(200 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 29: Suguru Geto: "Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha"
The moment Yumesaki finished speaking, a man wearing a traditional kasaya robe slowly stepped out from the depths of the temple, looking toward Yumesaki's group with a wide, easy smile.
After confirming his appearance, there was no doubt about it—this was Suguru Geto. There were no stitched scars across his forehead, meaning this wasn't Kenjaku possessing the body.
"Oh dear, and here I thought I had hidden myself perfectly. To think you'd find me anyway."
Suguru Geto spoke with a casual drawl, his expression completely relaxed. His muscles weren't tense, his Cursed Energy remained perfectly stable, and he didn't show even a single trace of nervousness.
Hmm, strange. Something felt off.
Yumesaki narrowed his eyes, scanning his opponent up and down a few times. Mahito, Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon—four disaster-class Cursed Spirits—had all been completely wiped out. On what exact basis was this guy acting so confident?
Could it be that he still had another trump card up his sleeve?
Admitting that his interest was piqued, Yumesaki mirrored Suguru Geto's expression and let out a matching smile. "Suguru Geto, why don't you be a good boy and show me what kind of trump card you're holding that gives you the balls to talk to me like that?"
Suguru Geto immediately shook his head, waving his hands dismissively as he spoke. "Nothing, nothing at all. Geez... isn't there any way we could just make peace?"
However, the more he acted that way, the more Yumesaki felt certain this guy was hiding something. Going by his own logic, if he didn't have a hidden ace, he wouldn't be acting this cocky in front of an opponent.
So Yumesaki was incredibly curious. Suguru Geto had lost his four major Cursed Spirits, so on what grounds could he be this confident and show absolutely zero fear? The man certainly wasn't an idiot.
Alright then. Come on out, Mahoraga.
The next second, an ancient general wielding a massive blade and clad in heavy armor was summoned by Yumesaki.
"Go. Kill him."
Yumesaki raised a hand and pointed, his target locked squarely on Suguru Geto.
Mahoraga didn't utter a single word. He simply charged forward, his speed rivaling a flash of lightning, appearing right in front of Suguru Geto in the blink of an eye. The massive blade in his hand swung down toward Suguru Geto with an utterly devastating momentum.
The sharp edge of the blade felt capable of tearing through the sky and splitting the earth. Before it even touched Suguru Geto, the sheer pressure of the wind it generated left a terrifying trench carved into the ground.
Yet, at the exact moment Mahoraga was about to cleave Suguru Geto in two from head to toe, the blade ground to a sudden halt.
This wasn't because Mahoraga had held back his attack.
Rather, a single hand had reached out and clamped firmly around the edge of Mahoraga's blade. That hand seemed as though it were forged from solid steel, forcibly stopping Mahoraga's downward slash dead in its tracks.
Oh, wow... Yumesaki raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. He had to admit, he was actually shocked.
Mahoraga's physical strength was no joke. After being reinforced by Yumesaki, his power had reached an even more terrifying level. A casual swing could split a boulder as tall as a man perfectly in two, and at full power, he could easily slice through a skyscraper.
But right now, Mahoraga's sheer, brute strength had been completely halted by a single hand.
What made it even more absurd was that this hand belonged to Suguru Geto.
No, since when did a Jujutsu Sorcerer possess this kind of raw physical power? It was completely illogical and hard to believe. Even Satoru Gojo wouldn't dare claim he could stop a full-force strike from Mahoraga this easily.
Is this guy really Suguru Geto?
A loud crash echoed through the air.
Just as Yumesaki was doubting whether he was looking at some bootleg version of Jujutsu Kaisen, Suguru Geto unleashed a fierce kick. Mahoraga's massive frame was sent rocketing backward, flying toward Yumesaki like a stray cannonball.
Medea's eyes flashed as she casually cast a spell. An invisible force swept outward, causing Mahoraga's body to instantly freeze in mid-air before gently settling down onto the ground.
