Under the threat of death, Kenjaku summoned a massive number of cursed spirits in one breath.
But as Morpheus extended his finger, these cursed spirits collapsed and dissipated one after another, as if they had never existed, unable to even delay for a single second.
Thus, under Kenjaku's horrified gaze, every cursed spirit he summoned perished.
Even he himself was blasted away by a single flick of Morpheus's finger.
Geto Suguru's body disintegrated, exploding under the immense force into a cloud of blood mist.
Only a brain remained, dancing wildly in the air.
This brain was Kenjaku's true form.
Kenjaku found it hard to believe that he could lose so thoroughly.
Where did this guy come from? His strength was absurd, practically cheating.
Even Gojo Satoru, whom he had always considered a great enemy, couldn't compare.
Morpheus effortlessly crushed Kenjaku, raising his hand to seize Kenjaku's true form—the brain—through the air.
He grabbed it remotely because touching Kenjaku's brain with his bare hands was simply too repulsive.
Then, Morpheus tightened his grip, and the excruciating pain elicited a blood-curdling scream from Kenjaku, echoing through the desolate Cursed Wasteland.
The more intense, hysterical, and agonized the screams, the more delighted and excited Morpheus became, tightening his grip further.
Pop…
As expected, Kenjaku's true form was accidentally crushed by Morpheus.
But it didn't matter. Morpheus snapped his fingers, rewinding time, and the crushed brain reappeared.
Morpheus continued to hold the brain remotely, tormenting Kenjaku.
"..."
After crushing it again, he rewound time once more, continuing the torment.
At this moment, Kenjaku was utterly broken. Had he committed some cosmic sin to be tortured repeatedly like this? The pain was unbearable.
Repeatedly "dying" was too much.
Hours later, Morpheus finally grew bored. With one final crush, he obliterated Kenjaku's brain, seizing his soul and forcibly extracting his memories while summoning hellfire to roast Kenjaku's soul atop it.
"Kill me, kill me…" Kenjaku wailed in a blood-curdling scream.
The pain was unbearable.
In all his long existence, he had never endured such torment. What kind of ultimate punishment was this? It was too cruel.
After reading Kenjaku's memories, Morpheus sneered and sealed his soul within a crystal orb.
As for where the crystal came from, Morpheus had crafted it specifically.
Turning stone into gold was no difficult feat for the current Morpheus. He casually picked up a rock, cast a spell, and transformed it into a radiant crystal orb.
To prevent Kenjaku's soul from escaping, Morpheus reinforced it, ensuring it could endure the hellfire's roasting for an extended period without breaking the seal.
How many years it could withstand depended on Kenjaku's fate.
Morpheus figured a century was a reasonable starting point.
With Kenjaku dealt with, Morpheus felt a sense of relief.
From Kenjaku's memories, he learned that Kenjaku was indeed the mastermind behind creating Hollows, crafting cursed spirits and Hollows to harvest human souls.
No one had forced or coerced him; it was entirely his own design.
He was the true puppet master.
Morpheus's previous self had undeniably died by this man's hand, even fed to a cursed spirit.
If that was the case, there was nothing left to do but act.
Thus, Morpheus placed his soul on the hellfire to torment him for a century.
It was also a way to avenge his former self.
At this moment, Morpheus felt a sense of fulfillment, as if he were an unprecedentedly virtuous person.
Leaving the Cursed Wasteland and returning to the real world, Morpheus felt refreshed, humming a tune as he contacted Kotoko Iwanaga.
"Geto Suguru's matter is resolved. No need to monitor the Onmyoryo or Jujutsu High anymore."
Kotoko Iwanaga's voice came through, tinged with awe. "My lord, you mean Geto Suguru was in the Cursed Wasteland?"
"Not only was he there, but I caught him."
"I understand," Kotoko Iwanaga replied, feeling a pang of sympathy for Geto Suguru. Falling into Morpheus's hands—heaven knows what kind of torment he'd endure.
She hoped he could at least die quickly.
"Then I'll focus all my efforts on investigating the organizers of the Dark Tournament."
"Fine, but be careful."
"I will."
Kotoko Iwanaga nodded, exchanged a few more words with Morpheus, and ended the call.
…
Time flew by, and several days passed.
At this point, only twenty days remained until the Dark Tournament.
During this time, Kotoko Iwanaga hadn't contacted Morpheus once, suggesting she hadn't uncovered any useful leads.
Morpheus wasn't in a rush. If it came to it, he could investigate the origins of these yokai when the Dark Tournament began.
With him present, even if something catastrophic happened, he could handle it… probably.
With that thought, Morpheus relaxed.
He ate when hungry, slept when tired, and was thoroughly content.
Then…
Morpheus found himself at the beach.
Wasn't that transition abrupt? Even Morpheus found it jarring.
But the truth was just that abrupt.
The whole thing started with Morpheus's followers.
During a chat on the follower platform, Erina Nakiri complained about how unbearably hot the weather had been lately.
Nanami suggested, "Since everyone's complaining about the heat, why not head to the beach for some fun?"
Oda Nobunaga chimed in, "The ocean sounds pretty great."
Everyone agreed that a trip to the beach seemed like a fantastic idea.
Thus, a beach squad was swiftly assembled.
The members included Nobunaga, Medusa, Medea, Raikou, Saeko, Martha, Nanami, Erina, Hisako, Megumi, Miko, Hana, and more.
Almost all were women.
The men under Morpheus's command initially had no intention of going, as they had their own matters to attend to.
But they were roped in as porters—Emiya, Karna, and even Morpheus himself were dragged along to carry the women's luggage.
Morpheus couldn't help but grumble, "I'm the boss here. Why am I stuck carrying luggage for these women? The follower platform could easily store it all."
Emiya retorted, "Boss, you could've refused. Since you didn't, stop complaining."
Morpheus thought about how he'd get to see the women in their colorful, charming swimsuits and decided to stop griping.
He cheerfully joined the women, and they set off for the beach.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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