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Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: Ashes of the Forgotten

📖 Chapter 18: Ashes of the Forgotten

By Kataki Ali

The wind howled over the battlefield, carrying with it the scent of scorched earth and fading blood. Lucius stood in silence, surrounded by broken land and burned grass — a boy among corpses, still breathing… barely.

His body trembled, shoulders weak, vision blurred. The fight was over. But peace never came.

Out of the rising mist, three masked figures stepped forward. Clad in black, their cursed auras crackled like thunder, each bearing the sigil of the Gojo and Zenin clans.

> "That's him," one said flatly. "The cursed child. End it before he awakens again."

Lucius tried to speak — but nothing came out. His chest burned, and his legs gave way.

One of the sorcerers moved fast — a blur of cold precision. A cursed chain shot out and pierced through Lucius's chest. A sharp gasp escaped him as his body jerked back and fell.

He collapsed.

The world blurred.

Above, the clouds drifted lazily, as if mocking the urgency of the moment.

> "Was I really a monster…?"

His final thought echoed, swallowed by the earth.

No scream.

No plea.

Just silence.

 

A moment later, one of the sorcerers bent down and checked his pulse.

> "No cursed energy left. He's dead."

No remorse. No hesitation. With a flick of a scroll, the trio vanished into the mist.

The battlefield was quiet again.

But the wind had changed.

 

Far off, something stirred.

A presence returned.

Soft footsteps echoed across ash and gravel. Out of the fog emerged a figure — tall, silent, with long dark hair and glowing crimson eyes.

The Demon Lord Girl knelt beside Lucius's broken body. Her fingers hovered above his chest — the chain still embedded, his heartbeat gone.

Her voice was barely a whisper.

> "They ended a child… and awakened a king."

Without another word, she stood and walked away — vanishing into the smoke.

 

In the distance, at Jujutsu High, a report was being delivered.

> "Mission complete. The boy is dead," said a kneeling sorcerer.

The elders exchanged glances. It should have felt like victory. But the sky outside screamed otherwise.

> "Why then… do the winds still scream?" the Gojo Elder muttered.

Just then, a blood-soaked cursed crow slammed into the temple wall. Its eyes glowed — and collapsed into black ash.

 

Back at the battlefield, something impossible was happening.

Lucius's lifeless body began to glow — faint, but real.

Then… it began to sink. Slowly, the ground opened beneath him, vines of cursed roots pulling him into the earth.

Deep, deep below the surface, in total darkness, his body floated.

Wrapped in a cocoon of shadows and ember.

Still.

Peaceful.

> "The soul doesn't die… it simply waits."

 

Far away, in a forgotten sanctuary, twelve cursed thrones stood in a circle. Only nine were filled.

The Demon Lords had gathered.

> "The flame sigil is active again," whispered one.

Another clenched her clawed hand.

> "Then the boy… lives."

A scroll was unfurled.

Old prophecy burned into its surface.

> "When fire meets shadow… the Demon King shall rise."

The chamber trembled.

 

Back in the silence of the battlefield, the last of the ash fell from the sky like snow. The crescent moon above burned blood red.

Lucius's voice echoed, not in sound, but in memory — a whisper passed down.

> "You lit the spark, Master. I'll carry the flame."

The child was gone.

Something else would rise in his place.

 

📘 To be continued in Chapter 19…

✍️ By Kataki Ali

"I'm Kataki. Grateful that you took the time to read my story!" 😊

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