Rescue at the Time Vessel Association

Inside an office at the Time Vessel Association headquarters...

"Heave-ho..." An idiot dressed entirely in white, with a pus-filled lump on his head, spread a white cloth over a glass-inlaid table. His name was Shigeru Sonoda, the Time Vessel Association's representative.

Rather than representing the entire Time Vessel Association, this man was better described as the stupidest of all its lunatics.

Naturally, fanatics would choose the most rabid lunatic to represent their faith, wouldn't they?

"Here you go..." Fushiguro stood beside the table, ignoring the man sunk deep into the expensive leather sofa, and ordered the Inventory Curse Worm to open its mouth and spit out a girl.

The star plasma vessel-Riko Amanai.

Still alive!

Riko Amanai had awakened inside the Inventory Curse Worm's mouth. When it spat her out, her head also had an "intimate encounter" with the tabletop.

Realizing her hands and feet were bound and her mouth was gagged, she trembled all over, tears welling in her eyes. She writhed, trying to make muffled sounds through the gag, and stared in terror at the three unfamiliar men beside her.

Seeing that the girl was still alive, Shigeru Sonoda immediately frowned. The wrinkles on his forehead nearly squeezed the bulging lump until it burst.

"Filthy abomination. You still have the gall to live in this world..."

"Never mind. Personally executing you before the congregation later would be nice, too."

Shigeru Sonoda pressed his thumb between his eyebrows. After briefly composing himself, he put on that chrysanthemum-like smile again. "Your payment will be as agreed... no, let me add a little extra."

"How generous of you, Reverend..."

"He isn't the leader."

Fushiguro: ?

But Shigeru Sonoda paid no attention to that now. His gaze remained locked on Riko Amanai. His narrowed eyes opened a sliver, roaming brazenly over the girl's body.

"It doesn't matter. The Time Vessel Association recognizes only one absolute god: Lord Tengen!"

"How could a radiant god merge with such lowly filth? Absolutely unacceptable... death!"

His agitation, extreme fanaticism, and utterly illogical statements stunned Shiu Kong, who had been about to speak.

"To think the congregation now faces such a cruel merger! Utterly ridiculous!"

"Unacceptable, unacceptable! Such filth, such blasphemy!!!"

[Your very existence is blasphemy!]

A curse...

Toji Fushiguro could even see cursed spirits taking shape in the shadows, baring their fangs and claws...

But so what? This was someone else's "family business." It had nothing to do with him.

"Thank you all for your efforts. Honestly, I hadn't held out much hope."

"Although Jujutsu Society explicitly forbids jujutsu sorcerers from attacking ordinary people without cause, taking things too far will still bring punishment."

He grabbed one edge of the white cloth and slowly wrapped it around Riko Amanai's body, though the force of his hands was frightening.

Riko Amanai groaned at the rough treatment. She wanted to struggle, but the ropes were far too tight for her to break free!

"We'd already decided to throw caution to the wind. I never expected you to actually bring this filthy pig back, and alive at that. Thank you for your service to Lord Tengen..."

Toji Fushiguro watched the lunatic pick up the completely wrapped girl and walk toward the door.

Seeing how deeply the man was immersed in his own imaginary world, Shiu Kong couldn't help asking about something that mildly concerned him.

After all, he was just an ordinary broker for curse users. "If Lord Tengen goes mad, human society might be the first to suffer, you know?"

The man stopped, his smile widening.

[If we can fall alongside the star, that, too, is perfectly acceptable.]

The door... closed.

Watching him leave, Fushiguro and Shiu Kong fell silent. Only after a long while did they exchange glances...

Toji Fushiguro: Fucking idiot?

Shiu Kong: Fucking idiot.

With the job finished, Toji Fushiguro parted ways with Shiu Kong, leaving the tyrant to walk down the road alone.

The clouds were thick, and sunlight could only spill around their edges. He climbed the steps, heading out of the Time Vessel Association headquarters.

On a raised platform, pillars surrounding it on all sides soared skyward.

Just then, sunlight pierced the clouds. Golden light flooded the ground, dazzling enough to make it hard to open his eyes...

Fushiguro instinctively raised a hand to block the light. Yet precisely in that moment of utter silence...

Boom!

An enormous crash erupted from the Time Vessel Association headquarters!

What!?

Hearing the commotion, Fushiguro swiftly turned to see what had happened.

In the distance, a figure in a jet-black school uniform hovered abruptly in midair, with nothing beneath his feet!

Most conspicuous of all was that shock of glaring white hair!

Satoru Gojo!?

"You've got to be kidding..."

Satoru Gojo didn't immediately go after Toji Fushiguro. Instead, he used cursed energy to rip the roof straight off the Time Vessel Association headquarters. The reason was simple...

He had sensed a faint trace of cursed energy belonging solely to Kamo Xu. Like a tiny flame flickering in a gale, it could go out at any moment.

