Kugisaki Nobara was worried about Supervisor Nitta, and her eyes flicked toward her for just a moment.
That instant of distraction was all Shigemo Haruta needed.
He suddenly hurled his Hand Sword.
Its hilt came alive and transformed into a fist, smashing Nobara hard in the head and instantly knocking her unconscious with a concussion.
That was what made the Hand Sword so powerful.
It was a living Cursed Tool.
It could move on its own to compensate for its wielder’s lack of strength and launch sneak attacks whenever an opponent lowered their guard.
Of course, much like its owner Haruta, the sword relied entirely on underhanded tricks.
Against a truly powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer, those tricks were almost meaningless.
Haruta knew that better than anyone.
That was why bullying the weak had become his guiding principle.
Combined with his Miracles Cursed Technique, which could repeatedly turn deadly situations into lucky escapes, it made him an incredibly troublesome and disgusting opponent.
And now, he’d won again.
Haruta shoved both hands into his pockets and swaggered toward Nobara.
“You’re seriously dangerous, you know.” He stopped beside her and tilted his head.
“Huh?
No reaction?” “Don’t tell me I hit her chin and knocked her out!
Man, I really am lucky!” Haruta beckoned toward his Hand Sword.
The living Cursed Tool happily bounced back into his hand.
“Now then…
who should I kill first?” “Stop!” Sakiko shoved open the door and rushed inside.
She raised one hand toward Haruta as flames flickered across her palm.
“Let her go, or I’ll—” Haruta tilted his head and stared at her.
“Flames?
That’s pretty scary…” “But why can’t I sense any Cursed Energy from you?” “Don’t tell me you just picked up some Cursed Tool and decided to start fighting.” Haruta pointed toward his own chest.
“I’ll stand right here.
Let’s see if your attack can actually hit me.” “Aim right here.” He clearly had absolute confidence in his Cursed Technique.
And that confidence wasn’t entirely unfounded.
As long as the stored charges of Miracles hadn’t been exhausted, even an enraged Nanami Kento had failed to kill him outright.
Makoto, however, refused to believe that kind of luck was unbeatable.
He silently moved behind Haruta.
Now that his Spatial Manipulation development had surpassed 25%, his Cursed Technique was no longer restricted to point-blank activation.
More importantly, Makoto had already told Ijichi the name of his Cursed Technique.
Once that information was passed along, it fulfilled the conditions for Revealing One’s Hand, increasing both his control and the power of his Cursed Technique by roughly another ten percent.
At this point, Makoto’s development of Spatial Manipulation had already surpassed one-third.
That meant some of the techniques he’d only imagined before were finally possible.
Makoto extended both hands.
One hand entered his Storage Space.
At the same time, he opened an exit directly behind Haruta’s neck.
His arm crossed through space itself, allowing his hand to reach straight for the back of Haruta’s neck.
Every hair on Haruta’s body stood on end.
He instinctively tried to dodge.
But a barrage of furious flames from Sakiko came crashing toward him, sealing off every route of escape.
Pain suddenly erupted from the back of his neck.
Someone had actually grabbed him.
‘Oh, shit!’ Panic surged through Haruta.
His Miracles could mysteriously keep him alive, but there still had to be some possibility of survival—even if that possibility was only one in ten thousand.
Now that Makoto had him firmly caught, Haruta had become a stationary target.
His chances of surviving had plummeted.
Haruta immediately released his Hand Sword and ordered it to counterattack.
The Hand Sword proved worthy of being a high-quality Cursed Tool crafted by Kumiya Juzo.
The moment it hit the ground, it sprang back up and swung its blade toward Makoto’s wrist.
Makoto casually swept his other hand through the air.
An invisible spatial barrier appeared.
Clang!
Sparks scattered as the blade struck the barrier.
Haruta’s heart sank.
Seeing the opening, Sakiko—whose control over her Talent had greatly improved—swung both hands repeatedly.
Balls of flame hammered toward Haruta one after another.
Some missed as he struggled and twisted.
Others inexplicably extinguished themselves before reaching him.
It almost seemed as though Sakiko’s attacks couldn’t affect Haruta at all.
But Sakiko kept her eyes fixed on his face.
One by one, the pink markings beneath his eyes were disappearing.
She immediately understood.
“Kitano-kun, now!” Makoto had been waiting for exactly that moment.
Without the slightest hesitation, he changed the position of the fingers gripping Haruta’s neck.
An invisible Spatial Rift opened directly from his fingertips.
A Spatial Blade capable of silently slicing through a steel railing had no trouble cutting through Haruta’s neck.
One moment, Haruta was still struggling.
The next, everything below his neck went limp.
His body dropped straight to the floor.
Blood erupted from the severed neck, staining the ground in a two-meter-wide fan of crimson.
Haruta’s head was still clutched in Makoto’s hand.
Warm blood ran down Makoto’s wrist and dripped onto the floor, forming small crimson ripples.
The thick, warm sensation made every hair on Makoto’s body stand on end.
He immediately threw the severed head away.
Sakiko had just watched a man get decapitated before her eyes.
Her face went pale as her stomach churned.
Yet despite her own nausea, the first person she looked toward was Makoto.
This time, he had been the one to make the kill.
Seeing that something was wrong with him, Sakiko immediately rushed over.
She didn’t even notice that she hadn’t received any reward after Makoto’s kill.
“Kitano-kun, are you okay?” Makoto leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily.
He raised a hand to stop Sakiko from coming any closer.
Then he pulled out a bottle of tea from his Storage Space—the one he’d acquired from a vending machine for the unbeatable price of zero yen.
He poured it over his right hand and washed away the blood.
Only after every trace of red had been rinsed away did Makoto gradually return to his usual mental state.
He didn’t consider himself weak.
But this was the first time he’d personally killed another human being.
He decided to give himself one minute to adjust.
At that moment, Nobara finally got back to her feet.
Seeing Makoto and Sakiko looking equally uncomfortable, she immediately understood.
“Your first time killing someone?” “Everyone feels awful the first time they do it.
You’ll get used to it eventually.” “And thanks for saving us.” “I’m Kugisaki Nobara.
Who are you two?” “Kitano Makoto.
My Cursed Technique is Spatial Manipulation.” “Togawa Sakiko.
I use a Cursed Tool to produce flames.
I’m not a Jujutsu Sorcerer.” A bracelet now adorned Sakiko’s wrist.
They had picked it up from the street specifically to disguise the fact that Sakiko could use supernatural abilities despite not being a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Makoto was still waiting for Nobara’s response when Making Fake Become Real suddenly activated again.
[Ding!
Making Fake Become Real has activated…] [Kugisaki Nobara: Fate Value 30.
Trust: 30%…] [Supervisor Nitta: Fate Value 5.
Trust: 50%…] [Nanami Kento: Fate Value 25.
Trust: 20%…] [Manifestation result: Spatial Manipulation development increased from 25.5% to 42%…] Makoto froze.
‘Wait.’ ‘Nanami Kento?’ … Read 10+ chapters here!