Chapter 159 The Second Player
Igarashi Yuuki has never been a stupid person.
In just a moment, Fushiguro Shiji's words and their meaning connected in his mind -
There is no doubt that Fushiguro Shiori's appearance was to kill Amauchi Riko. In order to prevent his appearance and his spell from causing loopholes in his plan, the several waves of particularly troublesome cursers he encountered on the way back to Tokyo with Nanako and Mimiko today were also, according to Fushiguro Shiori, his work.
Although those waves of cursers were not very powerful, their spells were very troublesome. Moreover, he was accompanied by the two sisters Nanako and Mimiko. In order to deal with those cursers, he was forced to use spells three times in a row.
Although he knew that he had fallen into Fushiguro's trap, Igarashi Yuuki still had to jump down on his own initiative - otherwise, he would never have been able to get to the Jujutsu High School so quickly.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast he was, he was still a step slower - just as Fushiguro Shiori had said before, his luck was really very bad.
For a moment, no matter how resolute his temperament was, the black-haired, green-eyed boy, who was only seventeen years old, couldn't help but fall into a mood of self-blame and regret - if he had noticed something wrong when he was talking to Wutong on the phone yesterday, and told them solemnly and asked them to be more vigilant, would such a tragic situation not have happened today?
If he had returned to Tokyo, to the Jujutsu High School and been with them a day earlier, no, half a day earlier, or even a few hours earlier, would he not be facing the current situation?
However, no matter how regrettable it was, the past could not be undone. After the regret, Igarashi Yuuki still quickly cheered up - no matter how upset he was, he would never dwell too much on past failures because of things he had "missed". What he valued was always the "present" at hand.
Regardless of whether what Fushiguro Shiori said was true or false, and whether Tenuchi Riko and Gojo Satoru were dead or alive, the most important thing now was to stop Fushiguro Shiori in front of him - if Gojo Satoru and the others were not dead, then everything would be fine; even if Gojo Satoru and the others were really dead - then he had to keep Fushiguro Shiori.
So no matter what, Fushiguro Shinobu must not leave now!
And when he cannot use spells, although they are both "bound by heaven and curse", he is still inferior to Fufuheishen in terms of combat awareness, combat experience, five senses and physical strength - although he can still hold on for the time being, it is still impossible to stop him completely.
Whether from the aspect of being unable to use "spells" or from the aspect of the contrast between "heaven and curse", his chances of winning over Fushiguro Shijiro are very slim - both he and Fushiguro Shijiro are well aware of this - which is also the reason why Fushiguro Shijiro is so at ease and fearless.
Even if the fight continued like this without any changes, it was not impossible that he would really die at the hands of Fushiguro Shigeki - the murderous aura emanating from Fushiguro Shigeki had never subsided, and he had never been the kind of guy who would be kind to people he knew, not to mention that their relationship had never been particularly good.
Igarashi Yuki had a feeling that this might be the most dangerous moment he had encountered in the past seventeen years.
Given the current situation, it seems that there are only two choices - he gives way and lets Fushiguro Shiji leave, and Fushiguro Shiji lets him go; he insists on blocking and never gives way, and dies under Fushiguro Shiji's knife.
But, but…
The premise of all this is that he is just "Igarashi Yuki".
Things have not yet fallen into complete despair - or in other words, no matter what, he can always find "a glimmer of hope" in seemingly desperate situations. Will the current situation be the same?
"My words...are an exception."
As Igarashi Yuuki spoke, a hint of determination flashed in his green eyes, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised in a somewhat mysterious arc.
From the moment he opened his mouth, all his emotions, including his fighting spirit, murderous intent, and icy indifference, disappeared like a surging tide - only an empty tranquility remained.
"Oh? What do you want to say?"
Fushiguro raised his eyebrows, seemingly still nonchalant, but his heart became more and more serious. He gripped the knife tightly in his hand, mobilized every inch of muscle in his body, and was ready to strike - the "dangerous" radar in his heart kept warning him, reminding him that some extremely dangerous changes seemed to have taken place in the boy in front of him.
Even the cursed spirit that was entangled in him began to "tremble" and become uneasy - if it weren't for the master-servant contract he had made with him, Fushiguro was sure that the cursed spirit in his body would definitely escape at a speed beyond its own limits!
The premonition of "uncertainty" became stronger and stronger, but Fushiguro did not have the slightest thought of "escaping" or leaving at this moment. Instead, he became more and more excited uncontrollably.
——Just let him see, what’s the difference between Igarashi Yuuki, Hanayamain Haruna and Gojo Satoru!
