Chanting can be heard in the background. Kenjaku, Hanami, Jogo and Dagon all clapped their hands in sync, whispering variant words of prayer on an object...
A mummified body, tapes and talisman wrapped around the body. Kenjaku raised his hands to stop the rest, bringing a short blade and cutting his hand open.
His blood trickled along the cursed mummified body. Jogo narrowed his eyes, sensing the cursed energy from the object filling the room, hitting his skin more violently than before.
Hanami swallowed his saliva out of nervousness, Dagon shivering from anxiety as well.
"Kenjaku... Are you sure of this?" Jogo asked, his voice filled with doubt.
"Yes, I am. Don't tell me you're scared, Jogo, I'd be disappointed if you were. Besides, we need him if we dream of our plan coming to pass."
"I can sense he's capable just from the sensation of his cursed energy, but we can't bet on his thoughts of us helping him."
Kenjaku smiled, looking at the disaster curses. "It'll be just as planned..." His smile morphing into a sly smirk.
Kenjaku looked back at the mummified body. The talisman wrapped around the body had been broken, torn... But the body itself was nowhere to be seen!
"What!!?" Jogo exclaimed, but he caught sight of the cursed body crawling on all fours toward the door.
"Hanami, would you please bring him back here?" Kenjaku asked Hanami, who was still shocked by the speed of a mummified corpse.
Hanami went on to bring back the corpse to their circle, dropping it down.
"What??!!! That thing... It was fast even though its body is literally rotting." Jogo took notes, but Kenjaku scoffed.
"He was a menace back during the golden era of sorcery... Exactly why I told you to put faith in me."
"I just hope you won't doom us all..."
"Quickly, fetch the vessel!!" Kenjaku called.
Hanami brought in a teenage boy in a normal uniform, with ginger spiky hair. His hands tied and knocked out cold, leaving him vulnerable with the atrocities in the room and whatever their intentions were.
"Now that we have our host ready, we start the transfer," Kenjaku said, cutting off each of the body parts of the corpse.
Crunch!!! Slice!!!
The body parts came off. He placed them on a tray.
Hanami held open the boy's mouth wide. Kenjaku held a piece of a toe up to the entrance of the boy's mouth.
"Say ahhhh~"
Gulp!!!
Jogo held his breath, a sweat dropped from Dagon's head. Hanami still held the boy's mouth open as Kenjaku force-fed the boy limb after limb.
But after feeding him the last of the corpse's fingers, Kenjaku's face went confused.
"Wasn't it supposed to take over the boy's body even after the first toe you fed him?" Jogo asked.
"You're not wrong... Perhaps a lag, or the cursed energy seems to be too dormant for his soul to be active?" Kenjaku questioned, his hand under his chin.
"Ugh... And here I thought we had a good chance of taking down the Jujutsu society, what a waste. I could have devoured that thing and had my reserve boosted!!"
Kenjaku poked his tongue out in mockery to Jogo. Hanami still stood holding the boy's mouth.
But when he looked down at the boy, his whole arm was gone.
"Insects."
The air suddenly went thin and disappeared. Kenjaku and Jogo snapped their necks back at the soon-to-be vessel... Or in fact, a new vessel.
"Insects again this era?"
The vessel spoke, breaking apart the rope that bound him to the chair.
Kenjaku smiled. He walked up to the vessel saying, "You should be more appreciative... Zankei Kubigari."
The ancient entity that we come to know as Zankei Kubigari turned his face back at Kenjaku, no trace of expression on his features.
Slap!!!!
Kenjaku's head spun round, breaking his neck and blood spilling through his nose and eyes.
"I don't remember giving you insects the right to call my name. Who do you think you are?" Zankei Kubigari said, his voice deep—too deep for his physical appearance his host possessed.
He walked out of the apartment they were all in. Jogo, Dagon, and Hanami unconscious, they were all holding their breath. Any move would mean their death.
Zankei Kubigari walked over to the balcony, looking over the air... He saw the beauty of Tokyo, lights of different colors dazzling the dark of night, tall skyscrapers, cars moving, their engines revving low.
Zankei appreciated it. He appreciated the time he was in. His school uniform flowing with the calm evening breeze.
Kenjaku fixed his neck with reverse cursed technique, shifting his bones back in place as he stood behind Zankei.
"Well... That was quite the appreciation, huh."
"Have I not made myself clear that I do not want to exist in an era of weak sorcery such as this? Pitiful. Although, I do commend the vibrant and yet calm atmosphere of this place."
"Yes... Japan has seemed to advance well with its technology and way of living throughout history. But fear not, this era isn't as it seems."
"No need to lie to me, Kenjaku. You're still a liar since our last battle."
"I almost died, almost. And I'm charmed you remember me, it is an honor."
Zankei turned to face Kenjaku fully, his face devoid of emotions.
"Tell me, what do you seek with me being brought back via corpse preservation?"
"You're smart... Nothing much but you lending me your strength whenever I need it, when I say the word 'manifest'.
And in return, you get to meet a worthy opponent you so desperately need throughout the ages."
Zankei looked at Kenjaku with a smirk, Kenjaku returning said smirk back.
"Really confident you won't die right now... By the way, why do you think I will agree?"
"Because we both know that we're at a disadvantage here, and if you killed yourself, I would reincarnate you again through a new soul... You wouldn't want the inconvenience?"
"But I can kill you," Zankei said with a large smile.
"It seems it's out of your knowledge, but I'm a cursed spirit manipulation user, so if you killed me, you'd have to deal with the spirits running rampant."
Zankei tucked his hands in his pockets, walking along the balcony.
"I don't think you know me, 'cause I wouldn't care...
But on the other hand, killing you won't benefit me, 'cause you're weak. What I desire is to cut down the strongest or whosoever is stronger than I am."
"Then do we have a deal?"
"Don't push your luck, you insect! I have a better deal—a binding vow. You show me the strongest and I can get the battle I truly deserve. If I win, I get to go back to slumber without you disturbing me.
And inversely, if I lose, then I'll have my cursed energy reserves cut in half and I'll serve your grand scheme."
Kenjaku narrowed his eyes, his thoughts visible on his face. Jogo and the rest of the curses looked at him for his decision.
"Alright then, I agree."
Kenjaku stretched forth his hand and Zankei gripped it in a shake, their cursed energy flaming in response to their vow.
It seems as though this era would become interesting.
___
The chapter wasn't too bad, although I'm writing based on instincts. Well, drop a comment, I like reading comments...
I goon to them secretly...
But hey, that wouldn't matter cause all my works on webnovel ain't well known so I can say whatever bs I can