Yoshinobu Gakuganji shed his outer robe, his hunched frame gradually straightening as the black compression gear beneath traced his surprisingly lean, muscled physique.
"Forgive me, Yaga. This is the path we chose!"
Gakuganji lunged forward with a burst of speed, his fist cloaked in a dense shroud of cursed energy. Masamichi Yaga crossed his arms in a desperate guard, but the sheer impact sent him skidding backward until he slammed into a concrete wall with a sickening thud.
Splat—
Yaga coughed up a spray of crimson, his balance faltering. Though both were Grade 1 sorcerers, Gakuganji possessed a top-tier combat talent that rivaled even Naobito Zenin. In contrast, Yaga's "Cursed Corpse Manipulation" meant that without his puppets, his personal combat prowess struggled to even reach Grade 2.
Watching the elderly principal approach, Yaga let out a grim, bloody laugh and slumped against the wall, abandoning his stance. However, a final thought flickered in his mind—a choice to reveal the secret of the Abrupt-Mutated Cursed Corpse to Gakuganji in his final moments.
If he revealed it now, he might avoid execution. But Yaga chose to wait until the very brink of death. It was a curse—his own life, used as a final hex upon Gakuganji.
By passing the knowledge to his friend, Yaga forced a choice. If Gakuganji handed the secret over to the higher-ups, Yaga's death became meaningless. If he withheld it, he would be betraying the very system he had spent his life protecting. It was a win-win gamble for Yaga; Gakuganji would spend the rest of his life being devoured by his own conscience.
But that was as far as the thought went.
Creak—
A strange sound echoed from behind Gakuganji. He froze, turning his head in confusion, and his pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks.
The sorcerer sent by the higher-ups to oversee the execution was no longer perched on the streetlamp. Instead, he was a limp corpse, dangling from the metal arm of the light, swaying gently in the night breeze.
Gakuganji immediately pivoted into a combat stance, but a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder.
"Principal Gakuganji. It's been a while."
The voice was cold, devoid of emotion. Suguru Geto stood behind him, his presence as stifling as a storm front. Gakuganji's entire body tensed, every instinct screaming at him to move, yet he found himself paralyzed.
The gap between a Grade 1 and a Special Grade was not a single step; it was a chasm wider than the distance between Grade 1 and Grade 4. Against a monster like Geto—one who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Six Eyes twins—Gakuganji knew his life could be snuffed out in less than a second.
"Wait! Suguru! Cough... don't kill him!" Yaga shouted, stumbling to his feet.
"Shut up, Yaga! Are you pleading for my life?" Gakuganji roared, his eyes bloodshot with fury. "We are men on two different paths, both following our own wills to the end! Do not insult me by using the shackles of 'friendship' to beg for mercy!"
Yaga was momentarily speechless. He sighed, a weary sound. "You're as stubborn as ever, Yoshinobu."
"And you aren't?" Gakuganji countered. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, bracing for the inevitable strike.
But the pressure on his shoulder vanished.
"Forgive me," Geto said calmly. "I'm only here to save my mentor. I have no interest in getting tangled up in the higher-ups' messy politics."
Geto walked past the old man to Yaga's side, his hands glowing with the soft light of Reverse Cursed Technique as he began to knit Yaga's wounds back together.
"Dad!"
Panda arrived on the scene, huffing and puffing after his release by Kusakabe. He rushed to Yaga's side, helping the older man stand. Yaga cast one last, complicated look at Gakuganji before sighing. "Let's go."
The group departed into the shadows. Gakuganji stood alone in the center of the road, staring at the spot where they had vanished.
"Well... whatever."
After a long silence, Gakuganji turned to leave. But another figure stood in his path, blocking the way out.
When Gakuganji saw who it was, a violent tremor seized his body. His eyes went wide, and the color drained from his face until he was as pale as a ghost. Then, he threw his head back and began to laugh—a ragged, hysterical sound that revealed his few remaining teeth.
"Hah... Hahahaha!"
"So that's it... I see how it is!"
"It seems we've lost after all, Souma Gojo!"
Shink!
A massive, jagged gash tore through Gakuganji's chest. He collapsed backward, his body hitting the pavement with a dull thud, pooling blood staining the asphalt. As his vision blurred, his life flashed before his eyes in a chaotic whirl.
"Well... maybe this is for the best... for the best..."
Souma Gojo looked down at the fading light in Gakuganji's eyes, his expression cold and detached.
"Truly... a stubborn one."
"Gakuganji is dead."
At the emergency council meeting, Kaminobu Kamo, head of the Kamo clan, dropped the news like a lead weight. The room erupted into a frantic murmur.
Zenin Ogi narrowed his eyes, his voice low and guttural. "Who did it? Masamichi Yaga doesn't have the stomach for it."
"The traces at the scene point to one of Yaga's pupils," Kaminobu replied. "Suguru Geto."
"A Special Grade?!" The elders felt a collective jolt of panic.
"What is his aim? Is he declaring war on us?"
"Unlikely. It seems he only acted to retrieve Yaga. Their bond is well-documented."
"Can we mobilize another Special Grade to keep him in check?"
"Which one? Yuki Tsukumo ignores our every command!"
"What about Yuta Okkotsu? We have leverage over the Okkotsu family and Rika Orimoto. He's just a student; it shouldn't be hard to move him."
"Suguru Geto is one of the 'Strongest.' Okkotsu has been a Special Grade for how long? Expecting him to neutralize Geto is a pipe dream."
"Enough!"
Kaminobu Kamo's voice cut through the bickering, and the room fell silent. With the Gojo elders having resigned and Naobito Zenin absent, Kaminobu had naturally stepped into the position of primary authority.
"Based on Geto's recent movements, we can rule out an immediate hostile takeover. For now, avoid any operations involving personnel connected to him. Furthermore, revoke the execution order on Masamichi Yaga."
"Understood."
"And what of the Gojo clan?" someone asked.
The silence returned, heavier than before. Since the twins had gone silent, the Gojo clan had acted as if they'd had a change of soul. Their elders had resigned from the council one by one, tossing away their influence like a hot coal.
"Those cowards," one elder hissed. "When the twins were active, they were insufferable. Now they're likely cowering in their ancestral halls, praying for the 'Strongest' to wake up."
"Ignore them. If they want to surrender their power, we will take it. Even if the twins wake up later, they'll have to pay a steep price to get it back."
Kaminobu turned his gaze toward Zenin Ogi. "On that note, I've been meaning to ask—where has the Zenin clan head been lately?"
Ogi's eyes were cold as ice. "The Clan Head has decided that now is the time to finalize the official successor."
The council was confused. "Successor? Isn't it obviously Naoya Zenin?"
Only Kaminobu Kamo narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming uncharacteristically deep.
Read The Full Story at: Patreon.com/zefyrus