Jujutsu Kaisen: I have everything I need now!

With a roar from Kugisaki Nobara, the iron hammer, imbued with cursed power, slammed heavily onto the rune-engraved nail. The long nail instantly pierced through the still-writhing black slime, pinning it firmly to the metal surface of the shipping container.

A visible surge of magical energy radiated outwards from the long nail.

Suddenly, Kugizaki's pupils contracted sharply in that instant, as she felt immense pressure.

The instant the hammer fell, she felt an immense, nauseating resistance rebounding back along the hammer handle.

The immense pressure brought a massive backlash; Kugizaki's wrist emitted a teeth-grinding crack as her hand instantly split open, blood flowing down the hammer handle and dripping onto the metal beneath her feet. A trickle of blood also flowed from her nose.

"Don't underestimate me... I'm a monster!"

Kugisaki gritted his teeth, advancing instead of retreating, pouring all the cursed power within him into the long nail.

The moment the spikes were completely submerged in the slime, the black slime, which had formed an encirclement and was crashing down on the four like a high wall, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

In an instant.

The entire drilling platform shuddered violently.

"Hiss! Aaaaaah—"

Screams that seemed to pierce eardrums rang out from all directions, simultaneously from the churning black water surrounding the drilling platform.

Suddenly, huge abscesses appeared on the surface of the black wall hanging high above everyone's heads, and then the abscesses burst one after another.

Large amounts of black liquid spiraled out of control, crashing onto the deck like a storm, losing its aggressive, dangerous aura and turning into a lifeless puddle.

"Well done, Wild Rose!"

Yuta immediately stepped forward, shielding himself from the slightly swaying nails behind him. He brandished his long sword, deflecting all the splashing black liquid.

"Huff... huff..."

Kugizaki gasped for breath, wiping the blood from under her nose and the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes fixed on the receding black ocean around her.

"It hurts so much. This thing is too big. Even if I use 'Resonance' at full power, I can't kill it in one hit."

That's enough.

The voice of the new moon rang out. He used his telekinesis to create an invisible semi-circular barrier around the four of them, blocking the continuously surging black water.

Soon, the previously dispersed black water on the platform began to converge in an even more violent manner. This time, instead of covering a large area, it quickly retreated and gathered in an open space a dozen meters away from the group.

The black liquid spun and compressed wildly, eventually condensing into a gigantic monster, five or six meters tall, in the shape of a half-human, half-octopus.

The mask was embedded in the center of the monster's head, and its lower body consisted of more than a dozen thick black tentacles, each covered with barbed suckers.

"I'm going to... grind you all into mincemeat!"

The alien general's voice was ethereal, yet filled with murderous intent.

It swung its two thickest tentacles, lashing out at the container where everyone was, with a whistling sound that tore through the air.

Before the tentacles even arrived, the resulting gale-force winds were already blinding everyone.

"Urika!"

Without any hesitation, Otsuku Yuuta summoned his shikigami.

"Youta——!"

With a scream filled with both longing and rage, the massive body of the Super Grade Cursed Ghost Rika was fully revealed behind Otsukoshi. Her enormous hand, covered in hard scales, suddenly shot forward and grabbed the two black tentacles that were pulling at her.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

The black slime touched Rika's palm and immediately began to exert a strong corrosive effect. The scales on Rika's palm were corroded, emitting puffs of white smoke, but she seemed unharmed, instead letting out an even angrier roar.

"Now! Mai!"

December 1st keenly captured the moment the monster was brought under control.

Zhenyi was already prepared. She knelt on the edge of the container and steadily rested the barrel of the "Black Queen" gun on her left arm.

She didn't aim at the monster's massive body, nor at the mask. December 1st provided the most precise ballistic analysis in her mind.

"The root of the third tentacle on the left is where it gathers energy and liquefies again."

May took a deep breath, shutting out the interference of the surrounding wind and waves, and steadily pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

A muffled gunshot rang out.

The pure black energy blast instantly covered a distance of more than ten meters, striking the root of one of the tentacles that Rika was pulling at with perfect accuracy.

The energy blast did not explode upon contact with the black slime. Instead, it acted like a miniature black hole, instantly absorbing all the slime.

The half-tentacle, now without energy support, fell onto the deck. Before it could liquefy again, the dark red patterns on the "Black Queen" gun flashed suddenly.

The severed tentacle on the ground instantly turned into a wisp of black smoke, traversing space and being directly sucked into the gunfire.

Zhenyi's body jerked suddenly.

A massive, icy energy surged into her arm through the gun handle, coursing through her body along her nerves. She felt a sharp pain in her brain, and her vision went black for a moment.

"Stay calm!" December 1st's voice boomed in her ears.

Mayi gritted her teeth and forcibly suppressed the cold energy, transforming it into her own controllable magical energy.

"Again!" Mayu growled, pulling the hammer again, moving the muzzle to the base of another tentacle.

"Bang!"

Another tentacle was severed and absorbed.

General Rasu finally realized something was wrong. It discovered that its prized abilities were ineffective against this woman with a gun. The severed parts hadn't returned to its body; they had simply vanished.

"You're stealing my power!"

General Rasu let out an angry roar, abandoning its struggle with Rika. The tentacles on its lower body suddenly liquefied, turning into a pool of black water, causing Rika's pull to instantly miss its target.

Immediately afterwards, the pool of black water slid rapidly along the deck, bypassing Rika's defensive range, and rushed directly towards Mai's location.

As they moved, hundreds of sharp black water arrows suddenly shot out from the black water, covering the four of them in a massive, overwhelming manner.

"Step back."

Yi Gu You Tai stepped forward, gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, and raised his incantation power to its limit.

He unleashed a massive, pure white slash that was visible to the naked eye.

The slash created a crescent-shaped barrier in the air, shredding all the incoming black water arrows.

But the alien group's attacks did not stop.

The shredded water jets turned into black raindrops that scattered across the deck. Upon contact with the metal surface, they immediately began to corrode rapidly, emitting a pungent, thick smoke.

Even more fatally, General Rasu's main body was already close to the container.

Instead of launching a direct attack, it climbed up the iron walls of the container, attempting to engulf the entire container along with the four people on it.

"This thing is too slippery, I can't hit anything solid!" Kugizaki said, swinging his hammer and smashing several clumps of slime that were trying to climb up her ankle, looking somewhat agitated.

"Physical attacks are ineffective, and energy attacks will be absorbed by it in a dispersed manner. Only by finding its core can it be completely killed." Yi Gu You Tai frowned, his eyes searching through the constantly surging black slime around him.

"Wild Rose, can you still sense the location of the core that you pinned down just now?" December asked through Mayi.

Kugizaki closed her eyes, sensing the flow of her cursed power within her body. Although the backlash had injured her, the connection of her cursed power to the long nail had not been completely severed.