One was a wanderer who sealed demons. The other was the enemy of all civilizations in the universe, the absolute destroyer.
When he heard that the former had defeated and sealed the latter, Yuji Itadori felt his brain tremble. He couldn't believe any of it was true.
"You... you're joking, right?"
Faced with his future self's indifferent demeanor, Itadori realized he had asked a stupid question, but he quickly asked cautiously:
"What... what does this have to do with our current situation? Wasn't Gilbaris defeated by Nishida Kagetatsu?"
"He was defeated. But Gilbaris, who uses cursed energy as his power source—as long as someone remembers him, he will eventually return from the curse and become stronger. So he cannot be truly defeated."
"!"
"I don't know how long Gilbaris has existed. I only know that after Kagetatsu's death, he couldn't think of a way to guarantee that he could defeat Gilbaris again after his reincarnation."
"So before he died, he asked the two users of the Immortality Technique from a thousand years ago to cast a barrier covering the entire world and establish a binding vow. They erased all records of Gilbaris at the cost of erasing his entire existence, in order to completely destroy Gilbaris."
Hearing this, Itadori immediately understood the gravity of the problem.
Brother Locke had appeared in this world, and his future self had returned to him and told him everything about Gilbaris...
"That's right. Gilbaris was ultimately resurrected because of that cursed demon, Kijuro."
Speaking of Demon Head Kijuro, the elderly Itadori immediately gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and wanted to kill him on the spot, but then let it go.
"Forget it. Even if I say more, the binding vows established back then are still in effect. You'll still forget after leaving here. Maru already tried. It's useless."
"Then... what exactly am I supposed to do?"
"You just need to know that because of you, Brother Locke, who could have defeated Gilbaris, ultimately failed and was sealed inside the core chamber of just 0.001% of Gilbaris."
"Because... of me?"
"That's right. Because of you. Because of me. Because of Yuji Itadori."
The moment the words fell, the entire train car was suddenly engulfed in blood.
The surging seawater in the car instantly turned into thick, sticky blood. All the marine creatures that had been swimming crumbled into fragments and floated on the blood waves. Blood blisters burst one after another, and the fishy, putrid stench that rose into the sky instantly filled every inch of space, sharp and suffocating.
"You allowed Sukuna to return to this world."
"You allowed your comrades to be played with by Mahito, even stripping them of their ability to fight."
"You caused the deaths of forty thousand innocent people in the Shibuya disaster."
"You will cause the entire world, and even the entire universe, to completely lose any possibility of a future!"
The elderly Itadori stepped forward, one step at a time, on the fishy, surging blood. He walked slowly but resolutely toward his younger "self."
He looked into the eyes of the young Itadori, full of fear, making even his soul tremble. Looking at the other's face, full of disbelief, every word was like a blood-tempered blade, piercing the depths of his heart.
The elderly Itadori raised his hand and waved it. The entire train car, the surrounding seawater, and everything around were silently cut into an even, uniform grid, as if even the world itself was being cut apart inch by inch.
Except for the square inch of ground beneath their feet, all the fragments fell into the boundless dark abyss beneath them.
The surging blood before them poured through the cracks. The light and shadow around them scattered, and their bodies were instantly completely swallowed by the boundless dead darkness.
Under Yuji Itadori's eyes, numbness spread over all his emotions like a tide. The world was distorted and stained in his eyes. Countless fragments of shattered memories followed, feverishly appearing layer by layer before him.
He saw everything. He saw the consequences he had caused. From having everything and nothing, from the weakest to the limited and the strongest, to the crusade against the Black Dragon.
Until the final failure, until he saw the Black Dragon's blazing cannon fire easily crush the moon into powder.
Despair, regret, pain, anger, sorrow—all emotions were like a torrent of collapse, filling his heart so much that he couldn't even breathe.
It hurt... it hurt.
The purgatory experienced at this moment, the disaster destined for the future—every scene tore at his heart.
He knelt before his past self, clutching his aching heart with one hand, gripping the edge of the other's clothes with the other. The world before him also twisted and changed from the intense pain.
They suddenly returned to the real world.
He saw Mahito mercilessly playing with his completely hypnotized and powerless comrades, a sick smile on the corner of his mouth, his mouth full of mad words about kneading them into doll toys.
"Lulala Lulala"
"Nishida Kagetatsu is finished! Nishida Kagetatsu is finished!"
He giggled, his eyes full of cruel interest: "Hehe... who should I start playing with first?"
The elderly Itadori looked at all this expressionlessly and coldly reminded:
"Do you see this? This is the beginning of all suffering. And you can't do anything about it."
