Twisted and Accursed, Chapter 17

Ya know... Sukuna still wasn’t entirely sure how he even got here, trapped within some kind of outer dimension that was somehow connected to two entities at once: a brat and a... an eldritch monstrosity unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Then again, it wasn’t as though he was in any better shape, considering he... no longer even had an actual physical form. Well, that wasn’t really anything new, considering he’d existed as a Cursed Object for almost a thousand years before finding himself trapped in his nephew’s body. But, no, that wasn’t the weird part. The weird part, which – as far as Sukuna was aware – should’ve been entirely impossible, no matter how many techniques or Binding Vows one made, was the fact that he was no longer bound to any object, no longer sealed within his own body parts or fingers.

He was... essentially a free spirit now, closer in existence to a Disaster Curse than whatever it was he’d become after transforming himself into a pseudo-curse. But then... Sukuna felt and knew that he wasn’t exactly a Cursed Spirit either. How? Well, his Cursed Energy wasn’t tied to any emotion – negative or otherwise. And Cursed Spirits, more than anything, were bound by the very same ideals, fears, or emotions that gave birth to them. That volcano-head guy, Jogo, for instance, was borne from the primal fear of fire – or, specifically, the disasters wrought forth by flames. Well, Sukuna wasn’t bound by any of that. As far as he was aware, his Cursed Technique remained unchanged, alongside his Reserves and Output. So... he’d turned into a disembodied entity that somehow still retained all his memories and powers in life.

Interesting. Finally something new.

That still didn’t explain how he ended up in this sort of situation, however. The last thing Sukuna remembered vividly was his... final battle against his nephew, when the brat finally was able to perform a Domain Expansion, right when Sukuna’s own domain had essentially been burned out from attrition. The Benevolent Shrine, the exact opposite of Sukuna own Malevolent Shrine. What it actually did... well... Sukuna still wasn’t entirely certain, because everything went dark afterwards, seeing as he had absolutely nothing to defend himself with within Yuuji’s domain. He was pretty sure he died right then and there.

Tsk, it would’ve been nice if he saw what the brat’s domain actually did. At best, he could only kind of take a guess. And it probably had something to do with the idea of opposites. Being the opposite of Malevolent Shrine, which took lives, the brat’s version of it probably brought he dead back or something. Sukuna wasn’t sure of that.

Whatever the case, he awoke here, wherever this place was, a kind of void that connected him to one Taylor Hebert and to an entity that referred to itself as the Queen Administrator, some kind of alien thing that management powers. His connection to Taylor Hebert was interesting. If she was unconscious or otherwise incapable of thinking, then he was able to take over the reins of her body, so to speak, which was a good way to walk around and kill things. But, unlike a true vessel, like Yuuji, Taylor didn’t really have to exert much effort into regaining control, unless they made a Binding Vow beforehand or unless she’d injured herself enough to the point of unconsciousness. Or, he could simply look at the world through her senses – see through her eyes, breathe through her knows, without Taylor herself knowing. He could even view her, frankly, boring memories.

Beyond that, Taylor Heber herself was not nearly as interesting as their connection.

It was precisely because of his connection that Sukuna very quickly figured out that Taylor Hebert was most definitely not on the same Earth that he knew, simply because Parahumans would’ve been a very common sight to see if they existed back on Sukuna’s Earth, but they didn’t. A Parahuman Sorcerer would have been very interesting to fight against.

Certainly far more interesting than Yuuji, of all things, since Parahumans had all sorts of freakish abilities that would place them firmly above most Jujutsu Sorcerers, like that Alexandria heroine, who’d been Taylor Hebert’s idol as a child. Aside from himself and Gojo Satoru, Sukuna couldn’t think of anyone who could defeat her or bypass her durability. Kenjaku might be able to trick her somehow, Sukuna doubted it.

Parahumans and these Eldritch Shards... all very interesting, very engaging. Because he was most probably dead, his soul kicked right out of the afterlife or something. And since there was no way for a soul to die, he needed some form of entertainment to keep himself busy or else he’d lose what remained of his mind – or not. Sukuna wasn’t entirely certain if he was still susceptible to such things, but he knew how painful boredom could get. He’d been a victim of it when he reached the pinnacle of Jujutsu, after all.

Whatever the case, he was now bound to another world, connected to two entities that were nothing close to anything he’d ever known. Queen Administrator was... something. Sukuna wasn’t entirely certain of his thoughts of that creature just yet, but it certainly was interesting. It dwarfed him, in terms of power. But it was also... odd in that it seemed to think that it needed humans to gather data – for what, Sukuna never bothered asking. But, they talked a lot and, quite frankly, engaging in polite conversations with the alien being was far more interesting and entertaining than anything else he’d ever done. The very nature of shards and how they existed across multiple dimensions and worlds was a fascinating thing. Of course, Sukuna’s interest was piqued; how could it not be? These Shards held the power to mess with reality itself, using nothing but pure physical energy – not even Cursed Energy, something that baffled Queen Administrator to no end, until she figured out its use eventually. Still, Sukuna wanted to study and learn from them as much as he could, which was precisely why he wanted access to the Shard Network, from where he could communicate with... really... any shard who was willing and able to communicate with him.

