The Zenin family, the Punishment Room.
This was a massive pit buried deep underground, the air thick with the nauseating stench of blood and the rot of Cursed Spirits.
In the darkness, over a dozen twisted Cursed Spirits—emanating auras ranging from Grade 2 to even Semi-Special Grade—were closing in, their mouths dripping with greedy saliva.
"Get back!"
Maki let out a beast-like roar, swinging the chipped, broken blade in her hand to forcibly drive back a Cursed Spirit that had lunged at her.
But her stamina had already reached its limit.
The burns left by the Shibuya Incident, the merciless strikes from her biological father, Ogi Zenin, and the intense slaughter just now had begun to blur her vision.
Blood flowed down from her forehead, clouding her eyes.
Yet she remained like an immovable mountain, standing firmly in front of Mai.
"Sister..."
Mai slumped on the cold ground, watching Maki's swaying back as tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string.
She hated her own weakness; she hated her own incompetence.
In the world of jujutsu, twins were considered an ill omen.
This was because, in the eyes of jujutsu logic, identical twins were viewed as a single individual.
As long as Mai remained alive, no matter how powerful Maki's physical talent was, she would always be restricted by the faint cursed energy within Mai, preventing her from ever becoming a true Sorcerer Killer.
They were like prisoners bound together by an invisible chain, dragging each other down and tormenting one another.
"Sister, you've always been so strong, always walking ahead of me."
Mai's voice rang out softly in the darkness, carrying a heartbreaking tranquility.
"I always said I hated you, but in truth, I've always admired you and lived in fear of being left behind."
"That's why I kept acting weak—I wanted to keep you by my side."
Maki snapped her head back and roared, "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?! Find a way to escape!"
"We can't escape, Sister."
Mai smiled.
It was a smile that had shed all burdens, one so beautiful it was breathtaking.
She brought her hands together in front of her chest as an incredibly faint yet exceptionally determined cursed energy began to frantically compress and condense in her palms!
"Mai! What are you doing?! Stop it!"
Maki seemed to realize something, and for the first time, her eyes showed absolute terror.
"Construction Technique..."
Mai closed her eyes, and her life force began to drain away at an irreversible speed, like a candle burning out.
"At the cost of my life, I will forge your final weapon."
"Whir—!"
Accompanied by a burst of blinding light, an ancient-looking tachi radiating a frigid, sharp glint slowly took shape in Mai's palms.
It was a Special Grade Cursed Tool: the Pseudo-Soul Splitter Katana!
This was a peerless blade capable of ignoring all physical defenses to cut directly through the soul.
But the price for constructing such a Special Grade Cursed Tool was the entirety of Mai's life.
Clang.
The tachi fell to the ground.
Mai's body, like a withered leaf that had lost all strength, slumped limply toward the floor.
"Mai!"
Maki lunged forward desperately, pulling her sister tightly into her arms.
"Why... why would you do this?!"
Maki howled in despair, tears bursting from her eyes.
"Sister..."
Mai reached out with a trembling hand, gently stroking Maki's blood-stained cheek.
She leaned in and placed one last, cold kiss upon Maki's lips.
The moment that kiss landed.
Maki felt that sliver of faint cursed energy that had always bound her and restricted her potential being completely drawn out by Mai.
The bond of twins was forcibly severed by death.
"D-destroy... everything..."
Mai's voice grew weaker and weaker as her eyes began to lose focus.
"Sister, go and become... a true... monster..."
Mai's hand fell powerless to her side. Her breathing stopped.
"NO!!!"
Maki let out a heart-wrenching scream, the agony of her soul being torn apart driving her into total madness.
The surrounding Cursed Spirits, smelling the scent of death, let out excited roars and lunged at them like a tidal wave.
However.
At that critical moment!
Boom!
The indestructible, heavy iron door of the Punishment Room, along with the entire wall, was instantly reduced to dust by an overwhelmingly terrifying force!
Blazing flames swept in like a red lotus, incinerating the lead Cursed Spirits into ashes in an instant!
"Sun Breathing, First Form: Dance!"
Yoru descended like a god, charging into this hellscape while wielding the flaming Shiranui.
His eyes instantly activated the Transparent World, locking his gaze onto Mai lying in Maki's arms.
"Heartbeat stopped, life force is dissipating... but the soul link hasn't completely severed yet!"
A flash of frantic determination crossed Yoru's eyes.
"System! Grant me the highest authority!"
"I want to establish a Binding Vow!"
Yoru slammed Shiranui into the ground and, with a violent motion, pressed his hands directly onto Mai's chest!
In the original timeline, Mai's death was the only condition for Maki's awakening—an unsolvable deadlock.
But Yoru was a traveler; he possessed a system that did not belong to this world and a breathing technique capable of severing all causality!
"At the cost of a portion of my own life force, I am forcibly intervening in the bond of twins!"
Veins bulged on Yoru's forehead as his blood seemed to boil to the extreme, a sign that his breathing technique was being pushed far beyond its limits.
In that instant, the aura surrounding Yoru underwent a qualitative change; it was no longer simple cursed energy or a burst of power, but a sublime sword intent that shook the very rules of the world, resonating wildly with his breathing technique.
The space around them seemed to warp slightly from the resonance. Within this small area, the established reality known as 'death' was actually being shaken by this domineering sword intent!
This was no mere technique, but an unstable prototype—yet it was enough for him to forcibly rewrite a corner of reality under the reaper's blade.
"Whir—!"
A burst of unprecedented, blinding light erupted within the Punishment Room.
Relying on this will to rewrite reality, Yoru forced open a crack of life within this certain fate of death!
Using his own body as a bridge, he took Maki's place and bore the lethal backlash caused by Mai's Construction Technique.
Cough!
Yoru coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale instantly, but the light in his eyes was strikingly bright.
Thump... thump...
A miracle occurred.
Under the forced injection of Yoru's massive life force, Mai's heart, which had originally stopped beating, gave a faint, renewed throb.
Though it was incredibly weak, and though she had fallen into a deep coma like a vegetable...
She lived!
"Instructor... Yoru?"
Maki stared blankly at the scene, looking at Yoru's pale face as her mind went momentarily numb.
"Don't daze off, Maki."
Yoru wiped the blood from his mouth and kicked the Pseudo-Soul Splitter Katana to Maki's feet.
He stood up, drew Shiranui, and turned to look at the trembling Cursed Spirits in the darkness and the Zenin family guards who were beginning to swarm outside the room.
"I've secured Mai's life."
Yoru's voice was low and cold, like a volcano suppressing its eruption.
"But the cursed energy drawn from her body and the binding vow between you twins has been completely dissolved."
"Now, you are no longer subject to any restrictions."
Yoru looked at Maki.
At this moment, though Maki was covered in blood, the aura about her had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.
It was a state of absolute physical violence that possessed not a single trace of cursed energy, yet could make every Cursed Spirit feel a fear originating from the depths of their souls.
The Complete Heavenly Restriction.
Following Toji Fushiguro, the world's second Sorcerer Killer was truly born at this moment!
Maki slowly lowered her head, looking at the Soul Splitter Katana at her feet.
She didn't cry, nor did she roar again.
She simply bent down calmly and picked up the blade.
"Thank you, Instructor Yoru."
Maki stood straight, her eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
All that remained was an absolute killing intent sufficient to freeze the entire Zenin estate.
"Please take good care of Mai."
Holding the sword, Maki walked step by step toward the exit of the Punishment Room.
"Next."
"I'm going to kill every last one of them."