[The air in the corridor seemed to solidify.]
[You paid no further attention to the shocked, conflicted, even somewhat angry reactions of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto behind you.]
[You slowly turned, directing your deep, utterly unruffled eyes entirely toward Riko Amanai, who sat on the floor to one side, clutching Panda tightly.]
[You looked down at the girl and asked with utmost seriousness, your voice calm yet piercing enough to strike straight at the soul.]
["Riko, what about you? Leaving aside the Greater Good and destiny... do you truly, willingly want to accept assimilation, from the bottom of your heart? That effective death that completely erases your consciousness and ends your individual existence, which the higher-ups merely dress up with the name 'assimilation'... is that really your own will, or is it a tragic destiny they've forced into your head since childhood, leaving you no choice?"]
[This blunt, almost cruel dissection struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer.]
[Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto instinctively held their breath as well, both turning their gazes toward Riko Amanai.]
[Even Panda, held tightly in Riko Amanai's arms, raised his furry black-and-white head with remarkably human understanding, silently watching the girl caught in a fierce inner struggle with his button eyes.]
[At your words, Riko Amanai's slender shoulders gave a violent shudder.]
[She bowed her head deeply, her disheveled bangs covering her eyes and hiding her expression.]
[She bit her lower lip hard, trying to preserve her last shred of dignity and emotional composure before these powerful Jujutsu Sorcerers.]
["I... from the very beginning, ever since I could remember, everyone told me I was the Star Plasma Vessel."]
[The girl's voice trembled faintly, sounding through the deathly silent corridor like a candle flickering in the wind.]
["Everyone said I was different from other