Sheer Heart Attack punched through Zenin Toji's chest. From the front, there was a bloody hole large enough to fit a head through.
From the side, stark white bone and his shattered heart were visible. The explosion spread from the hole toward his limbs, and flames swallowed his body in an instant.
Black cursed energy coiled around Kira Nanami's hand. Fushiguro Toji was not completely dead yet. Kira Nanami would only feel at ease after burning him to ash.
"Kira-senpai?"
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Fushiguro Megumi stood behind Kira. He had clearly only just arrived and was still panting, staring at Kira with a thoughtful expression.
"What is this?"
"Why does he feel familiar?"
...
Kira Nanami looked at Fushiguro expressionlessly and said in an utterly calm voice,
"Your dad is dying."
He felt he had phrased it tactfully enough.
"Ah... ah."
It was precisely when Kira turned his head that the remains engulfed in flames suddenly raised their head. His eyes flashed with fierce light. Burning the last of his life force, Zenin Toji roared, stomped down hard, and launched himself like an anti-aircraft shell, the flames around him stretching into a long trail behind him.
Zenin Toji's physical information had overwritten this body. Although he possessed intelligence, almost all of his movements were driven by his body's instincts, and his instinct was to kill.
Fushiguro Megumi had no time to dodge. Wind screamed in his ears, thunder roared, and a line of fire too fast to make out filled his vision. He retreated half a step.
Boom—
The hurricane abruptly stopped.
The fist stopped directly in front of Fushiguro.
The man wrapped in flames tilted his head, looked at Fushiguro Megumi, and asked,
"What's your name?"
"Fushiguro. Fushiguro Megumi."
"Fushiguro...? Your surname is Fushiguro?" The mass of ash suddenly began to laugh. It laughed amid the flames, wildly and without restraint.
"So you're not a Zenin."
He withdrew his hand and placed it around his own neck. Zenin Toji smiled in delight, yet somehow looked as though he were crying.
Crack.
He crushed his own neck.
Blood splattered across Fushiguro Megumi's face.
Fushiguro hesitantly touched the blood remaining on his hand and felt something strange in his heart, an indescribable sensation. But he knew there was no time to waste, so he explained to Kira Nanami,
"Kira-senpai, we came to support you."
"We?"
Kira Nanami looked puzzled.
"I'm here too!"
A hand emerged from empty air. On a beautiful, expressionless face, crimson eyes blinked with a matter-of-fact expression.
Hoshino Ei...
Kira Nanami looked at the two of them. Knowing this was no time to waste, he gave his instructions in a low voice.
"The place where Gojo Satoru's cursed energy erupted should be B5, the fifth underground level. We're on B1, the first underground level. Every floor has Cursed Spirits and Transfigured Humans stationed on it..."
"You cover me. I'm going to kill my way down."
It was 7:05. Fifty-five minutes remained before time was reshaped.
In this timeline, he needed to kill enough enemies first.
Nothing could happen to Gojo Satoru either.
—
Gojo Satoru killed the final Transfigured Human, piercing straight through its body. The tremendous force continued through the shattered corpse and struck Jogo behind it.
Boom.
Blood sprayed everywhere. Half of Jogo's face was knocked crooked as it turned into a blur and flew backward, smashing through who knew how many pillars.
Looking across the entire fifth underground level was enough to bring tears to anyone's eyes. Corpses were everywhere. Vultures from nowhere seemed to carry off eyes from nowhere, flies from nowhere seemed to gnaw at flesh from nowhere, corpse beetles from nowhere seemed to blanket skin from nowhere.
Perhaps none of those things were truly there. But some corpses were missing eyes, some showed stark white bones, and others were nothing but rotten flesh.
These were the corpses of Transfigured Humans. Yet amid that grotesque, mutilated heap were also dozens of intact, cleanly dressed bodies.
They were ordinary humans.
Their lives had been taken simply because they were caught in the cursed energy of the battle.
They had once been so full of life, yet now they could only remain here and turn to bone beside corpses that had long since rotted.
Gojo Satoru had a line he would not cross.
For the sake of a mission, when there was no other choice, he could accept sacrificing a certain number of people.
But that sacrifice had a limit.
Once it exceeded the highest limit he could accept,
he would hesitate. This man would hesitate.
He would falter.
That was Gojo Satoru's fatal weakness.
And the most terrifying thing now was that even after Gojo Satoru had accidentally killed so many people,
the humans on the fifth underground level
still had not all been killed.
There were still densely packed crowds everywhere, shoulder against shoulder, a sea of humanity.
Section 124.
"You humans... there are simply too many of you."
Those were Jogo's exact words.
Woooo—
It was the sound of a train entering the station.
The noise shattered the stillness underground as a brand-new light-rail train rolled along the tracks and pulled into the station.
Deathly silence fell again.
"Ding-dong. Shibuya Station. Passengers, please exit the train in an orderly manner."
"We're saved! We're saved!"
Joy erupted from the crowd. People surged toward the train.
The train doors slowly opened. The first thing to emerge was a black tentacle, piercing one human after another and stringing them together like skewers of candied hawthorn.
Only then did the people discover what the train contained. Eyes covered the cars, hollow and enormous. Mouths were everywhere, sharp teeth were everywhere, scarlet tongues pressed against the windows, and foul-smelling mucus coated the surfaces.
Transfigured Humans. An entire train packed with Transfigured Humans.
Gojo Satoru was confused. What exactly were they trying to do?
Bringing these Transfigured Humans in would only accelerate the deaths of the humans on the fifth underground level.
A dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground suddenly sounded behind him.
Gojo Satoru whipped around and saw a huge hole in the ceiling. Hundreds upon hundreds, thousands upon thousands of humans poured through it as though someone were dumping rice from a sack. They slammed heavily into the ground, screaming and shouting in alarm, piling higher and higher until they formed a mountain of bodies.
Boom! The mountain suddenly collapsed.
People slid down and rolled into every corner of the fifth underground level.
They had completely seized control of Shibuya Station. Were there curse users or Curses on the floor above, ready to keep replenishing the controlled humans whenever necessary...? Gojo Satoru thought.
"Convergence, Blood Manipulation."
Blood arrows pierced through one person after another. Gojo Satoru leaned aside and dodged the strike, then his body suddenly stiffened. He looked at the enormous snake in the distance and knew the curse had come from it.
Flames roared down over his head. With nowhere to dodge, Gojo Satoru could only raise his right arm in front of his head.
Boom—
Fire swallowed him.
"Gojo Satoru, Gojo Satoru, what can you even do?"
What you should do now is expand your Domain and kill every human on the fifth underground level. Then you could save the humans who have not yet been thrown down here.
But you cannot do it. You have a line you will not cross. The sacrifices you can accept are humans accidentally caught in the battle. They absolutely do not include
humans deliberately killed by Gojo Satoru.
That is how hypocritical you are. That is how disgusting you are. Come, think, Gojo Satoru!
Be confused! Hesitate! Focus all your strength!
"Domain—"
Gojo Satoru lowered his scorched right hand, drew in a quiet breath, and removed his blindfold. His sky-blue eyes opened, reflecting an equally blue sky as he raised his head slightly.
"Domain."
He pressed his index and middle fingers together into a pointed hand sign and held them beside his lips.
"Expansion."
Infinite majesty and pressure erupted from those sky-blue eyes. It was as though the heavens themselves were collapsing onto everyone's shoulders, onto the deepest parts of their hearts. Every person hunched under the weight and heard, in the depths of their minds, a sigh cold enough to freeze everything.
"Infinite Void."
At that moment, everyone saw the universe.