21:15 Fukutoshin line platform - Shibuya

The volcano head curse fled among the panicked crowd, pushing carelessly the scared civilians and throwing one unfortunate boy in hopes of slowing down his assailant. This wasn't supposed to happen, nothing seemed to go according to the plan and now Hanami was dead. A moment was all it took, he deactivated his domain amplification, the only weapon they had against his limitless since it can neutralize any cursed technique, and he got crushed by it. Jogou glanced over his shoulder from time to time, the shaman was still after him with an ominous expression that promised murder as he paced not too far behind. His gaze later found Chouso standing idle amid the non-sorcerers, as always he had to do everything alone. Jogou tried a sneak attack before running away but the attack failed to even come close. That's all he could do now, hide among the humans, hit them with the extension, and then run.

"Chousou! I'll fucking kill you if you don't help !" He shouted to the death painting. On his part, the aforementioned cursed womb product began forming three blood projectiles that he then launched at Gojou.

The projectiles too splashed against the sorcerer's ultimate defense, doing anything but annoying him. Keeping their distance while taking cover behind the civilians, resorting to long-ranged attacks... it may work for now, but the non-sorcerers were starting to avoid standing in his way, once enough people scatter he'll be able to get Mt. Fuji. However, if the cursed spirit and the physical embodiment of a Kusozu painting decided to cooperate in a large-scale attack on the crowd, it'd be troublesome. In the coldest mindset he could manage, he still felt sorry for those he wouldn't be able to save. Despite that, Gojou held on to his firm conviction that he'd exorcize every one of them, no matter the cost in human lives.

The acute screeches of the brakes alerted the shaman, turning to his right he saw a halting train in front of the platform. The civilians, seeing it as their way out of Hell, began to push each other in the hope of escaping the massacre. One in particular, a young adult with blond hair of robust constitution, managed to pass through the crowd until the carriage's doors. Exalted he gave a look inside, accidently locking eyes with something he thought belonged into a nightmare. A creature of inhumane characteristics stared back at him, its breath turning to condensation on the glass. To make matters worse, his gaze involuntarily shifted along the carriage, and he saw another of these monsters and another... and another... the train was full of fiends.

The doors came apart without warning, what followed made even a seasoned sorcerer like Gojou sick to his stomach. If before the casualties were somewhat contained, this was an authentic bloodbath. Panic ensued within the metro station as the monsters were let loose among the civilians, mowing down whoever was at range.

Gojou watched the scene play before his eyes petrified to his core, The whole point of having gathered such an amount of hostages was to use them as a human shield against his domain expansion, cutting down the numbers would only go to their disadvantage. He soon noticed a new cursed spirit had entered the scene and fast approaching him on top of an elongated monstrosity. The human curse then jumped off and threw a jab at the shaman. Once again, the limitless stopped the attack from even reaching but that seemed to exhilarate the curse even more.

The patchface laughed, "I really can't hit you," his voice just as deranged as he looked. Gojou had no doubt, he was the one whom Yuji and Nanami had encountered some time ago, the one Gabriele found inside the school at the exchange event. "Let me share one thing I find so disgusting about humans... there's so many of them." As if on command, the roots that closed off the atrium opened up, dozens upon dozens of non-sorcerers falling on the railway like water coming down the drain, the sorcerer could hardly believe it, it was as if they were dumping the entirety of Shibuya inside the metro station, almost certainly there were curses or curse users upstairs pushing them in the precipice. Mahito and Chousou unleashed their might upon the crowd, killing whoever was standing near Gojou, the sole surviving the slaughter. Dodging Jogou's sneak attack the sorcerer grabbed his arm but the curse tore it before he could do anything to him.

The situation was overwhelming, the white-haired man stood still amid the chaos, red blood soaking the soles of his shoes. One thing Mahito noticed about the man was that, unlike Itadori, his teacher was willing to make sacrifices in order to exorcize them. Seeing how more and more human lives were getting snuffed, Gojou was close to his breaking point where he had to resort to his domain, unlimited void... this, however, would mean everyone in B5F would fall victim to it and perish, so the strongest shaman alive had his back up against the wall.

It lasted in total 299 seconds, in the span of which Gojou was able to exterminate approximately one thousand transfigured humans released within the wall of the metro station as a result of his trump card, the all-or-nothing, 0.2-second domain expansion. An educated guess, really... one the man had theorized was the time a non-sorcerer could withstand inside his domain without suffering irreversible consequences.

The shaman let out a sigh of exhaustion, holding the heads of two monsters he effortlessly severed, one in each hand. With the tail of his eyes, he saw a cubic object stop not far from him.

"Prison Realm... open gate."

The white cube cracked wide open, almost towering over the stunned Gojou. Within it, a mound of flesh connecting the four parts with a large eye at its center, staring back into his blue irides. Instinct told him to step back from the danger, that was until he glanced at the walking corpse of his late best friend he thought he had put to rest a year ago. Memories of three years of his youth came flashing by, nothing else existed besides him and the long-haired monk. Gojou looked at the ghost of his past with disbelief, his body, his cursed energy, everything his six eyes could detect told him he was indeed Suguru Geto. His soul, however, told him otherwise.

