[As the cursed energy circuits inside you instantly switched replicated techniques under the precise control of "Phantom Parade," dark cursed energy swiftly traced the eerie markings of "Snake Eyes" and "Fangs," symbols of the power of Cursed Speech, beside the corners of your mouth and at the root of your tongue.]
["Don't move."]
[Accompanied by your cold, utterly flat voice, those words seemed to take on an irresistible physical weight.]
[A visible ripple of cursed energy spread through the air, bearing straight down on the man with the pompadour.]
[The man's body jolted, and the muscles and bones that had been poised for action fell into absolute rigidity.]
[But your brain, like a precision computer, knew perfectly well that you could never expect a single use of "Cursed Speech" to settle everything.]
["Cursed Speech" was certainly overbearing, and could forcibly affect even powerful enemies, but its costs and risks rose proportionally. Against a monster whose total cursed energy and output far exceeded your own, both the duration of control and the backlash the caster would suffer would undergo dangerously adverse changes.]
[Meanwhile, the instant his body was forcibly immobilized, the man's sharp gaze caught the "Snake Eyes" and "Fangs" that had appeared on your face.]
[Upon realizing that you had actually activated Cursed Speech, even his arrogant eyes flashed with a trace of astonishment.]
[Although he appeared utterly unconcerned by your unremarkable appearance, even contemptuous, that response had come only after he had used his exceptional combat instincts to observe you carefully and assess your strength.]
[His keen senses had already detected the concealed circulation of cursed energy inside you, and he had vaguely guessed that your act of drawing that strange straight blade from the shadows must have involved some spatial technique of your own.]
[It was precisely because