Chapter 10

"Humanity... destroyed?" Doppo Kunikida murmured those two words, finding words that had once seemed so simple suddenly impossible to comprehend. "How... how is that possible?"

Even Ranpo Edogawa's voice sank, a rare occurrence. "Yes, how is that possible?"

Everyone looked at Ranpo expectantly.

"But he isn't lying."

An Xinyi had indeed witnessed humanity's destruction far too many times, endlessly cycling through that destruction, unable to escape.

Everyone erupted in disbelief.

"...How could you go this far?" Osamu Dazai's expression went blank. He had even lost the ability to feel astonished. "Trapping yourself in a cycle you can never escape... you're so cruel to yourself."

At least, Dazai knew he would never be able to endure it.

It was an endless hell more terrifying than all the despair in the world. Having chosen this path, An Xinyi could never stop. The fate of all humanity rested on his shoulders. How had it not crushed him?

Dazai unconsciously clutched the fabric over his chest, bewildered and helpless, like a child.

Ayatsuji Yukito's fingers tightened reflexively, snapping even his treasured pipe. Mizuki Tsujimura jumped in alarm. "Mr. Ayatsuji?"

She had never seen Ayatsuji lose his composure like this.

Ayatsuji drew a deep breath. "How many times has he died? How many times has An Xinyi died?"

Those who realized what that question meant sucked in a breath.

That was right. This An Xinyi's designation was "144," but that was merely his number in this particular cycle. Cloning technology like this could not have been developed in a day or two. The original An Xinyi had probably used it countless times already.

Then how many times had An Xinyi used "Regret"? And how many An Xinyis had died each time?

Even Fyodor sighed. He removed his hat, pressed it to his chest, and bowed his head in respect.

Fyodor's ideals, and all the evil he had committed, stemmed from his belief that the world would become better once all abilities disappeared. Faced with someone like An Xinyi, who had consigned himself to eternal hell for all humanity, even he could only feel admiration.

"Ah, the clown has lost." Nikolai Gogol grew listless too. "He's terrifying."

Indeed, madness and obsession like this inspired not only admiration, but fear.

He was too strong. How on earth had he endured it all?!

At first, the Jujutsu Kaisen group had been somewhat confused. After all, they knew nothing about An Xinyi's designation. But once the information was shared, their side erupted too.

"Wow, even I've never seen a madman like this." Refusing to be left out, Ryomen Sukuna emerged, unusually excited. "Interesting. Wonderful. I like him."

Yuji Itadori slapped his own face. "Cut it out! Mr. An Xinyi really deserves our respect!" At least, he could not imagine seeing something like this through to the end.

Someone like Mr. An Xinyi should surely be able to die the way Grandpa described, surrounded by flowers and praise... Huh? Wait. Yuji Itadori noticed a flaw.

"But the people in that world don't even know what Mr. An Xinyi has done!"

"Fuck," Nobara Kugisaki could not help swearing. "You're right."

"That's so unfair." Yuta Okkotsu pressed his lips together.

"Salmon, salmon."

Aoi Todo could not help remarking, "He's a real man. So, what type of woman does he like?" He slipped into memories of his own imagining.

Mai Zenin's mouth twitched, and she quietly moved a little farther away from him.

Satoru Gojo shook his head with a wry laugh. "Does that mean I, the strongest, should step aside for someone more deserving?" When it came to madness, no one could compare.

"That bastard!" Ranpo Edogawa bristled outright. "He did it on purpose!"

Dazai abruptly raised his head too. Do you really want our help so little? Do you really not want to get close to us, not want... anyone to cry for you?

An Xinyi!

He was dreaming.

It was a civilization already destroyed, a future already trampled underfoot.

It all began with the first statue, which spread a factor called "madness" across this fragile planet.

From that day onward, light never shone upon humanity again.

"Ah, this is about those three statues." Atsushi Nakajima's face was pale. "So they were the reason humanity was destroyed?"