"Yo, Satoru! Long time no see."

Present - Fukutoshin line, midway to Shibuya

"Satoru Gojou has been sealed." Mechamaru sounded prophetic as he uttered those words full of dread. Obviously, such affirmations were met with incredulity by the group, Mei Mei especially found it hard to trust the tiny coin puppet. "I'm sorry I do not have any proof to support my claim, but the fact that I'm here should be good enough," it began with its explanation: "I've already been killed on October 19 by a special grade curse called Mahito. What I am now is nothing more than a contingency plan I'd orchestrated before I died that activates in case Satoru Gojou got sealed. I limited the number of these puppets to three to avoid any malfunctions, all of which are positioned in three different locations. Itadori, and thus Mei Mei by default, out of all the sorcerers at Tokyo High you're the least likely to be moles."

"Why me?" the woman asked.

"Because you were sent here in Meiji-Jingumae instead of Shibuya. As for Itadori, he didn't have any connection with the JuJutsu world until a few months ago." Said Mechamaru, though Mei Mei wasn't completely convinced yet.

"What if I was just refusing to follow orders? Besides, I'm the one trying to stop Itadori despite his determination to come to Shibuya. regardless of the order to stay on standby." Itadori noticed something about the grade one sorcerer, by the tone of her voice he could almost think that she couldn't care less about the situation unless it either involved money or her little brother. Despite that, the teen held the hope that she could do the right thing. even without monetary compensation.

"Then why are there curse users heading over to kill you?" Both sorcerers immediately turned around alarmed, behind them was just an empty, dark tunnel. But that was just appearance: One, maybe two of them, Itadori. Are they stronger than the curse you fought earlier?" Mei inquired, Yuji responded affirmatively. Standing on what the boy had said, the grasshopper curse, albeit not very skilled, was still able to communicate, thus putting it automatically among the semi-first grade or above. However. Saving Gojou was the higher priority, the curse users could wait until after they checked on him.

"No!" Yelled Mechamaru, "The situation in Shibuya has changed. The barrier techniques they're using are far superior to ours. Currently, there are four curtains around Shibuya: the innermost and the outermost block the civilians inside them, the second closest to the center traps Satoru Gojou while the third is inaccessible to sorcerers."

"So there's a curtain like the third blocking the way through the tracks farther along?" Ui Ui asked.

"Yes. The sorcerers on stand-by are probably inside a curtain already. You can't use your phone while inside one of them." Me Mei then confirmed it as she tried to contact the assistant manager outside of the perimeter. The late puppet master demanded the group to listen to his plan, the woman was reluctant at first, it took a bit of persuasion from the teen to actually heed Mechamaru's idea: "The contingency will soon wear off. Itadori, head back to Meiji-Jingumae and then to Shibuya above ground, informing our allies about Gojou is a must. Mei-san, please open a way for Itadori to get through. Once you're done with the curse users I'd like you to manage things down here."

"I'll do my best to adapt. By the way, is your bank account not frozen yet?" The woman half-jokingly mentioned.

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry to ask you to put your lives on the line but if Satoru Gojou disappears, both the Jujutsu and the human world will be upended." Mechamaru used to think he was okay with the world burning when he first received Geto and Mahito in his cramped room in Kyoto to stipulate their binding vow. The revenant immediately relinquished the thought in shame, how low he had stepped in. But what had accursed him for his entire life, now was giving the chance to provide aid to those still alive in these trying times, to redeem himself at least in part for the grave mistakes he so thoughtlessly committed, and to make amends with the person he loved most while his heart was still able to beat. Gojou's rescue needs to be a collaborative effort, every inch of help they can get their hands on is going to be necessary, even from those you would least expect.

Something has happened

Gabriele lifted his gaze off the ground at the sound of the Entity's voice interrupting his looping thoughts. His immediate response was to hush the spirit, with the Empyreans standing a meter away from him he was afraid even the slightest misstep like engaging in a conversation could pick up the attention of the much more sensitive exorcists and reveal their presence to them. 'Be quiet...' he spoke to them harshly, so as to end the thing there as he had no will to continue, but the curse residing inside him was so persistent.

I feel an enormous void like something of great magnitude just vanished out of nowhere

His attention instantly moved to the curtain looming over the horizon. Various suspects began rising in his mind, from which he quickly formulated two hypotheses, but first, he had to clear some doubts. 'Can you perceive what's happening inside the curtain?" The answer was negative, what they could perceive however was the cursed energy residual exuding into the atmosphere from the curtain. A battle was surely happening within the barrier, but a huge amount of cursed energy suddenly disappearing like that? That was unheard of. The hypotheses were: a) Gojou managed to solve the situations on his own by exorcizing all the cursed spirits present in Shibuya; b) Gojou has either been killed or incapacitated in some way.

