Even everyone watching could see it: the sick, flushed smile on her face, the feverish excitement that didn't belong on any sane person.
"So warm…"
"Honestly… the warmth of someone's organs is just addictive."
"And if it's you… I bet it'd be even more intoxicating."
The woman lifted the curved blade in her hand, then slowly stuck out her soft pink tongue and licked the blood off her fingers.
"I'm not the kind of person who just opens herself up to others, you know."
Gojo raised a hand and gave her a casual wave.
"But we're pretty similar, aren't we?"
"Don't you think so?"
Under the warehouse lights, the woman could clearly see a wound on his hand, like it had been punctured by something sharp.
But now, that gash was healing at a visible speed.
In the space of a blink, it was completely gone, as if he'd never been hurt at all.
This level of injury only needs a second… and it barely consumes cursed energy.
If that's the case, even a whole arm should take two or three seconds at most.
Ever since getting Reverse Cursed Technique from that "big gift pack," Gojo hadn't really had a proper chance to use it.
Sure, her sudden self-harm attack had been unexpected.
But if he'd wanted to, he could've reacted in time. It was never truly a threat.
That wound existed for only one reason: he'd deliberately allowed it, just to test the effect.
And from what he could tell now…
Not bad.
More than satisfactory.
On top of that, there was a power inside this woman's body that felt eerily similar to the cursed energy of a curse spirit. Because of it, she seemed to possess regeneration.
Perfect.
He could use her to test other applications of Reverse Cursed Technique.
And sure enough—by the time that thought settled, the wound in her abdomen had already fully healed, her skin once again pale, smooth, flawless, with not even the faintest sign she'd ever been injured.
"What… what the hell is that?"
Subaru Natsuki stared at her in disbelief, muttering under his breath.
"She's seriously like a monster."
Old Man Rom scratched his head, fear flashing in his eyes.
With the way she was healing…
Even if she'd taken a direct hit from his club earlier, she probably would've recovered like it was nothing.
But him?
He didn't have anything like that.
"Old Man Rom."
Gojo's voice cut in at that moment.
"If I accidentally break a few things… that's okay, right?"
"Go for it, Gojo kid. As long as you take this bastard down, it's worth the price."
Old Man Rom understood it perfectly.
If Gojo couldn't handle her, then with the murderous intent she'd shown earlier…
Not a single person here would make it out alive.
They wouldn't even be able to buy time.
One-on-one, or even if they teamed up, they were nowhere near her level.
An enemy this terrifying…
Forget a little damage. Even if she tore his entire warehouse apart, it'd still be worth it.
Nothing was more valuable than staying alive.
"You're way more generous than a certain someone."
Gojo turned back, raised both hands over his head, and made a heart shape, clearly implying someone specific.
"At a time like this, can't you focus for once?!"
Felt, who obviously knew he meant her, snapped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Alright, alright."
"Trust me."
"Someone like her isn't my opponent."
"Right?"
Gojo hooked a finger at the woman, smiling.
"I like men like you. Men who let me keep feeling that warmth inside."
"And you? Do you like women like me?"
"My wounds heal instantly. I can fight forever."
"So tell me…"
"Does fighting a woman like me even mean anything?"
She kept talking, voice low and warped, her expression dark and diseased.
The two blades in her hands clashed, spraying sparks, and she lunged again.
But this time, she didn't charge straight in.
Instead, she flickered around Gojo in rapid bursts, circling him.
She was so fast she seemed to turn into an afterimage, all the more ghostlike in the dim warehouse.
"Yeah… I'll admit it. That's kinda annoying."
Gojo sounded almost amused.
"But dealing with your type?"
"That's literally my specialty."
Ignoring her probing strikes, Gojo simply reached his right hand out to the side.
Palm up.
Fingers loosely curled.
A tiny pale-blue spark appeared above his palm.
The moment it formed, it rapidly brightened, flooding half the warehouse in that eerie blue light.
And what was even more shocking—
As the blue glow spread, the piles of junk scattered throughout the warehouse seemed to be tugged by something unseen.
They began to tremble.
"This… is Gojo's power…"
Subaru stared at the scene, remembering what Gojo had told him before.
But compared to saving that child, or dealing with those three thugs…
This was on an entirely different level.
Back then, Gojo had solved everything with a single casual wave.
Now, the scale was overwhelming.
Gojo stared at the blue sphere in his palm, now swollen to the size of his fingertip, and his thoughts shifted.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time since obtaining Reverse Cursed Technique that Gojo was properly combining it with the Cursed Technique he already mastered.
Earlier self-healing had only required him to reverse cursed energy.
But this—
This was a far more refined reversal.
And now…
What he was reversing was his most frequently used Cursed Technique: Blue.
Normally, this technique reinforced cursed energy's negative nature to create an attraction force—what he had explained to Subaru as gravity-like pull.
The trembling junk around the warehouse was proof of it.
But once that technique was reversed…
Everything changed.
As the Cursed Technique flipped—
The familiar blue light vanished.
And after a split-second silence, it transformed into red.
In an instant…
The entire warehouse was swallowed by crimson light.
Gojo's hand moved.
He raised his palm upright, then slowly folded his thumb in.
Then his middle finger…
With every finger he curled, the red glow intensified.
At the same time, a terrifying aura spread through the warehouse.
It was an indescribable pressure.
A suffocating dominance that crushed even the idea of resistance.