Naturally, Sakiko’s worries were unnecessary.
Under ordinary circumstances, her reasoning would have been correct.
Even if someone possessed a technique resembling a shield, maintaining it should still consume cursed energy.
An enemy could simply continue attacking until that sorcerer’s reserves were completely exhausted.
However, that logic did not apply to Konoe Mayoru.
The most absurd feature of Vector Manipulation was that reflection operated passively.
As long as Mayoru calculated which substances and forms of energy were permitted to enter his body, everything else would automatically be reflected.
The cursed energy required to maintain that state was almost negligible.
If the cursed spirit did nothing but throw punches, it could attack until the end of time and still never break through Mayoru’s defense.
However, just like Sakiko, Mayoru had also noticed the spirit’s advantage in regeneration.
It could repair a shattered arm in the brief gap between punches.
Compared to humans, cursed spirits truly were unfair.
Sorcerers could also heal through Reverse Cursed Technique, but doing so could never be as effortless as the regeneration displayed by this spirit.
Furthermore, Reverse Cursed Technique was an extremely advanced skill.
At his current level, Mayoru could not use it at all.
Of course, possessing Vector Manipulation also meant he was unlikely to suffer injuries in the first place.
Still, judging by the cursed spirit’s output, the reflected force from its punches probably would not be enough to kill it.
Remaining in a stalemate like this did not suit Mayoru’s intentions.
He had never planned to simply stand there and let the spirit attack forever.
The purpose of this battle was to refine his cursed technique.
Therefore, he needed to take the initiative.
After estimating the cursed-energy cost, Mayoru silently activated Vector Manipulation.
Then he raised one hand.
Compared to the cursed spirit, his arm was incredibly thin.
His cursed energy flowed through it with such crude control that it should never have been capable of stopping the spirit’s fist.
However— The instant they touched, the cursed spirit’s eyes widened.
Its expression twisted in disbelief and even fear.
It was not only the spirit that froze.
Sakiko and even Kenjaku, who was watching from afar, were stunned.
“Why did that cursed spirit stop?” Indeed.
The rampaging special grade, whose mere shock waves had torn apart the convenience store, had suddenly stopped moving.
It was as though an even greater force had suppressed it.
With one casual grip from the modern sorcerer, its entire body lost the ability to gather cursed energy or make another movement.
“How is that possible?” “His cursed-energy reserves are lower, and his control is a complete mess.” “Even if his technique can block that spirit’s attacks, how could he overpower it physically?” Sakiko felt her understanding of jujutsu being shattered once again.
Kei was a complete beginner and knew almost nothing, but Sakiko had at least received a basic education.
Yet everything happening before her seemed determined to trample all over that knowledge.
Compared to Sakiko, Kenjaku possessed a far deeper understanding of what had happened.
“He didn’t overpower it physically.” “The instant that spirit touched him, all of its kinetic energy disappeared.” Kenjaku was technically an ancient sorcerer.
However, he had personally lived for a thousand years and naturally possessed a considerable understanding of science.
Because of that, he saw the situation more clearly.
Rather than Mayoru surpassing the cursed spirit’s strength, it was more accurate to say that the spirit’s strength had been taken away the moment they touched.
“His technique allows him to alter the kinetic energy of anything he touches?” “That would explain how he blocked the earlier attacks without injury and caused the spirit to suffer backlash from its own punches.” Believing he had uncovered the truth, Kenjaku narrowed his eyes before shaking his head.
“What an excellent technique.” “It appears modern awakened sorcerers really can produce individuals of considerable talent.” Kenjaku had been cautious because he could not understand the nature of Mayoru’s ability.
Now that he believed he had seen through it, his attitude became relaxed once again.
Manipulating kinetic energy was certainly troublesome, but once the technique’s nature was understood, there would always be a way to counter it.
That confidence did not last long.
Kenjaku’s smile soon disappeared.
As he witnessed what happened next, his brows furrowed in disbelief.
“Can he manipulate more than kinetic energy?” “You really enjoy throwing endless punches, don’t you?” Holding the cursed spirit’s fist, Mayoru spoke in quiet admiration.
He was genuinely praising it.
His current use of Vector Manipulation remained crude, and every activation required time to perform the necessary calculations.
Only a cursed spirit would mindlessly unleash the same form of energy again and again, almost as though it feared Mayoru might fail to understand it.
Thanks to that, it had given him plenty of time.
Time to decide exactly how he should deal with it.
While one hand erased the kinetic force aimed at him, Mayoru slowly raised the other.
His open palm closed into a fist.
He looked at the special-grade cursed spirit with sincere pity.
“Didn’t I already warn you?” “If you don’t start taking this seriously…” “You’re going to die, third-rate!” In the next instant, his fist shot forward.
The punch looked almost embarrassingly poor.
It was the kind of awkward swing one would expect from someone who had never fought before.
Even so, it struck the cursed spirit beneath the chin and launched it into the sky like a rocket at several times the speed of sound.
Sakiko told herself she should already be accustomed to Mayoru’s ridiculous performances.
She still did not understand his technique, but she decided that nothing he did from this point onward would surprise her.
Then she witnessed something she had never seen before.
“How did he even do that?!” How could such a weak-looking punch, delivered with such terrible cursed-energy control, send a special-grade cursed spirit flying?
From Mayoru’s perspective, however, the result was perfectly reasonable.
Many people assumed an ability like Vector Manipulation was best used from a distance by constantly launching objects.
Yet Vector Manipulation ultimately required physical contact to control energy.
In close combat, every form of energy possessed by the opponent entered Mayoru’s sphere of control.
This time, Mayoru had simply gathered all the kinetic force the spirit had unleashed against him into a single point.
By perfectly controlling those forces, concentrating them, and releasing them through his fist, he produced a terrifying result.
He truly had to thank the cursed spirit.
Under normal circumstances, what enemy would be stupid enough to keep throwing the same punch at him?
The spirit had allowed him to fully analyze the flow of its kinetic energy.
In the end, every bit of that power was turned back against it.
The attack naturally shocked Kenjaku as well.
However, he was not merely surprised by its destructive power.
That was terrifying, but it could still be explained.
As an observer, Kenjaku understood that the punch contained more than that.
“He didn’t only manipulate kinetic energy.” “He altered the cursed spirit’s gravity as well…!” “He reversed the direction of gravity, then combined it with the accumulated kinetic force to amplify the punch!” An ordinary observer might have assumed Mayoru absorbed the spirit’s momentum before striking it back.
Kenjaku, however, possessed a gravity-based technique himself.
More accurately, he possessed an Anti-Gravity System, though he could manipulate gravity through Cursed Technique Reversal.
Because he had personally controlled gravity before, Kenjaku could clearly sense that Mayoru had altered it as well.
Only by combining multiple forces could that punch have produced such overwhelming power.
However…
That should have been impossible.
A sorcerer generally possessed only one innate technique.
Even Kenjaku could wield multiple techniques only because of his brain-transfer ability.
“Yet this boy first manipulated kinetic energy, and now he has controlled gravity…” Earlier, Kenjaku had merely believed he had discovered a promising modern sorcerer.
After witnessing that punch, however, he realized that even he could not understand the boy.
“Who exactly are you?” Hidden within the darkness, Kenjaku murmured in genuine amazement.
“And what exactly is that cursed technique of yours?!” …