Demon Jester

Death Omen Star Sako.

Also known as the Demon Jester, he possessed the ability to create doubles and disguise himself.

His extraordinarily high standing meant that when he used Junpei Yoshino as a template for his disguise, he could even replicate Junpei's memories and personality.

So the Junpei Yoshino who had walked out of the hotel that day was already the Demon Jester. The real Junpei Yoshino had stayed hidden inside, waiting for everything to end.

Whenever Araki Itsuki needed to, he could take over the body the Demon Jester had disguised, such as when he voiced his displeasure with the Fat Teacher.

When he didn't need it, the Demon Jester played Junpei Yoshino. With all of Junpei's memories and personality, the disguise was flawless.

That meant this Junpei Yoshino's body could display three different personalities: the Demon Jester's indifference, Junpei Yoshino's timid cowardice, and Araki Itsuki's displeasure and mockery.

With Mahito, it was Junpei Yoshino's timid cowardice; with the disgraceful teacher, it was Araki Itsuki's displeasure and mockery; with the fake body being devoured in the living room, it was the Demon Jester's indifference.

At the stairwell.

Araki Itsuki's real body stood beside Yuji Itadori, watching the Demon Jester mock Mahito while disguised as him.

He waved a hand helplessly. "Hey, hey, hey, Sako. If you use up all the taunts, what am I supposed to say later?"

At Araki Itsuki's words, the other Araki Itsuki, who was twisting the Purple Dagger inside Mahito's abdomen, began to distort. He finally transformed into a small, thin figure formed entirely from purple-black light.

Not a trace of flesh or blood could be seen. This terrifying being, composed of strange light and the universe's negative emotions, looked like a jester who toyed with people's hearts.

Yet merely standing there, he brought a silent, suffocating pressure down upon everyone present.

The confusion and surprise vanished from Yuji Itadori's face, and he suddenly grew dizzy.

Enduring the agony of suffocation, he reached for his heart, only to find utter stillness in his chest. There wasn't the slightest movement.

"How is that possible?!"

"He's just standing there! Why is my heart too terrified to beat?!"

Just as Yuji Itadori's body began to weaken and the world before his eyes slowly lost its color, Araki Itsuki placed a hand on his shoulder.

Thump, thump, thump.

Color flooded back into the world before his eyes. For the first time, he felt just how powerful and full of life the beating of his heart was.

"All right, all right. Get going. Stop messing around."

Death Omen Star Sako gave Araki Itsuki an enigmatic smile, and his body slowly dissipated.

At the same time, Nagi Yoshino's remains, surrounded by coolant packs and bags of ice inside Junpei Yoshino's home, vanished as well. A man dressed entirely in black beside the body jolted in shock.

Once Sako was gone, Araki Itsuki flashed in front of Mahito. His powerful leg lashed out like a whip, the air shrieking as it struck Mahito's bloodstained abdomen.

Bam!

Mahito's body bent at a horrifying angle, smashed through a concrete wall, and crashed onto the other side.

Araki Itsuki planted a foot on his face. "Hey, hey, hey. You thought you had everything under control, only to discover it was all someone else's trap. Feels great, doesn't it?"

Bam!

Araki Itsuki kicked Mahito's stitched face, an unrestrained, deranged grin curling his lips.

"Your mouth says no, but your body tells the truth."

"You must really want to be my dog, Mahito. Why else would you love letting me lead you around by the nose?"

"Hahaha!"

Bam!

Araki Itsuki's powerful kick broke Mahito's ribs one after another. Agony surged through him, but he could no longer spare it any attention. He had sunk into profound self-doubt.

"I touched Junpei's body myself and modified him to give him a cursed technique. How could he have been a fake?"

Araki Itsuki punched Mahito in the face, making him see stars.

"Your modification did work. But he was swapped out afterward, and you never even noticed, idiot!"

Araki Itsuki kept talking as he beat him, hammering punch after punch into Mahito's body as though battering a pitiful punching bag.

"And to make the game interesting, I gave you three hints."

