Several blinding flashes streaked across the sky, followed by black vortexes emerging out of thin air. They expanded gradually across the white dome until they reached a certain size—then, dozens of Sōjun Minamoto leapt down.
They crashed hard into the ground.
Their expressions were exhilarated, itching for action.
"Boom—!"
A thunderous roar rang out.
It came from the one seated on the throne within the Shrine Domain. Having barely shaken off the oppressive void-like sensation, he was riding a wave of exhilaration. With a powerful step, he launched himself straight toward the resting "lives," slamming directly into their location.
The other Sōjun Minamoto followed, streaking out behind him.
All the clones naturally shared the same consciousness, but negative emotions that no longer affected the main body were left for designated clones to carry.
Feelings like boredom, frustration, irritability, and above all, the crushing sense of nothingness—these were handed off. So in a place without a balance mechanism...
It wasn't surprising that their behavior became a bit unhinged.
It was like watching a live-action reenactment of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Sōjun Minamoto, however, remained where he was, gazing up at the sky.
His eyes glimmered with anticipation.
After a brief moment of thought, he removed the core of the Start Eye and placed it in his palm, holding it up as if cradling an entire starfield. The stars shimmered brightly, forming a glowing stellar ring that rotated almost imperceptibly fast.
Then, with his arm muscles suddenly surging—each line sharply defined—he thrust his hand upward. The surrounding air thickened from the force.
With a powerful toss, the "starry sky" launched from his palm, wrapped in brilliant starlight, and shot toward the sky.
It pierced fog, devoured light, and soared to the dome above. Even after reaching it, the speed didn't let up. It collided with the world's barrier, cracking its mirrored surface, and forcibly embedded itself there.
Dark light spread across the dome, gradually blooming outward.
And with that, this world finally had a starry sky.
The Star Eye didn't contain Cursed Energy on its own. While it could be amplified with Cursed Energy, its essence was pure mass.
Before, it had to be powered by Cursed Energy, which often overloaded it. But now, with an entire sky to house it, that issue was gone.
All that remained was to find a way to absorb this world into himself.
The Star Eye could now be projected and used temporarily.
His Cursed Energy was finally freed.
Sōjun Minamoto nodded with satisfaction.
Right then, the clones who had scattered earlier returned, their faces marked with pale blue patterns—clearly overfed, slightly struggling to digest everything.
They walked toward the Special Grade version of him, and one by one, merged back into the main body.
Now, only a single Sōjun Minamoto remained in this world.
He clenched his fists twice, easily tearing space itself, as an overwhelming sense of fullness surged through him.
With perfect control over his power, he could feel it clearly—his strength had now exceeded the limits of a Special Grade.
Especially his soul—it now had a density that was visibly tangible.
Only two external clones remained, along with a few special ones. He'd need to find time to absorb those too.
He pressed his fingers to his brow, deep in thought.
...
After leaving the non-physical world, Sōjun Minamoto was in good spirits—the goal of his exploration had been successfully achieved.
Though they hadn't fully adapted to the void, the clones had eagerly rushed in. Because of that, the speed of analysis had surged. Full adaptation was just a matter of time.
Having regained his Special Grade strength, Sōjun returned to the outside world. Rather than jumping into new plans, he took time to work on his usual technique development in the present world.
Although he hadn't stayed in the non-physical world for long, several days had already passed outside before the time flow reversed. Now, with time running backward, a single day outside equaled around 120 days inside—roughly half a year.
But the evolution of a world, even a small one like the non-present realm, still required years—even with his interference. So he wasn't in a rush; time was on his side.
Sōjun brewed a cup of tea, settled onto the sofa, and began documenting his exploration of the non-physical world.
The clones he had sent in had encountered more and more Shikigami and discovered that only two types of lifeforms existed there: one with more flesh than soul, and one with more soul than flesh.
The first type tended to fall into deep sleep, with very limited intelligence.
The second type held noticeably more authority over the world—they woke sooner and displayed slightly greater awareness.
Still, they couldn't be considered intelligent beings—not even on the level of domesticated pets.
However, after waking, signs of positive Cursed Energy recovery began to appear in their bodies.
Sōjun speculated that all Shikigami, including Mahoraga, were originally neutral. And whichever side they first came into contact with—that's the side of power they would develop.
He noted this insight down.
The clones hadn't devoured every lifeform in the realm. A few powerful individuals were intentionally left behind to observe how they might change as the world evolved.
Sōjun also recorded their initial states, leaving the tracking of detailed changes to his clones. He'd only need to review the data once a year—equivalent to 120 years within the realm.
Still, that brought up the issue of a clone's lifespan. They couldn't exactly die of old age in the non-physical world... could they?
And if a clone did die of old age, would it affect him?
The thought briefly crossed his mind—dangerous, but intriguing.
Should he test it?
Sōjun quickly shook his head. No point risking it without certainty.
With the exploration notes complete, he let out a breath and leaned back into the sofa.
Truthfully, the most valuable gain wasn't seizing a new world—but discovering a path to developing the Hollow Technique.
The "Hollow Technique" refers to the conflict—or fusion—between Cursed Technique Lapse and Reverse Cursed Technique.
The conflict model was fairly straightforward.
Satoru Gojo's Hollow Technique operated on this principle, using Limitless to pit attraction against elasticity in constant contradiction, striking the target with hypothetical mass.
With Sōjun's perfect control over Cursed Energy, he had been able to create both forward and reverse flows.
The corrosive, assimilative force of cellular mutation and the stabilizing, anchoring force of the soul clashed—like gunpowder compressed to its limit in a sealed space, only to erupt with overwhelming force.
Its power depended on the ratio between the two.
Above his fingertip, a miniature blue vortex formed, black lightning crackling within it. The closer to the center, the denser the lightning, pulsing outward in waves.
The vortex rippled violently, but the outer blue ring held steady, allowing the black lightning to build in intensity.
Eventually, even the blue glow began to flicker erratically.
He tossed the vortex.
There was no explosion, no loud burst. In utter silence, the point of impact disintegrated into dust, leaving behind an eerie, unnatural crack.
Calling it "Black" felt off—it was closer to black, but in a way he'd never seen before. "Dead Black" was the best he could manage.
The deep spatial fissure gaped before him, and once again, Sōjun felt a wave of malice.
With a casual wave of his hand, the crack closed. The malice vanished with it.
This annihilation force, capable of turning space itself to dust—he still didn't know what effect it might have on curses or people.
So he'd tested it. Curses were erased cleanly, like pencil marks wiped away with an eraser.
He'd also tried it on a Special Grade Cursed Object. Unfortunately, it couldn't erase objects with indestructible properties.
That meant the technique's power wasn't overwhelming.
He quickly lost interest.
This wasn't what he truly wanted.
What he aimed to develop was a Hollow Technique based on fusion.
The fusion of positive and negative Cursed Energy had been a long-standing research topic for him. Now, he finally had the chance to test it through the Hollow Technique.
It would serve as preparation—for when the non-physical world evolved further, and for the complete integration of his own power.