Yumesaki observed the summon for a moment. On Mahoraga's chest, there was a clear footprint indent that sank three inches deep. It was obvious just how much absurd physical power was packed into Suguru Geto's kick. It truly defied all common sense.
"Fascinating." Yumesaki channeled Cursed Energy directly into Mahoraga's body. The general's injuries rapidly healed, and the hollow eyes beneath his helmet flared with a dark crimson light.
"Go at him again."
Receiving the command, Mahoraga lunged forward without a moment's hesitation, his speed even greater than before. The turbulent gale whipped up by his blade seemed ready to reduce Suguru Geto and the entire temple behind him to mere dust.
Suguru Geto's smile didn't waver. Scratching at his hair, he muttered about how troublesome this all was, then lifted his foot and slammed it hard against the ground.
The earth shattered and split open as thick tree branches erupted from underneath the soil. They crisscrossed and whipped through the air like tangled vines, instantly binding Mahoraga's arms and legs tight.
Yumesaki tilted his head, staring intently at Suguru Geto. "If I remember correctly, that should be Hanami's technique."
He recalled that Suguru Geto's Innate Technique, through the use of Maximum: Uzumaki on a semi-grade 1 or higher Cursed Spirit, allowed him to extract the target's technique. This effectively transferred the ability into his own body, granting the sorcerer multiple Innate Techniques.
But the precision and mastery of a technique obtained this way could never be improved beyond the moment of extraction.
More importantly, Hanami had supposedly been killed by Medea. Where on earth could he have extracted Hanami's technique just now?
Suguru Geto didn't answer Yumesaki's question. Instead, he maintained his wide smile and asked, "Is there really no way for us to make peace?"
"Not planning to answer? Forget it then, I'll just interrogate you myself," Yumesaki replied calmly.
Suguru Geto let out a heavy sigh. "I guess there really isn't a way to talk things out. Oh well, it's not like this wasn't predicted beforehand. Let's finish this fight quickly, because I still have a lot of things to take care of."
Yumesaki remained silent.
Those words were incredibly arrogant. Where exactly was he getting the confidence to think he could take down his entire group?
Yumesaki found himself genuinely baffled.
Suguru Geto clapped his hands firmly together, then uttered under his breath, "Domain Expansion: Horizon of the Captivating Skandha."
In an instant, the scenery shifted into a vast expanse of a sun-drenched beach and an open ocean right before everyone's eyes.
Yumesaki's pupils trembled slightly. He was surprised—properly surprised this time. This guy, Suguru Geto, could actually use Dagon's Domain Expansion? Wasn't this getting a little too ridiculous?
Following that, a massive swarm of fish-like Shikigami emerged from the deep sea in numbers large enough to blot out the sky. Each one glared down at Yumesaki's group with hideous, twisted faces, as if looking at a delicious feast.
Death Swarm.
Suguru Geto looked toward Yumesaki's group, raised a hand to point at them, and gave his order. "Kill..."
Before he could finish the sentence, his voice cut off abruptly.
The fish Shikigami stared at Suguru Geto in utter confusion, only to find that his eyes had gone completely blank, looking exactly like a hollow puppet.
At the exact same time, Yumesaki's voice echoed through the space. "Withdraw your Cursed Energy. Deactivate the Domain."
Suguru Geto carried out the order without a single shred of hesitation. The beautiful, sunny beach vanished without a trace in a split second, along with the countless fish Shikigami.
In the blink of an eye, everyone was right back inside the temple.
Medea looked down at Suguru Geto, who had completely lost any ability to fight back, and offered a soft compliment. "No matter how many times I see it, I always feel that Master's mind-control magic is practically a cheat."
Anyone who lacked mental resistance simply couldn't withstand it. It took nothing more than a single glance to fall completely under his control.
It was stealthy, powerful, highly practical, and the absolute best tool for turning the tables.
Especially against opponents who had no idea Yumesaki possessed such a move; the probability of them getting caught by it was practically a hundred percent. After all, making eye contact during a battle was the most natural thing in the world.
