Rebirth

Deep within the Zenin Clan's Forbidden Vault.

The air here was so foul it made one want to suffocate. On the stone platform lay Mai Zenin's corpse, still and silent, her face pale, the corners of her mouth—usually curled in mockery—now tightly shut.

Shiyue Shuo knelt beside the platform, both hands braced on his knees as sweat dripped from his chin onto the cold stone tiles. He could feel his mental realm trembling violently. Those were the cracks left behind by forcibly opening his domain earlier. Even the Horse Talisman could not repair such injuries. Every time he used a talisman, those cracks churned through his mind like red-hot iron rods.

"One more time."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse.

Shiyue Shuo slowly rose to his feet, his gaze falling on the pitch-black longsword lying nearby. It was the dead object Mai had forged with her life, housing the last wisp of her lingering soul. In the common sense of Jujutsu Society, the result of such a "life-for-life" technique was an irreversible end.

"Domain Expansion—"

Shiyue Shuo did not press his hands together. Instead, he curled them into loose claws. His eyes instantly filled with intense radiance, light spilling from their corners and drawing two long arcs through the darkness.

"Twelvefold Astral Signs: Eternal Coordinates."

Buzz!

At that moment, the space within the Forbidden Vault visibly collapsed.

Shiyue Shuo felt himself become the wielder of twelve authorities once more. This time, however, he possessed only three talismans. His current body could still endure that much.

"The majestic tiger lets you distinguish good from evil."

Within his mental realm, the talisman engraved with a multicolored fierce tiger erupted with blinding black-and-white light. Shiyue Shuo reached out and gripped the hilt of the black sword. Cursed energy was, in the end, energy transformed from negative emotions. A chilling force surged up his arm and into his mind. It was Mai's overwhelming hatred for the Zenin Clan at the moment of her death.

"Separate!"

Shiyue Shuo roared, and the Tiger Talisman's authority erupted at once. This absolute law, capable of balancing all things, became a scalpel. He forcibly separated the pure origin of the soul within the longsword from the materialized cursed-tool shell.

The deathly aura coiled around the blade dissipated with a mournful wail. A pale green, nearly transparent glow was torn directly from the metal. That was Mai—the soul that this world had never treated gently.

"The mysterious sheep grants your soul eternity."

Immediately afterward, pale violet light enveloped that faint glow. The Sheep Talisman's authority took hold of the fragile soul. Like a warm vessel, it isolated her from all physical and cursed-energy interference, guiding her slowly toward Mai's already-cold body.

"Go in."

Shiyue Shuo stared at Mai's brow.

The instant the soul returned to the body, the delicate figure on the stone platform convulsed violently. It was the body's instinctive rejection of the soul.

"Finally... the noble horse keeps you from pain."

Bloody tears streamed from Shiyue Shuo's eyes. His brain was sounding an overheated alarm from the precision of the control required. But he did not stop. Milky-white life energy poured from his palm like a burst dam, flooding wildly into every pore of Mai's body.

Her shattered organs healed, her motionless heart was forcibly filled with life, and the brain cells that had already died regained vitality beneath the talisman's mighty power.

Thump!

A dull heartbeat echoed through the silent Forbidden Vault.

Crack.

The domain instantly collapsed. Shiyue Shuo fell to the ground in exhaustion, gasping heavily as his vision blurred.

"...It worked." He watched the faint but steady rise and fall of Mai's chest, and a relieved smile tugged at his lips.

Heavy footsteps sounded outside. Maki Zenin walked in, the murderous aura around her not yet dispersed. Her tattered school uniform was soaked in the blood of the Zenin Clan.

Her gaze paused on the stone platform for half a second before she suddenly rushed forward.

"Mai?"

Maki tremblingly reached for her sister's carotid artery. There, a warm and rhythmic pulse clearly beat against her fingertips.

"She's alive again." Shiyue Shuo leaned against a stone pillar and wiped away a nosebleed. "Now, she no longer has the bloodline bond of a jujutsu sorcerer."

Maki froze.

She had indeed noticed that the faint connection to Mai, which had always tugged at her nerves, had completely vanished.

"She's just an ordinary person now," Shiyue Shuo continued. "Her memories remain, but her cursed energy is gone. From now on, she's no longer a Zenin. How about... Tensho Mai? Tensho sounds freer."

Maki watched Mai slowly open her eyes, and tears finally slid down the scars at the corners of her eyes.

"Maki... Sister?" Mai's voice was very soft, carrying the confusion of someone waking from a great dream. "Ten... Tensho?"

"Mm. We're no longer Zenins."

Maki tightly embraced her sister, her voice choked with emotion.

Three days later.

The ruins of the Zenin Clan were still giving off thin trails of smoke. That night's crimson lotus blaze had burned this centuries-old Jujutsu Society family to the ground.

Inside a safe house on the outskirts, Mai sat beneath the sunlight, curiously examining her hands, which had become extraordinarily rosy. She truly could not feel even the slightest flow of cursed energy now. The sense of duty that had once weighed so heavily upon her had vanished without a trace.

"This body feels so light that it's a little hard to get used to." She looked toward Shiyue Shuo and Maki as they entered the room.

"That's what ordinary life is like." Shiyue Shuo had bandages wrapped around his head, though his tone was as flippant as ever. "Don't take part in what comes next. This game of monsters fighting monsters isn't for ordinary girls."

"Got it." Mai smiled. It was a smile from the depths of her heart, without a trace of shadow. "Don't die in there."

"Let's go." Maki glanced at Mai, her eyes full of tenderness. "We need to meet up with the others."

Two hours later, at the edge of Tokyo No. 1 Colony in the Culling Game.

The air was filled with distorted ripples, the sign of a powerful barrier eroding the real world.

Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Choso, and Yuta Okkotsu, who had just returned from Tengen's Forbidden Vault, had been waiting there for quite some time.

"Shuo! Maki-senpai!" Yuji waved excitedly, but when he saw the bloodstained aura around Maki that could not be washed away, his voice unconsciously lowered.

"We got the information." Megumi's expression was grave as he unfolded a roughly hand-drawn map. "According to Master Tengen, the core of Kenjaku's plan is 'evolution.' The Culling Game is a massive filter meant to select vessels capable of withstanding that 'evolution.' The Angel we're looking for is inside the barrier."

"Angel's technique can nullify all techniques, including opening the Prison Realm."

Yuta added, his gaze calm but carrying a pressure that made people reluctant to meet his eyes. "But the situation inside the barrier is extremely chaotic. Besides modern sorcerers, large numbers of ancient incarnated sorcerers have already awakened."

"Let's split up."

Shiyue Shuo looked at the dark red barrier wall before them, lightly rubbing the new tactical digital watch on his wrist. "Time isn't waiting for us."

"I'm going to Sendai Colony." Yuta looked north. "The cursed-energy fluctuations there are the strongest. It seems several troublesome ancient sorcerers are fighting each other. If we leave them alone, it won't be good for our control of the overall situation."

"I'll go with you." Shiyue Shuo spoke in an even tone. "The terrain around Sendai is open, suitable for large-scale maneuvering. My talismans can be used to their fullest there."

"Yuji and Megumi, you two find Angel." Maki gripped the black longsword in her hand. "I'll deal with any trash that tries to interfere with us."

The group exchanged looks, determination filling every pair of eyes.

"Let's move."

Shiyue Shuo looked at Yuta. "Come on, God of Pure Love. Let's see what those antiques from centuries ago can do."

Yuta nodded slightly. Behind him, Rika's indistinct figure let out a low growl.

The two figures became streaks of light and vanished into the distant wilderness leading toward Sendai.