"Kira... Ki-ra Na-na-mi."
Eso's shoulders trembled. His pitch-black pupils trembled. Even the ugly human face on his back trembled with him. He had bitten his teeth hard enough to draw blood, and a huge section of his chest had caved in—crushed by Kira Nanami's blow. Now it heaved violently with every breath.
"Hiss, hiss."
Snake Head stood behind Eso, its serpentine pupils narrowing into vertical slits.
Silence. Stillness. It spread throughout the valley.
The air felt so heavy it might solidify.
"I'm guessing."
Kira Nanami broke the silence. He looked down at his fingernails and at the strange patterns spreading up his arm, not even raising his head as he said,
"You two aren't on the same side, are you?"
"Hiss. Of course not."
Though it was clearly a snake, it showed a smile almost human in nature. Snake Head said with obvious pleasure,
"I'm a cursed spirit from the past."
Its tone carried a hint of contempt. "Why would I mix with little children like these?"
As expected, it had not been reincarnated.
According to the records, Snake Head had already been exorcised by jujutsu sorcerers a thousand years ago. Yet the one standing before him now was not a reincarnation.
There was only one possibility.
This was a death from the past that Amber Mansion had cut free—the instant Amber Mansion was destroyed and the balance between past and present collapsed.
The domain of Yesterday's Divide had once enveloped the entire world.
Even with such a terrifying conjecture in mind, Kira Nanami showed no panic at all.
Nothing could shake him anymore. Nothing could disturb his state of mind.
Kira Nanami lowered his hand and straightened his collar. His clothes had become somewhat disheveled in the fight. He had always been obsessively meticulous, and only after arranging everything perfectly did he turn to Eso and ask,
"I'm guessing your goal was to recover Sukuna's Fingers. Since you can't beat me, you decided to team up with this thing?"
Eso did not answer Kira. He only stared at him—stared straight at him with a gaze so vicious, so full of malice, such deep malice that it seemed capable of burning through the entire world. Grinding out each word, he said,
"Kira Nanami. Ki-ra Na-na-mi!!"
"A curse is already wrapped around you. A fatal curse. Ten minutes—ten minutes from now, you'll be nothing but a pile of bones, idiot! And while you've been standing here talking, you've already wasted two minutes!"
"The curse will only be lifted if you kill me!"
Revealing One's Hand.
"I can understand why you're angry."
Kira Nanami tilted his head and looked calmly at Eso. He said softly,
"You should understand me too. Understanding between people goes both ways."
He pulled off his necktie and wrapped it around his arm, loop after loop. Black cursed energy burned over his arm, over those strange patterns.
The large pink cat leaned against his back, one arm around his waist and the other hand resting behind its head.
"I'm getting off work now. This is when I normally clock out, so I'm pretty angry too."
He looked at Eso and showed a calm smile—calm, yet chilling.
"Kira—"
The blood lines behind Eso exploded outward in an instant. His scarlet eyes widened until they were webbed with blood vessels as cursed energy gathered in his hands—
'Look over here!'
A hoarse voice rang out behind Eso. A tremendous force slammed into him like a thunderbolt appearing from thin air, striking viciously into his back and knocking him off balance.
Then an explosion burst from behind him. Most of the dense, bizarre blood lines were blown away in an instant. A nose, an eyeball, fragments of the face on Eso's back—all of them sprayed through the air.
Snake Head's restraint made it difficult for Kira Nanami to move, but Sheer Heart Attack did not share that limitation.
It resided in his right hand.
And just moments earlier, when Kira Nanami killed Kechizu, he had gathered cursed energy throughout his entire body, paid the price, and forcibly broken Snake Head's technique.
Attacking Kechizu had only been a feint. His real objective had been to free Sheer Heart Attack!
After taking the hit, Eso's heart tightened. The remaining blood lines surged forward. Lines more than a hundred meters long writhed like mutant pythons, lashing at Sheer Heart Attack.
Every strike carried enough force to split heaven and earth. Every strike carried the will to crush an enemy. Every strike... barely scratched Sheer Heart Attack.
Sheer Heart Attack smashed through every blood line and charged straight at Eso's face. It was about to touch his cheek. One could already imagine the magnificent explosion to come: blood blooming like fireworks as a head was pulverized and scattered into the air.
That was how it should have gone...
"She Luo Fu Xuzi."
Sheer Heart Attack stopped. Its movements stiffened, slowing until it seemed almost frozen.
Snake Head.
Kira Nanami looked at his right arm, which had become sluggish again, and frowned.
Snake Head had identified Sheer Heart Attack's weakness and once again applied its technique to Kira's right arm...
"Hiss. How about this, Kira-kun?"
Snake Head lowered its head, tongue flicking. Drool ran down and dripped onto the ground. Its mouth split into a delighted grin.
"I don't want to hurt you either. We have no grievance against each other... but unfortunately for you, you're the last master of Amber Mansion, Kira-kun."
Kira Nanami was in terrible condition. Less than five minutes remained out of the original ten. He could clearly feel how weak his body had become, along with pain rising from the depths of his soul, as though half his body were being torn apart.
How was he supposed to break this deadlock?
There seemed to be no way. He had already used Domain Expansion: Yesterday's Divide once, and it would be extremely difficult to activate again for the next several days. Killer Queen could not move more than five meters away from him, so its range was insufficient. And Kira himself was sluggish and severely poisoned.
All the enemy had to do was stay far away and stall for time. Victory would inevitably be theirs.
"Kira!"
Eso's expression grew even more twisted. He glared at Kira Nanami, fire blazing in his eyes.
