[179]: Domain

> [Ryomen Sukuna Sync Rate: 80%]

[Domain — Malevolent Shrine Unlocked]

Was it because he'd been fighting so often lately that the sync rate increased so quickly?

It seemed like the sync rate gradually rose with time, but sometimes it would spike unpredictably, without any clear pattern.

Before the battle with the Ant King, Sukuna's sync rate had already reached seventy-eight. So hitting eighty now wasn't all that surprising.

Even if the increase didn't seem huge, having a Domain versus not having one felt like two completely different tiers of power.

"Your eyes…" The usually quiet Aimé and Eili suddenly leaned in, staring closely at him.

"They really turned red." The siblings' voices were tinged with surprise.

Humans' eyes could change color? That was new—worth observing.

"They're red?" Cyr pulled out a mirror to check.

His originally glowing blue Six Eyes were now completely overtaken by a deep red, like clotted blood in the veins.

The technique didn't seem to interfere with his use of the Six Eyes… or wait—actually, the burden on them felt heavier now.

Because… below his usual eyes, another pair had appeared.

Four eyes in total. Even though they were all red… this was still technically Six Eyes?! A double debuff…

In fact, he now looked even more like Sukuna's incarnated form—red eyes and all. Just like when Sukuna took over Yuji Itadori's body, suppressing him.

Right now, Cyr resembled a fully possessed Satoru Gojo, entirely overtaken by Sukuna.

But he hadn't looked like this before… The only difference now was that Sukuna's Domain had been unlocked—while Gojo's had not.

So the Sukuna side had temporarily overpowered the Gojo side?

To return to balance, he might need to unlock Gojo's Domain as well.

He had to maintain equilibrium.

"...I have intermittent red-eye syndrome," Cyr said, covering his eyes and spouting nonsense.

How did he control these extra little eyes to make them disappear again…

What normal human grows four eyes?! At least he hadn't grown a second pair of arms...

Then again, when Sukuna had possessed Yuji and Megumi, neither of them sprouted four arms either—probably a hardware limitation.

After all, not everyone had a naturally freakish body like Sukuna himself.

And besides, he didn't want four arms. That'd just be weird. Hard to find clothes that fit. What, was he supposed to start wearing women's kimonos like Sukuna?

Cyr had a fashionable reputation to uphold—he changed outfits every single day, never repeating a style.

As he focused on closing the extra two eyes under his original pair, all the non-humans around him had already seen everything.

They had enough power—and eyesight—to clearly witness this white-haired human's blue eyes turning red… and two extra eyes sprouting underneath.

This guy… wasn't human?

Everyone present had the same thought. No matter how clueless they might be, they knew this wasn't something humans did.

"Are you really human?" The Ant King felt like he'd been tricked.

Was this guy pretending to be human just to mess with him?

"…Couldn't you taste that already?" Cyr replied irritably.

Couldn't they taste whether he was human or not? Ants had eaten plenty of species by now, right?

"The taste is definitely human," the Ant King said after thinking it over.

He'd sampled many kinds of meatballs while still inside the Queen's belly, so of course he remembered the distinct flavors of each species.

For instance, the tastiest he'd ever eaten was the one from this guy—possibly a human—standing in front of him. The worst? Those two off to the side.

"There are mutation types among humans, too," Cyr sighed.

After struggling for a while, he finally managed to close those two little extra eyes that had popped up—but no matter what, he just couldn't get the color of his eyes to go back.

Whatever. He'd just claim it was a mutation. If it came to it, he could say he was wearing colored contacts. Getting bored of blue eyes and wanting to try red ones sounded perfectly reasonable, didn't it?

Also—if the extra little eyes were closed, why was the burden of the Six Eyes still doubled?! Could it be because the Six Eyes worked even when closed?

And why was Sukuna's sync rate increasing so fast anyway? It's not like he'd eaten anyone. He hadn't even done anything that crazy—he'd always been a decent guy!

…Was this the kind of system where you gained sync points just by fighting? Wait a sec—

That fight he just had with the Ant King… felt kinda similar to Sukuna's battle against Mahoraga in Shibuya, didn't it? Could that be the reason for the sync boost…?

"Mutated human?" Aimé and Eili exchanged glances.

His research value had just gone up again.

They'd seen lots of mutated magical beasts before—like the camping tiger following Cyr around—but this was the first time they'd heard of a mutated human.

"…Guess I'll just be blind for a while." Cyr pulled out a pair of black goggles and put them on, covering his eyes completely from all angles—top, bottom, side to side, nothing visible.

The plain black goggles looked ordinary at first glance, but Cyr the fashion king had added silver chains on each side, instantly turning them into a statement piece.

He really needed to find a way to raise Gojo's sync rate to balance things out.

Sure, the white hair and red eyes combo looked pretty badass, but the double debuff was driving him insane.

"Sigh…" He wiped his nose, feeling the sticky liquid on his fingertips—just like back when his Six Eyes sync rate was still low.

Nosebleeds at the drop of a hat.

Activating Limitless while also dealing with double Six Eyes debuffs… yeah, that was a special kind of hell.

"I'm outta here." He disappeared into the crowd of non-humans, dragging his debuffs along with him.

Honestly, standing among all these non-humans, he didn't look out of place at all. He blended in so well he might as well have been one of their faction—probably the kind of guy humans would try to exterminate.

Gojo's sync rate… it was at seventy now, which meant he was only ten points away from unlocking his Domain. But how was he supposed to raise those last ten points?

Stab himself in the neck with his spear? Or maybe jab it into his own head? Cut himself clean in half? Lock himself in the Prison Realm and chuck it 8,000 meters underwater? Wait—how would he even get out after that?

Even if Maro and Sora had the Inverted Spear, there was no way they could dive 8,000 meters underwater just to release him.

Why did all his ideas make him sound like a total masochist? Like he'd just casually off himself without a word…

With that thought, Cyr didn't hesitate—he activated Limitless, pulled out his spear, and jabbed it right into his neck. Worried he hadn't used enough force, he drove it in even deeper until he could let go and it stayed lodged in his throat. Only then did he feel it was enough—any harder and his neck would've been completely severed.

Instantly, his active techniques were disrupted.

With Inverted Spear sticking out of his neck, both Limitless and Blue were cut off. He plummeted straight from the sky.

"Woaah…" He yanked the weapon out from his neck—then gave himself another stab straight to the forehead, plunging it into his brain.

"Cough…" Just before hitting the ground, he pulled the spear out of his skull and reactivated Limitless, breaking his fall before he could crash into the dirt.

Lying on the ground, he didn't bother healing himself right away. Instead, he closed his eyes like he was about to fall asleep.

Yeah… that hurt.

He honestly couldn't tell whether this hurt more or less than when he got stabbed in the heart back at the anime convention.

If he had just died from that one stab back then, maybe he wouldn't still be suffering like this now.

But if he'd died back then, his short and boring little life would've ended right there. That felt kinda tragic.

The boy who looked half-asleep on the ground slowly opened his eyes—and in a blink, all his injuries vanished.

°°°

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