The Cursed Womb: Finger Bearer, clenched its teeth in fury, trying to raise itself, intent on killing the one mocking it in front of it.
"Yes, that's right, try a little harder." Sukuna smiled as he raised his foot and stomped down hard on the face of the Cursed Womb, just as it was about to stand up.
Boom!
The solid ground beneath them instantly shattered and collapsed, and the two fell through the fractured surface. As they plummeted, the Cursed Womb grabbed onto Sukuna's ankle, violently swinging him to the side.
Smack!
To its shock, Sukuna was now casually sitting on a large falling stone, holding one of the Cursed Womb's severed arms. "Still attached to your arms, are you?"
"Ugh..." The Cursed Womb's face showed an expression of indescribable terror, purple blood leaking from its mouth. The fall felt like it was descending into an abyss.
"Hahaha... HAHAHA!" Sukuna's mouth stretched into a wide grin, laughing heartily. It had been a long time since he had this much fun, toying with something completely under his control.
The Cursed Womb and the large rock crashed into the water below, sending a massive splash into the air.
Meanwhile, Fushiguro and Kugisaki had made it outside. Only now did Kugisaki's injuries become apparent, as she struggled to stay on her feet.
Iori Utahime and Fushiguro helped her into the car. As Utahime settled in the driver's seat, Fushiguro said, "Please extend the evacuation zone to a 10-kilometer radius."
"What about you, Fushiguro?" Utahime asked, ready to drive Kugisaki to the hospital for treatment.
"I'll wait here for Itadori to come back. By the way, Utahime-san, have you seen Hayashi?" Fushiguro was concerned about Hayashi's whereabouts. Honestly, he was a bit worried. Facing a special-grade curse alone, even though the curse had died, Hayashi was still missing.
"Hayashi? You didn't see him? I didn't see him either," Utahime said, puzzled. From the beginning, he had wondered why Hayashi hadn't come out with the others. It turned out even Fushiguro didn't know where he had gone.
Fushiguro fell silent for a moment and then said, "Please take Kugisaki to the hospital first."
"Alright, I'll hurry back once I've dropped off Kugisaki." Utahime nodded. There wasn't much else he could do at the moment.
"No, Utahime-san, there's no point in you staying here. If possible, bring a first-grade or higher sorcerer... but I doubt there's anyone left," Fushiguro said, shaking his head.
Iori felt a little embarrassed. He knew he was of no help here—after all, he wasn't a combatant.
"I'll do my best. Take care," Utahime said, then drove off.
Fushiguro had no intention of re-entering the Juvenile Detention Center. His current physical condition wouldn't allow it, and besides, Itadori might already be fully possessed by Sukuna by now.
...
"Hey, did you know? We're both classified as special grades—you and me." Sukuna stood on a stone floating on the water, calmly staring at the Cursed Womb, who was embedded in the wall nearby.
The Cursed Womb's arms and legs had been severed and were stuck in the wall, as was its main body.
However, it wasn't willing to give up. Hearing Sukuna's words only made it more agitated. It broke free from the wall, its arms and legs rapidly regenerating.
Not all special-grade curses could regenerate, but those that couldn't were extremely rare. As long as the Cursed Womb wasn't fatally injured, losing limbs was merely a form of humiliation.
"Good, special grade. Keep it up, keep trying." Sukuna watched the Cursed Womb with a smile.
After it finished regenerating, the Cursed Womb leaped down, landing on the same floating rock as Sukuna. It bared its large, perfectly aligned teeth in a grin.
Suddenly, it let out a long howl, as if signaling something to its surroundings.
"Calling for backup?" Sukuna scoffed. "That partner of yours was even weaker than you. Too bad, too bad. That other little brat already killed it."
At this point, Sukuna's expression shifted slightly. He was curious—how had Hayashi managed it? What kind of ability had Hayashi used to kill a special-grade curse?
From what Sukuna knew, none of these kids, whether it was the boys or the girl, should have been capable of taking down a special-grade curse.
Only that one little brat who had stolen his fingernail seemed to stand out from the others. But even his companions didn't seem to know much about him.
The Cursed Womb's expression changed at Sukuna's words. It could no longer sense the presence of the other special-grade curse. There was no trace of its energy left—only the remnants of its death.
"Well then, do you want me to praise you now?" Sukuna smiled coldly at the Cursed Womb's fully healed body. "But, unlike humans, healing is nothing difficult for a curse. You and that brat know nothing about real curses. Now's the perfect time—I'll teach you what a true curse is."
As Sukuna finished speaking, he formed a hand seal, looking directly at the Cursed Womb:
"Domain Expansion—Malevolent Shrine."
The next moment, an overwhelming domain engulfed the area, changing the entire space. Behind Sukuna, a massive ancient shrine appeared, with endless red cursed energy surging beyond it.
In the Cursed Womb's eyes, it seemed to witness infinite horrors. Its body was frozen in place, unable to move, its face locked in terror. In that instant, its body was sliced into dozens of pieces, suspended in the air.
"I was planning to cut you into three pieces, but you're just too weak." Sukuna walked over, slightly disappointed. "Oh, and this too."
A small hole appeared in the Cursed Womb's chest. Sukuna reached into it and pulled out a dark red severed finger. "I'll be taking this."
As soon as Sukuna removed the severed finger embedded in the Cursed Womb's body, it ignited into purple-red flames, burning it to ashes in an instant.
...
Hayashi had already left the Juvenile Detention Center, his mission accomplished. As for the Cursed Womb, it was no longer his concern. If things went as they should, there would be no problems.
However, Hayashi feared that things might not progress as expected, which would be extremely troublesome. More importantly, he was severely injured—his left shoulder and collarbone had been pierced, and his right rib cage was damaged.
If not for his ability to sustain himself with cursed energy, he would've collapsed already.
Even the weakest special-grade curse wasn't easy to deal with, but this time, Hayashi had managed to do it. He had successfully killed a special-grade curse.
Not only that, but he had earned 102 points. On top of that, there was another surprise—the fingernail of Sukuna he had previously obtained finally finished processing, and after using his 'special ability' to break it down, he gained 100 points—no more, no less.
And that was just one of Sukuna's fingernails. If it had been an entire finger... how many points would that have been?