Chapter 1380 - 976: The Scheduled Meeting

"You have been designated as the Poet of the Destruction Revisit. Please proceed immediately to the Xiantai Barrier and participate in the game."

"Please proceed immediately to the Xiantai Barrier and participate in the game, or else the game officials will have to take enforcement measures."

"Hey... help me organize things..."

The incessant voice of Golden kept echoing in the ears of the monk-like man—Knot.

However, Knot did not pay attention to Golden and instead, after a moment of silence, laughed.

"To think they designated me as the Poet of the Destruction Revisit and forced me to participate in this game...?"

Knot was not flustered; he merely touched his chin with a meaningful smile.

"Who’s behind this?"

There are two suspects.

One is the type of Poets revived from modern times.

The other is the sorcery-related personnel targeting him and currently pursuing him.

"As for the former’s reason for doing this, it’s likely they want to negotiate face-to-face. After all, they had interacted with me in their previous lives, and now they’ve been thrown into a barrier for survival competition. Even if they aren’t furious, they would want to understand what I’m actually planning."

"The latter’s reasons are even easier to guess: they want to resolve this chaos by dealing with me, the mastermind, or... perhaps to rescue Gojo Satoru and Fushiguro Megumi."

Knot stood up, extended his hand to the side, and astonishingly, from his palm, as if squeezing out pus, came forth a cluster of darkness.

That cluster of darkness quickly took shape, turning into a Curse Spirit.

Upon a closer look, this Curse Spirit resembles Golden quite a bit, with a belly that can likewise turn into a display, yet it is entirely pitch-black, giving off a sense of foreboding.

It is the prototype of Golden, the Gold Bug Shikigami.

Knot manipulated this Curse Spirit, examining detailed intelligence on the display screen.

While hosting the Destruction Revisit, Knot also made numerous arrangements within various barriers, including means to collect intelligence from within the barriers.

Through this approach, although Knot, based on the principle of binding, relinquished absolute control over the Destruction Revisit, he could also monitor most of the situations within the barrier in real-time, preventing the game from completely escaping his grasp through external interference.

Consequently, Knot mainly understood what was happening.

"Blackwood has been eliminated, Druf has been killed, even Ishimaki Ryu and Uru Ashiko have been successively defeated, barely hanging on to life..."

"Eric Mozart?"

"It’s not unheard of."

As Reiger and others think, Knot has a very deep understanding of the sorcery world in this country and the underground organizations where the Curse Masters are located.

This understanding even surpasses what Reiger and others comprehend.

Thus, Knot quickly figured out where the name Eric Mozart came from and was even aware of various intelligence concerning him.

"So he has such power? That’s indeed unexpected!"

"The reverse case of [Heaven and Curse Binding], a complete zero Cursed Energy ultimate physical enhancement type, this special case, aside from Fushiguro Toji, surprisingly there’s a second one, truly unexpected."

"The question is... for what purpose did he pull me into the Xiantai Barrier to join the Destruction Revisit?"

Knot appeared lost in thought.

Until—

"It seems you’ve run into trouble."

A cool voice sounded from behind Knot, awakening him from his deep thoughts.

Knot looked up and glanced towards the source of the voice.

He saw an equally kasaya-attired, short white hair, unclear-gendered sorcerer silently appear, walking slowly towards Knot.

"Oh? Finally returned?" Knot stopped thinking, smiled towards the figure while saying, "Have you arranged Fushiguro Megumi?"

"Of course." The mysterious sorcerer replied expressionlessly, "That is Sukuna’s chosen one; as long as the ’baptism’ succeeds, Lord Sukuna can truly resurrect."

"I’ve been waiting for a long time, even personally ’nurtured’ a vessel for him, but regrettably, he was not satisfied." Knot sighed with a helpless gesture, saying, "If he agreed to accept Itadori Yuji’s body to resurrect, it would save us a lot of trouble."

"Lord Sukuna did not favor him, so naturally he doesn’t qualify for such a significant task," the mysterious sorcerer retorted coldly, "Lord Sukuna’s will is truth, do you have any dissatisfaction with that, Ghoul?"

At this moment, the atmosphere emitted by the mysterious sorcerer gave a feeling that if Knot answered incorrectly, they would act without hesitation.

"Why would I be dissatisfied?" Knot raised his hands in a surrender position, yet kept a gentle expression while laughing, saying, "Just surprised that he’s so fond of the Zenin Family’s brat."

"Better focus on your own issues." The mysterious sorcerer remained unmoved, saying, "I’ve prepared everything on my side; next is to welcome Lord Sukuna back."

"But it seems you’re having issues on your side?"

Upon hearing this, Knot touched his chin once more.

