Chapter 32 ─ Battle Royal

Alice was furious, and Luvia could feel her magical power growing with each passing second.

(This magical power is terrifying.)

(We're both supposed to be witches, but it's strange that she doesn't seem to notice this immense power.)

Saltherine was underestimating Alice.

"How did you survive that attack?"

"You're a damned cheat. You must have used some kind of spell to protect yourself from that attack."

"I didn't. I just took all your attacks and used a level 1 magical defense to keep my clothes from getting dirty."

"As if that's true!"

Saltherine was preparing for a new attack.

"This time, I'll kill you both."

"Make sure to regret it in the afterlife."

She prepared and launched a high-level magical spell.

"Advanced magic: Divine Punishment of the Sixth Heaven."

A six-pointed magic circle appeared in the sky, from which elemental lightning bolts emerged, forming a chain of different elements.

Alice raised her hand and recited a low-level magic spell.

"Level 2 magic: Black Hole."

A small black hole, the size of a baby's hand, floated towards the chain of elemental attacks. The attacks were drawn into the black sphere and completely devoured. In less than five seconds, Saltherine's magical attack was destroyed.

Her expression gradually faded as she finally realized what had happened.

"Huh? What just happened?"

Alice spoke to her in a bored tone.

"I told you. I want to end this by showing you all my power. But you're not worth it, so I'll just use half."

"Level 9 magic: Return."

All the elemental chains that the black hole had absorbed were released and directed at Saltherine. Unlike before, the attacks were amplified and launched with such power that they ended up destroying the area. The defense Alice had used began to crumble, and in the distance, Luvia saw Saltherine turning to dust.

"Incredible."

Alice walked over to Luvia as the room returned to its original state—a women's bath. She opened the door and told Luvia to return.

"Let's go. I hope you've learned what true power means."

"I-I have."

As they exited the bath, Shannon and Lidvia approached them.

"Alice-san, Luvia-san, where have you been?"

"We were just washing our faces, right?"

"Huh? ... Yes?"

Luvia nodded at Alice's words, not wanting them to know what had happened. They returned to continue searching for Alice's books, while Saltherine ended up as nothing more than dust in the toilet.

◇◇◇

"Is that all you've got, you bitch!?"

"You're nothing but a useless bitch like the rest!"

Gram was fighting against Sanzon. Every time he got close and cut him with his sword, Sanzon would freeze, but immediately after, the ice would melt. Sanzon taunted him while mocking his efforts.

"No matter how much you attack!"

"My magical power allows me to turn my body into a furnace, so any attack I receive is destroyed before it even touches me!"

"I am the third of the Eight Knights!"

"That means I'm the third strongest!"

"... Congratulations, that means with training, you could be the second."

"I am the vice-captain of the Crimson Knights."

Sanzon fell silent for a moment. He clenched his fists tightly and raised his head, showing tears of blood caused by the rage he felt.

"I'll kill you."

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

"I'll kill you as many times as necessary for mocking me!"

Without measuring his words, Gram said, "I see. You're what they call short-tempered, right? Or something like that."

"It means that, like dynamite, you explode with the smallest spark that ignites you."

"I'll kill you!"

Sanzon placed his arm on the ground and began releasing his magical power. A volcano started to grow from the ground, spewing magma. Next, he placed his hand in the volcano, and the rock began to fuse with his body, forming an armor of hot rock. Cannons emerged from his hand.

"Try dodging this, you bitch!"

Extremely hot fireballs were sent at him. Gram tried to cut them, but nothing worked. The fireballs were too hot for his ice to freeze them, leaving him with no choice but to flee.

"I won't let you escape!"

Sanzon shouted as he continued firing his fireballs. He kept setting the area ablaze while Gram hid, thinking about how to defeat him.

(This is really terrifying.)

(I can't defeat him just like that.)

(Maybe if the commander or she were here, it would be easier to beat him.)

Then he remembered something—a promise from long ago, with his childhood friend, May.

(Gram-kun. When you grow up, do you promise to defeat the Demon King?)

(I will. I promise.)

He laughed at himself. "Seriously. Remembering something so absurd at a time like this." But it gave him strength, or so he thought.

"I've got an idea of how to beat him."

