🌕 Jujutsu Kaisen: Moon of the Fallen King
Chapter 28 – "Legacy of the Cursed Heir"
The battlefield still trembled from the clash between Sukuna and Mahoraga. The air was thick with scorched earth, black smoke, and the eerie hum of residual cursed energy. Amid the shattered terrain, Sukuna stood tall, his chest rising slowly as he surveyed the damage. Behind him, the broken figure of Retsu Zenin lay motionless—defeated, disgraced, yet alive.
Suddenly, a rumble echoed from beyond the haze. Thunder cracked. From the smoke, two silhouettes emerged.
Gojo Shinra stepped forward, no longer wearing his signature smirk. Slung over his shoulder was a plain wooden box—innocent in appearance, yet brimming with spiritual weight. At his side walked an older sorcerer, weathered by time and battle. His eyes flicked across the broken landscape and immediately settled on Retsu's fallen body.
"So it's over?" Gojo's voice was casual, yet a trace of tension laced the words. "You always wrap things up in such… destructive fashion, Sukuna."
The older sorcerer knelt beside Retsu, concern flashing across his face. "What was he trying to summon…?"
Gojo placed the box gently on the ground, his expression unreadable. "Something grand, obviously. But like the rest of his clan—he aimed too high."
Behind them, cursed winds whispered across the earth.
Far away, atop a desolate mountain peak, Lucius sat silently. The wind whipped at his cloak, and dark clouds circled above like hungry vultures. In his hand rested an old pendant—its edges worn by time. He ran a thumb across its surface, slowly… almost reverently.
"Master…" he whispered, barely audible over the wind. "Did you ever imagine this world would fall so far?"
His mind drifted to a different time. A boy, barely surviving, clinging to every word of an old man who had taken him in.
> "Power is a tool," the Master had once said, placing a steady hand on his shoulder. "But what you lose while chasing it… that's what shapes you."
Lucius's chest tightened as the memory flashed.
> Saving the world isn't hard… preserving it is. The deepest curses don't dwell outside—they grow in wounds that never heal…
A tear escaped Lucius's eye, and he clenched the pendant in his palm.
"You told me… when everything ends, a new path begins. Is this… that path?"
Back on the battlefield, Retsu stirred.
The defeated Zenin heir pushed himself up on trembling arms, blood running down his chin. But something in his eyes had changed. A desperation. A rage.
"No…" he growled. "It's not over yet."
With a shaking hand, he pulled a bone talisman from beneath his robe. He chanted words long forgotten—even by most sorcerers—and pressed the bleeding wound in his hand against the relic.
"By ancient blood… forgotten pacts… awaken!"
The earth split open.
A cursed vortex exploded around him, black winds howling, and from the depths of the abyss, a monstrous shape rose. Its body was enormous—serpentine, coiling. Its eight heads broke free from the cursed storm like dragons from another age, each one exhaling a different elemental plague—fire, acid, lightning, poison…
Yamata no Orochi had awakened.
Gojo Shinra's eyes narrowed.
"Now that's a mistake."
Sukuna watched, intrigued rather than threatened. A slow, delighted grin stretched across his face.
"Hmph," he chuckled. "So this exists. Something beyond that adaptive toy…"
Yamata no Orochi lunged—eight heads, eight disasters. Sukuna dodged with fluid grace, responding with "Cleave" and "Dismantle" in flawless succession. Still, the cursed serpent adapted swiftly, countering him with perfect elemental synergy. Acid sizzled against the ground, lightning cracked through the air.
Sukuna laughed through the chaos.
"Good! Don't bore me now!"
Suddenly, Yamata no Orochi halted. Its colossal body shimmered, contracting into itself, cursed energy condensing violently. In a flash of blinding light, the beast was gone—replaced by a humanoid figure radiating unrestrained primal energy.
Tall. Serene. Terrifying.
Its hair moved like liquid shadow, its eyes glowing like ancient stars. This was Yamata no Orochi's true form—human, yet far from human.
It spoke.
> "You've only glimpsed a fraction of me, King of Curses."
Sukuna's grin shrank ever so slightly.
"Indeed… this might actually be interesting."
The two forces collided like titans.
Orochi's movements were perfect—fluid martial technique infused with cursed elemental energy. Each strike carried the strength of a storm. Sukuna fought back with savage grace, pushing his powers to the edge. Their blows tore the air, shattered boulders, and cracked the very bones of the earth.
Far away, Gojo Shinra watched, hand resting on the wooden box.
Lucius's old master's friend stood beside him, horrified. "This isn't cursed energy. It's something older… something that shouldn't exist."
Shinra's eyes never left the battlefield.
"Even primal forces have limits," he muttered. "The only question is… who reaches theirs first?"
Then came the finishing clash.
Yamata no Orochi unleashed all eight elements—merged into a single devastating beam of cursed energy. The heavens seemed to split open.
Sukuna stood firm. His tattoos glowed brighter than ever, and he conjured a blade of raw malevolence to answer the onslaught.
Two titans. One world-shaking impact.
Light. Darkness. Fire. Void.
And when the smoke cleared… nothing was the same.
> "In the heart of destruction, the echoes of ancient power resurfaced. A King's reign… challenged by a legend reborn."
🌀 Next: Chapter 29 – "The Price of Revival"