Fatalism’s Power

Bai Cangshu had actually realized something was wrong with his existence—or rather, his "identity"—from Shigeo Kageyama’s reaction upon seeing him and Saitama.

At first, he had suspected that Eternal Destiny or the Sage had tampered with something here, causing Shigeo Kageyama, one of this world’s Plot Characters with top-tier combat power, to be filled with hostility toward him.

But there were aspects of that theory that were difficult to understand.

For instance, why him?

Bai Cangshu had never belittled himself, but he also knew clearly that he was not yet strong enough to warrant the special attention of Title-level Reincarnators or even Supreme Experts.

Then Eternal Destiny’s appearance completely overturned that theory. If he were truly important enough to merit such attention, Eternal Destiny should have attacked him directly the moment he entered its sight.

Clearly, that Supreme Expert had no intention of killing him.

It had even… intervened to stop Shigeo Kageyama from killing him immediately when he was dragged into the Spirit World.

The sunlight blazed over the desert. Shigeo Kageyama seemed not to have felt sunlight in a long time. He stood barefoot on the sand, unusually quiet and utterly still.

Tatsumaki, meanwhile, stood in front of Bai Cangshu. The green-haired girl wore a serious expression as she continually sensed the movements elsewhere.

Even arrogant Tatsumaki had to take things seriously when facing two opponents of the same level at once.

Compared to Tatsumaki, Bai Cangshu was calmer instead.

He even smiled. Though his physical injuries were healing, the crushing sensation had not faded. Even after leaving the Spirit World, Shigeo Kageyama’s power had not weakened by much.

Crackle!

Red-black lightning spilled from Bai Cangshu’s body as powerful aura rose around him. This was the unconscious manifestation of his madness spilling out after he realized he had grasped the key point in this chaotic game.

Yes. At this moment, even though he was the weakest person present, even though Shigeo Kageyama could kill him, his presence only grew stronger.

Because he had realized the truth.

A tingling sensation spread across Bai Cangshu’s scalp. As his heartbeat accelerated and his blood flowed faster, his hair began to grow, thick long locks cascading down his back.

Thump, thump, thump… Thump!

The rapid heartbeat vanished completely after that final violent beat.

A vast amount of information began flooding in from all around. Bai Cangshu felt as though every pore in his body had opened—the heat of the air, the scorching sand, the movements beneath the desert, the wails of distant spirits…

Even the terrified screams in the city dozens of kilometers away, born from the devastation earlier.

Those streams of information poured ceaselessly into Bai Cangshu’s mind.

As Bai Cangshu breathed, a faint pain pricked his brain. Perfect Individual had originally only been a trait that allowed him to control his muscles, bones, and internal organs, but now, in that state of understanding everything, Bai Cangshu began instinctively comprehending Satoru Gojo’s soul…

Inside his body, beyond his sight, an invisible spiral began to turn.

Bai Cangshu’s eyes slowly changed. As he blinked, a blue-white radiance began rippling out from his pupils.

You have activated Limit Break Spiral · First Revolution

Bai Cangshu took a step forward, directly crossing space and appearing before Tatsumaki.

Tatsumaki raised her brows as well, focusing on this weak Nameless Hero for the first time.

"You… aren’t doing something bad, are you…?"

Tatsumaki had a terrible temper, but when it came to matters of principle, she had a clear head. Though she was not particularly fond of Mercenary Tao’s so-called heroic behavior, at the end of the day, he was a hero.

So when that disgusting powerful enemy was inexplicably pierced through by a golden-white blast and vanished across space, Tatsumaki did not give chase.

Instead, she returned directly to the Spirit World, intending to rescue Mercenary Tao and that Caped Baldy.

"Heh, hehehe… hahahaha…"

"I’m fine, Miss Tatsumaki. I’m understanding everything…"

Bai Cangshu turned around. It was as though white clouds flowed through his eyes. The power of the surrounding spirits became completely visible to him, including the terrifying phantom surrounding Shigeo Kageyama’s body, as though it could devour the entire world.

