This was the second collision between two Open Domains.
Although Kenjaku had fallen for Mahiru's ruse and been gravely wounded in succession by Satoru Gojo's and Mahiru's attacks, he had already landed a Black Flash and was in peak condition.
His Cursed Energy flowed like water, and the construction of a barrier came effortlessly to him.
Kenjaku had been a master of Domains to begin with. If an Open Domain was like casting aside the canvas and painting out of thin air in the void, then at this moment Kenjaku was bursting with inspiration, his brush dancing through midair like a coiling dragon, as if divinely guided.
And so, the Domain appeared.
Cursed Energy surged forth, an eerie aura instantly spreading across the sky, scattering a near-frozen silence in every direction.
That twisted, monstrous tree with its ferocious demon-face grew madly behind him, soaring straight into the heavens, transforming into a colossal thing that blotted out both sky and sun. This time, the Domain Kenjaku unfolded was more refined and more massive than any before, almost entirely compensating for the disadvantage of his grievous wounds.
The Jujutsu Sorcerers and Curse Users scattered throughout Tokyo, who one moment had been shaken to their cores by the clash between Mahiru and Kenjaku, the next moment saw, amid the smoke, a gigantic monstrous tree wrenching itself up from the ground—towering far higher even than the skyscrapers beside it.
He would not lose.
In this Domain clash, Kenjaku felt it was impossible for him to lose.
The reason for his certainty was not merely that he was in peak condition at this moment—it was that, here, Mahiru's Domain would be severely restricted.
For Mahiru to unfold her Domain, she needed to rely on a crowd.
But here, in these surroundings, where would a crowd come from?
In their last Domain clash, the reason Kenjaku had lost to Mahiru was that, back then, the girl had had an enormous crowd at her side. But this time, she had none.
Could she still unfold a Domain as powerful as last time? Impossible.
She ought to thank her lucky stars if she could conjure up even the tiniest sliver of a Domain right now—how could she possibly contend against him?
The sky-piercing monstrous tree, like a thing scattering spores, scattered dark Cursed Energy, dyeing the night sky an even deeper pitch-black.
This blackness spread out in an instant, covering a range of several hundred meters.
And the Domain Mahiru unfolded occupied only a tiny speck of light within this darkness, like a single lonely sail upon the open sea.
He had indeed won.
So Kenjaku thought, his smile growing wider.
But the next moment, he sensed something was wrong.
The radiance of Mahiru's Domain was very faint, but that seemed to be an illusion.
A vein—inconspicuous yet possessing an overwhelmingly strong presence—spread out from beside Mahiru's feet, beating both the Cursed Energy and the barrier to it.
Kenjaku froze.
Because he saw, one, and then another, colored spotlights springing up out of the darkness.
Several pillars of colored light pierced through Kenjaku's pitch-black Domain.
The blue-haired girl stood where the lights converged, smiling magnificently, gripping a rabbit-shaped microphone in her palm and raising it high above her head—"Begin!"
Music—itappeared!
Music with a soaring rhythm and powerful drumbeats erupted in an instant, resounding across the entire battlefield.
The colored spotlights danced wildly, sweeping away every last trace of the dark atmosphere within Kenjaku's Domain.
The stadium, blasted into ruins only moments ago, was now wrapped and lifted by countless liquid-like shadows, slowly floating up into the air—reassembling, midair, that very stadium which had been shattered into rubble.
At the very center of the stadium was a stage.
Mahiru stood upon it. Kenjaku stood below. A single faint glow flickered to life upon the pitch-black stands all around.
Then came a second point, a third...
As if by contagion, the points of light spread rapidly, thousands, tens of thousands of glows blanketing the entire stands.
At some unknown moment, the stands had filled with countless figures, cheering and shouting in high spirits, waving the glow sticks in their hands, keeping time with the music's rhythm, surrounding the figure of the girl at the very center of the stage like a host of stars cradling the moon.
Kenjaku's pupils trembled.
Because he realized those figures were not special effects of the Domain Expansion. They were, astonishingly, every last one of them, living people.
How was this possible?
How could so many people appear here out of thin air?
Could Mahiru be hiding some ace in the hole, some technique capable of teleporting crowds en masse in an instant?
Kenjaku fell into confusion, and at the same time, a sense of urgency suddenly welled up within him.
