Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Chapter 86 The Subjugation Ceremony of Fushiguro Megumi

Kokichi's lips trembled.

A cool sensation came from the soles of his feet; it was a feeling he had never experienced before—the touch of the ground.

He stood up, for the first time as a complete human being, standing on the ground.

Tears welled up unexpectedly, a reaction completely different from the original story, because the person helping him was a human being just like himself.

Kokichi covered his face, his shoulders trembling violently, and the emotions he had suppressed for more than ten years finally broke down at this moment.

As a man, he didn't make a loud sound, but cried silently, tears slipping through his fingers and dripping onto the ground.

The Yue people stood quietly to the side, without disturbing them.

He certainly understood the significance of this moment for the boy.

The light was still faint and devoid of any warmth, but it felt completely different from before; the meaning of light had returned to its true nature.

After a long while, Yukichi put down his hand and turned around.

His eyes were red and swollen, and his face was still streaked with tears, but the light in his eyes proved that a life had been reborn here.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh... Thank you."

His voice was hoarse, but incredibly solemn. "Thank you."

Yue Ren smiled slightly and patted him on the shoulder: "I won't go into any grand principles, just live a good life."

"And I already said I'd get paid."

"I can give you all my savings, which total...."

Mechanical Maru recalled what the panda had said. According to it, the work of the Yue people was generally not expensive. The fact that the forged items could be bought by ordinary sorcerers was enough to tell you the story. If you found someone you liked, you could even do it for free. Of course, the key was not to upset them, otherwise even if you were the King of Heaven, they wouldn't help you at all.

That means they should be easy to talk to, and since they're willing to help, I should show them sincerity.

The Yue man smiled and shook his head, interrupting him.

"Those material possessions are irrelevant; what I want is you."

"6

'

Kokichi's expression froze, as if struck by lightning. His body trembled as he took several steps back, covering his half-naked body, and said in a trembling voice, "What, what are you saying? My sexual orientation is normal, I'm not that kind of person."

'

"Damn, my sexual orientation is perfectly normal. I just want you to join my team. What are you thinking?"

Yue Ren's face darkened. Was this brat so infuriating? What was he looking at all day long...?

They didn't realize at all that they had said something wrong.

Upon hearing this, Mechanical Maru breathed a sigh of relief, looking enlightened, and picked up the clothes that had been prepared beforehand to put on.

"Then you should explain clearly, you scared me."

"So, what kind of team is that, and what do they do?"

"It's a secret for now, but don't worry, it'll only be a few months at most, then you'll find out. I just hope you won't be scared then."

"Now that you've said that, I'm scared. Can I not join?"

The Yue people responded to this with a nonchalant expression.

"That works too. Let's tentatively set the treatment cost at $10 billion. After all, it's a globally unique technology, so the price shouldn't be too high. Would you consider it?"

"I'm so sorry, I was too loud just now. Brother Yue, please give me a chance to be your dog."

Almost the instant Yue Ren finished speaking, the boy had already slid in front of him and knelt down on the ground, his attitude extremely sincere.

Yue Ren nodded in satisfaction.

"No need for dogs or anything like that. We're all partners, and we won't force you to do anything. Don't be nervous. You can think of it as a game team. We give each other some tasks from time to time, or we run a dungeon together or something. Of course, there's compensation; we won't let anyone work for free. How about it?"

Yukichi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. So that's how it is. He should have said so earlier.

Immediately give a thumbs-up and a big white tooth.

"Absolutely no problem!"

The Yue man patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's go then, I'll treat you to ramen as a celebration of your newfound manhood!"

Yukichi stared at him blankly.

"it is good."

Kokichi's change was sudden; when he appeared before his classmates in his true form, he received countless surprises and joy.

Especially Miwa, who was close to him, was amazed when she saw the mechanical Maru suddenly turn into a young boy. She also dragged him to learn a lot about it.

To avoid worrying everyone, when asked why he only showed up now, the boy told a small lie: he didn't want these upsetting things to affect everyone's mood, and he just wanted to enjoy a normal life with his friends, especially by her side.

Yue Ren was naturally very happy to have a new member join the team, but this also made him discover a new problem.