Gram emerged from his hiding place and watched the large fire Sanzon had created from a distance. He approached it. Sanzon saw him and mocked him.

"Hahaha. This is incredible."

"I thought you had run away, but you're either very brave or very stupid to come back."

"I'm going to kill you now!"

Several cannons emerged from him and aimed at Gram.

"Die!"

When Sanzon shouted, he realized his cannons didn't fire their shots.

"Huh?"

At the same time, he noticed that the intense heat was rapidly decreasing. This began to show as the air around him froze, and a beautiful azure color started to cover the surroundings.

"What the hell?"

His body began to freeze like everything else.

"It can't be!"

Gram approached him to explain what had happened.

"Just like you, I released all my magical power, but I used it to release my magical energy into the wind so it would be drawn towards you."

"That... can't... be..."

"It was."

Those were the last words Sanzon heard before he froze. After a few minutes, the ice faded. Gram collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"That was really tough."

Then he heard footsteps approaching and became alert. He was surprised to see a familiar figure.

"It's you. I need to ask you a favor since I'm out of commission."

Who was the person Gram was asking for help?

◇◇◇

Mary and the others were watching the fight between Cedric and Donner. Donner was dominating; Cedric had good moves, but Donner was clearly superior. Aldrake, seeing them wonder why he could easily repel their blows and move so quickly, explained.

"Donner is part of the Soryuu Temple. A place where practitioners of the Imperial Fist are trained."

"A combat style that uses arms and legs to fight and kill their enemies."

"He's not only one of the strongest, but also one of the Four Yakshas, and according to him, he's a Holy Disciple, so that nickname, the Saint of the Fist, fits him perfectly."

"He only beats Erzeberg because that guy uses a huge sword, which gives him the opportunity to get close to his core."

Although Mary didn't fully understand what he was saying, she continued to support Cedric. But Cedric himself understood that this opponent was different from the others.

(Every hit I make is countered.)

(Also, that strange glow on his red tattoos seems suspicious.)

Cedric defended himself and moved to the side. Donner asked him.

"Are you chickening out?"

"No. But I feel something strange about those tattoos."

"Did you notice?"

He began pointing at his tattoos.

"All of them represent something similar to a physical enhancement. The Soryuu Temple doesn't forbid using them, but I have the seals known as the Seven Sacred."

"I see," Cedric said, moving under the moonlight shining through the hole in the sky.

"Mary-sama, and to the rest of your companions," Cedric smiled. "I kindly ask you to close your eyes and cover your ears until I'm done."

Mary didn't understand what he meant, but she told the other girls to do as he asked. Esther hesitated but complied. Aldrake didn't understand what it meant. Cedric spoke to him in a serious tone.

"Please. Release all your power; I'll do the same."

"Liberta!" Cedric shouted. At that moment, something strange happened to his body. His clothes began to tear as his muscles grew. Fur, similar to that of a silver dog, covered his body. His jaw transformed into that of a wolf. Even a tail emerged. Aldrake and Donner couldn't believe it, but soon they realized.

"A lycanthrope, huh?"

"It's rare to find one here. But it doesn't matter."

"I will be the winner!"

Donner released all his power.

"I'll show you the power of the seals. Manifesting the Seven Sacred!"

"The next is the internal power release. Medusa!"

A cyan light emerged from his body.

"Tonify legs. Panther!"

A purple light emanated from his legs, followed by a blue one from his back.

"Muscles of steel. Falcon!"

Then came a green light from his arms.

"The power to destroy. Rhinoceros!"

"The resilience to pulverize everything. Buffalo!"

A red light shone from his chest.

Followed by the last seal, a golden light came from his bald head.

"The intelligence to develop the strategy to destroy my enemies. Lion!"

The seven colors were shining from him.

"Hahaha. Now that I've released everything, you have no escape."

"Die while tasting all my power!"

Donner approached him and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks capable of destroying a rock in seconds.

Once the cloud of dust cleared, Cedric's werewolf form was still intact.

"My turn."

Donner felt fear for the first time, but it was too late.

Cedric raised his leg and delivered a powerful kick to Donner, which shattered his internal organs and bones.

The death was instantaneous.

Then he saw Aldrake, who tried to escape, and bared his teeth at him.

Aldrake fainted, and Cedric immediately returned to his human appearance.

