The battlefield lay scarred and still, the echo of the recent clash fading into silence.
Itadori and Megumi leaned heavily against crumbled walls, breaths ragged, bodies aching.
But then—
A ripple tore through the air.
From the shadows, a dark, sinister presence emerged: Sukuna.
Megumi's eyes flashed, hardened and sharp, ready for battle.
Yet Sukuna's smirk twisted the moment.
With a flick of his cursed fingers, he forced Megumi's mouth open.
Megumi hesitated, but then—he swallowed the cursed finger.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
No longer Megumi.
Sukuna's soul gripped the body, eyes blazing with cruel amusement.
Itadori's heart clenched.
"Megumi!" he cried, rushing forward.
But the figure turned, and that familiar face was gone.
"Sukuna," Itadori whispered, dread washing over him.
Suddenly, footsteps thundered up the stairs.
Higuruma—who had fled moments ago—returned, wide-eyed and urgent, drawn by the chaos.
"What the hell's going on here?!"
His gaze locked on the Sukuna-possessed Megumi, tension rippling through the air like a taut wire.
The grand game had just shifted into a far darker arena.