In the next second, everything that would happen in the future appeared before Itadori's eyes. Watching the tragic scene of Mahito mercilessly ravaging his comrades, Itadori's mind instantly collapsed.
His eyes turned crimson. He staggered forward like a madman, roaring to stop it all.
"Stop! You bastard!!"
But in reality, he couldn't reach Mahito at all. He fell because he lost his balance. No matter how many times he fell to the ground, his forehead was split open, his elbows were worn raw, his face was covered in blood and dust.
No matter how many times he punched, his knuckles strained until they turned white, his hands trembling until they went weak.
The Mahito before him was merely an unreachable phantom.
His fist pierced through the air again and again, touching not a corner of the opponent's clothes, not a trace of cursed energy. All his struggles, all his roars, all his despair—everything became meaningless effort.
"Stop——! Stop! ! Why are you doing this... Why!!"
Itadori, with blood flowing from his seven orifices, stared blankly at the tragedy before him. His eyes were already completely consumed by despair.
He sharply turned his head, looked at his future "self," who stood indifferently and aloof, and could no longer suppress the exploding rage in his chest. He lunged forward, grabbed the other by the collar, and hoarsely demanded:
"Why! You clearly came back, why didn't you stop all of this?! You're very strong! You said you could beat anyone except the Black Dragon! Why!!"
The elderly Itadori looked indifferently at himself, his face stained with blood and tears, and said lightly:
"Because I can't. Maru's technique has limits. Reversing time is not without cost. It took five hundred years of my life to get to this moment. I've even lost my body, leaving only this weary soul."
The truth was like a heavy hammer, shattering all illusions. Yuji Itadori was exhausted. He desperately released his future "self," his knees hitting the ground, and finally collapsed and wept loudly.
"Then why are you doing this! Wouldn't it be better to just kill me! Replace me!"
Faced with his heart-wrenching roar, the elderly Itadori's voice was indifferent, cold as ice that would not melt for ten thousand years:
"Because I hate you, Yuji Itadori. It was your choice that dragged us into this irreversible abyss. You are the beginning of all misfortune. No one around you can get a proper death. You are the true child of curses, Yuji Itadori."
"You know, reversing time is painful. Ten thousand times more painful than the most excruciating pain you can imagine. The only reason I've survived this long is because of my hatred for you. So—"
"I curse you, Yuji Itadori. I curse you to live desperately in eternal loneliness."
"Then what's the point of all this?!"
Hearing these icy final words, Itadori's last line of defense completely collapsed. His eyes reddened. He lunged at his future self's neck like a madman, crying blood and roaring furiously:
"Then give me power! I want power! I need the power to change everything! Let me change all of this!"
The elderly Itadori, who had been silent all along, finally showed a trace of imperceptible emotion on his face.
He slowly raised his right hand, sharply swung it back, and pierced the heart of the young Itadori with devastating inertia.
Warm blood sprayed out. The elderly Itadori looked at him, his voice light as a sigh, but wrapped in a resolve that transcended time:
"This... is what it means."
Subsequently, the remnant soul that had existed sixty-eight years later began to infect the body in reverse order, carving magical patterns and the origin of the body into the depths of its bones and blood, passing everything except memories to its younger "self."
Yuji Itadori hung in the air. The strong and majestic aura of his soul boiled and overflowed uncontrollably. A fiery white light burst from between his eyes and lips.
In this tempering and inheritance of the soul, the elderly Itadori's body gradually became transparent and faint.
At the moment he was about to completely dissipate, he looked at his younger "self" before him, his voice hoarse but heavy as gold:
"Kagetatsu once said that the path to becoming a warrior is lonely."
"Because warriors must fight throughout their journey, win consecutively, and protect everyone they need to protect."
"What a pity... I lost every time. I never won once."
"Fortunately, I endured all those inevitable defeats and heartbreaks for you."
"So—Yuji Itadori!!"
"Become a warrior!"
"Become... a solitary strength!!"
Before the words fell, the remnant soul from sixty-eight years later gave everything of itself to its younger "self." Its body grew increasingly dim and ethereal, ready to completely return to nothingness.
In the moment before everything completely disappeared, all the hatred, regret, and pain accumulated in his heart melted away, leaving only a pure and peaceful place.
He slowly closed his eyes, quietly whispered, and gave all his most tender blessings to the young man before him.
"Surrounded by everyone... die..."
At the same time, Mahito, who was arranging his toys, tilted his head, wondering who to start with first. He didn't notice that Yuji Itadori, lying behind him, had twitched his fingers.
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