Suguru's hands trembled as he looked at the girl lying on the floor with no sign of life. Slowly, he walked forward, knelt down, and turned her over. Her bloodstained face, and that glaring bullet hole in her forehead, seemed to mock his incompetence and arrogance.
When he turned to the side, Kuroi's body was there too. Her eyes, still open and unblinking, looked in his direction with confusion.
Why did it end up like this?
He had promised to bring them home safely.
"Shoko… Shoko!"
Holding the girl's still-warm body in his hands, Suguru suddenly remembered the friend he'd left behind. He spun around and shouted almost hysterically.
"You don't have to call my name so loud, you know…"
Just then, the three others arrived at the conference room. Shoko, still unaware of the situation and about to make a sarcastic remark, froze the moment she saw Suguru's expression. She ran to him and placed her hand on Riko's forehead, activating her Reverse Cursed Technique.
The bullet hole vanished in an instant, as if it had never been there. But the girl's lifeless eyes did not regain their light.
Shoko turned to Kuroi and did the same, but the result didn't change. Both girls' open eyes still carried the faint trace of hope for life and longing for freedom.
"Geto… they can't be saved…" Shoko whispered, unable to look at her friend.
"I… killed them?" Suguru began to drown in guilt.
He didn't blame Mukuro for failing to protect them. He only blamed himself for not coming sooner, for believing the Star Religious Group only wanted to stop the merger instead of taking lives.
"Hey, it was you playing tricks, right?" Satoru's sky-blue eyes had already seen through everything from the doorway.
He did not understand the reason for it though.
"Don't rush. Let the bullet fly a little longer." Mukuro patted his chest lightly and gave no explanation.
"Hahaha! The Star Plasma Vessel is dead! The Star Religious Group wins!"
The cult leader laughed uncontrollably, his voice echoing through the room.
He knew the rules. Sorcerers couldn't kill ordinary people. It was a clear law within the jujutsu world. If they did, they'd be branded as curse users and hunted down.
So even if he'd killed the Star Plasma Vessel, what could they do? Would the police come? The higher-ups?
He had money. He had power.
Clap, clap, clap…
The followers all began clapping in unison. The applause filled the room like slaps to Suguru's face.
"Should I kill them all? I don't think I'd feel anything right now."
Seeing his friend's fist clenched so hard blood started to drip, Satoru stepped closer and asked.
"No… there's no meaning. This group is already rotten from within. Just take the leader back. The rest… won't last long."
Suguru's head hung low. His words sounded like a lie he told himself.
The only thing keeping him from breaking was his past belief still left in his heart: to protect the weak.
And these people, in the end, were nothing but pitiful weaklings.
"Meaning—"
"It doesn't matter."
Satoru was about to say something when Mukuro stepped forward and cut him off.
"It does matter."
Suguru met his gaze. Even now, he wanted to hold on to his last piece of conviction.
"Then how about this?"
Mukuro raised a hand and pinched the air, as if tugging at a curtain. The space trembled. For a brief flash everything seemed to shift, yet when vision cleared nothing appeared to have changed.
The cult leader was still laughing, the followers still clapping mockingly.
"This... could it be an illusion?!"
Suguru immediately recognized Mukuro's ability.
Then he looked down, and saw Riko and Kuroi blinking up at him, their eyes bright and alive.
"You can speak now."
"What the hell are you guys doing?"
At Mukuro's words, Riko peeled the tape off her mouth, and got to her feet.
"You're okay… thank goodness." Suguru smiled, relief flooding his face as his clenched fists finally relaxed.
"You're the one who's not okay! How did things turn into this the moment I closed my eyes?"
The girl puffed her cheeks when she noticed the blood on his hands, grumbling in concern.
She still remembered feeling a sudden wave of drowsiness, then everything went dark. When she opened her eyes again, Suguru was kneeling on the floor, full of guilt and sorrow.
She'd wanted to say something, but Mukuro had shaken his head, and she'd obeyed his silent instruction.
"It's nothing. Just a small injury."
"Even a small one needs to be treated, doesn't it?"
Before he could reply, Shoko grabbed his hands and activated her technique. In seconds, his hand was completely healed.
"What… what is this?! I clearly shot them! How is this possible?!"
The applause stopped. The cult leader's face twisted in disbelief as he shouted at Mukuro.
"Didn't you say you wanted to pull the trigger yourself, in front of your followers? Too bad your aim is terrible."
Mukuro pointed to the bullet holes in the wall behind him, a mocking grin on his face.
When Suguru had opened the door earlier, Mukuro had already acted by channeling the Deva Path to take control of Riko's body. Then he used the Naraka Path to cast an illusion, luring the cult leader into shooting and creating the scene of a slaughter.
In reality, both Riko and Kuroi had only fainted, while every bullet had hit the wall.
"Damn it… then I'll just do it again!"
The cult leader, realizing the situation, loaded his gun once more in frustration.
"You really think you'll get the chance?"
Behind Suguru, space cracked open, and several curses began to emerge.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots rang out.
"Aaagh!"
The man's screams followed. The first shot shattered his hand. The second blew out his kneecap.
"Alright, everyone can go home now."
From the corner of the room, Toji, who had been watching quietly, lowered his gun and tossed it to Mukuro.
"You two... the assassin world will despise you! I'll make sure everyone knows what you did!"
The leader clutched his wounded hand, yelling in rage. He had emptied almost all of the Star Religious Group's funds to assassinate the Star Plasma Vessel, only for everything to collapse like this. He couldn't accept it.
"Who cares about that? We already got paid. That's all that matters."
Toji ignored his ranting and waved lazily to Mukuro and the others, then turned to leave with Shiu.
The job was done, the money was in hand, and it was time to go back to a warm house, a wife, and a kid waiting at the table.
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