Tearing Apart the Instrumentality Project

Like phantoms constantly exploding, Bai Cangshu envisioned the final outburst of the fighter named Kai before his death, and his expression shifted slightly.

He was imitating the other man’s state of mind.

The despair of being toyed with until his comrades died one by one and his team fell apart, followed by the resolute outburst of completely casting aside his own life and death after finally awakening.

Bai Cangshu found this emotion the easiest to understand and analyze.

His face twisted slightly at that moment, just like Kai’s had. Amid his flowing phosphorescent white hair, his body stretched to the utmost as he threw a punch.

The space between Bai Cangshu and White Face suddenly warped. In the next instant, amid a terrifying sound like a dragon’s roar—

The sky suddenly lit up as a powerful shockwave erupted.

"Useless. The AT Field is an Absolute Territory. Born from the LCL Fluid after the Instrumentality of millions of people, I am… invincible within this field!"

White Face’s features wriggled as eyes began growing from her cheeks. These were no longer ruby-red pupils, but black human eyes.

As eye after eye opened, the reversal of the AT Field paused, and an incomparably powerful AT Field unfolded in an instant.

Like dazzling concentric polygons, White Face herself became faintly distorted, as though constantly trembling. It was the strange refraction produced when light was warped by such an immensely powerful AT Field.

At the same time, it was the displacement manifested in the material world as so many souls temporarily stabilized after releasing such a powerful AT Field.

Wooo—

Before the piercing howl of air could explode, a pitch-black fist had already slammed into the AT Field before White Face.

Crack!

The expressions on the face formed from White Face and Gilgamesh changed at once. In the next instant, the air beyond the AT Field transformed into scales of cloud.

A dense barrage of sonic booms rang out simultaneously, followed by a shockwave like a Category 12 hurricane erupting behind the AT Field.

At the same time, she saw the blood vessels and meridians in Mercenary Tao’s right hand burst apart together.

This madman… no, this monster…

His force was so immense that even an AT Field of this level could not completely deflect it. The power that passed through was already enough to blast an ordinary Strong-tier Reincarnator to death.

White Face grew even more frenzied amid the howling winds.

The Spear of Longinus in her hands turned and aimed at Bai Cangshu.

The spear was now over ten thousand meters long. Merely changing direction in midair, it thunderously extinguished the terrifying tsunami rising from the sea.

Along its shaft were constantly rotating red cylinders, identical to those of the Sword of Rupture Ea from before.

Though she had used Destiny Tier 3: Deprivation of Fate to grant the Sword of Rupture Ea the properties of the Spear of Longinus, this excessively powerful Noble Phantasm still possessed capabilities far beyond ordinary weapons, even in this state.

Merely by virtue of its material and the legends it carried, it could easily cut through space and worlds.

White Face had no idea that Mercenary Tao was imitating the fighter she had toyed with to death. An enemy of that level had long since been forgotten by her.

Bai Cangshu flicked his right hand back and retreated several steps through the air. He could not feel any pain. Rather, as his right hand healed again under this attack, he felt his physical strength rising further.

Limiter release increased. Current: 6%

This body was forcibly adapting to his combat intensity…

Because it had realized after that strike that its strength was insufficient, its strength increased accordingly…

So this was the effect of releasing the Limiter?!

Bai Cangshu’s eyes flew open, his mouth unconsciously hanging open as the corners of his lips curled upward. That joy was impossible to suppress.

Was this Saitama’s true nature of growing infinitely stronger without limits until he ultimately completely "lost control"?

Bai Cangshu knew that his current level of power was still too low to see the truth of that level clearly.

But he knew only one thing: at this very moment, he was powerful beyond measure.

This was a glorious scene that would be difficult to recreate for a long time after leaving this world. A Noble Phantasm like the Vortex of the Heart was not something ordinary Reincarnators could possess.

Short-lived species like Reincarnators simply could not leave behind sufficiently glorious deeds in history to give birth to a Noble Phantasm of such strength.

Perhaps only special abilities involving the Time Aspect or Fate Aspect could offer a chance to travel through time and leave behind history… No, Bai Cangshu suddenly realized that Reincarnators like himself and White Face might indeed have a chance to accomplish this in advance. He thought of the various Derivative Worlds linked together along the timeline.

Perhaps if he could single-handedly exterminate Demon King Muzan in the world of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and leave behind a heroic name resounding enough in that history, then when he entered the Jujutsu World, he might receive rewards from that historical "fame." If there were similar enhancements, obtaining a Noble Phantasm might not be impossible.

Infinite Dimensional Space… it truly contains infinite opportunities…

Bai Cangshu gathered his thoughts. His right hand had long since fully recovered.

A stabbing pain shot through his brow. Looking up, he saw a ten-thousand-meter spear pointing at him from afar.

The space before him constantly shattered, black fissures appearing within it. This was an exceedingly terrifying Noble Phantasm.

But Bai Cangshu was even more frighteningly powerful at that moment.

He sneered and stepped into the air. A black Hadouken gathered in his right hand once more.

White Face’s heart tightened as the Spear of Longinus thrust downward.

The instant that thrusting motion appeared, Bai Cangshu’s body was pierced through.

The excessively huge spear directly erased Bai Cangshu’s body as though it had melted away.

Whoosh—bang!

A dull sound came from the ruins of Fuyuki City. A black rift extended from above the sea into the leveled remains of Fuyuki City, piercing straight through the crust and stabbing into the depths of the earth, its depth unknown.

Then the ground across the entire city sector exploded with a crash. Tens of thousands of square meters of earth were lifted wholesale, the terrain completely altered by that strike.

Bzzz—

It was as though an electric current flickered through the air. In the next instant, blood and flesh began to reappear. At first, it was only a single drop of blood, but it rapidly expanded. In less than a few seconds, Bai Cangshu’s phosphorescent white hair danced in the wind once again.

