"Haaah…"
Gojo exhaled loudly, leaning back in his chair until it balanced dangerously on its hind legs. His gaze drifted up toward the ceiling, frown etched deep.
"If I knew I'd be stuck in this place for… who knows how long… I would've brought food. Maybe even that Otto guy, well he'd probably hate me if I told him we were in the Pleiades Watchtower."
Subaru tilted his head. "Otto?"
"Mmm? Oh—what, you know him?"
"Ahhh…" Subaru scratched the back of his head. "Nah, I don't. But… now that you mention it, I'm starving. And thirsty."
"Mmm~" Shaula hummed, pressing herself against Subaru's arm, her fingers lazily entwining around it. "If it's water you want, there's a source beyond the tower~ Of course, for someone like him—" she nodded toward Gojo "—it wouldn't take long to fetch~"
"There is? But… isn't this all desert?" Subaru asked, brow raised.
"Well~ yeah, but I'm talking about the Great Waterfall, silly~"
Gojo narrowed his eyes. "…Wouldn't that mean we'd have to leave the tower? Pretty sure that's a big 'no'."
Shaula giggled, swaying slightly. "I'm kiddiiiing~ It's just the little spirits back in the Green Room. They can make water—fresh, clean. You might need a bucket though~"
"At least we won't die of thirst… but food…" Subaru muttered.
Gojo smirked. "Those spirits are real handy, huh? Think they can whip up a steak?"
"Ummmmmm…" Shaula pursed her lips. "If by steak you mean meat… nope~ And that wouldn't make any sense anyway. You really are an idiot, huh~?"
"Tch. Walked straight into that one…" Gojo sighed, leaning forward and interlacing his fingers on the table. "But seriously—food. Shaula, don't tell me you've got nothing lying around for guests."
"Mmmm~ nope."
"What? Why wouldn't you? You eat too, right?" Subaru asked, baffled.
Gojo just shrugged. "She's not exactly human. Probably doesn't need food."
"Eh? Not human? How would you—ah… right. 'Special eyes.'" Subaru muttered, rolling his own. "…So what is she then?"
Shaula leaned back with a mischievous grin, still clutching Subaru's arm.
"Ehhhh~ Master, master~ Isn't it ooooobvious?"
Both Gojo and Subaru just stared, completely unmoved.
Without warning, Shaula flicked her ponytail with theatrical flair.
"…Your… ponytail?" Gojo deadpanned.
"Ugh— I get why master's clueless, he's real old~ but you, Gojo? You're supposed to be sharp! Idiots, the both of you!" Shaula pouted, a vein throbbing on Gojo's forehead as he opened his mouth—only for her to cut him off.
"It's a scorpion tail~"
Subaru blinked. "A scorpion tail."
"Mhm!"
"…So… you're a scorpion?"
"Ugh… whatever—moving on from this conversation, Subaru." Gojo leaned forward, the humor draining from his tone. "We've gotta get a move on with this trial. I'm not fond of starvation, and living off water alone… yeah, that's not gonna cut it for more than a few days."
"…So that's a few days to beat Reid… and whatever the third trial is supposed to be…" Subaru muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Crap."
Shaula piped up in her usual singsong.
"Well~ I actually do need to eat too, so you don't have to worry about starving~ Food is food, after all… I just eat whatever I kill~"
Subaru stared at her, deadpan.
"You… wait. Don't tell me you mean those Centaur witchbeasts you completely obliterated before?"
She grinned, arms folding with pride, and nodded enthusiastically.
Gojo looked at her in disbelief. He would have asked how she stayed sane after hundreds of years here… but clearly, she hadn't.
"…That's it. That's our motivation to finish these trials." Gojo turned to Subaru with the most serious, unblinking stare he'd ever given anyone. "You have to do this. Because if you fail… we eat what Shaula eats."
Subaru swallowed hard.
"Understood! But… even if we did… wouldn't all the miasma corrupt the meat or something?"
Shaula raised a finger like she was giving a lecture.
