This wasn't the end

[But someone here was faster than him.]

["Hey, hey, don't ignore me."]

[Satoru Gojo's voice rang out beside your ear, carrying a hint of displeasure and arrogance.]

[Without making contact, Satoru Gojo merely raised one finger and pointed it in the direction Toji Fushiguro was charging from.]

["Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."]

[A red, extraordinarily violent repulsive field exploded between the two of them in an instant.]

[Toji Fushiguro's pupils contracted sharply. He had never seen this move before.]

[But his entire body was still blasted away as though struck by a cannonball, smashing through three walls in succession before barely coming to a stop.]

[At that moment, Toji Fushiguro said only one thing.]

["What a monster..."]

[Satoru Gojo stood before you. Without turning around, he simply said:]

["Go, Shunchen."]

["I'm not letting you get killed in front of me a second time. Leave this to me. Right now... I'm a little too strong."]

[Toji Fushiguro rose from the rubble and brushed the dust off himself. He glanced at you as you ran toward the elevator, then at the divine child before him, whose aura had changed completely.]

["...Forget it."]

[He made his judgment. There was no point in chasing you down. Unless he could deal with this awakened monster before him, he wouldn't be killing anyone today.]

["Then I'll slaughter you first, you awakened monster."]

["Slaughter me? Hahahahaha!"]

[Hearing Toji Fushiguro's words, Satoru Gojo doubled over with laughter.]

["You lost because you didn't cut off my head, and because you didn't use that Cursed Tool to stab me in the head."]

[...Lost? Hadn't the fight only just begun?]

[You didn't look back at the battle of gods and demons behind you. You charged into the corridors of the Tombs of the Star Corridor like someone possessed.]

[There, the first person you saw was Misato Kuroi, lying in a pool of blood with a massive wound in her abdomen.]

["Miss Kuroi!!"]

[You rushed over and immediately activated Reverse Cursed Technique.]

[Thankfully, she was still breathing. Though the stab wound was perilous, it seemed he had been pressed for time and hadn't delivered a finishing blow.]

[As the healing flowed into her, Misato Kuroi gave a pained cough and slowly opened her eyes.]

[She paid no attention to her own injuries. Her blood-soaked hand clamped onto your sleeve with a strength that made your heart tremble.]

["Ri... Riko..."]

["Please... hurry... Riko, she..."]

[Her eyes were filled with a desperate plea.]

[Your heart sank to rock bottom.]

[You pulled out your phone and quickly called Shoko. Saying only, "Tombs of the Star Corridor. Critically injured patient. Come quickly," you tossed it aside.]

["I'll save her. Hang in there."]

[Leaving that hollow promise behind, you turned and rushed toward the lift leading to the lowest level.]

[The elevator descended rapidly. The weightlessness made you nauseous, but what sickened you even more was the increasingly heavy smell of blood in the air.]

[The moment the elevator doors opened, you saw the main sanctuary called the Tombs of the Star Corridor.]

[Among the buildings beneath that enormous sacred tree, there was no sign of that lively girl.]

[Only Suguru Geto was there, slumped unceremoniously on the floor with his back against the wall and several gruesome blade wounds on his body.]

[Beside him lay the shattered Cursed Residue of Cursed Spirits.]

["Geto!"]

[You rushed over to check his injuries. He was severely wounded and had lost too much blood, but he was still alive.]

[As you scanned the dim space, searching for that figure, you asked anxiously.]

["Where's Riko? Where's Riko Amanai? Hadn't that assassin already left?"]

[Suguru Geto didn't answer immediately.]

[His head was lowered, his bangs hiding his eyes. You couldn't see his expression.]

[But his trembling shoulders and his fists, clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, both spoke of an agony pushed to its extreme.]

[Only after a long while did he slowly raise his hand and point to a pool of blood on the floor nearby.]

[There was nothing there, only a pool of glaring red that looked especially ironic against the sacred floor of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.]

["That man... used a gun... and killed Riko."]

[Suguru Geto's voice was frighteningly hoarse, as though his throat were packed with gravel, carrying a heartbreaking despair.]

["Just now... just when Riko decided to give up on the merger and go back with everyone..."]

[You froze where you stood, staring at that pool of blood.]

[You had learned of the Star Plasma Vessel's death during the simulation, but when it actually happened before you, when you had just done everything you could to bring Satoru Gojo back to life and thought you might have changed something... reality delivered the hardest slap of all.]

[Even her body had been taken away, probably for the Time Vessel Association's bounty.]

[Frustration, rage, regret, self-reproach... countless negative emotions churned inside you like black sludge.]

[You had already come so far.]

[Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto had already decided to defy Tengen, to protect that girl's youth.]

[Why had it still ended like this?]

[Why, even knowing the future, even after risking your life to intervene, could you still do nothing but watch the tragedy repeat itself?]

["But... but we promised Riko..."]

[Suguru Geto's voice rang out again, thick with tears, like a lost child:]

["Whatever choice she made, we would safeguard her future..."]

["At the end, she smiled and said... she wanted to spend more time with everyone... to go to more places..."]

["But... I couldn't do anything."]

["Satoru lost, and so did I. What kind of strongest are we...?"]

[At that moment, a great fissure split open in the seed called a righteous cause within Suguru Geto's heart.]

[He had lost not only to a monkey without Cursed Energy, but also to this cruel fate.]

[You listened in silence.]

["Enough, Geto. Don't say any more."]

[You crouched down, forcibly suppressing the emotions churning inside you, and pressed the energy of Reverse Cursed Technique against his wounds.]

[Your voice trembled, but it was extraordinarily firm.]

["If you get too worked up... your wounds will reopen."]

["It's not over yet. Satoru's back. That man won't get away."]

[Looking into Suguru Geto's lifeless eyes, you spoke one word at a time, as though making him a promise and swearing an oath to yourself.]

[This wasn't the end. You swore you would never accept an ending like this.]