Tyrant's Favorite | Sukuna Ryomen x Reader

032. Like The Rest

"A domain expansion is an advanced barrier technique where cursed energy is used to construct an enclosed space where it manifests its innate domain. Within this barrier, cursed techniques imbued within the domain cannot be avoided. This technique is very personal to the user, so you must create it yourself from scratch."

Naoya forced you to sit on the ground, eyes closed. His voice swirled around you like a distant echo, enveloping, like a spell. You only focused on that sound, which usually bothered you, but now it seemed hypnotic. It was a strange form of voluntary surrender, as if by listening to it, you were surrendering a part of yourself.

From a distance, Ranta watched, perched in a tree, attentive, ready to intervene if anything went wrong. Because there you were, vulnerable, with your eyes closed, facing your mortal enemy. Nothing about that seemed like a good idea. However, if you wanted even a chance of surviving this war, you had to obey them for now. A small sacrifice for a great reward.

"This barrier needs a specific place to be manifested," Naoya explained. "Think of the place you know best. It could be your favorite place, the place where you grew up, a reality you'd like to see..."

Your mind embarked on a silent journey through all the places you'd once crossed paths with. The cabin where you grew up, permeated with the smell of firewood and memories. The small castles you'd attended, dressed in your best clothes, to dance among lights and promises of safe futures. The Impossible Belt, so vast and indecipherable. And, finally, that hill you used to run up just to watch the sun set behind the mountains.

You dashed toward the familiar stone at the top, the one that had accompanied you through so many silences and laughter with your sisters, with an emotion tinged with nostalgia. But just before reaching it, you tripped over a root hidden in the grass and fell face first to the ground. As if the past, however beautiful, still knew how to make you bite the dust. Wait... that wasn't there before.

"It has to be a place you know like the back of your hand."

You lifted your head up, still dazed from the fall, and the first thing you saw was a red carpet spreading out beneath you like a tongue of fire in the gloom. You recognized it instantly. When you sat up, you noticed that the hill had completely disappeared. You were no longer among tall grasses and nostalgic winds, but among cold marble and dangerous echoes. You were in the king's hall.

It made sense. You knew every corner of that place like the back of your hand. It had been the scene of your worst nightmares and your most intimate moments. Where, Sukuna had almost killed you. It was also where he hugged you for the first time. Where you saw Yorozu again, as if fate wove its threads with cruel precision. It was also the place where the best night of your life happened. And that's not even counting the countless times you wiped that same floor, cleaning as if the past could be erased with effort.

Even though the room was completely clean, you could never erase from your mind how horrible it was to experience it for the first time. The fresh blood dripping from every surface, the human remains scattered at your feet, and the whisper of death tickling your neck. The screams invaded the four walls. They became so intense that you covered your ears, so your eardrums wouldn't burst. Servants, the elderly, children... Humans of flesh and blood like you had left their mark the only way they could, with the pain from the depths of their throats.

"Where are you?" Naoya's voice echoed in your mind, just in time to silence them.

"The king's hell in Sukuna's castle," you replied, taking your hands off your ears in fear of their reappearance.

"Describe the place."

"It's a huge room with black mosaics and a long red carpet running from the entrance to the king's dark throne, hidden between layered, translucent curtains." You peered through the black curtains to see if he was there, but he wasn't.