Yukio wasn’t stupid.
Exposing his ability to summon the dead carried huge risks.
But he wanted even less to get taken down by some cheap trick.
As long as he killed these two people in front of him, there would be no issue of exposure.
As for whether the summoned cursed spirit would die?
It didn’t matter.
This world lacked everything except negative energy.
As long as cursed spirits existed, he could summon endlessly.
“Heh.”
A cold smile curled at Yukio’s lips.
He was just about to have the cursed spirit fully tie down Yoneuchi Hiro while he dealt with Kariya Ryo first.
‘Hm?!’
A chill shot from his spine straight to the top of his head.
Yukio instinctively rolled to the side.
Slash!
The upper half of a utility pole three meters behind him smoothly slid off and crashed to the ground with a boom.
The cut was smooth as a mirror.
Yukio turned around and looked at Kariya Ryo holding the scythe.
As expected, this guy wasn’t planning to sit back and watch.
It looked like he was dealing with the cursed spirit, but in reality he had been waiting for a chance to land a fatal blow.
Seeing his sneak attack fail, Kariya Ryo wasn’t annoyed.
Instead, he generously introduced his weapon.
“My scythe doesn’t have any flashy enchantments.”
“Its only trait is sharpness.”
He stroked the blade, sounding like he was introducing a piece of art.
“It’s been tempered day and night with cursed energy.
It can cut through most cursed spirits below second grade without needing any technique.”
“And when I swing it, under the enhancement of cursed energy, the slash itself tears through the air.”
“Creating invisible vacuum blades.”
“Cutting enemies from blind spots.”
Yukio frowned.
Sorcerers revealing their techniques could indeed strengthen them, but suddenly explaining it in the middle of battle…
The vibe was way too weird.
Still, now he had the information, and more trouble.
Both of them could threaten him.
Especially Yoneuchi Hiro’s Soul Release Blade.
Yukio really didn’t want to get hit by that thing.
The most frustrating part was that he didn’t dare let Golden Scale clash directly against the Soul Release Blade.
If Golden Scale got cut in half, he wouldn’t even have a place to cry.
This fight was especially frustrating.
He had to guard against invisible vacuum blades while also avoiding a soul-cutting blade.
Luckily, even though the cursed spirit he summoned couldn’t hurt these two experienced fighters, buying time was more than easy.
As long as he didn’t get reckless, they wanted to kill him?
Dream on.
“Is running all you know how to do?!”
Yoneuchi Hiro roared, getting increasingly annoyed from being tangled up by the cursed spirit.
Yukio turned around and made a face at him.
“This is called kiting, dumbass!”
While dodging, he crazily complained in his head, ‘Brother, if you don’t get here soon, you’re gonna be collecting your beloved little brother’s corpse!’
This place wasn’t far from home, and it was on the way back too.
With Toji’s speed, he should’ve arrived long ago…
In the shadows, Zenin Toji crouched on a tree branch, watching Yukio fight while holding back laughter so hard his shoulders shook.
“This brat…
actually ended up like this one day?”
He had actually arrived a while ago.
He just hadn’t rushed to make a move.
Based on how well he knew Yukio, the kid shouldn’t be this cowardly.
The enemy definitely had something making him wary.
After observing for a while, Toji roughly figured out the assassins’ abilities.
Yoneuchi Hiro: Soul Release Blade (Could cut souls).
Kariya Ryo: Scythe (Could produce vacuum blades).
‘Not bad.’
‘But only that much…’
Toji gripped Split Soul Katana tightly, his eyes locking onto Kariya Ryo.
Kariya Ryo had just cut apart a charging cursed spirit with one slash.
His old force was spent while new force hadn’t formed yet.
A black shadow appeared behind him like instant teleportation.
‘680.6 meters per second.’
Kariya Ryo didn’t even have time to turn his head.
Slash!
His abdomen was cut open with one strike, his organs were clearly visible.
Since Toji didn’t know exactly what kind of cursed energy Kariya Ryo had, he first made his cursed energy instantly collapse.
The next second.
The blade pierced through his skull from the temple.
Kariya Ryo didn’t even have time to scream before the light completely vanished from his eyes.
On the other side, Yoneuchi Hiro froze from the sudden change.
His combat instincts made him turn toward his companion.
And in that instant, Yukio moved.
‘340.3 meters per second!’
Golden Scale turned into a streak of golden light, directly targeting the hand holding the blade.
Yoneuchi Hiro’s pupils shrank violently.
