‘So this is an ancient sorcerer?’ For a moment, Konoe Mayoru was genuinely amazed.
Until now, everything he knew about cursed energy and jujutsu had come from manga.
Reading about it could never compare to experiencing it firsthand.
At the very least, Mayoru was certain this ancient sorcerer possessed Grade 1 strength.
His cursed-energy reinforcement alone was enough to make Mayoru envious.
The man was clearly no roadside nobody.
He was a genuinely capable sorcerer.
Mayoru could also move at tremendous speeds.
Even with his current inexperience, he could calculate his destination, gather cursed energy beneath his feet, account for air resistance, and propel himself at several times the speed of sound.
He did not even need to worry about inertia.
With Vector Manipulation, he could instantly disperse it and stop on the spot regardless of how fast he had been moving.
The problem was the calculations.
Maintaining that level of speed during combat was far from easy.
How could he not envy someone who manipulated cursed energy so naturally?
Even so, Mayoru had already predicted his opponent’s movements.
Without hesitation, he reached toward the vending machine beside him.
Clunk.
The vending machine rose into the air before launching forward like a cannon shell.
Mayoru had calculated this step in advance.
The road was wide but perfectly straight.
As long as the sorcerer charged toward him, his route would be almost fixed.
By predicting that route, Mayoru gained enough time to calculate regardless of how fast his opponent moved.
It was still the simplest application of his technique—gather every available force at one point and launch an object.
For someone using Vector Manipulation, mass was hardly a concern.
No…
The greater the mass, the better.
The object’s weight, support force, and every other force acting upon it could all be gathered and directed forward, making the resulting attack even more destructive.
The spectacle far surpassed the stone he had launched earlier.
The vending machine broke the sound barrier, producing a deafening sonic boom as it shot toward the ancient sorcerer.
‘So his technique really does accelerate whatever he touches.’ The ancient sorcerer stared in shock while his mind raced.
‘What an outrageous technique.
His cursed-energy control is terrible, yet he can accelerate something this heavy beyond the speed of sound?’ ‘However—’ Even after realizing Mayoru had predicted his attack route, the sorcerer did not panic.
‘The problem remains the same.’ ‘He’s too slow.’ ‘The projectile itself might move quickly, but I can clearly see every step of his cursed-energy manipulation!’ He leaped before the vending machine was even launched and easily avoided its path.
The machine smashed through a nearby building.
Dust erupted into the air, and the impact sent tremors through the ground beneath Mayoru’s feet.
That was the power of Vector Manipulation.
Mayoru had barely grown familiar with his technique, yet the destruction he could cause was already absurd.
However, it had failed.
Even someone with no combat experience like Kei could tell that the ancient sorcerer held the advantage.
Mayoru’s technique had yet to properly synchronize with his newly awakened body.
His opponent, meanwhile, possessed countless years of battle experience.
Mayoru’s weakness was painfully obvious.
Kei could not help worrying.
Despite her fear, she forced herself to move.
She knew she could not offer much help, but if she could delay the ancient sorcerer for even an instant, perhaps Mayoru would gain an opening.
The Shirogane family might have been buried in debt, but they had never neglected their children’s upbringing.
Kei’s decision reflected that education and proved why someone from her background had earned a place on the student council of Shuchiin’s elite middle-school division.
Mayoru’s technique possessed enough power to injure the ancient sorcerer.
The problem was that his movements before activating it could be read.
Kei planned to create an opening by disrupting the sorcerer’s concentration.
It was dangerous.
She might die.
No…
She would almost certainly die.
However, just as Kei resolved herself to step forward, she noticed that Mayoru had already placed his hand against the nearby building.
The instant his palm touched its surface, he seized control of the vectors he had already analyzed.
From the corner of his eye, he glanced toward Kei.
Strangely enough, despite facing a truly dangerous opponent for the first time, Mayoru remained unbelievably calm.
After living beside Kei for a year, he could easily guess what she intended to do.
‘Is she trying to save me?’ ‘That’s rather admirable.’ Mayoru did not consider himself a bad person, but he doubted he could make the same decision in her position.
‘Still, I have no need for a younger girl to sacrifice herself for me!’ A terrible cracking sound suddenly echoed through the air.
In a single instant, the building’s central support pillars shattered, and its glass walls exploded outward.
This was the most precise vector calculation Mayoru had performed so far.
The forces flowing throughout the building, the support forces, the reactions, and the stress passing through the steel framework were all read and redirected in an instant.
The vending machine had only been a distraction.
Did they really think Mayoru had failed to notice the obvious delay before his technique activated?
Whether he launched a stone or threw a vending machine, the opening was far too easy for an experienced opponent to exploit.
However, those attacks had been decoys from the beginning.
If his preparation was too obvious to conceal, then he merely needed to create an attack his opponent could not evade even after recognizing it.
At his current level, Mayoru could still calculate the structure of a single building.
The instant the self-proclaimed veteran stepped into his trap, Mayoru revealed a savage grin and shouted with overwhelming confidence.
“Old fossil, eat this building!” The building collapsed instantly, as though struck by a powerful earthquake.
Its enormous mass descended from above.
With its vectors altered, it fell far faster than gravity alone would normally allow.
The ancient sorcerer stopped in his tracks and stared upward in disbelief.
‘This brat is cheating!’ As an incarnated sorcerer, he could access the memories of his vessel.
However, his pride normally kept him from deliberately using modern expressions.
This time, he genuinely could not restrain himself.
Watching Mayoru launch a vending machine beyond the speed of sound had already been ridiculous.
Now the boy had casually brought down an entire high-rise using cursed-energy control so crude and ugly that it possessed no refinement whatsoever.
‘What the hell is this brat’s technique?!’ Cursing inwardly, the sorcerer instinctively tried to escape the collapsing building.
However, he was already too late.
The accelerated structure crashed down, swallowing him along with the surrounding buildings.