After receiving word from the Tombs of the Star Corridor, the three of them rushed over—but by then, everything had already been settled.
"Zenin Mirai…"
Yuta Okkotsu muttered the name of the culprit through clenched teeth, his fists tightening.
After examining the Death Painting Wombs left behind by Mirai, Shoko Ieiri shook her head grimly.
"I can't detect any traces of tampering inside them."
Would Zenin Mirai really be that kind-hearted?
Watching Choso carefully gather the cursed objects back into his arms, Shoko ultimately kept her thoughts to herself.
To her, they were cursed objects that should be destroyed or sealed away.
To Choso, they were his precious younger brothers.
She couldn't bring herself to say something so cruel.
Shoko's absent-minded gaze drifted faintly toward the direction of Shibuya.
If that bastard were still here… perhaps things would not have become this terrible.
November 14th.
The thirteenth day since the Culling Game began.
Only one final ritual remained to complete the barriers.
Stepping out from the void, Mirai appeared at the entrance to the Tokyo No. 1 Colony.
"Kogane-chan, announce the latest rules."
During the time he had spent arranging the ritual, Mirai had muted Kogane's notifications.
At his command, the tiny shikigami abruptly opened its crimson eyes.
"Announcement…"
The first ten rules remained unchanged.
"Rule Eleven: Points between players may now be transferred freely!"
"Rule Twelve: Communication blocking within the colonies has been removed!"
Additional rules proposed by players: Hajime Kashimo, Hiromi Higuruma.
Scanning the names of the players who had added rules, a faint smile appeared on Mirai's lips.
The players Mirai considered barely worthy enough to guard the gate had become the very hope that Yuji Itadori and the others clung to for turning the situation around.
Opening the panel floating in the void, Mirai checked the current status.
After over ten days of slaughter, only a little more than three hundred players remained in the Tokyo No. 1 Colony.
"Kotobuki, notify the Zenin clan sorcerers. The operation begins now."
Kotobuki, who had been waiting near the entrance, immediately took out a phone to relay the order.
With that, Mirai stepped into the barrier.
The moment he entered the Culling Game colony, Mirai began falling from high in the air.
Back in Sendai, he had already added a rule allowing free passage in and out of the barriers.
Meanwhile, Zenin clan sorcerers had been stationed throughout each colony, further crushing any hope players had of escape.
Violent winds whipped through his ink-black hair, his spotless white robes fluttering loudly.
Below him stretched rows of towering buildings, yet the streets were eerily empty and silent.
BOOM!
The roar of jet engines echoed from a distant skyscraper.
A female player wearing a jet-propelled flight pack and aviation goggles shot directly toward Mirai in midair.
Points were survival within the Culling Game.
And the only way to obtain points… was through killing.
Newly entered players were randomly transported, but each colony only had nine entrances.
As a result, some players specifically camped those entrances, hunting newcomers.
She had mistaken Mirai for a fresh participant.
As she launched her sneak attack, her mocking laughter rang through the air.
"Nice! Another easy five points!"
"Bad luck, rookie!"
Mirai's eyes remained calm.
He did not even bother responding.
The instant before she collided with him, the grin on the rookie-killer's face froze in place.
Bang!
A crimson firework exploded across the sky.
Until her death, Mirai had not given her so much as a glance.
As blood mist burst outward through the air, the rest of her group instantly realized how terrifying the newcomer was.
They had no thoughts of revenge whatsoever.
The player with a propeller mounted on his head—her husband—immediately turned and fled in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately…
Fragments no larger than a thumb drifted through the blood-filled air.
Ding!
Kogane was just about to announce the newly earned points when Mirai silenced it once more.
Inside a luxury suite in a five-star hotel within the Tokyo No. 1 Colony—
Hiromi Higuruma looked toward the others and pointed at the player whose score had suddenly changed on the panel.
"Is this the person you were talking about?"
Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki immediately summoned their Kogane to check the player information.
"That's him. Zenin Mirai is in the Tokyo No. 1 Colony too!"
Megumi's voice was extremely grave, and faint fear lingered in his eyes.
As a fellow Ten Shadows Technique user, Megumi understood better than anyone how terrifying Mirai truly was.
Yuji and Nobara fell silent for a moment before hatred burst from their eyes.
They had already learned the outcome of the battle at the Tombs of the Star Corridor more than ten days ago.
The deaths of the principal, Kento Nanami, Ino, Yuki Tsukumo…
They had made Yuji regard Zenin Mirai as someone who absolutely had to be killed.
And even earlier—
Aoi Todo.
But…
They were powerless.
Unable to avenge them personally.
Unable even to confront him directly, forced instead to avoid him.
Yuji clenched his fists tightly while Nobara bit hard against her lip, frustration filling her heart.
"I don't care about this Zenin Mirai. As long as you agree to my conditions, I'll help you unseal the Prison Realm."
Sitting across from the three of them was a female player with a halo above her head and pure white wings sprouting from her back.
Hana Kurusu sat calmly in the center of the sofa.
But the voice speaking did not belong to Hana.
It belonged to the being coexisting within her—Angel.
Much like how Ryomen Sukuna spoke through Yuji's body.
"A reincarnated sorcerer taking over a vessel is equivalent to murdering the original owner's soul. Whether intentional or not, such people deserve judgment."
"They have violated God's natural law."
Seeing the looks directed at her, Angel added another explanation.
"Don't misunderstand. 'God' is merely a personal creed of mine, not an actual being."
Even though Choso had personally confirmed the death of Kenjaku, the Culling Game had not yet ended.
Unsealing Satoru Gojo remained everyone's highest priority.
And now that Zenin Mirai had personally entered the game, the pressure weighing on them only intensified.
Megumi stared at Hana's face and spoke in a low voice.
"Your condition is too difficult."
Angel had already revealed her technique to them earlier—
Technique Extinguishment.
Not only could she unseal the Prison Realm containing Gojo, she could also nullify the Culling Game barriers themselves.
Even without the rule Mirai had added, she could freely move between colonies.
Separating distorted souls…
Separating cursed objects fused with human vessels…
Separating humans from cursed tools and seals…
Angel's technique possessed overwhelming purification properties.
If that were all, Megumi and the others would not have been so troubled.
The real issue was that during the process of removing reincarnated sorcerers, the vessel's original soul had a ninety-nine percent chance of dying as well.
There were still countless reincarnated players inside the colonies.
And Yuji Itadori himself was also a vessel.
To force Yuji to die just for the sake of unsealing Gojo…
That was something Megumi and the others could never accept.
The mouth split open beneath Hana's eye spoke again on its own, explaining the conditions for releasing the sealed cursed object.
"My goal is indeed to eliminate all reincarnated players…"
"But I am not so greedy."
"The Fallen."
The moment Angel uttered those words, murderous intent seemed to solidify in the air itself.
"As long as you kill this one player, I will devote myself fully to assisting all of your efforts."
Just killing one person…
Relief had only just begun appearing in Megumi and the others' eyes—
when Yuji suddenly froze in place.
Inside Sukuna's innate domain—
a blood-red shrine surrounded by mountains of corpses—
Yuji stared ahead blankly.
"You really do have the most disgusting expression. No matter how many times I see it, it irritates me."
Facing Yuji's undisguised hatred, Sukuna folded his arms across his chest and spoke coldly.
"Kid. Let me give you a warning."
"I am the Fallen."
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