"If there is to be a Next Time... " "Perhaps it would be nice to try a different path"
"WHAT?! THAT'S SO BORING!" "YOU'VE GONE SOFT! ASSHOLE!"
"Naturally…" "I Lost after all" I said , perhaps it would be nice indeed—To try a different path.
—
And in the end. Even someone like me received a Next Time , I was reborn. In a different world—No. It was a similar world. Just different and rather unremarkable.
Nobody here had cursed energy. There were no sorcerers. No curse Spirits. It was a rather peaceful world , at the very least there were no such thing as a Satoru Gojo or Ryomen Sukuna
"Excuse me , is it okay to take a picture with you?" the sound of a rather young voice could be heard. It was a girl wearing a seifuku uniform.
"Hmm?" I murmured to myself , I'd usually entertain myself by slaughtering them and playing mind games as such—But perhaps it would be nice to try a different path.
*Snap
"Thank youuu" The girl wearing the Seifuku uniform said as she bowed their head before leaving but not before saying a word I never expected.
"Your Sukuna cosplay is very spot on mister." one of the girls said before leaving and disappearing in the crowd of people walking.
—!!!
Shock? Fear? Fascination? Confusion. There were countless emotions that ran to his mind at that moment. He , the king of Curses, was seen as a cosplayer-?!?
—
It had been a while since those times. He has roamed this world and settled in a village. It was full of old people , they were fragile , they were brittle , they were mere fodder in a battle.
I could have slaughtered them. Becoming a feared figure, a ruler. A tyrant was it? No—I am Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses. The Strongest Sorcerer in History. Yet here I am plowing land.
—SWISH
A slashing noise could be heard as I made a slashing motion with one of my arms as the Aloevera's were cut cleanly
"Thank you Dear~" That was Granny TanTan , her back was already hunched , her wrinkles everywhere. Her skin was tanned. I was in a country called Indonesia. Somewhere called West Kalimantan and it—
—Was truly peaceful…
*RUMBLE *RUMBLE *RUMBLE
"An Earthquake?!" Granny Tantan said , her wrinkled face was giving an expression she never made. It should be impossible , geographically there were no tectonic shifts in West Kalimantan..
This wasn't an earthquake. I could feel it , I could sense it , it was something huge. With a lot of Curse Energy—It has indeed been a while since I fought an opponent.
—Cael Lucian
"Fuck." I muttered as I saw the screen in front of me. It was bad news.
[A Vestige of Jormugandr has appeared in the country of Indonesia ] As the screen went from [3] to [2].
"Can-" Before I stopped myself before saying the next words , it was useless. Indonesia. Nobody would pay much attention there. There's no way that any reinforcement can be powerful enough to subdue it quietly.
"How many will die." He asked another question , yes indeed it wasn't his problem considering he's from America but it still pricks his heart , knowing yet unable to do anything.
"Huh-?" Yet as I look at the screen in front of me expecting to see at least 20 million people dead perhaps more , yet the screen betrayed my expectations
[0] before turning to [1]. What? Why? How? I should be happy—Yet confusion was all that filled me.
"How?" I used my last question of the day , I doubt there's gonna be anything bad happening anytime soon—Oh shit don't Jinx it.
[The Paradox of Zhong Li , Mudrock , Beatrice , Issei , Gojo , Sukuna , Mitsuki Kou. and F⟟☊⍲LĮ̩̯͖̬̇̋ͭ͑̈T̯͉̦̹̩̯ͥͧ́̉ͯ͊͌̊͊̾ͪ̇̄̐͐́̚̕͜͡͝͡͠Y] [ERROR] [ERROR] [E̖͒ͩͤ͟͞R̢͍͐̄̃ͦ̒̍̐͊͋͘͜R̨̡̧̝̟̩̺̮̭̤̤̮̅̽ͯ̏ͨ̓ͫ͑͆ͮͬͣͩ͒̾͑ͩ̇̄̕͠ͅǪ̴̷̶̵̱̞̠̱͈̙͉̺͉̖̥̻̜̼͓ͣ͌̈́ͣͧ͑̽ͥͦͨ̀̀ͩ͌ͯ̕͜ͅͅŖ̛̭̼͙̤ͫ͛̐̋̽ͥ̍̉ͪͮ̍̌̈͠ͅ]
"Ughh!?!" I stumbled as my head seemed to hurt. It felt like I was told something I should never know off. My head hurts.
