Six hours had passed.
The sun was now fully up, casting bright morning light across the ruined Sando compound.
Himiko stood in the center of the main hall, arms folded, crown of black shards spinning with clear impatience. Kuro paced nearby, wings buzzing irritably.
Just as Kuro opened his mouth to complain again, a loud buzzing swarm poured back into the hall through the broken windows and cracked walls.
The fly-heads had finally returned.
Himiko's mismatched eyes narrowed the moment they entered. Her voice cut through the air like a blade, cold and regal.
"You're late."
The fly-heads immediately froze in mid-air, trembling violently under her gaze.
Kuro clicked his mandibles, trying to defend them.
"They probably ran into—"
"I did not ask for excuses," Himiko interrupted, her tone sharp. "I gave a clear order. They were to report back by sunrise. The sun is now well above the horizon."
She stepped forward, her porcelain form radiating authority as the crown spun faster above her head.
"Time is not a luxury we possess. Every wasted hour is another hour the great clans have to prepare. Another hour they have to notice us. I will not tolerate tardiness from my own forces."
The fly-heads huddled together, making small, terrified clicking noises.
Kuro rubbed the side of his head with one clawed hand, wings drooping slightly.
"They're not exactly built for speed, you know. They're insects."
Himiko turned her cold gaze onto him.
"Then train them to be faster. A general should not need to make excuses for his troops."
She looked back at the trembling swarm, her voice dropping into a commanding tone.
"Report. What did you find?"
One of the larger fly-heads hesitantly flew forward and began making rapid buzzing and clicking sounds, gesturing with its claws.
Kuro translated, sounding a little more serious now.
"Northern ridge has a strong granite deposit. Eastern forest has several large fallen cedar trees. Western slope has a clay bed and a sand stream nearby. All locations are viable."
Himiko was silent for a moment, processing the information. Then she gave a single, sharp nod.
"Acceptable. But their delay is not."
She turned and began walking toward the doorway, long black-and-white hair swaying behind her.
"Half the swarm will go with me to the northern ridge. The other half will stay here and begin clearing rubble under Kuro's command. We start now."
She paused at the threshold, glancing back over her shoulder with regal arrogance.
"And the next time I give an order, you will not be late again."
The fly-heads buzzed nervously in agreement.
Himiko stepped out into the bright morning sun, the swarm trailing behind her like a dark cloud.
Kuro watched her go, then let out a long, tired buzz.
"…She's gonna be fun to work for."
Three days remained until the observers' report.
And the rebuilding of the Porcelain Queen's palace had just begun.
Himiko stepped out of the main hall into the bright morning sunlight, her long black-and-white hair swaying behind her like a banner. The crown of black shards spun lazily above her head as she moved with perfect regal grace. Half the swarm trailed after her in a nervous black cloud.
Kuro remained inside, already barking orders at the other half of the fly-heads to start clearing rubble. His loud buzzing commands echoed through the ruined hall.
Himiko walked across the cracked courtyard without slowing, heading toward the broken main gate. Her porcelain feet clicked sharply against the stone with every step. The morning light made her white form almost glow, giving her an almost ethereal, queenly appearance.
She reached the threshold of the ruined gate and stopped.
Standing just outside the broken entrance, perfectly still, was a tall figure wrapped in a tattered black haori. His glowing yellow eyes were locked directly onto her.
Himiko's mismatched crimson and silver-black eyes met his gaze without hesitation.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them spoke.
The two simply stood there — the Porcelain Queen at the threshold of her broken palace, and the yellow-eyed associate of the Hollow Blade standing just beyond her gate — silently staring each other down in the bright morning sun.
The two figures stood frozen at the ruined gate — Himiko on one side, the yellow-eyed man on the other — locked in a silent, heavy stare-down.
Meanwhile, hidden in the treeline just beyond the compound…
The four observers watched the scene unfold, and the tension among them was thick enough to choke on.
Gojo no Kenji's hands trembled as he held the telescope.
"…That's Kurosawa," he whispered, voice tight. "One of the Hollow Blade's top associates. This is really bad."
