Chapter 186 (Patreon)

The searing flames annihilated most of the Curse Tree’s colossal trunk.

——————

Deep within the core of the Beast, Yuji Itadori had yet to surrender.

He gathered the scattered fragments of Sukuna’s memories and used them to reconstruct what remained of Sukuna’s humanity.

“Will this really accomplish anything…?”

Yuji’s hands trembled.

“No. It has to.”

He had long since lost all sense of time.

He continued searching through Sukuna’s memories, piecing together fragments that had been abandoned when the King of Curses became a Beast.

Yuji’s mind had already been pushed close to its breaking point.

Through his connection to Sukuna, he could feel everything the Beast had done.

The instant Sukuna completed his transformation, he erased ninety-eight percent of humanity. Even afterward, he continued hunting the survivors and converting the world into a civilization of curses.

Had anyone else been forced to endure those memories, their mind would have collapsed long ago.

Yet Yuji remained conscious.

He continued gathering the fragments.

Bzzzt—!

“What’s happening?”

Yuji stared at the human aspect of Sukuna that he had reconstructed.

It had begun devouring Beast VI.

At the same time, Beast VI was consuming it in return.

The surrounding darkness vanished.

The Anti-Savior Beast appeared before Yuji.

Upon becoming a Beast, Sukuna had abandoned his humanity and embraced the bestial nature born from his love and hatred of mankind.

Yuji and Sukuna now represented the two opposing aspects of the same Beast.

Yin and yang.

Each completed the other.

Each sought to consume the other.

【Yuji Itadori】 embodied the will to protect and save others—the love carried by humanity.

【The Anti-Savior Beast】 embodied the malice that cursed and condemned mankind—the Evil of Humanity.

Sukuna regarded him with mild surprise.

“Brat. So you’re still alive.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Even after witnessing all that slaughter, your will has not disappeared.”

“Sukuna, stop this.”

Yuji clenched his fists.

“None of this has any meaning. Why do you hate humanity so much?”

Sukuna fell silent for a moment.

“Hate?”

He smiled.

“I love humanity.”

Yuji stared at him.

“Because I love it, this hideous cycle must be burned away by the flames of curses.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Yuji’s voice shook with anger.

“That isn’t love!”

Sukuna looked down upon him and laughed.

“You remain as painfully kind as ever.”

His smile widened.

“But that kindness is precisely why you continue providing me with power.”

“What?”

Yuji slowly raised his head.

“What do you mean?”

“You truly didn’t know?”

Sukuna spread his arms.

“Everything I possess now became possible because of you.”

Yuji’s eyes widened.

“I took the obsession buried within your soul—the desire to help others, protect them, and save humanity—and subjected it to an inverse sublimation.”

“My hatred, accumulated over a thousand years, was transformed through your soul into the ultimate compassion for mankind.”

Sukuna’s cursed energy filled the empty space.

“That is true love.”

“The strongest curse of all.”

His voice resounded through the Beast’s core.

“【Love Is Destruction】.”

Yuji fell to his knees.

Blood seemed to spread across his trembling hands, formed from the memories of every life Sukuna had taken.

“No…”

His breathing became unsteady.

“That can’t be true.”

He stared at his hands.

“Was all of this… because of me?”

For once, Sukuna did not mock him.

He did not take advantage of Yuji’s despair, nor did he raise a hand to kill him.

He simply waited.

“Why?”

Yuji remained on his knees, his eyes empty.

“Why aren’t you killing me, Sukuna?”

“There is no reason to.”

“I see…”

Yuji slowly rose.

His body swayed, but an overwhelming killing intent began gathering within his eyes.

“If you refuse to kill me…”

A slash formed within his hand.

“Then I’ll kill you.”

“Do as you wish.”

Yuji froze.

“What?”

He approached Sukuna, the slash in his hand becoming sharper with every step.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

His voice hardened.

“You think I don’t have the courage to do it?”

Sukuna smiled.

“No. I can feel your intent to kill me quite clearly.”

“You’re right.”

Yuji stopped directly before him.

“I’ve never been this angry in my life.”

Just before he attacked, Sukuna spoke.

“If you kill me, every curse engraved into human history will disappear with me.”

“Good.”

Yuji’s answer came without hesitation.

“Even if I have to bear the consequences of erasing every curse, I won’t hesitate.”

“Is that truly what you want?”

Sukuna’s eyes gleamed.

“The curses of humanity are not limited to malice.”

“They also contain…”

His smile deepened.

“Goodwill.”

Whoosh!

Yuji’s slash stopped before Sukuna’s face.

“What did you say?”

“You and I have already become the two aspects of the same Beast.”

Sukuna gestured toward the darkness surrounding them.

“My Saint Graph now contains the curses born from humanity’s hatred, fear, vows, bonds, hopes, and love.”

“If you kill me, you will not merely erase the malice accumulated throughout human history.”

“You will erase humanity’s goodwill along with it.”

Sukuna’s expression gradually twisted into something demonic.

