Chapter 131 (Patreon)

Clatter—clatter—clatter.

The subway train tore through the dark tunnel at full speed.

Inside one of the carriages, vivid red blood continued to splash across the windows.

Bang!

Mahito’s face was driven into the glass. Cracks raced across the pane before it shattered under the impact.

Rika Orimoto seized the back of his head and forced him against the concrete wall outside the carriage.

Screeeeech!

His face scraped along the rough surface as the train sped forward. Flesh was ripped away in an instant, sending blood spraying through the air like a fountain.

Before Rika could completely crush him, Mahito altered the shape of his soul.

His true body reformed at the rear of the carriage, leaving the ruined mass in Rika’s hand behind like an empty shell.

Rika stared at what remained.

“He shed his body like a snake?”

Without another thought, she hurled the discarded husk out through the broken window.

“Hiding won’t save you.”

A low vibration filled the carriage.

Mahito clapped his hands together.

“Soul Multiplicity: Body Repel!”

Two transfigured humans were fused into one. Their souls violently rejected each other, causing the resulting mass of flesh to expand explosively.

A gigantic mouth burst from the malformed body and snapped toward Rika.

“Weak.”

Rika punched it once.

The entire transfigured human exploded into a cloud of blood.

Mahito’s expression twisted.

“Tengen! Do something already, or she’s going to kill me!”

At the sound of that name, Rika’s movements paused for the briefest instant.

The space surrounding Mahito suddenly distorted into a series of diamond-shaped facets.

Rika immediately understood what was happening.

“Don’t think you’re getting away.”

She lunged forward at full speed and struck just as Mahito’s body began disappearing into the distorted barrier.

However—

She was a fraction too late.

Splat!

Mahito spat out a mouthful of blood before vanishing from the train.

Rika remained where she was, staring at the empty space he had left behind.

“Still too slow…”

Her eyes narrowed.

“But why did he call out to Tengen?”

Ding!

The train began slowing as it approached the next station.

Yuji Itadori and Riko Amanai descended to the fifth underground level of the subway station.

The moment Yuji reached the platform, his eyes widened.

“What… happened here?”

Blood stained the floor and walls.

Large sections of the station had been demolished, as though some immense force had torn straight through the platform. Cracks spread across the concrete, broken tiles were scattered everywhere, and the surrounding structures bore unmistakable signs of battle.

Riko studied the destruction carefully.

“Could someone have reached this place before us and fought that Special Grade cursed spirit?”

The two moved deeper into the damaged area.

The destruction certainly looked like the aftermath of a fierce battle.

“It’s possible,” Yuji said. “But it looks like we got here too late.”

Riko glanced toward the station signs.

“Then we should hurry to Shibuya Station.”

Yuji raised his head and looked at the sign pointing toward Shibuya.

“Kagenou-sensei and Gojo-sensei are both there, so I doubt anything too serious will happen…”

He hesitated for only a moment.

“Still, we should get over there as quickly as possible.”

A deep hum resonated through the surrounding space.

Gojo’s eyes sharpened.

“What?”

The distorted area was far larger than the one before it.

Inside such a confined space, Satoru Gojo could not freely use Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue for high-speed movement. If he compressed the distance without restraint, he would plough straight through the carriage like a runaway locomotive.

“It’s too late!”

The space surrounding Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto began splitting into sharply defined sections.

“Damn it…”

Before either of them could break free, Tengen’s barrier activated.

In the next instant, both sorcerers disappeared.

Elsewhere, Ragnar Kagenou stood over Jogo and Choso.

The two lay sprawled across the ground, pierced by countless weapons until they resembled hedgehogs. Both were on the verge of death.

Ragnar looked down at them without the slightest trace of concern.

“So that’s all it took?”

Golden ripples began spreading through the air above Jogo and Choso.

Ragnar’s gaze turned cold.

“Then I suppose this farce is over.”

Just as the weapons were about to descend, the space surrounding Jogo and Choso fractured into diamond-shaped sections.

Ragnar immediately noticed the distortion.

“What is this?”

In the next instant, both Jogo and Choso vanished from before him.

Ragnar stared at the empty ground.

“Tengen…”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“I didn’t expect your empty barrier could be used like that.”

A warning chime sounded through the station.

Beep. Beep.

Moments after the two had been taken away, another train pulled into the station.

Ragnar stepped onto the tracks and leapt into the carriage.

The moment he landed, he noticed the overwhelming stench of blood.

“Hm?”

He looked around.

“Blood?”

The subway doors slid open.

The crowd waiting on the platform had been preparing to rush inside, but every one of them stopped the instant they saw the carriage.

Several people immediately doubled over.

“Ugh!”

Sickly, multicoloured vomit spilled from their mouths.

Blood, mangled flesh, and severed limbs were scattered throughout the carriage. Those capable of seeing cursed spirits nearly fainted from the lingering cursed energy and the horrific scene before them.

Even those who could not see curses were overwhelmed by the smell alone.

And standing in the centre of that sea of blood was a figure clad in living, biological armour.

Ragnar recognised her immediately.

“Rika?”