The Zenin scout's face had gone completely white.
"She's not alone. Kuro is still inside the hall. If they start fighting, it's going to be a two-on-one."
Kamo no Jiro swallowed hard, sweat dripping down his temple.
"Even with both of them… it's not going to be easy. Kurosawa is still low-level special grade territory, same as them, but he's a monster on his own. He's taken down multiple Grade 1 sorcerers like they were nothing. A two-on-one might even the odds, but I still wouldn't bet against him. That man is terrifyingly strong."
The Abe onmyoji clutched his torn talismans, eyes wide with fear.
"If it turns into a real fight, this entire area could be devastated. Three low-level special grades going at it… none of the council's plans accounted for something like this."
Gojo no Kenji slowly lowered the telescope, his voice barely audible.
"We were sent here to observe one growing threat… and in less than a week we've watched her recruit a special-grade general. Now she's standing at her gate with that general only seconds away, facing off against one of the Hollow Blade's most dangerous men."
He let out a shaky breath.
"If this turns into a fight… the power balance in the Heian era just shifted permanently. And we're stuck watching it happen with three days left before we can even report it."
The four men fell deathly silent, eyes glued to the two terrifying figures facing each other at the gate — knowing full well that Kuro could burst out at any moment and turn this into a deadly, but still uncertain, two-on-one.
Kurosawa's scarred grin widened as he looked Himiko up and down with open mockery.
"A ruler with no followers…" he chuckled darkly, his glowing yellow eyes narrowing. "That's what you are, isn't it? You call yourself a queen, yet all you have is a bunch of brain-dead flies buzzing around your feet. Pathetic."
He took one lazy step closer, black blade resting casually on his shoulder.
"What kind of queen rules over nothing? No army. No loyal subjects. No real power. Just a broken doll sitting on a broken throne, pretending she's important."
Kurosawa let out a low, mocking laugh.
"And now you've got one oversized bug as your 'general'? How adorable. A queen and her little pet fly. What a glorious court you've built."
He tilted his head, that jagged scar stretching grotesquely across his face.
"Tell me something, doll… what is a queen to a god?"
His yellow eyes burned with cruel amusement.
"Because from where I'm standing, that's exactly what I am to you. A god. And you? You're just a fragile little porcelain toy that's about to get shattered."
The air grew heavier, thick with killing intent.
Himiko remained perfectly still, her crimson and silver-black eyes cold and unreadable.
Without turning her head, she called out in a calm, commanding voice that carried across the courtyard:
"Kuro."
Her tone was regal, almost bored.
"We have a problem."
From inside the main hall came the sound of furious buzzing. A second later, Kuro burst out through the broken doorway and landed heavily beside her, wings flaring aggressively as his compound eyes locked onto Kurosawa.
The three of them now stood at the gate — Himiko regal and cold, Kuro buzzing with hostility, and Kurosawa grinning like a predator who had just found worthy prey.
Kurosawa's yellow eyes shifted from Himiko to Kuro, his scarred grin growing even wider.
"And look at this one," he sneered, voice dripping with contempt. "The mighty Fly King. What a joke. A special grade that rules over nothing but maggots and rotting meat. You're not a king, you're a glorified pest control problem. Pathetic. Both of you are—"
"Enough."
Kuro's buzzing voice cut him off sharply, low and dangerous.
"You talk an awful lot for an intruder."
The Fly King's wings flared wide, compound eyes glowing with murderous intent.
"A human dares enter our domain and insult the queen? I will have my flies feast on your rotting corpse."
Himiko's lips curved into a cold, imperious smile. Her crown spun faster.
"I agree," she said smoothly, voice like ice. "He must die."
The moment the words left her mouth, Kuro exploded forward.
His massive form shot toward Kurosawa like a black bullet, clawed hand raised for a crushing strike. His wings roared with raw power.
Kurosawa didn't dodge. He simply tilted his head slightly.
The instant Kuro's shadow touched the ground, Kurosawa's black blade flashed.
