Watching Arturia play the cello reminded Megumi of the time Gojo Satoru had said to the random passerby that he hadn't learned "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the violin yet.
No... He didn't expect the woman to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," it would be disrespectful for him to think that was where her skill level was at.
Especially because the woman was playing it extremely well from what he could tell. Although Megumi wasn't the greatest when it came to appreciating music, Arturia seemed to play a calming tune.
One that he found quite enjoyable, so he relaxed in his chair and was content with letting the time pass by. His Cursed Energy reserves would fill back up to a considerable degree once her performance was done.
Well, that should have happened, if Megumi hadn't found himself suddenly recalling memories that he would rather keep buried.
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He stared down the Finger Bearer Curse, the smiling apparition upon its ugly face making him bring up his arms.
It was over for him, wasn't it?
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Against the unnamed perpetrator who had thrown him away from Naobito, Maki, and Nanami, Megumi was on his last legs.
Unable to do a Domain Expansion with the amount of Cursed Energy he lost against Dagon, there was only one option left.
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He wasn't completely sure who that blonde haired bastard who slashed his back was, but having suffered a beatdown and completely exhausted of all options, why not go out with a bang?
It wouldn't be his fault if he couldn't do anything, right? Just to see the cocky smirk of that twink dumbass vanish within a millisecond, Megumi brought his arms forward, clenching into fists.
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When facing an opponent that is far above your league, or facing an opponent at the last whims of your life, wouldn't the best option be to just give up?
No, that was the next best option, perhaps... The true best option would be to commit into a suicide attack that would bring .
Giving up... That thought was held deep within his psyche, but buried under a mass of shadows that he would never think to fall into.
That was well, until he did. When Ryomen Sukuna ended all hope of his sister ever returning, when he was bathed in the blood of a thousand Cursed Spirits.
After Gojo Satoru, his father figure, something that he would never truly admit; had fallen, and it was all his fault.
When facing Itadori Yuji, what could he even do? All he amounted to was a pathetic man groveling on the ground and begging for everything to end.
Now, he was stuck in a completely different world, making countless enemies that he wasn't even aware of. Blood Hounds, the LGD, both were on his ass. The former for killing one of their benefactors, and the LGD because he had thought he could escape a police officer.
Not knowing that the people in this world were magic superpowered beings.
The future seemed uncertain in the new world, as did his future in the life of Jujutsu Sorcery.
Despair, now that he truly settled down and thought of his situation fully, wouldn't it be better to just... Give up?
Let the hands of fate guide his body through the river of life?
Against all physical problems he could not hope to face, Fushiguro Megumi always relied on one thing.
The Gift of Heaven, the Blessing bestowed unto him from his father and mother.
A Divine General as a protector, yet one he was not worthy of wielding.
***
Arturia kept playing her cello, swaying along with the movements of her bow while sliding it against the strings of the instrument.
A beautiful sound came out, pervading the room in a cacophony of musical notes. Quite literally, ashen musical notes laced with the color of gold flowed out from the instrument and Arturia's own body.
She had always had a talent in music, even when the Sankta had been a young child. Developing the talent further, Arturia then realized that she could emit a high potency of Arts, one that had many special properties to them...
Such as revealing a person's innermost desires, and making them act upon it with no remorse or hesitance.
'So... What is it that you desire the most in this world?' Arturia peeked through her eyelids while still harmoniously playing her instrument, gazing at the slumped back figure of the black haired man.
He remained unmoved, as still as a corpse. Very fitting in the cello player's opinion, but she knew there was so much more to him other than that-
Megumi jolted upwards.
Arturia could find her interest piqued further, wondering what he was going to do next...
The black haired man remained motionless while staring at the roof, as if contemplating his life choices. That was until his eyes turned to her, wide and as empty as the night sky under city lights.
Then, his balled fists gathered together in front of him.
The Sankta slightly widened her eyes, seeing the room around her turn into pitch black darkness, the lights from outside shining into the hotel room they were in vanishing. The lights in the hotel room itself also turned off.
