Chapter 99: October 31st, The Descending Veil
October 31, 2018. 7:00 PM.
Halloween night.
Shibuya should have been drowning in neon, noise, and celebration.
Instead, it descended into panic.
A massive black Veil dropped from the sky without warning.
Not one.
Four.
Layer upon layer, they sealed off the entire Shibuya district, enclosing it like a monstrous iron cage and cutting it off completely from the outside world.
"What's going on? My phone has no signal!"
"What is this black stuff? Some kind of special effect?"
"We can't get out! The subway exits are blocked!"
"Help! I want to go home!"
The tens of thousands trapped inside the Veil fell into chaos at once.
Panic spread faster than fire.
The packed intersection turned into a living nightmare in seconds. People screamed, shoved, and trampled over one another, desperately trying to break through the invisible barrier.
It was useless.
The Veil was unyielding, and worse, it carried a cruel rule, ordinary people could enter, but they could not leave.
Then, above the dark barrier, blood-red words slowly appeared.
Bring Satoru Gojo here.
It was a threat made in the most direct way possible.
Using tens of thousands of lives as leverage to force the strongest sorcerer alive onto the stage.
"Quite the production."
On the rooftop of a high-rise near Shibuya Station, Yami stood at the edge, his coat snapping in the violent wind.
Transparent World opened.
The city before him turned clear.
He saw the frightened masses crammed inside the Veil. He saw the curses lurking among them like maggots in rotten flesh. And beyond that, hidden deeper in the shadows, he saw the special grade cursed spirits waiting in silence for their prey to step into the trap.
Jogo.
Hanami.
Dagon.
None of them bothered to conceal their presence. If anything, they were flaunting it.
A challenge.
A provocation.
But what drew Yami's attention most was what he did not see.
Mahito was nowhere on the main battlefield.
"Has everyone moved into place?"
Yami's eyes narrowed.
"It looks like Kenjaku really intends to make this one count."
Behind him, the core combat group had already gathered.
Kento Nanami.
Megumi Fushiguro.
Takuma Ino.
Mei Mei.
Every face was grim.
They all understood the same thing. What began tonight would become the bloodiest conflict the jujutsu world had seen in years.
"Where's Gojo-sensei?"
Megumi was the one who asked. The black Divine Dog at his side bared its teeth and growled low in its throat, uneasy.
"He's already inside!"
Kiyotaka Ijichi came running toward them, drenched in sweat, his voice shaking as he clutched his communicator.
"Mr. Gojo went in alone just now!"
"And he refused to let any of the Assistant Supervisors follow him. He said we'd just get in the way!"
As expected.
That was Satoru Gojo.
He knew it was a trap.
He knew the enemy had prepared a killing move just for him.
And he still walked straight in, alone, because backing down was never part of his nature.
Since the main actor had taken the stage, the rest of the play could begin.
"Then it's our turn."
Yami turned, his gaze sweeping across the group.
His eyes were cold and sharp.
"Follow the plan."
He looked at Nanami first.
"Nanami-san, take your team to the outer perimeter of Shibuya Station. Evacuate civilians where you can and clear out any low-level curses that break through."
Nanami gave a quiet nod.
Then Yami turned to Mei Mei.
"Miss Mei Mei, keep your crows in the air. I want constant updates on movement inside and outside the Veil."
Mei Mei smiled faintly, amused even now.
"Understood. That part's simple enough."
"Megumi."
Megumi straightened.
"You're with Maki. Stay mobile and support wherever the line starts to crack."
Megumi nodded without hesitation.
"And me..."
Yami's fingers brushed lightly over the hilt of Shiranui. A thin, blood-cold glint flashed through his eyes.
"I'll remain in the shadows."
His voice dropped.
"And watch for Kenjaku."
He looked back toward the barrier hanging over the city.
"If he dares show himself..."
The air around him seemed to sharpen.
"I'll cut his damned head off."
"Move."
The order landed like a blade.
No one wasted another second.
Everyone scattered at once, vanishing into the night in different directions.
The Shibuya Incident had officially begun.
Meanwhile, deep within Shibuya Station, on the Fukutoshin Line platform, the true center of the Veil was already turning into hell.
The platform was packed wall to wall with people. Sweat, fear, and stale air hung so thick it seemed to choke the lungs.
Then the screaming started.
