Denji's body, as if all its power had been drained, knelt softly to the ground, returning to its ordinary human form (head restored), eyes hollow, on the verge of death. The pull cord on his chest hung limply, completely silent.
Sukuna shook his arm, which was slightly hot from devouring the Chainsaw's primordial essence, and felt the new, violent and chaotic power within him, nodding in satisfaction. The taste of this "dessert" was quite good.
Just then—
Clap... Clap... Clap...
Clear, unhurried applause came from the edge of the battlefield.
Sukuna slowly turned around, his four crimson eyes looking towards the source of the applause.
A young woman wearing the Public Security Anti-Devil Special Division 4 uniform, with shoulder-length cherry-pink hair and golden ringed eyes, slowly emerged from the shadows of a ruin. A gentle yet distant smile was on her face, as if she had just enjoyed a good performance.
Makima, the Control Devil.
"Splendid, truly splendid."
Makima's voice was calm and pleasant, her gaze sweeping over the severely wounded, dying Seven Weapon Humans and the unconscious Denji, without a ripple in her eyes, as if they were merely broken tools.
"As expected of the King of Curses who could kill Gojo Satoru. My 'children' are no match for you at all."
Sukuna observed her, his four eyes narrowing slightly. "You're the little bug playing name tricks? The Control Devil? Your aura is well hidden, I didn't even notice you immediately."
"You flatter me." Makima bowed slightly, her posture elegant.
"Allow me to formally introduce myself, I am Makima, currently serving in the Public Security Anti-Devil Special Division 4. Sukuna-sama, the commotion you have caused in this world has severely disrupted order. The Cabinet hopes I can 'handle' you. The first attempt failed and it seems I ultimately need to appear in person."
"Handle?" Sukuna seemed to have heard something amusing, his mouths simultaneously splitting open to reveal sharp, white teeth.
"With just you? And these broken toys?"
"Of course not just that."
Makima's smile remained unchanged, but in her ringed eyes, golden light began to slowly flow and accelerate. An invisible, intangible, yet soul-penetrating, will-altering absolute power of control quietly permeated from her center.
"I am very curious." Makima took a step forward, her voice possessing a strange allure.
"Why does an existence as powerful as you insist on spreading fear and creating chaos? What do you seek? Battle? Power? Or... a deeper sense of satisfaction?"
Her voice seemed to carry magic, directly striking the heart. "If you are willing, we can cooperate. The Cabinet can offer you far more 'fun' and 'resources' than you have now."
"Fear and chaos are not the only paths, control and order can also bring endless possibilities. With your power, coupled with my methods, we can together shape a more interesting world. What do you think?"
She was probing, tempting, and also unleashing her most fundamental ability—Control!
Not crude commands, but a subtle influence on perception, a distortion of judgment, an implantation of the concept of obedience.
Sukuna listened quietly, his four crimson eyes fixed on Makima without blinking, as if genuinely considering her proposal.
A few seconds later, he suddenly let out a soft "heh".
That laughter was filled with undisguised mockery, disdain, and a boredom that came from seeing through a trick.
"Control? Order? Cooperation?" Sukuna shook his head, as if lamenting her naivety.
"Little girl, you seem to have misunderstood something."
He raised a finger, pointing at Makima, then pointed at the surrounding ruins he had personally destroyed, and the city plunged into panic further away.
"I kill, fight, and spread fear, not for fun, nor for resources, and certainly not to cooperate with anyone to shape some damn world."
His voice turned cold, and his four eyes erupted with a pure and violent desire for destruction.
"It's simply because I want to."
"Because this world has strong ones worth killing, things worth destroying, and toys that can slightly pique my interest."
"As for your so-called control..." Sukuna's lips curled into an extremely cruel arc.
"Do you think a small mental suggestion trick like this can influence my will? Do you think my soul can be easily touched by someone like you, who relies on concepts to gain an advantage?"
He paused, then spoke word by word, each word like a heavy hammer striking Makima's heart, "Your control is ineffective against me."
Makima's control worked on those she subjectively considered weaker than herself, but at this moment, Sukuna prevented Makima from generating even a hint of a thought that she was stronger.
"It's not resistance, it's invalidity. You are too weak. So weak that you don't even have the qualifications to make me serious."
The moment the words fell, Sukuna moved.
He didn't charge at Makima, but raised his four arms, palms up, towards the sky.
"After watching the show for so long, it's time for me to see what real skills you, the Control Devil, have besides talking big and controlling toys."
"Domain Expansion—"
Sukuna's voice, like a doomsday bell, reverberated with a roar over the silent ruins.
"Malevolent Shrine!"
The familiar terrifying Domain descended once more. But this time, the range was smaller, yet its solidity far surpassed before. It completely engulfed Makima and the hundreds of meters of space around her.
Makima's smile finally vanished completely for the first time. Golden light frantically swirled in her ringed eyes, attempting to activate her control ability to influence the Domain or find a weakness.
"Then, game over."
At the center of the Domain, Sukuna stood before the shrine, his four crimson eyes locked onto the tiny Makima below, slowly raising his four arms.
"Let me see how many seconds the so-called Control Devil can last in my kitchen."
"Die."
He gave Makima no chance to react or speak.
The next moment, within the entire Malevolent Shrine, the endless concept of "Slash" came alive, transforming into a destructive torrent that poured down from all directions, up, down, left, right, every possible angle, every inch of space, towards the only "foreign object" within the Domain—Makima!
Makima's pupils contracted to pinpricks. She wanted to dodge, but the omnipresent Sure-Hit rule within the Domain locked her down.
She wanted to defend, but any defense constructed with Cursed Energy or abilities was fragile before this endless torrent of slashing attacks.
She wanted to activate a contract or transfer damage with a sacrifice, but the attacks were too fast, too dense, exceeding the limits of her ability activation.
"I'd like to see what you have left to replace them with, after killing all the people in Japan."
Whoosh!!!
A few seconds later, the Domain slowly dissipated.
The blood-red sky, the earth, the phantom kitchen knives... everything receded like a tide.
The real world returned.
Sukuna still stood on the high platform, his four arms slowly lowering. The phantom wheel above his head slowly rotated, its light seeming to solidify a bit more.
In front of him, where Makima had stood, there was nothing.
No corpse, no flesh, no remnants, not even a trace of soul.
Only an extremely smooth, circular, hollowed-out area, several meters deep, as if cut and polished by the most precise instrument. The ground, rubble, and even air dust within the area had completely vanished, revealing deeper, oddly colored bedrock below.
The Control Devil, Makima.
Within Sukuna's Domain, she was completely, cleanly, and without a single trace of existence—
Erased.
Not even a scream was left behind.
Above the ruins, there was only the whimpering of the night wind blowing across the blank, sunken area, and the crackling of unextinguished flames in the distance.