The hand kept pulling.
Stone collapsed from the ceiling of the vault as the fracture widened, the mountain above Jujutsu High groaning like a prehistoric beast woken from a deep, cold slumber. Dust and shattered rock rained down across the chamber, burying the debris of the broken throne, but no one was looking at the debris. Everyone was staring at the hand.
It was enormous—pale like dead moonlight and covered in long, vein-like cracks that pulsed slowly, as if something ancient and cold flowed inside them instead of blood. Its fingers were impossibly long, each joint bending at angles that didn't belong to any creature born in this world. It didn't move like a muscle; it moved like a glitchin reality.
And the worst part—the part that made the air in the room feel thin and toxic—was that it wasn't made of Cursed Energy.
Gojo Satoru saw it immediately. His Six Eyes, which could usually map every atom of energy in the universe, were flickering. For the first time, he was looking at something his eyes couldn't define.
"…That's not something from this reality," Gojo whispered, his voice losing its usual playful edge.
Megumi Fushiguro felt his stomach drop. "What do you mean 'not from this reality'? Everything is made of energy. If it's here, it has to follow the rules."
The traitor answered instead, its voice dry and hollow, sounding like wind through a ribcage. "VoidWalkers."
The name echoed through the vault like a funeral bell. Megumi swallowed hard. "…What?"
The traitor didn't look away from the hand pulling itself through the fracture. Its crimson eyes were wide with a soul-deep dread. "They are what existed before cursed energy, before sorcerers, before humans learned to name their fears. They are the Original Hunger. They are what the King was created to keep out."
Akira stared at the creature forcing its way into the world. The violet electricity in his eyes was spinning out of control. "I didn't mean to open it…"
The whisper returned inside his mind. "…But you did. You broke the lock, and now the hunger is here."
The hand suddenly pulled harder. Reality tore wider with a violent, sickening crack. A second arm began emerging from the darkness.
Gojo stepped forward. His eyes narrowed, the blue light of the Six Eyes intensifying until it illuminated the dark vault. "Let's see something," he said.
"What are you doing?!" Megumi shouted.
Gojo lifted his hand calmly. "Infinity."
The invisible ocean of infinite space expanded outward instantly, surrounding the fracture. This was Gojo's absolute defense. Normally, anything approaching him would slow endlessly before ever touching him. Distance would stretch infinitely. Nothing could reach him. Not speed. Not force. Not even light.
The hand kept moving.
Megumi blinked, his mind refusing to process the image. "…Wait."
The massive fingers kept sliding forward through the air. They didn't slow. They didn't distort. They simply ignored the infinite distance. It was as if Gojo's technique, the most powerful defense in the modern world, simply didn't exist to this creature.
Gojo's eyes widened slightly. "…That's new."
The hand moved closer. Closer. Still ignoring Infinity completely. Gojo's expression became cold. For a man who had been a god among men since birth, being ignored by a threat was a terrifying new sensation.
Megumi's voice cracked. "Sensei… your technique… it's not affecting it."
Gojo finished the sentence quietly. "…It's not just not affecting it. It's moving through a layer of reality I can't touch. It's like I'm trying to grab a shadow with a physical hand."
Silence swallowed the vault. The traitor began laughing again, but this time the laugh was a hollow, jagged sound of defeat. "Of course it doesn't work. Infinity manipulates Space. But they do not exist inside space."
Megumi's mind struggled to find a foothold. "…Then what are they inside?"
The whisper answered from inside Akira's mind. "…Hunger."
The hand pushed further into reality. Now half of the creature's arm was visible. The skin looked like cracked marble mixed with living shadow. The moment it touched the air of the vault—the air vanished.
A small circle of absolute vacuum formed around the arm as if existence itself refused to remain near it. The stone it touched didn't break; it simply ceased to be.
Megumi staggered backward, gasping as the pressure in the room dropped. "It's eating the air! It's consuming the oxygen!"
Gojo frowned deeply. This was no longer a fight; it was an Erasure. He raised his hand again, his energy flaring to its limit. "Let's try something with a bit more weight. Cursed TechniqueLapse: Blue."
The gravitational force exploded outward toward the creature's arm. Stone, dust, and broken pillars were pulled violently toward the invisible point of the singularity. But the Void Walker'sarm did not move.
Everything around it collapsed inward, being crushed into dust. Except for it. The creature simply remained there, anchored in a reality that Gojo's gravity couldn't reach, calmly pulling itself through the fracture.
