“Black Flash naturally deals tremendous damage, but that isn’t its only benefit.
After landing one, a sorcerer gains a much finer understanding of cursed energy.” “It’s what people call grasping the essence of cursed energy.” The advantages of Black Flash hardly needed explaining.
Having read the Jujutsu Kaisen manga in his previous life, Konoe Mayoru knew how powerful it was.
An attack raised to the power of 2.5 was absurd.
At the level of Gojo or Sukuna, even an ordinary punch would probably kill nearly every sorcerer other than Mayoru in one blow.
Landing a Black Flash could also restore a sorcerer’s condition, even allowing the weakened output of Reverse Cursed Technique to recover.
However, what Mayoru valued most was the deeper understanding of cursed energy it granted.
The difference between a sorcerer who had experienced Black Flash and one who had not was like heaven and earth.
That deeper understanding was exactly what Mayoru currently lacked.
In theory, no sorcerer could deliberately land a Black Flash.
Itadori Yuji was the exception.
During the final battle in Shinjuku, Yuji landed eight Black Flashes and nearly broke Sukuna’s spirit.
Sixty-eight years later, he could supposedly throw them out as casually as normal punches.
Mayoru faintly suspected that he might become another exception.
Black Flash normally occurred only when a sorcerer’s emotions reached an extreme.
The condition of cursed energy striking within 0.000001 seconds of a physical blow was simply too demanding.
One either had to be consumed by rage or completely lost in the thrill of battle.
However…
“In theory, I can control the flow of cursed energy too.” The calculations were complicated, but cursed energy was still a vector he could manipulate.
If he altered its direction at the instant of physical impact, he could reduce the delay between the two.
He might not reach Yuji’s peak control from sixty-eight years later, but his odds of landing Black Flash would still be far higher than those of an ordinary sorcerer.
The more Black Flashes he landed, the deeper his understanding of cursed energy would become.
That would improve the precision of Vector Manipulation, which would then make it easier to land even more Black Flashes.
The more Black Flashes he landed, the better his technique became.
The better his technique became, the more Black Flashes he could land.
‘It’s a perfect loop!’ Unfortunately, reality was not so generous.
Less than half a day had passed since Mayoru awakened cursed energy.
Although he could calculate its flow, immediately meeting the conditions for Black Flash was still difficult.
For now, all he could do was practice.
Whenever he walked, he calculated each step in advance and directed a tiny amount of cursed energy into his feet.
Black Flash occurred when the delay between cursed energy and physical impact became almost nonexistent.
In theory, if he gained perfect control over the vector of cursed energy, he could trigger one simply by stomping the ground.
However, the permitted margin of error was far too small.
In his current state, that remained impossible.
Still, being unable to do it now did not mean he would never succeed.
Mayoru remained quite optimistic about that.
“Speaking of cursed energy…
I never noticed before, but Tokyo is filled with ‘it’.” Even ordinary people possessed faint cursed energy.
After all, it was impossible for someone to live without experiencing any negative emotions.
The scattered traces they left behind could be detected, but they were so weak that manipulating them served almost no purpose.
No…
They were not entirely useless.
By examining those faint traces, Mayoru could at least estimate another person’s level of control.
Some people clearly possessed far greater mastery than a beginner like him.
Even the remnants of cursed energy they left behind were remarkably refined.
“If I want to improve my control, familiarize myself with Vector Manipulation’s formulas, and unlock more processing power, I need a suitable opponent.” A day earlier, Mayoru would never have considered willingly entering a battlefield.
However, times had changed.
If he wanted to become stronger, fighting a powerful opponent was far more efficient than repeating the same safe exercises forever.
Gojo Satoru had not even fully mastered Reverse Cursed Technique before Fushiguro Toji nearly killed him.
After that experience, his growth exploded, and he became capable of maintaining Limitless at all times.
Mayoru needed to change his mindset as well.
Even after the Culling Game ended, ordinary life would not return.
Leaving the barrier would only mean facing the tens of millions of cursed spirits now roaming Tokyo.
He needed to prepare himself for battle.
His highest priority was becoming strong enough to control Vector Manipulation as naturally as his own limbs.
For that, a powerful enemy was essential.
Conveniently, Mayoru could follow the flow of even the faintest cursed-energy remnants and locate whoever had left them behind.