"AAAAAH!"
A group of grotesque Transfigured Humans lunged out from the edges of the crowd, tearing through ordinary civilians before anyone even understood what they were seeing.
Blood splashed across the station floor.
The crowd erupted.
People shoved inward in blind terror, crushing toward the middle of the platform as though the sheer mass of bodies might somehow protect them.
Trampling.
Screaming.
Crying.
Despair swelled like floodwater.
And then, through all of it, another sound entered the station.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Footsteps.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
But somehow, unmistakable.
Each one cut through the chaos with impossible clarity.
"Honestly."
A lazy voice echoed down the stairs.
"This place is filthy. There's barely anywhere to step."
A tall man appeared at the top of the staircase.
With one hand in his pocket, he casually lifted the other and flicked his wrist.
Boom.
The Transfigured Humans mauling civilians exploded into pieces before they could even scream.
A terrifying wave of cursed energy washed across the station.
The entire crowd froze.
Like their panic had been paused mid-breath.
They stared blankly at the silver-haired man descending the stairs as though salvation itself had taken human form.
Tall.
Black blindfold.
White hair spiking into the station's dim light.
Satoru Gojo.
He walked like he was entering his own home, not the center of a massacre.
His gaze did not linger on the screaming civilians or the blood pooling across the tiles.
It passed beyond them, landing on the far end of the platform.
There, three special grade cursed spirits stood waiting.
Jogo.
Hanami.
Choso.
Around them, ordinary people had been herded together into a solid wall of bodies. The curses had not slaughtered them outright. They had arranged them. Packed them tightly. Turned them into shields.
Gojo stopped.
"Yo."
His lips curled into a careless smile, but beneath the blindfold, the Six Eyes had already turned glacial.
"That's quite the crowd."
He tilted his head.
"What, did you gather everyone here just to throw me a welcome party?"
Jogo's single eye burned with hatred.
Steam hissed from the volcano on his head.
"Gojo Satoru!"
His voice roared across the station.
"Stop acting like you still have the upper hand!"
He swept one arm toward the civilians.
"You can't use your Domain here."
He pointed to the masses packed into the station.
"You can't use large-scale techniques either!"
His grin widened, ugly and feverish.
"Today..."
He bared his teeth.
"...is the day you die."
The temperature spiked instantly.
Heat rolled through the station like a furnace door being thrown open.
Ember Insects crawled from the shadows, screeching in shrill, twitching swarms.
At the same time, Hanami activated its technique. Thick tree roots burst from the ground, but instead of lashing out at Gojo, they coiled around the surrounding civilians, binding them in place and turning them into hostages.
The battlefield was set.
From above, Yami watched everything through Transparent World, and his brows slowly drew together.
Something was wrong.
Too quiet.
Too clean.
Jogo and Hanami were here, exactly where they should be.
But where were the others?
Where was Mahito?
Where was Kenjaku?
Then he saw it.
A faint pulse of cursed energy, so faint it would have vanished beneath the chaos if he had not been watching with Transparent World active.
It was not coming from the center of the platform.
It was beneath it.
Directly under Gojo's feet.
Yami's pupils shrank.
A trap.
That location was perfect. A blind spot beneath the station, hidden under the confusion and crowd movement, the ideal place to trigger the Prison Realm.
His body tensed.
"Gojo-sensei..."
The impulse to move hit him immediately.
To go now.
To cut through the station and end it before the trigger was pulled.
But he forced himself still.
Not yet.
If he moved now, the enemy would know they had been read.
Kenjaku would retreat.
The Prison Realm would remain hidden.
And the chance to destroy him here, tonight, would be gone.
He had to wait.
Wait until the knife revealed itself.
Wait until the sealing move was committed.
Wait until the hand holding the trap finally showed its wrist.
Yami's fingers tightened around Shiranui.
The blade had already slid half an inch free.
"Come on, Kenjaku."
His eyes remained fixed on that patch of darkness.
"Show me."
His voice was barely more than a whisper now.
"Show me what surprise you prepared for Satoru Gojo."
The wind died.
For a heartbeat, all of Shibuya seemed to hold its breath.
Only Shiranui trembled in the night, humming softly with murderous intent.
And deep within the layered Veils, the net cast for the strongest sorcerer in the world drew tighter and tighter in silence.
.....
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