What was the most ominous part was when her instrument no longer played any music, no... In fact, no sound was being produced anymore.
As if the world had gone silent for this very moment, to heed the entrance of...
Megumi shook, gritting his teeth as he fought back to control his senses, fighting off the emotions that had sprawled up within his chest.
What he desired most..? To give up? No, no. What he truly wanted to do, was to tame Tiger Funeral!
The world of silence around him faded, much to the surprise of Arturia before he gathered his hands to form a tiger seal.
"TIGER FUNERAL!"
The ritual had begun, the all too familiar sensation of being bound to it filled Megumi's nerves, the rush of danger dragging him out of his stupor. Even if for a little bit, this newfound desire had stalled his desire to completely surrender himself to the cruel grasp of the universe.
From the shadows, a tall and muscular tiger with about the same build as Mahoraga stood up, orange fur with black stripes aligning it.
It had a maw, with large sharp teeth peering through it, black shadows seemed to obscure a part of its head.
It growled, turning to Megumi with its inhuman and animalistic yellow eyes, flames flowing from its mouth.
Overall, it was as if its appearance was meant to induce fear.
The Ten Shadow user's pupils shrunk, watching as a back hand blitzed towards him, barely blocking the blow with his arms before he was sent crashing through the window.
Time seemed to slow as shards of glass flew about while he was knocked back, the light glistening upon the broken debris.
Arturia watched on in awe at the beast he had summoned, feeling a distinct energy that she could describe as cursed emitting from it.
On Megumi's end, he found himself crashing against an empty, denting it completely.
Due to the fact that the section of the Slums that held the hotel he and Arturia in was the most developed out of all other districts, it could be considered more so a 'downtown' section of Lungmen.
Only by name, it was a part of the Slums. So, what did this mean? That there was a bunch of civilians and pedestrians who halted in their steps, turning to look at the stunned man who had been done in and slammed into a car.
Mumbles and screams were heard, as phones were pulled out and the flashing of lights became prominent.
Voices asking if the black haired man was alright was the most prevalent of them, all the while he was being recorded by a vast amount of devices.
However, the crowd would quickly disperse when a great stomping sound was heard, causing their attention to turn to a gigantic humanoid tiger that provoked the primal instinct of everybody to run away.
A True Apex Predator.
Megumi shakingly looked up while the crowd ran away. Tiger Funeral did not care about them, moving up from the sizeable crater it had caused and leaving its crouched position.
It had Fushiguro Megumi to bury, afterall.
The black haired man glared at the Shikigami, watching as it slowly made its way to him, each step shaking the buildings around them.
The heat started to increase as flames emitted from the tiger's body, distorting the light around it, and by extension; its grizzly figure.
Megumi decided to lay prone, fighting off the urge to completely give in and surrender to his fate, a strange intrusive thought that seemed to rip into brain more viciously than before.
When Tiger Funeral was upon him...
"NUE: TOTALITY!"
A gigantic pit of shadows formed under Megumi, a bird with the face of a human and tail of a snake shot upwards, pulling the untamed Shikigami off balance while carrying its master to the sky.
Pressurized wind from the great speeds Nue: Totality shot upwards pressed down on both of the warriors, causing the fur on Tiger Funeral to flatten while Megumi's hair started to resemble a certain Sorcerer Killer.
Arturia had walked at the edge of the opening in the hotel room of Tiger Funeral and watched with interest at the majestic scene.
'Ah, so I was right...' A larger smile appeared on her face as she placed her arms behind her back, leaning forward to watch the grand scene that would unfold.
***
The sky was approaching ever faster, the mentally afflicted Megumi trying to regain his bearings as best as he could.
Tiger Funeral attempted to approach Megumi once more from the tail of Nue: Totality, Megumi being at the head.
However, when it took a step forward, Nue: Totality had changed directions and shifted, changing from making a vertical ascension to a horizontal one. It was making its way towards the walls of Lungmen as Megumi had barely commanded it to do.
