"Hold the line!"
Several minutes earlier, within the Second Screen.
Kento Nanami, Aoi Todo, and Noritoshi Kamo had fought their way through wave after wave of obstacles, finally breaking through the first barrier and entering the second layer: the "Grand Thundercloud Array."
After enduring two consecutive lightning strikes from the sky, they were at their wits' end. Had Jogo and Satoru Gojo not previously depleted a significant portion of the lightning energy within the barrier, they would likely have been wiped out already.
As another bolt of purple lightning descended, Aoi Todo, who was in slightly better shape than the other two, let out a roar. He coated his fists in Cursed Energy and leaped upward, intercepting the strike head-on.
Though he shattered the bolt with a single blow, the lightning's power disintegrated his Cursed Energy and surged into his flesh. His fists instantly turned beet-red. He coughed out a puff of blue smoke, his body wracked with stinging pain.
Noritoshi Kamo caught him as he landed, and the two stumbled forward, supporting each other. They watched as the purple clouds churned, preparing to unleash another bolt. They were still over a hundred meters away from the next boundary. A distance that would normally take seconds to cross had become an impassable chasm of death.
As they moved, Nanami Kento sighed and looked at Noritoshi Kamo. "Kamo, take Todo and get across. I'll stay behind and tank the rest of the lightning alone."
"What? Nanami-senpai, you'll die!" Kamo exclaimed in shock.
"If we keep going like this, all three of us will die. It's better if it's just me," Nanami said, tightening his grip on his cursed tool. He fixed his gaze on the sky. "I'm an adult. I've lived longer than you and experienced far more. I don't really have any lingering regrets that I absolutely must fulfill. Me dying so you two can live is the optimal solution."
"You're still young. You have so many joys and sorrows left to taste in life. It would be a waste for you to die here."
As he spoke, a bolt of lightning streaked down. Nanami swung his blade, cutting through the thunder. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying unsteadily, yet his right hand remained pointed defiantly at the sky.
"I understand, Nanami-senpai. I will never forget your kindness." Seeing his resolve was absolute, Kamo activated his technique to accelerate his blood flow. With his physical capabilities boosted, he hoisted Todo onto his back and sprinted toward the next barrier without looking back.
"I can't let Senpai's sacrifice be in vain! I have to get Todo out alive!"
Nanami stood alone, blade pointed skyward, his eyes unreadable. "Maybe dying like this isn't so bad. I've lived long enough. Wouldn't you agree, Haibara?"
The thunderclouds roiled and roared, seemingly enraged by Nanami's provocation. The next bolt was primed to strike.
"Come on. Make it quick!"
Just as the lethal bolt was about to descend, just as Nanami accepted his inevitable end and Kamo braced for his mentor's sacrifice, the barrier blocking the sky suddenly lifted. The thunderclouds vanished miraculously, revealing the true night sky.
Furthermore, the first barrier they had already passed through also vanished. The darkness from within swept past them like a storm cloud, whistling as it flew toward the center of the shrine.
"It seems... I've cheated death once again." Looking at the star-studded sky, Nanami relaxed completely. He lowered his arm and gazed upward, the corners of his mouth curling into a wide smile.
"Ha... Hahaha..."
No matter how noble his self-sacrifice sounded, living was definitely better.
"Senpai!" Kamo and Todo came rushing back. After a brief rest, Todo had recovered enough to move on his own.
"I'm fine." After his laughter subsided, Nanami returned to his reliable adult persona. He analyzed the situation: "It seems a massive change has occurred at the shrine. Perhaps Satoru Gojo succeeded in exorcising the God."
"That seems very likely. So, what do we do?"
None of them were in good shape. The best choice was to retreat; otherwise, they would be easy pickings for even a moderately strong Cursed Spirit.
"Hmm..." While Nanami pondered, they saw figures running toward them from the direction of the shrine.
Todo squinted and recognized them. "Isn't that Megumi Fushiguro and Shoko Ieiri-senpai?"
"Let's go meet them."
As the five met up, Nanami stared at Megumi and Shoko. "Verify your identity."
Megumi understood and was about to answer when Shoko beat him to it: "Don't let Nanami's reliable act fool you. Back in the day, he was quite the handful. There was this one time..."
"Alright, that's enough. I'm certain they're real," Nanami interrupted.
"Aw, I wasn't finished."
"Serious business comes first. No one cares about such trivial things."
No, no, no! We care a lot! the other three thought.
"Fushiguro, what's the situation inside?"
"Gojo-sensei is there. Ryomen Sukuna has consumed all the fingers and is engaged in a three-way battle with the God. Gojo-sensei told us to stay as far away from the battlefield as possible," Megumi explained succinctly.
"If that's his order, we retreat immediately." Nanami made the call, and the five began their rapid exit.
