As that crimson pillar of flame piercing the heavens and earth gradually subsided, not a single trace of ash remained in the core area of Tokyo Colony No. 1.
Under the sun-surface heat of the Bright Red Nichirin Sword, the ultimate stitched beast—which had gathered dozens of ancient cursed techniques and carried Kenjaku's high hopes—was completely erased without even letting out a full scream.
Along with it, the wisp of Kenjaku's consciousness attached to it was burned away clean.
All that remained on the earth was a bottomless crater with dark red magma still flowing along its edges.
A pungent burnt smell hung in the air, while the originally oppressive residual dregs of cursed energy were cleansed entirely by the extreme heat.
Yoru slowly sheathed his blade, and the Shiranui let out a crisp ring.
He did not even glance at the crater, as if he had merely crushed an insignificant bug in passing.
"Let's go. The trash here has been cleared out."
Yoru turned around and spoke faintly to the stunned Hajime Kashimo and the others in the distance.
Meanwhile, atop a skyscraper hundreds of kilometers away from Tokyo Colony No. 1.
Fierce winds howled, and dark clouds hung low.
A figure clad in a loose kimono, exuding a spine-chilling, wicked aura all over, quietly looked down over this battered city.
It was the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
Only now, the body he occupied was no longer Yuji Itadori, but Megumi Fushiguro, who possessed the Zenin family's ancestral Ten Shadows Technique.
Across Sukuna's face, covered in black markings, hung an intensely excited, playful, and cruel smile.
"Interesting. Truly far too interesting."
Sukuna slowly raised his right hand, feeling that terrifying sword intent that crossed hundreds of kilometers through the air and still brought him a touch of searing heat.
Unconcealed battle intent and greed flickered within his eyes.
"That swordsman... not only wasn't worn down in the Culling Game, but grew even stronger."
"The temperature of that slash just now even surpassed that brat who played with fire a thousand years ago."
"Such pure violence capable of severing rules... What an exquisite prey, unseen for so long."
Sukuna clutched his fist tightly, the popping crack of his joints sounding particularly piercing across the empty rooftop.
Right at that moment, in the shadows behind him, a wave of frigid chill quietly spread out.
Uraume, with short white hair and a cold face, dropped to one knee behind Sukuna.
"Lord Sukuna."
A barely perceptible gravity colored Uraume's voice.
"The control point in Tokyo Colony No. 1 has been destroyed by that man named Yoru."
"Moreover, the fiery power he just displayed seems to possess an extremely strong restraint against cursed spirits and incarnated vessels."
"The stitched beast sent by that fool Kenjaku couldn't even take a single strike from him."
Uraume raised their head, a flash of murderous intent crossing their eyes.
"Lord Sukuna, Yoru's existence has already become a grave threat to your plans."
"Do you need me to take people and dispose of him?"
"At the very least, we cannot allow him to continue running wild and wreaking destruction in the Culling Game."
Hearing Uraume's proposal, Sukuna let out a low sneer.
"Dispose of him? Uraume, you think too highly of yourself."
Sukuna turned around, his four crimson eyes staring coldly at Uraume as a terrifying pressure descended in an instant.
"As you are now, you cannot withstand even a single slash from him."
"If I do not intervene, anyone who goes to provoke him will find only death."
Uraume trembled all over, cold sweat instantly soaking their back, and quickly bowed their head, not daring to utter another word.
Sukuna pulled back his gaze and looked toward the distant sky once more.
"No need to rush."
"This game has only just begun. Let him clear out those eyesore small fries first."
"There are still plenty of fools like Kenjaku in the Culling Game. It serves us well to borrow his hand to sweep away all this garbage."
As Sukuna spoke, he raised both hands.
His ten fingers crossed rapidly in front of his chest, forming an ancient and complex hand sign.
"Besides, I have more important things to attend to right now."
Hum—!
Along with Sukuna's words, the shadows beneath his feet suddenly churned violently like boiling water.
Two massive Divine Dogs, radiating terrifying ripples of cursed energy, slowly emerged from the shadows.
Yet unlike the Divine Dogs Megumi Fushiguro had previously summoned,
these two Divine Dogs were fully twice as large, their fur standing erect like steel needles, and the saliva dripping from their maws could even corrode deep pits into the concrete floor.
"Ten Shadows Technique..."
Looking down at the two shikigami whose upper limits had been forcefully raised by his immense cursed energy, Sukuna parted his lips into an exaggerated grin.
"The potential of this body is far more perfect than I imagined."
"That useless Megumi Fushiguro had no idea how to truly wield this power."
"Shikigami should not merely be tools; they are extensions of a sorcerer's soul, vessels of power."
With a sharp wave of Sukuna's hand, the two Divine Dogs instantly turned into twin bolts of black lightning, rushing toward an abandoned high-rise in the distance.
Rumble—!
A deafening roar erupted.
Beneath the claws of the two Divine Dogs, that sturdy building tens of stories high was torn to shreds in an instant like paper and crashed down in ruins.
Amid the swirling dust, the madness in Sukuna's eyes grew ever more intense.
"Mahoraga..."
"Once I fully master that ultimate shikigami capable of adapting to all attacks,"
"paired with my original cursed technique,"
"even that swordsman wielding the Bright Red Nichirin Sword will only be able to wail in despair beneath my feet."
Sukuna closed his eyes and inhaled deeply of the air laced with the scent of blood.
In his mind, he had already begun simulating scenes of exchanging blows with Yoru.
That would be a pinnacle battle worthy of being etched into history.
"Let him kill."
"Let him gather Culling Game points, let him destroy those boring barriers."
"When he stands at the pinnacle of this world, believing himself invincible,"
"when he tramples all the rules underfoot and welcomes his most glorious moment,"
Sukuna slowly opened his eyes, cruel anticipation gleaming in his crimson pupils.
"that will be when I tear him down from the clouds with my own hands and strip away all his glory."
"Yoru..."
"I hope you can survive until the day you qualify to stand before me."
The cold wind whipped up the hem of Sukuna's kimono, rustling sharply above this dead-silent city.
And beneath that profound shroud of night,
the King of Curses' violent, greedy eyes seemed to pierce through the barriers of space, locking dead onto the next battlefield where an earth-shattering war was about to erupt.
It was a chaotic zone flooded with madness and gambling.
Tokyo Colony No. 2.
A storm capable of upending the entire landscape of the Culling Game was quietly brewing there.