"That bastard's plan still has a long way to go before reaching its final stage. I'll kill him before then. Or if I kill you instead, that would solve the problem just the same!"
The cost would simply be that Japanese people's cursed energy runs out of control, leading to the birth of countless cursed spirits.
In this jujutsu world, frequent cursed spirit disasters only occur in Japan.
The probability of cursed spirit incidents overseas is frighteningly small.
The same goes for jujutsu sorcerers—they've practically become Japan's specialty. Overseas sorcerers are terrifyingly rare.
The strongest overseas sorcerer is actually an African Black man.
This is because, over time, the cursed energy within humans gradually diminishes—this happens to people everywhere in the world.
As humanity's overall cursed energy decreases, cursed spirit disasters naturally become rarer, and fewer, weaker jujutsu sorcerers are born.
A thousand years ago, the entire world suffered from cursed spirit disasters as frequently as Japan.
But in the modern era a millennium later, only Japan maintains the same frequency of cursed spirit disasters as ancient times. In other countries, cursed spirits have practically become urban legends.
The reason Japan alone maintains such high cursed spirit disaster frequency is because Tengen has erected barriers across the entire country that suppress the loss of cursed energy.
Her original intention was to reduce the occurrence of cursed spirits by slowing Japanese people's cursed energy loss. But who could have predicted this would accidentally result in modern Japan becoming the sole dominant force in the global jujutsu world?
Once Tengen is gone, the barriers he controls will vanish, and the cursed energy of the Japanese people will begin to dissipate like the rest of the world—only more drastically, like a rebound after hitting rock bottom. At that point, a massive surge of cursed spirits will inevitably emerge.
These cursed spirits will undoubtedly cause immense casualties across Japan.
But if they can endure this period and eradicate all the cursed spirits, in the long run, the Japanese people will follow the same path as the rest of humanity, with cursed energy rapidly fading until it disappears entirely from all humans.
At that point, cursed spirits will vanish from human history.
This outcome would ultimately benefit humanity's survival.
"Listen well, Tengen."
Roy's gaze was icy, his face twisted in mockery as he stared at Tengen.
"Of course I'll kill Kenjaku, but I won't protect you. Even if Kenjaku captures you, I won't lift a finger to save you. I've already said it—you're nothing more than a stranger to me. Whether you live or die makes no difference to me. If you truly possess such grand love for humanity that you'd sacrifice everything, why not just kill yourself now?"
Roy had no more patience for Tengen's words.
He scooped up Bocchi from the ground and turned to leave the pure white space.
Tengen watched their retreating figures, instinctively reaching out as if to stop them.
But recalling Roy's words and cold stare, she swallowed her plea.
No matter what she said, it likely wouldn't change Roy's mind.
And Bocchi herself lacked any initiative, blindly following Roy's lead—there was no persuading her either.
In the end, all she could do was resign herself to fate.
"No... is this truly within fate's design?"
As the two vanished from the barrier, Tengen murmured to herself before her form slowly dissipated, disappearing from the space.
If Roy lost, it would prove the fate she believed in was correct—that even Roy couldn't defy destiny.
But that would contradict the conclusion that "Roy exists outside fate."
If he truly stood beyond fate's reach, wouldn't his victory over Kenjaku be the natural outcome?
Tengen herself grew uncertain—was the fate she believed in right or wrong?
Outside the roots.
Roy led Bocchi through room after room, retracing their path toward the palace exit.
"Do you think I'm being too domineering?"
"Huh?"
Walking toward the elevator, Bocchi froze at Roy's sudden question.
"What Tengen said wasn't entirely wrong."
Roy paused, carefully explaining: "With your abilities, you do have the potential to reach Special Grade—the power to protect humanity. My words just now effectively cut off your path to advancement. If you want to rise higher, we can still turn back and accept Tengen's offer."
Roy didn't believe he was wrong.
As her teacher, he didn't want his student shouldering such heavy responsibilities too soon—that burden was his alone to bear. Besides, Bocchi was still too immature for such weighty tasks.
Yet Tengen wasn't entirely wrong either—Bocchi did possess the power to safeguard humanity.
"Protecting all of humanity... that would be really cool, wouldn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Bocchi-chan's eyes immediately sparkled, her face brimming with intense longing.
