Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

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Higher Vocational Education

As the core area for sorcerers, this place should have been quiet.

Ginkgo leaves carpeted the slope, and the setting sun spilled over from the western ridge, turning the gray walls of the old school building a pale gold.

If it weren't for this war, people would probably be training on the field right now, or strolling home in twos and threes.

"boom--"

The terrifying destructive force swept everything away.

The explosion came from underground.

It wasn't just one sound, but three consecutive sounds, with less than half a second between them.

The windows of the old school building were all shattered, and shards flew out like a flock of startled birds.

The ground arched up, and a crack appeared in the gravel road, stretching from the school gate all the way to the playground, swallowing everything it touched: the horizontal bar, the sandpit... and the trees.

Finally, the creature emerged from the crack.

The war, which was ending in an orderly manner, became more uncertain at this moment, which was noticed by everyone still in the college.

Although we don't know what happened, an explosion is never a good thing, especially since it happened at such a critical time. It was most likely an enemy attack.

Realizing this, all the able-bodied sorcerers immediately rushed to the explosion site.

However, before they could take any action...

A massive figure suddenly appeared on the mountain, or rather, it burst out of the blockade directly from underground, somewhat like a giant monster emerging from the earth, according to the customs of this country.

Its size was half that of a mountain, and its top even touched the edge of the barrier. Its enormous form descended upon the world with the purest malice toward humanity.

A monster that should have been a collection of firearms, an enemy that should have had data, but something just feels different.

It became even more disgusting, with bulges of flesh and blood rising on its body. If it was like a steel beast before, it now looked exactly like a modified flesh and blood creature.

The buildings were completely destroyed, and the shockwaves raged, uprooting trees. Everything seemed like a catastrophe had struck.

Amidst the shockwave, a tiny yet undeniable figure leaped from the dust, stepping on a falling pebble to launch himself into the air, flipping and landing atop a giant pine tree. The tree bent under his weight, then bounced back, its needles rustling as they fell.

He held the sword in one hand, the tip pointing at the object. The ancient sword's blade was devoid of light, but it was filled with magical power. The light was pressed into the steel, emitting a faint tremor.

Upon closer inspection, the arriving crowd recognized a figure they knew all too well.

They are Yue people—

Looking at the enormous creature before him, Yue Ren first scoffed, then his expression hardened.

He held his sword in one hand, pointing it at the enormous thing in front of him.

"You want to play with me? Perfect, then. This is all you've prepared. Let's see if I can truly exorcise this curse! Rashomon!"

"That's right, Kawasaki Koshito, my results are evident. Come, let me see the potential of a sorcerer. If you can even overcome this curse, then I'll admit it. You are the pioneer of the next era!"

"Now, savor the rich aroma of this curse called 'War,' brewed from humanity's original sin!"

From within the massive body came a distorted reply from Lu Suo, like a low-pitched male-female duet, accompanied by the constant scraping of iron fragments against the throat, making it unbearable for anyone who heard it.

That's not a sound; it's pollution of the ears and the mind.

"..."

No one could understand what this thing in front of them was. Was it a curse? But why did it look different from other curses? This overwhelming sense of crisis triggered the most basic instinct of humans as living beings—the fear of survival.

"Everyone below the Special Grade level, leave immediately! This thing is no longer an ordinary cursed spirit; it's a powerful cursed spirit similar to the 'Yamata no Orochi.' If you stay here, you'll be instantly killed!"

"..."

"Run!"

"Everyone, back off! Ring the bell to keep others away!"

The moth shuddered the moment it heard the Yue people's words and immediately hissed.

As I retreated, I immediately directed everyone to move away from this guy, while my eyes subconsciously scanned the surrounding environment...

At the center of that thing is the Ryousei Palace. Damn it, how could they not have noticed the enemy's invasion?!

Can Yue Ren handle that huge guy by himself?

"Call all Special-Class personnel. The High School has been attacked. Lord Tengen is in danger. Summon all Special-Class personnel to come to his aid immediately."

"Yes, I understand!"

Let's go back half an hour.