Why? Well, he wanted to learn more about them, first and foremost, and because... well... Sukuna wanted to see what would happen if he consumed one of the weaker ones and worked his way up. The really important shards, like Queen Administrator, were continent-spanning mega beasts that Sukuna simply couldn’t hope to consume – not as he was, at least. Physically, perhaps, the idea would’ve been entirely ludicrous and Sukuna would never have engaged this plan at all if he’d been reborn as a physical being. But that was just it. Ryomen Sukuna was no longer a physical creature – not even a Cursed Spirit. What he was now was... closer in essence to some kind of sentient idea, an anomaly. And that meant physical rules no longer mattered to him – or, at least, they didn’t matter as much as they used to.

Hence, the plan; try to devour one of the smaller shards and see what happens afterwards.

What could possibly go wrong? It’s not like the Golden Man could kill him for messing around with the Shards. After all, he was already dead – disembodied – and these Shards and Entities were very much physical creatures, even with Queen Administrator’s recent discovery of Cursed Energy. And wasn’t that a very interesting turn of events? Truth be told, Sukuna had been expecting for the alien creature to fail utterly. After all, how could it possibly succeed, right? Cursed Energy was generated from the negative emotions of living creatures, mostly humans, stemming from their minds and – usually, for non-sorcerers – spreading outwards uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Queen Administrator and the other Shards were closer to computers. They weren’t incapable of understanding the concept of emotions; that much was certain. After all, these creatures possessed the sort of intelligence that humans could only ever dream of. The problem was that having the ability to understand the concept of emotions did not come with the ability to actually feel them and process them, which was the root of where and how Cursed Energy was generated in the body.

Queen Administrator found a workaround. The alien creature made use of its connection to Taylor Hebert, using her mind as a locus. The brat certainly generated a lot of Cursed Energy. And so, as Sukuna understood it, Queen Administrator created a replica of Taylor’s brain, but kept it in a constant state of agony, which generated a ton of Cursed Energy. From there, all the Shard had to do was experiment until, at last, it figured how to manipulate Cursed Energy by simulating emotions. From a Jujutsu standpoint, Queen Administrator itself did not generate or possess Cursed Energy, but the brain it simulated from Taylor Hebert’s. From a practical standpoint, the simulated brain belonged to Queen Administrator and so the Cursed Energy was hers, alongside whatever Innate Technique came out of it.

Very interesting. Unfortunately, Queen Administrator was also rather certain of the fact that only her fellow ‘noble’ shards were capable of doing such a thing.

What an alien world. Honestly. There were endless fascinations to be seen and felt. Even the planet itself – at least, the one called Earth Bet - and all the living creatures that lived in it, were utterly alien.

Oh yes, even Taylor Hebert herself and, by extension, every single human on her planet, was practically alien to him. Certainly, she was human in body and mind, but it was her soul that was different. In fact, all the souls of all the humans on her world was... alien. Sukuna himself felt the shape of Taylor’s soul and it was... something. Horrific? Not quite. But certainly different. Here, on this world, the rules were different; body and soul were not nearly as intertwined as they were in Sukuna’s world. Altering the shape of the soul, for instance, would not affect the body. Mahito would go crazy if he was dumped in this world as his Innate Technique would simply not work on the humans here.

And there was the very glaring issue that Sukuna was rather certain no one else – aside from that other entity – had ever noticed before. And that was the fact that this world did not have a functioning afterlife. The souls of those who died would dissipate and just... disappear forever – no heaven or hell, no reincarnation, nothing. Oblivion. Total darkness and desolation awaited all those who died. Of course, the exception to this rule was the brat herself, Taylor Hebert, who – with the aid of Queen Administrator – somehow took total control of the imprints of those she ‘saved’. Hm, truth be told, Sukuna still wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but he knew for certain, at least, that the ‘souls’ the brat kept as pets weren’t exactly souls, but were mere spiritual fragments that clung onto her because of a lack of a proper afterlife. So, instead of dissipating and disappearing as they normally did, these fragments clung onto Taylor’s own soul, becoming a part of her – becoming her Innate Technique.

Or, at least, that’s how Sukuna understood it.

How the individual fragments each possessed their abilities remained something of a mystery if he was being honest. Then again, souls, even in his world, were very poorly understood. That they operated entirely on different laws in this one meant that trying to understand them immediately was an entirely futile effort, even if it would be a fun one. Functionally, however, what the brat possessed was something similar to Cursed Spirit Manipulation; in fact, it was safe to say that her ability was nearly identical, with the difference being the method with which she procured her spirits, since Taylor ‘saved’ her collection instead of dominating them into servitude.

A very interesting ability, that one. Sukuna grinned. He had been born yet at the time, but the last person who wielded the epithet of ‘King of Curses’ was a user of Cursed Spirit Manipulation. The brat was on the path to becoming a powerhouse onto herself. Exciting. Very exciting. Sukuna couldn't wait to see just how strong she'd become. And, maybe, just maybe, she'd get strong enough to challenge him.