The music, the cheers, together with the stage lights, all at once crushed and blasted apart the darkness and silence within Kenjaku's Domain.
The melody and the drumbeats, the cheers and the atmosphere... all of this, every last bit of it, had become the vessel of the Domain, and in this moment it madly expanded Mahiru's Domain outward.
—Letting the Domain grow savage and wild.
Wait a moment...
Kenjaku seemed to notice something.
His gaze sharpened.
He seemed to understand.
This was...
"Spirit Descent?!"
For Mahiru to unfold her Domain, she did indeed need to rely on a crowd.
But given the girl's character, she would never, under any circumstances, turn a shelter full of ordinary people into a battlefield.
She could not bear to watch a single innocent die.
So the method she was using to unfold her Domain at this moment was the same as before. It was still Spirit Descent—by means of Spirit Descent, she had, with her own hands, "created" this entire crowd, this vast sea of spectators.
Long ago, while preparing for today's great battle, Mahiru had asked Yaga to contact the official institutions, urgently combing through every prison in the country, obtaining the remains of nearly seven thousand death-row convicts, and over the past few days—as well as this very morning and afternoon—had hurriedly completed the most basic preliminary processing of all those remains.
Spirit Descent, likewise, consumed Cursed Energy.
By her original calculation, seven thousand sets of remains were actually somewhat too many for Mahiru. But now, the girl—in the midst of a Black Flash and in peak condition—used up all seven thousand sets of remains, pouring every last one of them into her Domain.
In fact, she had already used this move once before, against Hajime Kashimo. The intelligence on it was already known to Hajime Kashimo.
So Mahiru had all along assumed, by default, that Kenjaku too possessed intelligence on this method of Domain Expansion—but the truth was, Kenjaku knew nothing of it.
This was a calamity of Kenjaku's own making. Because Kenjaku had screwed over Hajime Kashimo.
How could Hajime Kashimo, who had been so cruelly deceived by Kenjaku, ever be willing to share the intelligence in his hands with Kenjaku?
And so, of this technique of Mahiru's, Kenjaku truly knew nothing at all.
"Damn it..."
And so, utterly shocked, utterly defenseless.
Kenjaku, who had had not the slightest warning of this technique of Mahiru's, could only watch helplessly as the stage before him blazed with seven brilliant colors, listening to the spectators' cheers surging like toppling mountains and overturning seas...
And then, watching as Mahiru's Domain—in an open posture no different from before, even stronger—tore his own Domain apart.
Standing on equal footing against his Domain.
Crack.
An enormous display screen lit up behind Mahiru, focusing in on the image of the blue-haired girl.
"Shh."
Mahiru smiled prettily, gently raising a finger before her lips.
And so, the entire venue fell silent.
The music came to an abrupt halt, the cheering came to an abrupt halt, and all the spectators stilled their hands from waving the glow sticks, fixing their gazes in unison upon the figure of the girl at the center of the venue.
Amid the silent venue, Kenjaku and Mahiru gazed at each other from afar, across the entire stage.
"Come to think of it..." Mahiru spoke, looking at Kenjaku, "have you ever regretted it?"
"Regretted?"
"Regretted kidnapping Nobara Kugisaki, and turning hostile with me." Mahiru tilted her head slightly. "Although I knew from the very start what you were after, if you hadn't turned hostile with me back then, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out the way they have now."
So—would you regret it? Kenjaku?
"So that's the question, hmm."
You ask me whether I regret it...
"Of course I don't regret it, because all of this is so very interesting..." Kenjaku once again revealed a smile, the Cursed Energy fluctuations about him intensifying. "What's more..."
What's more, he still didn't think he would lose!
"Come! Mahiru, this is the continuation of last time! It's the final conclusion to everything—everything—that has ever passed between you and me!" Kenjaku shouted, laughing in feverish excitement. "This one last strike—it decides the winner!"
"Heh, I accept your proposal, but..." Mahiru smiled, sweeping her right hand, and ten thousand lights spun. "Haven't you noticed? You've already lost."
In that instant, both sides' Domains erupted with power simultaneously, pressing hard against each other.
At the same time, these two Open Domains each set into motion the Cursed Techniques mounted upon them.
Upon Kenjaku's Womb Profusion, two techniques were mounted.
One was the Anti-Gravity Technique; the other was Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
But on Mahiru's side, only one was mounted.
