Chapter 57
"Impressive, you even managed to find this out."
Whether out of a conditioned reflex or an unconscious release of frustration, [Xia Youjie] pressed his forehead with his thumb—Hatori Kazuma followed his movement and saw the suture line lying there again clearly.
Was he seriously injured and had brain surgery?
The guess in Yuqu Kazuma's mind vanished in an instant. He unleashed another [Black Flash], which consumed the least amount of curse power, to create distance between himself and the group of cursed spirits.
He quickly browsed through the skill descriptions for this field.
[: Converts curse power and stamina into a sea of blood within a sealed domain. During the domain's duration, the sea of blood will unleash continuous, guaranteed-hit skill attacks on a group of targets, inflicting a deadly poison effect.]
[Note that activating this skill requires a massive amount of spell power and stamina.]
[Insufficient spell power and stamina.]
And his current curse power... is only one-fifth of what it used to be.
His physical condition was much better; the cursed spirits released by [Xia Youjie] crumbled at the slightest touch, and very few could attack him.
However, Kazuma Hatori could not be certain that he had the victory in the bag.
Even so, he cannot immediately reveal that he possesses the domain to unleash this ultimate killing move.
[Xia Youjie] seemed quite keen on mocking him, which ironically revealed a piece of information to him—[Xia Youjie] was certain that he wouldn't expand his domain.
Since the enemy judged that he would not be able to deploy his domain, Kazuma Hatake could not so hastily consume all the [Curse Crystals] stored in his inventory just to use his domain once.
Moreover, the possibility that [Xia Youjie] will also expand into this area cannot be ruled out.
Wu had specifically taught him that if the opponent deploys a domain, the best way to respond is for your side to also deploy a domain—at that point, it becomes a contest of generating spells, domain compatibility, and consuming spell power, and the side with the greater advantage in domains will win.
At that time, he did not know how to deploy his domain, so after Wu finished speaking, his advice to him was to end the battle as soon as possible and never give the enemy a chance to deploy their domain.
However, the current situation of being besieged by cursed spirits controlled by the enemy is clearly not something that can be resolved immediately...
Xia Youjie's fighting style was extremely cautious, always keeping many cursed spirits between them, and never getting close to him easily.
It seems that the other party is also wary of whether he has any tricks up his sleeve.
After a moment's thought, Kazuma Hatori decided to take a gamble.
Since Xia Youjie knew everything that happened at the hospital that night, he would assume that if he used the Crimson Blood Manipulation Technique: Supernova on a similar scale as that night, he would inevitably fall into a coma.
He could have avoided the situation had he chosen to retain only the minimum amount of stamina needed to stay conscious.
The [Curse Power Crystals] he's accumulated in his inventory should be enough to replenish his curse power twice.
This attack would be seen by Xia Youjie as his last trump card. It would be best if he could kill his opponent; even if he couldn't kill him, he could clear out the group of cursed spirits surrounding him, and then pretend to be unconscious to make Xia Youjie lower his guard.
This situation, where they intend to slowly wear him down, cannot continue any longer.
"You've done so much, why are you so confident that others can't find out?"
As Kazuma Hatori retorted, he deliberately lowered his body, adopting a stance as if he were ready to go all out.
Immediately, the large area of blood droplets scattered in the air, like a sudden downpour, solidified in place for only a blink of an eye before shooting rapidly towards targets in all directions!
These low-level cursed spirits couldn't withstand even a single drop of blood; their mournful cries rose and fell, and they vanished into ashes almost instantly.
Even with this high-output skill that was no different from clearing the field, the number of cursed spirits blocking the two of them was decreasing, and the blood beads that were not blocked were still like waterfalls falling off a cliff, shooting straight towards [Xia Youjie], determined to pierce through the opponent's body!
—It sounded as if a buzzing sound was being heard, vibrating even the air itself.
Unlike the case with only one blood bullet, this time, Kazuma Hatori saw it clearly.
Just as the countless blood droplets, like shrapnel, were about to hit [Xia Youjie], they seemed to be affected by some force, causing them to instantly turn and fall vertically towards the ground, creating a deep crater.
He himself was completely unharmed.
However, perhaps because his low-level curse spirits had also been exhausted, or perhaps because he also wanted to conserve his curse power, [Xia Youjie] was now alone with nothing around him, looking towards Yuqu Yizhen.
In other words, he had a way to counter [Crimson Blood Manipulation Technique] from the very beginning.
This kind of gravity manipulation that forcibly alters the trajectory of an object, yet remains completely perpendicular to the ground...
Kazuma Hatori staggered two steps, raised his hand to support his "dizzy" head, and stared coldly at him through his fingers.
"...Kaori Khajiitsubo?"
Itadori Yamasuke only said that her technique was related to anti-gravity, but Hagoromo Kazuma and Gojo Satoru had been together for so long that he naturally knew that some techniques were not as simple as they seemed on the surface. Once the power of the curse was reversed, the manifestation would be completely opposite to the reverse of the power of the curse.
The characters [Azure] and [Radiant] in Gojo Satoru's name are good examples.
"Huh? He actually told you even this?"
Xia Youjie genuinely showed considerable surprise this time.
"I don't know whether to say you're lucky or have a keen enough eye... Luckily, I decided to get rid of you here, you superfluous guy in my plan."
"Me too."
Yuqu Kazuma was about to feign unconsciousness when he noticed that [Xia Youjie] was moving slowly and deliberately, pressing the backs of his hands together and overlapping them until his fingers were intertwined.
