"Boom!"
The inner space within the "back" of the Prison Realm was starkly different from the outside world. There was no sky, no earth, only a chaotic void and countless nauseating skeletal remains of flesh and bone.
The moment Hana Kurusu pressed her palms together and the dazzling radiance of Jacob's Ladder flared to life, the entire space seemed utterly enraged!
"Roar!"
Countless deformed cursed spirits surged from the void like a tsunami, lunging frantically toward Hana Kurusu as she maintained her technique.
Among them were even many monsters radiating the aura of Semi-Special Grades—an instinctive defensive mechanism spawned by the Prison Realm to protect its core formation!
"Back off!"
Yoru's gaze turned chillingly cold, and the Shiranui in his hand transformed into an impenetrable web of flaming sword strikes.
"Sun Breathing, Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow!"
Stunning afterimages of flame flickered wildly within the cramped space. Each sweep of the blade claimed hordes of cursed spirits, incinerating them completely into ash.
Beneath such absolute defense, Hana Kurusu did not even break a sweat.
She was able to focus all her energy without distraction on unraveling that exquisitely intricate core seal.
Just as the unsealing proceeded smoothly and everything seemed under control...
A sudden change occurred!
Buzz—
A tiny cursed spirit resembling a housefly abruptly squeezed out of a spatial rift.
Unlike the other cursed spirits, it did not attack, instead hovering eerily in midair.
Immediately after, Kenjaku's sickening chuckle escaped from its twisted human face.
"Impressive defense, Yoru."
"You truly live up to your reputation as a monster capable of soloing Special Grades—one who even gives me pause. The internal defenses of the Prison Realm are indeed a bit underwhelming for you."
Hearing that voice, Yoru's movements did not falter in the slightest.
With a reverse slash, he cut down a wave of lunging cursed spirits into a sky full of blazing light, then cast a cold glance at the fly.
"Spit it out. I don't have time for your nonsense."
Kenjaku's unmistakable voice emanated from the fly's mouth, laced with the playful condescension of someone who held all the cards.
"Don't be so cold. I specifically came to deliver a gift to you."
"You must have felt it just now, didn't you? That faint, yet heart-stopping fluctuation of cursed energy."
"That's right. It belongs to Tsumiki Fushiguro."
At those words, Hana Kurusu's expression warped drastically even as she maintained her technique!
'Tsumiki Fushiguro?!'
'That's the sister Megumi Fushiguro would lay down his life to protect!'
'She is also one of their most crucial objectives in this Culling Game, alongside rescuing Satoru Gojo!'
"What are you getting at?"
Yoru's gaze turned perilous in an instant, and the heat of his Permanent Slayer Mark surged once more!
Even the surrounding void warped into visible ripples under the terrifyingly intense heat.
"It's very simple."
Kenjaku's voice was drenched in haughty ridicule.
"Right now, you have two choices."
"First: stay here and keep protecting Hana Kurusu to unseal Satoru Gojo. The price, however, is that ten minutes from now, Tsumiki Fushiguro will be entirely converted into a vessel of incarnation. Her soul will be thoroughly annihilated, reduced to a vessel for the resurrection of an ancient sorcerer!"
"Second: leave the Prison Realm right now to save her. But if you do, Hana Kurusu, deprived of your protection, will unquestionably be torn to shreds by the Prison Realm's internal defenses within a single second!"
"Come now, invincible Sword Saint, make your choice!"
It was a venomous, virtually inescapable dilemma laid bare in broad daylight!
Kenjaku had factored in Yoru's deep sense of loyalty and duty, and calculated precisely the weight Satoru Gojo and Megumi Fushiguro held in Yoru's heart.
Save Satoru Gojo, or save Tsumiki Fushiguro?
Whichever Yoru chose, Kenjaku would remain undefeated!
If Yoru went to save her, the unsealing would fail, Hana Kurusu would die, the Prison Realm would never open, and even Yoru himself might fall into a trap laid out by Kenjaku.
If Yoru continued unsealing, Tsumiki would die, Megumi Fushiguro's mind would completely shatter, and he might even snap on the spot, becoming a new pawn for Kenjaku!
"You despicable bastard!"
Hana Kurusu gritted her teeth, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
"Yoru, you..."
She wanted to tell Yoru to go save her, knowing full well how much Tsumiki meant to Megumi Fushiguro.
Yet if she stopped her technique now, all prior efforts would go up in smoke, and the backlash of the Prison Realm would devour them all in an instant!
Yoru remained silent.
A terrifying, tangible killing intent flared within his deep crimson eyes.
