The Vanishing Gobi

Watching Uro Takako briefly vanish, then return to the scene after getting dressed, Xuan's drifting gaze finally lowered from the sky to the woman before him.

After the battle ended, Uro Takako, like Ryu Ishigori, questioned Xuan about why he had not killed her for her points.

Xuan gave her a casual answer—he said he wanted to get some information about Sukuna from someone from Sukuna's era.

"Are you really going to challenge that guy?"

"Of course. I incarnated precisely to fight Sukuna to the death."

Uro Takako was briefly at a loss for words. The information she had on Sukuna was probably limited to things even later generations could have recorded. After revealing all her unique knowledge—Sukuna's open-barrier Domain, Furnace Open, and the binding vows he had made in his original form—Uro Takako looked at the man before her.

She had not gotten a clear look during the fight, but when she saw the golden hilt at Xuan's waist radiating cursed energy, Uro Takako silently turned her head away.

After scheming for so long and still failing to force even her opponent's cursed tool out, Uro Takako was reminded of what it had been like to fight Sukuna in life.

She thought of Sukuna, bored by the encirclement, wielding Kamutoke and Hiten within his Domain.

Even though she had not faced Sukuna head-on, the sight of him eradicating swathes of sorcerers as easily as cutting wheat with a wave of his hand had left an indelible memory in Uro Takako's mind.

"How did you die?"

Looking at Xuan before her, Uro Takako deliberated for a long while before asking that question.

"Me?"

Xuan pinched his chin and raised his head slightly, pretending to think.

"After making a deal with Kenjaku, I killed myself with a cursed tool right in front of him."

"..."

Uro Takako no longer wanted to talk to the man in front of her—he was quite a handsome young man, but there was clearly something wrong with his head.

"So, do you have any more information on Sukuna?"

"No."

"I see."

Once he learned there was no more information, Xuan turned away. Uro Takako raised her head.

"Hey!"

Watching Xuan gradually walk away, Uro Takako called out to the strange man.

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you kill me?"

"You're the second person to ask me that."

Xuan did not turn back. He merely raised a hand.

"You may not be a good person, but keeping you alive would make me feel a little better. If you don't want me to change my mind, then don't lay a hand on ordinary people."

Lightning flowed across Xuan's back as Nue's wings spread out behind him.

"Farewell."

Uro Takako still wanted to say something, but all that remained before her was a trail like a bolt of thunder.

"Five points have been added."

"You're not... the dessert I wanted either..."

The condensed cursed energy cannon instantly blew apart the sorcerer before him—after absorbing the modern knowledge of firearms in his mind, he had successfully combined the emission of cursed energy with the concept of a "handgun," completely increasing both its firing rate and projectile speed.

"Ha... You may not be dessert, but you're still a little biscuit—compared to that person, it feels like nothing is ever enough to eat."

Restoring his right hand, which had just been blown to pieces, with Reverse Cursed Technique, Ryu Ishigori sat on the steps and looked up at the sky.

A flash of lightning streaked past his eyes in an instant—

"...How many times has that been?"

Above the Sendai Colony, a bolt of lightning kept flickering. As it continued to dart around wildly, the number of players in the Sendai Colony rapidly dwindled.

"Haahhh—"

After stretching and crushing the cursed tool beneath his foot, Xuan looked at where he was.

It was a single-occupant residence.

"Nue, White, Black."

Three shadows instantly extended from Xuan's shadow. Xuan pulled out a cursed tool, aimed its tip at the door, and with a click—

After pushing open the door, White and Black surged inside, while Nue maintained its parrot-like form and flapped its wings in midair.

"You keep letting people go. Are you preparing something?"

Nue landed on the table inside the house, its somewhat shrill voice ringing through the room.

"I have to leave some people behind for Kenjaku to maintain things. Besides, I think they're decent people."

Naturally, Xuan mainly wanted to watch Sendai take on four opponents alone, so he would try his best to spare the lives of those key figures.

But then...

"Of course... haven't I always been like this?"

"Scheming, cunning, fond of jokes, and always playing with people's hearts?"

"Who are you describing?"

Looking into Xuan's eyes, Nue turned its head away.

"Mahoraga."

"That does sound pretty similar."

Xuan looked over the layout of the detached house. The original owner had apparently kept not only dogs, but parrots as well.

Though it looked as if no one had returned here in a long time, judging from the lingering traces in the air, the owner of the house had likely been away for more than half a month.

Xuan slipped into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and took out a still-usable piece of beef from the freezer compartment.

Xuan pressed a finger against the beef, and cursed energy rapidly spread through it. After quickly thawing it, he placed it on a cleaned cutting board.

"Ha... what a nice place."

Rather than pulling out any kitchen utensils, Xuan picked up the golden hilt at his waist and poured cursed energy into it. Cursed energy surged from its tip, swiftly forming a sharp kitchen knife.

"Sizzle—"

He set the washed frying pan on the stove. As the flames rose, the small chunk of beef fat rapidly melted under the heat. Grease danced across the bottom of the pan, giving off a rich, charred fragrance.

While waiting for the pan to heat up, Xuan arranged the thick-cut pieces of beef one by one.

"Nue, the seasonings over there."

Nue grabbed the black pepper shaker and tossed it to Xuan.

Xuan caught the bottle and gave his wrist a light shake, evenly coating the surface of the steaks with fine grains.

"Sizzle—"

The instant the beef hit the pan, a burst of white smoke mixed with the scent of meat surged toward the ceiling, tangling beneath the roar of the range hood.

Xuan turned the meat with tongs, watching as a crisp brown crust rapidly formed over its surface.

"Ah... modern times really are better. Here, White, Black, catch."

With a flip of the frying pan, the chunks of meat were swiftly broken apart by the Divine Dogs in midair before finally landing in their bowls.

"Are we just going to stay in here like this?"

The cooking was over quickly. Even though Xuan could survive without eating, food obviously lifted one's spirits.

He pushed Nue's portion of beef, cut into tiny bird-feed-sized pieces, toward him. Xuan first cut off a piece of steak and put it into his mouth. After chewing for a while, he looked at Nue—yeah, it tasted bad.

"Of course not."

"Kogane."

"At your service!"

With a bang, Kogane appeared beside Xuan.

"What's my score now?"

"Reporting: your score is 95 points."

95 points...

Xuan fell silent for a moment, and then Nue spoke up at the most inopportune time.

"That exhibitionist and that pompadour guy—if you kill either one of them, you won't need to worry about your score anymore, right?"

"Don't say that."

"If you wanted to, you could go out and kill a sorcerer right now, couldn't you?"

Faced with Nue's question, Xuan looked at Divine Dog: White and Black rolling around in their warm dog bed.

"Can't you act more like a bird?"

"Don't compare me to those two stupid dogs."

"You're a stupid bird too. Just a little smarter than them."

"Your mother, caw caw caw caw caw!!!"

Before Nue could finish cursing, Xuan immediately revoked its right to speak.