𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑫𝑶𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐋 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐒

I TRUST YOU. That's what Gojo Satoru had said. He said easily, too – like he truly meant it, something Mikazuki couldn't help but wonder about. Did he truly, or was he desperate enough to play another one of his games? Even five feet below the surface when they were about to face one of the most dangerous special-grade Cursed Spirit in Japan.

The sorceress grimaced, a bitter taste settling on her mouth as the thought lingered in the back of her mind. Satoru had always been hard to read, and in that single moment, with their feet soaked in wastewater and as they made their way towards the deepest parts of the sewers, she didn't know whether the words out of his mouth were a simple truth or another one of his practiced lies. By now, she should have been able to tell the difference.

She had practice, and even after ten years of exile, some things could never be forgotten.

But this time, the sorceress was completely unprepared. Either Satoru was a liar, or he wasn't, but at the end of the day, neither option erased what he'd done. Just like his regret didn't erase the fear that refused to leave her body, hands shaking while she followed the sorcerer through the darkness, her precious nodachi strapped of his back.

Another slice of her soul he'd so easily stolen, another piece of her heart he couldn't wait to shatter one more time.

Mikazuki feared that nearly as much as she currently feared him – what a change from who she was before, never in a million lifetimes would she have expected to feel that way about Gojo Satoru. Love him? Yes (maybe), for a while. But fear him? Never. Or at least that's how it was supposed to be. That's another promise he made, and just like the others, he didn't keep it.

You can be afraid of many things, Mikazuki. But never of me, okay?

Maybe he was a liar after all.

The sorceress slowed down, a bolt of pain shooting through her left leg as she stumbled on a piece of debris. Satoru didn't notice, the sound of his feet hitting the water on the floor echoing in the darkness, his silhouette growing smaller and smaller the longer she stared at it. Another low grumbling rolled through the void, the growl turning Mikazuki's blood to ice while the walls rattled once again. They were getting closer – so close, in fact, she could smell the foul scent of rotting flesh and musty water.

The heiress sighed, pushing past the pain and joining Satoru as they rounded the corner. It was the first corner since they first tumbled down the drain, and as the rats began to scatter, Mikazuki realized exactly what was awaiting on the other side. Gojo seemed to realize it too. He pulled out the map on his phone one last time, attempting to memorize the schematic so the plan would go without a hitch. It was an absurd attempt, but Mikazuki simply nodded, she too watching the thinly drawn lines captured on his camera.

"Okay." Satoru spoke softly, his voice raspy and tired from hours of inhaling waste particles in the air. "We have two hours before midnight, which is when the Curse will be at its strongest. If we manage to take it down before then, we'll be done."

The sorceress nodded, adjusting what was left of her leather jacket before setting her sights ahead. The rats continued their parade, all of them heading to the same place – to the mother's lair. Despite her current predicament, Mikazuki did not fear the rats any more than she feared the darkness. They only had one shot to do this – after that, all would be lost.

"We can do this." Mikazuki spoke, the certainty in her tone surprising her as much as it did him.

We have to do this. She didn't say.

Satoru nodded, adjusting the katana one more time before diving into the endless darkness in front of them. Mikazuki followed him, turning into a larger tunnel. The woman paused, her combat boots sinking into a mixture of black water and other stale bodily fluids. This particular chamber was flooded, water nearly reaching her knees while she slowly made her way through the darkness. The swarm of rats – hundreds, maybe even millions – had gathered on the other side of the tunnel. There were so many even the walls were completely covered, their glowing red eyes set on the platform in front of them.

That's when she saw it. Mikazuki held her breath, expression turning pale as her golden gaze landed on the Curse. In her long twenty-seven years of life, the Kinzoku heiress had never seen something like this. The mother – or at least what she assumed must have been – was as large as a two-story building, a blanket of brownish fur covering it from head to toe. Its paws were colossal, the nails sharp and of a black colour while its eyes were a gleaming crimson.

However, it wasn't the appearance of the Curse what caught Mikazuki's eyes. Instead, it was the insane amount of Cursed energy currently enveloping its body. This was no ordinary Cursed spirit, and as soon as the heiress recognized the strange markings across the creature's body, realization dawned on her.

The Mother of All Rats, also known as the Ninkilim.

Not an ordinary Curse. Not a Cursed Spirit. Not a creature that could be killed, only sealed. A monster to all monsters and, presently, a death sentence.

Mikazuki took a slow steadying breath, body frozen in fear as she gently turned to look at Satoru. Gojo seemed to be just as surprised as her, if not more. His hand hovered over the handle of her nodachi, he too paralyzed by a sense of alarm. Exorcising a Cursed Spirit was one thing – complicated, but also simple enough for two special-grade sorcerers. Except, the creature currently hunched over its Curselings was no ordinary Curse, but a Mythological Cursed Spirit.

A goddess of ancient times that couldn't be killed, couldn't be exorcised – only sealed.

And just like that, their mission went from special-grade to suicide-by-Curse in less than a second.