THUMP*
—
"—!!?!" "—!?!?!?" "—?!?!??!?" "El—!?!??!" "CAEL?!?!" Sorya's voice could be heard rather loudly as he shook my body quite roughly.
"Sorya-?" I said , my voice still drowsy, my head still aching. It felt like I was drunk after drinking 8 shots of Vodka—If I really did that I'd almost 100% be dead as my liver says goodnight.
"You alright? The director says you should rest in the quarters if you don't feel well" His concerned voice could be heard , indeed he's rather blunt but also caring if you think about it.
"I think so- URGGHH" I said trying to reassure him but oh my stomach , as I held my hands up to cover my mouth.
—
ROARRRRRRR*
"RUN!!!!" , "WHAT THE HELL'S HAPPENING TO THE WORLD?!" "IS THIS A CONSPIRACY?" "HAS THE GOVERNMENT GONE INSANE?!"One could hear the screams of the common folks though what you see is but barely 1%
The gigantic body of a snake could be seen , reminiscent of the midgard serpent from Norse mythology commonly known as Jormugandr . We've seen this creature in countless fictional stories , games like God of Wars and the like. Parts of it was appearing slowly from the sky without any visible portal or the kind
For some it must've been cool and surreal when you see such a being , but if such a being were to appear in reality. Its gigantic size would cause havoc everywhere.
"We now bring you news from XXXXXX TV , As we can see , a gigantic snake has appeared reminiscent of the ancient Norse Mythical Beast Jormugandr has been—Kya?!?"
A lady wearing a hijab could be seen inside a helicopter that's being livestreamed on Ttube as the helicopter shook uncontrollably due to Jormugandr's massive size even a slight movement created such a powerful gust of wind.
"Kya?!?!?—Huh?" As the reporter was going on a free fall she thought she would've died but was quickly swooped by none other than-
"Tsk. Hold tight you brat" He said expressing his disgust , while it is true he has mingled with the common folks that doesn't mean he'd forget his nature-? Or maybe he's being a tsundere Ya never know~
With spiky pink hair , and tattoos in his entire body , he wasn't wearing a shirt , all he had was a rather worn out piece of trousers with gaping holes , one could see the many tattoos in his body.
"Cosplayer?!?!" The reporter girl said in a gasp , flabbergasted , her hijab was almost unravelled , her clothes were now stained with dust and dirt , the drone acting as a camera captured the entire moment.
"Now get lost. That cursed spirit feels powerful." Sukuna said in a sarcastic tone , but the girl was still lost in a daze , which further displeased Sukuna. Then again that is the reaction of a normal civilian.
—VHOOOOOOOOMMMM—
"Purple" A voice could be heard , a voice Sukuna would never forget. A name that he has vowed to remember , a powerful ball made of purple energy could be seen as it seems to be getting closer to Jormugandr.
"Gojo Satoru." Sukuna murmured , from the looks of it , it was the same Gojo he remembered , the one who once fought him and was worthy enough for him to remember that name.
—KREAKKKKKKKKKK— Fwish* —THOOOM—
The gigantic serpent opened its mouth towards the purple ball as it closed its jaw shut , swallowing that move whole.
"Woah…" A voice could be heard , it was of Satoru Gojo as he seemed to be in a daze , which was very unheard of , as he looked in front of him as Sukuna appeared in his line of sight.
"Gojo Satoru—Today I'm not here to fight you-" As he said in a respectful tone to the person he vowed to remember as long as he lived
"WOAHHHH SUKUNA? THAT'S SO COOL" "???!?!?"
Sukuna was shocked , confused , how he would not be , he was expecting a rather cool reunion , perhaps becoming one of those unlikely allies he saw in some anime once. But here his expectations shattered.
*SWISH WHIRRR WHIRR WHIRR
"Hi! My name's Jeff Ebstein , you can call me Jeff tho!" Satoru Gojo said while he shook Sukuna's hand at lighting speed , Sukuna was flabbergasted. Think of it from his mind. His rival appeared and seemed to have hit his head???
Perhaps at that moment he had a single thought. What the Fuck?
*RUMBLEEEE
His shock didn't last long though. As the rumbling sound snapped him back to reality.
"Oh yeah that snake. We gotta beat it huh" Gojo- Jeff's voice now sounded at least serious now. Could this be a dream? No, there's no damn way this is a dream.
FWIP*
Sukuna smirked as he raised his hands creating hand signs. He was excited. His smirk was getting bigger and bigger as he said in a voice full of anticipation. And in a Solemn voice he said.
