Hiss!
Deep in the night, a Cursed Spirit that looked as if it had been stitched together with needle and thread was just about to feast on the human it had killed.
Suddenly, its body was lifted into the air by an invisible force. No matter how desperately it struggled, it was useless.
"Fifty-three."
Kenmei Isayama walked out from the dark shadows. As he released his psychic energy, ice crystals began to form on the puddles on the ground.
"I really don't know why trash like you counts as an artificial Cursed Spirit."
Kenmei's tone was icy.
Earlier, while combing through Nakamura's memories, Kenmei had been forced to relive the final moments of his sister's life. It had truly broken him.
He had only found two useful clues that could lead him to the mastermind behind the scenes.
First was the high-grade Cursed Tool with an "unknown" curse level.
Second was the woman whose face was obscured by mist but had a distinct line of stitches across her forehead.
That woman was highly suspicious. Nakamura's mental instability worsened after contacting her. Less than three days after they met, the scumbag, armed with a Special Grade Cursed Tool from unknown origins, committed his first horrific massacre.
So, Kenmei's only entry point was that Special Grade Cursed Tool.
After Nakamura's first arrest, the murder weapon should have been seized by the police as evidence. But since Nakamura wasn't prosecuted due to mental illness, the Cursed Tool vanished.
Yet, during the second murder, it mysteriously returned to Nakamura's hand. His memory of it was as casual as picking up a kitchen knife from his own home. It was disturbingly natural.
That Cursed Tool was truly powerful.
Cursed Spirits are usually born from malicious curses symbolizing human ugliness. Without exception, all the spirits Kenmei had seen were physically twisted and grotesque. Maintaining a human form was extremely rare.
However, the victims killed by this tool all turned into humanoid Cursed Spirits. They possessed strong obsessions and extreme aggression. It was hard not to link this to the tool's technique.
Kenmei had strong reasons to suspect someone was experimenting with turning humans into Cursed Spirits.
So, when Kenmei heard about the mission assigned to Yomi Isayama by the Sorcerer Association, he couldn't sit still.
"We received intelligence that a group of Curse Users is attempting to artificially create Cursed Spirits to launch terrorist attacks."
The higher-ups decided to send Yomi Isayama to investigate and annihilate them.
Yomi thought it was too dangerous and wanted to handle it alone, leaving Kenmei out of it.
But Kenmei was sensitive to the topic of "artificially creating Cursed Spirits." Like a shark smelling blood, he wouldn't let go of any possible lead.
Thus, it became a two-person mission.
Unfortunately, what Kenmei found was a bunch of crudely made Cursed Spirits. Calling them knock-offs would be a compliment; they were the worst kind of fakes.
Far from true Cursed Spirits. He wondered where the higher-ups got their intel.
It was a wasted trip for Kenmei. Useless effort.
"Wasting my time."
As his hand slowly clenched, the compression marks on the Cursed Spirit became more obvious. Finally, with a sound like squeezing the last bit of ketchup from a packet—splurt—the spirit exploded.
Due to the violent compression, the filth inside sprayed out, coating the alley walls like a brutal murder scene.
"That's the last one."
"Kenmei-chan!"
"Sister Yomi, all the Cursed Spirits created by the Curse User cult have been exorcised."
Hearing the familiar voice and footsteps, Kenmei calmly reported his progress to Yomi Isayama, who stood at the alley entrance.
He didn't need to ask about her progress; the blood on her clothes told him the fate of those unlucky Curse Users.
"I'm not asking about that. Are you hurt?"
Yomi stepped forward, asking with concern.
"No, they were easy to kill."
Kenmei was honest. Killing these weaklings was no challenge at all, aside from them being scattered.
Yomi breathed a sigh of relief. Although she was surprised by Kenmei's recent combat prowess, power didn't equal combat awareness. There was still a chance of injury.
During the conversation with Yomi, Kenmei suddenly realized his Mana should have hit four digits by now.
Sure enough.
[Talent 'Soul Siphon' triggered. Permanently increased Max Mana by 7 points. Current Mana: 1002 points.]
[Mana: 1002 Points]
This should have been joyous news.
Breaking 1000 Mana meant Kenmei could start using dangerous psychic spells, escaping the restrictions caused by low Mana. He had basically achieved "Spell Freedom" for Eta-class psychic abilities.
But the wasted trip and the renewed guilt over his sister's death made the joy hollow.
"Hmm?"
Kenmei noticed two new messages after the stat notification and opened them subconsciously.
[Mana limit exceeded 1000 points. Conversion between Cursed Energy and Mana is now permitted. See details for ratio.]
[Host can use Cursed Energy converted from Mana to activate Cursed Techniques.]
Looking at the system prompt, Kenmei suddenly realized something.
The gloom on his face vanished, replaced by sudden enlightenment.
Conversion between Mana and Cursed Energy—this was huge news!
For Kenmei, this was far better than just breaking 1000 Mana. He had been troubled because psychic energy was too domineering, causing his plan to hand-craft "Cursed Spirit Balls" for his sister to fail repeatedly.
But now, unlocking the conversion meant Kenmei could use Cursed Energy, just like Geto Suguru, to make "Spirit Balls" to feed his sister.
The plan had been dead in the water, but who knew it would come back to life?
The joy on Kenmei's face was hard to hide. Yomi noticed and was about to ask, but the wound she had suppressed with Cursed Energy suddenly flared up, causing her to grunt in pain.
Worried about Kenmei, she had tried to end her battle quickly and got cheap-shotted by an enemy.
"Sister Yomi, what's wrong?"
Kenmei noticed Yomi's abnormality and supported her as she turned pale.
Yomi didn't want Kenmei to worry, so she smiled.
"I'm fine. I just need a little rest..."
But suddenly, Yomi's expression turned to pure horror, her mind freezing.
In less than a second, Kenmei noticed something.
He shoved Yomi away, taking the hit for her.
By the time Yomi, who had fallen to the ground, reacted, a sharp blade had already pierced through Kenmei's chest. Blood sprayed out wildly, splattering onto Yomi's face.
In the empty alley, a third person's voice rang out.
"Huh? Has my aim gotten this bad?"
The voice came from right next to them, appearing so suddenly that Yomi hadn't sensed a thing.
It was the voice of a middle-aged man, sounding incredibly lethargic and lazy.
"Killing the wrong person."
"Sorry, I stabbed your little boyfriend to death."