CHAPTER 32: URAUME

A dim, eerie glow radiated through the narrow chamber. Inside, the smell of centuries-old paper and thick, cursed energy clung to the air like mold on stone. Kenjaku sat cross-legged on a twisted throne of crumbling bones and broken seals, flipping through an ancient, half-rotted cursed text—its pages scribbled in languages long dead and ink that seemed to breathe.

A wicked smile curled across his lips as he read.

"Ah… humans. They're so predictable when you press the right nerves."

He slowly turned the page, the cursed script hissing like steam. On his finger, he twirled a small, metallic object—the key to the Prison Realm. Its surface shimmered with unstable cursed energy, pulsing faintly with the sealed presence of Satoru Gojo.

Next to him stood a tall, pale figure, her hair tied in a crisp, snowy bun. She stood like ice sculpted into human form—calm, unbothered, terrifying. Her name was Uraume.

Kenjaku closed the cursed book and glanced sideways.

"Tell me, Uraume... when Sukuna fully awakens, what exactly do you plan to do?"

Uraume didn't hesitate. Her voice was soft, reverent, like that of a priestess in a cursed temple.

"Anything and everything. I will return him to his throne. If the world must burn to see his reign again, then I'll light the match myself."

Kenjaku's laughter echoed down the narrow hall.

"Ah… loyal to the end, aren't you? A zealot through and through."

He stood up now, dangling the key between his fingers like a pendulum.

"He's almost ready. The world will soon know despair again. But first…"

He stepped toward a massive stone slab behind him, pressing his palm to it. An outline of a grotesque seal flickered and then faded away. Behind it, giant cursed corpses—failed experiments—twitched faintly in containment tanks.

"Let the game begin. They think they'll win by following the rules…"

He looked at the key, his grin widening.

"But I wrote the rules."

Uraume stepped forward. "And when they're crushed, I will kneel beside Sukuna once more… and we will reign."

Kenjaku turned to her with a crooked smile and said,

"Good. Let the survivors cling to hope. It makes breaking them so much more satisfying."

And with that, the two walked into the dark—one spinning a key to salvation, the other ready to serve the devil reborn.