"Transformation of Non-Action" is indeed a rare healing technique. Compared with "Reversal Technique", its power is deeper and more thorough, but it is also more dangerous. After all, playing with souls is never something to be praised.

Such skills are far too dangerous in the hands of unrestrained people. The actions of real people fully illustrate the problem; they accomplish nothing but create tragedy and despair.

Yue Ren set a limitation for himself: unless it was used to save people, as he did today, he would not usually use this ability.

Although it is just an ability, and how it is used depends entirely on the user's will, people's hearts are easily corrupted. Under the subtle and pervasive temptation, such changes may not even be noticed. Therefore, to be on the safe side, he needs to set a limit.

It's not fear, but rather the ability to keep myself vigilant every time I use this skill, because there are certain bottom lines that cannot be crossed.

He needs to max out this skill; only by fully understanding it can he use it properly.

A few days later, Yue Ren, who was busy with his investigation, received a call from Fushiguro Megumi.

The reason for the call was that the knife given to him was no longer absorbing his magical power, and he was asking Yue Ren if the mission was considered complete.

It seems this kid takes the task he was given quite seriously.

The Yue man told him to wait at the training ground, and then made a phone call to Jiujiu Yuki.

"Did you miss your older sister? Yue Ren boy!"

"6

""

Goosebumps rose all over his body, and Yue Ren wanted to hang up the phone.

"It's half an hour to the vocational high school. I'll show you something interesting. If you're not interested, that's fine. I'll go find Gojo Satoru."

"What's so fun about it...?"

""

Before he could finish speaking, he hung up the phone, giving the woman on the other end no chance to complain.

After putting away his phone and putting down his work, Yue Ren took a shower and tidied himself up before heading towards the training ground.

After spending some time with her, Yue Ren had a thorough understanding of women like Jiu Jiu You Ji. These women are like cats, extremely curious. You have to keep them occupied with something, otherwise they're likely to cause trouble.

The more indifferent you act, the more she'll want to get closer—in short, the sorcerer's version of "the less skilled you are, the more she loves to play."

Not long after, Yueren encountered Fushiguro Megumi, and... Kugizaki and Itadori at the training ground.

"Sorry, senior, these two guys insisted on following me as soon as they heard you call me."

As he handed the katana back to the Yue man, Fukuro apologized.

The other two were laughing like idiots, and Yue Ren seemed to understand the despair of a person taking care of two huskies.

"Senior, how can you only think about Fukuro when there's something fun to do? We're your lovely juniors too, aren't we? That's too biased. Besides, the three of us are partners, how can we separate us?"

"? Is that so? Kugizaki, didn't you just say..."

'

Before Itadori could finish speaking, he was punched on the head by Kugizaki.

"Shut up, you idiot! Go ahead and act cute! Don't you know how to act cute? Otherwise, how will our senior take us out to play?"

"I see!"

"6

""

Looking at these two clowns, Yue Ren felt his blood pressure soaring.

Looking back now, Yi Gu was much cuter than these guys. At least he was soft, cuddly, and obedient, which made him much easier to manage. Oh well, let him come. It'll be good for them to see what real power is.

"Then you two stay quiet and behave yourselves. If you cause any trouble, I won't let you off the hook."

T

"Understand 2."

Upon hearing Yue Ren's words, the two who were still playfully fighting immediately stood at attention, as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Yue Ren turned his gaze back to Fu Hei and took the katana from his hand.

Flames suddenly burst forth in his hand, and to the astonishment of the three, the katana transformed within the flames, eventually becoming a completely black nodachi.

During this process, the voices of the Yue people also rang out.

"This was originally prepared for you, and you'll still have to fight tooth and nail for me. But before that, I need to ask you, Fukuro, do you crave power?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Hei was clearly taken aback. Looking into his senior's serious eyes, he understood that it meant exactly what he said.

He glanced at his hands subconsciously, then nodded.

"Yes, senior. I crave power, and I hope to be able to protect those around me."

Yue Ren nodded. It seemed that he had gradually realized the importance of strength during this time. Not bad.

"Now I announce the next objective of the mission: bring out everything you have and capture your strongest shikigami, the Eight-Handed Sword, the Otherworldly God General, and the Demon Void."