"Blood Manipulation—[Combined Hairpin]!"
Yes.
Long ago, when facing Hakari Kinji's Domain, Mahiru had already tested that technique fusing the Straw Doll Technique with Blood Manipulation—[Combined Hairpin].
It could use the opponent's Domain as a medium to leap past everything and strike directly at the opponent's very soul.
And this time, the girl—who had planned ahead—applied [Combined Hairpin] directly onto her own Domain, granting her entire Domain the property that "the moment it touched the opponent's Domain, it could strike directly at their soul."
As long as the two Domains touched each other, Kenjaku's soul would be wounded along with the pressing of the Domains.
And as it happened, both Kenjaku's and Mahiru's Domains were Open Domains. The area of contact and pressure between the two Domains was, in fact, astonishingly vast. This caused the soul-wounds Kenjaku would suffer to multiply exponentially.
The Domain clash had only just begun when Kenjaku's pupils suddenly contracted, a mouthful of fresh blood spurting out, followed immediately by blood streaming from all seven orifices.
"Did you see that... So, like I said—you've lost."
Mahiru raised her arm high, and the ten thousand spectators waved their glow sticks in response, letting out a sky-shaking cheer.
And it was at precisely this moment that Kenjaku finally saw clearly the faces of these spectators.
They had no facial features—not a single one of them. They all maintained stiff, uniform, robot-like movements.
In an instant, this lively, bustling cheer turned, in Kenjaku's eyes, abruptly eerie and horrifying. Tens of millions of featureless puppets were howling madly, as if driven insane.
And all the colored lights, in this moment, turned in unison to crimson, converging upon a single point, constructing a crimson spear of light.
"Whether or not you regret it... it makes no difference anymore," Mahiru said softly, her voice echoing through the entire stage along with the microphone. "Because... in the end, you will be surpassed by me—it's only a matter of how long it takes."
Farewell, Kenjaku.
Your one and only mistake was that you should never have set your sights on me...
Mahiru waved her hand, and the spear came down.
Sunlight slanted in through the airport's enormous glass windows, and Kenjaku, seated in the departure lounge, felt a rare wave of warmth.
The vast departure lounge was utterly empty, appearing exceptionally desolate.
Kenjaku came to with a start, turned his head, and saw Sukuna seated beside him. So it wasn't entirely empty after all—there was one other person here.
At this moment, Sukuna wore the appearance of that blonde girl.
"Heh." Kenjaku couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you laughing at? What's so funny? You're the one who died, not me." Sukuna lounged carelessly across the chair, gave a yawn, and turned his head to meet Kenjaku's gaze. "...So, how did the battle with that blue-haired Cursed Spirit feel?"
"Haha... it was a thoroughly satisfying fight. Mahiru... is, as expected, the most interesting one of all." Kenjaku laughed with relief and, relaxing, lay back on the lounge bench. "That method of attacking the soul directly across Domains... one look and you can tell—it was tailor-made specifically for me, designed expressly to counter my Open Domain."
"Oh? There's a method like that?"
"Yeah..." Kenjaku gazed at the sunlight streaming in. "That blue-haired Cursed Spirit truly accomplished far too many things impossible to comprehend, impossible even to imagine."
If he had been able to see through Mahiru's schemes and traps one step ahead, and had not been gravely wounded by Satoru Gojo, would he then have been able to win against Mahiru?
If he had known in advance which techniques Mahiru had already devised to target him, to counter him, would the final outcome have been any different?
Kenjaku did not know.
But the fact was, his every misstep, his every moment of being targeted, was the result of that girl's meticulous planning.
Mahiru had grown very quickly; it was only that the time had been too short, and her true raw strength had not yet had the chance to grow to a level like Kenjaku's...
But what of it?
Mahiru had, in the end, successfully killed him, defeated him.
And Kenjaku, right up to the very end, did not even know what Mahiru's ultimate goal had been. The more he fought with her, the more Kenjaku felt that he did not understand Mahiru at all.
"I suddenly feel... it's a bit of a pity," Kenjaku suddenly spoke up. "Not being able to see through Mahiru's full picture, not being able to witness all of her methods... I just can't help feeling there's a bit of a regret in it."
"What full picture?" Sukuna shot him a glance.
Kenjaku merely smiled, not taking up the thread, and instead spoke of something else: "Come to think of it, since I've kicked the bucket now, then from here on out, I'll have to leave it all to you."
