It was just another ordinary, completely unremarkable day.
Yet for some, this day was anything but ordinary.
The enemy will reach the battlefield in 5 seconds. Please prepare yourselves.
Winter was giving way to spring, and a scattering of pedestrians walked the streets.
The town remained as ordinary and mundane as ever—neither particularly prosperous nor especially rundown.
Yet from this day forth, everything would cease to exist.
That unknown enemy had prepared long in advance.
Using the entire town and even the surrounding villages as sacrifices, combined with an extremely harsh Binding Vow placed upon himself, he sought to acquire immense power.
Regrettably, he succeeded.
All was in readiness; only the eastern wind was lacking.
Today, Satoru and Sukuna had simply gone out to buy some daily necessities and food, entirely unaware of the danger awaiting them.
Having stepped out with smiles on their faces, the two of them suddenly felt their expressions change drastically just as they were about to reach their destination.
In that very instant, the town—once brimming with the vibrant breath of life—was plunged into a state of lifeless desolation.
The terrifying aura intensified by the second. This abnormal surge of Cursed Energy, coupled with that malevolent sensation, was clearly no legitimate path.
Satoru could distinctly sense that the people in the town—or rather, every living thing within a radius of a hundred miles—had nearly all vanished in an instant. Only distant life forms and resilient plants retained a sliver of vitality.
The lively townspeople who had been smiling and greeting one another just days ago had all withered away in a single moment.
Then, the culprit appeared: a human who looked like an ordinary middle-aged man. At first, anyway. Soon, as the evil aura grew denser, all the surrounding vitality converged toward him, transforming into his own Cursed Energy.
This was unmistakably a Curse User.
What rotten luck! Satoru was left speechless, though a question lingered in her mind: when had such a Curse User arrived in the vicinity? This didn't look like some nameless nobody.
Setting aside that lingering doubt, a fleeting sense of inexplicable familiarity flashed through her mind, but it vanished instantly. The present crisis was far more pressing.
Under some unknown, wicked maneuver, the enemy's aura instantly surged to Special Grade level, surpassing Satoru's own power in the blink of an eye and continuing to climb.
At this level, Sukuna wasn't even qualified to participate. After all, he had yet to awaken his own Innate Technique; though he stood on the verge of awakening, unawakened meant unawakened.
Satoru's expression grew increasingly grave. While dividing her focus to protect Sukuna, she decisively stepped forward to attack.
She could not wait any longer; who knew what other tricks the opponent had up his sleeve? Yet the heaviness in Satoru's heart did not lessen in the slightest.
Still, this moment of attack was ultimately a bit too late. Had she struck the very instant the enemy appeared, there might have been a sliver of a chance—a sliver of a chance to escape, a sliver of a chance to survive. But now, they were in grave peril.
A fierce attack—a Red—hurtled straight toward them. The opponent didn't even bother to dodge, his expression utterly deranged. The blast merely caused ripples across his body, tearing a hole in his clothes while leaving nothing more than a faint white mark on his flesh.
This was truly, deeply troublesome! The weight in Satoru's chest was beyond comparison.
By now, the opponent had completed his preparations.
His appearance no longer retained any human form; he looked like a curse incarnate.
Bizarre black markings covered his body, and his eyes had lost all focus, devoid of any trace of human expression.
At this moment, the enemy had only one goal, one single thought: to kill Satoru and Sukuna.
Under the oppressive coercion of the enemy, who had now reached his ultimate, fully realized form, Satoru could barely manage to distract herself enough to shield Sukuna, while using her own Cursed Energy to feebly resist the foe's overwhelming pressure. Anything beyond that was simply beyond her reach.
Her sensations at that moment were painfully vivid, as if she had been thrown back to the exact moment of near-death when she had first crossed over into this world.
Would there be a turning point this time?
Survival or death—did she still have the right to choose? A deep sense of despair mounted steadily in Satoru's heart.
The enemy had cast all caution to the wind, employing a deeply wicked method to elevate his power, forsaking both past and future. Aside from the vitality of so many living beings in this area, he had sacrificed his very own life force and future, solely to slaughter the two people before his eyes.
Without any superfluous movements, pure Cursed Energy was converted into offensive power and unleashed.
A battery of Cursed Energy, basic attacks transformed into area-of-effect bombardment.
It was all about unreserved, overwhelming firepower saturation.
At the same time, the oppressive aura bearing down from him was pushed to its absolute limit.
Under the crucible of this life-or-death crisis, Satoru's soul underwent a transient transformation. The sublimation of her consciousness finally allowed her to withstand the terrifying pressure.
Didn't she possess these Six Eyes? Couldn't she barely lay claim to the title of a goddess? Wasn't she endowed with such monstrous talent, a truly prodigious existence?
How could she submit here?
If a god stands in my way, slay the god! If a Buddha blocks my path, slay the Buddha!
Are they demons or wicked ghosts?
I will slaughter every last one of them for you to see!
An enemy who blocks my path—even if they are gods or devils, I fear them not!
The look in Satoru's eyes grew increasingly fanatical. What was there to hesitate about?
Only by going all out could they snatch a glimmer of survival.