Shadow Stitching: Needle Thread.
An invisible black thread shot from Kurosawa's own shadow directly into Kuro's. The effect was immediate.
Kuro's left arm jerked violently to the side against his will, throwing his entire attack off course. He staggered, nearly losing his balance.
Kurosawa's scarred grin widened.
"Predictable."
He drew his second blade, holding both curved black swords in a relaxed stance, the morning light glinting off the dark metal.
Every time Kuro tried to close the distance, Kurosawa manipulated the light with precise movements of his blades, changing how the sunlight hit the broken walls and rubble. The shadows on the ground twisted and stretched unnaturally, constantly shifting their shape and direction.
Kuro snarled and pressed the attack again, but his own shadow kept betraying him — yanking his limbs, twisting his torso, disrupting his momentum at the worst possible moments.
Himiko watched for only a few seconds before her eyes narrowed.
She had seen enough.
In an instant, she moved. Her porcelain form blurred forward with terrifying speed, black grudge shards exploding outward from her crown like a storm of obsidian blades. She joined the fray without hesitation, turning the fight into a deadly two-on-one.
Kurosawa's glowing yellow eyes flashed with genuine excitement as he faced both special grades at once.
"Now this," he laughed, spinning both blades, "is more like it."
The tactical battle had truly begun — a porcelain queen and her fly-headed general against the shadow-manipulating assassin of the Hollow Blade.
The fight exploded in full force.
Kuro roared and unleashed a massive swarm of black flies from his body, thousands of them surging forward like a living storm. The buzzing was deafening as they tried to engulf Kurosawa from every angle.
At the same moment, Himiko pulled a single stored grudge shard from her body and hurled it forward.
Fracture.
The black shard streaked through the air and struck the ground right in front of Kurosawa. The moment it shattered, a violent spiritual rupture exploded outward — a shockwave of pure soul-tearing force that ripped through the courtyard like shattered porcelain.
Kurosawa's eyes widened for the first time. He leaped backward, barely avoiding the main blast, but the edge of the rupture still clipped him. Cracks like broken glass flickered across his left arm for a split second before vanishing.
Kuro didn't hesitate. He charged straight through the aftermath of the blast, claws glowing with cursed energy as he aimed to crush Kurosawa while he was off-balance.
Kurosawa's grin never faded.
He slammed one of his black blades into the ground. The impact sent a ripple through every shadow in the courtyard.
Shadow Stitching: Puppet Wire.
Kuro's own shadow suddenly lashed upward like a whip, striking him hard in the chest and sending the massive Fly King staggering backward.
At the same time, Kurosawa spun, his second blade moving in a perfect arc. He sliced through the air with impossible precision, deflecting Himiko's next thrown shard and redirecting its trajectory straight back toward her.
Himiko twisted her body mid-air to avoid her own attack, her eyes burning with cold fury.
Kurosawa was clearly the most skillful fighter on the field. Even against two special grades, he moved like he was toying with them — constantly changing the angle of light with precise blade movements, shifting shadows across the broken courtyard, and using every shadow as an extension of his blades.
Kuro growled in frustration, his wings buzzing louder as he prepared another, bigger swarm.
Himiko pulled two more shards from her body, ready to throw again.
Kurosawa simply smiled, both black blades held low, glowing with dark energy.
"Come on," he taunted, voice dripping with arrogance. "Is that really all a queen and her pet fly can do?"
Kurosawa barely finished speaking before the tide turned hard against him.
Himiko and Kuro moved at the exact same time, as if they had rehearsed it.
Himiko pulled two stored shards from her body and hurled them high into the air above Kurosawa. At the same moment, Kuro exploded forward, deliberately positioning his massive body between Kurosawa and the incoming shards to block his vision.
Kurosawa clicked his tongue in annoyance and tried to sidestep — but Kuro suddenly dropped low and swept his wings violently across the ground, kicking up a thick cloud of dust and rubble that completely ruined the morning sunlight's angle.
The shadows across the entire courtyard went chaotic and unpredictable.
