From the beginning, Konoe Mayoru had not been particularly worried about the Domain.
For an ordinary sorcerer, Domain Expansion was practically a guaranteed death sentence.
With its guaranteed-hit effect and amplified technique, the target could only respond with Simple Domain, Falling Blossom Emotion, Hollow Wicker Basket, or a Domain of their own.
At Mayoru’s current level as a complete beginner, there was no chance he had mastered any of those techniques.
Fortunately, he did not need them.
Falling Blossom Emotion was one method of resisting a Domain.
Put simply, the user covered their body in cursed energy and repelled the enemy’s technique the instant its guaranteed hit activated.
Mayoru’s reflection operated on a similar principle.
Gojo Satoru’s Limitless endlessly divided the space around him.
The closer something came to Gojo, the greater the resistance became, ensuring that an ordinary technique could never reach his body.
That was precisely why a Domain’s guaranteed hit could still affect him.
Vector Manipulation was different.
Reflection required an attack to touch Mayoru before it activated.
At the instant of contact, any harmful energy or substance was reflected in the opposite direction.
Both the cursed spirit and Kenjaku had probably assumed Mayoru needed to consciously identify and target an incoming attack.
That was the flaw in their understanding.
Who could have imagined that reflection was a passive ability covering every direction without a single blind spot?
Even if the Domain’s technique possessed no physical form before striking, it still relied on cursed energy the instant it manifested around Mayoru.
That cursed energy possessed direction.
Therefore, it was merely another target that could be reflected.
Even so, Mayoru was deeply moved.
He truly had not expected to encounter an opponent with a Domain on the very first day after awakening his technique.
Very few characters in the original Jujutsu Kaisen manga could use Domain Expansion.
Among those from Jujutsu High, there were only Gojo Satoru, Hakari Kinji, Okkotsu Yuta, and Itadori Yuji near the end.
There was also Fushiguro Megumi’s incomplete version.
However, his Domain lacked both a barrier and a guaranteed hit.
Aside from neutralizing another Domain’s guaranteed effect, it mainly served to strengthen himself.
In any case, the chance to observe a Domain’s structure from this close was extremely rare.
Higuruma Hiromi had reverse-engineered barrier techniques from the Domain built into his cursed technique.
He then used his understanding of barriers to develop cursed-energy reinforcement.
Mayoru could perceive the flow of cursed energy in far greater detail than most people, so there was no reason he could not attempt the same.
Unfortunately, Higuruma could deploy his Domain whenever he wished.
Mayoru might only receive this one opportunity for quite some time, so he naturally treasured it.
That meant he could not allow the cursed spirit to die too quickly.
Originally, he had only planned to exorcise it.
Now, he intended to extract every last bit of value from the creature and force it to reveal the full limits of its Domain.
Mayoru also had to admit that the two of them were perfect opponents.
They were practically made for each other—two idiots blessed with absurdly powerful abilities.
The cursed spirit had been born with enormous cursed-energy reserves, and its rare innate technique even included a Domain.
Its innate Domain was filled with countless picturesque crimson blades.
The spirit itself was hideous, yet its technique was deadly, durable, and strangely beautiful.
Unfortunately…
The cursed spirit was unbelievably stupid.
Perhaps it was simply too young and had not yet developed proper intelligence.
Any competent Grade 1 sorcerer given the same reserves and technique would have fought far more effectively.
Mayoru was much the same.
He possessed an outrageously powerful technique, yet he had controlled cursed energy for less than a single day.
An elite sorcerer who understood his abilities probably could not break through his defense, but they would not stand there and absorb every attack either.
This cursed spirit, however, genuinely allowed Mayoru’s attacks to land.
Mayoru activated cursed energy slowly, wasted much of it, and left obvious openings that an experienced sorcerer could exploit.
The spirit did not even understand the concept of preparation time.
It simply accepted every attack at full force.
Mayoru doubted he would experience another battle like this anytime soon.
Perhaps this was fate.
He had been given such an excellent punching bag, so he could not waste it.
He would force the cursed spirit to show him everything its Domain could offer.
“Try to entertain me, cursed spirit!” With a wild smile, Mayoru activated Vector Manipulation once more.
The cursed spirit’s body was struck by another inexplicable impact and sent flying across the Domain.
Even after hurriedly climbing back to its feet, none of its earlier arrogance remained.
For the first time since its birth, the spirit had encountered true terror.
An enemy it could not defeat.
It could not penetrate Mayoru’s defense, and even Domain Expansion had accomplished nothing.
A proper sorcerer would have dismissed the Domain and fled without hesitation.
The cursed spirit had forgotten even the possibility of escape.
Driven by its instinct to survive, it simply relied upon the strongest weapon it possessed and activated its technique again.
It no longer cared why its supposedly guaranteed hit could not penetrate Mayoru’s defense.
All thought had been discarded.
Like a frightened child facing danger, it instinctively unleashed every bit of power it possessed at Mayoru.
The Domain shook violently.
Without caring about cursed-energy consumption, the spirit caused countless crimson flowers to bloom.
A Domain reflected the heart of its creator, just as Sukuna’s contained mountains of bones and corpses, while Yuji’s resembled some mysterious countryside retreat.
Under the spirit’s desperate command, the barrier became dazzlingly beautiful.
Cursed energy transformed into dancing blades that descended upon Mayoru all at once.
Mayoru did not move.
He allowed the scarlet weapons to bloom across his body without concern, merely spreading his arms and feeling the flow of cursed energy around him.
“I can feel it…
the essence of cursed energy!” That was a lie.
Vector Manipulation made Mayoru extremely sensitive to cursed energy, but if a single glance were enough to grasp its essence, he would already be unstoppable.
He had simply always wanted an opportunity to dramatically say those words.
Still, it was not entirely false.
With the assistance of Vector Manipulation, he could clearly perceive how cursed energy was summoned and circulated throughout the Domain.
Every part of the process was exposed before him.
Mayoru did not possess the Six Eyes.
However, when he encountered advanced techniques, Vector Manipulation allowed him to study their precise cursed-energy flow and attempt to imitate it.
Regrettably, the barrier forming the Domain could not be learned after observing it only once.
Had there been a Domain he could visit every few days, Mayoru believed he would quickly master barrier techniques as well.
Even so, he was not disappointed.
He had already learned something—for example, how to summon cursed energy more smoothly.
Despite the brief amount of time that had passed, Mayoru could clearly feel that his cursed-energy control had become more refined.
He had achieved that by imitating the flow of energy within the barrier.
“Which means this cursed spirit has probably outlived its usefulness.” Mayoru looked toward the creature and shook his head with a sigh.
“What a pity.
In the end, you were never my dessert.” “So…” The corners of his lips rose as he finally stopped concealing his killing intent.
“Shall we finish this battle?” …