Moscow, Russia
A jet quietly landed in the middle of runway, before it slowly parked into the docking bridge of an airport. Right at its exit, a crowd of media and news reporters were waiting for the 5 people that they had come here to see. But when the doors opened, they were unexpectedly greeted with the bare chest of a beast like man.
"Of course.. of course! It's the same every goddamn time!"
As he walked forwards though, 5 more students followed closely behind them. This was Japan's team for the cursed battle tournament all consisting of sorcerers at the level of grade 1.
The training the group had underwent these last 2 weeks had forced them all to grow tremendously. Not only did they suffer under Grandma Zenin's brutal physical training which strengthened their cursed energy reinforcement and basic manipulation, Omo's questionable methods had sharpened their minds.
All in all, they had become exceptional fighters in just a couple weeks.
The camera's and their lights began to flash, all aimed at the particular group. off course, they tried their best to ignore them, and even the questions they spoke. They were speaking in russian, so Akumu couldn't talk to them even if he tried.
But unexpectedly, there was someone who could speak japanese amongst them,
"You survived the massacre of your old school, and have become Japan's rising star. It could've been anyone else, but it was you. How do you feel?"
Despite it striking Akumu on a personal level, everyone in the group quickly rushed to defend him, But surprisingly he brushed them all aside. He had come so far since then, and now it was time to declare his will upon the world.
"I'm going to win."
He said it in crude english, but the point of his message was easily understood. The entire crowd then roared as they barraged them with even more questions, but Omo just shoved them all aside as he got his students through.
The group was then guided by the Russian secret services, to their hotel. This was the place they would stay for the foreseeable future. To either win or go home as losers, that is what they were here for now.
**
An alarm began to ring in the middle of the night. All the boys, were sleeping in a seperate room from the girls, so Kenji being the nice guy that he was tried to leave the room first. When he twisted the door knob though, it didn't budge.
"I think we might be stuck?"
He was about to punch it down with cursed energy, but then the ground beneath them suddenly opened up to swallow them all.
All three of them fell down into a deep darkness with a very faint light at the end of it. Akumu was about to summon his dark whips to stop their fall, but then he felt something strange. On the outside of wherever they were falling, he felt countless people, as well as plenty of strong sorcerers.
'No way...'
After falling for what felt like 2 minutes, the group rapidly began to slow down as they finally reached the bright light. It completely swallowed them, forcing Akumu to close his eyes as he felt them being assaulted by the indiscriminate glow.
He could feel his body being enveloped by a strange warmth, before it was immediately replaced by a sharp pain. And then he felt his face being pressed against something hard.. and dirty.
Once he opened his eyes, he was face flat on the floor. But his eyes widened in amazement as he found himself in an unbelievably large colosseum, much bigger than the one in Jujutsu High.
Hikaru and Kenji seemed to be fine, and Taori and Yumeno were there too. However in the 3 other corners of the arena, the three other teams were waiting there too.
In one corner were a group of men dressed in pure white suits, while one was in just black. In the other, was a group that wasn't even wearing any matching uniform, oddly though there was a bear present among them. And finally, there was the oddly dressed corner. They were clearly dressed in traditional Chinese attire making identifying them incredibly easy, but one of them which were dressed in orange had caught his attention.
With just a glance, Akumu could tell that the one in the black suit, and the one in orange were both stronger than him. These were the people he had to surpass if he wanted his team to win.
And then a voice echoed from a hidden speaker,
"As a mere soldier during the Jujutsu war, entrepreneur Stew F. Gerald got to witness first hand, both the wonderful power and terror of Jujutsu. But even after all of that, he had a dream.. who was the strongest? Who was the true absolute in this era dominated by power!? And thus he opened the first curse battle tournament! The beginning of a new era!"
The arena roared in excitement as the media center opened up atop the middle of the stage. Magically hovering above everyone. In it sat three people who would act as commentators and judges for the games.
In the far end sat a bald black man with no eyebrows donning a plain blue suit, in front of him was a title card named, Tyrece Kobe. On the far left was a blonde-haired woman, also wearing a plain but light green suit, in front of her too laid a title card with the name of Leonie Grace. In the middle, however, was a strangely dressed person. Its gender was hard to tell as they wore a plain blue top and the head of a snowman? They wore a large blue hat that was divided into two pieces. They too had a title card named, Sergeant Frost.
The snowman began to shout into the microphone,
"RISE AND SHINE! SINCE THIS YEAR IS SPECIAL, WE DECIDED TO START EARLY!"
Hikaru appeared to be struggling to keep awake.
"This is a bonus round battle royal where 1 member from each team will be put head to head against each other. Of course, you will be rewarded in points depending on how well you did, so good performance now gives you a head start for the rest of the tournament!"
They had a little time to decide who to send out before the fight started, so Akumu discussed it with his team. Yumeno proposed first,
"I think Hirotoshi should go first."
Akumu confused asked why.
Yumeno then gave a perfectly reasonable explanation,
"For starters, Dojima's and Taori's abilities aren't very helpful in a fight against multiple opponents, which isn't an issue with cursed spirits, but these competitors will have their own cursed techniques. My cursed technique isn't very effective in this kind of scenario either, but you are our jack that operates well in every situation, so sending you in would be reasonable. But I believe Hirotoshi would be able to overwhelm them with his Shikigami."
Akumu and Yumeno both shared the role of co captain for the team, as they were both the strongest and smartest on the team respectively. Yumeno gave an easy enough answer, but that didn't deny Akumu the right to go himself.
In the end, they sent the very reluctant Hikaru out, and at the same time, the other teams had also sent forth their champions.
Sergeant Frost then announced the competitors that had been chosen,
"IN THE US CORNER, WE HAVE THE SON OF RED, ANDREW MARSHALL."
He wore a simple but outdated cowboy outfit equipped with two fancy white revolvers. He was obscenely tall for his age.
"IN THE KOREA CORNER, WE HAVE HONG GON-ILL"
Like the rest of his group, he wore a shining white suit that almost blinded anyone who looked his way. Differently from everyone, the crowd screamed his name. He appeared to be a well-known figure in his country and to even some foreigners.
"IN THE JAPANESE CORNER, WE HAVE HIKARU HIROTOSHI!"
Nervous from all the attention he was getting, his legs began to shake. The sight of him reminded Akumu of Hagone when the two first met.
"AND LAST BUT NOT LEASE! IS LUO XIANG OF CHINA!"
She had unique purple hair tied up in two buns. Her outfit in contrast to her hair was a bright yellow covered in extravagant flower patterns.
The world quickly turned dark for Akumu, as well as everyone else who wasn't participating the current battle, as they all found themselves in a mysterious hall where a giant screen seemed to be projecting the match happening outside.
And then, in the middle of the colosseum above the heads of the competitors, was a countdown,
"3.. 2.. 1.. FIGHTTTT"
Let the curse battle tournament, begin!