"BOOOOM—!!!"
The colossal explosion erupting from the center of the battlefield made the sorcerers from Jujutsu High repeatedly turn their heads back even as they emerged outside.
Worry for their teacher, Satoru Gojo, weighed heavily on them, along with uncertainty about the future of the jujutsu world—and the world itself.
"We're joining the fight. Even if we're just cannon fodder!"
Yuji clenched his fists tightly, his expression resolute as he marched toward the battlefield.
Choso, acting as his older brother, followed without the slightest hesitation.
Yuta and the others also began approaching the edge of the battlefield from different directions.
Zenin Mirai's overwhelming strength, along with the endless stream of trump cards he revealed one after another…
All of it caused their confidence in Gojo's chances of victory to plummet to its lowest point.
Just as Yuji had said—even if they were nothing more than cannon fodder, at the very least they could raise Gojo's odds by even a tiny fraction.
"Damn it… that monster!"
"If the world's ending, then what's the point of legalizing gambling anymore?!"
Kinji Hakari made his way alone toward the battlefield through a side road, cursing the entire way.
The barrier covering the country, along with the status of being a Player in the Culling Game—
Even fleeing overseas would be meaningless. If their points remained unchanged after nineteen days, they would still die.
From the bottom of his heart, Hakari didn't want to face Zenin Mirai. Nor did he want to participate in this battle.
But Mirai had never given them the right to choose.
"Cryokinesis Technique: Frost Calm!"
White hair. Purple eyes. Bone-piercing cold swept through the streets.
Hakari suddenly looked up—
His body rapidly began freezing solid.
"Get lost, trash."
Uraume coldly stared at the frozen figure before them, frosty breath curling from their lips.
"No one is allowed to interrupt my lord's enjoyment. Anyone who does will die."
Before the ice could completely freeze his consciousness, Hakari broke free with all his strength.
"Yo, bowl-cut brat."
The frostbite covering half his body and the torn flesh on his arm visibly regenerated.
"Even after getting beaten that badly, you sound pretty confident Sukuna's winning."
"How about teaming up with me? We can help your boss deal with that monster together."
Hakari looked relaxed on the surface, but inwardly his nerves were taut.
If he hadn't activated his Domain beforehand for reinforcement, the sheer freezing temperature alone would have seriously injured him.
A trace of surprise flashed through Uraume's eyes.
The speed at which this delinquent-looking sorcerer healed his body with Reverse Cursed Technique was comparable even to Gojo and Sukuna.
Looks like he wasn't complete trash after all.
Uraume's gaze sharpened as cursed energy surged forth.
"This is your final warning. Go back."
A loyal servant from a thousand years ago—
No one in this world understood Sukuna-sama better than they did.
The monstrous power Zenin Mirai displayed was the first thing that had ever shaken Uraume's unwavering belief in Sukuna's invincibility.
The smile on Sukuna's face…
The excitement and yearning rising from the depths of his soul…
Uraume would not allow anyone to interfere with that.
"Cryokinesis Technique—Maximum Output!"
"Direct Waterfall!!!"
"Hurry up, Kamo!"
Flying low through the air, Momo Nishimiya urged the others below her onward.
With his short crew cut and tight martial attire, Noritoshi Kamo—who once declared during the Shibuya Incident that he would leave Japan—ran behind Yuta with bow in hand.
Back then, Kamo had found his mother and truly intended to leave this storm-ridden country.
But not only the airports—even the sea routes and cruise ships had been destroyed in advance by the Zenin Clan.
That monster had never intended to leave anyone a path to survive.
Having missed the best opportunity to flee, Kamo and his mother had now both become Players as well.
Ui Ui, Mei Mei's younger brother, possessed the cursed technique "Spatial Transfer."
After receiving their individual assignments, the Jujutsu High sorcerers departed from different locations with Ui Ui's assistance.
"We're close enough, Okkotsu!"
At Momo's signal, Yuta flashed forward and stepped onto the tail end of her flying broom.
To maintain high-speed flight at high altitude, she could carry at most one person.
The witch-like flying broom was a special cursed tool created through the application of Momo Nishimiya's technique.
