Inside the subway car, the lights flickered, illuminating the ordinary people who filled the carriage, still shaken.
Maki Zen'in tightly gripped her long sword, but her gaze remained fixed on the darkness outside the carriage.
There, Rin's figure was sometimes clear, sometimes shrouded by thick shadows. Every time the shadows surged, her heart clenched.
She could not see the illusion created by the Cursed Spirit, but she could clearly feel that Rin's condition was worsening.
When Rin repelled the phantom just now, the sharp Cursed Energy around him could still be felt through the darkness. But now, that Cursed Energy was fluctuating, and a hint of disorder could even be vaguely detected.
Especially the moment the Cursed Spirit consumed the man and its aura surged, Rin's figure clearly paused, as if he had been struck in a vital spot.
"No, if this continues, he'll be in danger!"
Cold sweat beaded on Maki Zen'in's palms, and the fingers gripping the hilt of the sword turned white from the effort.
She was well aware of her own state; after leaving the protection of Rin's [Hymn of Prayer], the domain's power of fear was still eroding her consciousness. But even so, she couldn't just watch Rin fall into peril alone.
Without hesitation, Maki Zen'in turned and prepared to rush out of the carriage.
The long sword traced a cold gleam in the light. She had already decided that even if she couldn't defeat the Cursed Spirit, she could at least distract it and buy Rin some time to catch his breath.
But the moment her foot stepped out of the carriage door, a cold, hard hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Ugh!"
Maki Zen'in whipped her head around, only to see a completely black stone statue standing behind her.
It was the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Gargoyle left by Rin! Its stone hand was rough and powerful, firmly gripping Maki Zen'in's wrist, remaining completely motionless no matter how much she struggled.
Next to the Gargoyle, Tamamo-no-Mae was elegantly leaning against the carriage wall.
It raised its eyes to look at Maki Zen'in. There was no emotion in its pupils, yet it carried an undeniable sense of oppression:
"Don't go."
"Let go of me! Rin is about to collapse!"
Maki Zen'in's eyes were red with urgency. She tried to draw her long sword with her other hand, but the Gargoyle's strength was astonishing. Her wrist was throbbing painfully, and she couldn't move at all.
The Gargoyle did not speak, merely shaking its head slowly.
Its stone face was expressionless, but it continuously looked toward Rin's direction, its eyes holding a trust that was almost devout.
It was telling Maki Zen'in: Do not disturb the Master; the Master can handle it himself.
Maki Zen'in was stunned.
She looked at the Gargoyle's resolute posture, then at Tamamo-no-Mae's confident demeanor, and a complex emotion suddenly surged in her heart.
She knew these two Special Grade Cursed Spirits were Rin's capable assistants, and that they understood Rin's strength better than she did. But the thought of Rin facing the Cursed Spirit's attack alone in the darkness left her uneasy.
"But his condition is worsening! Can't you feel it?"
Maki Zen'in's voice trembled slightly:
"That Cursed Spirit has grown stronger, and he's alone..."
"The Master has his own plan."
Tamamo-no-Mae finally spoke, its voice soft yet powerful:
"He left us here to protect the people in the carriage, and also to ensure no one disturbs him. If you go out now, you won't help him; you'll only distract him, and that's not what he wants."
Just as the words fell, a loud noise suddenly erupted from the darkness outside the carriage.
The pitch-black shadows converged like a tide toward one direction. Clearly, the Cursed Spirit had launched a new round of attacks.
Maki Zen'in's heart instantly leaped to her throat. Subconsciously, she was about to rush out again, but the Gargoyle's hand clenched even tighter.
She looked at the Gargoyle's blank expression, then at the ordinary people in the carriage who were looking at her dependently, and finally, she slowly released her grip on the long sword.
She knew Tamamo-no-Mae was right. Rin had his reasons for his choice. All she could do now was trust him and guard this place he was actively protecting.
"Fine, I won't go out."