"Thanks for the compliment." Yumesaki walked over to Suguru Geto with a broad smile. Switching his ability to the Memory-Memory Fruit, he reached out and pulled Suguru Geto's memories directly out of his brain like a reel of film.
"Let's see here. What exactly is going on with you?"
Medea and Nero, driven by curiosity, leaned closer to look through Suguru Geto's memories alongside Yumesaki.
After Yumesaki scanned through the memories once, he quickly found exactly what he was looking for.
"Ah, I see. So that's how it is. Wow, that's actually amazing."
Yumesaki didn't hold back his praise. The reason Suguru Geto could block Mahoraga's massive blade, use Hanami's wood technique, and manifest Dagon's Domain... was entirely because of the leader of the Star Religious Group.
This mysterious yet incredibly formidable leader, after defeating Suguru Geto and taking the position of leadership for himself, had demoted Suguru Geto to vice-leader. To keep Suguru Geto compliant and ensure he served faithfully, the leader had taught him an incredibly powerful jujutsu technique.
Return by Death.
Don't misunderstand—this Return by Death had absolutely nothing to do with the ability of the protagonist Subaru Natsuki from Re:Zero. In Yumesaki's opinion, this technique was far better described as Death Absorption or Death Feast rather than Return by Death.
The effect of the technique was remarkably straightforward.
Any Cursed Spirit controlled by Suguru Geto, as long as they died, would not have their abilities, techniques, or Cursed Energy disperse back into nature. Instead, everything would be entirely absorbed by Suguru Geto himself.
Meaning, the more Cursed Spirits under Suguru Geto's control that died, the stronger Suguru Geto himself would become.
After the four major disaster curses—Hanami, Mahito, Jogo, and Dagon—met their ends, their Cursed Energy and Innate Techniques were all inherited by Suguru Geto.
This was the true reason why Suguru Geto could deploy Dagon's Domain.
In fact, it wasn't just Dagon's Domain. Even the Domains and techniques belonging to Hanami, Mahito, Jogo, and the others were fully available for Suguru Geto to use.
This technique was truly extraordinary.
Furthermore, a detail worth mentioning was that in the original timeline, Suguru Geto possessed over four thousand Cursed Spirits.
But right now, the number of Cursed Spirits he held was only slightly above two thousand.
The remaining half had already been digested by Suguru Geto as raw nourishment. This was the exact reason why Suguru Geto had been able to subjugate Hanami, Mahito, Jogo, and the rest in this world.
Because the current Suguru Geto was simply too powerful. Not only did he wield a massive variety of abilities, but his Cursed Energy reserve was so massive it reached an astronomical level, already surpassing Satoru Gojo.
Yet, Suguru Geto was acutely aware that despite all of this, he was still no match for Satoru Gojo.
Because Satoru Gojo's true strength didn't lie in the sheer volume of his Cursed Energy, but rather in his Six Eyes, his Limitless technique, and his Domain.
Until there was a concrete way to counter Satoru Gojo's Domain, he would never be his match. After all, that man was simply too much of a monster.
He was the second strongest man Suguru Geto had ever encountered in his entire life.
As for the first, it was naturally the man who had violently seized the leadership of the Star Religious Group from him.
He could still perceive the boundaries of Satoru Gojo's strength, and he even felt there was a glimmer of hope that he might catch up to him one day. But as for that mysterious leader's power, he couldn't see the end of it at all. He didn't even dare fantasize about catching up.
Because that man was truly, utterly invincible.
This left Yumesaki feeling rather intrigued. Who exactly was this leader of the Star Religious Group, to be able to make someone like Suguru Geto feel that reaching him was an absolute impossibility?
Driven by curiosity, Yumesaki began digging deeper into the parts of Suguru Geto's memories that involved this mysterious leader.
What he saw left Yumesaki discovering something truly bizarre.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
It looks like I'll need to increase the number of Power Stones required for the Bonus Chapter from 50 to 100.
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters from Webnovel here:
patreon.com/FaaanzKun