He instinctively tried to raise the Soul Release Blade to block.
‘Too late…’
“AAAAAH!!!”
His right arm was severed at the elbow.
The Soul Release Blade flew into the air together with the severed arm.
Slash!
Another strike.
His left arm also hit the ground.
In a flash, the battle completely turned around.
The tense fight from moments ago abruptly ended because of Toji’s intervention.
Sometimes life and death only lasted an instant.
Yoneuchi Hiro collapsed to the ground, blood pouring like a fountain from both severed arms.
Using the last bit of cursed energy he had left to forcefully stop the bleeding, he looked up at the two brothers walking toward him, terror filling his eyes.
“D-Don’t kill me!”
“I’ll tell you everything!”
“Make a binding vow not to kill me!
I’ll tell you all of it!”
Yukio crouched down and tilted his head at him.
“A binding vow?”
He smiled and pressed his right hand onto the shadow on the ground.
“No need to make things that troublesome.”
The shadows wriggled.
A gray-white deformed cursed spirit with one giant eye slowly emerged.
“Truth Cursed Spirit.”
Yukio introduced it.
“It can make targets tell the truth involuntarily.”
“I caught it a long time ago but never had a chance to use it.”
He patted the cursed spirit on the head and showed Yoneuchi Hiro a harmless smile.
“Come on, tell us.”
“Who sent you?”
Yoneuchi Hiro’s eyes instantly became unfocused, and his mouth opened uncontrollably.
“Zenin…
Jinichi.”
Those two words.
Made the surrounding air turn colder.
Yukio frowned tightly, “Zenin Jinichi?”
“Why him?”
“If anyone should be killed, it should’ve been you…”
Toji put away the Soul Release Blade and walked over.
“Maybe he found out about your special ability.”
“Or…”, He paused.
“They’re worried our brothers are too strong and might compete with them for the clan head position in the future.”
Yukio was silent for a second.
Then he smiled.
There was no warmth in the smile.
“Looks like we need to go back for a visit.”
He stood up and glanced at Yoneuchi Hiro on the ground.
Toji asked, “How do you want to handle him?”
Yukio held Golden Scale, “I’ll do it. This story is hosted at g.com.
Might as well put trash to use.”
The blade rose and fell.
The light completely disappeared from Yoneuchi Hiro’s eyes.
“Stand up.”
Yukio suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Toji.
“Brother, were you here a long time ago?”
Toji paused slightly.
Then he casually played with the newly obtained Soul Release Blade.
“How’d you take so long fighting these two losers?”
“Were they too strong, or are you too weak?”
He glanced at the corpses on the ground.
“They don’t look that strong.”
Yukio was speechless.
“It’s not that they were strong…”
He pointed at the Soul Release Blade in Toji’s hand.
“It’s that this blade is insane.”
“It can cut souls directly and ignore physical defense.”
“I was afraid Golden Scale would get cut apart, so I didn’t dare clash with it head-on.”
Toji’s eyes lit up.
“Oh?”
He raised the Soul Release Blade and carefully examined it under the moonlight.
The blade looked cold and eerie, the edge glowing with a strange blue light.
“Special grade?”
“Yeah.”
“Can cut souls?”
“Yeah.”
“Ignores defense?”
“Yeah.”
Toji grinned, “Good blade.”
He looked at Yukio, “You want it?”
Yukio shook his head, “Golden Scale is enough for me.”
“And…
this blade suits you better.”
Toji didn’t stand on ceremony.
He looked at it a few more times with obvious fondness.
It had been a long time since he’d looked this happy.
The curtain disappeared along with the death of the caster.
Moonlight poured down once more.
Toji put away the Soul Release Blade, and the smile on his face disappeared too.
“Zenin Jinichi…”
“He really was willing to spend a fortune.”
“No idea whether this blade belonged to the Zenin clan or if that guy got it himself.”
“But…”
He turned around.
“Doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Let’s go.”
“To the Zenin clan.”
Yukio tightened his grip on Golden Scale and followed beside him.
“That’s right.”
His voice was calm, but carried unquestionable coldness.
“We never wanted to fight them or compete with them.”
“We stayed far away and lived our own lives.”
“And they still weren’t satisfied?”
“They still sent people to kill me?”
The more Yukio thought about it, the angrier he got.
“If that’s the case…”
“Then let them die.”
Toji said nothing, which counted as agreement.
The two figures walked side by side.
One tall like a black panther.
One slender like a blade.
The same pace.
The same coldness.
The same…
killing intent.