Inside a domain, cursed energy has texture—heavy, regulated, perfectly controlled. Kuroda's Rubik Space Dominion was especially rigid.
That rigidness had no effect on the person who just broke in.
Not resisted.
Not countered.
Just ignored.
I turned.
A man stood in the center of the distorted hallway as if the domain were nothing more than an empty room.
Black shirt. White baggy pants. Calm posture. A small scar marring his lip, an otherwise perfect face.
No cursed energy.
No way.
That face. That cursed worm that rested on his neck. That build that countless people admired in my past life, there is no way I wouldn't recognize it.
Toji Fushiguro.
The Sorcerer Killer.
My stomach went cold.
'He must be here to kill Kuroda, I'm guessing Kuroda has a bounty but what about me? If I have a bounty he might just take care of me now and turn me in.'
"Hey," Toji said casually, glancing around at the rubik's cube I was playing with. "Nice place you got here"
Kuroda stared at him in open disbelief.
"Impossible… No one can enter my domain without being subjected to its rules—"
Interrupting Kuroda's disbelief, Toji rushed forward.
I saw his figure streak across the domain in moments.
'Even with my unique eyes, keeping track of him is difficult. If that movement had been aimed at me, I would barely be able to protect myself. '
A short blade flashed. It wasn't a cursed tool, and since the person wielding it didn't have cursed energy, it meant the very rule of Kuroda's domain about no physical contact in the domain was useless.
Kuroda's head left his shoulders without resistance.
No dramatic struggle.
No last resort.
No miracle.
Just an instant, effortless execution.
The domain unraveled immediately.
The 2D projection of this rubik's cube on the floor broke. The warped ceiling faded. Reality snapped back into place like nothing had ever happened.
I found myself standing in the open field again, staring at a corpse.
Toji flicked blood from his blade lazily.
"The bounty was worth a lot more than the trouble," he muttered. "I guess he is stronger than he looked, shame his technique didn't work on me"
I didn't move, I barely focused on the words he was saying. My muscles were clenched and prepared in case his blade would suddenly turn on me.
Because I already knew who I was dealing with. This guy was fine killing a 14 year old for money. I'm definitely not safe from him because of my age.
'Speaking of which it's 2005 right now, meaning megumi should be 3, Toji probably abandoned megumi by now'
He finally looked at me.
"…You're wasting your time protecting yourself, if I wanted to kill you I would have tried it already"
I forced myself to stay calm. While responding to his ludicrous claim
"... That's what someone who is trying to kill me would say. Get me to drop my guard with some foolish idea like that then cut my head off."
"I don't really need to do all that to deal with a kid though" He let out a short laugh. "Also I doubt a kid like you has any bounty, I won't waste my time on you"
His eyes drifted back to Kuroda's body.
"That guy had a bounty, a really big one too. Enough for me to live freely for a while"
My gaze flickered to the weapon in his hand.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven
'Why didn't he use it to kill that sorcerer, although it doesn't really matter if he uses a cursed tool or not against a sorcerer with weak reinforcement like that'
A cursed tool capable of nullifying techniques themselves.
A legendary item from the series I once watched on a screen.
My heart rate spiked despite myself.
If I ever got my hands on that…
The thought formed automatically.
A tool that cancels techniques.
Given my new desire to start learning about my technique, this tool will be imperative.
Before I could admire that cursed tool more, Toji shoved it into his worm's storage space.
'In order to mirror cursed tools I need to have the tool for a minimum of 5 days, so that I can pour enough cursed energy to fully mirror it'
Toji stretched his shoulders lazily, completely unconcerned about the corpse cooling at his feet.
"Guess I should wrap this up," he said, glancing at the sky. "The client only asked for confirmation. I'll just send a picture for proof of completion."
He pulled out a cheap flip phone, crouched beside Kuroda's body, and snapped a quick photo like he was documenting a broken appliance.
No ceremony.
No guilt.
Just business.
I watched him carefully, refusing to relax. My reinforcement stayed at maximum output, cursed energy circulating through every muscle. If he so much as twitched in my direction, I needed to be ready.
Even though I knew it wouldn't matter.