That was all Himiko needed.
Both shards detonated in rapid succession directly above Kurosawa's head.
Fracture. Fracture.
Two violent spiritual ruptures slammed down on him like twin hammers. Cracks of soul damage spiderwebbed across his shoulders, chest, and neck. Two fresh grudge shards immediately tore out of his body and began orbiting him.
Before Kurosawa could recover, Kuro was already there. The Fly King snatched one of the orbiting shards out of the air with his clawed hand and smashed it straight into Kurosawa's face at point-blank range.
Fracture.
The chained soul rupture hit him directly in the head.
Kurosawa staggered for the first time, blood leaking from his mouth.
Himiko didn't give him a single second to breathe. She was already throwing her next shard, perfectly timed with Kuro's movements. The two of them had found their coordination — Kuro using his overwhelming size and swarm to disrupt light and create openings, while Himiko rained down precise, devastating soul fractures the moment those openings appeared.
The momentum had completely flipped.
Kurosawa wiped the blood from his lip, yellow eyes now burning with genuine interest instead of mockery.
"…Not bad," he muttered, spinning both blades into a tighter guard. "Not bad at all."
"…Not bad," he muttered, spinning both blades into a tighter guard. "Not bad at all."
The battle had gone from a one-sided beating to a real, dangerous fight.
Himiko and Kuro pressed their advantage immediately.
Kuro lunged forward again, this time deliberately keeping his body low to the ground. He swept his wings in a wide arc, kicking up another thick cloud of dust that ruined the light once more. At the exact same moment, Himiko hurled three stored shards in a tight triangle formation directly at Kurosawa.
Fracture. Fracture. Fracture.
The three shards detonated in rapid succession the moment they got close. The chained soul ruptures slammed into Kurosawa from three different angles at once. Fresh grudge shards tore out of his body, orbiting him violently.
Kurosawa snarled and fought back. He stitched Kuro's shadow mid-charge, forcing the Fly King's leg to lock up and stumble. With his free hand he spun one blade in a blindingly fast circle, deflecting two of Himiko's shards while trying to close the distance on her.
But the coordination between the queen and her general was getting smoother by the second.
Kuro recovered instantly and slammed his shoulder into Kurosawa's side, using raw size and power to knock him off balance. The moment Kurosawa staggered, Himiko was already there — she dashed in and slammed a freshly extracted shard directly into his chest before detonating it at point-blank range.
Fracture.
The rupture hit so hard that Kurosawa was actually lifted off his feet and sent crashing into the broken outer wall.
He rolled to his feet quickly, breathing harder now, blood dripping from multiple cracks across his grey skin. His yellow eyes were no longer mocking — they were focused, almost angry.
He retaliated fiercely. His blades moved in a deadly whirlwind as he charged Himiko, stitching both her shadow and Kuro's at the same time to try and pin them in place. For a brief moment he gained the upper hand, forcing Himiko to dodge desperately while Kuro was yanked around like a puppet.
But the moment Kurosawa overextended to press the attack, Kuro broke free of the shadow thread and grabbed him from behind in a crushing bear hug, pinning both of Kurosawa's arms to his sides.
Himiko didn't waste the opening.
She pulled the largest stored shard she had and hurled it straight at Kurosawa's trapped body.
Fracture.
The massive soul rupture detonated right in his face.
The explosion of spiritual force sent all three of them flying backward from the sheer power of the blast.
Kurosawa crashed hard into the courtyard ground, skidding several meters before he managed to stop himself. He pushed himself up on one knee, breathing heavily, blood now openly running from his mouth and nose. Cracks covered most of his torso.
He was clearly losing now.
Even so, the Hollow Blade associate slowly rose back to his feet, both blades still gripped tightly, yellow eyes burning with defiance.
"…You two are starting to piss me off."
Kurosawa's voice became low, unhinged. His yellow eyes glowed with manic intensity as blood continued to drip from his mouth.
He slammed both blades into the ground and threw his arms out wide.
"Enough."