"Is this your last resort..."
[Xia Youjie] smiled and spoke to Yuqu Kazuma.
"Do you think I would say that, then lower my guard and let you kill me? No, you still have reserves—or rather, you still have ways to replenish your magical power."
"Since you tried to deceive me, I'll return the favor and end things this way. Ah, though in truth, it's all going to come to this eventually, no matter what tactics you try to use against me, the result will be the same."
He lowered his eyes and recited the final killing move he had intended to use against Kazuma Hatori.
"The domain unfolds, [the womb is everywhere]."
Like a blood-tear Buddha rising from nowhere, it formed a bizarre and insane cursed tree with countless twisted human faces. The dense, sharp cries entered his ears, as if a heavy burden had suddenly been placed on him—and it kept increasing, as if it would continue to crush him until it stopped!
At this moment, he could only use his domain to fight against another domain.
Kazuma Hatake no longer delayed and complied with the system's auxiliary skill release, placing his hands together and interlacing his fingers, but with his palms facing himself.
Just as the thumb bends up and the knuckles touch.
, activated.
[Note: You currently lack the required spell power and stamina.]
[Do you want to use the Spell Power Crystals in your inventory to replenish Spell Power?]
【whether. 】
--yes.
The instant his thoughts settled, Kazuma Hatori coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Immediately afterwards, he felt his eyes sting, his vision turned dark red, and wet streaks slid down his cheeks, dripping to the ground.
"Ah, you finally ate it."
He heard Xia Youjie laughing, but the voice sounded particularly muffled and hazy, as if it had been filtered through a layer of gauze.
"I thought you had already thrown it away... Thank goodness, it seems my imitation wasn't too bad."
The other person's laughter gradually became clearer, like the immense gravity that was slowly crushing him.
"That way, I can focus on dealing with Gojo Satoru."
Upon hearing this, Kazuma Hatake immediately looked up—even with his bloodshot black eyes, which were already obscured from his vision, he still stared intently at the other person.
"So,"
He spoke calmly, letting more blood gush from his throat.
"Why don't you try this poison yourself?"
[Warning: You have been poisoned and will continue to lose health.]
[Attention! Your current stamina is too low!]
[Should we cancel the activation of the skill , and return the spell's power and stamina?]
【whether. 】
……no.
"The domain expands... returning to the pure body and blood."
Before his vision went completely dark, Kazuma Hatake managed to utter the last few syllables and saw an endless sea of blood enveloping the entire space. Countless ghostly hands, seemingly reaching out from purgatory, were constantly dragging the struggling figure deeper into the darkness.
He won't let any of those who dare to scheme against the beautiful and wise Da Wu get away with it.
Immediately, the complete depletion of his stamina plunged Kazuma Hatake into utter darkness, making it impossible to hear even the slightest sound.
He was kicked out of the game and regained consciousness in the real world.
She blinked slowly, gazing at the scenery outside the window, feeling as if she had been transported to another world.
However, Kazuma Hatori did not choose to remove the gaming device, but immediately re-entered the game.
[Game entry successful... Character data loaded successfully... Autosave loaded...]
This game does not have a player-save option; there is only an automatic save system that allows you to play the game until the very end. However, in the past, when Kazuma Hatake exited and re-entered the game, the timeline was seamless.
At this moment, he was extremely nervous.
Is it a configuration that requires completing the game with only one life, or can he be revived under certain conditions?
Kazuma Hatake is waiting for the game to provide the answer.
[Automatic save successfully loaded... Loading game...]
There's hope!
But before he could even feel happy, cold, blood-red words popped up in front of him.
[Game loading failed, please try again.]
Kazuma Hatake paused for a moment, then chose to enter the game again.
[Game entry successful... Character data loaded successfully... Auto-save failed.]
The third time.
[Game entry successful... Failed to load character data... Failed to load autosave.]
The fourth time.
[Game entry successful. No autosave detected. This playthrough has ended.]
This session has ended.
Kazuma Hatori stared at the line of text, reading it over and over again before he was sure he hadn't misread it.
Why did it end like this...? Because he successfully killed the villain?
Is he the final boss?
Kazuma Hatori's gaze lingered on the word "[end]", as if examining the immense sense of loss that welled up within him at that moment.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, the wind was rustling the leaves, and the temperature was very comfortable.
...No need to collect the laundry.
——————
A strong, rusty smell permeated the air.
It meandered and flowed between the fallen limbs, merging into pools of blood that were trampled with soft, crunching sounds, mixed with fragments of flesh, burying any tiny trace that could sustain life.
Killing is a biological instinct.
It is devouring, it is plundering, it is destruction.
It is also cruel, numb, and driven by rage and hatred, a despair that quietly marches toward its demise during a long period of mourning.
"You, you dare to...!"
The hoarse voice couldn't utter any more words before collapsing heavily to the ground, unable to utter another reprimand.
The tall figure, hands in his pockets, continued walking forward at a leisurely pace.
The moonlight fell on his blood-stained, pure white hair, tracing his indifferent eyes and draping his shoulders in a hazy, cruel glow.
"Next."
He muttered to himself, "You're all accomplices."
The hem of her dress fluttered slightly in the wind, but no one answered her question.
—Only in the final, pitch-black scene, lines of text appear and disappear, announcing the end of this encounter.
[Future simulation collapse rate: 90%. Exceeded the limit.]
[Data archiving begins.]
Data transfer has begun.
[This week's run is over.]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
