In the Purge King's world, the Witch Cult's existence seed sowhat insignificant.
The number of people the Witch Cult had killed over the past few years was nowhere near the number killed by Pleiades.
However, it was also an undeniable fact that the Purge King had hardly ever co into contact with the Witch Cult.
Emilia hadn't participated in the Royal Selection, so in the Purge King's world, he had barely encountered any Witch Cultists.
[Witch of Envy's Runaway Fugitive: All right.]
Natsuki Subaru had originally wanted to ask the Purge King for more information about the Witch Cult so that he could better deal with them in the future, but
for now, he could only let the matter drop.
[Only Love White-Haired Elves: Just what exactly is the Witch Cult?]
[Witch of Envy's Runaway Fugitive: An extrely dangerous organization!]
Natsuki Subaru imdiately shared everything he knew about the Witch Cult, as well as what had just happened, with the group. The other
Himl found it almost impossible to believe.
First ca astonishnt—
Then ca fury.
[Only Love White-Haired Elves: Those bastards... They actually did sothing like that?]
The Witch Cult treated human lives like weeds. Simply because their Gospel instructed them to, they would commit such madness.
Rem's people had also fallen victim to the Witch Cult.
[Only Love White-Haired Elves: Just what do they think other people's lives are?]
The Purge King rely narrowed his eyes slightly as he read Himl's ssage.
The other group mbers still didn't know about the situation on his side.
But even if they found out, it wouldn't matter.
It was only a matter of ti.
[Jujutsu's Top PE Student: Unforgivable... This is beyond anything humans would do, isn't it?]
[Witch of Envy's Runaway Fugitive: Thank goodness Itadori-senpai was there... Otherwise, it might have resulted in an enormous tragedy.]
[Useless Goddess, You Really Deserve to Die: They seriously need to be taught a lesson!]
Yuji Itadori closed the chat interface and turned his gaze toward Louis, who was lying on the bed.
Her eyes remained closed, and her breathing was even. She still appeared to be unconscious.
But at that mont, Yuji Itadori spoke.
"How long are you going to keep pretending to be asleep?"
Louis didn't respond.
"You woke up two minutes ago. Your breathing pattern changed at that mont."
Yuji Itadori's tone was perfectly calm.
"You saw through us?"
Louis opened her eyes and sat upright on the bed.
Just as Yuji Itadori had said, she had already awakened several minutes ago.
However, she also knew that Yuji Itadori was beside her, so she couldn't act rashly. She had planned to wait for an opportunity—a suitable mont
to escape.
She didn't have even the slightest chance of victory in a direct confrontation with Yuji Itadori.
In fact, Louis could no longer rember the details of their earlier battle at all.
She only vaguely rembered trying to activate Solar Eclipse—
And then she had lost consciousness.
Not only that, but Louis was currently completely unable to activate her Authority.
She couldn't even return the body to Lye.
"You haven't placed any Binding Vow on us."
Louis stared coldly at Yuji Itadori, her eyes filled with vigilance and apprehension.
"Because I'm right here."
Yuji Itadori's answer was simple and straightforward.
It wasn't arrogance or empty bravado. It was simply the most direct answer.
The corner of Louis's mouth twitched slightly. The words lingered on the tip of her tongue for a long while before she finally forced them out.
"Just what did you do to us?!"
"Your power originates from sothing resembling a soul. It was entwined with your soul, and all I did was temporarily thin the connection between it and your soul
while anchoring your soul inside this body."
Yuji Itadori answered.
Combined with Yuki Tsukumo's research into souls and the experience accumulated over ti, the current Yuji Itadori could accomplish such
things with ease.
However, after hearing Yuji Itadori's explanation, Louis revealed an astonished expression, seemingly unable to comprehend his words.
What did he an by thinning the soul's connection?
What did he an by anchoring a soul inside a body?
Those statents seed utterly inconceivable to Louis, but she quickly cald herself.
"You... can suppress Witch Factors?"
