish."
If she couldn't beat him at full strength, did she think some half-baked borrowed power would change the outcome? He didn't even raise his sword. Instead, he reached out his bare hand.
Empty-handed blade catch.
"What!" The fox's eyes widened. Her greatsword was locked in his grip, unable to move. He held the white-hot, burning edge as if it were nothing. Guarded by his psychic energy, Hachiman was simply returning the favor: You broke my chainsword; it's only fair I break your new toy.
A screeching crack echoed. Hachiman's grip tightened, the metal groaning under the pressure.
"First, I'm not a Fujiwara," Hachiman said, staring her down as he forced the blade aside. "Second, I really don't like this sword."
CRUNCH.
The "divine" blade, held for less than five minutes, snapped. Hachiman held the jagged tip in his hand. Simultaneously, a snarling white hound the size of a calf lunged at his throat.
"Whose dog is this?"
Hachiman pivoted and delivered a heavy punch to the hound's head. THUD. The ground cratered. The upper half of the hound's head was pulverized instantly, splashing warm blood and bone fragments onto Hagoromo Gitsune's mask.
"..."
The brutal reality check finally cleared her head.
Without her cursed techniques, how had she been stupid enough to charge him head-on? She realized now it was the "Blessing" clouding her judgment—the god of blood is pleased by direct, foolish slaughter.
The injuries she had accumulated, combined with the backlash from the broken greatsword, forced the fox to her knees. Hachiman stepped forward, intending to finally remove her mask.
Suddenly, a strange cursed energy appeared. Black, eye-like folds of space opened around him. Shadows with no physical form and zero cursed energy fluctuations surrounded him in silence.
These were the [Black Shadows], a calamity released by the Post Office to cover the retreat.
As the shadows swarmed Hachiman, Yukino finally regained the authority to teleport and vanished back to the Post Office.
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Back in the ruined Post Office, Yukino felt a strange sense of safety despite the dilapidated surroundings. Hagoromo Gitsune immediately handed back control of the body and went into a deep, "emo" slumber.
She had been utterly crushed—the god's gift had been broken like a toy, and the "Fujiwara brat" had denied his lineage while treating her like a child.
Yukino was exhausted. Her body was physically healed by the fox's Reverse Cursed Technique, but she felt hollow.
She recalled her "soul duplicate" that had been shopping in Shibuya and prepared to head home by train, ensuring her GPS coordinates didn't create a paradox.
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On the battlefield, Hachiman unleashed a crimson shockwave from his broken sword, evaporating the shadows. These unknown spirits were immune to most physical and jujutsu damage, but psychic energy turned them to ash.
By the time he finished, he was tired. From the moment he woke up, it had been one thing after another. Most of the prisoners in Kurofune Prison were dead or incapacitated. He looked at the broken tip of the hell-sword in his hand; maybe he could melt it down into his new weapon later.
Gojo Satoru finally appeared, looking surprisingly smug.
"Did you kill her?"
Hachiman shook his head.
"She escaped."
"Makes sense. It involves that existence, after all," Gojo remarked casually. "If it were that easy to kill, it wouldn't cause such a mess."
Hachiman's ears perked up.
"What existence?"
"The [Post Office]," Gojo said, confused. "Didn't your operator tell you?"
"Never."
"That's weird," Gojo scratched his head.
"Nanami knows about it. There's no reason you shouldn't."
Hachiman doubted his operator, Sakiko, would hide things from him.
"It's fine. I'll send you the files when we're back," Gojo promised.
"Communication is still down here because of the cursed energy interference."
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