Gojo's expression became deadly serious. "…Gravity doesn't affect it either."
Megumi whispered, his voice trembling. "…Then how do we stop it?"
The traitor answered again. "You don't."
The second arm emerged completely from the darkness. Both hands grabbed the edge of reality like someone pulling open a heavy curtain. Akira felt the whisper again. "…You opened the path. Now watch."
The creature pulled. The fracture widened again. Something began appearing behind the arms. A shape. Large. Too large for the room.
Gojo's Six Eyes suddenly reacted violently. For the first time since he was born—they hurt. He grabbed his forehead. "…What the hell…"
Megumi stared at him in shock. "Sensei? Your eyes…?"
Gojo exhaled slowly. "They can't measure it, Megumi. My eyes read cursed energy, space, information… But that thing… has none of it. It's a Zero."
The Void Walker moved again. Its head began to appear from the fracture. Megumi immediately wished he hadn't looked. The face had no mouth. No nose. Only three enormous white eyes arranged vertically like a triangle.
Each one blinked slowly. Each one staring directly at Akira.
The whisper inside Akira's mind became a roar. "…KEY."
Akira stepped backward. "I'm not your key!"
The creature tilted its head slightly. Reality bent and groaned around the motion. "…But you opened the door."
The traitor suddenly shouted. "DON'T LET IT FULLY ENTER!"
Megumi snapped toward the traitor. "Then help us!"
The traitor laughed bitterly. "I spent a thousand years trying to avoid them! I betrayed the King because I thought he was too dangerous—I never realized he was the only thing standing between us and Them!"
The Void Walker pulled harder. Half its body was now inside the vault. Gojo looked at Akira. "Kid."
Akira turned. Gojo's voice was calm. Too calm. "If Infinity doesn't work… and cursed techniques don't work… then we're going to have to try something incredibly stupid."
Akira blinked. "What?"
Gojo pointed at the fracture. "You opened the door, Akira. You are the one with the Authority. Cursed energy is a language this thing doesn't speak. But you? You're speaking the language of the Abyss."
"I have no idea how to close it!" Akira shouted as a piece of the ceiling fell beside him.
Gojo shrugged slightly. "I have no idea either. But you're the only one in the room who isn't 'Nothing' to that thing."
Megumi almost screamed. "THIS IS YOUR PLAN?! 'I have no idea'?!"
The Void Walker suddenly leaned forward. All three eyes focused directly on Akira. The whisper returned again, but this time—it came from outside his head. "…Come closer, Key. Let us see the soul that dared to break the lock."
Akira froze. The creature slowly reached one massive, pale hand toward him. Gojo stepped forward instantly. "Infinity—"
The hand passed through the Infinity barrier again like it wasn't there. Gojo's smile disappeared. "…Yeah. I really don't like that."
The Void Walker's hand stopped inches from Akira's face. Its enormous white eyes studied him with a clinical interest. The whisper came again, soft and curious. "…You are different from the King. He was made of iron and rage. You are made of… light and doubt."
Akira swallowed hard. "…Is that good different or bad different?"
The creature paused. "…Delicious different."
Megumi shouted. "AKIRA, MOVE!"
But Akira didn't move. Because something strange happened the moment the Void Walker's finger touched his forehead.
The fracture behind it exploded open. Not wider, but Deeper. A second void appeared inside the first one—a darkness even older than the first.
The Void Walker suddenly froze. For the first time since emerging, it looked confused. Then, it looked afraid.
The whisper returned, but now it sounded panicked. "…That presence… how is it here? The King was sealed!"
Akira blinked, his violet eyes glowing brighter. "…What presence?"
The Void Walker slowly began pulling its hand away, its three eyes widening in terror. "…The thing behind you."
Akira turned slowly. Gojo and Megumi were staring at something behind him. Neither of them looked like they were breathing.
Megumi whispered in horror. "…Akira… look…"
Akira's heart started pounding. Standing behind him—was a second silhouette inside the darkness. A tall figure. A crown of black shadows above its head. And eyes glowing the same violet color as Akira's.
The Abyss King spoke for the first time since the fracture opened. But this time—his voice was not in Akira's mind. It came from the room.
"...Interesting."
The Void Walker backed away from the opening. "...No..."
The King stepped forward from the darkness. "...Yes."