"Not necessarily issues; merely some insignificant episodes." Knot appeared entirely unbothered by the present situation, saying, "In any case, the goal of hosting the Destruction Revisit is mostly achieved. Though the time is short, barring any unexpected events, soon, our plan will be fulfilled."

"As the critical link, Tenyon is already in hand, the variable Gojo Satoru successfully sealed by me, and even that unexpected existence removed from the Destruction Revisit. As long as he is concerned, nothing can be done next."

"We’ve already checkmate. Even if another Eric Mozart emerges, that won’t change anything, will it?"

"So what are you planning to do?" The mysterious sorcerer cast a glance at Knot and asked, "Ignore the monkey?"

"Unfortunately, that’s impossible." Knot said helplessly, "If it were someone else, they could refuse to participate in the game through resistance or other means, since it’s a unilateral compulsion. As long as one can successfully resist, they can at least delay the time to join the game."

"But I am different."

"As the planner of Destruction Revisit, I have perfected all the mechanisms through binding, which means I have already acknowledged these rules in advance. If I resist, I will definitely suffer the consequences of breaking the binding."

Therefore, this compulsory Poet slot, Knot has to accept, whether he wants to or not.

However...

"No problem, just consider it a diversion before the plan succeeds." Knot, as if going on a countryside outing, said in a relaxed tone to the mysterious secret master, "Leave Sukuna to you, I’m off to my appointment."

"You don’t need to say that." The secret master said expressionlessly, "Naturally, Lord Sukuna’s important matters must be completed by me, Li Mei."

"Then I’ll leave it to you," Knot smiled, "Loyal servant of the Curse King."

The secret master—Li Mei ignored Knot, turned around, and left.

Unintentionally, Knot’s gaze drifted downward and he immediately saw Li Mei’s buoyant footsteps, as if suppressing the urge to jump with joy.

"... Getting called a loyal servant makes you so happy. Truly, that’s just like you."

Knot was speechless for a while, and then he turned and left.

......

Xiantai Barrier, center.

Here, there’s a plaza scattered with traces of blood everywhere.

The plaza is vast, and the original scenery should be beautiful too. Unfortunately, it has become a battlefield where Poets kill each other, leaving signs of destruction everywhere.

"Thankfully, the automatic vending machine wasn’t destroyed and is still operating."

Reiger inserted a coin into the vending machine, selecting a bottle of drink.

However, there was no sound of a drink can falling at the delivery port.

"...I take it back, this thing is broken, swallowed my money too."

Reiger seriously considered if he should smash the vending machine with a punch and retrieve his rightful item violently.

Fortunately, someone stopped him.

"Drink this, it’s the latest product, perfect for replenishing water and energy after intense exercise."

As he spoke, a monk-dressed man, who had appeared behind Reiger at some unknown time, tossed a suspicious-looking beverage to him.

"Thanks."

Reiger was unceremonious, took it, and waved at the man.

"No, no, just consider it a prize for defeating the four strong players of this Xiantai Barrier in succession." Knot laughed heartily, saying, "Although I’m not very interested in you, since you’ve gone to great lengths to invite me over, let me ask you then."

"What do you need from me, a monkey without any curse power?"

Knot’s question was met with an ambiguous reply.

"Well, sort of got a matter to discuss with you." Reiger turned around, looking at Knot, scrutinizing him for a while, and sighed, "Indeed, it’s Geto Suguru’s body, no wonder even Gojo Satoru would mistake it."

Meeting Knot directly like this, Reiger understood instantly that the opponent was not Geto Suguru.

The reason is simple.

Reiger had long secretly opened his Transparent World, observing Knot’s body.

And then, he saw it.

He saw the brain of this body, squatting at the top of the head as if it were a foreign creature.

The brain was alive.

Reiger could see clearly; it even had a mouth.

If Gojo Satoru could, like him, directly observe Geto Suguru’s insides, he could discover this living brain.

Unfortunately, the Six Eyes can only see cursed energy and can’t directly penetrate the body like the Transparent World, hence Gojo Satoru couldn’t see anything amiss when facing Knot.

Of course, although he couldn’t perceive anything wrong, he instinctively felt the person before him was not Geto Suguru, thanks to years of friendship.

However, Knot’s body is undoubtedly Geto Suguru’s, even the techniques are his; if used properly, it wouldn’t be too difficult to trigger Gojo Satoru’s memories and let him be sealed by the Prison Gate Border.

"So, you’re here for Gojo Satoru?"

Knot squinted his eyes.

"Something like that," Reiger said calmly, "Hand over the Prison Gate Border."

Knot’s eyes squinted even further.

"What if I say no?"

This statement made Reiger smile.

"Then I’ll slaughter you."