Without the slightest hesitation.
This invincible force, which had slaughtered whole cities and conquered nations in the Heian period, bowed their heads deeply at Yoru's feet like cur dogs whose spines had been shattered!
"We are willing to follow your excellency through fire and water, facing ten thousand deaths without retreat!"
The hoarse, trembling voice of the Tengu leader echoed across the dead silence of the Osaka plaza.
His mask had already shattered, exposing an aged face etched with terror and awe.
For these ancient sorcerers awakened in the Culling Game, they lived by only one absolute law: the strong prey on the weak!
A thousand years ago, they had submitted to Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses who resembled a living natural disaster.
And now, within this modern human vessel devoid of even a sliver of cursed energy, they witnessed a terrifying abyss far more hopeless than Sukuna!
It was the ultimate divine majesty, capable of sundering the natural order and incinerating all of creation!
Yoru looked down coldly at the twelve charred, barely breathing Special Grade Sorcerers. His shredded uniform and several bone-deep gashes wordlessly attested to the brutality of the battle just fought.
Yet in the eyes of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, this blood-drenched man, whose breathing was slightly labored, appeared more terrifying and invincible than ever!
"Remember the posture you take right now."
Yoru slowly withdrew his gaze. Although a trace of exhaustion lingered in his voice, he remained as calm as if stating an objective fact.
"My blade can sever the shackles of cursed energy, so naturally it can sever your lives as well."
"The price of betrayal is that even your souls will be reduced entirely to ash beneath this blazing sun."
The Twelve Heavenly Generals shuddered violently, as if once more feeling that terrible heat capable of igniting the soul, and prostrated themselves repeatedly.
"We would never dare! We would never dare!"
"From this moment on, all our lives belong to my lord!"
In the distance, Kinji Hakari and Noritoshi Kamo, who had been hiding at the edge of the rubble watching the fight, were utterly dumbfounded.
The cigar in Kinji Hakari's mouth had fallen to the ground long ago. The burning tip singed his shoe, but he remained completely oblivious.
"Hey, hey, hey... You've got to be kidding me..."
The gambler, known for his uninhibited and reckless nature, spoke with a voice that was trembling.
"Those are twelve special grades! A terrifying band of monsters capable of overturning the entire Japanese jujutsu world out there!"
"Just like that... they've been beaten into submission?!"
Noritoshi Kamo's legs turned to jelly, almost collapsing to the ground.
As the legitimate heir to the Kamo clan of the Big Three Families, he knew the worth of these twelve better than anyone.
They were taboo beings marked in ancient clan archives as 'absolutely never to be provoked'!
Yet now, these forbidden horrors knelt at that man's feet like a flock of docile sheep, begging for mercy.
"This isn't even a matter of being strong anymore..."
Noritoshi Kamo swallowed hard, his eyes brimming with fanatic reverence.
"He... he is practically a living god!"
With the submission of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, this earth-shattering battle in the Osaka Colony finally drew to a close.
However, the shockwaves triggered by this fight surged like a category twelve mega-tsunami, furiously sweeping across all colonies of the Culling Game with terrifying speed!
Under the rules and mechanics of the Culling Game, point changes and player statuses could be broadcast by the colony administrators—the Kogane.
Although Yoru had not directly killed the Twelve Heavenly Generals, the fact that he alone had endured a bitter toll to brutally force all the ancient powerhouses of the Osaka Colony into submission and recruit them could not possibly be hidden from other players!
Tokyo Colony No. 1.
Having just fought through a bloody battle, Megumi Fushiguro's pupils shrank suddenly as he looked at the points leaderboard and faction layout projected by Kogane.
"The apex predators of the Osaka Colony... vanished en masse? No, their faction has changed!"
Megumi Fushiguro stared fixedly at that name sitting atop the leaderboard, radiant as the sun—Yoru.
"Senior Yoru... just what did you do in Osaka...?"
Tokyo Colony No. 2.
Maki Zenin, who was ruthlessly hunting down incarnated vessels, flicked the fresh blood off her blade.
Looking up at the colony broadcast flickering in the sky, a cold and arrogant smirk curled on her lips.