"By Witch Factor, do you an this?"
Yuji Itadori took out the component he had previously stripped from Petelgeuse's soul.
"What?!"
Louis stared at him, dumbfounded.
She had originally assud that Yuji Itadori could only suppress them.
But in the end, this person could directly extract a Witch Factor?
Louis had never encountered anyone like him, nor had she seen anyone like him within any of the mories she had witnessed.
Moreover, Louis knew exactly who this Witch Factor had belonged to.
"Did you kill that fellow who constantly rambles about love, love, love?"
"He's still alive."
Yuji Itadori spoke slowly before putting the Witch Factor away again.
Louis had no idea how Yuji Itadori had accomplished it.
In theory, after the previous Vessel died, the Witch Factor would automatically transfer to soone else.
Although records did exist of Witch Factors being stored, that required a container made from special materials.
Yet the person before her could seize a Witch Factor with his bare hands and even store it sowhere?
Louis simply couldn't understand.
"From now on, when I ask a question, you will answer."
Yuji Itadori spoke to Louis with an authority in his voice that brooked no defiance.
Louis's heart was filled with resentnt, but she had no other choice now and could only nod.
Yuji Itadori asked several questions concerning the Witch Cult, and Louis answered them one by one.
For example, they truly did act according to the instructions of their Gospels.
When Yuji Itadori asked for information about the other Sin Archbishops, however, Louis stated that even she knew very little.
"The Sin Archbishops rarely interact with one another. So of them even have extrely hostile relationships. There was a woman whose entire body was wrapped in bandages. She was relatively close to Sloth—the person you defeated—but even that was only one-sided."
"Which Sin Archbishop was she?"
"Wrath, but we don't know what her Authority is."
"You said you have another elder brother who also presides over Gluttony. Would he know about your situation?"
"No. Elder Brother is different from Brother. He knows of our existence and sends us food, but he can't sense our movents. Besides, Elder Brother and Brother don't have a particularly good relationship either."
Louis answered.
She referred to Lye as "Brother," while calling Roy, who hadn't co here, "Elder Brother." She clearly wasn't as close to Roy as she was to Lye.
"You also said that your Elder Brother obeys another woman's every command. Who is she?"
"That woman is Lust, soone with a personality so utterly vile that even we feel inferior to her. We plunder, devour, and feed because we seek happiness, but that woman does disgusting things rely to indulge her own twisted interests. She transforms people into forms that can no longer be eaten, wasting perfectly good food. If you intend to get rid of her, we'd be more than happy to help—"
"Transforms?"
Yuji Itadori narrowed his eyes slightly. He had caught a crucial piece of information.
Transformation.
A certain conjecture needed to be verified.
"That's right. We don't know the specifics of her Authority either, but she seems capable of transforming her own body and other people's bodies into different forms. She was originally an ugly woman, yet she transford herself into an adorable appearance—"
"Is she the leader of the Assassin Organization?"
The instant Yuji Itadori spoke, Louis froze.
She sensed a change in Yuji Itadori's aura.
It felt the sa as when Yuji Itadori had heard Regulus's outrageous remarks.
Perhaps it was even more intense.
"That's right..."
"I understand."
Yuji Itadori's gaze beca incomparably sharp.
He could now confirm that the so-called Mother probably had no connection to Mahito—
But in terms of sheer depravity, she was no less vile than Mahito.
Yuji Itadori had already resolved to exorcise her.
"What is her na?"
"Capella."
"I understand. I will exorcise her. I definitely will."
Yuji Itadori's tone remained calm, as though he were rely stating sothing destined to happen.
His gaze then focused on Louis once more.
"Why did you join the Witch Cult?"
Yuji Itadori couldn't understand why they, who were clearly only children, would join the Witch Cult.
Instead, the question left Louis confused.
"Why? Because we were born into the Witch Cult... No, only Brother and Elder Brother were. We've never
set foot in this world... Not many people within the Witch Cult even know of our existence."
"You were born into the Witch Cult..."
