Chapter 97 Closing Ceremony and Overtime...
The cursed power output by Jiang Lai increased layer by layer, and the counterattack of [Gate] carrying the divine power was equally sharp. The two forces were tearing at each other, and the end of the annihilation of [Existence] and [Existence] seemed to be a mutual destruction.
The overly powerful cursed force shockwave drove away Sukuna and Riume who were nearby. They then retreated from the temple area and could only watch from a distance.
In the comparison of time and space reversal, Jiang Lai's eyes reflected the dazzling and infinite meteor shower.
Stars burning with white light fell from the sky one by one, and the infinitely extending dark blue night was like a slowly flowing deep sea.
Under the vast beauty, Jiang Lai's consciousness involuntarily wandered for a moment. After a brief blank in his mind, he slowly remembered the vague dream he had before waking up in [Source].
It is also the long night, the bright starry sky and the meteor shower.
Jiang Lai blinked lightly, and then he finally saw clearly - this starry sky that gradually extended beyond the temple and connected with the sky was his own territory.
The falling of stars, which is impossible in reality, is displayed to the extreme in the realm. The stars that fell from the sky like rain no longer rise, and the burning power of the gods blooms beautifully. This is a miracle that can only be witnessed once.
Sparks and fireworks scattered like dots, and Jiang Lai raised his eyes.
He knew clearly in his heart that this beautiful scenery was a luxurious closing ceremony and nature's tenderness to existence.
This was probably the last leg of the [Thousand Years] chapter. Jiang Lai's power was fading like a tide, but he remained calm. He didn't feel panic or helplessness because he already knew the ending.
The twisted [door], under the full force of the time-space reversal, reluctantly but uncontrollably gradually opens.
The cursed spirit with a terrifying and strange face made gurgling sounds and turned into flying ashes. The mud-like black fluid struggled and roared, and the power of [Death] pierced through the space!
The [Gate] was born from the evil thoughts of nature and released cursed spirits based on instinct. Now that it is endowed with divinity, it can only do destruction. It has condensed all its strength into a sharp spear!
Jiang Lai's technique was extremely agile, one part of it was used to counter the attack, and the other part turned into warm protection.
Although Jiang Lai divided his strength into two parts: offense and defense, he still had the upper hand in this battle.
The brilliance of the prosperous meteor shower gradually expanded, dazzling white light exploded before the eyes, black and white mountains and rivers in the realm rotated and flowed, and the twisted [door] was finally defeated in the battle of the burning godhead, and a half red crystal-like object shining brightly struggled to break away from its center.
In the final sprint, he reached out his hand, reached into the swamp of the [door], grabbed one of them, and pulled him out with force—
The black-haired young man with a bun was smoothly pulled out of the black swamp. The ropes wrapped around his body fell down. He closed his eyes and was as quiet as a stone in the corner of the alley.
Jiang Lai used space magic to place it steadily on the ground. In this magnificent area, his calm chest began to rise and fall regularly, but he was still in an unconscious state.
Without the curse spirit's control, the power of the [Gate] was no longer as complicated as before, and the chaotic collisions and the release of the curse spirits were also reduced a little.
Jiang Lai did not relax, he took advantage of the victory, turned his wrist, and mobilized his strength to entangle the [door] that was struggling like a trapped beast!
Under the power of the inverted galaxy and the reversal of time and space, the half of the red crystal in the [door] became more and more prominent. Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes, and with his fingers he broke through the barrier of the thick curse aura, and directly pulled out the half of the red crystal with his hands!
The red crystal-shaped godhead had a scalding temperature, and it felt like burning when held in the palm of the hand. However, that half of the crystal seemed to have a vague self-awareness, and it instinctively felt close to Jiang Lai, so it involuntarily tried to reduce its overflowing needle-like edge.
Jiang Lai gently rubbed the half crystal in his palm, sending out a signal to relax it.
Without the support of the divine power, the [Gate] began to fluctuate even more violently, as if its backbone had been pulled out. The remaining manic cursed spirits and magical power launched a fierce counterattack!
Jiang Lai blocked the attack with his other hand, but instead of releasing the domain, he amplified the last burning divine power to the extreme, surrounding the pitch-black [door] with a rain of falling stars!
The [Gate] seemed to have sensed something instinctively, and it compressed itself to escape from here, waiting for the next [One Hundred Demons Night Parade] to appear again in a few hundred years. However, the black-haired young man in front of it did not give it a chance.
The light of a single star seems very weak, but when gathered into a galaxy, it seems to have almost infinite power. A soft but irresistible reversal of time and space descends upon the [door], compressing and dissolving it back to the time when it did not exist in the first place!
The [Gate] at the end of the road made a sharp sound and released curse spirits on a large scale, but in the field of time and space reversal, the curse spirits that were spewed out were visibly changed from special grade to level one and then weakened layer by layer to level four, and finally turned into a wisp of cursed green smoke.
——Nothing can escape the rules of time and space, and all things in the world are equal.