"Oh, I don't think it's poisonous~ It just tastes reaaaaaally funky~ but soooo disgusting you actually get addicted to eating it!"
"That makes no sense!?" Subaru exploded.
—————————————————————
But before the conversation could spiral further, his gaze drifted to the horizon, the sun already dipping past the edge of the world.
"…I should probably take a nap. I'm wiped."
"Sure then..." Gojo said casually. "I'll wake you later."
Subaru found an area that seemed… passable for comfort, curled on his side, and shut his eyes.
It wasn't physical exhaustion—thanks to the Green Room's spirits, he felt better physically than he had literally ever. But mentally… that was another story. Elsa. Two Archbishops. The Sanctuary. Reinhard.
Again. And again. And again.
Even now, the weight clung to him, whispering at the edge of his sanity. Back then, he'd truly felt nothing—just a raw, impossible desire to kill Reinhard, no matter how futile the idea of it might've been.
And then there was the loneliness.
Yes, Gojo was here—hell, he'd been at Subaru's side more than anyone since arriving—but that wasn't the kind of 'alone' he meant.
Return by Death. The power to defy fate… at the cost of bearing every death, every loss, utterly alone.
Did those timelines he abandoned continue without him in it? Or was it true time reversal, erasing them completely?
Questions without answers. Questions that could shatter his entire worldview if answered.
And with those thoughts still gnawing at him, darkness pulled him under.
—————————————————————
Gojo glanced at Subaru's sleeping form, then sighed quietly. His gaze shifted to Shaula—no smile, no playful teasing, just her eyes lowered to the floor.
"Shaula."
Her head tilted slightly, brow raising. "Mmm~ what is it?"
"You've never thought about leaving this place? Four hundred years… that's when Reid was alive, right? So you've been isolated here that long. Why stay?"
For the briefest moment, sadness flickered in her gaze before she smiled again.
"'Cause master told me to~ so I listened. And it worked out! Master came back to me again!"
Gojo leaned forward slightly.
"Then… if he told you to leave with us, could you?"
"Hmm… not until the trials are done~" She chimed. "If I try to leave with you before that—or if either of you try—I'd just… become a killing machine until you're both dead. Or I am~"
Her smile softened.
"But that'll never happen. Master dying is impossible after all~"
"…And you'd lose all sense of self until it was over." Gojo said quietly.
He frowned. He could survive her attacks—Infinity or RCT would make sure of that—but killing her? That wasn't the problem. The problem was that neither he nor Subaru wanted to.
The idea of entering this tower, only to end it by killing someone trapped here for four centuries… it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Gojo shook his head. "Then we just clear all three trials. We were gonna anyway… but now we've got an extra reason I guess."
Shaula's eyes went wide for a moment.
"…Huh?"
"That way, you get to see your master again, properly, right?"
Her grin returned a moment later, sharp and teasing as always.
"Wooooow~ are you reaaaally flirting with master's apprentice? I get it, I get it! mhm~ I am sexy Shaula, after all~"
"Ugh… you just had to ruin it, huh?" Gojo muttered, walking over to his own spot near Subaru and lying down.
And before long, the darkness claimed him, too.
—————————————————————
He raised a hand—graceful, deliberate—speaking in a voice so smug, so measured, it felt like it scraped against reality itself.
"Ah. Excellent. I'm glad someone here still has the decency for manners. Far too many rush forward like beasts, no trace of etiquette whatsoever. But you—" his golden eyes locked onto Gojo's, "—you asked. That alone puts you leagues above the drooling masses I've come to expect."
A shallow, practiced bow.
"And so, in accordance with the natural laws of mutual respect, it would be unjust of me not to answer you."
A hand to his chest, the smile never wavering.
"Sin Archbishop of the Witch's Cult. Representing Greed… Regulus Corneas."
Gojo's grin widened—then broke into full-blown, unrestrained laughter.
"Keh-hehe… BAAHAHAHA!!"
Regulus's expression soured instantly.
