The Holy Grail in Ryomen Sukuna's hand suddenly trembled violently!
The cracks on the cup simultaneously erupted with a dark bloody glow, and the Black Mud at the rim surged violently as if boiling, letting out shrill wails and screeches!
Those screeches poured directly into Ryomen Sukuna's brain.
His unfocused pupils shrank abruptly, his mind instantly regaining clarity, and a trace of fury flashed deep in his eyes.
"You have a death wish—!!"
One of his four arms violently clenched into a fist and smashed backward with a speed surpassing the sound barrier!
The fist was wrapped in terrifying Cursed Energy, slightly distorting the space wherever it passed.
If this strike landed solidly, it would be enough to blast a small mountain into fine powder.
But—
It hit nothing.
The fist passed through the phantom Kama left in place and struck empty air. The resulting fist wind tore a pitch-black rift in the Starry Sky, which was instantly repaired by the surging starlight from the surroundings.
Kama appeared in front of him once again.
She tilted her head, her face still wearing that sweet smile.
She raised her hand, her fair fingertips tracing across Ryomen Sukuna's bare chest from a distance, her movements as gentle as if caressing fragile, precious porcelain.
Wherever her fingertips passed, those pitch-black Cursed Markings curled slightly as if they had been burned.
"Hehe~"
She chuckled softly, her fingertips moving up to caress Ryomen Sukuna's cheek.
The touch was ice-cold, carrying the faint burn of a spark.
"I will give you..."
Her voice grew even softer, like the most intimate whisper.
"Bountiful love."
Ryomen Sukuna's eyes darkened completely.
Not because of the words themselves, but because he realized he couldn't move.
It wasn't a physical restraint.
His limbs could still move, and his breathing, heartbeat, and the flow of his Cursed Energy weren't obstructed.
But when he tried to activate his Cursed Technique, there was no response.
His Cursed Energy was still there, vast as the sea, surging and roaring inside his body.
But when he tried to convert this Cursed Energy into a specific Cursed Technique, into an attack, it was like pressing an unplugged switch—nothing happened.
It wasn't like being sealed or suppressed.
It was a more bizarre "not permitted."
In this Starry Sky, there existed a higher level of "rules" that rejected the activation of his Cursed Technique.
Ryomen Sukuna grabbed Kama by the neck, frowning, his four eyes staring at her simultaneously, the scarlet light almost solidifying.
"What did you do?"
Kama didn't answer.
She just smiled.
"Kama—!!"
Seeing this, Kugisaki Nobara instinctively wanted to rush forward.
She didn't know what Kama was doing, but getting choked by Ryomen Sukuna didn't look like a good thing no matter how she looked at it.
Dragging her body that had just recovered a sliver of strength, she gritted her teeth and was about to lunge forward—
A hand reached out from the side and pressed down on her shoulder.
The force wasn't strong.
Kugisaki Nobara snapped her head back and met a face covered by a Black Blindfold.
"Gojo-sensei! You—"
"Don't go over there."
Gojo Satoru's voice was calm, unnaturally calm.
His hand resting on Kugisaki Nobara's shoulder didn't loosen.
"But she—"
"It's about to end."
Gojo Satoru interrupted her. His tone lacked its usual frivolity, holding only an almost icy certainty.
"She's about to make her move."
As if validating his words.
Her body began to turn transparent, leaving only a hazy halo of light, directly passing through Ryomen Sukuna's shackles.
Starting from the edges, it turned into fragmented particles of light, drifting upwards.
Her voice began to echo in this boundless Starry Sky.
Simultaneously welling up from every single star.
The voices layered upon each other, like tens of thousands of her whispering at once, and yet like this Starry Sky itself speaking.
What a...
Rough fellow...
All the stars dimmed for a moment simultaneously.
But...
Kama's last bit of halo dissipated.
Completely merging into this Starry Sky.
I have grown tired of this.
Let it end here.
The instant her words fell—
The light of every single star simultaneously skyrocketed hundreds of millions of times, the blinding white light swallowing the entire field of vision.
This Starry Sky began to unfold towards a vaster dimension.
All four of Ryomen Sukuna's eyes widened to their limits.
He saw it.
In the endless light, deep within the torrent of the galaxy, something was surfacing.
That thing was too massive.
So massive that he couldn't comprehend the concept.
Stars were like dust before it.
The galaxy was the faint light flowing through its veins.
Black holes were the ripples stirred by its breathing.
It had no specific form, yet it seemed like a complete universe.
But regardless of how its form changed, one thing was common—
It burned with faint blue flames.
