"The Tendo Family!"
Sumire's teeth ground together when she heard those words. Her face turned livid, her eyes filled with anger and frustration, and her knuckles went white from gripping the phone so hard.
People like that were willing to gamble with the lives of everyone in Tokyo for their own selfish gain. They were the most hateful people there were, and they deserved to die.
But Kikunojou and the Tendo Family's higher-ups had already been dealt with. The dead couldn't be questioned, so there was no way to hold anyone accountable. All they could do was watch helplessly as the scheme succeeded.
"If it's only damaged, it shouldn't be collapsing, right?"
Gojo took the phone back from Sumire. His voice was calm again, but his eyes had turned serious.
He knew how sturdy the Monolith was. Even if it was damaged, it should be able to hold out for a while. It shouldn't be on the verge of collapse this soon.
"It's not just damaged..."
Seitenshi sighed softly, her voice full of despair and helplessness. "Gojo-sensei, take a look. I'll send you a video call."
She hung up, and a video call request came through right after.
Gojo answered immediately, and Seitenshi appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in her office. Her hair was a little messy, her eyes were red, and there were still tear stains on her face. She looked worn out, clearly hit hard by all this.
On the large screen in front of her was a live feed of the Monolith.
But.
What stood out most in the feed, and what was most frightening, was a figure in a black trench coat wearing a creepy mask.
"Kagetane Hiruko."
Gojo's gaze sharpened. He recognized him almost instantly, sounding both unsurprised and displeased.
He hadn't expected that guy to still be alive, let alone bold enough to come out and cause trouble.
"He's standing at the damaged Monolith," Seitenshi said, sounding completely powerless. "And he's already planted a large amount of explosives around it. He could set them off at any moment."
Her voice was full of helplessness and despair. The feeling of watching a disaster coming and being unable to do anything about it was almost crushing her.
Kagetane had contacted them himself to tell them about the bombs. He wanted to torment them on purpose, to make them despair as they watched the Monolith fall and Tokyo descend into chaos.
All this time, she'd been working hard to clean up Tokyo's leadership, root out corruption, and push through new laws. It had finally started to show results. She was so close to really changing things and giving people a stable life.
And now this had happened. Once the Monolith fell, all her efforts would go to waste, and Tokyo would be plunged into misery again.
She'd already given up any hope of stopping him.
Between finding out about this and sending people to stop him, there had been too many obstacles and too much wasted time. It was more than enough for Kagetane to finish preparing the detonation.
In other words, they couldn't stop him at all.
All he had to do was press the button in his hand. Simple and cruel.
Even Gojo probably couldn't stop something like that in time. The distance was too great, and the moment the button was pressed, the explosives would go off instantly. There'd be no time to react.
"I see," Gojo said, shaking his head slightly as he looked at Kagetane on the screen. "If I'd known, I would've spent a little more time last time and finished that guy off for good. Then we wouldn't be left with this huge problem."
The last time he'd run into Kagetane, he hadn't cared much. He'd figured the guy couldn't do much damage, so he hadn't bothered finishing him off. He never expected him to take revenge like this.
"Well, no point talking about it now. I'll go take a look."
Gojo stretched, sounding resigned and a little irritated that his free time had been interrupted.
"Ugh, what a pain. I only just got some free time, and now I have to work overtime again. Can't I just rest for once?"
Even though he was complaining, he knew exactly how serious this was.
If the Monolith fell, there would be a hole in Tokyo's defenses. Without that barrier, Gastrea from outside would keep pouring toward Tokyo and slaughter the people.
When that happened, all of Tokyo would be reduced to ruins. Countless people would die, and every bit of effort so far would be for nothing.
Unless they could hold back the Gastrea in the shortest time possible and repair the fallen Monolith.
But that clearly wasn't something that could be done quickly. Repairing the Monolith would take a huge amount of materials and manpower, all while dealing with Gastrea attacks. It would be extremely difficult.
Gojo, though, was still completely calm, without the slightest trace of panic. In his eyes, the Monolith collapsing was no different from the last time he'd gone outside to find the Legacy of Nanase Village. Neither was a big deal.
Last time, he'd kept so many people safe while surrounded by Gastrea and danger on all sides, and still found the Legacy of Nanase Village.
This time, all he had to do was plug a hole. That wasn't a problem either. For him, it was a piece of cake.
"Let's leave it at that for now. We'll talk about everything else later."
Gojo ended the video call, then waved Betty over.
"Come on, Betty. Let's go see what's going on, and take care of that annoying guy while we're at it."
"These people really can't sit still. What's wrong with just resting? Why do they always have to stir up so much trouble? It's so annoying."
Gojo grumbled as he turned and headed for the door. His cursed energy was already starting to stir, ready for a fight at any moment.
Betty rolled her eyes and hurried after him, not forgetting to snipe at him. "You're the one who decided to go. Nobody forced you, so stop complaining."
Gojo laughed and didn't argue. He didn't slow down either, and quickly left the school with Betty, racing toward the Monolith.
They moved fast. The wind whistled past their ears and the scenery flew by. A trip that would normally take a long time was almost over in no time.