The luscious cityscape of Lungmen's neon lights were visible from the bird's eye view of Nue, who flew where the clouds were.
Speaking of Megumi, one thought had found itself scraping into his brain...
GIVE UP!
GIVE UP!
GIVE UP!
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However, he would heed those desires.
STAB
Megumi regained his senses, finding the Inverted Spear of Heaven stabbed into his shoulder, blood slowly flowing out.
A sense of clarity filled him, the Arts of Arturia having lost their effects on his mind. Opening his eyes, he met the beast head on.
'That... Crazy woman, who the hell is she?' He had already deduced it to be from whatever music she was playing, most likely some sort of Arts that affected the mind.
But right now, he couldn't think of that, he had other things to worry about.
'Damn it, this would be the second time the entire city sees Nue: Totality!' Megumi pulled out Playful Cloud from his spatial shadow, all the while his bird Shikigami continued to approach the outskirts of Lungmen. 'Calm down first Megumi... You need to tame Tiger Funeral...'
At that point, the damage had already been done. What his best course of action right now was to prevent the damage that was about to be caused. In the form of...
Tiger Funeral instantly flashstepped in front of him.
A flabbergasted look appeared on Megumi's face, pupils shrinking as-
The damned thing grabbed Playful Cloud and whacked him back, breaking his grip from the Cursed Tool.
'What?!' Megumi was sent barrelling towards the tail of his tamed Shikigami, desperately grabbing on its orange fur so as to not be sent flying off.
He turned his attention back onto Tiger Funeral while the previous pain of being hit was reduced by his adrenaline.
The sight before him had made his greatest fear come to fruition...
Tiger Funeral had stolen and was using goddamned Playful Cloud.
It was as if it was experimenting with it, spinning it around professionally between its arms, creating flame like whirlwinds to appear around it as the weapon became a blur due to its speed.
That was before it settled into a pose, holding the chain part of its upper part to its right shoulder, while the chain part of its lower part to its left hip. The two ends of Playful Cloud tussled in the wind due to its movement, creating a picture perfect scene of a martial arts weapon master.
The Cursed Tool even activated its second feature, changing in size to fit its height and figure.
'...You're joking me,' Megumi never heard of this crap when he read the Ten Shadows Guide Book!
He was aware of Tiger Funeral's flame abilities, and was extremely confused on why Agito hadn't displayed them.
But at this very moment, such thoughts were useless, if he made one mistake, it would cost him greatly.
"Divine Dogs!"
Kneeling on the back of Nue: Totality, he called towards his wolves while doing his hand signs, two puddles forming left and right from him and shooting forwards.
Tiger Funeral spun the Cursed Tool around itself once more, before lashing out with quick blows towards the wolves.
However, they were immediately dispelled, leaving the tiger to shoot out flame sonic booms in the air.
Megumi widened his eyes, not expecting such a thing to occur before he moved his body to the side, feeling the waves of heat passing by him.
'So it can send it out, especially with a powerful Cursed Tool like Playful Cloud!'
"Toad!"
A gigantic toad appeared by Megumi, shooting its tongue out to grab onto Tiger Funeral's Cursed Tool, leading to a tug of war between the two Shikigamis.
However, it proved useless as Tiger Funeral immediately won the contest, sending Toad to fly up into the air and off the back of Nue, forcing Megumi to recall it.
"Divine Dog: Totality!"
"Piercing Ox!"
Quickly swapping between two seals, Megumi summoned both Shikigamis in quick succession.
Divine Dog: Totality strafed around to the right, while Piercing Ox charged straight at the approaching tiger. Thankfully, the tiger Shikigami was stupid enough to slowly walk forward to increase its intimidating presence rather than run forward.
The enemy prepped Playful Cloud, ready to combat Divine Dog: Totality while it dodged to the side to avoid Piercing Ox-
If Megumi hadn't moved to the shadow behind it, surfacing up with Dragon Bone thrusting forward to stab its back.
BOOM!