He approached the girls and reassured them.

They didn't understand what had happened, except for Mary, who had seen it all.

(What was that?)

She wondered.

◇◇◇

"Dodge it!" Tyler shouted at Russell, who was about to be struck by the enormous slab of iron that was called a sword.

Russell used his own sword to deflect the attack, but it was futile.

He had no choice but to leap to the side, but even then, he couldn't avoid taking damage.

"Damn it!"

Russell looked down and saw that a part of his forearm had been sliced off like ham and had fallen to the ground.

Both of them were covered in wounds.

Some knights had come to help, but they were easily killed.

Tyler was the strongest of those knights, but their opponent was by no means weak.

The two of them leapt onto a nearby building.

"Are you alright?"

"If we consider that I'm missing part of my arm, then yes, I'm fine."

"Do you have any idea how to defeat him?"

"I do, but I need a favor."

"What is it?"

Russell paused briefly in silence before saying, "Hold him off for one minute. Let him attack you and get his sword raised high."

"... Huh?"

Tyler couldn't comprehend his words.

But if Russell had a plan, he wouldn't waste the opportunity.

"Alright. I'm putting my life in your hands."

◇◇◇

Regulus didn't understand why Maurice wanted to talk to him.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing really. I just wanted to talk to you."

"What did you want to talk about?"

Maurice looked toward a nearby mountain.

"It seems that the sun will rise soon."

"Answer me. What do you want from me?"

"Do you remember what happened in Crommond County?"

"... Why are you bringing that up?" Regulus asked, confused.

"I'm sure it must have been wonderful for a simple human like you to witness such a marvel."

" ...?"

"That day. You saw one of God's angels up close."

"Angels? God?"

Then Regulus realized what he was talking about.

"...!"

He remembered the monsters that had attacked him that day.

But what truly terrified him was that Maurice knew about it.

"How the hell do you know about that?"

"Because a friend told me."

"A friend?"

Regulus mentioned the name of the only person who had been with him that day.

"... Do you know Nero?"

"Bingo!" Maurice shouted while raising his hands to the sky.

"That's right. Nero is my colleague."

"We're both apostles, and our mission is to create a better world."

"A better world?" Regulus asked as Maurice grabbed his face, and then something horrifying happened.

Maurice's forehead began to tear open, releasing a large amount of blood that dripped down.

It wasn't just his forehead; his nose, his entire face, and soon his whole body began to tear apart, as if it had been sliced open.

The human who called himself Maurice was, in fact, just a shell.

A completely different man stood before Regulus.

He wore traditional oriental clothing known as a yukata.

His hair and eyes were red.

Lambton was terrified. He drew his sword and pointed it at the mysterious man.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Where is Offley?"

The mysterious man continued to smile in a friendly, mocking way.

His eyes turned to Lambton, who wet himself in fear.

His eyes said, "Get lost, or I'll kill you."

Lambton fled the scene.

Regulus was trembling, disturbed by what he had just witnessed.

He asked one more time.

"Who the hell are you?"

The mysterious man introduced himself.

"I am Hades. And I've come to begin reshaping this world."

◇◇◇

At the same time that Hades made his appearance, something impossible happened in the Theocracy of Endymion.

The basilica where the Holy King resided was invaded.

All the guards were dead.

The Holy King was a massive golden dragon named Vanderdraken.

He asked a young man with white hair and blue eyes who stood before him.

"You, human. Who the hell are you?"

"Nice to meet you. My name is Nero."

"I apologize for interrupting your sleep, but I just wanted to tell you something."

Vanderdraken was surprised, but not overly so.

(A common human managed to get past the security.)

(It's not important how he got in, but rather that he knew who I am.)

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Nero, still smiling, replied.

"I already told you. But besides that, my objective is simple."

"I came here to tell you."

Nero's relaxed expression vanished, and he revealed a sincere yet wicked smile.

"I came to tell you that your era is over. The era of the resurrection of the dark gods has finally arrived."

_______________

There will be no fanservice but unused designs and these are for the important characters of this important characters of this chapter.

Hades

https://jujutsu-kaisen.fandom.com/wiki/Yuji_Itadori

Nero

https://jujutsu-kaisen.fandom.com/wiki/Satoru_Gojo