Chapter 9. The Final Boss
C/N: And it's not the Rock, lol.
As Gojo's exorcism took hold, Drool's fleeting life flashed before his eyes. He reminisced about his humble beginnings as a regular guy, albeit one with a penchant for indulging in food and greed. Life had been simple, his gluttony satisfied whenever the mood struck.
Then came the pivotal moment when a comet streaked across the sky and collided with his modest home. The impact unleashed a torrent of strange energy, flooding Drool's mind with sensations too overwhelming for his fragile human consciousness to process.
The energy buzzed and jabbered within him, twisting his thoughts and speech until coherence became an elusive concept. He transformed into Drool, a grotesque manifestation of his former self, consumed by an insatiable hunger that defied satiation.
His perception of reality warped as the energy enveloped him. Colors grew more vivid, sounds sharper, and scents more intoxicating, each sensation pushing him further into the depths of madness.
Amidst the chaos of his fractured mind, Drool sensed a primal power awakening within him, fueled by the strange energy coursing through his veins. It whispered promises of dominion and control, igniting a hunger for power that eclipsed his insatiable appetite for food.
And in those whispers, Drool heard the claim of divinity, a proclamation that altered his destiny and set him on a path to reshape the world.
Until...
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In the aftermath of Drool's demise, a sense of anticipation crackled through the Dungeon of World Hunger carried by telepathic whispers from within the confines of their twisted domains. "Drool, the first general, is dead," one voice proclaimed.
The responses were concise but carried a weight of significance. "Good," came the collective agreement, signifying a step closer to their ultimate goal. "He was only standing in our way."
"He was weaker than any of us. That's why the sorcerer chose to hide in his domain," another voice added, its tone resonating with disgust.
"But now, as the domain unravels, we are ready to finally put an end to him," a third voice chimed in, anticipation lacing its words.
"There is no need to dispatch our curses. He will be coming for the core," a fourth voice declared, a hint of eagerness creeping into its tone.
"He will be coming to his grave," concluded more collective voices, their words carrying a chilling finality.
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From a distant vantage point high above the ground, an operative of Amanda's SORCERERS group observed the grotesque mass that sprawled across the landscape like a monstrous entity born from nightmares. It extended further and further, now encroaching upon a significant portion of Jamal's suburban neighborhood, showing no signs of halting its expansion.
This abomination was the physical manifestation of the World Hunger Dungeon, forged from Divine energy and composed of countless interlocking Innate Domains centered around the Core.
Much like the horrors within, the exterior of the entity reflected various embodiments of World Hunger, each section representing a distinct facet of hunger and despair.
To the left, a desolate wasteland unfolded, mirroring the interior's depiction of wilted crops and harsh weather conditions. On the right, animals lay lifeless, their emaciated forms showing how famine had plagued this realm.
Adjacent to these scenes, a swarm of locusts devoured everything in their path with unrelenting hunger, their insatiable appetite spreading devastation across the land. These conditions threatened to render any land they touched barren and fruitless, perpetuating the cycle of hunger and despair.
Further on, the mass contorted into grotesque shapes, resembling starving creatures and tormented souls. Each aspect of World Hunger served to show the suffering endured by those afflicted by its influence.
However, one section of the mass stood out to the operative - a repulsive imitation of a stomach, pulsating with dark, cursed energy. This particular segment appeared more tangible, as if it held a crucial role within the entity's twisted form.
Suddenly, the stomach-like section began to glitch and distort, its surface flickering like a malfunctioning hologram. The glitch spread, causing the entire mass of the World Hunger Dungeon to convulse and tremble. With a final shudder, the stomach section dispersed, leaving behind only a small slice of the once-massive entity.
As the glitched section dissipated, the remaining mass of World Hunger took on a new shape - it looked like a giant, twisted, distorted pumpkin with a small slice missing, a stark deviation from its previous form.
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The operative wasted no time in relaying this development to Amanda, who responded with a single word: "Good." Without hesitation, she mobilized her team and began preparations for infiltration.
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"Whoa-whoa-whoa," I exclaimed as I fell, my heart racing with panic. While Gojo had been occupied dealing with Drool, I had found myself fending off Drool's powerful curses. These were second-grades and first-grades, far beyond my current capabilities.
I may have managed to exorcise two or three of them, but the amount of effort I put only left me overwhelmed.
In a desperate bid to save myself, I scrambled up to a higher vantage point, seeking refuge among the teeth-like protrusions lining the ceiling of Drool's breeding ground. But the instability caused by the glitching environment made my footing precarious, and I soon lost my grip, hurtling back towards the ground where the curses awaited, ready to pounce.
As I braced for impact, I muttered to myself, "Not like this... not now." But even in the face of imminent danger, a voice inside me whispered, "You got this," and I focused on my tank of water, turning the faucet faster to allow for more flow (of cursed energy).
The curses below looked ready to tear me apart, and that made me afraid, but I didn't allow the fear to stop me from throwing a desperate punch while falling.
With a resounding thud, I landed amidst the curses, my fist connecting with one of them in a burst of exorcising energy. As it dissipated, I found myself bouncing along with the others, their acidic touch leaving scars on my skin.
Gritting my teeth against the pain, I tapped into my inner reserves of cursed energy. In my mind, I recalled Gojo's analogy of drawing from a tank of water. But the acid marks spread across different parts of my body, and I realized that one tap wasn't enough to defend against them all simultaneously.
Desperation fueled my efforts as I visualized the tank as having multiple taps in various places, each representing a potential source of power to counteract the acidic assault. With determination, I turned the faucets faster, allowing a torrent of cursed energy to flow through me, distributing it to different parts of my body.
Amidst the chaos, I kept the primary tap in mind, the ultimate source of cursed energy that fueled my fists. With each strike, I unleashed the power within, protected from the acidic touch of the curses by the network of energy flowing through me.
But these were high-tier, stomach-based curses, and while I held my own surviving against them, my life was dancing on the precipice of instant death.
Therefore, you can imagine my relief when Gojo finally intervened, his fight with Drool having come to an agreeable end. As the last of them got exorcised by the Honored One, I watched as he sat on the stomach area for a bit, seemingly exhausted and recuperating.
I could only imagine how hard he had had to go against Drool, whose cursed technique resembled a black hole that could absorb anything. Furthermore, I wondered if a Domain Expansion had happened in the process. From the way they moved, it might have been possible.
However, Gojo didn't rest for long. After a few brief breaths, he resumed his calm and positive demeanor, his assurance unwavering as he said, "We have to move to the core before we get exorcised ourselves."
He was right. The stomach environment was already disintegrating with Drool no longer available to project his mind and soul (Innate Domain).
"There," Gojo gestured at a dark point in the chamber. "That's where that highly condensed, higher form of cursed energy is the strongest."
With a nod, I followed Gojo as we raced towards the heart of the Core. The world around us was heavily crumbling with every step as if it had been hit by the world's largest tremor.
Suddenly, we approached a massive sphincter muscle that was likely the barrier between us and the core. It pulsed more sickly than the stomach had, with a glow that painted the color of its foul mucus-like fluids.
With a push, Gojo increased its diameter, creating an enough opening for us to pass through, and we transitioned into a whole other different kind of environment. This new setting felt both glorious and oppressive with a weight that threatened to crush a normal soul.
It wasn't dark. It was properly lit, but still damning.
There was a lot to take in as we transitioned to this environment, but the one thing that stood out the most, at the center of it all, was the Core itself. It pulsed and heaved slowly and delicately, and from all my JJK knowledge, I already knew what it was.
"It's a cursed womb!" I exclaimed aloud, nearly missing all the other details of the surroundings.
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