The door to the cafe's private room closed gently, cutting off Satoru and Megumi's suffocatingly powerful presence.
Silence returned to the room, leaving only the low hum of the air conditioner and the slightly hurried breathing of the three girls.
Utaha slowly sat back in her chair and picked up the now-cold black tea, her fingertips still a bit chilly.
The brief confrontation with the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer and Sukuna's blatant appearance from within her just now made her truly feel the dangerous precipice she was standing on.
She steadied herself and asked the presence that had temporarily gone silent in her mind.
"Sukuna-san... will they, the people from Jujutsu High, come again? Like today... or rather, more formally, to cause trouble?"
After a brief silence, Sukuna's deep voice rang out, carrying a worldly indifference and a hint of amusement.
"Come? Of course they will. That Six Eyes brat and the so-called Jujutsu High behind him, now that they've confirmed my existence, they can't possibly just ignore it. However..."
He paused, controlling the mouth on Utaha's face to pull into a mocking arc.
"They won't dare to act rashly. At least, not in a densely populated city, starting a war without any scruples. That kid choosing to retreat today wasn't because he was afraid of me as I am now."
"Then why?" Utaha pressed.
This was also the question Eriri and Megumi were concerned about.
Satoru's overwhelming presence had left too deep an impression on them.
"Because of Devils." Sukuna spat out the word.
"Devils?" Eriri subconsciously repeated.
She wasn't unfamiliar with the word, her parents had already told her many things.
Sukuna explained, his tone calm, "I'm referring to those near-natural disaster monsters bred from the widespread and deep-seated fear of the entire human population toward a certain 'concept.' Their power is directly linked to the level of terror of their concept and the breadth of that fear."
Sukuna's voice was cold. "Once Devils linked to concepts like death, darkness, or firearms are disturbed, or born from large-scale panic and death, their destructive power will be immeasurable and will snowball."
"More troublesome is that they usually don't have much rationality. They only follow the instincts of their fear concept, making them extremely difficult to communicate with or control."
Utaha understood and took over, "So, Gojo Satoru... and all the supernaturals who know of this potential threat, whether they be Jujutsu Sorcerers or something else, don't dare to easily break the existing fragile balance? They don't dare to create incidents that could trigger large-scale panic and death?"
"Smart." Sukuna praised.
"To start a battle with someone of my level in a busy area, even if he could win, the aftershocks of the battle, the leaked aura of terror, and the resulting casualties would be like playing with fire in a dry forest. No one can guarantee that it won't ignite a wildfire called a New Devil that no one can put out. That Six Eyes brat may be arrogant, but he's clearly not stupid, he knows the stakes."
This was also one of the reasons Sukuna himself was currently restrained. Although he craved battle with the strong, he hadn't returned to his peak and didn't want to inexplicably become the fuse for a world-class disaster, which would be of no benefit to his plans for recovering power and finding fun.
"Therefore, a tacit understanding has formed." Sukuna concluded, his tone mocking.
"All those standing at the top, regardless of their stance, adhere to this silent rule to some extent: try to avoid creating uncontrollable, large-scale fear and death in ordinary society that could give birth to Conceptual Devils."
"Cleaning up Cursed Spirits, dealing with Devils, and maintaining surface peace has become everyone's unspoken job. This is also one of the reasons why that kid didn't act immediately after I took out that Special Grade Cursed Spirit."
"In terms of the outcome, I did what they were supposed to do, temporarily maintaining the 'balance.'"
...
At night, Utaha sat alone in front of her computer, the cold light of the screen reflecting her slightly tired but exceptionally focused face.
She wasn't writing or browsing literary forums. Instead, she was repeatedly refreshing an encrypted forum with a crude interface filled with code words and eerie symbols—this was the narrow window to the underworld's information network left for her by the mysterious devil hunter, Himeno.
Sukuna didn't care whether he fought Satoru or not. If Satoru wanted to fight, they'd fight. At most, he'd die again. It would just be a lack of enjoyment, and he'd simply wait for the next resurrection.
It didn't matter if they didn't fight. He could find someone else to battle, waiting until he returned to his peak form for a satisfying fight.
Sukuna browsed the forum through Utaha's eyes, and one piece of news caught his interest.
Recent intelligence on the Zombie Devil: Suspected secret transaction with the Kanto Region's yakuza organization, the Yamanaka-gumi, at a location potentially within the Third Abandoned Warehouse District under their control.
"Sombie Devil..." Sukuna's lazy voice echoed in Utaha's mind, carrying a hint of interest as if he had discovered a new toy.
"Any news on devils? Little girl, check the specific location."
Utaha had long since grown accustomed to Sukuna's sudden commands and dangerous curiosity.
Himeno had left her contact information on the forum. Utaha called her to inquire about the Zombie Devil and this gang.
Himeno didn't bother investigating Utaha's identity and directly sent over a file.
The Captain had said that since they were killing devils anyway and essentially doing their work for them, there was no need to interfere too much. As long as the requests weren't too excessive, they would help, provided they remembered to clean up their tracks.
Sukuna flipped through the information.
The gangs in this country were traditionally yakuza organizations on the surface, but in reality, most were black gloves used by major conglomerates to handle dirty work. It wasn't impossible for them to trade with devils to acquire unconventional power.
"Found it. But Sukuna-san, are we really going to..." Utaha tried to rationally analyze the risks involved.
"Boring caution." Sukuna interrupted her, controlling the mouth on her face to curl into a cruel arc.
"I am in need of the power of devils, and isn't killing a devil good for ordinary people? If we don't kill him now, are we leaving him for someone else to kill? Call a car, we're going now."