“When that happens, you will finally witness true walking corpses—creatures with human bodies, yet nothing inside them but emptiness.”

“That’s impossible!”

“If you don’t believe me, strike.”

Sukuna opened his arms.

“I would be equally pleased to witness that ending.”

His whisper echoed through the empty space.

“Yuji Itadori, you now have two choices.”

Yuji’s slash trembled.

“First—kill me.”

“Erase every curse contained within human history, along with the goodwill now bound to my existence.”

The darkness behind Sukuna churned.

“Second—become the Beast.”

“Preserve humanity’s love, but condemn mankind to bear the endless cycle of curses for all eternity.”

Sukuna extended one hand.

“Now choose.”

Whichever path Yuji selected, an eternity of darkness and suffering awaited him.

——————

The burning Curse Tree resembled a torch raised within the darkness.

Its flames heralded the arrival of hope.

“You’ve stopped resisting?”

Ragnar Kagenou watched the Curse Tree’s movements gradually cease.

The branches that had spread across the heavens were withdrawing. Its crimson radiance was fading, and the enormous body suspended in the sky had begun to sway.

“Then disappear completely.”

Ragnar reached into the Gate of Babylon.

“Original Sin—anchored.”

A Noble Phantasm resembling a single black wing emerged from the golden ripples.

The weapon unfolded.

Crimson mechanical wings spread from its frame, revealing the armament’s true identity.

The Seventh Space Holy Scripture.

“Waveform acceleration.”

The weapon began accumulating energy.

“Maximum density achieved.”

Under its True Name release, part of the Seventh Space Holy Scripture returned to its original form.

Its black and crimson components shifted, expanded, and assembled into an enormous arched crossbow.

“Spacetime crystal—loaded.”

Crimson energy stretched across the weapon and formed its bowstring.

An overwhelming concentration of power compressed at the center, taking the shape of a violet arrow aimed directly at the Curse Tree.

Ragnar placed one hand against the weapon.

“Behold.”

The bowstring drew itself back.

“Pierce the Gate of Heaven.”

The violet arrow blazed.

“Code: Original Sin—Seventh Holy Scripture: Death by Original Sin!”

The arrow vanished.

It crossed the distance between Ragnar and the Curse Tree instantly, burying itself deep within the Beast’s body.

Violet power erupted inside the trunk.

Instead of expanding outward, the explosion immediately collapsed into a single point.

That point began devouring the surrounding space.

A black-hole-like mass formed within the Curse Tree, drawing its branches, roots, cursed energy, and very existence toward the center.

——————

An instant before the Seventh Holy Scripture pierced the Curse Tree—

“Tell me your answer, Yuji Itadori.”

Yuji’s slash remained suspended before Sukuna.

“I…”

His hand trembled.

Then Yuji suddenly raised his head.

The slash disappeared.

His arm fell to his side.

Sukuna’s smile returned.

“So you have chosen correctly, Yuji Itadori.”

The empty space around them transformed.

Black and white spread beneath their feet, forming the opposing halves of a vast taijitu.

At the center of the darkness beneath Sukuna, a single point of white appeared.

Within the white beneath Yuji, a single point of black emerged.

The two halves began rotating.

Faster.

Faster.

The complete power of Beast VI/S began fusing into a single existence.

The Beast’s true Authority emerged.

Within the black-and-white world, an ancient voice resounded.

It seemed both infinitely distant and close enough to whisper beside them—ethereal, gentle, and filled with solemn reverence.

“Even if your crown has already been shattered…”

The yin and yang beneath them merged.

“We ask that you become the King of Curses.”

Bzzzt—!

Outside, the violet power of the Seventh Holy Scripture consumed the Curse Tree from within.

The Beast’s body stood on the verge of complete destruction.

At that moment, yin and yang intertwined.

Good and evil fused.

Human love and the Evil of Humanity became one.

The ultimate power of Beast VI/S manifested.

“This power…”

A voice echoed through the collapsing world.

“Is the proof that you were born to become king.”

——————

Noble Phantasm: Code: Original Sin—Seventh Holy Scripture: Death by Original Sin

Rank: A+

Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Description:

A Noble Phantasm that restores a portion of the Seventh Space Holy Scripture to its original configuration, transforming the conceptual weapon into an enormous arched crossbow.

Its single shot possesses the power to halt a Principle.

Original Sin—Anchored:

Fixes the target’s original sin as an absolute coordinate, preventing conventional movement through space or time from escaping the weapon’s aim.

Waveform Acceleration:

Compresses the weapon’s energy into an extremely dense waveform, allowing the projectile to break through dimensional and conceptual defenses.

Spacetime Crystal—Loaded:

Converts crystallized spacetime into a projectile and loads it into the Seventh Holy Scripture.

When fired, the projectile first collapses its destructive energy into a single point before expanding outward, producing a phenomenon resembling a miniature black hole.

In terms of pure destructive capability—specifically, its ability to penetrate spacetime—the full-powered strike is said to possess enough force to pierce a planet.