Chapter 202: The Unseen Edge
Ren stood motionless in his room, his mind already racing far beyond the present. The dim light of the desk lamp barely lit his face as he thought, "It's simple. The reason Sukuna's cursed technique is so strong is because of two things. First is how fast it is…
The speed of Cleave and Dismantle is never specified, but judging by how it looked in the manga and anime—it looked instant! And the other reason it's so strong is because it's invisible. No one can see Sukuna's slashes, so no one can dodge them—simple, but terrifying. You can never tell when Sukuna will shoot one of his slashes in your direction…
unless he moves his hand and points at you or something, but that's not the point. The point is that those two factors make Sukuna terrifying. And I'm damn sure I can pull off something like that…"
A slow grin crept across Ren's face as he stood up. His chair screeched slightly against the floor as he pushed it back. He pulled together all the scattered papers on his desk—hundreds of scribbles, equations, and concepts—and pressed them into a single stack before slamming the notebook shut with a decisive thud.
He inhaled sharply, eyes closed, and stepped back from the desk.
He didn't theorise. He imagined.
What he was doing now was exactly what he'd done back in his apartment when Rika devoured his corpse—the same ritual of pure visualisation and instinct. He didn't calculate or question. He believed.
The air around him grew heavier, charged with faint red glimmers of cursed energy that flickered like sparks.
Ren's thoughts flowed. "Hmm… first, it should be fast. Speed isn't something I need to worry about. Red Stitch itself is already fast—its threads can travel as quickly as I can think. If I have the cursed energy, I'm sure my stitch can move faster than cars… But that's not instant. Sukuna's slashes felt instant. Red Stitch can connect two points in space, but the longer the distance, the more cursed energy it eats away."
Ren lifted his hand lazily, and from his fingertip, a red thread of cursed energy emerged—thin, tense, pulsing faintly like a living vein. It shot forward with a soft flick and attached to the window latch. With one small tug, the thread tightened, and the window snapped open with a loud click!
A rush of cold wind flooded into the room. Ren's hair swayed with it as he stared at the moon outside.
"This is also why I've been using Red Stitch to swing like Spider-Man," Ren thought with an amused smirk. "It's not just because it looks cool. It's the most efficient way to use Red Stitch in its base form. But what if I weaponised that speed differently? What if I turned it into something purely destructive? The other thing that made Sukuna's slashes terrifying was that they were invisible."
Ren turned his hand slightly, summoning another red thread—this time impossibly thin. So thin that under the faint moonlight, it looked translucent.
A small chuckle escaped him. "Wow… it's so thin, and I haven't even added any binding vows yet. Yeah… I can make this invisible too. The power's there—it's possible now."
He looked out the window again, the moonlight hitting his face, and whispered softly, "Then how would the binding vows go?"
He inhaled slowly, letting his cursed energy pulse through his veins before speaking aloud.
"The first binding vow will be..."
"The Unseen Edge"
Vow:
"My threads shall never bear weight nor bind. They are cut loose from the world, only to slice."
Effect: Threads lose all physical utility—no swinging, no tying, no holding. In exchange, they become impossibly sharp, thin enough to be invisible to the naked eye.
Cost: Ren loses the ability to use the sword for anything except pure cutting. No utility. Only destruction.
The red threads flickered in the air, glowing faintly as they moved on their own. They began sticking to the window, bending and twisting to form letters—forming the shape of the vow itself.
A crimson mark etched onto the glass, pulsing faintly with cursed light.
Ren smiled faintly. "Yeah… that's the first one. Now for the next."
His fingers flexed once, and the red threads danced again, drawing new symbols on the cold window.
"The Silent Fang"
Vow:
"My threads shall carry no sound. No whistle, no hum, only silence."
Effect: Sword attacks are completely silent, undetectable until the moment of impact.
Cost: Ren forfeits all feedback from the threads—no vibration sense, no tactile awareness. Once released, the slashes are 'fire-and-forget'.
Ren squinted, frowning. "No… It won't be strong enough. The cost needs to be higher."
He pressed his thumb against the glass, his cursed energy flaring brighter. The letters warped, the words reordering themselves until the vowel changed again.
"Fingers of the Fang"
Vow:
"The blade shall answer only to my fingers — no other vessel may draw its edge. In return, my command over its form, its flight, and its strike shall be absolute."
Effect: Threads spool and lock instantly from Ren's ten fingers, allowing rapid emission in tight, precise patterns—single cuts, multi-strand volleys, or burst slashes. The control is sharper than Spider, tuned for speed and accuracy.
Cost: The sword cannot be formed from any other part of Ren's body. No mouth, no arms, no torso—only fingers may forge the edge.
Ren smiled slowly, eyes half-closed as he murmured, "Hmm… yeah. That looks better now. It's faster, sharper… more personal. Just like Spider's second binding vow. Controlling the sharpness is everything. The precision gives me the edge I need... the cost is great; I will only be able to use one of the sword strings from my one finger... so I would have 10 sword strings at all times... but the loophole here is that I can easily just stop using my cursed technique... and then, well, I could quickly and easily slash around with these; it will kind of be like Sukuna's slashes if I am skilful enough with them... the potential is unlimited! Plus this is just the start!"
The red glow on the window intensified, filling the room with a crimson hue that painted the walls and ceiling like a haunting reflection of his cursed energy.
He flexed his fingers again. Each time he moved, the threads responded perfectly—silent, invisible, obedient.
Then came the next vow.
"The Single Stroke"
Vow:
"Once drawn, my threads are cut only once before fading. Their edge lives in the moment."
Effect: Each sword strike is maximised for a single, devastating cut—closer to a cursed tool's lethal efficiency than a looping technique.
Cost: The threads disintegrate after one slash. No prolonged use. No spamming.
Ren chuckled faintly and shook his head. "I can do better. Plus, there's no reason to use the word 'stroke'. It reminds me of that troublesome Sutoku."
The threads shimmered, twisting again as if rewriting themselves on the window. The faint sound of static filled the room as cursed energy swirled in the air like mist.
Ren stepped back, eyes glinting in the red glow of his own creation. The vows hung on the window, written in a language only cursed energy could comprehend.
His smile widened. He could feel it—the structure forming, the concept taking shape, the sword part of Red Stitch becoming real.
"I'm close…"