Immortality: Advanced (Gaia's Protection)

At that moment, Bai Cangshu’s immortality had risen to nearly the level of an Ajin. Conventional methods could not kill him at all.

When White Face saw Mercenary Tao regenerate, the ten-thousand-meter white giant actually began flying into the sky. She intended to fly beyond the planet’s surface.

She was sharp enough to realize that Mercenary Tao was now like a hero chosen by the Counter Force, like Root Shiki. If she continued fighting on the planet, she had no chance of winning.

Pff!

Suddenly, her body sank. White Face turned around and saw Mercenary Tao gripping one of her ankles with a hand. Given the difference in their sizes, it could not even be called gripping her ankle. It was more accurate to say that Mercenary Tao had "pinched" a tiny patch of her skin.

Yet with such a minute point of leverage, she felt a terrifying monstrous force like that of an interstellar titan, forcibly interrupting her ascent.

No! I should be completely enveloped by that powerful AT Field right now. How can Mercenary Tao touch me?!

White Face suddenly felt her nonexistent heart plummeting rapidly, and an unprecedented panic arose within her.

Looking down, she indeed saw a nearly circular, dazzling regular polygon enveloping Mercenary Tao’s body.

AT Field?!

"That’s impossible!"

As an application of the power of the heart, the AT Field was not something ordinary Reincarnators could obtain. If White Face did not possess the special sequence of the Destiny cards, even she would have found it nearly impossible to acquire.

Put plainly, the AT Field was not some special ability at all. It was the fundamental force that made humans human in the world of EVA, a special system imposed upon that world with the brute force of an almost absolute setting.

No matter how many Asukas or Shinji Ikaris you killed, you could never draw an AT Field from a Drop Card.

Yet Mercenary Tao truly had touched her. Even more horrifying than Mercenary Tao possessing an AT Field was the fact that his AT Field was powerful enough to neutralize the strength of her Instrumentality of millions?!

Her Instrumentality was not perfect. The AT Field was an ability related to the strength of the soul, but how could Mercenary Tao alone possibly compare to her current self…

White Face’s thoughts flashed, and a scene suddenly appeared before her: in the Jujutsu World, Mercenary Tao in a pink robe raised his right hand, formed a hand seal, and shouted, "Mount Tai Imperial Lord Ritual, activate!"

This bastard… he obtained the Ladder of the Spirit back then?!

Countless images seemed to flash before White Face’s eyes, finally stopping on the moment Eternal Destiny had told her that losing to Mercenary Tao was not her fault—it was Destiny.

"Damn it… you bastard…"

Bai Cangshu’s right arm abruptly thickened, then twisted at an angle far beyond what a normal body could achieve.

In the next instant, Bai Cangshu struck the white giant’s foot with his palm.

Ultimate Rakshasa Palm!

Bang!!!

The pure force capable of shattering mountains and destroying cities in a single blow, under the control of a Grand Martial Arts Master, was driven entirely into the giant’s body.

The giant’s body violently swelled several times before finally exploding with a thunderous crash.

Terrifying chunks of blood and flesh scattered apart, revealing purple flesh and even more orange fluid spilling into the sea.

The sea was swiftly stained with color.

That force continued without end, and the flesh kept exploding even within the sea.

The wing-like AT Field collapsed as well.

Pairs of eyes vanished, and the expanding reversal of the Wall of Heart came to an end.

Bai Cangshu exhaled and cried out.

"Ha…"

He caught the ten-thousand-meter spear falling from the sky. With a body almost as tiny as an ant by comparison, he forcibly seized the spear, while golden aura surged wildly around him.

The spear flipped upside down in midair, then plunged directly into the sea.

Boom!

It was as though the sea had been pierced through. Seawater poured madly into the hole, forming a massive vortex. At the end of the spear—

The enormous white giant had completely fallen apart, the spear pinning that face—half valiant, half seductive—in place.

With pure physical violence, the Human Instrumentality Project had been brought to an end…

White Face helplessly watched as her spirit and flesh began to collapse. Since she had used her own life as the sacrifice to activate the ritual, her physical body had long since been destroyed.

Now, as the body of Gilgamesh that had been soaked in Black Mud began to disintegrate, she too would lose her final vessel.

You defeated Servant Gilgamesh.
Obtained A-rank Anomaly Point ×1.

A Drop Card glowing red spun into existence before Bai Cangshu.

Bai Cangshu grabbed it, then arrived before the massive head that was about to dissipate. He extended his right hand, and a powerful suction force appeared along with black mist.

Yin Spirit Possession!

White Face felt that terrifying suction. Her face twisted as she screamed.

"This isn’t fair!"

"Mercenary Tao, this isn’t fair!"

"You bastard, your schemes and strategies were clearly inferior to mine, yet you defeated me through Destiny! I refuse to accept this!"

She screamed as if trying to resist.

But Bai Cangshu flicked his left fingers. With a bang, the giant head exploded, and the spirit body, having lost its vessel, plunged into Bai Cangshu’s body in the next instant.

You have contained Special Spirit Entity: White Face.
Energy—Soul Power increased. Current: ?

Bai Cangshu turned around and looked at the "orange juice" covering the ground. The Vortex of the Heart behind him grew ever more distinct, almost becoming a massive whirlpool that pierced heaven and earth.

His form slowly changed. Drawing upon the previous battle and his contact with the white giant’s true body—

His own body gradually turned white as well.

"This boring game of Instrumentality should end now."

In the next instant, within the spiritual worlds of countless people, a man with a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth looked mockingly at them all.

"Trash, how much longer will you weakly huddle together for warmth? It’s time to return to reality…"