But before they could reach the Monolith, a deafening roar rang out in the distance. It was so loud it seemed like it could shatter the sky.
"BOOM!"
After the roar, the ground shook violently, as if it were about to split open. A massive cloud of smoke and dust rose into the distant sky, blotting it out and turning everything gray.
Gojo and Betty stopped and looked into the distance. They saw the enormous Monolith, the symbol of Tokyo's safety, come crashing down in the dust. It was completely destroyed in an instant, reduced to rubble.
"Pretty decisive, huh."
Gojo shook his head slightly as he looked at the dust cloud, sounding resigned and a little mocking.
"If he'd been a bit slower, maybe I could've stopped him. Looks like he didn't leave any chance at all."
"Even if he'd been slower, you wouldn't have had the chance."
Betty stood beside him with her arms crossed, unimpressed, like this was nothing new. "Someone that vicious and extreme would definitely have a backup plan, even if you killed him. Even if you'd gotten there, you might not have been able to stop him."
She'd seen plenty of people like that. The crazier they were, the more ruthless they acted. They never left themselves a way out, and never gave anyone else a chance to stop them.
"So what are you going to do now?"
Betty lifted her chin toward the huge gap in the distance, sounding curious and a little like she was testing him. "That gap isn't small. The Gastrea outside will be pouring in soon. It won't be easy for just the two of us to block it."
"We just block it, that's all. It's not a big deal."
Gojo scratched his cheek, looking like he couldn't care less. He sounded uninterested, as if the huge crisis in front of him was just a minor thing.
"Those guys are pretty easy to deal with. It won't take any effort at all."
He knew that without the Ten Shadows Technique, dealing with an endless stream of Gastrea might actually be a bit troublesome, and blocking the gap would take a lot of work.
But now that he had the Ten Shadows Technique, he could just pair Rabbit Escape with another powerful shikigami and easily take care of the invading Gastrea without breaking a sweat.
On top of that, Tokyo had its own defense forces. They weren't very strong, but using them as support to hold out until the Monolith was rebuilt would be easy. There'd be no problem at all.
"But before that, there's something else I need to do."
Gojo's gaze suddenly turned sharp. He looked into the dust cloud in the distance, his voice turning cold.
In the dust thrown up by the fallen Monolith, two figures were using the chaos to flee at high speed. They clearly wanted to take this chance to shake off all their trouble and disappear for good.
The two figures were Kagetane Hiruko and his "daughter," Kohina.
After setting off the explosives and destroying the Monolith, they'd immediately started running under cover of the dust, looking for somewhere safe to keep plotting.
If it had been anyone else, with the dust blocking their view and the ground shaking, the two of them probably really would have gotten away without a trace.
But.
The one here now was Gojo.
Neither the dust filling the sky nor the violent shaking of the ground could affect his sight or block his senses.
In his eyes, the two fleeing figures were perfectly clear, like lights in the dark. They had nowhere to hide.
Without any extra movement, Gojo slowly raised his hand, extended his index finger, and pointed lightly at the two fleeing figures.
The next second, a dazzling blue orb of light shot from his fingertip. It was so fast that it crossed the long distance almost instantly, flying toward the two figures in the dust.
Under his precise control, the blue orb didn't affect or damage anything around it, and it didn't hurt any innocent people. It flew straight at Kagetane and Kohina.
Kagetane had only just blown up the Monolith and started to escape in the chaos when he suddenly felt a strange force behind him. It carried a piercing chill that made his whole body stiffen, and a strong sense of danger surged through him.
He instinctively looked back and saw that unforgettable blue orb flying toward him at incredible speed. Its light was dazzling and cold, and it filled him with fear from the bottom of his heart.
He'd never forget what it felt like the last time that blue orb hit him. That despair of being unable to resist, of being swallowed by that power, still haunted him.
And then.
There was no "and then."
Even though most of his body had been modified and made far stronger than an ordinary person's, strong enough to withstand ordinary attacks, it was still hopelessly weak in front of Gojo's power. It was as flimsy as paper.
Even Kohina, who desperately threw herself forward to shield her "papa" and protect Kagetane with her own body, couldn't do anything.
The blue light flashed past and instantly struck both figures. There was no earth-shaking explosion and no bloody scene.
Wrapped in the blue light, the two figures instantly turned transparent, then faded bit by bit until they vanished from the world completely.
Not even the smallest scrap was left, as if they'd never existed. Only the dust was left, still slowly drifting.
"Finally dealt with that annoying guy."
Gojo blew lightly on his finger, like someone blowing smoke off a gun barrel after firing. He smiled, looking relaxed and relieved.
With Kagetane out of the way, all that was left was to block the gap and hold off the Gastrea invasion.
He turned and walked with Betty toward where the Monolith had fallen, his steps calm and steady.
All along the way, the ground was covered in fragments of the Monolith. Chunks of stone of all sizes were scattered everywhere, and some were as tall as several stories, which showed how powerful the explosion had been.
By the time they were above the site of the Monolith, the dust had gradually cleared and they could see clearly again.