["I have crossed hands with him."]
["Not bad, as expected of you." Aventurine's eyes lit up. "Then I'll keep it short… This Duke Inferno is a fire demon from Fetora, a type of elemental life. It's said his origins have some connection to a certain genius… He and his followers formed the 'Eternal Flame Mansion,' viewing Nanook as their benefactor—In reality, they are led by this Duke, burning, killing, and plundering everywhere, carrying out the will of [Destruction]."]
["No one knows what's wrong with the Family's head, or if someone is meddling behind the scenes, but these guys actually received an invitation too. The Eternal Flame Mansion naturally wouldn't refuse. They came aggressively, vowing to turn the Festival Star into a sea of flames…"]
["But don't worry, they won't be attending. Do you know why?"]
[Aventurine said calmly: "—Because Ifrit is dead."]
["What happened?" Stelle looked at him in disbelief.]
[Aventurine slowly walked behind Stelle: "They were annihilated on their way to the appointment. The culprit killed Ifrit in an extremely skillful and cruel manner, and stole the invitation the Annihilation Gang received. The Eternal Flame Mansion also fell apart and scattered like birds and beasts—"]
["And after that, a mysterious Galaxy Ranger arrived in Penacony, checked into the hotel with a music box… Do I need to continue, my friend?"]
——
At the same time, across the myriad realms.
Mei Mei, Serie, Nezha, Kyoraku Shunsui, the Pyro Archon Mavuika, and others… Their pupils contracted one after another, lips slightly parted as if wanting to say something but unable to make a sound. Their facial expressions were almost uniformly frozen. After a long while, they all let out a simultaneous…
"?"
——
Jujutsu Kaisen.
"Wait, that… I-I need to calm down a bit…"
In the Jujutsu High meeting room, with a "crack," Mei Mei unconsciously crushed the teacup handle. Tea slid down the edge of the table. Her usually graceful and composed face now showed rare cracks. Her red lips trembled slightly: "How is this possible…"
"Shouldn't that guy be brewing some kind of [Destruction] plan? Doesn't he still have many offspring? How could he die so… casually?"
Hearing the news of Ifrit's death from Aventurine's mouth felt like he died too easily—easy enough that Aventurine didn't even blink much.
"Ahahahaha!" Kusakabe suddenly burst into wild laughter, nearly falling off his chair. "What the hell! We've been guessing here for so long that he was pulling strings behind the scenes, but that guy didn't even make it to Penacony before kicking the bucket?!"
Itadori silently scooted closer to Kusakabe. He felt Sister Mei Mei's cursed energy was about to go out of control. He whispered softly: "Kusakabe-sensei, maybe you should stop laughing. This is the first time I've seen Sister Mei Mei lose her composure like this…"
"Pfft, it's fine. Who here hasn't been fooled by Duke Inferno? Honestly, at first I also thought that fire demon would descend on Penacony in some unexpected way—but I didn't expect he didn't come to Penacony at all."
"But I think, although the Duke died a bit hastily, it doesn't mean he was weak. Facing an Emanator, I'm afraid no one in Penacony could contend with them, right?" Okkotsu Yuta said seriously. "What's strange is that Aventurine said Acheron is an Emanator… But with the strength she has shown so far, has she really reached Emanator level?"
——
Bleach.
"Puhahahaha—"
Kyoraku Shunsui spat out a mouthful of sake, then slapped his thigh and laughed wildly. "We were actually played around by a dead man. You even guessed he had a thirty percent chance. Now he doesn't even have ten percent, hahahahaha!"
Kyoraku Shunsui slightly lifted his straw hat. His cheeks were slightly flushed from laughter and alcohol: "Byakuya, looks like you overestimated Duke Inferno—no, we all overestimated him."
"No." Byakuya's brows furrowed imperceptibly. "It's not that we overestimated him. It's that we all underestimated Acheron. That woman's strength… we thought too simply."
Kyoraku Shunsui's laughter stopped abruptly.
He recalled what Aventurine mentioned earlier—that Acheron was an Emanator. So far only three Emanator-level figures had appeared. Aside from Lady Herta who had never taken action, compared to Phantylia and Jing Yuan… Kyoraku Shunsui stroked the pattern on his sake gourd, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes: "Her strength probably hasn't reached that level, right? Otherwise, she should have been able to kill SAM in the dream."
"No." Byakuya picked up the slightly cool tea. "You should know she has never drawn her sword. I guess she, like us captains, possesses something similar to 'Bankai'—releasing the true power of her Zanpakuto. Of course, I don't know what her sword is called, but… she should have a similar ability to strengthen herself."
"But why doesn't she use it?"
"I don't know." Byakuya looked up at the sky screen. "Perhaps in her eyes, she hasn't encountered an opponent truly worthy of drawing her sword yet?"
——
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.
"Lady Serie, do you think… Duke Inferno might have faked his death?"
"Faked his death?"
Serie narrowed her eyes and began seriously considering her disciple's speculation.
"Duke Inferno is an elemental life. Do you remember the Xianzhou Luofu's Heliobus? Although Heliobus and Ifrit are not the same species, as elemental lives, I believe they still share common points… such as being very difficult to kill."
Sense said softly, swallowing nervously as she waited for her teacher's answer from the throne.
"Continue."
"…Yes."
Sense said calmly: "Duke Inferno possesses spatial teleportation abilities. Unless Miss Acheron can kill him in one strike—otherwise it would be very difficult to kill Duke Inferno. Even if he and his offspring are not strong enough, escaping should be no problem."
"Escape." Serie repeated thoughtfully. She suddenly grinned: "Sense, do you think Duke Inferno is the type of person who would run away?"
"I…"
"Sense, do not insult Duke Inferno." Serie said coldly. "…Next time, don't make such boring assumptions again."
——
["Is there any other evidence?" Stelle asked.]
["Galaxy Rangers are elusive and have little contact with each other. This identity is too easy to wear. As long as she doesn't admit it, there's no proof. The Company has ways to investigate, but it will take time."]
[Aventurine looked at her seriously: "So, my friend, it's time for you to make a choice… You can leave here right now, immediately, without looking back, and forever give up the chance to approach the truth."]
["In contrast, you can also accept my invitation and learn a fact—a fact sufficient to overturn all of Penacony."]
[Aventurine gave Stelle time to consider, but he wouldn't wait too long. She needed to make her choice here.]