Leaving the revolver holstered at her hip, she stepped forward and raised both empty hands toward the vanguard.
The heavy metal pendant resting against her collarbone vibrated, emitting a low, audible hum. Black sparks violently snapped into existence between her outstretched palms.
The air temperature in the courtyard plummeted. Mai exhaled a slow, steady plume of white steam. Her chest rose and fell in an even, unhurried rhythm, her pale face completely clear of the usual dark streaks of blood. She didn't even blink as the crushing density of the cursed energy pooling around her hands made the stone steps beneath her boots groan and spiderweb with cracks.
The Zen'in enforcers broke formation and charged, their boots thundering across the stone.
"Stop!" Toge yelled, ripping his collar down.
The Cursed Speech slammed into the vanguard. The front three enforcers froze, their momentum pitching them forward as their boots scraped violently against the stone.
Nobara lunged. She swung her hammer in a brutal arc, driving a cursed nail directly into the shadow of the nearest frozen guard.
"Resonance!" Nobara shouted.
The guard screamed as a jagged spike of cursed energy erupted from his chest, launching him backward into his squadmates.
But the rest of the Kukuru unit vaulted seamlessly over the fallen men, blades raised, closing the final gap to the steps.
They never made it.
The black sparks between Mai's hands solidified. Liquid metal twisted and knit together out of thin air, hardening into heavy, cold steel that dropped perfectly into her waiting grip.
It was a massive, fully loaded light machine gun.
The charging enforcers faltered, their eyes widening in shock. Mai effortlessly hefted the forty-pound artillery, leveling the heavy barrel directly at the vanguard.
"Tell my father I said hello," Mai said.
She pulled the trigger.
The roar of the machine gun deafened the courtyard. The stone steps shattered, kicking up a massive storm of dust and shrapnel.
The Zen'in vanguard didn't even have time to swing their blades. The sheer volume of fire tore through their defensive line, ripping the stone courtyard to shreds and forcing the elite executioners to dive desperately behind the wooden pillars just to survive.
Mai kept her finger pinned to the trigger. The violent recoil pounded against her shoulder, but her stance didn't shift an inch. Her breathing remained perfectly calm through the thick gunsmoke.
Nobara lowered her hammer, staring at the Kyoto student in utter disbelief. "Where the hell did she get a machine gun?!"
"I told you," Mai called out over the deafening gunfire, a wicked smirk cutting through the smoke. "I'm not the one who's going to die today."
Empty brass cascaded down the stone steps. The machine gun tore through the wooden pillars, pinning the surviving Kukuru enforcers to the ground.
Then, the bullets stopped hitting stone. They sparked, flattened, and melted mid-air.
A figure stepped through the gunsmoke. A burning katana swept in a wide arc, melting the incoming artillery fire before it could connect.
Ogi Zen'in.
Flames rolled off his blade. He stepped over the bleeding bodies of his own men without looking down. He stared straight at Mai.
"What kind of trick is this?" Ogi demanded, his voice carrying easily over the ringing in their ears. "You steal a cursed tool and think it changes what you are? You are a failure, Mai. A stain on my life."
Mai let off the trigger. The machine gun barrel glowed cherry-red, hissing in the cold air.
"It's not a trick, Father," Mai said. "It's an upgrade."
Ogi lunged.
He crossed the courtyard in a blur of fire and steel, aiming directly for his daughter's neck.
A massive shadow dropped between them.
Panda crashed onto the stone, crossing his reinforced forearms. He caught the blazing katana dead-on. The kinetic impact shattered the pavement beneath his paws.
"Don't ignore the rest of us, old man," Panda growled, bearing down on the blade.
To Panda's left, Nobara sprinted from behind a ruined stone lantern. Three cursed nails floated between her fingers.
"I don't care about your family drama, Kyoto!" Nobara yelled, rearing her hammer back. "But anyone trying to execute my principal goes through me!"
On the right flank, Toge inhaled deeply, his eyes locking onto the surviving Kukuru enforcers regrouping behind Ogi.
"Blast away."
The soundwave erupted. The air warped. The remaining enforcers flew backward like ragdolls, crashing through the wooden outer walls and out of the courtyard entirely.
Yaga stood at the top of the steps, his armored corpse blocking the main hall entrance. He watched his students—Tokyo and Kyoto alike—form an unyielding wall around Mai.
Ogi kicked off Panda's forearms, flipping backward to land perfectly on the cracked stone. The flames on his sword roared higher.
He looked at the unified front standing against him, realizing this was no longer a simple execution.
Deep below, the Tombs of the Star remained completely still.
The faint tremors from the surface barely registered.
Yuta picked up the sealed cubic object—the Back of the Prison Realm—and tucked it securely under his arm.
"We are short on time," Yuta said, looking at Tengen. "Tell us who we need to find in this Culling Game to open this."
Tengen folded his hands back into his white sleeves.
"You are looking for a player participating in the Tokyo East Colony," Tengen instructed. "A sorcerer from a thousand years ago. Her technique possesses the ability to extinguish all other cursed techniques, including the seals on the Prison Realm."
"What's her name?" Yuji asked, already turning toward the exit.
"Hana Kurusu," Tengen answered. "She calls herself the Angel."
Yuji nodded once, his boots already pivoting toward the heavy wooden elevator. "Tokyo East Colony. Got it. Let's go."
"Wait."
Tengen's voice didn't rise, but the sheer weight of it halted their momentum. The immortal sorcerer raised a single, wrinkled finger from his white robes, pointing directly across the white void.
"The rest of you may go. But I must speak with the boy in private."