"Oh? Is that desperation I hear?" His voice was sharp enough to cut glass. "Or is it delusion?"
A crimson spark flickered to life at Gojo's fingertip.
"Reversal Red."
In a blur, he seized his own collar, twisting his body as his fist plummeted like a meteor.
"—BLACK FLASH!!"
"You sick bastard..." Gojo snarled as his strike connected—Petelgeuse's face caving under the blow, his body rocketing across the cavern and smashing into the far wall with an ear-splitting crash.
Chains snapped and fell as Gojo tore them from Subaru, tossing them aside. His gaze landed on Rem's broken form, his chest tightening with fury and disgust.
"Rem!!" Subaru fell to her side, trembling as he cradled her fragile frame.
Her breath was weak. Her voice, barely there.
"Please… live… I—I love you… Subaru…"
But the moment was torn apart by the sound of something dragging itself free from the rubble.
Petelgeuse staggered back into view—his face mangled beyond recognition, one eye hanging loose, his nose twisted into something unhuman.
"HOW?! HOWHOWHOW?! IT IS INCONCEIVABLE! MY BRAIN… MY BRAIN TREMBLES SO VERYVERYVERYYYY MUCH—! YOU… HOW IS IT YOU ARE UNAFFECTED BY THE UNSEEN HANDS?!"
Before Subaru could respond, another voice cut in, colder than ice.
"…You have truly outraged me beyond all reason. You trampled over my rights—my mercy—only to attack me like a mindless beast."
Regulus stepped from the darkness, unscathed, the debris that had buried him just moments before seemingly irrelevant.
Gojo's gaze sharpened. "Imaginary Technique…"
Reality bent. A sphere of swirling violet energy erupted outward, devouring all it touched. Space twisted and folded—matter simply ceased to exist.
'Hollow Purple.'
The cave tore apart, split clean down the middle. A jagged fissure ripped up through the ceiling, flooding the darkness with daylight.
When the dust cleared, only one figure stood.
Regulus Corneas.
Unmoving. Untouched. Hovering calmly over a void where the ground had once been.
Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti… gone. Not a trace.
But then—sharp pain tore through Gojo's lower-half. Burning. But swift. His vision darkened under the sudden weight of realization.
"…Damn it…"
Death hit him like a freight train.
—————————————————————
His eyes snapped open. Air rushed into his lungs in a desperate gasp, the same ceiling as before staring back at him.
That… felt real.
Gojo reached for his blindfold—then froze at the faint, unexpected weight against his side. A slow glance down revealed Subaru, arm draped limply over him, fingers twitching like he was chasing something in a dream.
"Tch—the hell? Get off me…" Gojo shoved the arm aside with little ceremony, fishing the bandages from his pocket and looping them over his eyes in one smooth motion.
He rose to his feet, rolling his shoulders until the joints popped.
Just a dream. Freakishly real, sure—but this world already had things that blurred the line between reality and nightmare.
Still… a small wince tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"But why the hell would I dream of Regulus of all people? This place is messing with my head. Dying to him? Please. Guy couldn't throw a proper punch without a monologue first."
He let the thought burn out before it could spiral, forcing his mind forward. One sweep of the room confirmed Subaru was still out cold and Shaula was... probably off doing something inexplicable.
"…Guess I'll go exploring again until Sleeping Beauty wakes up."
The hushed quiet of the third-floor library—Taygeta—swallowed his footsteps as he stepped inside. It was the kind of silence that pressed in on your ears, making every breath sound too loud. Rows of ancient shelves stood like sentinels, and Gojo trailed his bare hand along the wooden shelf holding the books up, careful not to brush any bindings.
No. Not touching them. Having an entire life forcibly dumped into his head once was enough.
At least… that's what he told himself.
His thoughts wandered anyway.
Reid's trial… Subaru. The guy had guts, no question. He'd pulled off wins that shouldn't have been possible for him at the time, and hell, he'd even surprised me a few times with flashes of insight sharper than they had any right to be. B ut beating Reid? Even if it was just one step, even if that was all it took for Subaru to win...