Cursed energy exploded out of him like a black storm. Every shadow in the courtyard suddenly came alive, writhing and stretching like living things.
Shadow Stitching: Eternal Marionette — God's Threads.
Hundreds of thick, jet-black threads erupted from his shadow, lashing out toward both Himiko and Kuro at terrifying speed. The threads didn't just bind shadows — they stitched space itself, trying to sew their very bodies to the ground.
Himiko managed to dodge most of them, but Kuro wasn't fast enough.
Dozens of threads wrapped around his massive frame, pinning his wings, arms, and legs. The Fly King roared in fury, trying to break free, but the threads only tightened.
Kurosawa's scarred grin split even wider.
He vanished in a burst of speed.
In the blink of an eye he was in front of the trapped Kuro, fist already pulled back.
Black Flash.
The moment his fist connected with Kuro's chest, everything slowed down.
A single, perfect spark of cursed energy ignited between Kurosawa's knuckles and the Fly King's armored body. For one beautiful, impossible instant, the cursed energy turned pitch black — not dark, not shadowy, but a true, absolute black that seemed to swallow the morning sunlight itself. The air around the point of impact warped violently, reality bending as the technique forced the cursed energy into a state of perfect synchronization between motion and power.
The impact wasn't just physical.
It was like the universe itself flinched.
A deep, thunderous boom rolled across the courtyard as the Black Flash detonated. The force of it was so pure, so refined, that it bypassed most of Kuro's natural durability and struck his soul directly. Cracks of black energy spiderwebbed outward from the point of contact, spreading across his entire chest like lightning frozen in time. His massive body jerked violently, every muscle locking up at once as the technique overloaded his cursed energy pathways.
Kurosawa's yellow eyes were wide, pupils blown, completely lost in the ecstasy of the technique. The Black Flash had dragged him into that mythical zone where every movement felt predestined, where his instincts operated on a level beyond conscious thought.
The sound that followed was sickening — a wet, crunching explosion of chitin and flesh. Dark blood sprayed from Kuro's mouth in a violent arc. His wings crumpled like paper. The massive Fly King's eyes rolled back, and his body went completely limp, held up only by the black threads still wrapped around him.
Then the threads released.
Kuro collapsed like a broken puppet, crashing heavily into the dirt. He didn't move. He didn't breathe. Just a motionless, shattered heap of chitin and blood.
Kurosawa stood over the fallen special grade, chest heaving, blood still running down his own chin. His entire body was trembling with adrenaline, the afterglow of the Black Flash still dancing across his skin like living lightning.
He slowly turned his glowing yellow eyes toward Himiko.
The Black Flash had shifted everything.
Kurosawa stood over Kuro's broken body, pupils dilated, trembling with pure adrenaline. His chest heaved as the aftershocks of the Black Flash continued to ripple across his skin like living lightning.
He started muttering to himself, voice delirious and ecstatic.
"I see… I understand now… So this… this is what it feels like…"
His entire body shuddered violently as more black sparks danced across his arms and shoulders. His yellow eyes were wide and unfocused, completely lost in the high of the technique.
"THIS IS JUJUTSU!!!!!"
The Hollow Blade associate threw his head back and screamed the words at the sky, his voice cracking with raw euphoria. The Black Flash had pushed him deep into the zone — his instincts sharpened to a lethal edge, his potential skyrocketing with every passing second.
Himiko stared at Kuro's motionless, bloodied form.
Rage ignited inside her like never before.
Her crown spun so violently it became a black blur above her head. Fine cracks spread across her porcelain knuckles as her fists clenched. For the first time, her regal mask shattered completely — her mismatched eyes burned with pure, murderous fury.
Kurosawa slowly lowered his head, that manic grin still plastered across his bloodied face.
Then he moved.
Still riding the Black Flash high, he blurred toward her in an instant. Himiko barely had time to throw a Fracture shard before he was on her. He stitched her shadow mid-motion, forcing her body to twist awkwardly, then slammed his elbow into her side with monstrous force. The impact sent her flying, porcelain body cracking audibly on impact with the ground.
