The frozen world the cursed spirit created vanished.
Under Satoru's feet, a shimmering curtain of light spread outward like something unreal, covering tlhe entire opposing domain.
It felt like they were standing outside the world itself, with only a single massive eye shining like a star at the center of everything.
"So this is… his domain?!"
The sight hit Suguru harder than anything before. His friend had used the curse's domain on purpose to deepen his understanding, awakened his own domain through that pressure, then crushed the opponent's in an instant.
"I can't move…"
The curse froze in place. It couldn't twitch a finger.
Countless fragments of information poured into its mind all at once. It couldn't see anything. It couldn't sense anything.
Or perhaps it could see everything, sense everything, yet couldn't act at all.
Even pouring out cursed energy to resist or trying to reinforce its domain made no difference. Its whole body was locked in place, its mind struggling to process the flood of useless information, unable to control even the smallest movement.
"First time I've ever pulled off a domain, but for trash like you it's more than enough. I should thank you, weak little special grade."
Satoru took off his sunglasses and walked toward the curse.
Normally, when the difference in strength wasn't too big, the one with better domain mastery would have the advantage.
Too bad for the curse, Satoru far surpassed it in terms of cursed energy alone.
Which was why Unlimited Void won so easily.
"For a special grade with your strength, you'd probably survive even if only a head was left."
He grabbed its skull and twisted. Blood burst out as the curse's head tore free from its body.
The domain collapsed. Satoru stood there holding the head like a round stone.
"So tell us. Who put up the curtain? Why did you come for us?"
Suguru stepped forward and took the head from him, waiting for it to speak.
"Mere humans. Don't dream of learning anything from me. A hundred years from now, the only one still alive will be me!"
Even with only a head left, it still sneered. Blood poured from its mouth as it spoke.
It never knew who the mastermind was anyway, but admitting anything in front of sorcerers was impossible. If death was the cost, so be it.
"Is that so? Then become my strength."
Cursed energy welled from Suguru's hand.
Even a special grade with a domain was helpless now, too badly damaged to heal itself or resist.
While it was still weak, he could skip the taming process and crush it with sheer power.
"Wait! Stop! I'll talk!"
The head warped as its remaining energy condensed. Only now did it remember what that man had warned it about. Two of the three in front of it had terrifying abilities.
Besides the Infinity…
So this was Cursed Spirit Manipulation?!
It had thought it would be bullying a bunch of low tier sorcerers. Now it realized it had stepped into a nightmare.
"Too late."
Suguru's calm voice fell, and the curse's head collapsed into a mass of cursed energy, then formed a dark orb in his hand.
"No idea who's behind this, but today turned out pretty great."
With a soft gulp, he swallowed the orb right in front of Satoru and Mukuro.
His face didn't change at all. It looked as normal as drinking water.
The moment he absorbed the curse, its presence vanished, and the curtain began to fade away as well.
"Time's almost up. Let's go. We should head back to the school early and report this curse to the teacher. Maybe he can find some clues," Suguru said as he checked his phone, then turned to walk back toward the restaurant.
"They really used the most basic curtain… what's the mastermind even trying to do?"
Satoru stared at the sky as the barrier disappeared. His Six Eyes scanned for odd traces of cursed energy.
"Thinking too hard won't help. Maybe they were testing us, wanting to know how long a cursed spirit of this level can hold back special grade sorcerers like us."
Mukuro patted Satoru on the shoulder and walked ahead.
When the domain shattered and the curtain lifted, he had already scanned the surroundings with his senses far sharper than any human's.
But he sensed nothing. Which meant whoever set this up had no intention of facing them directly, at least, not yet.
"Huh? What kind of confidence does it take to test three special grades by throwing one special grade curse at us?"
Satoru complained as he followed.
"Do you think that in a situation where there's a good chance of winning, three special grade sorcerers would gang up on a single special grade cursed spirit?"
Mukuro's reply came in the form of a question.
"…When you say it like that, yeah."
Satoru scratched his chin.
While they talked, they reached the restaurant.
Satoru's eyes went wide.
Two pretty young girls were standing beside Suguru, clearly trying to chat him up.
"They used the moment we were gone to try stealing Suguru?! Formation B!" Satoru announced dramatically, slapping Mukuro's chest before dashing forward.
"I'm not playing your weird games."
Mukuro sighed and followed with both hands in his pockets.
"Suguru! How can you do this?! You said I was your best friend. Was that a lie?!"
Satoru threw himself at Suguru, acting heartbroken.
"Huh?"
The entire place fell silent. Not only the two girls but even Suguru and Tsumiki stared blankly.
"Cut it out already."
Mukuro sat down with a tired look.
"You vixen! I've tolerated you long enough! Don't think you can steal Suguru away to play your stupid violin. He's mine!"
Since Mukuro didn't play along, Satoru shamelessly accused him and doubled down on his act.
"S-sorry! We didn't know you two were like… that!"
The two girls covered their faces and ran out of the restaurant in panic. Tsumiki blushed so hard her entire face turned red, while little Megumi only blinked in confusion, quietly deciding to ask his parents about it later.
"Satoru (white-haired idiot), let's talk outside."
Suguru and Mukuro both glared at him.
"This isn't good~ Suguru-chan, Mukuro-chan~"
Satoru curled his finger and tried a seductive pose.
* * *
Meanwhile, two hundred meters away from the ruined building where the group had exorcised the curse, a man stood on the rooftop of another structure.
"Looks like I miscalculated. I actually helped Satoru Gojo awaken his domain…"
The man checked the timer in his hand.
From the moment the battle moved outside the restaurant, everything ended in under four minutes.
Worse, he learned nothing.
He came here to uncover the ability that earned the youngest special grade his title.
"Fine. I'll treat him as another threat on the level of Six Eyes," the man murmured coldly. "When the time comes… Sukuna can deal with him."
With that, his figure vanished from the building.
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