14 The Strongest (Part Five)

Within Dugon’s domain, there was no nightfall.
The blue sky, white clouds, sunlight, sandy beach, and vast sea remained unchanged in their beauty.

Dazai Osamu silently calculated the time in his mind. They had been inside this domain for over twenty-four hours. Nakahara Chuuya had gone from splashing in the seawater to sunbathing on the sand, yet the sky within the domain showed no signs of changing.

Dazai sat beside Nakahara Chuuya, gazing at the horizon where the sky met the sea, and mocked, “No matter how much you sunbathe, Chuuya, you’ll never get darker.”

“Like you could, huh?!” Chuuya replied comfortably, lying on the beach with his eyes closed. “My complexion’s healthier than yours.”

Dazai raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t subject myself to the sun’s harsh glare.”

Chuuya smiled, eyes still shut, teasing, “Afraid you’ll dry up, sardine?”

“Slugs are the ones who dry out more easily,” Dazai retorted, eyeing Chuuya, who wore only underwear, lying on the sand. His gaze lingered greedily over the firm muscles of his chest and abdomen, settling on the faintly pink points.

Chuuya’s wet clothes from their swim lay on a nearby rock, drying in the sun. Dazai poked the muscles of Chuuya’s arm, making tiny dimples.

“If you want to play, go poke the sand!” Chuuya grabbed Dazai’s hand lazily, saying, “Ticklish!”

“If you want me to bury you, just say so,” Dazai said, fiddling with the sand beside them. “I’m not helping.”

“Not expecting you to,” Chuuya said. “What are you thinking about?”

Dazai replied, “The domain. Aren’t you curious, Chuuya?”

“It’s pretty amazing,” Chuuya admitted. “At least it doesn’t feel like day and night are reversed anymore.”

Though they no longer needed sleep, their minds hadn’t fully adjusted, still feeling uneasy about going long hours without rest.

“Even if Chuuya wants to sleep, you can sleep, it’s just no longer necessary—like eating or drinking,” Dazai said.

“It’s more like resting than sleeping,” Chuuya muttered, shielding his eyes from the sun. “Feels like being back in the lab.”

Without the concept of time, no human needs, and separated somehow from the outside world.

The smile vanished from Dazai’s face.

He lowered his gaze to Chuuya, who seemed to be speaking casually but whose steady breathing while resting was indistinguishable from sleep.

After a moment, Dazai said, “Cursed spirits can’t stay awake endlessly either. They must have their own way of resting.”

“How have you been resting all this time?” Chuuya asked, opening his blue eyes to look directly at Dazai. “You were born so much earlier than me—you must have experience.”

Dazai casually replied, “I don’t desire sleep.”

Chuuya frowned. “No chance of sudden death from lack of rest? I’m starting to pity you, Dazai.”

“That kind of death is pure torture. No thanks!” Dazai said with disdain.

They exchanged a glance before looking away.

Dazai spoke first, “Our abilities haven’t changed—they’ve become jujutsu. The domain seems similar to Byakuren’s ability, but it’s more like an advanced form of a technique.”

“I can’t do that,” Chuuya said frankly. “I’ve never tried using my ability to build a space. Corrupted state is different…”

“Corrupted state just means your ability’s range has expanded and your power increased. A small black hole doesn’t count as building space,” Dazai explained, knowing more about the corrupted state than Chuuya himself.

—After all, he was always there observing every time.

“I asked Mahito. He said there are very few sorcerers or cursed spirits who can unfold a domain, but theoretically, anyone can learn it,” Dazai said. “It’s an unrestricted but difficult skill to master, and very useful. Inside a domain, attacks against enemies are guaranteed to hit and can even gain buffs. There are three ways to counter a domain: using techniques against it, escaping the domain, or unfolding your own domain.”

Chuuya asked curiously, “Escaping counts too?”

“That’s what Mahito said,” Dazai replied. “He seems to have a lot of teaching experience.”

“Did he say how to master it?”

“By constructing a space using your own cursed energy,” Dazai answered briefly.

Chuuya pondered, “So first, I have to treat my ability as cursed energy.”

Dazai reminded him, “Chuuya, our abilities now are cursed energy.”

Chuuya looked at Dazai. “So can you unfold a domain now?”

“No, my techniques are still completely passive,” Dazai said. “If I encounter the domain’s owner inside their domain, I can dispel it.”

“What if the other person hides and disappears? Like now,” Chuuya gestured around them.

“Then it’s a matter of who lasts longer,” Dazai said. “Unfolding a domain consumes a lot of cursed energy.”

Chuuya looked out at the sea, then back at Dazai.

Dazai added, “That’s what they say.”

“Mahito’s words?” Chuuya sat up, teasing, “Your information sources are unusually singular.”

“The jujutsu world is too closed off,” Dazai complained flatly.

But Chuuya noticed his cheeks puffed out slightly, reminding him of their youth.

“Don’t roll around on the beach,” Chuuya said as he stood up to retrieve his clothes from the rocks.

Dazai watched his muscular back and said, “Not quite to that point yet.”

Chuuya wrinkled his nose and put his clothes on one by one.

“Let’s go, Chuuya,” Dazai said, walking over to him and flipping up his collar.

Chuuya smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. “Have you asked everything you wanted?”

“No matter how much I ask, I won’t get more,” Dazai said, glancing at Mahito and Hanami sitting far off in beach chairs. “They don’t know anything.”

“Got any targets next? The Star Compass Sect?” Chuuya asked casually.

Dazai said, “I’m more interested in the whereabouts of the so-called ‘strongest’ one.”

Rather than act himself, Dazai preferred to use others as tools—provided the intelligence was accurate, since many rumors were unreliable.

Take Dostoevsky, for example. On the surface, the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia were sworn enemies. Dostoevsky believed that, and ended up completely defeated.

Dazai wouldn’t make the same mistake. Sorcerers and cursed spirits were openly hostile; Geto Suguru was severely injured, so the jujutsu world should be making moves.

There were only three special grade sorcerers, with a fifty percent chance Satoru Gojo would be sent to deal with Geto Suguru.

But after all these years, the jujutsu world hadn’t managed to do much against the Star Compass Sect; they probably hadn’t found Geto’s base.

Might as well lend them a hand.

Chuuya glanced at Dazai in surprise but didn’t object. He was curious about the strongest force in this world.

As for how Dazai planned to use that person, he didn’t care. Knowing Dazai’s nature, he’d likely try to sabotage both sides, stirring up chaos with mutual destruction.

He only needed enough strength to back himself up.

Domain.

Chuuya looked down at his hand, opening and closing his palm. A dark red light flashed briefly, wrapping around his hand.