"So that's why he killed everyone who had come into contact with the statues so decisively." Chūya Nakahara adjusted his hat, his tone conflicted. "He did a good job."

Those who had condemned An Xinyi earlier felt rather embarrassed.

"Indeed, that was the optimal solution." Mori Ougai narrowed his eyes. After all, the threat was far too great. Some sacrifices were acceptable.

The two government officials, Santoka Taneda and Ochi Fukuchi, nodded in agreement as well. If humanity's continued existence was at stake, then even something this cruel had to be done.

In An Xinyi's extensive records, he designated the "statue" as "S016." It was the origin of a lethal threat to humanity, the culprit that had already brought about humanity's extinction. Every means of transmission had to be eliminated, whatever the methods, however cruel the acts required.

Incidentally, the "god" slumbering in the sea of human consciousness was designated "S003."

Mori Ougai felt his teeth ache. "By that naming scheme, there are at least sixteen entities capable of wiping out humanity, and perhaps even more." That world was far too dangerous. Was his counterpart sitting on the mouth of a volcano without even knowing it?

Yukichi Fukuzawa gazed at An Xinyi's young face on the screen and sighed. "Regardless, he protected humanity's peace from the shadows."

Even the rigid Principal Gakuganji shook his head. Ultimately, he was not truly one of the rotten higher-ups. "He must have eliminated many hidden threats to humanity."

Anyone who saw the "statue," even anyone who saw a photograph containing the "statue," would have a seed of "madness" planted within them. They appeared perfectly normal on the surface, but their personalities would become increasingly obsessive, and their behavior increasingly extreme and violent.

That time, the crisis involving the "statue" broke out very early. An Xinyi was only eleven and utterly powerless to stop it.

Three years after the "statue" descended, World War III broke out.

Nuclear weapons were used indiscriminately, the land was devastated, and humanity destroyed itself with its own hands.

He dreamed of it.

The "An Xinyi" of that cycle walked through a city after nuclear war had erupted.

It was hell.

"Heh." Fyodor sneered. "As expected, all people are sinful. Humanity will ultimately die by its own hand."

War. Hah.

Ranpo Edogawa shot him a displeased glare. "But there will always be people who stop wars for the sake of peace, just like An Xinyi!"

Fyodor smiled and said nothing.

Ranpo knew he simply could not be bothered to argue with him, which made him even angrier. "Your way of thinking is awful!"

Someone had once asked how long traces of civilization could survive after humanity disappeared.

After fifty million years, plastic bags and shards of glass would become the only evidence that humanity had existed.

But now, while humanity still existed, poised on the brink of extinction, human civilization had already collapsed.

An Xinyi saw no people. He saw only-beasts.

The skyscrapers that had once shone so beautifully at night, bright as day, were now nothing but ruins, their walls scarred by war.

Pets once lovingly cared for by their owners had been reduced to skin and bones. Their eyes were bloodshot as they tore into human-shaped corpses that were nothing but rotting flesh.

In the corners of the ruined city, humans who had once been vibrant and proud were now worse off than stray dogs by the roadside. Like rats in the sewers, they skulked about, searching for whatever meager supplies might remain. Their eyes held numbness, viciousness, and animal instinct.

They covered their mutated bodies with rags, cautiously slipping through the ruins to avoid being discovered by anyone.

Here, other people were hell.

Even beauty was not allowed to exist.

When An Xinyi rescued the violet-eyed boy, a group of people-no, things that could not be called human-were putting him into a large pot. The water was coming to a boil.

Even after being rescued, he merely lifted his eyes without saying a word.

He was naked, his snow-white skin covered in wounds, yet he stood calmly before An Xinyi, without even thinking of covering himself.

An Xinyi fell silent for a moment, then killed all those... beasts wearing human shapes.

Then An Xinyi looked at the violet-eyed boy and fell silent again.

Why was it him? Wasn't he an ability user?

"Crime and Punishment" could punish those sins.

Why? Why had he ended up like this?

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky!

"Pfft-th-that's... the Demon?"

Were they all blind?!