They hadn't gone far when a blinding white light erupted from the direction of the shrine, followed by a deafening, earth-shaking explosion.
Amidst the shock, Nanami shouted, "Get down, now!"
Megumi reacted instantly, summoning the heavyweight shikigami, Max Elephant, to act as a shield behind them. The group huddled together against the elephant's side.
Seconds later, the hurricane-force winds from the explosion hit them, carrying trees, rocks, and debris from buildings. Fortunately, Max Elephant held firm; otherwise, they would have been swept away and likely killed.
After a full minute, the storm subsided. The group peeked out with lingering fear, witnessing a scene of total devastation. The entire district was ruined. This was merely the aftershock of their battle, a scale that far exceeded their own capabilities.
Nanami took a deep breath. "Leave, now!"
"Yes!" Their pace quickened instinctively. They had no desire to experience such danger again.
It wasn't just them; everyone in the vicinity witnessed the disappearance of the barrier and the violent explosion. While some ignored the danger and ran toward the shrine, and others fled for their lives, everyone knew that the battle deciding the fate of the world had begun. All they could do was wait for the final outcome.
…
At the shrine, ruins lay everywhere. Not a single building remained intact. The plaque reading "Tenmangu" had vanished, carried off to who-knows-where by the storm. This could no longer be called a shrine; it was now a shrine ruin.
The three perpetrators stood at the points of a triangle, facing each other.
"What am I going to do? Tenmangu is destroyed. I'm definitely going to get yelled at when I get back." Satoru Gojo was spotless; with Infinity active, the shockwave hadn't touched him.
"It doesn't matter. If you die here, you won't have to go back and take the lecture," Ryomen Sukuna snorted. His upper garment had been shredded, revealing Yuji's lean, powerful torso adorned with black mysterious markings, looking utterly primal.
"As the strongest, why fear the scolding of ordinary people? If you're annoyed, just kill them all," Aomori remarked. He, too, showed no signs of damage. The psychokinesis shield was indeed as effective as they say.
"Killing people randomly is a no-go. I'm a law-abiding citizen, unlike you loose cannons," Gojo said, waving a hand. "I have another solution. For example, I could drag the two culprits back to kowtow and apologize to the ancestors."
"Hahaha! With just you? Your attacks were like tickles, hardly worth mentioning."
"Your slashes didn't do a thing either."
"Shut up!" Sukuna tilted his head slightly, licking his lips. "The warm-up is over. Let's show some real skill now."
"Suits me."
"As it should be."
The three confident combatants exchanged looks, then simultaneously clapped their hands and formed seals.
"Domain Expansion!"
"Unlimited Void!"
"Malevolent Shrine!"
"Winged Dragon of Ra!"
Three distinct Domains manifested instantly, clashing and grinding against one another in a stalemate.
"I remember your Domain was black. Why the change?" Sukuna frowned. He had lost to that previous Domain and felt a sense of indignation, hoping to reclaim his pride this time.
"Who said one can only have one Domain?"
"True enough." While most people only have one Innate Technique and thus one Innate Domain, Sukuna found it acceptable given the other's status as a Cursed Spirit. "It doesn't matter. Whatever it is, I'll crush it!"
At this point, Gojo, who had been observing Aomori's Domain for a while, stroked his chin and asked, "I get the theory, but isn't this just a giant ball of light? Why call it a Winged Dragon?"
Aomori's Domain took the form of a massive sphere of light, with him hidden at its very center.
"As everyone knows, the Winged Dragon starts as an egg," Aomori replied with a smile.
"An egg?"
Gojo and Sukuna focused their senses and actually heard a heartbeat that sounded like an ancient tolling bell.
"A Domain with a heartbeat? It's a living thing?" This discovery sent a shock through even these seasoned fighters.
"Interesting," Gojo said excitedly. He held his index and middle fingers together in front of his chest. His Cursed Energy erupted like a volcanic explosion, and his Domain surged forward, causing Aomori and Sukuna's Domains to creak and groan as they were pushed back several meters.
"With Cursed Energy like that, who's the real monster here?" Sukuna's eyes widened, and his grin split his face to his ears, revealing a hideous smile. He slammed his hands together. His Domain suddenly ignored the boundaries of the other two, expanding to its 200-meter limit and engulfing everyone within it.
"If you want to push, then push! See if I don't slice you both to bits first!"
"Malevolent Shrine is at full power! Everything within 200 meters will endure countless slashes until my Cursed Energy is spent. Now, die!"
"He can ignore the boundaries of other Domains?" Gojo reacted quickly. As Sukuna's Domain expanded, he moved to trap Sukuna within his own Unlimited Void, flooding his mind with an infinite stream of complex information.
However, Sukuna had acted even faster.