But soon after, she sighed deeply with visible regret.
"Though someone like me is destined to have no part in such scenes!"
"I do know my own limits, after all. While standing before all living beings to protect them sounds incredibly cool—and I do yearn for that—I probably can't bear such a heavy responsibility. That burden should fall on you, Sensei!"
If the teacher dies, then I'll step up!
Hmm!
Bocchi-chan schemed silently in her heart.
Wait.
Would being second in line be too risky?
Maybe third...? I heard Japan has several Special Grades?
Better wait until all the other Special Grades are dead before I make my move!
Hmm, but is that still not safe enough? What if the enemy is really strong? What if I get hurt?
Maybe I should wait until all the Grade 1 sorcerers are gone before stepping up?
Yuji and the others are pretty strong—they should go first!
No matter what, I'll only make my move when I can defeat the enemy flawlessly all by myself!
"I'll follow your lead, Sensei!"
Bocchi-chan flashed a radiant smile and gave Roy a thumbs-up.
Her grin was unstoppable, and she giggled uncontrollably.
As if lost in some ridiculously satisfying fantasy.
"Are you thinking something incredibly rude right now?"
Roy narrowed his eyes.
For some reason, he felt Bocchi-chan wasn't being entirely honest.
"N-n-n-no way! Let's just hurry and get out of here!"
Bocchi-chan jolted in fright, her gaze darting away as she scrambled toward the exit of the Star Corridor.
"Hold it right there."
Roy grinned and chased after her.
"Tell me exactly what you were thinking just now, or don't blame me for getting physical!"
...
Creak!
Under the night sky, the apartment door swung open.
Instead of a cramped room, what greeted them was a sunlit beach. Stepping onto the sand felt like a soothing heat therapy session—utterly comfortable.
Turning their heads, they saw an endless ocean stretching before them. The sound of waves lapping against the shore came and went with the tide, refreshing the soul.
"...Just the three of you?"
Jogo sat on the beach.
At the sound of the door opening, he whipped his head around.
But the figures before him were unexpected.
One was the foreign curse user who called herself Okita Souji, looking as composed as ever. Another was a monk with a bowl cut—undoubtedly Uraume.
The third was none other than Kenjaku, wearing Suguru Geto's skin.
But unlike the calm confidence he had before setting out, he now looked utterly disheveled. His robes were tattered and stained with blood, his neatly tied hair now loose and messy, his body covered in grime.
The curse users Juzo and Haruta were nowhere to be seen.
Hanami was missing too...
A heavy sense of foreboding settled in Jogo's chest.
"There were... unforeseen complications."
Despite his ragged state, Kenjaku maintained a smile.
He stepped through the apartment door and onto the sandy expanse.
Okita and Uraume followed behind.
"Complications? And more than one?"
Jogo's voice grew low.
As though suppressing fury.
"First, there's a traitor."
Kenjaku sat down next to Jogo, his expression suddenly darkening.
"I suspected there was a traitor before, and this incident confirmed it. There is indeed a traitor among us—Kokichi Muta, the one who provided us with information. He betrayed us, luring Hanami away alone, only to run into Roy..."
"In the end, even the insurance I gave him—the cursed object of the strongest sorcerer from four hundred years ago, Kashimo Hajime, which allowed him to incarnate in this era—couldn't protect her. Both were defeated by Roy."
"...Is Hanami dead?"
"It's still unclear. Considering the precedent with Mahito, it's highly likely she was just captured."
Kenjaku sat there, speculating in an almost indifferent tone.
"I see..."
Jogo lowered his head, the anger that had been building within him gradually dissipating.
"You said Mahito was captured before, and now Hanami too. I don't want to hear this conclusion anymore. I'll consider them dead from now on and act accordingly, rather than prioritizing their rescue."
"I'm not blaming you. This was an outcome we could have foreseen. From the very beginning, we knew winning the war against humanity wouldn't come without losses—but it still makes my blood boil!"
Jogo's killing intent surged, the volcanic head atop his body spewing terrifyingly high-temperature steam, sending chills down one's spine.
"Any other unexpected developments?"
At this, Kenjaku couldn't help but smile.
A sinister smile.
"Well, even I didn't expect there to be such a formidable student at Jujutsu High!"