Inside the barrier of the Hōsei Palace—

After helping Maki and the others, Koshito returned to this place.

It was still a conjured room, with a bed, table, tatami mats... just like any other ordinary room.

Maki looked around curiously at the fantastical scene where she had been in the corridor one moment and entered the room the next.

"Welcome back, Kawasaki Koshito, and the second 'Heaven and Tyrant'!"

"This is......!!??"

"The one you've always called Lord Tengen."

"What...?"

"What...?"

Maki was stunned. She had never imagined that Lord Tengen would look like this, a four-eyed monster with a brain like a tube of toothpaste? More like a cursed spirit than a human.

Judging from the girl's expression, it was easy for Yue Ren to guess what she was thinking, and he smiled slightly.

"Just as you thought. Ever since the Star Magma Incident ended twelve years ago, Tianyuan's 'initialization' has ended. Now she is what she looks like after her evolution, like a sapling growing into a towering tree. She is closer to a cursed spirit than a human, which is why some people have set their sights on her and started this war."

"I see!"

"So we're here to protect Lord Tengen, right?"

Maki, being very clever, immediately understood what the Yue people meant and deduced their mission.

"Hmm, waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump."

Yue Ren turned to look at Tian Yuan.

"You should be aware of Maki's characteristics. In the eyes of a sorcerer, she is undoubtedly the most deadly existence. So, we should provide her with the appropriate space to unleash her power right now. That should be achievable, right?"

"No problem, she is indeed a suitable candidate."

If he can conceal his aura, Maki is, in a sense, the kind of assassin that sorcerers fear most. The previous Heavenly Tyrant Fushiguro Jinji used this characteristic to disguise himself and successfully launched a sneak attack when Gojo Satoru relaxed his guard. His title of "Sorcerer Killer" can explain this to some extent.

And given the right timing and conditions, Maki is capable of doing it.

"So, shall we hold a strategy meeting to deal with Lu Suo? After all, his techniques are still a mystery, and he's likely capable of deploying his domain. If we don't make any preparations..."

The timely return of the "guard" put Tianyuan at ease. With her quick mind, she offered a suggestion, since the things they were about to face were even more dangerous.

However, before Tianyuan could finish speaking, Yueren interrupted him.

"unnecessary!"

The Yue man's words startled the two of them. Tianyuan was speechless, wondering if he had done something to anger the Yue man, and was momentarily at a loss.

The reason why Yue Ren seemed somewhat anxious was that he didn't want this "idea girl" to come up with any bad ideas.

It's not that Yue Ren is so cautious; it's just that this guy has a 'criminal record,' so he has to be careful.

In the original work, Tsukumo Yuki and Zōsō were assigned to protect Tengen. However, the three of them conspired with Tengen as the leader, and without knowing the specific information, they arranged a so-called plan that had to be carried out. As a result, Tsukumo was directly hit by Rōsō's open field and was seriously injured.

While there were other mistakes, such as Tsukumo's lack of independent judgment and rashly trusting the plan of a "millennial shut-in" with no combat experience, the fact that "Idea Sister's" single idea led to the direct death of a top-tier mage cannot be concealed.

So when the other party had this idea, Yue Ren immediately spoke up to stop them, not wanting to cause any more trouble in this matter.

Yue Ren's subsequent explanation made Tian Yuan realize that he had been overthinking things.

After taking a sip of the prepared milk tea, Yue Ren said frankly:

"If you have no experience in combat, don't get involved."

"No matter what kind of field it is, it is an inherent disadvantage for me, even if it is an open field. You should have seen the whole thing when I met Sukuna for the second time."

"..."

Maki was a little confused, but she didn't say anything.

Tengen remembered that the second time this boy met Sukuna was when Sukuna's vessel, Tiger Staff, and the other two were sent by the higher-ups to exorcise the cursed fetus, Daiten. At that time, the situation was extremely critical. The three of them were no match for the special-grade cursed fetus and were on the verge of death. In the end, Sukuna's vessel, Tiger Staff, released Sukuna to deal with Daiten. However, the hidden 'binding' that allowed Sukuna to be manipulated at will prevented him from switching his consciousness back immediately.

