CHAPTER 24: CRIMSON ROT

The cavern shook with every clash of fists.

Blood sizzled on stone. Cursed energy pulsed like a heartbeat.

Itadori ducked under another strike from Kechizu, fists clenched.

"You're not just a cursed spirit… you think. You talk like a person."

Kechizu smiled wide, veins popping. "I am a person. Born from a womb like you… but cursed from the start."

Aboveground

Megumi had split off to flank, his divine dogs circling the edges.

He yelled, "Yuji, don't let the blood land on you! His cursed technique is Rot Technique: Decay Blood—"

Too late.

A droplet hit Itadori's shoulder. Steam rose instantly as his jacket burned away.

"Gah—!" Itadori gritted his teeth. The flesh below it pulsed red and raw.

From behind the cursed womb, Nobara screamed in fury, hammer flying.

"Straw Doll Technique: Resonance!"

Her nail pierced one of Kechizu's blood droplets on the ground—and pain surged through him.

Kechizu groaned, reeling. "You little… witch!"

He lunged at Nobara—but Yuji intercepted with a Black Flash, the cursed energy distortion exploding on contact.

The blow rocked Kechizu backward, tearing through his torso and flinging him into the cave wall.

He laughed as he slid down. "Now this… this is fun."

Meanwhile… Elsewhere

Eso stood at the edge of the ruined inn above, looking down the hole.

He whispered, "Little brother's getting too excited. Time to join the dance."

He leapt down, crimson robes fluttering behind him.

Back in the cavern

Megumi returned just as the earth split again. A second figure landed—elegant, tall, and cloaked in a sickening presence.

Eso.

"Oi, Kechizu," he said calmly. "You're drooling blood again. How messy."

Yuji and Nobara tensed.

Megumi whispered, "Another one…"

Eso eyed them. "So these are the sorcerers you're playing with?"

Then, with a tilt of his head: "Let's test something."

He reached out, and from his fingertips extended threads of cursed blood—stretching into the air like ribbons, dancing.

Eso's Technique: Rot Technique - Winged Flay.

The blood in the air hardened into sharp, serrated tendrils—and came crashing down.

Megumi summoned Max Elephant, blasting the blood blades aside with a torrent of water.

Yuji leapt forward again, exchanging a brutal combo with Kechizu, trying to keep the cursed brother distracted while Megumi and Nobara handled Eso.

But now it was 2-on-3.

And the cursed womb brothers were coordinating.

Eso placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Let's show them what brothers can do."

The air shifted.

The brothers linked their cursed techniques, the blood in the room thickening—coating the cavern walls, the ground, even the air.

Megumi said grimly, "They're synchronizing. If they coat our skin with that blood…"

Nobara snapped, "We rot. Fast."

Yuji punched Kechizu back and looked at his allies.

"Then we end this now."