Chapter 259: Night of Universal Hallucinations 『 Part Eight 』
「 The Express surged forward with a violent shudder, and accompanied by a piercing shriek, the entire train tore through the void, bursting straight out of the Giant Sting's gaping maw!
"WAHHH—!" March 7th clung desperately to the handrail, her entire body nearly flung away, yet her eyes were wide as saucers. "Wait! What is that?!"
Outside the window—in the pitch-black cosmos, brilliant fireworks had unexpectedly exploded!
Crimson, azure, and golden pyrotechnics bloomed around the Express like blossoming nebulae, illuminating this deathly silent sector of space as if it were a grand festival.
"Wh-what is this? Did the Express cause a… universe explosion?!" March 7th pressed herself against the window, gazing in astonishment at the dazzling spectacle.
"No, this is a hallucination caused by the Giant Sting." Welt adjusted his glasses. "With such a massive disturbance, we were bound to collectively inhale its wing particles."
"Huh? Then... maybe the insect wasn't that big? Maybe it was all an illusion!"
"…Regrettably, I fear that part was real."
The thought that Argenti would not see such magnificent fireworks left March 7th feeling utterly forlorn.
"The Knights of Beauty are a group accustomed to walking the galaxy alone, rarely understood by others. Their final destination is the stars themselves; perhaps these fireworks symbolize his knighting ceremony," Himeko offered comfortingly. "He had his own convictions and hardships. After all, the Star God of Beauty… has likely already fallen."
"Huh? You mean Idrila, the one Argenti kept talking about? Didn't he keep saying he wanted to find Idrila and fulfill his knightly duty to protect her?"
"That Idrila has fallen is a tacitly accepted fact among some Knights of Beauty. Of course, there are those who refuse to believe it. Like the gentleman we just met… he likely believes Idrila is merely missing, hidden in some corner unreachable by mortals." 」
「 .....」
〜Record of Ragnarok World〜
Venus reclined languidly upon her divine throne, fingertips tracing the curve of her perfect cheek, her eyes swimming with intoxicated brilliance.
"Hmm~ If that Star God of 『 Beauty 』 really is gone…"
Her crimson lips curled upward, her voice sweet as honey.
"Who knows, perhaps I am her reincarnation~ After all, who else in this universe is more worthy of the title 'Beauty' than I?"
Buddha, sitting cross-legged nearby while munching on senbei, erupted into hearty laughter upon hearing this.
"Heh, Venus, you foolish woman, you really have the nerve to say that…"
Buddha wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye.
"If those Knights of Beauty heard you, even with tempers as good as Argenti's, they'd probably still feel compelled to take up their spears and have a little 'debate' with you."
Venus huffed lightly, twirling a strand of golden hair around her finger, unimpressed.
"Why? Am I not beautiful enough? My appearance, my figure, my aura—in what way do I not deserve the word 'Beauty'?"
Buddha spread his hands, shaking his head with a beaming smile.
"Whether you're beautiful or not, I'll set aside for now. But the 『 Beauty 』 those Knights of Beauty believe in isn't something propped up by narcissism like yours."
"Oh?"
Venus narrowed her eyes, her tone sounding rather unconvinced.
"They haven't even seen the Star God of 『 Beauty 』, so how can you be so certain they wouldn't acknowledge my beauty?"
"No proof is needed."
Buddha shrugged his shoulders.
"If you truly had any connection to 『 Beauty 』, even just a one-in-a-thousand link… us gods would have fallen at your feet long ago."
"Besides—"
Buddha walked slowly behind Venus, lowering his voice to enunciate each word clearly:
"The way you look when you're being narcissistic is truly ugly."
—
「 After finishing a major cleanup of the Express, a bored Stelle suddenly received a text message from Herta, asking her to beta test the latest Simulated Universe.
Hearing there were rewards involved, Stelle rushed to Herta's office without stopping to catch her breath.
This time, the Simulated Universe had undergone a new expansion titled
"Propagation…"
Thinking about how she had just recently been swallowed whole by a True Sting, Stelle instinctively wanted to refuse, but alas, Herta was simply paying too much.
"Perfect timing. Screwllum and Ruan Mei are both coming to the Space Station soon. The collaborators of the Simulated Universe will all be present, so if there are any issues, you can just report directly to them after you're done testing."
"If there's nothing else, you should enter the Simulated Universe now. I will interface with your consciousness to a certain degree from the inside." 」
「 .....」
〜Jujutsu Kaisen World, Future Timeline 〜
In the dim, traditional Japanese room, candlelight flickered, casting Ryomen Sukuna's ferocious grin into an even more twisted visage. His pupils reflected Stelle as she was about to step into the Simulated Universe, the corners of his mouth stretching nearly to his ears.
"Yes… just like that. I am also quite interested in the birth of a Star God."
Kenjaku sat properly to the side, fingertips gently caressing the rim of his teacup, a faint, ambiguous smile hanging on his lips.
"By the way, you don't actually have designs on a Star God, do you? Let me say this upfront: for an existence that transcends our dimensions, I have no advice to offer you."
"Of course I wouldn't entertain such a notion,"
Sukuna chuckled low, his sharp nails dragging across the tatami mats, producing an uncomfortable skritch-skritch sound.
Kenjaku turned his face away and rolled his eyes.
Over a thousand years… and this guy still hasn't learned how to lie.
But thinking about it carefully, the King of Curses never needed to lie; doing whatever he pleased was his style.
Sukuna's eyes shifted back toward him.
"Kenjaku, do you mean to say you have no interest in Propagation?"
His tone carried a note of certainty, as if he had been convinced from the start that Kenjaku could never remain indifferent to 『 Propagation 』.
He guessed correctly.
A faint smile played on Kenjaku's lips as he took a leisurely sip of tea.
"I was just thinking…"
His voice was as soft as a whisper.
"If I could glean even a little truth about 『 Propagation 』 from this Simulated Universe, the 'multiplication' of Cursed Spirits… might no longer exist merely in theory."
Sukuna stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly let out a burst of muffled laughter.
"Heh… You truly are greedier than I imagined."
—