Araki Itsuki seized Mahito's head and drove a knee into his cheek. Bones cracked, and a section of his face instantly caved in.

"The first was when we first met. I said we were meeting again. Junpei Yoshino had just left you then, hadn't he?"

Mahito was dazed from the beating, but Araki Itsuki's words immediately brought the scene of their meeting back to him.

"We meet again, Mahito."

"This should be our first meeting, shouldn't it? Why say 'again'?"

"Just a little hint for an idiot."

So that was it...

Mahito repaired the broken bones in his face and transformed his feet into deer hooves, trying to flee.

But the instant he jumped, Araki Itsuki grabbed his deer leg. With a vicious grin, Araki Itsuki swung his weightless body into the ground.

Bam!

An enormous spiderweb of cracks spread outward from Mahito's shattered body.

"The second was when you walked into the room. Junpei Yoshino refused when you tried to put an arm around him to comfort him."

"Think about it, idiot! Would a terrified Junpei Yoshino refuse your comfort?!"

Mahito lay in the cracked crater, every organ in his body screaming in pain.

But the wound in his abdomen was even worse. That eerie Purple Dagger had pierced the very essence of his soul.

At Araki Itsuki's words, he immediately remembered how Junpei Yoshino had seemingly avoided physical contact with him without thinking all along the way.

Was he afraid I'd find out?

A self-mocking smile appeared on Mahito's lips. At the time, he had thought Junpei Yoshino was simply scared out of his mind.

Araki Itsuki's right hand clamped around Mahito's stitch-covered head like an iron vise, dragging him over to the railing.

Many unconscious students lay in the open space on the ground floor below.

"The third was also the most obvious. I threw the answer right in your face, and you still didn't catch on!"

At that moment, Araki Itsuki actually felt frustrated by Mahito's sheer incompetence. It was like playing a fighting game, expecting a grueling battle against impossible odds, only to discover your opponent was a complete moron.

Rip!

With bloody brutality, he tore off Mahito's eyelids and forced his head toward the ground. "Tell me, what's the answer?!"

Mahito's right eye was gray and his left was blue. With his eyelids mercilessly torn away, blood kept dripping into his eyes, obscuring his vision.

But he quickly arrived at the answer.

"Poison..."

"You're a goddamn genius!"

Veins bulged on Araki Itsuki's hand. Gripping Mahito's head, he spun sharply and slammed him into the ground.

Crash!

The solid concrete floor groaned under the unbearable force, finally collapsing completely beneath Araki Itsuki's brutal assault.

Mahito's battered body broke through the floor and fell to the ground level.

"Whether he was teaching those thugs a lesson or fighting Yuji Itadori, Junpei Yoshino never used his shikigami's poison.

"And you, the one who modified him, never even noticed?"

Mahito struggled to rise, but Araki Itsuki pinned him firmly beneath his foot.

"That's why I said you're nothing but a filthy rat hiding in the sewers, Mahito. You can only build your sense of superiority by bullying ordinary people."

"How are you any different from those petty thugs who pick on the weak?"

Mahito's eyes went blank, and his heart turned to ash.

Being overwhelmed by Araki Itsuki's strength would only have excited him and made him want to catch up.

But this helplessness, this feeling of being controlled and manipulated, was far too tormenting.

The plan he had believed flawless had only succeeded because someone else had helped it along.

And he had been so smug, completely unaware that he was being played like a puppet.

His eagerness to take revenge on Araki Itsuki had severely clouded his judgment.

Hatred, anger, curses, loathing, rage...

Mahito lay on the shattered, bloodstained ground, glaring fixedly at Araki Itsuki.

This bastard... I have to kill him!

Yet when Araki Itsuki noticed Mahito's hatred and curses, his expression became one of utter pleasure and satisfaction.

"I've always wanted to see that look on your face. That look of hatred and jealousy toward me. Hahaha!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Mahito still struggled to stand.

But then.

Bam!

Araki Itsuki stomped Mahito's hate-filled, stitched face into the broken concrete.

"Give up struggling. Hardship and torment are waiting for you!"

"Hahaha!!!"