"Tch! Did he use a pre-set psychological suggestion to complete the action?" Gojo's Unlimited Void failed to stop the activation for the first time. Under the sure-hit slashes, Gojo's Domain began to teeter.
"Not bad. The King of Curses lives up to his name, actually pushing Satoru Gojo to the brink," Aomori applauded.
"I wouldn't call it 'the brink.' My Domain is very sturdy. It's more likely he'll run out of energy first." Gojo maintained his smile, seemingly unbothered by his situation. Instead, he warned Aomori: "The surface of your Domain is covered in cracks. It won't hold much longer. Aren't you going to show your hand?"
"Thanks for the tip. Prepare to offer your hearts for the birth of the Dragon God!"
Aomori extended his palm and clenched it. Energy surged within the giant sphere of light, and the weathered shell finally cracked open. A beam of light pierced through the breach, shooting into the sky and illuminating the night. Then, more and more cracks appeared, radiating brilliance.
"This is really not good." Through his eyes, Gojo could clearly see what was coming next.
"Using the two strongest existences in the world and all my energy as a sacrifice... Descend, my Winged Dragon of Ra!"
A brief moment after Aomori's declaration, the shell shattered completely. Endless light and heat waves burst forth with a purifying momentum. Wherever they went, whether it was a Domain or a slash, everything vanished, merging into the light as it swept into the distance.
People still in Kyoto clearly saw the blurred silhouette of a colossal light dragon occupying the night sky. It took several minutes for the figure to slowly dissipate.
At the shrine ruins, the ground had been leveled into a flat plain. Satoru Gojo sat on the ground, his hair disheveled and his clothes in tatters, breathing heavily. On the other side, Yuji lay on the ground, the black markings having faded, it seemed Ryomen Sukuna had been forced back into the subconscious space.
Surveying the scene, Aomori let out a slow breath. Finally won. That wasn't easy.
The so-called Domain, Winged Dragon of Ra, was actually an instantaneous burst of a massive amount of Light-element energy used for an ultra-wide-range attack; the final light-and-shadow silhouette was just an impressive-looking but empty shell. The effective range reached 300 meters, currently Aomori's strongest attack.
"Well, you win." Seeing Aomori turn his gaze toward him, Gojo raised his hands with a wry smile. "I never thought I'd see the day I ran out of Cursed Energy. If I had a little bit less, I'd be a goner."
"If you had only protected yourself, it wouldn't have been so taxing." Aomori had noticed that at the final moment, Gojo had protected Yuji completely.
"Heh. He is my student, after all. Not saving him would go against my principles as an elite teacher. Besides, Megumi-chan would nag me to death." Gojo took another breath, his breathing finally smoothing out. He shifted into a more comfortable sitting position and asked: "You're the big winner. What do you plan to do now?"
"I'm leaving. There's nothing left for me here."
"Leaving? To where?"
"Heh." Aomori pointed toward the sky and smiled without saying a word.
"Up there?" Gojo didn't quite grasp his meaning. While he was thinking, he noticed the dark figure he had fought earlier land beside him, pointing a camcorder at him and snapping photos frantically. Gojo wasn't one to be shy. Despite his confusion, he obligingly smoothed his hair and struck poses, allowing Darkrai to take a series of "Falling Satoru Gojo" photos from every angle.
After spending some time recovering a bit of energy, it was time to end this journey. Need to make a grand exit.
Aomori gazed at the starry sky, his hands making a gesture as if tearing open the heavens: "Open the Gates of Heaven!"
At his command, a colossal gate of light appeared in the night sky, adorned with patterns of flowers, birds, fish, and insects. In the center was an angel with ten pairs of wings. The doors creaked open a crack, emitting a blinding holy light.
"Heaven?"
As Gojo watched, Aomori drifted upward, walking step by step along a path of light toward the gate. He was flanked by his four subordinate deities, looking solemn and holy. Those who witnessed this held their breath, fearing they might disturb the deity's return to His kingdom.
Finally, Aomori and his subordinate deities entered the gate of light and vanished one by one. Eventually, even the gate dissipated.
"He really was a God?" It was only at this moment that Gojo truly believed Aomori's identity. "I fought with a God. My life is complete."
While he was happily basking in the moment, a group of uninvited guests surrounded him—people who had suffered under him for a long time, including both Curse Users and Jujutsu Sorcerers.
"Give us your life!"
"?" Gojo tilted his head and waved a hand. Everyone present had their limbs severed and fell to the ground, wailing.
"Did you really think trash like you could come and take a swing at me?"
"Sigh, humans are truly foolish. Should I become a God too?"
Post-Dungeon Stat Panel:
[Player Name: Aomori (Omohara Aomori)]
[Main World: One Punch Man]
[Level: 23]
[Titles:
A Small-Time Novice (Equipped): All Attributes +1.