The first sounded immediately off, if the sorcerer really managed to exorcize everyone in the district, then the veil should have been lifted by now. One thing the Entity had said earlier made him lean begrudgingly toward the latter...

The scales have obtained perfect equilibrium

Stories he had heard throughout his years of curse hunting told him that the mere existence of Satoru Gojou tipped the balance heavily in the sorcerers' favor. To compensate for such dislevel, more and more high-leveled curses began appearing. So, if the latter should be proved to be the truth, the two factions will now play on even ground. The only way to find out was to cross the barrier and see for himself.

"New orders have been dispatched!" Kimura notified the exorcists."The transfigured humans inside the curtain are now attacking the civilians. Furthermore, the sudden appearance of a new curtain blocking sorcerers from interfering has become our main concern. Since the situation is getting worse than we anticipated, all teams are advised to end their standby and enter the barrier." Upon hearing the new directives, the Empyreans sort of activated themselves from their slumber, like automatons booting their system they slowly rose from the ground.

"There's anything we need to know about these transfigured humans?" The assistant hesitated a bit because of the templar's stature.

"They may have the aspects of curses, but as the name gives out, they're just altered walking corpses," Gabriele said as he kept his eyes low, "their cursed energy is just surface-level, exorcizing them with divine essence is pointless and wasteful." He grimaced at the memory of the day of the incursion, he remembered perfectly the sensation of his foot sinking into the smashed cranium of that monstrosity repeatedly. Shoko told him while he was staying in the clinic that they did not survive the trauma of the transformation, that what remained were just echoes of the person they were. As if that would justify that moment he had lost control.

"I need a weapon." he pleaded to his superiors.

The taller Empyrean stood silent for a few seconds before turning around, towards the curtain. "If there isn't anything else, then we may as well proceed..." They then started walking away, leaving the two youngsters by themselves to refer something to their comrade.

"Looks like the time has come." Kimura told him with a half smile. The exorcist nodded, he had come to enjoy the little banter they had, it helped ease his nerves in the wake of what could be the mother of all cursed conflicts. Though he wanted to say some words to the assistant before going inside. "I came up with the names... Romulus and Remus, the founding fathers of Rome. Does that pick your interest?" Gabriele proposed. The glint in Kimura's eyes was something as priceless as his smile, the foreigner felt a bit envious he managed to maintain this childlike joy, but he was happy for him nevertheless...

It was quick, faster than Gabriele could perceive or react, but as the drops of blood finally hit the skin of his face, that was the moment that he felt like his entire world shattered right before his eyes. The assistant's words remained stuck in his throat as a sword was plunged through his chest. Not a cry, not a weep, only the sound of air leaving his lungs as a result of the sudden backstabbing, not enough time was given to him to yell out the pain or even register in his mind. The ill-tempered Empyrean standing behind their victim, Remus, whom he had decided to call them, showed no remorse as they extracted the blade off Kimura by pushing the weakened man with their leg. Gabriele's reaction did not wait any longer, immediately he rushed to the adult's side, looking with apprehension at the open gash right over where his heart should be. His hands paused over it, uncertain of what to do until a cough brought him back to earth.

"Nikkō..." He whispered so low the exorcist could barely hear. His stare was one of defeat, of someone who already accepted their fate. "The town I grew up in... it's a beautiful place, you know...? A beautiful place..." Kimura kept going despite the blood pooling in his mouth, perhaps delirious from the hemorrhage he didn't even try to make eye contact.

Then he watched the muscles of his neck relax, the back of his head hit the ground to never move again, his dark eyes turned cold, losing the light of life permanently.

Gabriele was immobile, staring at the lifeless body with no clear expression in face. By the time he got up, Remus had already taken his place next to their comrade, Romulus, as Kimura would have addressed them, looking over the Seraph pacing towards them with tight fists, his gaze had a mix of anger, sadness but most of all... Hatred.

"Why the hell have you done that?! He had no part in this!" He barked his fury to his superiors.

"And?" Romulus responded, shocking the younger exorcist. Without being seen, Remus closed in on Gabriele and hit him on the face with the pommel of their longsword, knocking his balance out and temporarily bringing him to his knee. "Me parece que alguien olvidó por qué él fue enviado aquí," The towering Empyrean made his way to the downed teen and grabbed him by his black locks, rising to their eye-level. Gabriele saw the templar had the walkie-talkie in his hand, "Esta es guerra, mijo. Once you take a side, no matter how small your contribution is, you will suffer the consequences. Always." They then let the device drop and proceeded to crush it under their foot. The youngster felt a sudden wave of fear, too sudden to feel genuine, unnatural, as if someone imposed on him to feel this way. Even as he stood up after Romulus eased the grip on his hair, his movements, his walk felt outside of his own control like a puppeteer commanding each and every limb to their liking. Together they marched towards the barrier and, the moment they were about to cross the dark cloak, Remus uttered a sentence that sounded like a divination.

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here."