Conflict

"I know who you are, Mr. Suguru Geto—an outstanding former student of Tokyo Jujutsu High, a Curse User who used his technique to curse-kill more than a hundred people."

Lin Yi cut off Suguru Geto's introduction and concisely stated his background. Put simply, Curse Users were those among sorcerers who used their own techniques and Cursed Spirits to harm ordinary people for no reason and profit themselves.

"I didn't expect Mr. Ichiro to know so much about me. Last night, Nanako and Mimiko came back and told me that Mr. Ichiro's ability to ignore their technique effects reminded them of a monkey from my memories. But looking at you now, Mr. Ichiro, is your technique the Construction Technique?

"Still, it's quite strange. I asked some friends about the photograph Nanako took of Mr. Ichiro, and they all said there was no powerful sorcerer like you in the Jujutsu Society. A Grade 1 sorcerer with a Construction Technique who isn't registered with the Jujutsu Society is truly rare."

Who are you calling rare? Don't think I don't know you got beaten up by a monkey!

Faced with Suguru Geto's sudden enthusiasm, Lin Yi took half a step back to put some distance between them.

Suguru Geto was not annoyed by Lin Yi's reaction. His face still carried an exceptionally warm smile.

"Don't be nervous, Mr. Ichiro. As Nanako and Mimiko's guardian, I know they had a misunderstanding with you last night. I came in good faith to reconcile with you, Mr. Ichiro."

Suguru Geto should not have said that. The moment he did, Lin Yi's anger flared.

"You've got the nerve to say that? If your two precious daughters hadn't suddenly attacked me, I wouldn't have exorcised that Cursed Spirit so quickly. Look—I only got ten million yen for it!"

Lin Yi pulled out the storage box he had just received from the client and her daughter. It was only palm-sized, and though it contained a thousand ten-thousand-yen bills—the highest denomination—it was at least half of the reward Lin Yi had expected.

Otherwise, he would definitely have waited until they were nearly overwhelmed by the Cursed Spirit before stepping in. That would have guaranteed him twenty million yen, or 1.2 million RMB.

"If that is what troubles Mr. Lin Ichiro, then I believe I can compensate you for your loss. As a cult leader, I'm quite wealthy, you know."

"Forget it. It's already over, and I won't hold it against you. Suguru Geto, how about we each take a step back? I won't take your compensation, and you stop pestering me. Let's leave it at that."

Lin Yi had no desire to get involved with Suguru Geto, an extremist who believed sorcerers were superior. He brushed aside Suguru Geto's reaching hand and was about to leave when the light around him dimmed. He looked up at the sky.

A translucent layer was descending from the heavens, centered on the area where Lin Yi and Suguru Geto stood, forming an inverted veil over them.

Lin Yi's expression turned cold as well.

"A Curtain? I don't remember there being any misunderstanding between us that can't be resolved."

"My, my. For a Grade 1 sorcerer not registered with the Jujutsu Society, Mr. Lin Ichiro is very knowledgeable about the Jujutsu Society. How strange. Mr. Ichiro doesn't seem to come from a sorcerer family either. But please don't be nervous. I simply want to have a good talk with a Grade 1 sorcerer like you who isn't registered with the Jujutsu Society."

The Barrier Technique known as Curtain was developed by the Japanese Official Jujutsu Society through the foundations it had accumulated over thousands of years, and it was used worldwide.

Besides sorcerers, even ordinary people who could manipulate their own cursed energy but possessed no technique could cast it.

Its purpose was singular: to prevent ordinary people from noticing sorcerers exorcising Cursed Spirits. From an ordinary person's perspective, the area covered by the Curtain was an uninhabited zone.

The Cursed Speech incantation for the Barrier Technique Curtain was: "From darkness, born; darker than black; cleanse the impure Cursed Residue."

Specific conditions could be imposed to make the barrier sturdier, though it could also be broken through brute force. Its weakness was that it could not stop nonliving objects without cursed energy from entering or leaving.

Tch!

Lin Yi clicked his tongue. As expected, Suguru Geto, that extremist who believed sorcerers were superior, had begun clinging to him after discovering that Shinjuku hid a Grade 1 sorcerer who had never registered with the Japanese Jujutsu Society.

Suguru Geto was speaking nicely to Lin Yi now because he still intended to recruit him with his ideology. Once Lin Yi proved impervious to persuasion, the other man would resort to threats and coercion.