Maki Zen'in took a deep breath, her gaze becoming resolute again. "But if he is in any danger, I will rush out, and it won't matter if you try to stop me."
The Gargoyle seemed to understand her words and slowly loosened its grip.
Silence returned inside the carriage. Only the sound of Cursed Energy clashing from outside continued to remind them that the battle of fear and courage in the darkness was still ongoing.
In the depths of the darkness, Rin was facing the Cursed Spirit's attack, walking step by step toward the core of the illusion.
He didn't know everything that was happening inside the carriage, but he could vaguely sense the familiar power of Cursed Energy belonging to the Gargoyle and Tamamo-no-Mae coming from behind him.
A new wave of illusion, like a rising tide, instantly engulfed Rin.
There was no bloody battlefield, no hideous phantoms, only the familiar musty smell of an old stairwell entering his nostrils.
When he came back to his senses, his feet were already stepping on mottled cement ground. Before him was the wall of an Old Residential Community covered in ivy. The character "Demolish" written in red paint on the wall had long faded, revealing the yellowed bricks beneath.
Rin's pupils suddenly contracted.
This was his home in his previous life. The Old Residential Community where he had lived for a long time and never left until he transmigrated.
The mottled unit door, the peeling paint on the stair railing, and even the pile of old furniture in the corner that no one had cleaned—everything was exactly as he remembered.
He instantly understood the Cursed Spirit's goal. This monster, which fed on fear, had actually dug out the memory he had hidden deepest, the one he didn't dare to easily touch.
Without hesitation, Rin lifted his foot and walked toward the unit door.
The metal door hinge emitted a grating "creak," as if striking his taut nerves.
His steps were steady, yet his fingertips were uncontrollably cold. The closer he got to the building, the more intense the panic in his heart became, like a hand gently tugging at his heart, making his breathing heavy.
Inside the Divine Tree Space, Sukuna's phantom fully straightened his body, his scarlet vertical pupils filled with confusion.
He couldn't see the illusion before Rin, but he could clearly sense Rin's emotional fluctuations—a complex mix of nostalgia, fear, and confusion, completely different from the panic he showed when facing Suguru Geto's phantom before.
"What exactly is this kid afraid of?"
Sukuna frowned, the confusion in his heart deepening.
He could perceive Rin's memory fragments, but he had never seen a scene like this: unfamiliar buildings, an unfamiliar environment, and even the scent in the air carried a sense of detachment that did not belong to this world.
Rin had reached the third floor.
The slightly ajar security door was the same as in his memory. A loop of old hemp rope was still wrapped around the doorknob—something he had wrapped specifically for grip in his previous life.
His hand hovered over the doorknob. The chill from his fingertips transmitted through the hemp rope, and his heart felt clenched, causing even his fingertips to tremble slightly.
Finally, he pushed the door open.
The room was covered in thick dust. Sunlight streamed through the dusty window, casting a pillar of light onto the floor, where floating dust motes were clearly visible.
The old sofa in the living room was still there. On the coffee table lay a half-empty bottle of cola he hadn't finished, its body already oxidized and black. The old television on the TV cabinet was covered with a patterned cloth, the design of which had faded beyond recognition.
Everything remained exactly as it was on the day he transmigrated, as if time had frozen here.
Rin walked straight toward the bedroom.
The door panel still had the anime poster he had put up when he was a child, its edges already curled.
He took a deep breath and suddenly pushed open the bedroom door—the next second, his breathing abruptly stopped.
In the cramped bedroom, a single bed rested against the wall. The blue checkered blanket he had used before transmigrating was spread on the bed, pressed down into the outline of a human figure.
And inside the blanket lay a shriveled corpse.
The corpse was facing away from him, its physique identical to his own in his previous life. Dry fingers were exposed outside the blanket, with traces of dust clinging to the nail beds.
On the nightstand lay the old cell phone he used in his previous life. The screen was shattered, but it was still in the charging position.
That was his pre-transmigration self.
It was the Rin who lay in bed scrolling on his phone that night and woke up in this world.
