Gazing at Sukuna, who stood vertically upon the wall and had declared the end with just a single hand, the Armed Cursed Spirits' remaining reason and ferocity were squeezed and ignited under the extreme threat of death, turning into the madness of a final stand.
Domain Expansion—this was the final trump card of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, the ultimate manifestation of their obsessions, and the only hope for a turnaround in a desperate situation.
Even though they faced Sukuna's unfathomable power, which seemed capable of tearing through a domain with his bare hands, and this hope was as flickering as a candle in the wind, they had no other choice.
Almost at the same instant, four resolute and violent fluctuations of Cursed Energy erupted from the bodies of Jogo, Hanami, Mahito, and Dagon.
The air let out an overburdened hum, and the rubble of the ruins floated slightly against gravity.
The surrounding light began to warp, taking on their respective ominous colors—the scorching orange-red around Jogo, the decaying dark green beside Hanami, the eerie spectral blue near Mahito, and the deep ink-blue at Dagon's side.
They were going to simultaneously and forcibly expand their respective domains. Even if the domains might interfere with or backfire against each other, even if it would exhaust their last strength, they would give everything on this final stage to drag Sukuna into their home field for a final struggle.
"Domain..."
Jogo's single eye was nearly splitting open, and the light from his head was brilliant to the extreme as he roared, attempting to spit out the mantra that declared his domain.
Hanami was silent, but all the plants swayed wildly, pointing toward Sukuna as the wrinkles in space already began to form.
"Ex..."
On Mahito's face was a twisted smile mixed with extreme excitement and deathbed madness, his hands rapidly forming seals in front of his chest.
"pan—"
The Armed Cursed Spirits felt as if a giant invisible hand had seized their throat.
In that absolute interval where their Cursed Energy erupted, their domains were about to manifest their initial forms, and the mantra was just about to be spoken—
"Haa..."
An extremely faint sigh, seemingly carrying a thousand years of boredom and weariness, drifted down from above.
Before the sound of the sigh could even fall, Sukuna, who had been standing on the vertical wall, disappeared.
In the consciousness of the four Cursed Spirits, in that "instant" when they were about to expand their domains, time seemed to be infinitely stretched, yet also seemed to be instantaneously cut.
Four identical, expressionless phantoms of Sukuna, with arms still folded across their chests, seemed to step out from the cracks of time and space simultaneously. Without any warning, they appeared precisely in front of each of them, at an incredibly close distance.
The movements of the four Sukuna phantoms were completely synchronized.
Is he really this fast?
That was the thought in Kenjaku's mind.
Each of them drew out the arm located on the lower right side, clenched their five fingers, pulled the arm back, and tensed their muscles.
Upon the fist's edge, there was no dazzling light of Cursed Energy, only an extreme, restrained "Black" that seemed capable of even swallowing light, silently condensing, compressing, and undergoing a qualitative change.
Then, Sukuna threw a straight punch.
He was so fast that it was as if these four fists had been resting there from the very beginning, and the four Cursed Spirits had actively slammed their own heads, chests, and torsos into those destructive fist-edges.
A resonance of Cursed Energy and kinetic energy was perfectly triggered once again.
Black Flash!
Four pitch-black, twisted, crack-like shockwaves that seemed to connect to nothingness instantly pierced through and blew apart the cores of the four Cursed Spirits, where their domains were brewing and their Cursed Energy was most surging and turbulent.
Black Flash: Quadruple - Godspeed Version.
The four Cursed Spirits, along with the domains they were about to expand but which would never form, were completely erased from existence in less than a hundredth of a second by four precise, synchronized Black Flashes.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no tragic death struggle. There were only four clusters of black embers that rose almost simultaneously and quickly dissipated, as well as the ripples of destruction remaining in the air that made one's soul tremble.
Sukuna's four simultaneously appearing phantoms flickered slightly and merged into one, like illusions that had completed their mission.
Sukuna still stood on that vertical wall, as if he had never left.
His right hand, which had just delivered four Black Flashes, was slowly and casually dropping to his side, with a trace of unextinguished black electric discharge still seemingly lingering on his fingertips.
He didn't even spare a second glance at the four clusters of dissipating embers, as if he had merely brushed some dust off his sleeve.
Only now did the lingering echoes of the "Domain Expansion" mantra that the four Cursed Spirits failed to fully utter seem to vibrate slightly in the distorted air, forming an absurd and cruel contrast with the reality of their complete annihilation.
Silence once again enveloped the ruins. But this time, the silence was heavier and colder than any time before.
In the distance, Satoru slowly took off his sunglasses, the Six Eyes filled with an unprecedented solemnity.
In that moment just now, even he had only captured an extremely blurred "trace resonance" that seemed to exist in four locations at once.
That kind of speed could no longer be described as merely "fast", it could be called godspeed.
As for Kenjaku, his expression had become twisted to the extreme, and the stitches on his forehead were twitching violently.
The strength Sukuna displayed had broken through his worst-case estimates time and time again. This was by no means the power a newly revived Sukuna should have.
What exactly did he obtain while sealed, or after his revival?
Sukuna seemed oblivious to the gazes from afar. He lowered his eyes and looked at the place where the four Cursed Spirits had vanished, it was not entirely empty.
This was the most delicious spoils of war sensed by the "Soul Devouring" talent.
"Better than nothing." The giant mouth on Sukuna's abdomen opened and closed, letting out a whisper.
With a slight thought, the [Soul Devouring] talent activated silently. An invisible suction, as if capable of devouring the soul origin of all things, quietly spread out with him as the center, precisely capturing and entangling those four wisps of drifting dark light.
Whoosh—
The four wisps of light seemed to receive an irresistible summons and instantly vanished into Sukuna's body, merging into his slowly dropping right hand.
[Soul Devouring triggered... Detected High-quality Curse Origin ×4, Fear Concept Fragment: Spear...]
[Absorbing...]
[Curse Origin conversion... Total Cursed Energy increased, Cursed Energy purity increased.]
[Fear Concept Fragment: Spear analysis in progress... Deepening understanding of weapon-related fear concepts such as Piercing, Tearing, Explosion, Precision, and Corrosion...]
[Evolutionary Law Framework nourished...]
[Flesh Creation skill obtains new material template (Cursed Spirit-Devil Hybrid)...]
[Congratulations Host for collecting the Four Disaster Cursed Spirits. Obtained Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Spirit Concepts.]
The cold prompts flowed through Sukuna's consciousness.
Sukuna flexed his right hand, which had just finished absorbing the power.
He slightly twisted his neck, his joints letting out crisp popping sounds.
He raised his four crimson eyes, and his gaze no longer held the slightest hint of playfulness or boredom. Only a pure and cold battle intent remained, piercing straight toward the white-haired man who had also reined in all his relaxed expressions and was slowly standing up on the ruins in the distance.
"Alright, the annoying flies have finally been swatted clean."
Sukuna's voice was not loud, yet it carried a weight of a thousand pounds, echoing clearly over the dead silence of Shibuya.
"Now, it is our turn, Satoru."
"Let me see, you who are called the 'strongest' of this era..."
"Just how much weight you truly carry."