The exchange event itself was semi-public.
A friendly match between the two Jujutsu Technical Colleges wasn't exactly a classified matter, especially given the unexpected incident that occurred during this exchange.
Even though there wasn't any official media coverage, many sorcerers who had personal connections or were at the scene had already circulated the news.
"It's unfortunate to inform you all, but Hanami has indeed been exorcised."
Geto Kazu stood with his arms folded, calmly announcing the truth in front of Mahito, Jogo, and the other curses.
He didn't care about Hanami's death. He wasn't the least bit saddened by the exorcism of this special grade curse spirit. At most, he felt slightly regretful about losing a useful chess piece.
However, the expression he wore at this moment wasn't just a facade to win over his allies' trust.
"According to my informants, less than a minute after Hanami entered the barrier and began fighting the students from the technical college, the Nightmare also appeared at the exchange event site."
Geto voice was slow but firm, and his gaze swept over the curses. "After Hanami, the Nightmare appeared immediately. Don't you find that a bit too coincidental, almost as if she had been waiting for Hanami to show up?"
"Damn it!"
Now armed with concrete intel, Jogo clenched his fists tightly, his single eye burning with hatred. "The Nightmare… the Nightmare, that's the curse user you mentioned before?"
"Yes. A curse user on the same level as Satoru Gojo."
Geto responded without hesitation, then looked at the furious Jogo and said with a sigh, "I had previously emphasized to you all how dangerous she is, warning you not to provoke her. But none of you took it seriously."
That was precisely what annoyed him.
Although he knew these curses possessed intelligence on par with humans, this incident showed that curses were still just curses. Their intellect shouldn't be overestimated.
He had repeatedly warned about the danger of Satoru Gojo, but Jogo still insisted on challenging him and nearly never came back.
He had also emphasized the threat posed by the Nightmare, yet Hanami had not chosen to flee. And this time, unlike Jogo, Hanami wasn't lucky—he truly never returned.
It wasn't the godlike enemies one should fear, but piglike teammates.
"But how did the Nightmare know about our plan?"
Mahito gaze remained fixed on Geto as he narrowed his eyes and asked coldly, "You don't think her presence there was a coincidence, do you?"
In fact, Mahito was spot on.
The Nightmare appearing at that location was certainly no coincidence.
Based on the intelligence Geto received, the Nightmare had already been watching Hanami ever since he began his operations against the students.
Which meant she had been targeting him all along.
Not only that, but she might have known their entire plan in advance—hence why she appeared so quickly after Hanami showed up.
"Geto, I have no choice but to suspect you," Mahito said coldly. "Did you make some kind of secret move behind our backs and not tell us?"
"Me?"
Geto raised an eyebrow as if he'd just heard a bad joke.
In the Nightmare eyes, anyone with cursed energy was akin to food.
Curses possessed the most cursed energy, and in this world, he—who could manipulate curse spirits—would naturally be considered the most delectable prey.
Under such circumstances, he had no reason to associate with the Nightmare. He was already trying his best to stay out of her sight—why would he ever conspire with her?
"What would I gain from colluding with her?" Geto snorted. "Even if I had that kind of suicidal tendency, unless I had a death wish, I wouldn't choose her as my partner. You should all be grateful I haven't been eaten yet."
"I'm not accusing you of colluding with the Nightmare," Mahito said, still cold, "I'm just asking if you may have done something behind our backs that leaked the plan. For instance, maybe while talking with your subordinates, you accidentally revealed something, and they in turn passed it to the Nightmare."
Geto didn't respond immediately.
Aside from Mahito, Jogo, Hanami, and the still-forming Dagon—these four special grade curses—he had also inherited the religious group Star Plasma Vessel Sect from the late Geto Suguru.
While most of the cult's members were ordinary people, a few of its high-ranking officials had extensive connections across various sectors and were quite useful tools.
Not only that, there were several curse users who had originally served Geto Suguru. After Geto stole his body, they naturally became his subordinates as well.
"Don't compare me to some third-rate villain."
Facing Mahito accusations, Geto tone grew colder. "If I truly needed to know something, I have countless ways of finding out. I don't need to blab in front of my men and risk them leaking it."
"What about the curse users who joined this operation?" Mahito pressed. "Are you sure none of them leaked the intel?"
"About that..."
Geto finally frowned.
The operation involved more than just Hanami and Mahito. He had also dispatched two curse users as support.
Although those two didn't know many details, if they had betrayed him and leaked the information to the Nightmare, it would explain her sudden appearance at the scene.
What made it worse was that the students and teachers from Jujutsu High hadn't encountered those two curse users at all.
They had simply vanished.
Whether they were randomly devoured by the passing Nightmare or were taken away after betraying them was unclear.
"Those two are mentally unstable lunatics—one only wants to kill, and the other wants to turn people into furniture," Geto said coldly. "I don't believe they had any reason to betray us. Unless you believe the Nightmare could convince lunatics like that, which I highly doubt."
"How could our side possibly leak the plan?"
"Who knows, maybe one of you let something slip while chatting outside."
Geto sneered and didn't continue pressing the issue.
But at this point, it no longer mattered who the real traitor was.
Hanami was dead, and the two curse users were missing—there was no way to investigate.
Fortunately, Mahito still managed to complete his mission and successfully stole everything he needed from Jujutsu High.
To Geto, that was the silver lining.
"Don't give me that look. I wasn't the one who sold out your partner, nor did I kill him," he said, noticing the increasingly hostile glares from Mahito and Jogo. "Besides, you were the ones who chose to confront humanity head-on. If you couldn't handle the consequences, you shouldn't have taken the risk."
"We were prepared for this," Jogo said.
Geto looked at the expression on his face and slowly nodded.