Rin's steps felt like they were filled with lead as he shuffled, step by step, toward the bed.
His body trembled uncontrollably. His throat felt blocked by cotton, preventing him from speaking a complete sentence.
This scene of looking at his own "corpse" was more terrifying than any bloody illusion; it was a denial of "existence," a questioning of everything he had experienced since transmigrating.
He stretched out his hand, his fingertips about to touch the blanket, when suddenly.
"Pfft!"
A cold sensation came from his abdomen, and sharp pain instantly swept through his entire body.
Rin abruptly looked down, only to see the "self" in the illusion had flipped over. Its shriveled face was expressionless, its eye sockets deep and black with no eyeballs. A withered hand was plunged into his abdomen, its fingertips probing deeper.
Outside the illusion, Maki Zen'in inside the subway car had gone frantic.
She clung to the window, looking at Rin in the darkness, her voice hoarse from shouting:
"Rin! Be careful!"
The Shadow Cursed Spirit had appeared before Rin. Its body was twisted into a mass of pitch-black mist. A thick tentacle, shaped like a blade, pierced through Rin's abdomen, carrying viscous Cursed Energy, and was about to puncture his heart.
Another tentacle reached toward Rin's head, ready to crush his skull in just one more second.
The Gargoyle firmly pressed down on Maki Zen'in's shoulder, while Tamamo-no-Mae's pupils were filled with solemnity.
Inside the Divine Tree Space, Sukuna's breathing also paused for a moment. He stared intently at Rin's figure, and a trace of unprecedented excitement actually rose in his heart—was this brat really going to fall here?
But the next second, everyone was stunned.
The Rin in the illusion suddenly raised his hand and firmly grabbed the withered arm plunged into his abdomen.
Simultaneously, the real Rin suddenly looked up. His blood-red [Sharingan] lit up in the darkness like two burning flames, fixed intently on the Shadow Cursed Spirit behind him.
"Got you."
Rin's voice was frigid, devoid of any warmth. The wound in his abdomen was still bleeding, yet he acted as if he felt no pain:
"With only this much skill, you dare to play tricks in front of these eyes?"
The Shadow Cursed Spirit completely panicked.
It tried to retract its tentacle, but found that Rin's hand was gripping it like an iron clamp, making it impossible to pull out.
What terrified it more was that the Cursed Energy around its body suddenly became sluggish. Silver-white light emanated from Rin, and the power of the [Hymn of Prayer] trapped it firmly like an invisible net, preventing it from mobilizing even a trace of Cursed Energy.
The power it relied on, drawn from Rin's fear, was dissipating at a visible rate.
"Th-This is impossible!"
The Cursed Spirit's voice trembled. It tried to hide in the darkness again, but found that the darkness seemed frozen, completely unable to accommodate its body.
"There is nothing impossible."
Rin slowly stood up. He violently tore off the tentacle in his abdomen, splattering black Cursed Energy blood everywhere:
"From the moment you produced the phantom of Geto Suguru, I knew you could read my fear."
The red light of his [Sharingan] intensified, reflecting the Cursed Spirit's twisted figure in his eyes:
"That's why, from the moment I walked into this 'Previous Life Residence,' I was waiting for you to reveal yourself.
I have already deciphered your Cursed Technique. You grow stronger by feeding on the fear of others, but once the fear is fake, your power becomes a joke."
It turned out that from the moment he saw the "Previous Life Corpse," Rin had already become completely sober.
He deliberately showed panic, deliberately making the Cursed Spirit think he was defeated, all to make it drop its guard and approach him.
"Now, let me make you feel it too."
Rin's lips curled into a cold arc. The red light of the [Sharingan] instantly surged. "An eye for an eye. This is what you owe me."
Before he finished speaking, the red light surged toward the Cursed Spirit like a tide. The Cursed Spirit's Cursed Technique was then doubled and applied back onto the Cursed Spirit itself under the enhancement of the Sharingan.
....
50 Power Stones For Bonus Chapter
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