"Splat!"
Suguru Geto's right shoulder exploded in a spray of blood, and he staggered violently.
In the domain struggle against Sukuna's Malevolent Shrine, his Lotus Garden of Pure Souls had already reached its absolute limit.
Countless spiderweb-like cracks were spreading frantically across the barrier that emitted a pure white light, looking as if it might shatter at any moment like fragile glass.
"Master Suguru!"
Inside the domain, several high-grade cursed spirits that Suguru Geto had granted temporary sentience let out anxious roars, attempting to use their own bodies to fill the gaps that were about to burst.
"Don't worry about me!"
Suguru Geto gritted his teeth so hard that his lips were already a bloody mess.
He maintained his hand signs, his nails digging deep into his palms as blood dripped steadily through his fingers.
"Go and bring the rest... everyone, inside!"
"Not a single person can be left behind!"
Driven by Suguru Geto's near-maniacal will, the once pure-white lotuses within the Lotus Garden of Pure Souls began to be stained with a piercing crimson.
He was overdrawing his own life force!
He poured his vast, sea-like cursed energy and his entire obsession with 'protection' into the domain without reservation.
Rumble!
Outside, Sukuna's indiscriminate storm of slashes continued to rage frantically.
The entire center of Shibuya within an eight-hundred-meter radius had been completely leveled, with even the earth's crust being shaved off layer by layer.
If not for the pure land that Suguru Geto was desperately supporting,
the tens of thousands of ordinary civilians hiding within the domain would have been reduced to a mist of blood in the very first wave of slashes.
"Why...?"
A middle-aged man shielded by the spectral image of a cursed spirit looked at the blood-covered back of the man in black standing deathly still before them, his voice trembling as he cried out.
"You're already... so badly hurt..."
"Why are you still risking your life for ordinary people like us!"
Within the crowd, countless civilians were sobbing in low voices.
They might not have known what a jujutsu sorcerer was, or what a Domain Expansion meant,
but they could clearly see that the man in the black monk robes was using his own flesh and blood to hold up a ray of hope for their survival!
Hearing the cries behind him,
a flicker of complicated tenderness suddenly crossed Suguru Geto's blood-blurred vision.
'Why?'
Suguru Geto murmured to himself in his heart.
He remembered the summer of 2006, and Riko Amanai, who died in the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
He remembered the hideous faces of the Star Religious Group, cheering and applauding for the death of an innocent young girl.
He also remembered the Hasaba twins, who were treated like monsters and abused in cages in that remote village.
'I once... hated you guys with a passion.'
A bitter smile curled on Suguru Geto's lips.
'I even felt that it was precisely because of you ungrateful monkeys that this world was filled with curses, and that jujutsu sorcerers kept dying.'
'But...'
The look in Yoru's eyes when he swung that blade at him amidst the ruins during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons suddenly surfaced in Suguru Geto's mind.
He also remembered the scene in the infirmary not long ago, where his junior—who always complained that 'work is shit'—bowed deeply to Yoru.
'That guy Yoru was right...'
'Escaping changes nothing.'
'If this world is rotten to the core, then what we must do is not destroy the world along with the innocents.'
'Instead, we must become stronger... strong enough to sever all curses!'
Suguru Geto snapped his head up, and a brilliance like never before erupted from his narrow eyes!
Vwoom!!!
Accompanied by the total ascension of Suguru Geto's will, he forcibly activated the domain's hidden effect.
Using the countless spectral cursed spirits within the domain as mediums, he actually transferred his vast cursed energy to everyone inside the domain in an extremely gentle manner.
At that moment, a faint barrier of cursed energy appeared on the bodies of the once-defenseless civilians, finally granting them a slim chance of survival under the rampaging storm of slashes.
The blood-stained lotuses within the Lotus Garden of Pure Souls also erupted with a dazzling golden Buddhist light!
The once-tottering domain barrier miraculously stabilized at this moment.
The invisible slashes that tried to tear the barrier apart were completely purified upon contact with this layer of golden light, like snow melting under the sun!
He had succeeded.
Under the extreme pressure of life and death, and after completing the total subversion and redemption of his past ideals,
Suguru Geto's domain welcomed its true metamorphosis at this moment!
"Is that... Suguru Geto?"
In the distance, Maki Zenin gripped Playful Cloud tightly, her sharp eyes filled with disbelief.
"He's protecting ordinary people? Didn't he always say those people were monkeys?"
Mei Mei carried her giant axe, the playful smile on her lips vanishing as her gaze became exceptionally deep.
"It seems there really is nothing in this world that remains unchanged. The price of this redemption is truly expensive."
"Oh?"
Standing beneath the shrine of bone, Sukuna felt the sudden resilience of the pure cursed energy, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
"He managed to hold out this long in my Malevolent Shrine?"
"That brat playing with cursed spirits is a bit more tenacious than I imagined."
Sukuna let out a cold laugh, just about to increase his cursed energy output to completely crush that annoying turtle shell.
But just then—
"ROAR!!!"
A roar even more frantic and deafening than before suddenly exploded behind Sukuna!
It was Mahoraga!
This ultimate shikigami, which had been hacked into thousands of pieces and nearly turned into mincemeat,
had not only failed to fall after enduring the destructive baptism of Sukuna's domain,
but the sacred wheel behind its back was now spinning at a terrifying speed!
Click click click click click!!!
Accompanied by a final, crisp mechanical sound,
the wheel stopped spinning.
A chilling, terrifying aura suddenly erupted from the dark gold carapace on Mahoraga's body!
It had completely adapted to Sukuna's Malevolent Shrine!
Swish!
Mahoraga's massive frame actually completely ignored the airtight web of slashes surrounding it.
It simply walked through Sukuna's domain attacks as if it were taking a leisurely stroll until it stood right in front of him.
Bang!
The Sword of Extermination on Mahoraga's right arm swung out violently.
This time, the blade carried not only terrifying physical strength but was also wrapped in a layer of black cursed energy similar to Sukuna's Dismantle!
Clang!!!
Sukuna raised his hand to block, but was pushed back repeatedly by the terrifying force, his feet plowing two deep ruts into the bone shrine.
"How interesting!"
Instead of being angry, the fervor in Sukuna's eyes burned to the extreme.
"Since slashes are already useless against you..."
"Then I'll just change methods and burn you to ashes along with these ruins!"