Seeing this...
Kenjaku had no intention of letting them escape.
In a flash, he charged toward Kusakabe, who was both the closest to him and a thorn in his side.
Kusakabe's pupils abruptly contracted.
Neither Kenjaku nor Mahoraga was an opponent he could handle.
Seeing the grave look on his face...
Kenjaku broke into a delighted, vicious smile.
Just then...
His pupils trembled.
The smile froze on his face.
A snow-white rabbit appeared in the corner of his vision, docile and adorable.
It was diagonally behind him.
Very close, almost at his feet.
A pale hand with well-defined knuckles reached out of the shadow behind the rabbit.
"This is bad!"
Kenjaku let out a low cry.
Sensing Ken Kaneki's presence, Mahoraga swung its sword straight toward Kenjaku!
Bang!
A tremendous crash rang out.
The Rabbit Escape clone was sliced in half, while Kenjaku narrowly dodged the blow.
With just one Rabbit Escape clone, Kaneki had successfully stopped Kenjaku from dragging Kusakabe into the fight.
At that moment!
His desire to kill Kaneki...
Had reached a boiling point. Kenjaku sneered. "Let's see how much longer you can hold out!"
He had seen Kaneki emerge to catch his breath.
That confirmed it.
There was no oxygen inside the shadows!
Reverse Cursed Technique could repair physical damage to organs that caused oxygen deprivation.
But it could not solve the problem of an environment without oxygen.
In other words...
Sooner or later, Kaneki would have to poke his head out for a breath.
He dodged another attack from Mahoraga.
Then he saw the environment around him begin to change before his eyes.
Originally...
It had been a sea of white light.
Now, the boundless barrier was beginning to transform into an Emptiness Barrier!
Seizing the opportunity...
Kaneki poked his head out too.
He took a breath.
He found that it looked almost exactly like the Emptiness Barrier shown in the original story.
This was the most comfortable environment Tengen could devise for Kenjaku.
Without Mahoraga interfering...
It took only an instant!
Kenjaku understood Tengen's intentions.
In the Main Hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor...
Okkotsu and Yuki Tsukumo were ready to enter the moment Tengen finished converting the barrier into an Emptiness Barrier.
They had already worked out their plan.
Okkotsu would expand his domain first, forcing Kenjaku into a domain clash.
Then Tengen would dismantle the entire Emptiness Barrier, forcing Kenjaku into cursed technique burnout.
Finally...
Yuki Tsukumo would expand her domain.
And kill Kenjaku and Mahoraga.
Whether she succeeded or not, Okkotsu would recover from cursed technique burnout and be able to fight again!
The moment the Emptiness Barrier was complete!
Okkotsu reached the barrier, but others entered at the same time.
Crash! Crash!
Two sounds of shattering glass rang out.
One after the other. Standing in the lower breach was Yuta Okkotsu.
Above him...
At the forefront stood a tomboy in monk's robes with a bob haircut.
Behind her...
Was an all-too-familiar stitched face.
The special grade cursed spirit-Mahito.
However, Kusakabe and the others sensed three sources of cursed energy.
In other words...
There was another mysterious figure behind them.
Okkotsu also sensed that three more people had invaded the Emptiness Barrier.
His expression darkened slightly.
Their plan had gone awry.
"It seems..."
An excited smile spread across Kenjaku's face. "Fate favors me more, after all..."
As he spoke...
Uraume and the other two entered the Emptiness Barrier.
The final mysterious figure revealed herself as well: a woman wearing a suit.
She looked about the same age as Yuki Tsukumo.
And age was not their only similarity.
The white shirt beneath her suit bulged so much that its buttons looked ready to pop.
Clearly...
Those clothes did not fit her.
Hidden in the shadows, Kaneki also saw the woman's face through the Shikigami on the battlefield.
She was beautiful.
Her beauty had a gentle quality.
This was...
A character who had never appeared in the original story.