"Die! Die!"
"You're so annoying."
Kira Nanami smiled at him. He was still smiling, as though nothing in the world could ever make him waver. His eyes remained clear and tranquil, as if nothing could change him. That was simply the kind of person he was. Meeting Eso's gaze, he suddenly asked,
"Do you know what resolve is? Resolve is the strongest power in the world. You can give up everything for your brothers. That is your resolve."
He looked at his right hand, at the strange patterns crawling across it, and said softly,
"And my resolve,"
"is that for my own sake,"
the corners of his mouth spread, revealing rows of stark white teeth, as he raised his left hand,
"—I can give up everything."
A cold flash cut through the air. The world darkened. Blood splashed.
Kira Nanami's right arm flew into the sky.
In that instant, time itself seemed to slow. In that instant, Kira Nanami shouted,
"Sheer Heart Attack, you're free."
A huge hole was instantly blown through Eso's chest. He staggered backward, staring at everything in disbelief. Before he could react, the little blue tank had already circled his feet twice, and his legs gave way beneath him—
Sheer Heart Attack curved through the air. Flame flickered inside its skull-like eye sockets. Eso watched the vehicle draw closer and closer, feeling the terrifying aura radiating from it.
Boom—
His head was smashed apart. Then flames surged over him, melting away half his skull!
Snake Head had realized the situation was bad long ago. It abandoned Eso and fled without hesitation. Back on the bridge, a one-on-one fight with Kira Nanami had already left it severely injured. Now it had no chance against a completely free Sheer Heart Attack.
Bloody holes opened one after another across its body. It staggered away, driving cursed energy through its whole body as it slithered into the distance in a sorry state.
Fortunately, snakes were cold-blooded, and there were plenty of creatures in the valley with higher body temperatures. Sheer Heart Attack chased it only briefly before switching targets, allowing Snake Head to escape.
Kira Nanami had no attention left to spare for Snake Head. He moved his body experimentally. His mobility had recovered. He walked straight to Eso and looked down at him.
Eso was smiling. Half his skull was shattered and brain matter leaked out as he lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at Kira Nanami and laughing, mocking him with genuine delight.
"Kira Nanami... Kira Nanami..."
Kira Nanami noticed tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
Eso was already on his final breath, yet he looked so happy, so delighted. He no longer feared death.
"You fell for it. Are you happy because you beat me? Did you think killing me would lift the curse?"
His expression turned cold as he enunciated every word.
"That was a lie. When I revealed my technique, I lied. Unless I willingly remove the curse..."
"it will remain forever. Even after I die."
"Now."
He looked toward the sky. The autumn wind was bleak, the wild grass desolate. Returning geese flew in twos and threes. Even beneath the darkening sky, they were still going home together. That was family.
Only your family were truly your own kin. Only your family were your true companions. Lovers, friends—none of them could compare to family.
That was true for Cursed Spirits, and it was true for humans.
Family was the most important thing in the world. That was a truth of the entire universe.
No one could change it.
"Kill me."
He said it softly.
'I will live for Choso.'
Kira Nanami looked at him. Something shifted in his gaze. He seemed irritated, angry. His fingernails lengthened as he bit at them, and deep killing intent filled his pupils.
Yet Eso did not fear that gaze. On the contrary, he was happier than ever, because he knew he had won. He had successfully avenged his brother and could die with pride. He had lived this life for his brothers, lived for them and would die for them. That was enough to satisfy him. Even death no longer seemed so frightening.
"Come kill me!"
He roared and laughed wildly.
"Bastard!"
Kira Nanami slashed cleanly across. His fingernail cut smoothly through Eso's throat, drawing a thin line of blood.
Eso died. His heart stopped beating.
Kira Nanami silently watched him, wiping the blood from his hand. The anger on his face suddenly vanished. He became calm, utterly undisturbed, eyes lowered slightly and expression blank.
This was fine... Let him think he had won. Let him think he had killed Kira.
Let him die happy.
Kira Nanami respected resolve, and he too believed family was important. He had no morals. He was a demon. Anything that interfered with his peaceful life would be erased.
But beyond that, he respected his opponents. He respected courage and resolve, because those were the most important things in the world.
"You really are a tsundere."
A cool female voice sounded behind Kira Nanami.
With a light tug of his left hand, Kira Nanami pulled out Hand-san, who had been hiding nearby all along.
Hoshino Ei tilted her head and studied him seriously. Her wine-red eyes were filled with warm amusement as she repeated,
"You really are a tsundere!"
As it turned out, Kira Nanami had called Hoshino Ei earlier and summoned her away from school.
"Rewind half an hour."
If time was rewound by half an hour, naturally he would no longer be cursed, and naturally his arm would still be there.
As long as it was not death, it would not be engraved into fate.
Kira Nanami said this to Hoshino Ei with a dark expression.
"Come on! I traveled all this way! You called once and I rushed over immediately!"
Hoshino Ei's delicate brows shot upward. She struggled free of Kira Nanami's grip, hopped to the ground, planted her hands on her hips, and complained angrily,
"Don't I get any reward?"
She held out both hands and demanded, "I want to hold hands!"
This was blackmail. Naked blackmail. He was about to die, and she was blackmailing him...
Damn Cursed Spirit.
Kira Nanami looked at the small hand stretched out before him. The sun hung low, rosy clouds spread across the sky, and great banks of fiery sunset clouds stretched to the horizon. He thought for a moment.
Then he extended his left hand.
In the sunset, their hands clasped tightly.