The armour covering Rika Orimoto’s head retracted, revealing her face.

“Ragnar…”

Her voice carried unmistakable frustration.

“I’m sorry. I let that cursed spirit escape.”

“For Mahito to escape from you…”

Ragnar glanced toward the lingering traces of distorted space.

“It must have been Tengen’s barrier.”

Rika nodded.

“That’s right. The barrier can transport cursed spirits.”

She looked around the ruined carriage.

“What do we do now? I doubt they intend to retreat after coming this far.”

Ragnar summoned Enkidu—the Chains of Heaven and used them to sweep open a path through the wreckage.

“They came when they pleased and left when they pleased.”

His expression remained calm, but his voice turned noticeably colder.

“That decision was never theirs to make.”

Rika tilted her head.

“Then… what are we going to do?”

“It’s simple.”

Ragnar looked upward.

“They aren’t the only ones capable of using barriers.”

With a single motion, Ragnar shattered the two layers of Curtains beneath the subway station.

He then rose into the air and hovered high above Shibuya.

The civilians pressed against the Curtains suddenly stumbled forward as the invisible obstruction disappeared.

“Huh?”

“We can leave!”

“The barrier is gone!”

The people immediately began rushing toward the newly opened exits.

Rika ignored the bystanders pointing their phones at her and leapt down to the street.

High above the city, Ragnar raised his feather fan.

With one sweep, every Curtain covering Shibuya was dispelled.

The sky churned.

A vast sea of clouds rolled over the district as thick mist poured down between the buildings, swallowing Shibuya in a hazy veil.

Ragnar’s voice echoed throughout the obscured city.

“Before a bird of prey strikes, it first wheels high in the heavens. At its shadow, lesser birds scatter.”

The clouds continued to surge.

“It watches before descending, and when it finally attacks, bloodshed is inevitable.”

The mist grew denser.

“When a lone warrior charges, not even an army can stand in his path.”

Ragnar spread his fan.

“Eight Stone Sentinels Formation!”

Boom!

Eight enormous black-and-red pillars descended from the sky.

They pierced through the sea of clouds and crashed into the ground around the outskirts of Tokyo.

The earth immediately changed.

Black and white spread across the ground in perfectly divided sections. Viewed from high above, the entire formation resembled a colossal Eight Trigrams diagram.

Mahito, who had been transported to the surface by Tengen, watched as one Curtain after another disappeared.

A moment later, vast quantities of mist began flooding the city.

Mahito raised his head.

“That’s a lot of fog…”

Near the entrance to Shibuya Station, Jogo regenerated his damaged body with cursed energy while Choso used Blood Manipulation to force his wounds closed and stabilise himself.

Jogo stared at the dissipating barriers.

“What is going on?”

His remaining eye widened.

“The Curtains we placed over Shibuya have been dispelled…”

High atop a nearby building, Kenjaku stood before a wall of glass and observed the mist filling the streets below.

His gaze shifted toward the eight enormous black-and-red pillars surrounding the city.

“So you’ve finally used this technique again.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“You’ve turned the entirety of Shibuya into your barrier.”

Bang!

The glass wall in front of Kenjaku shattered without warning.

Standing before him was the bearer of the Six Eyes.

Satoru Gojo.

Gojo looked directly at Kenjaku.

“Found you.”

Kenjaku’s smile stiffened.

“How is that possible…?”

His eyes moved toward the formation surrounding the city.

“No. This barrier exposed my location.”

The moment Gojo appeared, Kenjaku summoned a gigantic catfish-shaped cursed spirit beneath his feet.

A black abyss opened under Gojo.

Despite the sensation of endless falling created by the curse, Gojo’s body remained suspended in mid-air without moving an inch.

He looked down at the darkness beneath him.

“Do you honestly think a little trick like this will work on me?”

Kenjaku remained composed.

“I suppose not.”

The instant those words left his mouth, two spheres of cursed energy appeared behind Gojo.

One radiated an overwhelming force of attraction.

The other carried violent repulsion.

Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue.

Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.

Both attacks shot toward Kenjaku simultaneously.

Kenjaku’s eyes sharpened.

“He activated the techniques in advance…”

He had not seen Gojo perform any motion or hand sign after appearing.

That meant Gojo had most likely prepared both techniques before arriving in front of him.

Kenjaku immediately activated the innate technique engraved into his current body.

“Antigravity System.”

A violet anti-gravity field spread out in front of him.

Whoosh!

Blue, Red, and the anti-gravity field collided.

Gojo used the instant of impact to activate Blue once more, compressing the distance between himself and Kenjaku.

He appeared directly at Kenjaku’s side.

Kenjaku’s expression darkened.

“Close-quarters combat…”

His mind raced through the possibilities.

“This will be troublesome.”

The techniques were still colliding behind them.

If Kenjaku activated Domain Amplification, the innate technique protecting him would be neutralised. The moment the Antigravity System disappeared, Blue and Red could strike him directly and kill him.

However, if he did not use Domain Amplification, he would have no reliable way to bypass the Infinity surrounding Satoru Gojo.

Either choice placed him at a severe disadvantage.