Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Whoosh!

Boom!

“Stop right there, Fushiguro Toji!”

Ragnar Kagenou cast everything else aside and unleashed the Gate of Babylon in full pursuit.

“This is bad...”

Toji Fushiguro ground his teeth.

In terms of raw movement speed, Ragnar could not catch up to him directly.

But Ragnar’s Noble Phantasms could pierce him in an instant.

If Toji had not been carrying Amanai Riko as a hostage—

Ragnar would have finished him long ago.

Toji understood that perfectly.

That was why he ran straight toward his destination without slowing for even a moment.

As long as he handed Amanai Riko over to the Time Vessel Association, Ragnar would no longer be able to focus solely on killing him.

Under Ragnar’s relentless pursuit, Toji Fushiguro barely managed to escape until late afternoon.

Time Vessel Association Headquarters

Hall of the Star

“What is going on?!”

Sonoda Shigeru, the representative of the Time Vessel Association, stared in shock.

Toji Fushiguro walked straight in and shoved Amanai Riko into his hands.

“The Star Plasma Vessel, Amanai Riko. Unharmed.”

Then he held out his hand.

“Pay me.”

Sonoda Shigeru looked at him, then toward the figure pursuing him from outside.

“Who is that?”

Toji replied flatly, “I don’t know.”

Sonoda Shigeru’s face twitched. “You—”

Toji cut him off without the slightest interest.

“But you’d better have your people stop him. Otherwise, everyone here is going to die.”

“What?!”

“I warned you.”

That was all Toji had to say.

The payment notification arrived, and he turned to leave at once, completely indifferent to the injuries covering his body.

Sonoda Shigeru was left standing there, stunned and furious.

“What the hell is happening...?! Damn it! Hurry! Send people to stop that madman!”

With no better option, he followed Toji’s advice and deployed the Time Vessel Association’s armed personnel.

At the entrance to the Time Vessel Association compound, just as Ragnar was about to step forward, an armed force of over a thousand men appeared before him, all dressed in white combat uniforms.

Ragnar’s eyes turned cold.

“You mongrels. Get out of my way.”

He looked at the formation of ordinary men with guns and his expression only darkened further.

A cult really was a cult.

Even facing him, they showed no fear.

Only fanaticism.

Then the order came through their earpieces.

“Fire!”

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In an instant, every rifle opened up at once.

Orange muzzle flashes burst through the air as a steel storm of bullets tore toward him.

Ragnar did not move.

Golden ripples unfolded in front of him, intercepting the hail of bullets and shielding his body.

The gunfire continued for several moments before the commander at the front finally raised a hand and ordered a halt.

Through the drifting smoke and dust, a lone figure still stood there.

The eyes of the Time Vessel Association’s soldiers widened all at once.

Ragnar’s voice rang out, cold and merciless.

“Mongrels should crawl on the ground. Who gave you permission to stand?”

Golden ripples erupted behind him.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In less than a second, more than a thousand armed men were cut down where they stood.

Blood flooded the ground.

There were no screams.

No groans.

Only a terrible silence.

Boom!

Ragnar blasted the gates of the compound apart and stepped inside.

The moment he entered, the members of the Time Vessel Association scattered in panic, trying to flee.

But before Ragnar Kagenou, they were no more than trapped prey.

With every step he took, dozens—

Sometimes hundreds—

Died.

“Fushiguro Toji!”

By now, Ragnar’s fury had reached its peak.

Then he saw them.

Toji Fushiguro was coming down the stairs.

And beside him was Sonoda Shigeru, clutching Amanai Riko.

“To think he broke in this fast...”

“A-Ah... how is this possible...?!”

Sonoda Shigeru looked out over the scene below in utter horror.

Every member of the Time Vessel Association on the lower floors had been slaughtered.

The pristine white floor had been dyed red with blood.

And in the middle of that dark crimson sea, Ragnar Kagenou stood shining in golden light, dazzling and terrible all at once.

Toji gave a dry laugh.

“You’re even more ruthless than I am. You killed all these people without blinking.”

Ragnar’s voice was icy.

“So what if I killed these dogs of the Time Vessel Association?”

The moment the words fell—

Whoosh!

Golden ripples spread open, and Noble Phantasms shot forward in a storm.