Just when a real disaster was about to strike, the boy in front of them appeared in time and saved the situation.

At that time, he had his second encounter with the King of Curses, but what happened next was undoubtedly beyond her comprehension.

When Su Nuo first met Yue Ren, she didn't take it lightly and immediately released her domain. However, the next moment, her barrier lost its ability to sense the two of them, as if they had simply disappeared. A few seconds later, the two reappeared in the same spot. At that time, Su Nuo's consciousness had returned to the container.

She was also very curious about this matter at the time. There was no so-called collision between the two domains, nor was there any breach of the domain boundary. How exactly did he subdue Su Nuo? Now it seems that the answer to this question can be revealed.

"Su Nu activated his domain first to deal with me. This was a safe move and there's nothing wrong with it. His domain is an open domain, and it was activated first. Even if his opponent activates his domain later, it will still be an advantage for him. The opponent's domain shell will be shattered, and the sorcerer will be put at a disadvantage. He can then kill the opponent directly."

"This must have been Sukuna's plan at the time."

"Yes, you were the one who told Gojo Satoru this open-ended information, which is why he didn't choose to recklessly clash with the area in the previous battle. In hindsight, that decision was undoubtedly the right one."

Tengen nodded. The open field, no matter how many times you think about it, is still amazing. This amazing skill of painting in the air is probably one of the important reasons why Sukuna was able to dominate an era.

If this information is unknown, then the most advanced and brutal battle between sorcerers will become the source of the tilt in the balance of power.

That's how it is in the original story. If you don't know that the opponent's domain is open and rashly engage in a domain collision, the only consequence is that your own domain is shattered, your technique is melted, and you have to withstand the domain attack. That is, Gojo Satoru. Otherwise, if someone else is hit like that, their chance of survival will be infinitely close to zero.

But something even more intriguing emerged from this analysis: the boy meant that even if Su Nuo possessed such a domain, he was not afraid. Could it be that his domain was even more powerful than an open domain? What exactly was such a domain like? Even she, a living fossil who had lived for thousands of years, could not imagine it at this moment.

Seeing the three pairs of expectant eyes, Yue Ren spoke in a deep voice.

"My domain is not essentially a barrier technique, but rather a 'manifestation of mental landscapes'."

"Is the mental landscape materialized?"

Faced with this unusual term, both of them were equally puzzled: What is this? They'd never heard of it before...

The Yue man pointed to his heart.

"Everyone has a mental image, which represents the truest state of their heart. When the will is strong enough, such a mental image can 'erode' the world and rewrite reality."

"My domain, in essence, is the replacement of the world itself with my 'inner world' using mental imagery when activated."

"If the world itself is a tree, then my domain is a branch 'grafted' onto this tree. Of course, it is temporary, because the world has its own mechanism, and what I am doing is offending the world. Therefore, the expansion of my domain requires a greater consumption of magical power to maintain."

This was discovered by the Yue people during their subsequent research on the "Wuyuan Sword Technique." This power, known as the "Unique Boundary" in another world, is not only extremely demanding to release and requires a large amount of energy, but its very existence is not permitted by the world, and its maintenance is also extremely costly.

"!!!???"

The two were stunned. Tianyuan's first reaction was that it was absolutely impossible. How could anyone possess such a domain?

Having lived for a thousand years, Tengen possesses the ability to grasp all the information in Japan and has an extremely high level of skill in barrier techniques. He can undoubtedly be called a "polymath," and it is precisely because of this that she knows what the "domain" the boy mentioned really means.

This isn't some kind of barrier spell at all; it's something completely different—creating a world of its own and grafting it onto space? This is something only magic, or perhaps a miracle, could accomplish.

But seeing the boy's earnest eyes, devoid of any sign of lying, Tengen fell silent, finally finding the answer to his previous question.

"I see. By directly replacing the space itself, if the ordinary realm is like painting on a canvas, and the open realm is like painting in the air, then you've simply switched to another one, painting in your own world...!"

"That's absolutely incredible!!"