'If he decides I'm a problem, I will be in immense danger. I can't use a mirrored sure-hit effect offensively, and I don't have any mirrored techniques to use in this fight. In terms of raw physical stats Toji has me beat, but I can survive for a while'
Toji stood back up, rolling his neck.
"Why was a sorcerer like him trying to hunt you?" he said casually. "Do you have a bounty or something?". Those words made me tense.
I hesitated.
He wasn't threatening me. That question at the end was more unsettling than a threat, he saw me more like a potential moneybag than a person.
"I don't have any bounty," I replied. "I'm rather young, and unknown to anyone outside the kamo clan, I haven't made any debuts. As for why he was hunting me, its because he has a grudge against the Kamo"
"Grudge against the Kamo?," he shrugged. "Yeah actually that makes sense, I would have remembered a little kid with a bounty"
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Wind brushed across the open field. In the distance, cicadas hummed like nothing unusual had just happened.
Finally, I forced myself to ask the obvious question.
"Why are you still here?"
Toji gave me a sideways look.
"Because you're tense enough to snap your own bones. It's funny watching a kid like you scared and helpless."
He… is much more of a joker than I remember.
"Besides… you don't feel like a normal brat, you remind of another kid I met years ago. Now he is known as the 'strongest' " Toji remarked sarcastically, he really does dislike the three great families huh.
My heart skipped.
I kept my face neutral.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Don't," he replied. "It wasn't."
Great.
Silence returned.
Toji looked down at Kuroda's headless corpse one last time, then turned away.
"Well, I'm done here. Try not to get involved with guys like him again."
He started walking off without another word.
No dramatic exit.
No ominous warning.
Just a man finishing a job and leaving.
I watched his back disappear into the trees.
Only when he was completely gone did I finally allow myself to breathe.
"That was close."
The voice came from behind me.
I didn't flinch—I had already sensed him a while after Toji arrived.
Tomogui stepped out from the edge of the field, lowering the veil technique he'd been hiding under.
"You were here the whole time?" I asked flatly.
"Of course," he replied. "I arrived shortly after the domain appeared."
My eyes twitched.
"And you didn't think to help?"
Tomogui gave a small shrug.
"If I had interfered, Toji would have noticed me. It was better for me to stay low, if he actually tried to attack you, I would sneak attack him and we would run away"
…Annoyingly logical, but completely correct.
I exhaled and finally let my cursed energy relax.
"So you were just waiting to jump him if things went bad?"
"More or less. A surprise attack would have been our only chance."
He glanced in the direction Toji had left.
"Though I'm not sure even that would have worked."
Neither was I.
Tomogui walked over to Kuroda's corpse, kneeling beside it with clinical interest.
"Fascinating… he was stronger than expected."
I crossed my arms.
"Don't tell me you're impressed."
"I am," he admitted. "A domain in this era is rare. Unfortunate that he met someone outside the rules entirely, that must be why he wasn't known in the canon series. Despite his domain, he is rather weak physically, and with Toji ignoring his domain he was completely countered"
He paused, then reached into the bag he'd brought with him.
"Speaking of which."
My attention sharpened immediately.
Tomogui pulled out a few small reinforced containers, carefully wrapped and sealed.
"The Holy Ichor," he said. "I brought it just in case."
I stared at it.
"You planned this?"
"Not exactly," he replied. "But opportunities like this are rare."
His eyes shifted to Kuroda's body.
"A recently deceased sorcerer with a powerful technique… this is the perfect chance to experiment."
I already knew where this was going.
"You want to inject him."
Tomogui nodded.
"Normally we would need proper tools, sterilization, and careful preparation…"
He opened the container, revealing the faintly glowing liquid inside.
"But given the circumstances, we can afford to be a lot more … experimental with our subject"
I looked from the ichor to the corpse.
"... At least set up a veil, from what I remember in the canon Tengen's barriers can see everything. If we set up a veil, she won't know what's going on"
"Yes!" Tomogui said calmly. "The perfect opportunity to experiment we can't let this go to waste, Kuroda your life will be offered to a better cause."
I sighed.
Even after my first fight to the death, the day still wasn't over.
"Fine," I muttered. "Let's see what happens."
Tomogui and I pulled our blades out and stared at Kuroda's headless corpse. What was going to happen was something I never would have thought of in my old life.