Jiang Lai's brown eyes were as calm as water as he witnessed everything. He pressed his wrist down slightly and said gently, "That's enough... disappear."
As the words fell, the constantly shrinking cursed spirit transmission [door] finally dissipated to the extreme, and with a "bang" it turned into smoke and disappeared in the endless river of time!
Jiang Lai is never soft-hearted when dealing with his enemies. He transfers the flame of the burning godhood to the [Gate], allowing the fire of time and space to engulf it!
From then on, there was no more "door" in this world, and the curse parade "One Hundred Demons Night Parade" that took place once every few hundred years came to an end in the Heian-kyo era and became something that only existed in the history books of the curse world.
Only in the future, in 2017, when Naohua is behind the scenes and Geto Suguru is in the front, will the "One Hundred Demons Night Parade" incident reappear under this name.
The long river of time splashed with water, sweeping away the remnants of the [door]. The vast and beautiful falling meteor shower burned to an end, and the power flowing through the body gathered in the center of the heart.
Jiang Lai knew that the end of his thousand-year slumber was approaching, so he expanded his last strength to the entire Heian capital.
With a breath, the power of [time and space] wiped out the excess cursed power of Xia Yu, exorcised the cursed spirits on this land, and resurrected the dead sorcerers and civilians in the city.
After the splendor, the night sky, with all the stars gone, was left with only the extended dark blue that enveloped the sky and the earth.
Jiang Lai floated in his own realm that was no longer brilliant. After his divine power was exhausted, the fatigue that surged like a tide made him lose his strength, and his clenched hands loosened involuntarily.
The half red crystal slipped out of his hand, and a spell pattern flashed on it. Jiang Lai vaguely recognized that it was the space spell he had seen before.
...Did that guy from Zuosuo place a space transfer rune on this?
But it makes sense. After all, the other party would not easily expose himself, and naturally would not come to the scene to take away the godhead installed on the [door]. He must have arranged the space spell early, waiting for the time to come, or after sensing a certain result, he would initiate the recovery.
Jiang Lai knows that he is unable to stop the curse from being activated now that his strength is exhausted. The half crystal will eventually return to Nozomi's hands. Then, after experiencing events such as the Nine Phases of the Cursed Fetus, he will be born a thousand years later as a child named Yuji Itadori.
But, even though I already know the future, I still feel unwilling to accept it.
Jiang Lai exhaled, and mobilized the divine energy stored in his heart, which was slowly condensing into a new object, to his fingertips, touching the red crystal lightly.
——He left a one-time time-space reversal mark on his conceptual brother [Good Death]. Perhaps the other party will use it in the future to offset some negative effects.
The half red crystal with vague self-awareness trembled, and it cautiously floated closer in the air. Finally, it mustered up the courage to get close to Jiang Lai's cheek and rubbed it lightly.
It seemed like a greeting, like a friendly gesture.
"..." Jiang Lai's eyes revealed a faint smile, but he no longer had the energy to respond.
We've made an appointment, see you in the future, he said silently in his heart.
The curse pattern on that half of the divine power glowed, and the air in a small area twisted. After the transfer technique was activated, it disappeared in the light.
Jiang Lai half closed his eyes, and the area around him seemed to disintegrate and shatter like glass spider silk, and the building collapsed in an instant.
He felt extremely tired, but he still trembled his arms to adjust the technique and not let himself fall to the ground too violently.
He fell from the air, staggered a few steps, stood up, and then half-knelt on the ground, panting with his head down.
Jiang Lai's eyelids were heavy and his consciousness was wandering, but he tried hard to keep himself awake and told himself that he couldn't fall asleep here.
Because--
A shadow loomed in front of him, and a four-handed man with an indelible smell of blood all around him stood in front of him.
Jiang Laiqiang cheered himself up, swung out a space curse blade, then supported himself on the ground with one hand, trying to stand up again.
The attack in a weak state had no power at all. Ryomen Sukuna didn't even need to block it. He let the cursed blade cut into his shoulder covered with black lines, leaving an insignificant wound.
"…" It's a bit troublesome. Jiang Lai pursed his lips. By the way, Gojo hasn't come back yet——?
Jiang Lai concentrated his mind, but before he could make any move, the cherry-pink-haired man reached out and grabbed the collar of his navy blue kimono and lifted it up.
"It's rare to see you in such a ferocious state. You can be killed easily now." Ryoumen Sukuna snorted and said with a hint of sarcasm, "But I did get to witness a good show. Maybe I should praise you."
Jiang Lai stared at the opponent with his brown eyes. His momentum was the same as before, and he was not losing. He was thinking calmly.
The air was briefly silent for two or three seconds.
During this silent moment, I could hear powerful shouts accompanied by the sound of the wind, and I could vaguely hear the slogan of "Defeat the King of Curses".
"......?" Jiang Lai was slightly startled, somewhat surprised by this sudden trend of condemnation.