He didn't let up.
Kurosawa was relentless, attacking with terrifying speed and precision. Every strike was perfectly timed, every shadow manipulated to disrupt her movements. Himiko tried to fight back, hurling shards desperately, but he was simply too fast, too fluid. He deflected her attacks, closed the distance, and beat her down with a barrage of blows that left new cracks spreading across her white surface.
With one smooth motion, he swept her legs out from under her.
Himiko crashed hard onto her back.
Kurosawa was already above her, one black blade raised high, point aimed straight down at her head.
"Die."
He drove the sword down with killing intent.
Just before the blade reached her face, Himiko's hands shot up on pure reflex and caught the sword between her palms, stopping it inches from her forehead. The edge bit into her porcelain hands, dark cracks spreading rapidly across her fingers.
In that desperate moment, something inside her snapped.
With her left hand still gripping the blade between her palms, Himiko raised her right hand in a sharp, one-handed seal — fingers twisted into an unfamiliar but commanding shape.
Her voice rang out cold and furious.
"Domain Expansion: Court of Fractured Oaths."
The incomplete domain exploded outward.
A wave of freezing white porcelain surged from Himiko in a fifteen-meter radius, flash-freezing everything it touched. The ground, the rubble, the broken walls — all of it turned into smooth, glossy white porcelain in an instant. Black pillars of jagged grudge shards erupted violently from the frozen surface like dark crystalline spikes, stabbing upward in irregular clusters.
Kurosawa was caught completely off-guard. The porcelain wave slammed into him and locked his entire body in place, freezing him mid-motion like a statue.
Himiko didn't waste a single second.
She shoved his blade aside, rolled to her feet, and immediately began chaining attacks while he was still trapped.
Fracture. Fracture. Fracture.
She hurled stored shards one after another straight into his frozen chest. Each one detonated on impact, sending violent soul ruptures tearing through him. Fresh grudge shards kept ripping out of his body, orbiting him uselessly while he couldn't move.
She stepped right in front of the paralyzed Kurosawa, eyes burning with rage, and began spamming the technique back-to-back without pause.
Fracture. Fracture. Fracture. Fracture.
The chained soul ruptures slammed into him relentlessly. Cracks spread wildly across his grey skin. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose with every detonation. His body jerked and twitched inside the porcelain prison as the spiritual damage stacked higher and higher.
Himiko's breathing grew ragged. Keeping even this incomplete domain active was draining her heavily. She could already feel her strength slipping — she knew she only had about thirty seconds before the domain collapsed.
But she didn't stop.
She stood directly in front of him, porcelain face twisted in fury, relentlessly chaining Fracture after Fracture, pouring every ounce of her rage into the assault while Kurosawa remained helplessly frozen in her Court of Fractured Oaths.
Himiko kept spamming Fracture without mercy for the full thirty seconds. Each detonation slammed into Kurosawa's frozen body, stacking brutal soul ruptures one after another. By the time her incomplete domain finally collapsed, he was barely standing — a broken, bloodied wreck on the verge of death.
The porcelain ground shattered around them. Kurosawa dropped to one knee, coughing violently, yellow eyes dim.
Himiko didn't hesitate.
She instantly pulled the largest grudge shard she had left and hurled it straight at his head for the finishing blow.
But Kurosawa moved first.
With his last ounce of strength, he ripped a small black orb from inside his torn haori — a cursed tool — and crushed it in his fist.
A violent burst of dark smoke exploded outward, completely swallowing him. The smoke reeked of death and carried an overwhelming presence that made even Himiko instinctively flinch back.
When the smoke cleared a second later… Kurosawa was gone.
Only a single black feather drifted down where he had been standing.
Himiko stared at the empty space, chest heaving, rage still burning in her eyes. She wanted to chase him, but her body was at its limit.
The moment the adrenaline faded, her legs gave out.
She collapsed onto her knees beside Kuro's motionless body, porcelain hands shaking as she gently touched the side of his shattered face.
"…Kuro…?"