"I'm not one to be a believer in the impossible." he murmured. "But that's pushing it… unless he's hiding some secret special power that I somehow don't know about."
He rounded another row—then stopped, questioning if what his six eyes just saw were lying to him or not.
Two slow steps back.
Head tilted.
There it was.
A single book among thousands. Black leather binding, unadorned spine. Ordinary—until you read the name stamped there in small, neat lettering.
Natsuki Subaru.
"…What?"
The rule about not touching the books evaporated in an instant.
His hand hovered inches from the cover.
Could it be him?
Another Subaru from somewhere else?
No way the odds are that high… right? Japanese names weren't exactly something you stumbled across in this world.
The silence deepened around him. Even the dust in the air seemed to hang still.
"I can take a little peek… it can't actually be him…" he muttered, voice low like the shelves themselves might overhear.
Fingers curled toward the book.
And the air seemed to change—just enough to make him wonder if the library was holding its breath, as if the very fabric of reality was warning Gojo that he was about to make a mistake.
—————————————————————
Subaru's eyes shot open. A long yawn escaped as he sat up, scratching at his stomach. His gaze swept the room—empty, save for him.
"…Huh. Guess Gojo's off doing whatever again. And Shaula… probably killing some more of those Centaur things for fun..."
He stretched, joints cracking.
"Thinking about it, I probably should've just slept in the Green Room… but crashing in a moss-covered greenhouse is just weird."
Pouring himself a cup of fresh water from the spirits' bucket, he drained it in one go, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"This is gonna get boring fast…"
Scratching the back of his head, Subaru's eyes wandered toward the nearest window. Beyond the glass, the endless desert sprawled to the horizon—its sands scarred with colossal gashes and craters, remnants of Pride's clash with Reinhard. They seemed impossibly far away, almost like scars carved into another world entirely.
He tore his gaze away and started down the hall, closing his eyes to focus.
Gojo… where are you?
A faint thread of presence brushed his senses.
"…Nearby. Another floor… fourth? No—third. The library."
He rubbed the back of his neck, turning right.
"Haahh… boredom's getting to him for sure. It's getting to me too. Should I just take the trial again? …I've got a few ideas this time."
His lips twitched into a frown.
"…Or I could eat Shaula's centaur cooking—"
THUD!
CRACK!!
The sounds struck in the same instant.
The ceiling just ahead of him caved in, vomiting marble, dust, and debris into the hall. Instinct kicked in—he staggered back, eyes wide.
But then… the presence.
That suffocating, unmistakable weight.
"Gojo—!?"
Through the haze, something tumbled toward him. A leg—Gojo's leg—hit the ground with a sickening wet thud, crimson pooling thick beneath it.
"…Sensei—?"
The dust thinned, revealing a sight that punched the air from Subaru's lungs. Gojo's body hung in the air like a grotesque puppet, black and purple tendrils spearing through him from every direction, branching outward like the roots of some nightmarish tree.
Blood streamed from the stumps where his leg and arm should've been.
But worse—his eyes were already lifeless.
What could kill Satoru Gojo?
No—what could kill him that fast?
The air crushed in around Subaru, a gravitational pressure warping reality itself. His knees buckled—yet he stayed upright, his gaze locked on the horrific tableau.
And then…
The tendrils tightened, dragging Gojo's corpse into the void. It disappeared without trace—flesh, blood, and bone erased from existence—while the walls, floor, and ceiling dripped red with what remained.
"A-Ahh…!?"
"I love you…"
The voice was soft. Feminine. Sweet—and utterly wrong. A heartbeat later, the tendrils lashed out—not at him, but at the tower itself, carving deep gashes into its interior and shredding the surrounding walls like paper.
From the swirling dark, she emerged.
Satella. The Witch of Envy.
The darkness clung to her like liquid, sliding over her body, carrying her forward with an unnatural grace.
"I love you…"
W-Why…? Why is SHE here?!
