Beep, beep, beep.
Fushiguro Toji walked along the stone path outside the Tomb Chamber, his phone vibrating nonstop in his pocket.
"Hey."
A familiar, cold voice came from the other end. "The Star Plasma Vessel, is it dealt with?"
"She got away."
"What?"
The voice instantly turned furious. "Fushiguro Toji! We agreed on assassinating the Star Plasma Vessel. If it is not done, we will not pay."
"Yeah, yeah."
Toji rolled his eyes. "The Six Eyes twins and the Cursed Spirit Manipulation user are already taken care of. The Star Plasma Vessel is only a matter of time."
"Anyway, your Star Plasma Cult only wants to stop Tengen from merging with the Vessel. Since she is not in the Tomb Chamber, waiting a little longer should not matter."
"Then you had better hurry. Remember, no corpse, no payment. Hey. Are you listening?"
Toji stopped responding.
His eyes were fixed on the figure standing ahead of him.
He slowly lowered the phone.
Standing beneath the glaring sunlight was none other than Gojo Satoru.
White hair fluttered slightly in the breeze, stained faintly with red. His uniform was soaked in blood, yet he stood upright.
Alive.
Satoru lifted his head. Though his clothes were ruined and his body wounded, his lips curved into a smile Toji had never seen before.
"Yo. Long time no see."
Toji's pupils shrank.
"For real?"
"Of course it is."
Satoru brushed aside his bangs, revealing a wound that had already healed. "Am still alive and kicking."
Toji frowned.
Returning from the dead could only mean one thing.
"Reverse Cursed Technique?"
"Correct."
Satoru spread his arms like a child whose answer had been praised.
Toji clicked his tongue and drew the Inverted Spear of Heaven. "Then the real fight starts now."
"No," another voice replied calmly, "it is already over."
Toji turned sharply.
Behind him stood another figure.
The white hair, the familiar face, the same overwhelming presence.
This was not Satoru.
It was his older twin.
Gojo Shion stepped forward, blood still clinging to his uniform. A crooked smile played on his lips, more playful than Satoru's.
"Thanks for that, Toji."
Satoru glanced sideways at his brother and smirked. "See, Shion? If I can do it, so can you."
Shion tilted his head, amused. "Before this, we could not grasp Reverse Cursed Technique. Turns out the key is simple. You have to taste death. Crave life so desperately it becomes instinct."
He tapped his temple lightly.
"Negative energy times negative energy equals positive energy. You really should have gone for the head. That would have saved you the trouble."
Satoru laughed softly. "Only when you brush against death do you understand what it means to live."
A third presence emerged from the Tomb Chamber.
Geto Suguru walked forward calmly, an immense wave of Cursed Energy distorting the air around him.
"That stab hurt, you know," Geto said with a relaxed smile.
Toji stared at the three of them, disbelief etched across his face.
Are they using me to level up?
Satoru, Shion, and Geto exchanged glances.
Reverse Cursed Technique had clicked for all of them.
Toji tightened his grip on the Inverted Spear of Heaven. "Reverse Cursed Technique is still a technique. I just need to put this through your skulls."
His body vanished in an instant.
A metallic clash rang out.
"Phase."
"Paramita."
"Pillar of Light."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
Satoru's voice echoed behind him.
The reversal of Limitless generated pure repulsion.
A compressed sphere of violent force slammed into Toji before he could react.
The Tomb Chamber's upper structure exploded outward. Earth and stone tore apart under the impact.
Toji staggered, vision spinning.
Shion appeared in front of him, eyes bright with exhilaration.
"My turn. Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
"Again?"
Toji raised the Inverted Spear of Heaven.
The blade nullified the technique itself, but the residual force still hurled him backward.
He coughed up blood and forced himself upright.
Geto approached slowly.
"Mine is not as direct as theirs," he said lightly.
"Shunyata."
"All Bhikkhus."
"Maraka."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Bestowal."
A Rainbow Dragon roared as it surged forward.
Toji smirked. "I have killed that before."
He cut it down in two swift strikes.
Then three more appeared.
Then ten.
Then dozens.
The shadows behind Geto churned like an abyss as Rainbow Dragons poured out endlessly.
Toji's expression finally changed.
There were at least a hundred.
Each one a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit.
"This is Cursed Spirit Manipulation?"
Geto nodded. "The reversal of it."
"Subjugation converts Cursed Spirits into raw energy for storage. That is the normal application."
He raised his hand.
"The reversal converts Cursed Energy back into Cursed Spirits. As long as I have energy, I can create as many as I want."
More figures materialized, including the Slit Mouthed Woman spirits he had once defeated.
"My reserves are practically limitless now. So tell me, Toji."
He smiled.
"How long can you last?"
The swarm attacked at once.
Toji fought through the onslaught while watching the three of them carefully.
Then he noticed something strange.
Satoru.
Shion.
Geto.
They had begun to float.
Sunlight washed over their forms as they drifted upward, as though gravity had loosened its grip.
Satoru laughed softly. "This feels strange."
"Like drifting in the ocean," Shion added casually, hands in his pockets despite the blood on his clothes. His tone was relaxed, almost teasing. "Freedom suits me."
Geto closed his eyes briefly. "The world feels clearer."
Instinctively, the three raised one finger toward the sky and one toward the earth.
In unison, they declared,
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
Silence followed.
Then Shion glanced sideways. "That was my line."
Satoru scoffed. "Please. You copied me."
Geto sighed. "Both of you sound ridiculous."
Shion smirked faintly. "Domineering lines require refinement. Leave it to the older twin."
Even in the midst of destruction, his tone remained light, almost flirtatious with danger itself.