"Just now, a lot of sorcerers came to support us from outside Heian-kyō Castle, saying that they came specifically to kill me. I asked Rimei to go and teach them a lesson." Ryoumen Sukuna said nonchalantly.
Jiang Lai then noticed that the boy with the blonde hair was not by the other person's side.
Although he was extremely tired, he still subconsciously processed the situation and analyzed it in his mind.
...This sudden large-scale support must have been organized. But the fact that the rape happened so late and was so coincidental must be part of the story.
Most likely he came to witness the end of the "Sugaru Jie Massacre" incident, but it was a pity that he had changed the trap himself. Jiang Lai chuckled in his heart. Besides that, maybe he was also preparing to pick up some bargains.
This transaction of Ryomen Sukuna may have been designed for more than just the [Gate] matter. It also had the effect of deepening the grudge between him and Rokugan and making them enemies.
When Gojo Satoru returns and finds that the entire city has been massacred, he will definitely not believe that it was done by his friend Geto Suguru, and will instead turn his anger towards Ryoumen Sukuna. The two might even have a fierce fight -
The ideal ending for the upper echelons of the magic world is for both of them to die together, at the very least, if they both get seriously injured.
This way, they wouldn't have to worry about Six Eyes becoming powerful again, and they could also take advantage of this opportunity to kill the Curse King and gain a glorious reputation.
The sorcerers who came at this moment were probably excited to hear that they could be given the title of the King of Curses, and they rushed here.
I'm sure Ryoumen Sukuna himself can see through all these consequences.
Jiang Lai couldn't help laughing: "It seems that you have really been tricked... It's rare for me to see you being fooled like this."
The evening breeze blew over the badly damaged altar, and Jiang Lai's breathing became slower and slower. He found that not only was he about to fall into a deep sleep, but even his human form was showing signs of dissipating and blending into nature.
Ryoumen Sukuna didn't look happy. He looked down at the black-haired figure in his hands with his scarlet eyes and smiled a bloodthirsty smile:
"That guy, I will definitely chop him into pieces. Not only because he dared to plot against me, but also because he delayed my having a good meal--"
Have a good meal? While Jiang Lai's mind was wandering, his thoughts were still working, just much slower. It took him many seconds to realize that the other party was probably referring to the "making oneself into a dish" thing.
The other party probably noticed that he seemed to be disappearing, and the best way, of course, was to cook him before he disappeared.
Unfortunately, right now, Rime has gone to fight the enemy, a large number of sorcerers have rushed to Heian-kyō to besiege and kill the King of Curses, and Rokugan is about to rush back - all these factors combined make it impossible for Ryoumen Sukuna to cook and eat on the spot.
It is like having found a chef and preparing seasonings, but the ingredients are running out and you cannot start cooking on the spot.
"There's nothing I can do. It seems your life is just so unhappy." At this moment, Jiang Lai no longer had the intention to be cautious and gentle and maintain his composure. He showed his sharpness openly and raised his eyebrows in response without showing any weakness between his tired breaths.
Ryoumen Sukuna laughed for no apparent reason. As the noise of fighting and killing gradually approached from afar, he slowly stopped laughing, showing his canine teeth, and said in a low and slow voice:
"That guy is plotting against me because he wants something in my body that is similar to yours, right? I won't let him have any chance of getting what he wants."
As he said this, Ryomen Sukuna inserted one hand into his body!
Under Jiang Lai's stunned eyes, the cherry-pink-haired man calmly used his sharp nails to cut open the upper part of the abdomen, and relying on his self-perception instinct, he took out half of the extremely dim red crystal that was stuck with blood.
“……?!” Even Jiang Lai was stunned for a second when he saw this scene.
Ryoumen Sukuna said nonchalantly in a long, vicious tone:
"I've said it before, I don't care about being a human, a curse, or any other identity. I only care about living a comfortable life - of course, it would be best if others are unhappy, because that's quite interesting."
"It would be too boring if he disappeared so easily. The game has only just started."
Ryoumen Sukuna raised his eyebrows slightly, then laughed happily again, "Oh, I guess the idiot who dared to plot against me would never have guessed where this thing would end up!"
The role of the four arms is fully demonstrated at this moment.
Ryomen Sukuna held Jiang Lai in one hand, holding the dim crystal between one finger, and pinched Jiang Lai's cheek with the other hand, forcing him to open his mouth, and stuffed the half of the blood-stained, dim red crystal into Jiang Lai's mouth!
“???!” Jiang Lai felt a scent of blood between his lips and teeth, and the half of the dim divine crystal melted into his body the moment it entered his throat.
The faint power of [existence] replenished and lingered in his body, temporarily stabilizing his body which seemed to be about to dissipate!
"Let's have some overtime, I will leave enough time to prepare the food." Ryoumen Sukuna narrowed his eyes and looked down at Jiang Lai with both eyes.
He raised the corners of his lips and said happily, "What a pity, you are such a good person. You can't leave here in the way you planned."