Ultimate Hottie: Charm +5.
Demon Scourge: Damage dealt to man-eating evil lifeforms increased by 5%.
Hero Association Founder: Increases the combat power of professional heroes on the field by 5%.
Heavenly Cursed Spirit: Can transform into a Heavenly Cursed Spirit for one minute per day; immune to pure physical damage.]
[Attributes: Physique 47, Energy 48, Spirit 47 (Remaining Free Stat Points: 0)]
[Points: 177,389]
[Talents:
Primal Body (Adapts to any energy system)
Energy Manipulation (lv6) (Mastery of own energy and conversion into variants)
Lightning Affinity (lv6) (Significantly increases efficiency of lightning energy conversion)
Light Affinity (lv7) (Significantly increases efficiency of light energy conversion)
Body Control (lv4) (Mastery of physical form with minor regenerative abilities)
Dark Affinity (lv7) (Increases efficiency of dark energy conversion)]
[Life Skills: Singing (lv7), Dancing (lv7), Cooking (lv6), Mechanical Mastery (lv7), Acting (lv7)]
[Combat Skills: Healing Spell (lv5), Three-Stage Breathing Style - Thunder (lv6), Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist (lv5), Knight of Owner (lv4), Meditation (lv4), Ah Wei's 18 Forms (lv4), Ittou Shura (lv4), Mind's Eye (lv6), Swordsmanship (lv5), Light Breathing (lv7), 100% Princess Carry (lv3), Exploding Heart Release Fist (lv6), Psychokinesis (lv5), Reflect (lv4), Hypnosis (lv6), Thunder-Light Duality Fist (lv2), Hado #63: Raikoho (lv2), Iron Body (lv1), Barrier Techniques (lv2), Domain (lv2).]
[System Inventory: Heavy Training Gi Set (Blue), Polymerization (Blue), 13 Totem Pole (Blue), Zero Score Test Paper (White), Stun-Gun Watch (White), Sanae's Homemade Bread (White), Make-Out Paradise (White), Novel Power Stones (White), Poké Ball (White) *5, Potion (White), PP Up, Skateboard Shoes (White), Tattered Tracksuit (White), Laptop (Blue), Computer Parts (White), Ryuko (Blue), Violet-Gold Knight Set (Blue), Motorcycle (White), Explosive Tag (Blue), A Toothpick (White), Diary (White), Ballpoint Pen (White), Silverback Alpha (Blue), Portable Camcorder (White), Boruto Manga Volume (White), Bluetooth Headphones (White), Fine Snow (Blue), Cat Food (White), Pocket Watch (White), A Cup of Hot Water (White), Soap (White).]
[Pet Slot 1:
Species: Absol
Level: 45
Attribute: Dark
Stats: Physique 32, Energy 42, Spirit 40
Friendship: lv10 (Friendship Skills: Telepathy, Bond Evolution)
Ability: Justified
Skills: Leer (lv3), Tackle (lv4), Quick Attack (lv6), Taunt (lv3), Razor Wind (lv6), Thunderbolt (lv5), Bite (lv2), Swords Dance (lv2), Reflect (lv5), Rain Dance (lv4), Sunny Day (lv4), Protect (lv3), Future Sight (lv1).]
[Pet Slot 2:
Species: Pidgeot
Level: 46
Attribute: Normal, Flying
Stats: Physique 52, Energy 41, Spirit 32
Friendship: lv8 (Friendship Skill: Telepathy)
Ability: Keen Eye
Skills: Scratch (lv5), Tackle (lv4), Sand Attack (lv3), Quick Attack (lv5), Gust (lv6), Whirlwind (lv5), Wing Attack (lv5), Feather Dance (lv2), Steel Wing (lv4), Sky Attack (lv4), Substitute (lv3), Agility (lv5).]
[Pet Slot 3:
Species: Darkrai
Level: 43
Attribute: Dark
Stats: Physique 43, Energy 61, Spirit 64
Friendship: lv10 (Friendship Skills: Telepathy, Bond Evolution)
Ability: Bad Dreams
Skills: Ominous Wind (lv2), Night Shade (lv3), Disable (lv6), Quick Attack (lv2), Hypnosis (lv6), Double Team (lv6), Shadow Ball (lv5), Shadow Claw (lv2), Reflect (lv3), Hyper Beam (lv2), Substitute (lv2), Psychic (lv4), Dream Eater (lv4), Teleport (lv5), Meditation (lv4), Rest (lv3), Dark Void (lv3).]
[Pet Slot 4:
Species: Ditto
Level: 41
Attribute: Normal
Stats: Physique 30, Energy 27, Spirit 31
Friendship: lv8
Ability: Imposter
Skill: Transform (lv9)]