The air was thick with ash, blood, and death.
The sun had begun to set. Six hours had passed.
And Mei Mei was still alive.
Kenjaku stood amidst the wreckage, his robes torn, blood trickling from his temple—though not his own. His shoulders heaved slightly. His smile, long gone. His expression was carved in pure irritation.
"This is…absurd," he muttered.
Mei Mei lay on the shattered floor like a ragged doll, barely breathing. Her body was no longer human in form—flesh bruised black, joints dislocated, her left leg twisted backwards. Her fingers were broken and her axe was yards away, lodged in a crumbled wall where she had last hurled it in desperation.
And still, even in that wretched state, she moved.
She crawled.
One elbow at a time.
One twitch of her ruined leg after the other.
Her forehead scraped against the blood-slick stone as she dragged herself toward Kenjaku—more specter than sorcerer now.
"You just don't know when to die," Kenjaku snarled, tone half in disbelief, half in scorn. "Why? Why do you persist, Mei Mei?"
She didn't answer.
Her mouth barely parted. Her voice was no more than air:
"…not…done…"
"You're broken." Kenjaku knelt in front of her. "You're finished. You lost."
Mei Mei's head trembled slightly as she forced it up. Her single functioning eye—cracked and bloodshot—met his.
"…no…"
"…as long…as I breathe…"
"…I win…"
She coughed, violently, blood spilling from her lips.
And then…her eyes closed.
In the silence, Kenjaku paused.
The cursed wind blew gently through the ruined chamber. The last light of dusk filtered in through the cracks in the ceiling.
She wasn't moving.
Then—
Her fingers twitched.
She didn't rise. Couldn't.
But her mouth formed one word:
"…Gojo…"
Kenjaku's eye twitched.
"…Utahime…"
She smiled faintly—peaceful.
A memory swam in her fractured mind:
Gojo laughing at something stupid he said, food in his teeth.
Utahime yelling at them both with a red face.
The three of them, walking down the corridor at Jujutsu High in their second year, sunlight at their backs.
Mei Mei's lips barely moved.
"Thank you…for everything."
She knew now: this was it.
She had bought the time.
She had kept Kenjaku stalled.
Even if she could no longer move, she had already won the moment Ui Ui escaped.
She exhaled slowly—
And collapsed.
Face to the floor.
Kenjaku stood over her, jaw clenched, the storm around him silent.
He didn't smile.
He didn't mock.
He simply raised his hand—ready to finish it.