Ryu walked through the empty streets of the city, bored out of his mind. Over the past few days he’d hunted down a handful of sorcerers, but they were all too weak to put up a decent fight. Every battle ended the same, leaving him more disappointed than satisfied. He flicked open his Zippo, lit a cigarette, and exhaled slowly into the silent streets. A familiar presence caught his attention. “…What do you want?” He looked up to see Uro floating above him with her arms crossed. “Stop wandering around and do something useful.” “Like what?” “Go find Dhruv or something.” Ryu blinked before a grin spread across his face. How stupid of him. He hadn’t even thought of that. “…Good idea.” Uro raised an eyebrow, surprised he hadn’t answered with an insult. “Good. Maybe you’ll finally have some fun.” She flew off, leaving Ryu to head toward the stadium. The city’s speakers still played an old song, barely audible but loud enough to give the empty streets a liminal atmosphere. Rubble crunched beneath his boots with every step. At one point he unknowingly crossed one of Dhruv’s Shikigami trails and instinctively tensed. Nothing happened. He frowned. He knew enough about Dhruv’s technique to know that shouldn’t be possible. By the time he reached the stadium, the sun hung low on the horizon. “Alright old man, let’s get some acti—” His words caught in his throat. Dhruv’s body lay in a pool of dried blood. Ryu’s grin disappeared. He knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Cold. Dead for hours. “…What the hell killed you?” The last sliver of sunlight vanished behind the city. Only then did Ryu realize how dark it had become. His cursed energy suddenly plummeted. Not drained. Suppressed. His breathing grew heavier, his limbs sluggish, as though an invisible weight had settled over his body. “…What?” Five figures slowly emerged from different sections of the stadium. Each looked different, yet they all wore the same grotesquely wide smile, their eyes stretched unnaturally open. Ryu reacted instantly. “GRANITÉ BLAST!” Blue cursed energy erupted from his hair cannon, sweeping around him like a spinning laser. The blast carved through concrete, splitting part of the stadium apart. He immediately charged another. Nothing. The cursed energy crackled… then died. “…Shit.” The figures giggled as they circled him before stopping all at once. Silence. Not a single one moved. Ryu stood perfectly still, watching them. Then— A twitch. He launched himself upward the instant he heard it. All five lunged for where he’d been standing. Ryu forced out another Granité Blast beneath himself, using the recoil to propel himself higher. Before the smoke could clear, one burst through it, grabbed him by the throat, and stared directly into his eyes. Ryu couldn’t describe what he saw. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t hatred. It was something that shouldn’t exist. Its jaw split open and bit into the side of his face, tearing away flesh. “AAAGH!” Ryu slammed a hammer fist into its skull, sending it crashing away before he hit the ground hard enough to leave a crater. He reached for his cheek. Blood. The five figures surrounded him once again. Their mouths moved, but the voices didn’t match. Some sounded old, others young. One almost sounded like him. The overlapping whispers crawled through his mind until they dissolved into distorted laughter. Ryu growled. His cursed energy was falling even lower. His body felt heavier by the second. Not because he was injured… Because of them. Ryu had never backed down from a fight. But this… This worried him. He laughed bitterly. “…This ain’t fair. Five against one.” The Alternates only smiled wider. Then— RUMBLE. The stadium shook. The laughter stopped. Even the Alternates turned toward the sound. A massive black swarm rushed over the city. At its center flew a lone figure. The death of Dhruv and the violence of this battle had awakened something far worse. The black demon of the modern age threw back its head and roared— “I LOVE THE TASTE OF IRON!” #jujutsukaisen #scary #horror #anime #ryu - @vlone_worrior