Flames identical to the ones on Kama's body.
Silver hair, skin of the Starry Sky, the depths of her rose-red eyes reflecting the birth and death of all things.
She lowered her head slightly, looking down at Ryomen Sukuna, who was as insignificant as dust below, the corners of her lips curling into an arc.
I have lost my body
Reduced to a Void connecting all things
Drifting in eternity
That massive entity began to contract.
All mass converged towards a certain "point."
Sea of Stars of Love
The faint blue light was pure to the extreme, and also terrifying to the extreme.
The Holy Grail in Ryomen Sukuna's hand let out a wail on the verge of shattering. The cracks on the cup spread frantically, and the Black Mud at the rim evaporated as if it had met its natural enemy.
He raised all four arms simultaneously, his Cursed Energy erupting recklessly to form a pitch-black barrier around him.
But the moment the barrier came into contact with that faint blue light, it melted away silently.
[Samsara Kama]
Noble Phantasm, True Name Release.
"Hum——————————————————"
There was no sound.
Or perhaps sound had lost its meaning.
The light swallowed everything.
Vision, hearing, touch—the very sensation of "existence" itself was erased in that moment.
Kugisaki Nobara only felt as if she had been thrown into a tumble dryer, or stuffed into a particle collider. Her entire being, from soul to body, was undergoing some incomprehensible churning.
She faintly "saw" something.
That massive entity surpassing cognition...
That massive body incarnated as the universe.
But those images only existed for a fraction of a billionth of a second before being covered by an even purer light.
Then—
"Thud."
A muffled sound.
Her back hit something hard.
Kugisaki Nobara abruptly opened her eyes.
Familiar ceiling filled her vision.
Spiderwebs hung in the corners.
Beneath her was the cold floor.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Fushiguro Megumi's coughing came from beside her.
Kugisaki Nobara stiffly turned her head and saw Fushiguro Megumi pushing himself up from the floor with his arms.
Itadori Yuji lay beside them, still unconscious, his chest rising and falling steadily with his breathing.
Gojo Satoru stood three steps ahead of them, his hands stuffed in his uniform pockets, his back to them, his head tilted up, looking at who knew what.
Kugisaki Nobara followed his gaze.
The third-floor corridor of the teaching building at Jujutsu High.
Exactly the same as before they entered.
Kugisaki Nobara opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was dry, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.
She could only look at Gojo Satoru's back.
Gojo Satoru looked at the empty corridor, looking for a very long time.
Then, he let out a long breath.
"Oh my..."
His voice returned to its usual airy tone.
"That really was..."
He turned around, the corners of his mouth beneath the Black Blindfold spreading into a bright, almost punchable smile.
"Clean and efficient~"
Kugisaki Nobara's brain finally successfully rebooted from its crashed state.
"Is... is it over?"
"Looks like it~"
Gojo Satoru nodded, walked over to Itadori Yuji, squatted down, and reached out to poke the boy's cheek.
"Oh my, sleeping so soundly, even your teacher is jealous~"
"No—"
Kugisaki Nobara braced herself against the wall and stood up, her legs still a bit weak.
"I mean, where's Kama? Where did she go? What the heck was that thing just now?! She—"
"Kugisaki."
Fushiguro Megumi interrupted her.
He looked at Gojo Satoru, seeming to have understood something.
"Let's ask Kama-san herself about those things when she gets back."
Kugisaki Nobara was struck dumb.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and finally could only scratch her hair in frustration.
"Dammit... every single one of them is so secretive..."
After catching his breath, Masamichi Yaga propped himself against the wall and stood up.
He glanced at the unconscious Itadori Yuji, then at Gojo Satoru, and spoke in a deep voice:
"Take them to Shoko first."
"Yes~ Yes~"
Gojo Satoru replied lazily, hoisting Itadori Yuji onto his shoulder with a motion as practiced as carrying a sack of rice.
"Let's go, let's go. If we stay any longer, the principal is going to nag about repair costs again. Speaking of which, the walls and ceiling are shattered like this; is the budget really enough? Should we consider crowdfunding?"
A vein popped out on Masamichi Yaga's forehead.
"Satoru!"
"Ehe~ Just kidding~"
Carrying Itadori Yuji, Gojo Satoru walked towards the stairwell.
Fushiguro Megumi followed silently.
Kugisaki Nobara stood in place, taking another look at the center of that empty corridor. Gritting her teeth, she turned and followed after them.
Dust floated slowly in the light.
Everything was over.
Probably.