He gazed impassively into the room. People stood around a circular platform covered in white candles. A girl, her hands and feet tightly bound, was tied spread-eagled on top of it.

The man who had bound Riko Amanai to that circular platform like an object was none other than Shigeru Sonoda.

He now gripped a coldly gleaming blade, stained with a glaring red!

Blood. Riko Amanai's blood.

A small cut had been stabbed into her abdomen, yet the blood inside her body acted like an indestructible barrier. Beyond piercing her delicate skin, the knife had accomplished nothing.

"Did I make it...?"

Satoru Gojo murmured. After confirming that Riko Amanai was still alive, despite being so frightened that tears streamed down her face and snot ran from her nose without a shred of dignity, he immediately activated Cursed Technique Lapse. In the blink of an eye, gravity pulled him in, launching him onto the Time Vessel Association's sacrificial platform.

The massive impact violently blew away the lunatic with the pus-filled lump on his head. He crashed off the platform in a miserable heap and lost consciousness.

The other worshippers trembled in fear at this sudden turn of events.

For a moment, every gaze gathered on the white-haired boy...

"Sorry I'm late."

Satoru Gojo waved a hand, and the ropes binding Riko Amanai snapped. Free again, Riko immediately scrambled up and threw herself into his arms, first wiping her tears and snot onto the school uniform covering his chest.

"Waaah, you bastard! Why did you only get here now? It hurts so much! I was so scared!"

She was sobbing her heart out, but her voice sounded fine.

No blood was flowing from the wound, either. So it really was Asahi's doing...

Satoru Gojo paid no mind to the girl wiping tears and snot all over him. His brilliant blue eyes swept over the surrounding worshippers, frightening quite a few of them until their limbs went weak.

Some even collapsed onto the floor.

The thought of slaughtering these vermin crossed Satoru Gojo's mind more than once, but in the end, he held back.

Jujutsu sorcerers could not attack ordinary people. That was an ironclad rule.

He wrapped an arm around Riko Amanai's waist and rose into the air. He had just spotted that bastard who had stabbed through his skull still hanging around. Now he had to get revenge!

But after scanning the area, where was Toji Fushiguro?

He actually ran away!?

Satoru Gojo's brow twitched, his body shaking with anger.

Damn it. If I'd known Riko Amanai wouldn't suffer any fatal injuries, I should have gone to get revenge first.

It would only have meant a few more holes in the girl!

"Hey! Satoru!"

The voice drew closer. It was Suguru Geto, rushing in late.

After Shoko Ieiri had healed him with Reverse Cursed Technique, he had immediately hurried to the Time Vessel Association headquarters, arriving just in time to see Satoru Gojo fly out with Riko Amanai in his arms.

Seeing his best friend arrive, Gojo immediately brightened and simply dropped the poor girl from midair.

Holy shit!

Suguru Geto was startled. How could he treat a dead body like that?

He darted across the ground and hurriedly caught the girl's "corpse," and then...

She smeared snot all over him, too...

Suguru Geto: ?

Seriously, bro?

You fucking set me up?

"So this was the safeguard Asahi left before he went away? That bullet never actually pierced Riko's blood?"

Satoru Gojo nodded, confirming Suguru Geto's guess.

No wonder that guy had touched Riko Amanai before leaving. So that had been his plan.

Speaking of Asahi...

"Gojo... there's some terrible news. Asahi... died in battle."

Suguru Geto closed his eyes. After Shoko Ieiri healed him, the first thing he saw upon waking was Kamo Xu lying on another operating table. His body was grayish white, his blood completely depleted, and large areas of his body were burned.

Sweat covered Shoko Ieiri's forehead as she tried to heal his body, but it did nothing...

He was dead. Prolonged blood loss had left him brain-dead, and most of his bodily functions had ceased.

His heart in particular-if it hadn't still been in its original position, Shoko Ieiri would never have believed that pile of minced flesh had once been an intact heart!

Using Reverse Cursed Technique on a corpse...

Was futile.

Wearing her white coat, Shoko Ieiri sank wearily to the floor. Her short chestnut hair hid her eyes as she shakily pulled a cigarette from her pocket...

She didn't light it. By then, Suguru Geto had awakened. His pupils trembled violently as he stared in disbelief at what had truly happened before him.

But he couldn't stop yet. At the very least, he had to retrieve Riko's body...

Then he had sprinted all the way to the Time Vessel Association, only for the heartless Satoru Gojo to saddle him with a smear of snot.

"Oh..." Satoru Gojo uttered softly, gazing at the sky.

Right now, he felt nothing but bliss. He had no time to think about so much.

"Hey, do you have any humanity left? Asahi was..."

"He isn't dead."

Suguru Geto froze at those words. But he received no explanation. Satoru Gojo raised a hand and pointed at Riko Amanai in Suguru Geto's arms.

"He's right here, inside her."

Suguru Geto: ?

Riko Amanai: ?

What the hell? That's so gross...