While Ronawa was peacefully developing her strength, a massive earthquake was shaking the entire jujutsu world.
The casualties from the subjugation raid had finally gone public, sending the jujutsu society into an absolute uproar.
Over a hundred Grade 1 and Grade 2 sorcerers were dead, and the Special Grade Sorcerer, Yuki Tsukumo, had been critically injured.
This battle record, this devastating outcome—it was undeniably the heaviest loss the jujutsu world had suffered in centuries.
But the most crucial detail of all?
As the target of the eradication mission, not only was Ronawa completely un-exorcised, she had barely even suffered a scratch.
It was frightening to all.
Yet, compared to the casualty report, the news that followed was even more horrifying.
Ronawa’s true nature was revealed: she was the Cursed Spirit of Death!
Everyone in the jujutsu world knew the origins of Cursed Spirits.
They knew that every curse represented a corresponding, collective fear of humanity.
To a certain extent, the concept a Cursed Spirit represented directly reflected its strength.
Take Jogo, for instance.
He represented humanity’s collective fear of volcanoes.
In an island nation like Japan, where volcanic eruptions were a very real and frequent threat, that fear was intense.
Therefore, Jogo’s strength comfortably reached the level of a Special Grade.
But Ronawa represented the collective fear of death.
This was completely absurd.
Death is undeniably the purest, most universal, and most eternal fear in human history.
It is the ultimate source of almost every other fear mankind possesses.
Why do people fear volcanic eruptions?
Because they will die.
Why do they fear tsunamis?
Because they will die.
Why do humans instinctively fear the unknown?
Because whatever dangers lurk within the unknown might kill them!
It could be said that death is the ultimate endpoint of all terror.
Every superficial fear humanity harbors eventually points in one singular direction: the fear of death.
Sure, you couldn’t rule out the existence of people who truly didn’t fear death, but they were the absolute minority.
The vast, overwhelming majority of humanity was terrified of dying.
With such a massive population base and such a long, enduring, and perpetual fear…
one could only imagine how incomprehensibly overpowered a Cursed Spirit birthed from it would be.
From that day forward, a heavy shadow was cast over the hearts of every sorcerer in the jujutsu world.
A haze named “Death.”
No one could guarantee that one day, Ronawa—the Cursed Spirit who held authority over “Death”—wouldn’t suddenly descend upon them.
At this moment, the entire jujutsu society reached a unanimous consensus: Ronawa was the greatest threat to all jujutsu sorcerers. New chapters come out on g.com first.
If she wasn’t exorcised, sorcerers could be wiped out at any moment.
Given these circumstances, one could easily imagine how thoroughly Satoru Gojo’s reputation had tanked.
After all, Gojo had the opportunity to eliminate this threat early on.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he had actively protected her.
In the eyes of the jujutsu world, this was the highest form of treason.
Even with his status and prestige as the strongest modern sorcerer, Gojo couldn’t withstand the backlash.
He was being cursed out like a criminal in the streets.
The only way to salvage his situation was to redeem himself in two months by killing Ronawa.
Otherwise, Gojo would find himself in the exact same boat as her: a public enemy hunted by the entire jujutsu society.
But that was simply how this world worked.
Those sorcerers wouldn’t bother trying to understand what kind of personality Ronawa had, or what kind of “person” she was.
They would only remember her as the most terrifying threat in existence.
That was enough.
If they are not of our kind, their hearts must be different.
Let alone a Cursed Spirit, whose very foundational existence was supposedly rooted in a “hatred for humanity.”
Honestly, in this entire mess, it was genuinely hard to discern who was right and who was wrong.
Was Ronawa wrong?
The kid just wanted to live.
She hadn’t actually done anything evil unprovoked.
Of course she wasn’t wrong.
Was Gojo wrong?
Not really.
Sure, he was reckless, but Gojo’s original intention was simply that he didn’t want to execute a newborn entity who hadn’t committed any sins, just because she carried the stereotypical label of “Cursed Spirit.”
Some might argue that Gojo only felt that way because his “killing intent and guard” had been conceptually killed by Ronawa’s Innate Technique.
But what they didn’t realize was that for her technique to “kill” those concepts, Gojo’s initial killing intent and guard had to be incredibly weak to begin with.
Otherwise, Gojo absolutely would have noticed something was wrong.
Plus, Ronawa had only used that trick on him once at the very beginning and never used it again.
Yet, even without it, Gojo still had no desire to outright kill her.
As for the jujutsu sorcerers?
Standing from their perspective, they weren’t wrong either.
Cursed Spirits and sorcerers were natural, eternal enemies.
It wasn’t wrong for them to want to exterminate a threat like her.
The entire system was flawed.
Fear birthed Cursed Spirits, and Cursed Spirits manufactured more fear.
This mechanism was inherently a downward spiral.
Right now, this cycle could barely maintain itself.
But if a massive paradigm shift ever occurred in the jujutsu world, the entire system would collapse completely.
When that time came, no one knew what the world would turn into.
And perhaps…
that was the exact reason Ronawa had been born in the first place?
At this moment, the eyes of the entire jujutsu world were firmly locked onto a date two months in the future: the showdown between Ronawa and Satoru Gojo.
Meanwhile, one of the central figures of this upcoming duel, Satoru Gojo, had quietly slipped back into the Tokyo Jujutsu High headquarters.
Inside the school infirmary, he visited the bedridden Yuki Tsukumo, who was currently recuperating from her heavy injuries.
Yuki had been laughing and chatting cheerfully with Mei Mei, but the moment she saw Gojo walk in, her expression instantly darkened.
“You actually have the nerve to show your face around me,” Yuki snarled, glaring daggers at him.
“The only reason I’m lying in this bed is because of you!”
If her body wasn’t currently wrapped tightly in bandages, she definitely would have jumped up and punched him in the face.
Gojo could only rub the back of his head awkwardly.
He was actually feeling incredibly guilty—especially after hearing that Yuki Tsukumo had been critically wounded by Ronawa repeatedly hitting her with Black Flashes.
Why?
Because he was the one who had Shown Ronawa how to use Black Flash!
Originally, Gojo hadn’t expected her to land it so quickly.
But who could have predicted that she would not only learn it, but practically start spamming it?
And she used it so smoothly!
If Yuki found out about this little detail, she would absolutely lose her mind.
She would probably risk tearing herself in half just to land a hit on him.
Look at what you taught her!
Just as the atmosphere grew unbearably awkward, Mei Mei, who was sitting to the side, spoke up.
“Could you tell me a bit more about that child?”
Hearing this, Yuki shot Mei Mei a bizarre look.
Sister, did you just call a Special Grade Cursed Spirit a ‘child’?
But if she was being completely honest, she was actually quite curious herself.
Ronawa’s behavior on the battlefield hadn’t matched any of her preconceived stereotypes about Cursed Spirits.
Specifically, the aura Ronawa gave off felt incredibly alive.
If it weren’t for her terrifying, ungodly strength, if someone had told Yuki that Ronawa was just a human girl, she wouldn’t have found it out of place at all.