The Witch. The one who almost destroyed the world. A possible source of the darkness Subaru carried in himself—only hers was immeasurable in comparison. His was a shadow of a shadow, an insect before an elephant. Even Pride's oppressive skill with the power was nothing compared to this.
"…No… no no no no…"
Satella moved.
One moment she was a dozen paces away—the next, her cold palms cradled Subaru's face. As cold as the times they gripped his heart. The darkness unraveled from her, spilling toward him, about to swallow him whole.
"I love you… I love you… I love you… I love y—"
FWOOSH—!
For a single heartbeat, the world flashed white. A piercing line of light blasted straight through Satella's head, bursting it apart in a spray of blackened liquid before slamming into the floor beside Subaru.
The needle still hummed faintly where it had embedded itself in the stone.
Shaula, the Starkeeper of the Tower, blurred into motion. Her legs scissored through the air, her heel slamming into Satella's headless—but impossibly still upright—body. The impact made the darkness shiver, but didn't knock her down. Shaula landed in a skid beside Subaru, brows furrowed, a frown on her face.
"Master… this is bad…"
Her voice was stripped of its usual playful sing-song. Not fear, exactly—something more dangerous. Urgency.
Subaru's head shook on instinct, but his mind was splintering.
Gojo just died. Instantly. What the hell can we do against that? Is there even a point in—
"Master—!"
Shaula's shout ripped him back. Her hand flared, a blazing lance of white light—Hell's Snipe—tearing into an approaching tendril. It blew apart in a shower of black mist, but the shadow only surged stronger, tenfold, and collapsed toward them like an ocean wave breaking overhead.
The world shook—then a different light flashed.
Purple ripped through the darkness, Subaru's fist splitting the wave clean down the middle like the Red Sea, cursed energy hissing off his skin. The shadows peeled back, writhing away before evaporating.
No hesitation—they ran.
Boots hammered marble, the hall twisting left, then right. Darkness smashed into walls behind them, chunks of stone screaming as they were pulled into nothingness.
"I-It worked!"
Subaru's breath was ragged, his body tight with adrenaline. Another corner, another turn—and then the fork. Up to the trial floor, or down. No time to think.
The choice was made for him.
"Uhrghk—!!?"
A tendril whipped around his shin, yanking him off his feet and into the air. The pull was instantaneous—relentless—as if the darkness itself wanted to drag him into its stomach, he bent to try and pry himself free, but there was no time.
"Master!?"
Shaula's body twisted mid-step. She pivoted hard, hand raised to aim.
"Hell's Snipe!"
The white blast punched clean through the tendril that held Subaru, severing it just as another wave surged from Satella's body. Shaula danced between them, every step tight and calculated, her eyes never leaving Subaru as she closed the gap.
He hit the ground running, pumping his legs. His fists punched through any tendril that darted toward him—but they felt different. Unlike the ones going for Shaula, these didn't aim to kill. They were pulling, herding him.
"—!"
Shaula hissed through her teeth, her side suddenly opening in a deep slash. Blood ran hot down her hip. She didn't falter. Another Hell's Snipe cracked out of her hand before she leapt back, catching Subaru by the shoulder and yanking him with her.
The Witch of Envy was done playing it seemed.
The floor beneath them darkened, ankle-deep, then shin-deep, the liquid shadow boiling upward.
A spike of darkness punched through Shaula's solar plexus. Her breath caught—sharp and silent—but she grinned through clenched teeth. In the same motion, she twisted, hurled Subaru toward the stairs with a force that rattled his bones.
"Master~ you do what you think is right! 'Cause it always is, right~!"
The darkness swallowed her before Subaru even hit the landing.
He didn't look back.
Couldn't.
His legs were machines, pounding the steps. Up, up, up. His chest was on fire, his breath tearing through his throat.
"No… I should just—kill myself. Start over. There's no point, not without Gojo-sensei and…"
The thought had barely formed when his foot hit smooth white flooring.
The vast room stretched empty—except for a lone figure in crimson sat in the center of the empty vastness.