In this state, Bai Cangshu even felt his thoughts beginning to move beyond all limits.

The instant a thought emerged, he had already followed its logic through to completion and begun a new train of thought.

With this boost to his thinking ability, Bai Cangshu linked together everything that had happened before in an instant.

His unrestrained expression finally drew Shigeo Kageyama’s attention back from the vitality of the World of the Living, which he had been feeling with an outstretched hand.

He clenched his hand again.

Puff!

Bai Cangshu’s body, which had only just begun to recover, suffered another rupture in the chest cavity.

But Bai Cangshu acted as though it were not his own body. He had long since moved the vital organs in his chest to a higher position.

Although the blow damaged the mobility of his lower body, it did not affect his ability to think or speak at all.

Bai Cangshu held his forehead and continued smiling, growing increasingly fearless.

Because he had discovered the "essence" of this mission world. Though everyone had their own desires, and any one of these powerful figures seemed capable of reshaping the world at will…

In the end, they all had their own "limitations."

Those with desires had limitations. Shigeo Kageyama and Eternal Destiny were like this;

Those with concerns had limitations. Tatsumaki was like this;

Those with neither desires nor concerns still gained new limitations because of power that was too great—the emptiness faced by one who stood in the realm of absolute invincibility. Saitama was like this.

And this was where Bai Cangshu’s confidence that he would not die came from.

At this moment, among the people present who possessed the power to determine his life or death, only half a person wanted to kill him…

Saitama would not kill him, because he was a "hero," a "human."

Tatsumaki would not kill him, because he was the "hero" Fubuki had sought, and the people he brought had risked their lives to save Fubuki.

Eternal Destiny would not kill him either, because if he died, the basis for Shigeo Kageyama and Saitama’s battle would disappear. That Supreme Expert who stood against Bai Cangshu would not only refrain from killing him, but would do everything possible to ensure Bai Cangshu survived before Shigeo Kageyama!

Whether it had directly thrown Bai Cangshu deep into the Spirit World to stop Shigeo Kageyama, or voluntarily abandoned its battle with Tatsumaki to lure Tatsumaki back to help, it all followed that logic.

Only Shigeo Kageyama—the fragile, kind, powerful, chaotic Shōnen, the Shōnen who wanted to sacrifice himself to save the souls of humanity—probably did harbor half a desire to kill Bai Cangshu.

And even that was far from firm.

Bai Cangshu raised his head. At that moment, he felt that his perspective had become even loftier than it was in the Divine Thought state.

It was a perspective that grasped the paths of everyone’s actions in some unseen way, then anchored an absolute line of fate among them.

No matter how weak one’s power was, as long as one acted in accordance with that line, even the greatest power could only become a stream riding the current, helping one move forward.

Shigeo Kageyama looked at Bai Cangshu, whose demeanor increasingly resembled the Fatalism he had seen, and let out an angry roar as he fiercely clenched both hands.

Bang!

It was as though the world had been pressed to a halt. The furious Shigeo Kageyama, the pitch-black shadow covering the sky, Tatsumaki, who had just raised a hand as her psychic power erupted, and…

Bai Cangshu, standing between them with black hair flying wildly and a calm smile on his face, all froze in place.

A fist wearing a red glove suddenly burst forth among them. With a sharp cracking sound, the Spirit World and the real world shattered together.

Saitama came running out from the pitch-black void, completely unharmed. He merely seemed not to know how far away he had been flung, so he had kept running.

As the Spirit World and reality shattered, they began swallowing the desert like a black hole. Shigeo Kageyama frowned, grabbed the fractured entrance to the Spirit World with both hands, and the enormous phantom behind him descended as the Spirit World gradually began to mend.

Saitama suddenly turned to look somewhere and was about to throw a punch when a figure immediately appeared from within.

"Hehe, Mr. Saitama, there’s no need for that punch…"