"As expected of Senior Yoru. He sure moves fast."
"Looks like I need to pick up my pace too. I can't let Senior think I'm completely useless."
At the same time, in Sendai Colony.
Yuta Okkotsu, facing off against several Special Grade Cursed Spirits, received the intel through his communicator, and a look of shock crossed his handsome face.
"Single-handedly subdued the Twelve Heavenly Generals of the Heian period?"
Yuta Okkotsu gripped his katana tighter, his gaze turning resolute.
"Mr. Yoru, you always shatter our understanding of 'strength' time and time again."
"Now that you've paved the way for us, it's about time we reel in the net on this Culling Game!"
As if sprouting wings, the news not only spread wildly among the players, but reached the ears of the mastermind behind the game as well.
Inside a dark basement.
Kenjaku looked at the rapidly updating intel before him. His face, usually adorned with a leisurely smile, was now so dark it looked ready to drip.
"Damn it... Damn it! Damn it!!!"
Kenjaku abruptly flipped the table in front of him, letting out a hysterical roar.
"The Twelve Heavenly Generals! That was one of my greatest trump cards meant to drain his stamina!"
"Not only did they fail to harm a single hair on his head, they ended up becoming the blade in his hands?!"
Kenjaku's breathing grew ragged, and the stitches across his forehead seemed to throb with pain.
He had plotted the Culling Game for a thousand years, originally to gather cursed energy across all of Japan, merge with Master Tengen, and create an unprecedented cursed spirit of terror.
Yet now, Yoru—an anomaly existing completely outside karma and the cursed energy framework—was tearing his millennium-long schemes to shreds with unstoppable momentum!
"He cannot be allowed to grow any further..."
Madness and venom flickered in Kenjaku's eyes.
"I must accelerate the schedule! As long as I control Master Tengen, as long as the merger is complete..."
"Even he will never be able to rival the collective cursed energy of Japan's hundred million people!"
Meanwhile.
Inside Yuji Itadori's body, within that Innate Domain piled high with mountains of bones.
Seated upon his throne of skulls, Ryomen Sukuna erupted into deafening, wild laughter.
"Hahahahahaha! Fascinating! Utterly fascinating!"
Within Sukuna's four crimson eyes flickered an unprecedented bloodthirsty gleam.
"The Twelve Heavenly Generals? A bunch of trash who couldn't even control their domains properly, yet they dared challenge that man?"
"Still, forcing that fellow Yoru to bleed and even unleash power that surpasses his limits... you pieces of trash served some purpose after all!"
Sukuna abruptly rose to his feet, wild cursed energy rampaging through the Innate Domain like a hurricane.
He could clearly sense that the aura of the man named Yoru outside was undergoing an unbelievable transformation.
It was a terrifying realm far closer to the 'Dao' than ever before!
"Grow quickly, Yoru."
Sukuna extended his scarlet tongue, licking his lips as a savagely twisted grin spread across his face.
"Hone your blade sharper, and push your breathing to the absolute limit."
"When the day of my full resurrection arrives..."
"I will personally tear you, that dazzling sun, completely to shreds!"
Sukuna's manic laughter echoed for a long time within the Innate Domain, while out in the real world of Osaka Colony, Yoru paid no attention to the commotion outside.
He stood quietly atop the rubble, feeling the strange, miraculous power surging wildly within him.
The moment the Twelve Heavenly Generals yielded, the system prompt that had long been dormant in his mind finally sounded once more.
Moreover, this prompt carried an unprecedented solemnity and grandeur.
[SYSTEM: DING! DETECTED THAT THE HOST HAS BROKEN THROUGH HIS LIMITS IN EXTREME COMBAT, SUBDUED TOP-TIER HEIAN COMBATANTS, AND SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERED A MAJOR WORLDLINE PROGRESSION!]
[SYSTEM: CURRENT SYNCHRONIZATION RATE SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASED!]
[SYSTEM: CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOST, YORIICHI TSUGIKUNI SYNCHRONIZATION RATE HAS OFFICIALLY SURPASSED 70%!]
As the cold mechanical voice faded...
Yoru's world changed completely at that very moment.
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