Kenjaku wore a vaguely indifferent expression.
Sōjun Minamoto suddenly understood.
After all, Kenjaku was a sorcerer who had lived for over a thousand years—just like Tengen. People like them shared one common trait:
A warped sense of time.
Their perception of time had become completely detached from normal standards. No, more than that—it had become a chasm.
When an ordinary person says "soon," they probably mean within half an hour. But when people like them say it, they could be talking about half a month, or even half a year.
Sōjun couldn't help but recall how Tengen once said, "in a little while."
It hadn't been an exaggeration.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, Kenjaku could keep on living for a very long time. With the ability to continuously swap bodies, time became the cheapest, most expendable resource for him—something he could burn through without a care.
Resurrecting each cursed object one at a time? That was nothing to him.
He could spend decades—centuries even—just laying the groundwork for a single step in a long-term plan.
Now that Sōjun was helping, resurrecting all the ancient sorcerers in just a few years was already astonishingly fast.
Sōjun pinched the bridge of his nose.
He wasn't even close to turning a hundred yet. A thousand-year horizon wasn't something he'd ever considered—nor did he care to.
If he hadn't already known that Kenjaku had done most of the prep work beforehand and was nearly finished, he probably would've forced him to pick up the pace.
But since that wasn't the case, there was no need to rush.
He could afford to wait a few more years.
Still, Kenjaku's efficiency was abysmal.
Sōjun shot him a glance.
He didn't mind taking things slowly—but he couldn't stand the way Kenjaku flitted from one thing to another. The moment something interesting caught his eye, he'd drop everything else, acting like time was endless and there was no need to hurry.
Just like when he stumbled across Sōjun, found him intriguing, and abandoned whatever he'd been doing just to test him out.
He'd even gone so far as to contact the Zenin clan, find a host body, and embed himself in Jujutsu High for a long stretch.
If it were just Kenjaku doing his own thing, Sōjun wouldn't care. But now that they were working together, he wasn't about to tolerate that kind of scatterbrained approach.
"Reviving them one by one is too slow. Aside from the novelty of the first, it gets boring pretty quick. Might as well just bring them all back at once."
Sōjun said it offhandedly.
The method was already proven, and they'd tested it on multiple cursed objects without issue. What was left was just repetitive grunt work—not something he intended to waste time on.
"I don't really mind that," Kenjaku replied, frowning slightly. "But we don't have enough host bodies prepared."
He'd found those vessels one by one, and even with Sōjun's help, it still wasn't enough.
Finding suitable hosts wasn't easy.
"Plus, handling them all at once is another issue."
Sōjun didn't wait for him to finish. He walked to the shelves, touched one of the drawers, then slowly circled the room, dragging his fingers along each drawer's surface as he went.
He stopped at the doorway, turned around, and looked at Kenjaku.
"Do you want to step outside for a bit?"
"What?" Kenjaku blinked in confusion.
Sōjun didn't respond.
The light from the Star Eyes flared, eclipsing the dim glow of the basement lamps. A radiant, silvery brilliance spread across the room, casting a serene stillness.
Kenjaku stood near the central platform, still puzzling over Sōjun's words, when he suddenly felt an intense gaze—one that pierced through skin, flesh, and bone...
Straight to his brain?
He furrowed his brow and walked over to stand beside Sōjun. The feeling remained.
He took another half-step back, positioning himself behind Sōjun—and the sensation vanished.
Sōjun ignored him.
His eyes offered a 180-degree field of vision, with everything in front of him reflected into his perception.
By standing at the basement entrance, he ensured that every cursed object inside fell within that range.
As for Kenjaku stepping behind him—since he hadn't opened a set of eyes at the back of his head, it made sense he couldn't see him.
Sōjun focused.
His vision passed through the drawers, slipping through gaps in the wood to reveal the interior space.
One by one, the cursed objects came into view—not as physical forms, but as faint, illusory soul shadows.
Starlight from the Star Eyes began to weave a spell, forming a Barrier in the shape of sigil-like imprints carved into each soul.
Not a single one was missed.
Soon, the starlight faded, and the room returned to its dim state.
Sōjun could feel his Cursed Energy draining—about a third of his reserves burned up in the process. Manageable, but still significant.
With a thought, he restored it completely.
He clapped his hands lightly, and the lingering Cursed Energy residues in the room dispersed on cue.
"Since finding suitable hosts is difficult, just let the cursed objects choose for themselves."
Sōjun Minamoto hinted at something.
"You've been to Hokkaido, right? You've seen the spiritual sites there?"
He asked deliberately.
He wasn't sure if Kenjaku had any current plans related to the Culling Game, but he knew one thing for sure—Kenjaku would be interested.
And if he was interested, he'd act on it.
"These cursed objects are already in a semi-activated state. As long as there's enough cursed energy nearby, they'll respond to the stimulation and begin to awaken."
"They'll naturally gravitate toward compatible vessels on their own."
Sōjun observed Kenjaku's expression carefully, trying to suppress the probing intent behind his gaze.
Just earlier, he'd taken the chance to analyze Kenjaku's true form—his brain. He hadn't expected Kenjaku to notice.
Thanks to his wide field of vision, Sōjun didn't need to make direct eye contact to examine someone. As long as he concealed the intent behind his gaze—the sense of "being watched"—it was hard to detect.
Unfortunately, Kenjaku's blank expression gave nothing away.
Sōjun chuckled to himself and stopped overanalyzing. He just assumed Kenjaku already had something like this in mind.
Kenjaku walked toward the shelves. From his position, all he could see was starlight spreading and then fading again—he couldn't tell exactly what Sōjun had done.
But hearing Sōjun's words, he realized a technique had been applied to the cursed objects.
He opened one of the drawers, took out the object inside, and began examining it in his own way.
Sure enough—something had changed.
A Cursed Technique imprint had been etched into it.
Kenjaku stared at it thoughtfully, muttering as if to himself, "So what's needed is an environment similar to a spiritual site. Enough curses, enough people… and the possession process becomes much simpler."
"Exactly. Of course, you can also just take the object, infuse it with Cursed Energy to activate it, and then go test your luck outside."
Sōjun explained the method further.
"Once a match is found, the imprint will split—half stays on the cursed object, the other half embeds into the vessel. When you're ready, you can trigger the release and either recall the imprint or initiate possession directly."
"And if you're worried about being seen, you can always do it somewhere less populated. That way, no one notices."
Sōjun figured he was being far too considerate. Kenjaku didn't like taking center stage, so he'd even made it possible for him to operate entirely behind the scenes.
What a perfect partner.
"Letting the cursed objects randomly choose people to possess… You're brutal, Sōjun," Kenjaku said with a grin, now that he understood how it worked.
Sōjun didn't respond.
Anyone who could be possessed by one of these cursed objects had to share a certain resonance with it.
Calling it "similarity" was too vague. More precisely, it was a matching emotional or psychological state that made someone a viable vessel.
Take Uraume's host, for example—an intense personality. Same with the others; every ancient sorcerer's vessel had some kind of flaw...
And really? You're calling me brutal?
"Heh."
Sōjun turned and walked out of the basement.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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