"Domain Expansion : Malevolent Shrine"
—
"TSK." A word Sukuna said out of infuriation. His domain expansion was no longer there , not to be specific it could not , his Cleave , Dismantle and even Divine Flame were rendered ineffective.
No ineffective is a wrong word , the problem was rather simple , Jormugandr was too big. Cleave and Divine Flame were ineffective , However Dismantle's ineffectiveness was what shook him.
The fact that Dismantle failed means one thing , the toughness and cursed energy level of this Jormugandr was so powerful that it was ineffective—Not only that his Domain Expansion was swallowed whole as he hurriedly left it from instinct.
*ROARRRRRRR
This was bad—Worst is the fact that this Jeff. Is quite literally ass—It's like if you put a random nobody in the body of Satoru Gojo??? Sure he can fire some stuff like purple and co , but holy shit , so unrefined that Sukuna was having trouble believing this was the guy he vowed to remember.
He had to babysit the guy every time , telling him what to do , when to do it , why is his luck quite bad? Karma? Whatever it is what he currently needs to do is-
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!—Huh?" The passersby were the real problem. They were useless , only cannon fodder and expendable , he should be ignoring them and fighting but he wanted to change but there are things that not even he could do.
"Urgh." Gojo Satoru's groaning could be heard , his name is Jeff? No, at least for him he's still Gojo even if it's a rather weird Gojo.
"THE PINK HAIR OVER THERE MOVE" A young feminine voice could be heard , she was wearing a rather confusing fit. Wearing an oversized hoodie. Her red eyes and silver hair was her most defining feature.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Countless pillars made of earth seemed to appear as they ensured most of the buildings wouldn't collapse right away.
"MOVE MOVE" the sound of a rather aged man could be heard , one could see his eyes and hair glowing amber as more and more of these earth pillars were created to delay the inevitable.
"LONGINUS SMASHERRR" A rather passionate shout could be heard as what seemed to be 8 red colored wyverns seemed to be transferring something as a powerful beam was shot towards the creature
BOOOOOMMMMM
Pant* Pant* "HeH" "How'd you like that monster?" His voice was full of vigor as he was clutching his knees , he had what seemed to be a full-body, crimson-red dragon armor that covered him featuring prominent green jewels on the chest, gauntlets, and helmet.
His form reminiscent from a rather popular anime known as Highschool DxD , specifically Issei in the form Cardinal Crimson Promotion—Perhaps at the same time he inherited his shortsightedness , thinking that it's just like the anime where the protagonist always win
"GAVIN MOVE" SWISH* THUD* As Gavin was pushed aside and landed rather roughly on the ground , he was unprepared and was also exhausted after doing a single Longinus Smasher.
"OW….. What was that fo- " "Wait-" "NO!!!" It was annoyance at the beginning , as Gavin was annoyed why his brother wait no sister pushed him rather frantically , but as he looked back he realized how the snake opened its gigantic maw about to swallow her.
—Gaby Mochizuki
"NO!!!" I could hear Gavin's shouting , Ah I'm sorry if I were a little stronger then perhaps—
—Suddenly time seemed to stop. No It actually did stop. Everything was frozen in place. With the only ones moving being mom , dad , grandma ,Even that gigantic snake was frozen in place.
"Huh-?!?!" I could only say that as I saw something straight from a Sci-Fi movie. Time was rewinding backwards. The buildings were restored , the vegetation returned. The Snake? Right before it even completely appeared right before everything began.
*SNAP—CLINK
Space teared right in front of our eyes , Her eyes bluish purple, with bright pink glowing irises in a shape I recognize. It was the symbol of Finality. From the game I used to play , Honkai Impact 3rd.
Her long white and purple hair tied in an ornate ponytail, with a metallic crown adorned with a small segmented tassel on top of her head. Wearing a white and dark purple dress-like clothes, adorned with black and purple flowers. I know her. Of course I do. There's no way I don't know her. The very first Gacha Game I played. The very first white haired Character I loved. Kiana Kaslana
—SWISH—
As she raised her right arm a swishing sound could be heard as- That Snake. It was gone—No. It was cutted into countless tiny pieces each at the size of a single rice grain—And even those pieces soon disappeared as they burned in flame.
—Cael Lucian
"What in the." Cael Lucian could only say that as he saw the livestream. The Snake—Jormugandr was gone just like that. Even after slowing it down 1 million times
The only thing they could briefly see was black cuts that appeared so small and it disappeared right on the next frame. Of course at the time nobody knew—This was the first appearance of The Pillar of Conclusion