Toji immediately drew a Cursed Tool and deflected the incoming weapons.

The area here was wide and open, making it a favorable battlefield for Toji.

But in his current wounded condition, he had no confidence he could actually defeat Ragnar.

His eyes flicked toward Sonoda Shigeru, and in that instant, he made his decision.

He would sell him out.

“Let’s split up,” Toji said. “He’s after me.”

Sonoda Shigeru, fool that he was, actually looked grateful.

Then he grabbed Amanai Riko and ran for the basement.

Toji looked at Ragnar and spoke in an even tone.

“See? He took Amanai Riko with him. She could die at any moment.”

He smiled faintly.

“Are you sure you still want to keep chasing me?”

Without waiting for an answer, Toji turned and ran straight out of the building.

Ragnar fired dozens of Noble Phantasms after him, then immediately changed direction and followed the path Sonoda Shigeru had taken instead.

Rumble!

Crash!

Toji smashed through a window and barely escaped the compound.

“Heh. If you don’t kill me now, I’ll come back for your life sooner or later.”

Leaving that behind, Toji prepared to depart.

At that moment, the sun was already nearing the horizon.

The golden light of evening made it hard to see straight ahead.

And standing there, right in front of him—

Was Gojo Satoru.

Toji Fushiguro’s eyes widened.

Gojo’s state of mind was unnaturally clear now.

His face wore a healthy, almost radiant smile, while those azure Six Eyes fixed themselves on Toji without wavering.

“Yo,” Gojo said lightly. “Long time no see.”

Toji stared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Of course not,” Gojo answered. “In fact, I feel better than ever.”

He even pointed to the scar on his forehead where the dagger had pierced him earlier—

A wound he had now healed through Reverse Cursed Technique.

Toji’s expression darkened.

“Reverse Cursed Technique...?”

Gojo grinned.

“Bingo.”

Toji immediately drew the Inverted Spear of Heaven.

“Then I’ll just kill you again.”

Gojo’s smile widened even further.

“That’s right. Yeah... exactly. Do that.”

The two clashed again in an instant.

But this time, Toji Fushiguro was no match for Gojo Satoru.

Now, in this moment, Gojo felt as though the entire world itself had become vividly, overwhelmingly clear.

He smiled, almost absentmindedly.

“Throughout heaven and earth... I alone am the honored one.”

Then—

Hollow Technique: Purple.

The battle ended there.

Gojo stood over the dying Toji Fushiguro and looked down at him quietly.

“Anything else you want to say?”

Toji answered without hesitation.

“No.”

But in the end—

There was one thing.

“In two or three years... my kid will be sold to the Zenin Clan.”

His voice was weakening.

“He... do whatever you want with him.”

And with that, it was over.

Afterward, Gojo Satoru arrived at the Time Vessel Association building.

He stopped as soon as he stepped inside.

“Dead bodies... blood...”

His gaze swept across the carnage.

“Who did this? Ragnar...?”

With the Six Eyes, he could tell at once that the corpses around him had been pierced through by weapons in an instant.

His eyes sharpened.

“Amanai... so she’s still alive?”

Without another word, Gojo stepped through the sea of blood and followed the lingering traces of Ragnar Kagenou’s energy.

“The basement...”

Step. Step.

Then—

“Hm? Suguru?”

Gojo looked up and saw Geto Suguru arriving as well.

“Satoru!” Geto stared at the slaughter around them, his face tense. “Was all of this your doing?”

His voice tightened.

“This kind of massacre is meaningless!”

The stench of blood filled the entire place.

Severed limbs were everywhere.

Gojo answered flatly, “It wasn’t me. Judging from the residual energy, it was Ragnar.”

He did not spare the dead members of the Time Vessel Association even a second glance.

In his current state, he understood all too well that he himself might have done the same.

Geto’s face changed.

“Ragnar...? How could he...”

Then he let out a long breath.

The two of them headed toward the basement together.

This was the place.

They opened the heavy sealed door—

Drip.

Inside, the remaining members of the Time Vessel Association had all been nailed to the white walls.

Blood ran down those walls in thick crimson streams.

And standing in the middle of it all was Ragnar Kagenou, holding Amanai Riko in his arms.

She had fainted from blood loss but luckily she had survived.

Ragnar looked up at them.

“You’re here.”