"Wow, that's quite a big mouth you've got there. I wonder if your strength actually matches that confidence?"
The stitched-face man raised his left hand, revealing several tiny transfigured humans wriggling between his fingers.
"I'm Mahito. What's your name, and what grade of sorcerer are you?"
On that face covered in stitched scars, he wore a smile that looked almost harmless.
The way he spoke was casual, like chatting with an old friend he hadn't seen in a time.
"Kento Nanami, grade 1 sorcerer."
Out of long-standing habit, Nanami answered calmly and politely, even while facing an enemy.
"No wonder you look so confident. Then—"
"You talk too much."
Before Mahito could finish, Nanami cut him off. His blunt weapon was already right in front of him.
Mahito reacted on instinct and raised his right arm to block.
With a loud "bang," the arm shattered along the stitched lines. It broke apart and hung there, barely connected, like torn fibers.
Strangely enough, there was no blood.
"Huh? I reinforced it with cursed energy beforehand, so why did it still break? And that's just a stick…"
Mahito jumped back, staring at his half-broken arm with a clear and innocent look of confusion.
Then he used his technique and reconnected the arm as if nothing had happened.
"Want to know why? You'll get to feel it properly soon enough."
So it didn't cause real damage. Was it his technique, or something about his body itself?
Either way, this wasn't some random low-level curse.
Nanami didn't answer Mahito's curiosity. Sea-blue cursed energy flowed through his body and spread onto his weapon.
"My technique lets me change the shape of my own soul, or the soul of any living being I touch. So that wasn't healing. I was just keeping my soul in its original form. No matter what, the soul always comes before the body."
Mahito waved his right arm, showing that it wasn't simple regeneration.
Even if unintentional, he had openly revealed his technique.
By revealing it, he placed a binding on himself. During this fight, his strength would increase to some extent.
Cursed energy gathered in his left hand as he threw the tiny transfigured humans forward.
While flying through the air, their bodies were reshaped again. They grew huge in an instant, forming several human-shaped walls between Nanami and Mahito.
'He can talk, and his intelligence is already on par with humans. This really does connect to those two special grade curses that attacked Gojo not long ago…'
Nanami stayed silent, but Satoru's report about two unregistered special grade curses surfaced in his mind.
With this one included, that made three.
Special grade curses weren't that rare anymore, but several appearing in an organized way like this felt like some kind of conspiracy.
"There's a limit to how many transfigured humans I can store. Most of them die not long after being transfigured, so I thought I'd experiment on sorcerers instead."
Standing behind the transfigured humans, Mahito crossed his arms, clearly looking forward to Nanami's response.
"Sigh. It's already past five thirty. I started work at ten today. No matter what, I'm clocking out at six."
Nanami glanced at his watch calmly. His cursed energy surged.
Bang!
Just like before, a single strike wiped out all the transfigured humans charging at him.
"So strong. This is fun!"
Mahito laughed loudly and flung his arms outward. Two cone-shaped transfigured humans, thicker than any person, shot out from his sleeves.
This was his first time fighting a sorcerer. And right from the start, it was someone of this level.
Bang!
Nanami leaped up. The cone-shaped transfigured human was driven straight into the wall, where Nanami stepped on it and used it as a foothold.
"Help… help me…"
Right as he prepared to attack Mahito, the transfigured human beneath his feet trembled and spoke.
Nanami lowered his head and saw two tears clinging to the corners of its eyes.
Its soul was shaking. Crying.
"Well, they don't die right away after being transfigured. I'm still not skilled enough yet. My control over the brain and consciousness isn't perfect, so sometimes the soul leaks a bit of sweat. Don't worry about it. Let's keep going."
Mahito joked openly from the side.
"I'm not worried. I don't let personal feelings interfere with my work."
Nanami's face remained blank.
He gently reached out and wiped away the tears at the corner of the transfigured human's eyes.
Then he brought his weapon down and crushed its head, ending its miserable life.
Shoko had already confirmed it earlier. Transfigured humans couldn't be saved.
If they were encountered again, killing them quickly was the only way to release them.
"Hahaha! You really can't lie! Your soul is trembling!"
Mahito burst into laughter, unable to hold it back. Spit even flew from his mouth.
He acted as if he felt none of the silent rage pouring out from Nanami.
This was the first time in a long while Nanami felt anger during a mission.
Anger at how fragile and tragic life was, and at how this curse toyed with it so casually.
"Then become my toy."
Mahito suddenly accelerated. With a single push of his legs, he was right in front of Nanami.
Nanami seemed frozen, standing there without reacting. A faint light reflected off his goggles.
Mahito's cursed-energy-coated hand reached straight for his abdomen.
"Huh? From this distance… I missed?!"
His hand grasped at empty air.
That sudden burst of speed looked like slow motion to his opponent. Even waiting until the last moment was enough.
Bang!
What met the curse was Nanami's weapon, filled with suppressed fury.
The strike slammed into Mahito's head, activating the Ratio Technique.
Using the vertical length of his head as a measure, it was divided into ten parts. The blow landed exactly on the seven-to-three point.
Blood bloomed in the air like a flower.
Mahito's body flew backward uncontrollably, smashing through several layers of wall before collapsing on the ground below.
Half of his face split open along the stitches. Large amounts of blood poured out.
"Pfft."
Mahito tried to speak, but instead spat out a mouthful of blood.
Even his nose was bleeding heavily.
Why?
Based on what happened earlier, as long as he kept his soul's shape intact, he shouldn't have been hurt.
Unless…
"So that's how it works. To hurt you, I need attacks that strike the soul."
Nanami looked down at Mahito from above, his expression calm, as if everything made sense.
If it was about souls, then the answer was simple.
Wrap his own soul in cursed energy, and let soul clash with soul.
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