"It'll take a load off me too."
That line brought Sōjun Minamoto to a quiet halt.
He'd always felt that the jujutsu world—especially among Curse Users—was incredibly narrow-minded.
Everyone knew curses were born from negative emotions. And among all sentient beings, humans were the most emotionally complex. Over time, that idea had evolved into the widely accepted notion that all curses stemmed from the negative feelings of humans.
Yet sorcerers made up only the tiniest sliver of humanity. Not even enough to compare to a single wave in the ocean.
Even so, reality was full of lunatics who genuinely wanted to purge all non-sorcerers and build some utopia for sorcerers alone.
From top to bottom, the jujutsu world was like this...
The Zenin Clan had passed down one phrase for over a thousand years: "If you're not a Zen'in, you're not a sorcerer; if you're not a sorcerer, you're not a person."
Even Suguru Geto, judging from his tone, now saw ordinary people as little more than a burden.
Sure, they had once contributed financial value, but as that value waned, so did his tolerance.
Plenty of wild sorcerers were the same. Once they gained power, their first instinct was to divide humanity into classes—set themselves above the rest, crown themselves as kings or gods...
That mindset had already become a trend.
In the end, Sōjun just felt like they lacked depth of character. And in the jujutsu world, that kind of inner character wasn't valued to begin with.
No wonder this country was plagued by so many curse-related incidents.
Sure, there were still a few sorcerers who genuinely cared for humanity. But they were growing fewer and farther between.
Masamichi Yaga. Satoru Gojo. Just a handful like them. They were trying to shift the status quo.
As for Sōjun Minamoto, he didn't care about dividing people into sorcerers and non-sorcerers. They were all human to him. He saw himself as a normal person—and he wasn't about to burn his own foundation down. That's why he had common ground with Jujutsu High.
So then, why join the Church of the Stars?
It wasn't just because Suguru Geto had asked him. He had his own plan.
At the level of Cursed Energy he'd reached, low-level cursed spirits were practically useless. But high-level spirits didn't grow back like weeds.
Why waste time hunting down curses to assimilate, when he could go straight to the root? To the true source of all curses?
And where was that source?
Naturally, it was in humanity itself.
The moment Suguru asked him to join the Church, a thought struck him:
Why not try extracting Cursed Energy directly from the negative emotions people generate? If he could manage that, wouldn't the supply be endless?
Even a Cursed Spirit like Aragami could corral humans, trigger incidents, and draw Cursed Energy from their fear and guilt toward the divine.
So why couldn't he?
He had better innate qualities than Aragami—and a deeper understanding of humans, because he was one.
He wouldn't make Aragami's mistake either. He wouldn't treat people like firewood, burning them up without considering the value of sustainability.
What Sōjun wanted was a stable, self-sustaining emotional feedback loop—where people voluntarily generated curses.
And the method? It was simple: give them what they wanted.
Whatever they lacked, Sōjun would provide.
Which meant it was time to "preach."
From what he'd seen of the Church of the Stars, he already knew that so-called "faith" was mostly a front. People weren't truly devout—they were in it for what they could get.
Very few believed out of pure conviction. Most followed with a "you give, I believe" mentality.
And that was just fine.
Sōjun didn't care for genuine faith. What he preferred was a transaction—one with no strings attached, no obligations. Just mutual benefit, willingly given.
With that in mind, he summoned the Fly Head.
"My lord..."
The dog-like creature dropped to one knee with a dramatic flourish.
There were still three people standing nearby...
Sōjun scratched his ankle and waved it off before it could say more.
Sure, it had gotten smarter—but it also developed a full-blown chuunibyou personality.
Probably because he used to make it read religious texts all the time. It hadn't absorbed any real theology, but it sure knew how to sound theatrical.
The Fly Head was now about the height of his forearm, though its actual strength had reached Grade 1. It just preferred to maintain a compact form.
He eyed the creature—two pairs of pristine white wings on its back, facial features so smooth they mirrored like a sheet of glass. It almost seemed capable of reflecting the human soul.
Small as it was, it had grown more refined by the day.
Only...
The vibe was downright sleazy.
With a thought from Sōjun Minamoto, the Fly Head reverted to its usual form. Its wings fluttered gently as it rose off the ground, hovering midair. Hands folded neatly in front of its belly, its demeanor shifted completely.
Much better.
Sōjun nodded in approval as he looked it over.
"From now on, you'll stay with the Church of the Stars. Call yourself... Beelzebub."
The excitement on the Fly Head's face was impossible to miss. It had wanted this name for a long time—had even dropped hints before—but nothing had come of it.
Now, out of the blue, its wish was granted. It almost raised a hand to scratch its head and grovel in thanks, but one glance from Sōjun shut it down. It immediately froze, maintaining a look of pious dignity.
Gluttony Beelzebub—that would be its persona in the Church from here on out.
This dog-thing had devoured countless of its own kind. And more and more, the disgust and revulsion humans felt toward flies had begun to channel directly toward it.
Truthfully, it didn't need to pursue the path of "faith," but it was perfect for experimentation. Its emotional alignment was clear, it had a naturally deceptive presence, and above all, Sōjun understood it better than anyone.
The average member of the Church of the Stars already knew about the existence of the jujutsu world. Many of them were restless—burning with a desperate hunger for power.
That was where Sōjun's focus began.
It didn't matter why they wanted strength—if they sought it, he had ways to give it.
Of course, he wasn't going to use technique transfer. That would be taking the long way. He didn't look down on ordinary people, nor did he carry malice toward other sorcerers.
What he wanted was to study how negative emotions flowed—then use those flows to feed power back into the humans who generated them.
What were the major categories of negative emotion?
The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust.
The Fly Head had been designated as Gluttony from the start—representing a lack of self-control.
The stronger that tendency in a person, the more power they'd be able to draw through their connection to the Fly Head.
Sōjun intended to use the Church of the Stars as his foundation—constructing an artificial belief system around the Seven Deadly Sins.
The White Bone Tree would represent Pride. The Chōchin-obake would embody Wrath. Fly Head, Gluttony.
Four more to go.
And once the sins were complete... maybe it would be time to consider their counterparts—the Seven Virtues, a path to positive Cursed Energy?
That could come later.
Right now, he needed to figure out how to align human emotions with specific Cursed Spirits.
Sōjun drifted into thought.
Building a framework of "negative faith" wasn't easy. Human emotions were chaotic, unpredictable. That's why he started with those who hungered for strength—they were the most direct, the easiest to guide. And why the Fly Head, with its clear emotional focus, was the best candidate to start with.
People would offer up emotional energy.
His job was to feed that back into them as usable power through the Fly Head.
Only with equal exchange could "faith" become self-sustaining.
And once they understood the value of that trade, they'd start offering up even more emotion on their own...
That's when the system would truly take shape.
After that, the only thing Sōjun had to figure out was how to extract, purify, and absorb that "faith."
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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