Under the ultimate perception of the Transparent World, he could clearly discern a thread of cursed energy within that fly cursed spirit connecting to the distant urban area.
It was a coordinate Kenjaku had deliberately left behind—a blatant provocation meant to lure him away!
At that critical juncture...
A cool, composed female voice ringing with absolute confidence suddenly came through the miniature communicator in Yoru's ear.
"Focus on your task, Instructor."
"I'll save the girl."
Hearing that voice, Yoru paused for a brief moment before a relieved smile curved his lips.
"Maki."
Indeed, Maki Zenin!
On this battlefield teeming with cursed energy monsters and crowded with formidable fighters, she was the sole person devoid of cursed energy, possessing a Complete Heavenly Restriction comparable to Toji at his peak!
Because she lacked even a shred of cursed energy, she moved across this battlefield like a flawless ghost.
Even Kenjaku's prized barrier network and sensory systems were utterly incapable of tracking her existence!
"I've already locked onto that coordinate."
Over the communicator, Maki's voice was accompanied by the roaring rush of fierce wind, showing that she was already moving at an alarming speed.
"That stitched bastard smugly left behind coordinates; he might as well have handed me a map."
"I'll bring Megumi's sister back in one piece, without fail."
Yoru wielded Shiranui, hacking several Semi-Special Grade cursed spirits trying to ambush them into pieces as he cautioned in a heavy tone.
"Be careful, Maki."
"Since Kenjaku dared to threaten me using Tsumiki, there definitely won't just be a few grunts at those coordinates."
"He's bound to have set traps specifically meant for any rescuers, maybe even ambushes of Special Grade cursed spirits."
"Traps?"
Through the communicator came Maki's arrogant, almost wild cold laugh.
"If it's a trap made for sorcerers, what good is it against a monkey like me who doesn't even have cursed energy?"
"As for Special Grade cursed spirits..."
"All I have to do is sever their necks and mince them into paste, right?"
Hearing Maki's domineering answer, the murder in Yoru's expression finally softened somewhat, replaced by absolute trust in his comrade.
"All right, then I'll leave it to you."
"Make it quick."
Cutting the transmission, Yoru turned to look at the fly cursed spirit hovering in midair, which was still waiting for him to plunge into despair and agony over his choice.
"Kenjaku."
Yoru's voice was bone-chillingly cold, like a reaper from the depths of the underworld.
"You calculated well, and your trap was devised brilliantly."
"However, there is one thing you seem to have forgotten."
"In the face of absolute strength, your pathetic little schemes are utterly laughable!"
The moment the words fell, Yoru swung Shiranui violently.
Slash!
Before the fly cursed spirit could even utter a shriek, it was incinerated into nothingness by the raging flames of Sun Breathing, and the thread of cursed energy was thoroughly severed along with it!
Meanwhile, inside an abandoned underground air-raid shelter dozens of kilometers away from Jujutsu High...
Tsumiki Fushiguro, bound to a stone pillar with thick ropes of cursed energy, stared in terror at the towering silhouettes faintly visible in the surrounding darkness.
"Time is almost up."
In the darkness, a low, raspy voice slowly sounded.
"It seems that invincible Sword Saint ultimately chose Satoru Gojo and abandoned you after all."
"Well then, prepare for your incarnation, Miss Tsumiki."
Several Special Grade cursed spirits exuding a suffocating, dreadful aura emerged slowly from the shadows, encircling Tsumiki.
Their grotesque claws were already touching Tsumiki's cheeks.
However, right as they were about to shove the cursed object for incarnation into Tsumiki's mouth!
Boom!
The air-raid shelter's reinforced concrete ceiling, several meters thick, gave way like flimsy paper as a massive hole was forcefully stomped open from above by pure, savage physical strength!
Amidst the swirling debris and billowing dust...
A dashing figure shouldering the Special Grade Cursed Tool Soul Splitter Katana and wearing dark sunglasses dropped down like a valkyrie, smashing a deep crater into the ground!
"Hey, hey, hey."
Maki adjusted the sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, her razor-sharp eyes—capable of seeing through souls—coldly sweeping across the stunned Special Grade cursed spirits around her.
"Sneaking into a basement to bully a young girl while everyone else is busy..."
"Aren't you disgusting turd-faced creeps getting a little too full of yourselves?"
The Complete Heavenly Restriction enters the fray!
The bloody curtain was about to rise on this breakthrough battle to save Tsumiki!
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comment means the world!
Want 40+ chapters ahead right now? patreon.com/Royal_ink ]