This truly caught Yuki Tsukumo off guard.
She had been thinking about how to contact the King of Curses, never imagining that the King of Curses would take the initiative to contact her.
For a moment, she felt a chill run down her spine; the King of Curses must be watching her from somewhere.
She had been locked onto the moment she made the call, and now she was like a turtle in a jar.
Yuki Tsukumo immediately spread her Cursed Energy, observing the surroundings for any Shikigami surveillance.
"Where is Hakari?" Yuki Tsukumo asked solemnly.
"What did you do to him?"
"He is safe."
The King of Curses' voice was unexpectedly gentle.
If she hadn't seen the ruins of the Zenin Clan with her own eyes, she would have thought the person on the other end was a preschool teacher, because he lacked the legendary sense of oppression entirely; his voice was like a spring breeze brushing past.
"Hakari-san has been my subordinate for a long time."
"You don't need to worry about me moving against him; on the contrary, I rely on him heavily."
"He follows me for all my dealings with the outside world."
"Even for the phone number to contact Japanese Diet members, I left his."
"Only through him can one contact me and obtain the... eternal life I promised."
This really was... catching a big fish!
Yuki Tsukumo retracted her senses and took a deep breath, realizing why the King of Curses would come looking for her at this time—it wasn't that the King of Curses had come to her door, but that she had happened to find the King of Curses!
What a coincidence, truly such a coincidence!
Most likely, the other party also thought Yuki Tsukumo had found out something, which was why she had been continuously urging Kinji Hakari and forcing him to make a choice.
But in fact, Yuki Tsukumo had only been urging him incessantly because all her clues were cut off and she could only rely on Kinji Hakari to gather information.
But, this was a good thing!
Yuki Tsukumo immediately entered her professional mode.
"You are very candid," she said.
"Because it's you, I am being very candid," the King of Curses' calm voice came from the phone.
"Tsukumo-san, I heard you have an ideal, wanting a world where there are no more Cursed Spirits?"
"Many people know about this; I have never hidden it," Yuki Tsukumo said.
"My ability... you must be very envious of it?" the King of Curses asked.
Yuki Tsukumo was momentarily speechless; the King of Curses had hit the bullseye!
She had clearly only spoken a few sentences with the King of Curses, but for a moment, she had the illusion that the King of Curses had known her for a long time.
Even her heartbeat accelerated slightly—this wasn't attraction, but her survival instinct warning her, telling her to stay away from it, away from the King of Curses!
"Perhaps there is room for cooperation," the King of Curses said slowly.
"If you have looked into the traces I've left in this world since my birth, you should know that I have never harmed anyone."
"Unless necessary, I won't even use my abilities."
"I am actively seeking the possibility of coexistence with humans... and I have the confidence that I can do it."
"A Cursed Spirit actively seeking to integrate into human society?" Yuki Tsukumo sneered.
"Was Hakari deluded by this obvious deception of yours?"
The King of Curses sighed.
"Yuki Tsukumo, you have deep-seated prejudices against me."
"Shouldn't I have prejudices?" Yuki Tsukumo's voice was cold.
"I still remember your self-introduction just now."
"You are the manifestation of human-on-human Curses, you are the King of Curses, you are a once-in-a-millennium Intelligent Cursed Spirit."
"You aren't human, but a new possibility for Cursed Spirits."
"Moreover, you possess the ability to 'evolve' people."
"Don't tell me you haven't used this ability on yourself, or on other Cursed Spirits?"
"Let me ask you, besides yourself, how many other Intelligent Cursed Spirits do you have under your command?"
"Regardless of how many Intelligent Cursed Spirits are under my command, they are all my family."
"They follow the words of me, the 'Head of the Family,' completely."
"Without my order, it is impossible for them to attack humans," the King of Curses said.
"You are as naive as a child!" Yuki Tsukumo said coldly.
"From the moment you created Intelligent Cursed Spirits other than yourself—no, it should be said from the moment you were born—you have effectively become the second Advanced Species on this planet besides humans."
"How did America treat the Native Americans back then?"
Because America was Japan's current 'big brother,' she once held some admiration for it.
Thus, the first country she went to after going abroad was America.
She had a detailed understanding of American history and knew it like the back of her hand.
Holding her phone to her ear with one hand, she unconsciously clenched her other fist, her voice sounding like a thousand-year-old glacier.
She said:
"Madison said the Native Americans must be exterminated, that one should be executed every ten minutes."
"Sherman said 'The only good Indian is a dead Indian.'"
"Pratt said 'Kill the Indian, save the man.'"
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Do you feel you're as great as a Saint, creating a new world where humans and Cursed Spirits coexist peacefully, moving forward hand-in-hand in harmony?"
Yuki Tsukumo's voice grew louder, finally sounding like a clap of thunder: "Don't give me that joke!"
"This is a war of species; only the extermination of one side can decide the winner!"
"On this planet, a second Advanced Species is not allowed to appear!"
"The words of the American Founding Fathers regarding the Native Americans can be perfectly applied to you, and even being more cruel would not be a problem."
"Do you think this is a matter of right and wrong, good or evil?"
"No!"
"This is a struggle between species and civilizations, a fight between two lion prides meeting in the wilderness!"
Mahito fell silent.
In the original work, Yuki Tsukumo was a great beauty with a heroic spirit.
Beyond that, she was an idealist who wanted to completely exterminate Cursed Spirits.
To this end, she had proposed many possibilities.
She wasn't just an idealist; she was a woman of action who would actually do it.
The Shikigami Cursed Tool she held was one of her achievements.
She had once entertained the idea of having all ordinary people in the world hold Shikigami Cursed Tools to assist them in controlling the leakage of Cursed Energy.
But in the end, she gave up because the price was too high and the costs simply couldn't be brought down.
Even her own Shikigami Cursed Tool was born of her own superb techniques.
Where would ordinary people get such techniques?
Even if the technology were provided for free and there were specialists to teach them considerately, the Jujutsu world relies entirely on talent.
This stuff is like math: you either get it or you don't!
It's more counter-intuitive than physics and relies more on feeling and luck than chemistry.
Even with Yuki Tsukumo teaching personally, an ordinary person might spend their whole life and not necessarily produce one.
This kind of thing simply cannot be popularized.
Since this path was a dead end, she moved to the next.
If it weren't for Kenjaku's appearance, she could have spent her entire life on this path, using her life's energy...
...to fulfill her ideal.
It could be said that although her Cursed Technique was a simple numerical explosion, she herself was a Jujutsu Master who knew many general Cursed Techniques—a genius who excelled in all aspects.
But there had never been a description of her political ability.
And now, this political awareness appeared before Mahito for the first time, cold and decisive.
Mahito already knew that a conversation with her wouldn't go smoothly, but he didn't expect the negotiation to be cut off by Yuki Tsukumo right at the start, with zero compromise.
That's right, he almost forgot—this person is the most radical against Cursed Spirits.
Mahito knew that saying anything more would make it impossible to win her over.
This was a clear-headed person who disregarded everything; no words could shake her will.
Unless the [Thought Seal] was used.
Mahito sighed.
"I'm sorry, Yuki Tsukumo, I underestimated you."
"We can only meet on the future battlefield."
"Ja ne."