Yes, this was the arrangement he had prepared for Fushiguro. Malice was lurking in the shadows. He needed to improve the strength of the people here, including Yukichi and Fushiguro Megumi. If Fushiguro could subdue Mokuro, then there would be another option.

"!!??"

Fushiguro Megumi's eyes widened, her face filled with confusion and disbelief.

"An eight-handed sword?"

"Anotherworldly deity?"

"Demon Void?"

"What is this thing? The name sounds so cringey."

The solemn atmosphere was completely ruined by the two idiots behind him. Fushiguro Megumi really regretted bringing these two guys along, but in the end he could only sigh helplessly. Right now, he just wanted to slap himself a few times for being soft-hearted before.

However, since things had come to this point, he could only patiently begin to explain.

"You should know that my technique, 'Ten Shadow Spells,' allows me to summon up to ten shadow spirits as my battle companions."

"Ah, I know that. That dog is one of them, called 'Jade Dog,' right? I've seen the others too, but ten different kinds? I've never seen you use so many, Fushiguro."

"Yes, I've only seen these kinds of animals: 'puppy,' 'toad,' 'rabbit,' and 'owl.'"

"And the elephant, we used it when we fought those guys in Kyoto a few days ago, it was really powerful."

"Really? There are elephants too? I'd like to take a look."

The two lively characters took turns speaking, sharing what they knew, and Fu Hei nodded.

"They are all of them. I can currently use a total of six shikigami, including the one you mentioned and 'Orochi'."

"As for the other four, I haven't been able to subdue them yet, so I can't use them."

"The 'Ten Shadow Arts' technique initially only grants the user a pair of 'Jade Dogs.' Other shikigami require the user to summon them through a subjugation ritual and then defeat them using their own power. Once subjugated, the user can use those shikigami. Do you understand now?"

"Does that mean you can't defeat the other four types of shikigami?"

"That's right."

"How powerful must he be to be unable to beat you even now?"

The two were surprised, because in their eyes, Fukuro's current strength was very strong. When he first met Itadori, he was able to save him and his classmates from the hands of a special-grade cursed fetus, and he should be able to compete with Nana.

If Fukuro, with such power, still has four shikigami that he cannot subdue, then how powerful must those shikigami be?

"That's why the 'Ten Shadow Techniques' are the standard family techniques passed down by the Zenin family, one of the three founding families. Just like the 'No Limits' technique of the Gojo Satoru family, how could they be listed as one of the three founding families if they weren't strong enough?"

After Yue Ren explained it this way, the two clowns' expressions towards Fu Hei changed.

"So you mean Fushiguro can rival Gojo-sensei in the future? Hahaha, I see. Fushiguro, you actually have such strong potential... a genius?"

The two men started groping Fuhei all over, as if they had suddenly discovered a hidden treasure. Fuhei responded with a look of disgust, but he didn't move, letting them knead him as they pleased.

"No, how can I compare to Gojo-sensei..."

"

"You're right, Fushiguro has the potential, but as you know, he's incredibly stubborn. No matter how much potential he has, he can't become a powerful figure like Gojo Satoru who's all-powerful. As his partners, you'd better help him correct that."

"Don't worry about it, senior. We'll take care of everything with this guy."

"Yes, yes, we must make him a truly strong guy under the care of 'love'."

He had a big thumb and bright white teeth, but his eyes held a cunning and wicked look that Yue Ren found quite interesting.

"6

""

Fuhei really wanted to go back now. What was going on with these guys? Even his senior was making a fuss with them.

"So, that... Mosiro, is also a type of shikigami?"

"Idiot, it's Demon Void."

The man from Yue nodded.

"That's right. Subduing each shikigami using the 'Ten Shadow Arts' doesn't just mean adding another combatant, but rather increasing possibilities. It's like a leap in strength. And Mo Xu Luo is the last one, the strongest shikigami who can rival the Gojo family."

"A thousand years ago, there was a record of a battle between the head of the Gojo family and the head of the Zenin family. The head of the Gojo family, like the current Gojo Satoru, possessed 'six eyes' and 'no limits,' while the head of the Zenin family used 'ten types of shadow magic.'"

"Wow, that's amazing!"