While the Soul Liberation Blade could damage Mahito, such a thing wasn’t something one could create just by wishing for it.
Arata Hoshino tried, only to find he couldn’t manifest it at all.
The essence of the Construction Technique is to use one’s own cursed energy to materialize objects from nothing.
However, the Soul Liberation Blade requires the “Soul-Cutting” jujutsu rule to be forcibly inscribed into it using a soul.
The reason Mai Zenin could create it in the original story was that she sacrificed her own life and soul, pouring all her vitality, cursed energy, and essence into the construction process.
The price was soul annihilation, multi-organ failure, and immediate death.
“Let me touch you, just once.
Let me see what your soul looks like.” As he spoke, Mahito’s hand suddenly elongated.
“Get lost!”
With a casual wave, Arata sent blood surging from his body, condensing into dozens of blood arrows behind him.
This time he didn’t hold back.
The moment the arrows left his body, they began to stack imaginary mass.
“Blood Manipulation!”
Dozens of blood arrows fired simultaneously, tearing through the air with a piercing screech.
Mahito’s pupils shrank as he dodged rapidly, but the arrows followed him as if they had eyes, forcing him into a continuous retreat.
*BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!* The blood arrows hit the ground, exploding into deep craters.
Mahito’s figure flickered through the dust.
There was a shallow graze on his arm–a mark left by one of the arrows.
He looked down at the wound, then looked up at Arata, his smile even more brilliant than before.
But at that moment, Mahito noticed that Arata was covered in ropes made of blood.
Just as he found Arata’s behavior strange, he realized he couldn’t move.
Looking down, he saw that those same ropes were now wrapped around his own body.
Simultaneously, Arata and Nanami–who had just emerged from the ruins–appeared in front of and behind Mahito.
Although Mahito knew a direct hit wouldn’t kill him, the pain would be very real.
Thus, a split second before the attacks landed, he chose to shed his skin.
However, as Mahito escaped the attack range, he noticed that neither of them intended to stop.
The man in the suit even swung his blunt blade toward his own companion.
Just as he was confused, in the next second, the man in the suit suddenly appeared right before his eyes, and the blunt blade slammed directly into him.
Watching Mahito get sent flying once again, Arata walked slowly over to Nanami and used Reverse Cursed Technique to heal him.
“Exchanging two targets without any warning…
Arata-kun, even I find it hard to adapt to such a technique in a short time.” Nanami’s voice carried a hint of helplessness.
He then raised his hand to check his watch.
“It’s 5:57.
If we don’t finish this soon, we’ll be working overtime.”
“To be able to swap positions like that.”
Mahito then looked up, his grin widening even further.
“But that’s what makes it interesting.”
As the words fell, Mahito spat several strange objects from his mouth onto the ground.
Arata’s pupils shrank.
“Let me show you my collection.” Mahito’s voice was as light as if he were introducing toys.
“They’re mostly defectives, but they’re quite fun when there are many of them.”
The objects on the ground began to swell wildly until they formed twisted humanoids.
Transfigured Humans.
Though Arata had seen them in the manga and anime, seeing the real things made him feel sick.
These things were even more sacrilegious than Cursed Spirits.
Arata took a deep breath.
“Nanami-san, that Cursed Spirit has probably guessed my technique, but he doesn’t know the trigger condition yet.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“His technique can attack the soul.
If I can copy it, I might be able to hurt him.”
Nanami gave him a look but didn’t ask further.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Help me distract him.” With that, Arata pressed his palms together and aimed at Mahito.
Arata’s plan was to intentionally fire a Piercing Blood wide.
The moment it passed Mahito, he would use Boogie Woogie to swap places with the blood arrow, allowing him to quickly touch Mahito’s body.
“Are you going to use that move again?” Mahito began to slowly approach Arata.
“That move was impressive, but it’s meaningless if it doesn’t hit, right?”
Arata ignored the provocation.
Blood began to gather in his palms, but this strike was a feint; there was no need for a full charge.
“Piercing Blood!”
The blood arrow left his hand, tearing through the air with a screech, only to graze past Mahito’s cheek.
“Oh, you missed?” Mahito laughed, but in the next second, his expression froze.
Arata had vanished, replaced by the clump of blood that had just streaked past Mahito’s face.
Mahito’s pupils contracted, and he instinctively tried to retreat, but it was too late.
Arata’s hand was already pressed against his shoulder.
“You…”
For the first time, Mahito’s voice carried a hint of genuine shock.
He looked at Arata, and a certain unidentifiable emotion appeared in his eyes.
Furthermore, he realized his body was unable to move.
“What did you do?”
Too bad you didn’t complete the corresponding action in time.” Arata smiled and raised his fist.
“Seems like you Cursed Spirits don’t have much of a brain.”
Carrying the newly copied Idle Transfiguration, Arata punched Mahito directly in the face.
The sensation on his knuckles was strange.
It wasn’t the feedback of hitting a solid object; it felt like punching into a thick stream of consciousness.
Arata could feel himself touching Mahito’s soul.
“This is…”
The smile on Mahito’s face vanished completely for the first time.
Real shock, and even a sliver of fear, flashed through his eyes.
Arata looked down at his fist, then at the Cursed Spirit ten meters away whose expression had completely changed.
A peculiar sensation remained on his hand, as if he had just peeked through a crack into another world.
“You…
how can you…” Mahito was no longer playful; his tone turned solemn.
“You copied my Idle Transfiguration…
Now I’m even more interested in your soul.
But it’s getting late; I’ll stop playing with you for today.”
Mahito threw another pile of Transfigured Humans to block their sight.
Arata wanted to pursue him, but the Transfigured Humans had already blocked his path, and Mahito had vanished without a trace.
Though he knew these things were once human, now…
“Mommy…
it hurts…
save me…”
Those voices were like a blunt knife sawing through meat, carving away at Arata’s nerves one by one.
“Arata-kun.” Nanami’s voice came from behind.
“They are no longer human.”
“I know.”
Arata raised his hand.
Blood surged from his body, condensing into dozens of arrows in the air, aimed at every Transfigured Human present.
“Please…
I don’t want to die…”
Arata’s fingertips trembled slightly.
“Tsk, when did I develop this kind of personality?”
“Blood Manipulation – Maximum Technique…”
[Total Bonus Chapters Achieved: 0]
[Ptreon.cm/Prince_of_LanLi for 50 adv chs.
20% discount right now.
Throw spirit stones to this humble one *dogeza*.]