Momo furrowed her tiny brows as cursed energy burst forth, carrying Yuta straight toward the gigantic cursed womb in the sky.
Standing on the ground, Kamo drew his bow and raised his cursed energy to the limit.
Aside from the madman Zenin Mirai, the giant cursed womb formed through Tengen's assimilation also needed to be destroyed.
Now, before it fully hatched, was the best chance to eliminate it.
"—SHIIING!!!"
A massive rain of arrows wrapped in azure cursed energy shot toward the heavens.
Crouching low with sword in hand, Yuta's eyes gleamed with terrifying killing intent after storing power for so long.
First the cursed womb.
Then Zenin Mirai.
"BOOM!"
With a violent leap, Yuta's body blasted through the air, sending waves of shockwaves rolling outward.
Momo tightly gripped her broom as it spun wildly like an out-of-control aircraft, drifting downward.
An enormous flood of cursed energy erupted.
But the instant Yuta swung his blade—
His pupils suddenly shrank.
"CLANG!!!"
The Extermination Sword bound to Mahoraga's right arm firmly blocked Yuta's descending slash.
Sparks exploded brilliantly as both sorcerer and shikigami crashed toward the ground together.
And Kamo's endless rain of arrows—
"Not happening!"
Pink hair. Secretary attire.
Uro let out a cold snort as she flashed before the cursed womb, twisting the very surface of space with both hands.
In an instant, heaven and earth reversed.
Every single arrow fired into the sky rebounded back toward Kamo on the ground.
"Yo, everybody's here."
"I've been guarding the president for quite a while now."
The suit-wearing White Zetsu appeared beside Uro with a playful grin.
White Zetsu and the others had already been standing guard around the cursed womb before Mirai's battle even began.
Uro's spatial-manipulation technique concealed the group from Jujutsu High's sight.
The chaotic cursed energy pouring from the womb also conveniently masked their presence.
That was why Yuta and the others hadn't detected them earlier.
Even amid the sudden turn of events, Yuta remained calm as he fell from the sky.
The instant his katana clashed against Mahoraga, one hand moved toward his mouth.
Cursed Speech!!!
Recognizing the cursed markings appearing around Yuta's lips, Uro inwardly cursed.
"Fall!!!"
The careless White Zetsu and the now out-of-control Uro both plummeted downward.
"Blood Manipulation!"
"Maximum Output: Piercing Blood!!!"
Kamo seized the perfect opening Yuta had created.
A blood arrow moving at near-sonic speed shot into the sky.
"Tsukumogami Manipulation: Crescent Severance!!!"
A crescent-shaped golden slash shot upward from below.
Floating midair, Momo also unleashed her maximum output attack.
Then—
Just as the group stared upward with bated breath, a pink beam of cursed energy streaked in from another side of the horizon, dragging a long tail of flames behind it.
"BANG! BANG!!!"
Kamo's Piercing Blood and Momo's slash were both intercepted by lotus-shaped bullets.
Seeing the familiar figure aiming a rifle from afar, Momo and Kamo stared in utter disbelief.
"Mai?!!"
The one who shattered their hopes…
Was their once-closest companion.
At the center of the battlefield, once everything finally settled—
The district where the four had fought had become ruins beyond ruins.
The upper half of his clothing had been blown away, his body drenched in blood.
His Rabbit Escape shikigami had already perished in the previous terrifying explosion.
And as for his Mahoraga—
The King of Curses staggered out from the smoke, having lost his left arm.
Mirai lightly stepped down from the sky onto the ground, still holding the wheel from Mahoraga's head in his hand.
"Children shouldn't play with weapons used by grown-ups."
His mocking words fell coldly into the silence.
Naturally, he was referring to the Mahoraga summoned by Sukuna.
Mirai did not repair the Susanoo whose leg had been blown off.
As for Rabbit Escape, its core body had completely died within the violet light.
Only a trace of pure white remained at the collar of Mirai's upper garment.
"Hahaha!"
"So even an unrestricted Hollow Purple can't injure you?!"
From the other side of the smoke—
The striking white-haired figure stood there, stained black with soot.
Gojo Satoru laughed as he cursed.
His upper body was torn open with bloody wounds, and half his face had been scorched black.
"Monster!"
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