"You're not fatally wounded. Stay here and wait. We'll deal with what's inside and take you out afterward," Toji said calmly.
The sorcerer, slumped on the ground with despair written across his face, clutched desperately at Toji's leg. But he shook him off, shoved his hands into his pockets, and strode toward the hospital.
"That's not an ordinary cursed spirit... don't go!" The man tried to rise, trembling, but collapsed again. He reached out with all his strength as if trying to pull them back, the same way he wished he could drag back the comrades who had died inside.
Tears blurred his vision, and in that haze, he seemed to see those very companions waving at him, the ones who had given their lives to help him escape.
In the end, exhaustion overcame him, and he fainted where he lay.
* * *
"You actually like a shop near the hospital?" Mukuro's gaze swept the surroundings. Within the barrier, there were indeed many old stores still standing near the hospital.
"I used to sneak here after getting injured. No one cared about me back at the Zenin house. Back then, Onshin's mother looked after me a lot." Toji stood before the hospital entrance, memories tugging at him. Before his awakening, his life had been miserable.
He had always been withdrawn, friendless at school, and at home, that man wearing the skin of a "father" would sometimes throw him into a room crawling with curses. Covered in wounds was his normal state. Yet it was because of this that Doctor Takatsuki had shown him special care. And through her, he'd met her daughter.
That bond had lasted until today.
But things had changed. Doctor Takatsuki had died years ago in a car accident. Toji glanced toward what should have been their dinner spot. The shop he once loved was long since closed.
"Stop dwelling on the past. If you think about it any longer, that thing inside might already be feasting." Mukuro walked forward toward the building where cursed energy radiated most strongly. A sharp blade appeared in his hand, which he flicked into the air.
"I don't let the past chain me." Toji smirked and caught the spinning blade by its hilt.
They pushed open the hospital doors, and a stench of rot hit them at once.
"So hungry..."
"Don't want to eat..."
Whispers drifted all around. Countless small curses scurried about in front of them, clustering together yet ignoring the two intruders.
"Could this be… a domain born naturally?" Toji muttered.
There was no hospital lobby. Instead, it looked like a vast slaughterhouse. Severed limbs and corpses littered the ground. Bones and chunks of flesh were scattered everywhere. The road stretched endlessly ahead, blood soaking into their shoes.
When they turned back, the entrance was gone. Behind them was only darkness. Their retreat had been cut off.
In over twenty years of life, Toji had killed more curses than he could count, sometimes hunting, sometimes hunted. But this was the first time he'd faced something like this.
The domain had manifested from the creature's very mind. That meant the curse's talent was extraordinary, and it hadn't been born too long ago.
"Be careful. This thing might be even worse than the special grade we fought in Tokyo." Toji's face was grim as he walked slowly toward the source of the overwhelming cursed energy.
A roar erupted from the shadows.
The sound slammed into them like a physical force. Some of the weaker curses wandering nearby couldn't withstand it and were instantly shattered to pieces.
"Eat!"
The rest, seemingly commanded, went berserk and charged straight at the brothers.
"Looks like that thing is giving us a warm welcome." Mukuro reached into the air. His trident appeared in his grasp, and he bent his knees, ready for combat.
"Then let's kill it."
Toji lunged forward, his blade flashing. With every swing, curses were reduced to bits, bluish-green blood spraying everywhere.
Mukuro followed behind, spinning his weapon in sweeping arcs, the two cutting a path through the endless tide. Corpses flew through the air as they advanced.
No one knew how long they hacked their way forward. Eventually, faint light seeped through the dark path.
When they stopped, a new sight unfolded before them. A crowd of curses filled the space, far larger than the small ones from earlier.
At the center sat a bloated humanoid figure with a frog-like face, four glaring eyes, and a grotesque grin.
This was the "Shokushin," a grade 1 curse recorded in the jujutsu world.
In hospitals, life and death occurred daily. The resentment born from sickness and death was immense. Some, on their deathbeds, recalled the food they once loved. Others, struck with eating disorders, realized too late the joy of eating at life's end.
Those lingering desires and regrets gave birth to the Shokushin.
But its cursed energy was way beyond that of an ordinary grade 1. Its appearance also didn't match the illustrations from the books.
It was gnawing madly at a severed human arm. Flesh and blood splattered across the floor. Even Mukuro and Toji, two killers, felt their stomachs churn.
Judging by the clothing of its victim, this had been one of the sorcerers who entered this place. Now the body was so mangled, it couldn't even be pieced together.
"You're here? Delicious!" Shokushin lifted its head, bloodied teeth grinning at them. It waved the half-eaten limb in a taunt, clearly displaying a human level of intelligence.
"This thing isn't normal. Test it first." Toji scanned their surroundings, then tapped Mukuro's shoulder. Against an unknown enemy, caution was wise.
"Meal time!"
But before they could strike, the creature made its move. It hurled the arm at them and bellowed.
Immediately, the curses around it swarmed toward the intruders.
"Third Path: Azure Wolf, Wild Tiger."
Mukuro extended two fingers. Behind him, the void split, and two massive beasts burst forth, tearing into the onrushing curses.
The wolf and tiger rampaged side by side, clearing a straight path toward the Shokushin.
"Fun! Fun!" The monster clapped, laughing hideously, as if it didn't even see the beasts ripping through its horde.
"Huuh…"
As the wolf and tiger closed in, it suddenly leapt high into the air, opening its wide mouth. The air shook. A huge suction force surged outward, pulling corpses and debris upward.
The wolf struggled but was dragged closer. Before their eyes, its body shriveled, its life drained away.
"Roar!"
The tiger lunged, jaws wide, clamping toward the curse's head.
Crack!
Teeth clashed as Shokushin slipped aside with ease.
"So strange... no taste."
It pressed its hand against the tiger's belly. In an instant, the beast withered, collapsing into a husk.
**
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