The bad news: Though Suguru Geto's technique was of the summoner type, his hand-to-hand combat was terrifyingly powerful under cursed energy reinforcement. If they truly fought, Lin Yi might not be able to beat him.

The good news: Lin Yi had the ability to pass through the Barrier Technique imprisoning him.

"Come now, Mr. Ichiro, don't be so cold. We can have a proper talk, really."

"Talk my ass!"

Faced with Suguru Geto's enthusiasm, Lin Yi's answer was simple and crude.

He threw a cursed energy-enhanced straight punch that landed squarely on Suguru Geto's chest. The powerful blow sent him staggering back, while Lin Yi spun around and sprinted toward the edge of the barrier.

"Lord Geto! How dare you hurt Lord Geto!"

Seeing their respected foster father attacked, the Hasaba sisters immediately unleashed their techniques on Lin Yi, who had exposed his back to them.

Technique: Photo Capture!

Technique: Rain-Calling Doll!

A restraining technique and a curse technique were imposed on Lin Yi simultaneously. Without looking back, cursed energy surged from his body and materialized into a shield behind him, blocking the restraint. He held his right fingers together like a blade and slashed across his neck, severing the hemp rope that had appeared there.

Technique: Two-Level Reversal, Active Effect One—Sorcerer Form.

In this form, Lin Yi could use his immense cursed energy to construct anything he wanted, which was the Construction Technique Suguru Geto had mentioned earlier.

However, Lin Yi's Construction Technique in Sorcerer Form differed from those of other sorcerers with the same type of technique.

For sorcerers who possessed the Construction Technique, as long as they wished it, they could use cursed energy to materialize familiar things from their memories at a one-to-one scale, and those things would remain permanently.

In other words, if a Construction Technique sorcerer wanted to create a dollar bill from nothing with cursed energy, they truly could. Aside from the serial number not being printed by a bank, that dollar bill could pass any currency detector in the world.

They could also materialize guns, ammunition, blades, swords, and all kinds of vehicles, all fully functional.

But the price was that Construction Technique sorcerers needed extensive knowledge. The more precise an item was, the more cursed energy it took to materialize it permanently, because cursed energy conversion efficiency was a factor.

Of course, Construction Technique sorcerers could also materialize only the appearance of something without understanding its structure, then forcibly attach whatever functions they wanted through sheer imagination.

But that brute-force style of materialization demanded an astronomical amount of cursed energy from the sorcerer. One mistake, and it became a life-draining item.

Lin Yi was different. He had given up the condition that objects materialized by his Construction Technique would remain permanently, gaining an extremely high cursed energy conversion rate in exchange. Nor did he pursue high-precision items. The things he constructed were merely ordinary weapons—sabers, spears, swords, staves, axes, halberds, hooks, and forks—or certain familiar firearms, simple and direct things like pistols, rifles, sniper rifles, and grenades.

He could also add whatever properties he wanted to the disposable items he materialized.

Use them once and throw them away; the consumed cursed energy returned to him, meaning he never had to worry about running out of energy like other Construction Technique sorcerers.

"Mimiko, Nanako, I'm fine. You don't need to act."

Suguru Geto stopped his foster daughters. They were no match for Lin Yi.

And since he had come looking for Lin Yi, he had naturally made thorough preparations. Suguru Geto did not move to stop him either. Against a Construction Technique sorcerer like Lin Yi, he had someone under his command better suited to dealing with this type of opponent.

At that moment, Lin Yi reached the edge of the Curtain through the physical abilities granted by cursed energy reinforcement. Just as he was about to use the second active effect of his technique to give Suguru Geto a surprise, the surprise Suguru Geto had prepared for him arrived first.

A sharp whistle of something cutting through the air came from behind and to Lin Yi's side.

Without turning around, Lin Yi raised a hand and swung it. A thickened shield formed from cursed energy blocked the attack's path.

The interception he expected did not occur. The shield Lin Yi had constructed turned into dissipating cursed energy the instant it touched the incoming attack. The strike did not lose momentum and lashed across Lin Yi's cursed energy-enhanced body.

Although Lin Yi blocked the attack, the force attached to it made him halt his charge. He flipped through the air, landed, and slid to bleed off the impact.

Once he had steadied himself, Lin Yi finally saw who had attacked him.

A Black man, with a black whip wrapped around his arm.