"I have Tengen to thank for changing the barrier into an Emptiness Barrier."
"Otherwise..."
"It would have taken me quite some time to get inside."
The woman spoke with a smile, her soft voice perfectly matching her appearance.
"Tachibana Mio!"
In the Main Hall, Tengen spoke her name.
"Tengen." Yuki Tsukumo frowned. "Who is she?"
"A sorcerer from six hundred years ago."
Tengen explained, "Her Cursed Technique allows her to enter into 'equivalent' contracts with others."
There were several types of contracts.
But regardless of the type, they all revolved around "equivalence."
For example, exchanging something of "equal value" for an item someone else possessed.
This Cursed Technique...
Could be considered both powerful and weak.
It was a conceptual Cursed Technique involving rules.
It also had a major drawback: if the other party refused the exchange, the Cursed Technique could not take effect.
The sorcerer would even suffer backlash.
The other party had to agree; she could not "force" them into a contract.
"Can she use a domain?"
Yuki Tsukumo asked.
Tengen fell silent, seemingly considering the question. After a moment, Tengen replied, "Yes."
"And that's not all."
"She can also use Hollow Wicker Basket and Simple Domain."
Inside the Emptiness Barrier...
Mahoraga, which had moved away, returned and brought the Sword of Extermination down hard toward Kenjaku.
Seeing this...
Okkotsu stopped hesitating.
He decisively stepped into the Emptiness Barrier.
As Yuta Okkotsu entered the barrier, the ground beneath Kusakabe, Naobito Zenin, and Choso began cracking apart inch by inch.
Finally...
They withdrew from the Emptiness Barrier.
Kaneki, who had remained hidden in the shadows, saw this and felt a bad premonition. He raced toward Uraume.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield...
The moment they faced each other, Kenjaku and Okkotsu expanded their domains simultaneously.
"Domain Expansion: Womb Profusion!"
"Domain Expansion: Authentic Mutual Love!"
The instant Okkotsu's domain took shape, immense pressure could be seen bearing down on it.
It lasted only about a second.
Then Kenjaku's Open-Barriers Domain crushed Okkotsu's domain completely!
He entered cursed technique burnout.
At this...
Okkotsu looked slightly surprised.
Although he had known this would happen, experiencing it firsthand still surprised him.
On the battlefield...
All that remained was the massive tree trunk formed from countless grotesque heads, the manifestation of Kenjaku's domain.
As Okkotsu's domain collapsed...
Before Mahoraga could strike Kenjaku, overwhelming gravity pinned it firmly to the ground.
The Rabbit Escape clones within Kenjaku's domain were crushed to death by gravity, dissolving into shadows.
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain!"
Facing the domain, Okkotsu used Simple Domain for the first time, something he had never shown in the original story.
Given Okkotsu's talent...
It was only natural that he could master Simple Domain.
The main reason he never used Simple Domain was that he had no need for it!
It was also possible that he had only just learned it from Yuki Tsukumo.
At that moment...
Kenjaku raised his right hand high.
He intended to destroy Mahoraga completely with a single strike!
Not only that, he also intended to severely wound Yuta Okkotsu, leaving him unable to participate in the battle to come.
Smack!
Laughing loudly, Kenjaku slapped his hand against the back of his left hand.
Boom!
A tremendous crash rang out.
Countless fragments of rubble in front of Kenjaku collapsed downward, and Mahoraga vanished completely under the blow.
It could no longer continue adapting.
The next second...
Tengen dismantled the Emptiness Barrier, and Kenjaku's Open-Barriers Domain disappeared along with it.
Everyone landed in the Main Hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
They all saw Tengen, Yuki Tsukumo, Choso, Kusakabe, and Naobito Zenin nearby.
At that moment.
Okkotsu knelt on one knee, his face covered in blood.
"Yuta-!"
A low cry, strained and furious, echoed throughout the Main Hall of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
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