After choosing his target, he stepped forward and headed toward the enemy.
…
“No…
please…” A hoarse plea escaped the girl’s lips.
‘A nightmare.’ ‘Please, let this be a nightmare.’ Shirogane Kei stared ahead in a daze.
Blood had spread beneath her feet, coating the ground in something thick and sticky.
She could even smell its metallic stench.
People had been killed before her like insects.
She had vaguely understood that such things might happen after inexplicably becoming a so-called player.
However, for a girl who had been living an ordinary life only yesterday and still believed in her future, the reality was far too cruel.
“Judging by your reaction, young lady, you aren’t an old relic like us who reincarnated through a vessel, are you?” The man facing Kei spoke with a strange accent.
“You probably don’t even know what incarnation is.
You weren’t a sorcerer before this ritual dragged you in.
What a miserable life you’ve had.” His manner of speaking did not resemble that of a modern Japanese person.
He sounded like an ancient old man who had wandered into the present.
His words even seemed genuinely sympathetic.
Had there not been a pile of corpses beneath his feet, Kei might have mistaken him for a kind person.
“Why…
Why did you kill them?” “Oh, you mean these people?” The sorcerer kept his gaze fixed on Kei and sighed softly.
“You’re a player too, so you should understand how valuable points are.” “Kenjaku is no decent man.
He clearly intends for us to slaughter one another, so collecting more points naturally gives me an advantage.” “Look at them.
They could not even control cursed energy, yet each one still carried points.” “If I didn’t kill them, someone else would have.
I granted them painless deaths, and they gave me their worthless points in return.
Does that not seem reasonable?” ‘Reasonable?
What do you think human lives are?!’ Kei had no idea who Kenjaku was, but her stomach churned.
She had grown up in an age of peace.
Even after realizing that the world had changed, she could not shift her mindset as naturally as the sorcerer before her.
The ancient sorcerer continued to stare at her with pity.
“How unfortunate.
You lived in a peaceful era without developing any instinct for battle, only to become a player inside this barrier.” “Someone like you won’t survive for long.” “So…” His expression remained compassionate as his hand slowly closed around the sheath of the long sword at his waist.
It looked like a cheap toy taken from somewhere nearby.
Yet in his grasp, it became as terrifying as the fang of a blood-soaked demon.
The man lowered his body like a wild beast.
At last, his thirst for blood overwhelmed the false compassion he had displayed.
“Allow me to free you from this suffering!” His excited whisper reached Kei’s ears.
At the same instant, the sorcerer vanished.
A violent gust erupted as he became a storm, crossing the distance between them in an instant.
A flash of silver appeared before Kei’s throat.
Death.
Kei saw death.
She knew she was about to die.
The sorcerer was so fast that it seemed impossible for a living creature to move that way.
She did not even have time for her life to flash before her eyes before her head was about to be severed.
‘Why?’ ‘Why is this happening to me?’ Her stunned mind could find no answer.
Kei could only close her eyes and wait in despair.
However, the expected death never reached her.
The sorcerer needed only one more step to slice through her neck, yet he suddenly sensed something and forced himself to stop.
Something tore through the space in front of Kei.
Like a cannon shell, it slammed into a nearby building and caused the entire structure to shake.
When the dust finally cleared, they saw that the object buried in the concrete wall was merely a stone.
How fast did a stone need to travel to shake an entire building?
Kei had no idea, but the sight left her stunned.
She also understood that the stone had saved her life.
Without it, her head would already have been separated from her body.
Tap.
Footsteps echoed across the road.
A figure calmly approached.
He showed no urgency and walked with complete ease, his shadow swaying beneath the harsh sunlight.
Realizing that this person had saved her, Kei instinctively looked toward him.
Then she froze.
A familiar name escaped her lips.
“Konoe-nii…?” The ancient sorcerer turned toward the newcomer as well.
His expression became grave, and the false compassion vanished from his face.
“Who are you?!” “I have no obligation to give you my name.
Besides, I doubt there’s any point in talking between us.” The boy—Konoe Mayoru—answered casually.
He raised his lowered head, and an eager smile gradually appeared on his handsome face.
He seemed delighted by the battle that might soon begin.
“You want my points, don’t you?
Then come and fight me.” “You nearly killed the girl next door.” “I’m allowed to be a little rough with you for that, aren’t I, ancient sorcerer?” …