"Oh."
"The Culling Game is a vast system; my death won't affect its continued operation. But the problem is, at present it hasn't fully unfolded yet. Before this system is completely stabilized, I'll have to ask you to keep serving as its anchor and its pillar in my stead. And you can't die, and you can't flee—if you die, or if you flee, the initialization of the Culling Game system will fail."
"I know," Sukuna replied lazily. "There's no need for you to remind me again of something we've already agreed upon."
"Well then, consider it a parting gift to you—" Kenjaku looked at him with a beaming smile. "I'll use this last life of mine to lend you a hand or two more."
Sukuna started, turned his head, and met Kenjaku's gaze.
His eyes flickered a couple of times, then he rolled them: "...Suit yourself. I can't be bothered with you."
Beyond the windows of the departure lounge, the roar of an airplane engine thundered to life, and a plane slowly glided past, outside this lounge where only two souls remained.
Kenjaku patted down his trousers, stood up, and waved to Sukuna: "In that case, then, let me bid you goodbye first."
Sukuna gave a casual wave of his hand.
And Kenjaku set off toward the boarding gate.
But just before the boarding gate, the very moment he drew out his ticket, his shoulders suddenly went still, and he turned around once more.
"—This is truly goodbye, Sukuna." He said. "The me of this moment feels that this thousand-year life of mine has been lived as something quite interesting."
"I only hope that the you who comes after can also have a fun time of it."
Kenjaku gave Sukuna a slight, graceful bow, then turned his head and walked into the boarding gate without ever looking back.
His figure vanished completely.
Ha... A fun time, huh?
Sukuna suddenly smiled.
In the distance, that gigantic, monstrous tree was crumbling, and the thousands of crimson searchlights, too, slowly lowered their curtain.
There was no doubt about it—Kenjaku had lost in the Domain clash.
He had been killed.
Both Sukuna and Satoru Gojo, who stood before Sukuna, perceived this.
But at the same time, a strange ripple spread outward, riding upon the very last faint vestige of power from Kenjaku's already-shattered Domain.
This ripple contained a peculiar quality that was indescribable, unfathomable—one that felt unfamiliar to Satoru Gojo, yet whose true meaning he could not begin to guess.
Satoru Gojo suddenly felt alarm bells blaring within his heart.
This ripple, which carried no intent to attack whatsoever, somehow made him sense danger, gave him an ominous premonition.
"What a nuisance—I suppose it can only be chalked up to keeping poor company..." And amid the storm of slashes and Cursed Energy, Sukuna raised his finger toward Satoru Gojo and once again activated his technique. "But fortunately, this game... is indeed not boring."
The Culling Game—not boring.
That thing Kenjaku had wished to see, that ideal—not boring.
And this man before him, and that blue-haired Cursed Spirit...
Every last bit of it—not boring.
—[Dismantle].
Sukuna once again unleashed his technique—[Dismantle].
But this time, the trace of Cursed Energy left in the slash's wake was no longer crimson and pitch-black, but a streak of golden light.
This golden light, like a sword of divine judgment descended from heaven, tore open the veil of night with its slash, and at the same time tore through Satoru Gojo's Limitless technique defense, very nearly severing Satoru Gojo's arm in a single stroke.
In fact, had Satoru Gojo not reacted with extreme speed and dodged in time, this single [Dismantle] would likely have struck him squarely at the waist, cleaving him clean in two.
Fresh blood splattered.
A trace of shock flashed through Satoru Gojo's eyes, then settled into seriousness and gravity.
He understood: the move Sukuna had just used was a brand-new technique.
Until now, Sukuna had always used [Dismantle] and [Jacob's Ladder] separately, as two distinct techniques.
But now it was different.
He had actually fused [Jacob's Ladder] with [Dismantle], giving his slashes the ability to effortlessly break through the Limitless technique.
Neither Sukuna nor Satoru Gojo would ever know that, in the original work, in order to break through Satoru Gojo's Limitless, Sukuna had relied not only upon Mahoraga but had also spent a great deal of time before finally grasping the technique known as the "World-Cutting Slash."
But now, Sukuna no longer needed that move at all.
His every slash could ignore Limitless's defense.
His every slash was a miniature World-Cutting Slash.
This was... for Satoru Gojo, the worst possible situation.
____
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