The battle wasn't just a fight.
It was a race.
A race to claim the one thing that could bend fate—
Sukuna's Finger.
The hallway shook under the chaos.
Kael and the spider-like distortion curse moved like blurs, both lunging toward the fallen finger.
Every second counted.
A punch.
A slash.
A burst of web spraying toward Kael.
They threw everything they had—
Left jab.
Right jab.
Bone blades clashing against cursed limbs—
all while sprinting for the same target.
Both reached it at the same moment—
hands stretching out—
But Kael didn't hesitate.
[Cursed Technique: Bone Manipulation – Asura]
With a sickening crack, two additional bone arms burst from his back.
The spider curse froze in shock.
Kael snatched the finger with one of his new arms—
and immediately hurled it toward Yuji and Megumi.
"Keep it away from this thing!" he shouted.
Megumi caught it, eyes widening.
Yuji scrambled to his feet beside him, still shaken but alert.
Before they could react, several minor curses lunged from the shadows, shrieking and clawing toward the finger.
Megumi stepped forward, jaw tight.
Yuji braced beside him.
Kael didn't give the distortion curse a chance to move.
He slammed his foot into the beast's chest, sending it crashing into a row of lockers. Metal twisted and exploded.
"Let's finish this somewhere else!" Kael growled, bones flaring around his arms.
The spider curse shrieked, limbs twitching violently.
The distortion in the timeline pulsed around it like static.
Kael didn't care.
He just knew one thing—
Sukuna's finger must not fall into the wrong hands.
He cracked his knuckles, bone armor growing thicker around his fists.
"Come on then," Kael whispered, eyes glowing red.
"Let's take this outside."
Kael didn't wait.
He grabbed the spider curse by one twisted limb and hurled it through the broken corridor.
The monster screeched as it smashed through a window, tumbling into the dark forest behind the school.
Kael leapt after it, landing on the soft earth with a thud.
The night air was colder here, thick with humidity and cursed miasma.
Shadows twisted between the trees like living ink.
He took a step back, eyes narrowing.
He could feel it—
the thing's body was stronger than a normal Grade 2 or even Grade 1.
Like its very existence didn't belong to this world.
Debris settled.
Dust floated through the moonlight.
Then a rattling voice crawled out from the shadows—
"Whsowqrawtat... aeawt... aawdwa…"
The curse spoke, but the words were warped—mangled like static distorting a radio signal.
Its eight crimson eyes glowed through the dust.
Kael's system hummed sharply.
[Scanning…]
…
Name: Rexaminja
Bloodline: The Spider Mother – Shelob
Rank: E-Class
Current World: Jujutsu Kaisen [World-4139A]
Resonance: First Core Awakening
…
Kael's eyes narrowed.
Shelob? From another world?
A creature that didn't belong to Jujutsu Kaisen… appearing here?
What the hell was happening to this timeline?
The system chimed again:
[Scanning the language…]
[Complete.]
The spider curse—Rexaminja—twitched its elongated neck grotesquely and suddenly spoke, its voice now disturbingly clear.
"Damn… I don't know anyone in this world."
Kael stiffened.
It wasn't speaking like a normal curse.
This thing had awareness.
Intelligence.
Intent.
"Who are you?" Kael asked, bone armor crackling across his shoulders like living stone.
Rexa tilted its head.
Eight crimson eyes shimmered with a twisted, curious amusement.
Its long limbs creaked as it stepped forward, joints bending in ways no creature should.
"You don't know?" the monster hissed, its voice sliding through the air like silk pulled over razors.
"You really… don't know?"
Kael didn't respond.
He simply stood still, bone plates tightening around his ribs.
Then the creature's face split into a grotesque grin—
far wider than a human jaw should ever open.
"Ahhh… I understand now."
The tone changed—playful, taunting, almost delighted.
"You must be the one born in this world. The reincarnator."
Kael's heartbeat slowed.
Cold. Controlled.
"How the hell do you know that?" he said, voice lowering into a calm, dangerous growl.
Rexa leaned closer, its breath cold and rotten, like a corpse dragged through the forest.
"I won this world," it whispered with irritation curling in its tone,
"from a tournament. I planned to eat the Sukuna finger before anyone else could enter."
Kael's eyes narrowed sharply.
Win this world?
Enter first?
What kind of tournament decides that?
The system's warning echoed in the back of his mind—
A distortion will try to alter the plot.
So this thing wasn't just a curse.
It was an intruder.
"You'd better prepare," Rexa growled.
Its massive arms bulged, thickening with cursed muscle.
The air vibrated.
Then—
THWIP!
A line of web shot forward, moving so fast the air screamed around it.
It latched onto Kael's chest instantly.
Rexa's grin widened.
"Come here."
Rexa yanked the web line with brutal force, dragging Kael across the forest floor. Dirt exploded beneath his feet as he was pulled straight into the monster's waiting claws—
BOOM!
The impact shook the entire forest.
What followed wasn't a fight.
It was a natural disaster.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Every punch Kael landed shattered trees.
Every counter from Rexa cracked the earth.
The terrain warped around them —
like the world itself couldn't withstand the clash.
Rexa laughed, a low, vibrating hiss that echoed through its monstrous frame.
"Nice one, reincarnator. You've attained a high level!"
Kael wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and smirked.
"Yeah? You too."
But inside—
Kael felt the problem.
Rexa's web poison had already seeped into his bloodstream, leaving a cold burn spreading through his veins.
Worse—
the monster's exoskeleton was hardening, layer by layer.
Each blow Kael traded hurt a little more.
Each hit Rexa took weakened him a little less.
Keep fighting like this… and I'll lose.
Decision made, Kael slid back, kicking off the ground and creating distance.
Rexa clicked its mandibles mockingly.
"What's wrong? Getting scared?"
Its voice dripped with taunt, with twisted amusement.
Kael exhaled once, steady and calm.
"Scared?"
He lowered his stance.
"No. Preparing."
[Cursed Technique: Bone Manipulation – Asura : Sword Form – King of the Underworld]
The forest darkened.
Kael's four bone arms twisted—
splitting, sharpening, elongating—
until each one became a blade.
A monstrous, jagged set of bone swords—
their edges blackened as if dipped in death itself.
The cursed energy around them pulsed like a heartbeat.
Rexa froze for a moment, the amusement fading from its eyes.
Kael raised his newly formed blades, the air around him trembling.
"Let's see," he said coldly,
"if your exoskeleton is really as strong as you think."
Rexa screeched—
and Kael launched forward, blades flashing through moonlight.