Chapter 19 - Chapter 19: Echoes of Power

📖 Chapter 19: Echoes of Power

The battlefield was nothing more than overgrown decay now — broken stones, scorched trees, and cursed sigils that still pulsed faintly, as if refusing to die.

Five years had passed since that day, the day legends clashed and a boy fell with the burden of a god in his chest.

> "We buried the war," someone had once whispered. "But we never buried the questions."

In a cold, metal room deep within the walls of the new Jujutsu HQ, digital screens flickered. Sorcerers in black robes trained against dummies cursed with minor spirits.

"Focus!" barked a trainer. "Curses don't wait for second chances!"

The hum of footsteps silenced the room. A man passed by — tall, white-haired, composed. The reformed Gojo Clan's new leader: Shinra Gojo.

One of the younger trainees stood to attention. "Sir, Zenin Clan scouts were spotted across our territory line again."

Shinra paused, then spoke with chilling calm.

> "Remind them… this isn't a game of borders.

It's a game of survival."

Far away, in a hidden Zenin compound built atop old temple ruins, tension crackled like stormlight.

Retsu Zenin, the new clan head, slammed his palm onto a cursed stone table. The impact made every other clan member still.

> "We should've ruled after Sukuna's fall! Instead, we rot under Gojo's silence!"

A hooded agent stepped forward, offering a sealed scroll.

> "The fragment you requested… was found in the North Ruins."

Retsu's eyes gleamed — not with respect, but conquest.

Beneath the earth, sealed in a cocoon of cursed roots and forgotten flame, a single pulse echoed…

…from Lucius.

No breath escaped him. No heartbeat stirred. Yet the shadows moved.

> "He was only a child," a voice whispered through the silence. "And yet… he bore the Devil's soul."

The air cracked — a thread of red lightning split across the crystal casing. Something stirred within.

At HQ, Shinra stood before a tactical board surrounded by senior sorcerers.

"We detected a cursed surge. Same coordinates where Lucius… died."

One elder flinched. "You believe he's alive?"

Shinra's reply came soft. Measured.

> "I believe in one truth: In this world… death is rarely the end."

Flames. Blood. Swords.

Lucius remembered everything — the day he fell.

In the haze of fire and ruin, the only thing louder than screaming… was silence.

> "The day I died," he thought, "I didn't feel pain. I felt regret."

Regret for trusting too late. For loving too slow.

And then, everything faded.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the southern continent, Retsu Zenin stood before a dark shrine. He knelt not in devotion, but in strategy. Across from him, a tall cursed soldier with hollow eyes bowed.

"If you seek true power," the cursed being rasped, "you must serve the one who made Sukuna."

Retsu's smile was sharp. Cold.

> "I don't serve. I conquer."

The pact was sealed with silence.

That night, under the blood-misted sky of a city not yet cursed, a lone sorcerer walked his patrol route. Neon signs buzzed, unaware that beneath the sidewalk, old shadows slithered.

A thin red thread glowed beneath the sorcerer's foot.

> Zzzzt…

He turned sharply — but it was already too late.

> "The Devil never left," came a voice behind him.

"You just stopped looking."

Far away in a fractured dimension — untouched by time — a fragment of Sukuna's soul pulsed.

His laugh echoed like a ripple of death.

> "Let them believe I'm gone…"

Dark cursed spirits whispered from the void.

> "Soon… he walks again."

Back at HQ, Shinra Gojo stepped out into the moonlight. He stared at the sky, hands behind his back.

> "If the past returns," he whispered, "I'll make sure it sees a better future."

Behind him, a file was placed onto his desk. Its label reAd:

Lucius – Re-emergence Risk

📘 To be continued… in Chapter 20: A shadow awakens… and a kingdom prepares to burn.

✍️ By Kataki Ali

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