The moment Sukuna returned from Hell, he happened to see the entire Japanese archipelago glowing.
Not light in the physical sense, but Cursed Energy. Cursed Energy so massive it was immeasurable, so pure it was soul-shaking, was being forcibly extracted and gathered from every inch of soil, every building, and every living body in this land.
Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Kyoto, Osaka... every city, every village.
On the streets, people suddenly stopped in their tracks, looking blankly at their hands. Their bodies, starting from their fingertips, turned into dots of golden light particles, drifting and rising into the sky.
There were no screams, no struggling, they didn't even realize what was happening. Before their consciousness dissipated, a massive and gentle intent enveloped them.
It was the will of Tengen.
No, it wasn't just Tengen.
Deep beneath Tokyo, in the deepest part of the Tombs of the Star Corridor. Kenjaku stood before Tengen's main body—that massive barrier core covered in eyes and mouths. He spread his arms, his face filled with a near-holy fanaticism for a millennium-old wish about to be fulfilled.
"Using a thousand-year layout as the catalyst."
"Using hundreds of millions of lives as the fuel."
"The perfect, evolved, ultimate Curse—Great Cursed Spirit Tengen."
The whole of Japan, 120 million people. Their lives, their souls, their existence, at this moment, were sacrificed by the nation-spanning super composite barrier Kenjaku had arranged for a thousand years.
Endless light rose from the earth and merged into the sky, forming a massive, slowly rotating Cursed Energy vortex covering the entire archipelago.
At the center of the vortex, Tengen's main body was devouring, merging, and evolving.
The pinnacle of Barrier Techniques, the Cursed Energy of hundreds of millions of lives, the negative emotions accumulated over a millennium, and the omnipresent evolutionary possibilities left by the rules of Sukuna's Idle Transfiguration...
Finally, appearing before Sukuna's eyes was no longer that bloated, static barrier core but an indescribable, massive, fluid existence radiating soft golden light and endless majesty, like both god and demon.
Great Cursed Spirit Tengen.
Its form was constantly changing, sometimes like a giant of light covering the world, sometimes like a geometric body of nested barriers, and sometimes like a gentle and compassionate holy icon composed of hundreds of millions of human faces.
It had no eyes, but Sukuna could feel that the entire Japanese archipelago, no, the entire surface layer of the Earth, was under its gaze.
"Welcome back, Sukuna."
Kenjaku's voice sounded from within the Great Cursed Spirit, but it was no longer just his will, but a brand-new collective consciousness formed after merging with Tengen.
"Thank you for the 'key' you left behind, allowing Tengen and me to complete the final evolution. Now, we are one."
"The collection of Cursed Energy, the incarnation of barriers, the end and rebirth of life."
"We will reshape this planet, creating a perfect world without death, without pain, where all things are harmonious and eternally still."
Sukuna floated above the Pacific Ocean, looking at this "Great Cursed Spirit" before him, which was nearly half the size of Japan and radiated divine brilliance.
He was silent for a few seconds. Then, he laughed.
"Hahahahahaha! Kenjaku! Tengen! You two lunatics! No, should I call you... the lunatic fusion now?"
He laughed so hard he doubled over, his four arms pounding his knees.
"Perfect world? Eternal stillness? Harmony?"
"Boring to the extreme."
Sukuna's voice suddenly deepened, carrying an unquestionable arrogance.
"This place is my playground."
"The bugs here, only I can kill."
"The rules here, only I can set."
"You, an inferior product patched together by stealing someone else's key and sacrificing bugs..."
He bared his teeth, revealing his fangs. "You think you're worthy to stand here and spout nonsense about changing my playground?"
The form of "Great Cursed Spirit Tengen" fluctuated slightly, and the compassionate expressions of the hundreds of millions of faces showed a hint of confusion for the first time.
"Sukuna, you cannot understand. This is evolution, this is sublimation, this is—"
"Shut up." Sukuna interrupted.
"I am bored. This farce should end."
He spread his four arms, and his body began to expand.
The mark of the King of Hell appeared behind him—it was the new authority he had obtained after devouring, merging, and ruling over the entirety of Hell.
The essence of the King of Curses boiled within him—it was the pure evil and strength accumulated over a millennium, originating from humanity's deepest fears.
"Last question for you, you fused lunatic."
Sukuna's body had already expanded to the size of a mountain, dark red Cursed Energy swirling around him like a solar corona, standing toe-to-toe with the golden radiance of the "Great Cursed Spirit."
"Can your 'Perfect Barrier' withstand Hell?"
The next moment, Sukuna and the Great Cursed Spirit, Tengen moved at the same time.
Sukuna lunged forward, using his body, will, and the unshakable existence itself, crowned by both "Hell" and "Curse."
The Great Cursed Spirit, Tengen deployed countless layers of absolute barriers, each layer capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion, each imbued with the laws of "Rejection," "Purification," and "Stasis."
Sukuna smashed through them. One layer, two layers, ten layers, a hundred layers...
He was like a red-hot meteorite crashing into layers of delicate soap bubbles. The sound of the barriers shattering merged into a grand and tragic wail.
Great Cursed Spirit Tengen flew into a rage. It no longer maintained that compassionate posture. Countless human faces shrieked silently in unison, and the golden radiance became blinding and scorching, as if to purify all that was unclean.
It reached out a massive golden arm, formed from countless rays of light and resembling that of a god, swiped at Sukuna.
Sukuna did not dodge or evade, he clenched all four of his arms into fists and met the attack head-on.
BOOM!!!
The shockwave from the collision instantly evaporated and displaced the seawater for hundreds of kilometers below, exposing the pitch-black seabed. The Pacific Ocean was like a lake into which a massive boulder had been thrown, kicking up a ring-shaped tsunami a thousand meters high that surged outward in all directions.
And that was just the aftermath. The true battlefield was no longer on Earth.
Sukuna grabbed one of the Great Cursed Spirit's arms and smashed through the atmosphere.
He said, "Let's go somewhere more spacious. I hate being restricted."
They entered space. There was no air, no sound, only absolute silence and a tidal wave of absolute energy.
Sukuna's four arms transformed into the most violent weapons. Every strike, imbued with the resentment of Hell and the corrosion of the Curse, tore open wounds on the Great Cursed Spirit's golden body that could not heal and bled darkness.
The Great Cursed Spirit was also counterattacking. Its Barrier authority displayed a more terrifying form in space—it could define space, cutting, folding, compressing, and solidifying the space around Sukuna. It could tamper with the rules, causing the flow of Cursed Energy within Sukuna to lag and forcing his attacks off course.
But Sukuna did not care. His way of fighting was simple, brutal, and effective.
Use brute force to tear space apart.
Use malice to pollute the rules.
Use existence itself to negate every definition imposed upon him.
He was a Curse, a calamity, a will purely born for destruction. Any order, rule, or barrier was merely a toy waiting to be smashed before him.
Their battle moved through the solar system.
With one punch, a crater a hundred kilometers in diameter appeared on the surface of the moon.
With one kick, the orbit of Mars shifted slightly.
With one collision, hundreds of wandering rocks in the asteroid belt vanished.
Finally, they fought near the sun. The terrifying heat, radiation, and gravity were like a gentle breeze to these two beings.