The Cursed Tool pushed it forward when the engine system ignited, not stabbing into its back but most likely creating a small cut that drew blood.
While it was stunned, Divine Dog: Totality had already made its way towards it, ready to claw at its neck while Piercing Ox slammed into its body.
Tiger Funeral reeled forward this time due to the force caused by Piercing Ox, so Divine Dog: Totality could only strike at its face rather than its neck.
Megumi had descended into the shadows once more to not be squashed by Tiger Funeral being pushed back, before shooting out right after and delivering a sword blow to its head.
BAM!
It made contact once again, rattling its head once more because it had been launched into the force of the blade thanks to Divine Dog: Totality.
Tiger Funeral ate the hits however, and switched Playful Cloud to its left hand, slamming at Divine Dog: Totality and shooting a flame infused elbow towards Megumi.
The former was able to block the hit from Playful Cloud, but was sent skidding across Nue's fur while Megumi was forced to retreat into the shadows once more.
Piercing Ox had built up enough force to start to make Tiger Funeral be uncontrollably pushed back, forcing it to grab the ox by the horns and throw it to the side before it built up anymore.
Thanks to its great constitution, it wasn't thrown off Nue like Toad was, instead being able to skid to a halt, redirecting itself once it lost momentum.
Tiger Funeral bound two bullets impacting its cheek, before turning to see Megumi dropping his Glock into the shadows and entering an overhead stance with Dragon Bone.
Divine Dog: Totality had entered a shadow puddle made by Megumi, making its way towards the enemy while its master charged forward.
Tiger Funeral stared at them with its same wide eyes and gaping maw. Right as Divine Dog: Totality bursted forward from the shadows, sending black liquid upwards with a striking position, Tiger Funeral punched with its ignited left arm, catching the Shikigami completely off guard.
It made contact, all the while Playful Cloud found itself infused in flames, casually speeding forward in multiple lashes, deflecting the barrage of supercharged blows of Dragon Bone. The clash turned into a blur of orange flames and blue Cursed Energy.
That was before it wrapped Playful Cloud around Megumi's weapon with a flicking motion, and bent itself to the left to grab Divine Dog: Totality by the neck, all the while Piercing Ox was making its way back to attack Tiger Funeral.
Megumi noticed what it was trying to do, and dispelled Piercing Ox when it had thrown the both of them towards it, not before leaving something else to keep Tiger Funeral at bay.
Shadow Extension: Rabbit Escape
A clone of Megumi appeared from a black outline of shadows, delivering a high kick towards Tiger Funeral's face.
It didn't do much, as Tiger Funeral had swatted it away and dispelled it nearly instantly, turning to the Ten Shadows user who had his momentum stopped by Divine Dog: Totality grabbing onto him from behind.
Tiger Funeral tilted its head, snorting flames outward from its nose, before raising Playful Cloud into the air and slamming it down on Nue: Totality.
Megumi widened his eyes, feeling the pressure of the bird shifting and starting to barrel towards the ground, seat forming on his face.
Immediately, he jumped off from it, not before seeing Tiger Funeral having already planned two steps ahead and jumping towards him.
Thankfully, Megumi was quick enough to send a command to Nue: Totality to fire off a discharge of electricity upwards, disrupting the path of Tiger Funeral and even sending electricity coursing through its body.
Divine Dog: Totality pushed its master back, before using Cursed Energy to do a double jump within the air and charge towards Tiger Funeral, letting out a howl as it crossed its arms together.
SLASH!
Tiger Funeral had guarded its arms into a 'X' shape and held Playful Cloud in a reverse grip, while the werewolf approached, but had it spread outwards and revealed its unguarded form when Totality had finished its attack.
Reeling its head back, Divine Dog: Totality moved its head forward and bit the tiger on the face, its teeth digging into its nose.
Then, a dog fight began while the two fell through the air, kicking, punching, and biting at each other.
Megumi pulled out the Glock from his shadow inventory by reaching into his pocket, and firing off precise shots at Tiger Funeral to support Divine Dog: Totality, before instantly turning around to face the ground.
