The restaurant was a symphony of screeching metal and shattering glass.
Katana Man was a blur of silver, but Okarun's Phase-Step Mirror had turned the battlefield into a flickering kaleidoscope of violet and blood-red.
As the Snake Devil lunged from its dark portal, its massive jaws wide enough to swallow the entire building, Okarun didn't retreat. He saw the "seams" of its existence—the way it was tied to Akane's blood and the space it occupied.
"Ayase-san! I'm going for the merge!"
Okarun roared.
Okarun's five afterimages didn't snap back into his body. Instead, they began to orbit him at a speed that defied physics.
The "Eternity" energy in his heart acted as a centrifugal force, spinning the mirrors faster and faster until the restaurant was centered around a screaming vortex of violet light.
"Okarun!"
Momo screamed.
She slammed her hands onto the floor, her pink aura surging out like a shockwave.
She wasn't attacking; she was acting as a psychic dampener.
She wrapped her energy around Okarun's core, shielding his human heart from the absolute cold of the "Eternity" loop and the burning malice of Sukuna.
With Momo's stability, Okarun reached the "Super-State."
The five mirrors converged into a single, glowing point on his right fist.
He stepped forward—not through the air, but through the very fabric of the room.
He appeared instantly in front of Katana Man, who was mid-dash.
"PHASE-REACH: DISMANTLE!"
Okarun's punch didn't just hit Katana Man. It delivered the force of five independent strikes simultaneously, each infused with Sukuna's "Cleave" frequency.
The air behind Katana Man erupted in a grid of spatial slashes, dicing the wall, the street outside, and a parked car into thousands of identical cubes.
Katana Man was launched through the grid, his armored skin shredded, his blades shattered.
But the victory came at a price. The Snake Devil, enraged by the injury to its summoner, began to uncoil its full length into the restaurant.
The weight of its presence was crushing—the ceiling started to cave in, and the ground turned into a literal pit of darkness.
Okarun stood in the center of the wreckage, his eyes glowing a terrifying, hollow violet.
He began to reach for the Snake Devil's head, his hand turning into that familiar vortex.
"I can take it..."
Okarun's voice was a distorted growl.
"If I eat the Snake... I can use its portals to get us back to the Shrine..."
"No! Okarun, stop!"
Momo saw the look in his eyes—the hunger wasn't his. It was the "Black Hole" inside him taking over.
He was about to consume a power that would burn his humanity away.
Momo didn't hesitate.
She channeled every ounce of her psychic power, not into a shield, but into a Purification Burst.
"WAKE UP!"
The pink light exploded with the force of a supernova. It didn't harm anyone, but it acted like a universal "Reset" button for spiritual energy.
The Snake Devil's portal was forcibly snapped shut, severing Akane's connection.
The Sukuna-marks on Okarun's skin receded instantly, and the violet aura vanished.
The sudden loss of energy caused the building to settle with a violent groan.
Before the smoke could clear, Momo grabbed Okarun by the collar and used her psychokinesis to launch them both—along with everyone—through the shattered roof and away from the ambush zone.
They landed blocks away in a dark alley, panting and covered in soot.
Okarun slumped against a dumpster, his hands trembling.
The "Golden Line" on his palm was glowing a steady, brilliant amber.
"We survived,"
Aki wheezed, checking his pulse.
"But division 4... most of them are gone. Makima is going to be looking for a reason why you're the only ones who walked away unscathed."
Momo looked at Okarun, who was staring at his hands in horror.
"I almost... I almost liked the taste of it, Ayase-san."
Momo grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her.
"You didn't. That was the monster. But look at your hand, Okarun."
The Golden Line was no longer just a rope. It had become a Golden Path.
It was solid now.
They didn't have the thrust to cross it yet, but the bridge was built.
They just needed one last "spark"—the kind of power that only a Primal Devil or a fragment of the Gun could provide.
"We're close,"
Momo whispered, leaning her forehead against his.
"Just stay human a little longer. Please."