CHAPTER 27: CRIMSON AND CONCRETE

[Abandoned Building – Osaka Outskirts]

Cursed energy crackled across the floor like sparks in a wildfire.

Yuji Itadori stood in the shattered corridor, fists clenched, blood speckling his cheek. Beside him, Nobara Kugisaki wiped her lip, grinning despite the pain in her ribs.

Before them stood the final two: Eso and Kechizu, Death Painting Wombs.

Grotesque, humanoid brothers born of blood, hatred, and something too close to human pain.

"You two really don't know when to quit," Nobara muttered.

Kechizu snarled and launched forward like a beast, toxic blood trailing behind him.

"Don't let it touch you!" Yuji barked as he countered with a straight punch.

BAM!

Kechizu skidded across the wall but got back up, vomiting cursed blood across the ground in a wide arc.

Eso stepped forward, arms painted with intricate tattoos.

"You're too late," he said, eyes like a corpse. "You've already been marked."

Yuji and Nobara's shoulders ached—the blood had splashed them moments ago. Their skin darkened with Eso's Decay Technique, a curse of rot that spread with every heartbeat.

Kechizu laughed. "Let's see how long you stay pretty."

But—

Nobara raised her hand and stabbed her own arm with a straw doll and a nail.

"Resonance."

A pulse erupted.

Kechizu howled—blood gushing from his chest.

Eso flinched.

"Did you just—!?" he stammered.

Nobara grinned like a demon. "Yeah. Shared blood, right? If your technique infects me… then I can use my technique on you."

She raised another nail.

"Let's go, Yuji!"

Yuji dashed forward, his cursed energy spiking.

"BLACK FLASH!"

His punch connected with Kechizu's face, tearing the entire wall apart with the force.

Nobara fired nail after nail, her hammer a blur. Each impact sent Eso staggering.

Yuji and Nobara didn't need to speak.

They moved like they'd fought together for years.

Eso, bloodied and breathless, reached toward his brother.

Kechizu looked up, missing teeth, tears mingling with blood.

"Brother…?"

They fell together.

Ashes in the wind.

[Outside – Aftermath]

The rain began to fall.

Yuji stood motionless. Breathing hard. His knuckles still clenched.

"They looked… human," he muttered.

Nobara leaned against the wall, staring up at the gray sky.

"They were. In a way."

Yuji didn't answer.

They had won—but something about it didn't feel like victory.

[Elsewhere – Shadows]

A cloaked figure watched the scene through a cursed mirror shard.

"Eso and Kechizu are gone."

A raspy voice chuckled.

"They served their purpose."

Behind him, Mahito grinned with a mouth full of teeth.

"Suffering," he said, "makes such a good seasoning."

The pieces were moving.

The curses weren't done.

Not yet.