Nue: Totality was still falling, and they were approaching the wastelands outside of Lungmen, something Megumi had wondered how he hadn't noticed all those times before when he rode Nue.
It didn't matter right now, as he commanded Nue: Totality to flap its wings to send an air pressure blast to go against his falling form, blowing him upwards and acting against the gravity that was pushing them down.
He recalled the Shikigami, not wanting it to face damage from impacting the ground from such great heights, before reinforcing his legs with Cursed Energy and kicking off the air to break his fall once more.
Thump
Megumi landed on the ground, knees slightly bending before he turned upwards once more-
BOOM!
A fireball fell from the sky not too far from him, before he shifted his head to frantically look at it.
Divine Dog: Totality burst outwards from the burning smoke clearing, before Megumi made the split second decision to recall it in case it took life threatening injuries, all the while Tiger Funeral had slowly stepped out.
The untamed Shikigami's body was damaged, but it definitely still had the strength to maul and rip Megumi apart.
"Tch," with an annoyed glare, Megumi brought his hands together.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Thousands upon thousands of rabbits appeared stacked upon each other in great clusters, towering far above buildings as they appeared around Megumi.
They then began to swarm around Tiger Funeral, the enemy Shikigami attempting to counteract it when it brought Playful Cloud to the sky, spinning it like a helicopter blade between its two hands.
Thus, it formed a whirlwind of flames, frying the bunnies well done.
It stopped its motion once they had cleared out, looking around for Megumi.
Shadow Extension: Piercing Ox
Tiger Funeral found its back being impacted with great force, something the Ten Shadows user would normally not be able to produce alone.
Holding Dragon Bone with both arms and enhancing it with as much Cursed Energy as he could. Megumi had run as far back as he could while Tiger Funeral was distracted by Rabbit Escape, and built up enough momentum to dig into its back.
The Shikigami was pushed forward from the attack and staggered when the force settled in.
It only increased with each step Megumi stepped, the screams of the Ten Shadows user exerting effort, the roar of the tiger filling the empty landscape.
Megumi could feel Dragon Bone digging deeper and deeper, perhaps even scratching at Tiger Funeral's spine? At this rate, he could win-!
BAM!
A backwards kick slammed into Megumi's stomach, singing with burn marks before he was sent flying.
Blood spurted from his mouth, before his body slammed and broke a boulder in half, leaving dust to fly up in its wake.
"Ugh, Khach-! Ack!" Megumi coughed, more blood coming out of his mouth as he shakingly stood up, watching Tiger Funeral standing back up from its slouched position.
The amber eyes of the monster bore into Megumi's soul, reigniting a deep fear within...
He was going to lose.
Fushiguro Megumi was nothing but a rabbit, a meal for the tiger.
Megumi was barely able to stand back up, reaching into his shadow to pull out the Inverted Spear of Heaven and slowly undoing the wrappings.
Jittery hands did not make quick work of getting the black wrappings off, making the man pause his actions as he turned back to the Shikigami who was approaching.
'...I could... Dispel the summoning ritual... And the Shikigami with this... Cursed tool...' Panting, Megumi came back to the decisions he could make.
Tiger Funeral was freakishly strong, its physical strength coupled with its flame abilities had left him and his combined might of Shikigamis staggered and severely injured. If he called them out right now, they most likely wouldn't have healed enough to do significant damage to Tiger Funeral.
'Why, is it so strong? Is it because... I already reached the upper limit... Of the untamed Shikigami? That my strength... Is completely outclassed?' Fushiguro Megumi hadn't recovered all of his reserves after all.
He was too injured to do any more meaningful actions, the strength of Tiger Funeral's blows were crippling, which was why he had been trying to avoid a direct confrontation without the help of his Shikigami.
'At this point... I should just, dispel it...' Megumi gripped the dagger tighter, a shadow casting over his eyes.