Reid Astrea.
"The fuck're you doin', small fry…? You wastin' my time? Lookin' pathetic. Why're you lookin' so pathetic you? It's pissin' me the he—"
Reid's eyes twitched, his head turning sharply. His stance shifted. The white room bled black, darkness spilling in from every direction like ink on paper, utterly encompassing, drowning the light in darkness.
"Hrrr… the fuck is this? Feels familiar for some reason… the hell have you done, you?"
"What—!? How the shit would I have—"
"Heh. Good fuckin' point, small fry—hrn!?"
A tendril suddenly shot toward him, -fast. Reid sidestepped with almost lazy precision, twisting on his heel. The slash of his stick split the shadow in two—only for the split ends to multiply a hundredfold and lash out toward him.
Reid grinned like a madman as he raised his stick to his side.
"NOW THIS, IS INTERESTIN'!!"
The room exploded into motion. Crimson arcs blurred through the air, Reid carving through the darkness with impossible speed and physical prowess that Subaru's mind couldn't even comprehend. The tendrils responded like a hivemind, multiplying, swarming—hundreds becoming thousands.
Every clash sent shockwaves ripping the air apart, flinging Subaru like a ragdoll until cursed energy wrapped around his body, anchoring him.
"Gahhhk—!"
He had to get out.
This wasn't his fight. It wasn't anyone's fight.
He ran—
Or at least, he thought he was running.
The air itself was a weapon now. A stray shockwave slammed into his cursed energy reinforcement, the impact cracking against his ribs and blasting him sideways. He tumbled across marble, coughing blood, before clawing his way back upright.
A lance of darkness shrieked over his head, close enough to singe hair. For a split second, Reid's crimson blur flashed past—there, then gone, as if he'd never existed at all.
All I have to do is make it to the stairway. Just the stairway. Then I can—
The black floor erupted to his left—
The black wall imploded to his right—
A whip of black slammed down where he'd been standing a heartbeat ago, splitting the darkness below like butter before it refilled the space a flash later.
Reid's laugh barked somewhere in the haze—wild, exhilarated.
"Y'gotta be faster than that, witch!"
Then came the red flash, a slicing arc that sheared through a dozen tendrils in a single swing. Satella didn't flinch. The wounds closed in the same breath they were made, shadows knitting themselves like flesh.
The room stopped feeling like a room. It became a warzone—no up, no down, only blinding movement and deafening collisions.
A wave of darkness slammed toward him. He braced—only for it to bend, curling around him like a snake before snapping shut from behind. He hurled himself forward, but his body was too slow, too heavy compared to the monsters fighting around him.
A thunderclap of impact rattled the air, and Reid's voice was suddenly behind him—
"Move it, small fry you—unless you wanna end up mulch! Not that I really give a shit though, you!"
Before Subaru could even turn, the Sword Saint was gone again, his crimson kimono carving a wide spiral through the swarm. The spiral collapsed almost instantly, darkness surging inward like a collapsing star. The resulting pull nearly tore Subaru off his feet, dragging him toward the center of the clash.
"HYAAAHK!"
Reid's roar split the air—raw, primal—before his form blurred into a hurricane of crimson. He twisted through the tidal wave of tendrils, every step a blur of footwork that carved spirals into the marble. Blades of wind slashed outward in wild arcs, each one cleaving a dozen tendrils at once, spraying them into black mist.
The witch's darkness closed in around him in a hundred directions, yet Reid moved like water, slipping through the smallest gaps, each motion faster, sharper, louder—steel tearing air.
Then, with a sudden, vicious pivot—he sought the opening and lunged.
SHLKKKK—!!
The stick drove through her stomach, the force blasting a crater through the darkness beneath their feet. For the barest instant, her body seemed to shudder—then his grip shifted, and with a brutal heave, he tore the blade upward, splitting her in two from hip to shoulder.
He didn't pause.