——Black first spread out from Igarashi Yuuki's peridot green eyes, which were originally exceptionally bright and shining.
"The so-called reverse heaven and curse means that from the moment you are born, you use all the cursed energy in your body to exchange for the strength of your own body... This is the same for you and me. It's the same for you, and it's the same for me in the past sixteen years."
Igarashi Yuuki tilted his head, his tone was extremely calm, without any emotion, and there was a faint smile on his lips.
"And the reason why I can see cursed spirits, possess cursed power, and suddenly transfer to the Jujutsu High School is because of an accident that happened last year - a special...special-grade cursed spirit "fused" into my body."
Tiny blue-black spots kept appearing and climbing up on his face and neck, but Igarashi Yuuki's expression remained unchanged as he continued to speak slowly, stating something that he had thought would be buried deep in his heart and would never be told to anyone again, now openly in the sunlight and in front of his enemy.
"So, whether it's the spells or the cursed energy in my body... they all come from Him, a special-grade cursed spirit that I have never released myself, and has completely merged with—"
Igarashi Yuuki lowered his voice, making an animal-like "huhu" sound. His face and arms were covered with blue-black lines. His clear eyes were filled with black, and it was impossible to distinguish the whites from the pupils. One could only barely see the vertical pupils - they did not look like human pupils, but rather like those of wild animals.
"——Its name is, "Greedy Beast"!"
It's called "fusion", but in the past year, it was more like a special cursed spirit that was "imprisoned" in his body, its consciousness was suppressed by him, unable to truly occupy his body and consciousness, and had been "sleeping". It was called "Greedy Beast" - even he was not sure whether he could control himself after he had completely merged with it, and whether he would still be "Igarashi Yuuki" or "Greedy Beast" in that case.
But the only thing he could be absolutely sure of was that the new "self" would be much stronger than his current self.
No matter whether it was the "way of life" or the "way of death" given to him by Fushiguro Shige, he was unwilling to choose - he insisted on opening a new third way out from those two ways!
Since he had said "this road was blocked", he had to keep him no matter what the cost! He had to win this battle!
When the last words fell, Igarashi Yuuki - or the "special-grade cursed greedy beast", finally raised his head again.
The "monster"-like being that exuded a dark blue aura of terror, bent slightly, and its body became more than one circle larger than before. The black uniform that originally fit it well was completely torn and became tattered.
The face, which still vaguely resembled a human, was now covered with dark blue lines of unknown meaning. The pupils, which had long been completely black, were staring intently at the only "enemy" in front of them, with a beast-like greed and a baby-like purity in them, appearing particularly weird and terrifying, and creepy.
At the same time, his aura reached its peak. He looked at the black figure in front of him curiously, swallowed subconsciously, and then grasped the black dagger in his hand and chopped towards Fushiguro Shigeki again without a trace of murderous intent!
——The enemy... needs to be... killed, or... eaten!
“Hahahaha, hahahaha!”
Fushiguro Shige's pupils shrank and he could no longer hold back and burst into laughter, his aura also starting to rise.
"I see... How interesting! Let me see... Are you now considered Igarashi Yuuki or a special-grade cursed spirit?"
His body began to tremble slightly due to the unprecedented excitement and tension. Fushiguro Shigeu pulled out another pair of chains from the trembling purple insect-like body of the cursed spirit, chained it to the knife in his hand, and instead of retreating, he attacked "Igarashi Yuuki" again -
The short sword and the long sword touched for a moment, and then, unlike the previous evenly matched battle, this time, "Igarashi Yuuki"'s body did not change, but Fushiguro Jyou's body was directly knocked back nearly one meter!
——Obviously, in this round, "Igarashi Yuuki" won half the battle.
An unprecedented sense of crisis emerged in my heart.
His heart was beating faster than ever before—it seemed as if it was about to jump out of his chest.
Could the guy in front of him still be considered "Igarashi Yuuki"? Even he couldn't be sure.
The muscles on his arms bulged, and the blue veins on the muscles throbbed as if they were breathing. Fushiguro's eyes brightened, and he licked his lips excitedly. His aura rose to an unprecedented extreme. He reacted very quickly, took a step back, and then held the knife and slashed at "Igarashi Yuki" again.
——Special grade cursed spirit? There were also special grade cursed spirits that died in his hands!
The current battle has nothing to do with the mission of the Bandei Cult, but he wants to fight this battle himself - he even killed Hanayamain Haruna and Gojo Satoru. No matter whether it is "Igarashi Yuuki", "Greedy Bitch", a sorcerer or a cursed spirit, he just doesn't believe that he will lose in his hands!
This battle—he had to win!