Just as he said, ever since they chose to fight humanity to the bitter end, they had already accepted the possibility of sacrifice.
No—calling it "sacrifice" might not even be accurate.
Because curses, in a certain sense, are immortal.
Even if they are exorcised, it's only a temporary disappearance.
As long as humans exist—as long as humans are capable of fear and hatred—curses will eventually be born again.
Yes, curses can fail countless times, but humanity only needs to lose once, and society as we know it will be overturned.
That's why Jogo believed with absolute certainty that, centuries from now, it would be curses who stood triumphant over this world.
"Still, I can understand your anger."
Seeing that the emotions of the two had stabilized a little, Geto suddenly smiled lightly and said in a peaceful tone, "If you are determined to fight against Nightmare, then I can help."
Although he was surprised and a bit fearful that Nightmare had discovered his plan, in truth, Geto was not disappointed at all.
Because he had long wanted to let these guys deal with Nightmare—he just lacked a reason.
After all, to take on a cursed user of the same level as Satoru Gojo would require an enormous cost.
Even foolish cursed spirits wouldn't embark on such a thankless and exhausting endeavor without cause.
Originally, Geto had intended to create a scheme, a trap, and slowly lure them into it so that he could fully activate the plan. However, considering that he didn't have full control over these cursed spirits, the plan risked falling apart.
But now, he had found a better method.
There was no need to set up a trap, nor worry about whether these cursed spirits would see through his intentions and turn on him. All he needed to do was make use of their hatred toward Nightmare—just a little nudge was enough.
"But didn't you just say she's a cursed user on the same level as Satoru Gojo?" Mahito asked calmly, still maintaining his composure despite his hatred. "Although I also want to kill Nightmare to avenge Hanami, can we really do it with just us?"
"Of course we can," Geto said confidently, full of certainty. "There's a fundamental difference between Nightmare and Gojo. There are several strategies that can be used against Nightmare."
"For example?"
"For example, your cursed technique."
Mahito technique is called Idle Transfiguration. The principle of the technique is that it can alter the shape of a soul by touching it.
Since the form of the body is affected by the shape of the soul, Idle Transfiguration allows one to freely alter a person's body and even bypass standard cursed energy defenses. In other words, as long as you're touched by it, it's a guaranteed kill.
For any jujutsu sorcerer, as long as they're caught off guard, survival is impossible.
And Geto believed this was the exact reason Mahito had failed to defeat Gojo—because Gojo Six Eyes could detect and counter every attack in advance, rendering Mahito technique ineffective.
But against Nightmare, it was feasible.
As long as they could touch her, victory would be theirs.
"Don't worry, aside from the three of us, we also have other helpers."
Geto reached out and patted the bag on his side, then added, "There are three more cursed womb: death paintings inside, ranked first to third—the strongest three among the nine cursed wombs."
Mahito narrowed his eyes slightly, considering the feasibility of the plan.
Inside the bag were the cursed womb: death paintings he had retrieved—the top three, and also the strongest among them.
All he had to do was find three humans and make them consume these cursed wombs, allowing them to incarnate. That would give birth to three powerful special-grade entities.
Even if they weren't exactly special-grade cursed spirits, their combat power could be guaranteed. At the very least, the three could take the place of Hanami.
"One special-grade cursed user, two special-grade cursed spirits, and three special-grade cursed objects…"
Geto words were as calm as if he were narrating a story, but also filled with intense ambition, as if he were reciting an oath.
If Jogo and the three cursed objects launched a combined assault, they should be able to break through Nightmare simple domain.
As for Mahito—he would serve as the ultimate trump card.
This plan, on the surface, did seem feasible.
"Mahito, what more is there to consider?" Jogo, who was always impatient, couldn't help but urge him, "No matter how powerful Nightmare is, she can't possibly defeat six special-grades in one go. Not to mention your technique has absolute restraining effects on every jujutsu sorcerer except Gojo. The success rate of this plan is already high enough."
"Actually, it's not that high," Mahito replied, a flicker of ruthless resolve flashing in his eyes. "But to avenge Hanami, I don't mind taking a few risks."
"Excellent! Now that's the demeanor of a boss!"
Seeing Mahito finally give his approval, a cruel smile appeared at the corner of Jogo's lips.
Geto eyes also gleamed brightly.
In his plan, Nightmare—just like Gojo—was a threat.
Originally, he believed that once Gojo was eliminated, he could freely initiate his final plan. But ever since Nightmare appeared, a new great threat had emerged.
Both Gojo and Nightmare were targets that needed to be eliminated.
As for who came first and who came after? It didn't really matter.
And what about the possibility of failure?
Geto didn't care at all.
After all, goading these two special-grade cursed spirits into taking revenge on Nightmare was just a trial run.
"Should I try cooperating with Satoru Gojo?"
Suddenly, a fleeting idea crossed Geto mind.
Although Gojo was someone he had to eliminate, Nightmare was also Gojo enemy.
Moreover, Geto clearly knew—even if Gojo didn't say it, even if they hadn't communicated—Gojo must want to get rid of Nightmare too.
It was just that he hadn't found the right opportunity.
If Geto could create one, maybe he could temporarily cooperate with the strongest sorcerer of this generation and deal with the greatest threat together.
"No, better not."
The idea of working with Gojo existed only for a moment before Geto shook his head and dismissed it.
Although Gojo wasn't someone who played by the rules, his pride wouldn't allow him to collaborate with cursed spirits.
And in this recent period, Gojo hadn't shown any intention of discussing with others how to eliminate Nightmare. If he wasn't completely giving up, then it meant he had his own plan in mind.
Moreover, the kind of deal Geto wanted to propose wouldn't be easily accepted.
"In that case, the plan is decided."
Geto said.
"Three days from now, the operation begins."