The second slash came before her halves even had the chance to seperate—then another, another and another, again and again and again—each one blinding, tearing through her form like paper. The air cracked and wailed under the relentless onslaught, each blow shaking the Tower to its roots.
Her body was a smear of black ichor and unraveling shadow, yet the darkness always closed over the wounds, knitting her together mid-strike.
The cost showed in blood—his blood.
A slash grazed his side—
Another carved deep into his arm—
A tendril swept in from behind, severing one of his limbs with a wet snap before it flew through the air.
But the Sword Saint didn't falter. If anything, he moved faster, he grinned wildly, his blade screaming in the air with each swing.
Red and black clashed in a ceaseless, grinding deadlock. Neither yielded, neither slowed—two otherworldly forces locked in a rhythm so violent it became almost soundless, each strike swallowing the noise of the one before.
Subaru could only watch from where he'd fallen, the fight stretching into something inhuman—less a battle, more an unending collision of will and raw power. His lungs burned, his ears rang, his cursed energy strained to keep his bones from shattering. Every step toward the stairway was erased by another collision.
He saw only fragments:
Reid vanishing and reappearing faster than thought.
Satella's shadows spearing into the ground, the walls, the air.
Shockwaves peeling skin from his arms and breaking bone.
The marble melting into a black sludge that rose ankle-deep, then knee-deep.
Somewhere in the chaos, his path to the stairs simply… stopped existing. The far wall was gone—replaced by an endless horizon of writhing black tendrils.
He froze—not from choice, but because his body was locked in place by sheer, suffocating pressure. The clash above him was too much for his mind to process; even his thoughts were shaking apart.
Then, after dozens of minutes of sheer anarchy, the battle reignited after four hundred years was silent once more.
Reid Astrea was simply gone.
Satella stood alone in the wreckage, her form a patchwork of deep cuts and gashes, each one knitting shut like the tide swallowing footprints in the sand.
Subaru found himself slumped against a wall of darkness—if it was even a wall—blood matting his hair. His breaths were short, wet. His ribs ground against one another inside his chest, each inhale stabbing deeper into torn organs.
Still—he forced his head to rise.
Only to meet her gaze.
Satella was leaning forward, close enough that her breath should've brushed against his skin—if she breathed at all. Both of her hands cupped his cheeks, pale fingers cold as death, locking him in place. Her head tilted ever so slightly, and the pitch-black ocean behind her folded inward, swirling, swallowing, drowning them both.
The world fell away.
It was replaced by a kaleidoscope of agony—moments flashing faster than thought. Things that had happened. Things that shouldn't have happened. Timelines buried and erased, yet preserved perfectly in the void.
"I love you."
The deaths.
"I love you."
The tragedies.
"I love you."
The torment.
"I love you."
Every scream, every broken body, every moment he had clawed and fought and bled only to lose it all in the end—shoved into his mind at once. The weight pressed on his chest until it felt like his ribs would splinter.
It never ends.
Just make it stop—
just make it stop—
just make it stop—
just make it stop—
"...I am... s-sorry..."
The voice cracked—no longer that hollow, mechanical confession. Softer now. Fragile.
Through the black haze, a shape emerged. Long, snow-white hair flowing like silk in water. Eyes—deep, amethyst purple—glistening with tears that ran unchecked down her cheeks.
This wasn't the devouring shadow. This wasn't the thing that tore Gojo apart like paper.
This was the girl. The one he'd made a promise to. The one trapped beneath a curse she could never escape. A person who had been beaten down by misfortune over and over again, just like him.
Only difference was—he had people to stand beside him. She never had.
His grip tightened.
From his palm, Pride's Authority bled into existence—a dagger, jagged and cruel, formed of pure night. Fingers laced tight around the hilt. He raised it, the tip hovering over the soft flesh of his own throat.
"I'll say it as many times… as it takes…" His voice shook, but his eyes burned. "I.. will.. save you."
Her eyes widened.
"--!!"
SHLNKK—!!
A single, wet sound tore through his throat.
The world turned to black.
Natsuki Subaru died once more.
—————————————————————