Yuji Itadori paused, seemingly letting out a soft sigh.
"Then what is your Authority?"
Although Yuji Itadori had fought Louis before, he didn't actually understand her Authority.
All he knew was that Lye's speed seed to have increased.
Louis could not only take possession of his body but could also transform it into another person's appearance.
Yuji Itadori could even perceive that it wasn't rely the flesh—the very shape of the soul had changed along with it.
That was probably Louis's Authority.
"You previously said that you eat other people's nas and mories."
"We..."
Louis pursed her lips. Of course, she didn't want to reveal her Authority.
But she also understood that there was no point in concealing it now.
After all, her very life was currently held in soone else's hands, and he could even directly extract Witch Factors.
Moreover, for so reason, Louis felt that the Yuji Itadori before her was completely different from anyone she had ever encountered.
Just what kind of life had this person lived?
Louis was incredibly curious.
"That's right. Our food consists of other people's mories and nas. Our Authority allows us to reproduce the abilities of those we've devoured—even
their souls—within ourselves."
Louis answered.
"I see. Then what happens to the people whose nas and mories are eaten? Do they die?"
Yuji Itadori's piercing gaze focused on Louis.
"Die? We have no interest in sothing like killing people. All we care about is eating. Brother only cares about the quality of the food, Elder Brother doesn't care about anything, while what we care about is the process of eating—who we eat with. Those whose nas are eaten will be forgotten by the world. Those whose mories are eaten will lose their mories. If both are eaten, they will fall into a deep sleep."
"Then can you return the mories and nas you've devoured to their original owners?"
"Yes. We only need to vomit them back out—but we won't do that!"
Louis's tone suddenly beca agitated.
"Ever since we were born, we've lived inside that White Space! Unable to leave, unable to move! Completely alone!"
Louis had been unable to leave the Corridor of mories since birth, nor could she et anyone.
However, with the help of her two brothers, she had never suffered any inconvenience when it ca to eating.
The "mories" and "nas" her brothers devoured—in other words, other people's lives—could be secretly sampled from the side, allowing her to fill her stomach.
"Why were we born like this?"
It was precisely by eating the leftovers of her brothers' als and devouring other people's lives that Louis gradually developed self-awareness.
She soon realized that her circumstances were completely different from everyone else's.
She had no body that could move freely. Only her consciousness could move.
She possessed "mories" of walking, yet had never experienced walking herself.
Louis could only sample the lives of others and pretend that she was experiencing a real life of her own.
She could peer into other people's lives and pass judgnt on them.
But that was the absolute limit of what Louis could do.
She couldn't interfere or change anything. No matter how deeply she imrsed herself, she would ultimately remain nothing more than an observer.
"Why are we so unfortunate?!"
"We want happiness! I want a happy life!"
"Even when we borrow Brother's or Elder Brother's body, it still isn't ours! Our true self can only remain imprisoned inside that White Space! We can only exist in that place!"
Overco by emotion, Louis began to sob, and even her body gradually started trembling.
Yuji Itadori watched her. He knew that this wasn't an act, but a genuine outpouring of emotion.
Forcing a child to live in solitude for more than a decade was far too cruel. Her values and outlook on life had gradually beco distorted precisely because of the circumstances of her birth—circumstances she had never been able to choose.
Perhaps Sukuna had been the sa. He had lived bearing the na of a Curse without ever having a choice.
But everything she had done in the past couldn't simply be ignored either.
Everyone had to pay the price for the mistakes they had committed—
But after all of that, she also had to return to the correct path.
Yuji Itadori looked at Louis and spoke.
"People make mistakes. What matters most is that you've recognized them."
"Return every mory and na you've devoured."
"In exchange, I will find a way to let you truly walk in this world."
Yuji Itadori recalled sothing Satoru Gojo had once said—
"I look forward to your transformation."
===
T/N: Forgot to ntion, I've changed subaru's group na to Witch of Envy's Runaway Fugitive.
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