"Don't make me sound like some homicidal maniac."
"I'm not even a Cursed Spirit that kills people."
Ronova flatly rejected Suguru Geto's proposal.
It's just Satoru Gojo. I can stay out of his way, can't I?
Worst comes to worst, I'll hide in some out-of-the-way corner.
Satoru Gojo can't seriously chase me down just to kill me.
Ronova's attitude left Suguru Geto baffled.
He looked at her and asked, "Don't you hate Jujutsu Sorcerers at all? Don't you hate humans?"
"Why would I hate Jujutsu Sorcerers or humans?" Ronova replied, as if the answer were obvious.
"Don't forget, you're the enemy of every Jujutsu Sorcerer now."
"From here on, every Jujutsu Sorcerer will be looking for a way to kill you."
"Don't you want to strike back?"
Ronova nodded. She really did want to strike back.
But she also knew that not every Jujutsu Sorcerer was her enemy.
Suguru Geto continued, "And humans. You've been with me for a while now. Surely you've seen how ugly they can be."
"Can you really tolerate such ugly, evil creatures existing in this world?"
Put simply, Suguru Geto wanted to steer Ronova toward hating humanity.
He wanted her to become the sharpest blade in his plan.
A blade that would kill every human.
Then no new Cursed Spirits would be born.
The relationship between Cursed Spirits and humans was much like that between light and shadow.
Only where light fell could shadows form.
At their core, Cursed Spirits were born because of humans.
In fact, even ordinary people in this world possessed Cursed Energy.
It was simply very faint.
But it was there.
One person's Cursed Energy might be faint, but what about ten thousand people? A hundred thousand? Millions, tens of millions, or hundreds of millions?
Even if each individual possessed only a tiny amount of Cursed Energy,
what they produced together was staggering.
And Cursed Spirits were born from the Cursed Energy of countless humans.
When humanity collectively feared something, that fear was fed by the Cursed Energy of its vast population.
Eventually, it gave birth to all kinds of Cursed Spirits.
That was where Cursed Spirits came from.
Suguru Geto's plan was to rid the world of Cursed Spirits forever.
To achieve that, there was only one way: kill every ordinary human.
Only Jujutsu Sorcerers, who could control their own Cursed Energy, would remain.
Wouldn't that wipe out Cursed Spirits for good?
Suguru Geto's plan was absurd, to say the least.
Everything he planned ultimately served one goal: a world where Cursed Spirits could no longer hurt Jujutsu Sorcerers.
But he hadn't thought it through.
If there were no humans, would there still be Jujutsu Sorcerers?
Suguru Geto was naive in another respect, too.
He thought that without Cursed Spirits, Jujutsu Sorcerers would no longer be harmed.
In reality, the ones who hurt Jujutsu Sorcerers most were often other Jujutsu Sorcerers.
No matter how you looked at it, Suguru Geto's plan was laughable.
But a laughable plan was still a plan he intended to carry out.
He was the sort of person who, once he set his sights on a goal, would pursue it without hesitation, no matter how ridiculous or impractical it was.
The charitable way to put it was that Suguru Geto was an idealist.
Less charitably, he was stubborn as a mule.
Most people turned back when they hit a wall.
Suguru Geto would either break through it or dash himself to pieces trying.
That was why he wanted Ronova to become the sharpest sword in his hand.
He wanted her to help him kill all humanity.
Unfortunately for him, Ronova had other ideas.
Faced with Suguru Geto's increasingly impatient questions,
Ronova swallowed the last bite of her breakfast and looked at him seriously.
Then she said, "I won't deny that some people deserve to die. But in my eyes, plenty of people don't."
"As for those who deserve it, I wouldn't want them alive for another second."
"But I won't deliberately kill those who don't."
"If you want me to wipe out all humanity, give up."
"You're too extreme, Suguru Geto!"
As Ronova grew stronger, she no longer needed to keep up her undercover act with Suguru Geto.
Now that her identity was exposed, he had even less leverage over her.
So she told him exactly what she thought.
If Suguru Geto accepted it, great. If he didn't, so what?
What could he do to her?
Ronova ignored his darkening expression.
She went on, "I know about your past, and I have a fair idea of what you're thinking."
"You want to create a world where Jujutsu Sorcerers won't get hurt."
"Forgive me for being blunt, but that's impossible."
"Even if humans and Cursed Spirits both disappeared,"
"Jujutsu Sorcerers would fight among themselves and eventually die out."
"People will never fully understand one another. Jujutsu Sorcerers are no different."
"Conflict is one of the most basic facts of this world."
"You can't eliminate it!"
Ignoring the shifting expression on Suguru Geto's face, Ronova rose and strode out the door.
Give Suguru Geto a piece of my mind and run. What a rush.
After Ronova insulted him and made her escape, Mimiko and Nanako stood to stop her and defend Suguru Geto.
But he held them back.
Mainly because he knew neither of them stood a chance against Ronova.
He was also thinking about what she had said.
As much as he hated to admit it, Suguru Geto knew she was right.
Even if his plan succeeded, would it really create a world where Jujutsu Sorcerers never got hurt?
Impossible.
Conflict was unavoidable.
Even now, Jujutsu Sorcerers were divided among themselves.
Far more Jujutsu Sorcerers had died fighting one another than exorcising Cursed Spirits.
Faced with that fact, his plan really did seem laughable.
And so did he.
He had spent so long working toward a ridiculous goal.
Wasn't that laughable too?
Put simply, Suguru Geto's plan had been absurd from the start.
He would never admit it aloud, but how could he not have noticed something was wrong?
He had simply clung to a sliver of hope.
And no one had ever bluntly shattered his dream.
So Suguru Geto kept telling himself that if his plan succeeded, he would reach his goal.
But Ronova's blunt words had woken him from that dream.
He could no longer deceive himself.
What followed was a profound emptiness.
If my plan was ridiculous from the start, if the goal I've worked so hard for can never be reached,
then what's the point of my existence?
What am I supposed to do now?
Uncertainty, emptiness, confusion.
It was no exaggeration to say that Suguru Geto had fallen into self-doubt and was on the verge of self-destruction.
He looked ready to collapse.
That left Nanako and Mimiko grinding their teeth in hatred for that white-haired Ronova.
You wretched woman. You're lucky you ran, or we'd have taught you a lesson!
Before you continue