Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Ding-!

Aleph's attention was taken by the prompt that popped up.

[Achievement Unlocked: Nemesis of Frauds]

[Nemesis of Frauds: Defeat the King of Curses in a frontal and full-powered battle.]

[Achievement Unlocked: If You Want It…]

[If You Want It…: Successfully separate two souls using Yamato.]

They appeared the moment Aleph defeated Sukuna. When he saw their rewards, he nodded with satisfaction.

[Information Imprint: Leave any information you possess onto a target.]

[Edge of Taixuan: A martial art created by the immortal "Jingwei" to allow humans to fight against the Honkai.]

'Hm… They weren't as direct as the energy boxes, but they're of big help.'

Currently, Aleph's nearly five-thousand cursed energy units gave him a huge physical boost. Aside from the enhancement through the Active Power State (APS), it also passively enhanced his body. The only time he used APS was when he confronted Sukuna. 

It proved to be enough to overwhelm him to the point Aleph defeated his foe in under a minute.

'I'll look at them later. For now…'

The biggest trouble was already dealt with. All that was left was to settle what happened inside Shibuya's basement levels.

That, and…

'I want to meet him.'

Aleph's curiosity towards his cursed technique's original holder was bound to be fulfilled today.

*****

'Where should I go? Malaysia? That sounds alright.'

Tap.

Tap.

Psshk-!

A half-burnt man swung his blunt sword towards a deformed human. These beings akin to pieces of bare flesh with humanoid features continued charging at him.

Amidst the one-versus-many scenario, the half-burnt man's eyes were filled with ratio lines.

Psshk-!

Psshk-!

Psshk-!

Every time he swung his blade, it was done with great proficiency.

Sou-!

One of the deformed humans charged its entire body at the man, Kento Nanami.

Bam-!

The charge connected to Nanami. His body was sent tumbling down with his face first. 

Clang-!

His grasp failed and dropped his blade, only for Nanami to regain his blurry mind again. His right hand swiftly picked up the dropped blade before swinging it in an upward strike.

Psshk-!

The dull blade struck the seventh ratio line. The deformed human was split into two.

Psshk-!

Psshk-!

The other deformed humans didn't let him rest. One of them swung its fists at Nanami, only to get struck by the latter's dull blade.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The once prosperous portion of Tokyo was turned into a bloody hell. Blood covered the pure white floors. The signs that indicated directions were splattered with bright red blood.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Beyond the horde of the deformed humans, a gray-haired man with stitches all over his body watched this scene with interest. His hands were drawn to his pant's pockets.

'Eh… When will he arrive? I'm getting bored.'

The man, rather, the special-grade cursed spirit Mahito thought of his sole target, Yuuji Itadori. He was the only one who threatened Mahito's existence beside the King of Curses. Yuuji was the only sorcerer whom Mahito's cursed technique did not work.

As a form of payback, Mahito wanted Yuuji to suffer.

A devious plan came to the former's mind.

'How would he react to this?'

His gaze shifted to the half-burnt Nanami fighting off the deformed humans. It serves to differ that Mahito could easily kill him, yet he chose to wait.

Alas, he didn't know how wrong that decision was.

Click-!

There was no warning. This entire portion of Shibuya station fell into silence akin to time being stopped.

A clear cutting sound was heard.

Shiing-!

Thin silver lines decorated the space. Their surroundings turned into a broken mirror. This happened for such a short time that nobody truly saw it in full detail.

By the time their brains processed it—be they Nanami, Mahito, or the deformed humans—there was a strong surge of cursed energy.

BAM-!

BOOM-!

SHATTER-!

In a manner similar to Sukuna's cleave, the station's flooring and pillars were cut by invisible cuts. Every single deformed human that surrounded Nanami fell to the ground as bits of severed flesh.

Hum-!

Zoom-!

A strong pressure came out of nowhere. It was similar to the deterrence shown by Yuta Okkotsu, but different. 

The already shattered ground further broke down under great pressure. The incoming deformed humans rushing in this direction stopped.

Nobody said anything.

Yet, it was as if the deformed humans heard a single command:

"Kneel."

One person remained oblivious of it all.

"This is…"

Nanami, who did not feel a single bit of the cursed energy pressure, looked at his surroundings.

'Am I dreaming..?'

He had that incredulous thought. One moment, he was dragging his extremely tired and severely injured body to continue fighting. The next moment, all of his opponents dropped dead.

His actions fell to Mahito's sight, but the latter did not register it.

'What… was that?!'

It didn't take long before his mind recalled something.

'Shit! That strong cursed energy from earlier!'

The source of it all appeared out of thin air.

Before Mahito could react to it—

BAM-!

—a punch to his back sent him flying across the station.

"Keu—!"

Aleph's figure doubled-down on it. His feet moved too fast to the point he caught up to Mahito's flight speed. Black sparks appeared around his legs. An upward diagonal kick was whipped out to Mahito's jaw.

BAM-!

The force contained in it was enough to bend Mahito's neck into an "<" angle. His head was twisted in a weird upward manner.

However, it wasn't enough to kill him completely.

'This… THIS..?!'

Mahit could not speak due to the sheer intensity of the pain sent to his chest and neck. After all, what struck him was none other than the soul-seizing strikes!

Different from normal cursed spirits, Mahito's cursed technique, Idle Transfiguration, allowed him to reshape someone's soul as he saw fit. In extension to that, his entire body couldn't be exorcised by normal means.

Only strikes that deal with the soul could—such as Yuuji's.

Now, there was a second person who could do just that. Only, he was even more terrifying than Yuuji Itadori.

"It's time to sleep."

Mahito heard a cold voice before the terrifying silence enveloped him.

Click-!

Tchk-!

The sound of a sword clicking was the last thing he had heard.