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"No," Megumi spoke out, before redoing the already loose wrapping, "hell no..."
He stood up with a better posture, Tiger Funeral pausing its advance in case the man had another trick up his sleeve.
Megumi started breathing faster, harder, a crazed thought coming to him.
How was he supposed to reach Gojo Satoru like this?
How was he supposed to reach Ryomen Sukuna like this?
How was he supposed to protect his sister like this?!
How was he supposed to protect Itadori Yuji like this?!
Delirious thoughts floated within his mind of people he would never see again, ones that already gone and passed.
But this delusion was exactly what he needed, the insanity of clinging to a past was the motivation he needed.
To reach a height that would reach the strongest... No, no...Such an ideal was pathetic...
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He was going to surpass them!
Leave them completely in the dust!
"Hey bastard, let's do this from the bottom, yeah?!" Megumi yelled out at Tiger Funeral, maniacally grinning as he brought his hands together.
A force of will filled Tiger Funeral, demanding it to run away from the man in front of it as far as possible, for it would not survive his next attack-
"DOMAIN EXPANSION: CHIMERA SHADOW GARDEN!"
The shadows of Terra gathered around Megumi, becoming part of his very being, heeding the command of their new sovereign.
A gigantic gaping abyss appeared beneath The Strongest Sorcerer of Tomorrow's feet, expanding to great lengths in a circle and shooting past Tiger Funeral.
'I can't keep Tiger Funeral trapped without a barrier! I need to improvise! Increase the length of my barrier by 10 meters... No, 25 meters.... Screw that, 50 METERS!!!'
From seeing Ryomen Sukuna freely control his Domain Expansion's size, a muscle memory seemed to have ingrained itself into him, bringing upon an inspiration to increase its size.
His Cursed Energy burned by the second, an apparition of a skeletal spine appearing behind him.
Tiger Funeral had attempted to back away and escape the barrierless domain that had nothing that could incase it, but found its feet grabbed by something.
Looking down, the untamed Shikigami saw a horde of monsters originating from the deepest and darkest chasms of the Shadow Garden grabbing and clawing at its feet.
The Apex Predator was no longer the hunter, the one who was hunting it now...
Was the prey sadistically grinning at it, having turned into the true hunter!
It was then, that the tiger had realized the true Apex Predators were not the great beasts of the land who held the sharpest of claws, nor the most vicious of teeth...
It was the pure and unbridled will of the human before it!
Megumi laughed, seeing the prey entrapped within his domain, before his next plan was set into motion.
'This will burn a hole in my reserves, rendering me a useless bag of flesh after, but hell if I don't try it out!'
Chimera Shadow Garden allowed Megumi to summon more than one Shikigami at once, even creating clones of himself despite being imperfect...
So what was he going to do?
"Nue: Totality!"
There was no need to call out his Shikigami to summon them within his own personal world, but he was feeling the pure shot of adrenaline ravaging his body!
Three Nue: Totalities shot up into the sky, each wing ripping at Tiger Funeral's body, before they ascended to the skies of Heaven itself.
Purple lightning crackled around them, dancing with their beautiful movements to create a scene that would put any festival of fireworks to shame.
Then, the three replicated Shikigamis began to circle around and over Megumi's domain, lightning crackling around themselves.
The purple lightning gathered together, into the focal point created while the continued circlining, pointed directly at Tiger Funeral who lay beneath it.
"Enjoy the gift, bastard!"
Megumi screamed out with all his might, before a godlike radiance of dancing colors flashing about in the sky had delivered upon a beam of pure lightning.
Like the force of a Thunder God smiting those who dared to oppose it, an orbital blast from the skies combining powers of three Nue: Totalities had crashed onto the crust of Terra.
The ground ripped apart with ease, lightning traveling all about and mutilating the land in which had been unfortunate to be in its crossfire.
The unceasing light of the blast, surpassing that of even Jacob's Ladder had blinded all lights in Lungmen, a mini earthquake coursing through the Nomadic city.
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Tiger Funeral had been tamed.