Chapter 157 (Patreon)

A moment later, the black liquid metal flowed back onto Yorozu’s body.

“If that’s all you’re capable of, then the next person to die… will be you.”

Her voice was utterly cold.

“What is going on? This doesn’t make any sense.”

Hiromi Higuruma clutched his injured arm.

Yorozu had killed someone right in front of him. Why, then, had Judgeman begun by questioning her about something as trivial as a drinking offense?

Unfortunately, Higuruma had no time to think it through. Yorozu’s attacks would not stop. She would continue until he could no longer stand.

“What’s wrong, Executioner?” Yorozu asked mockingly. “It seems you’re having trouble carrying out your sentence.”

She was still toying with him.

The difference in their strength was simply too great.

More importantly, Higuruma had failed to obtain a death sentence during the first trial. Without the Executioner’s Sword, he was little more than a plaything before a special-grade sorcerer like Yorozu.

“I call for a retrial—”

Before Higuruma could finish, Yorozu’s fist slammed into him.

He flew backward and crashed against the barrier enclosing his own domain.

“You can’t afford to let your attention wander during a fight. That’s one of the first things you should have learned.”

“Damn it…”

Higuruma’s clothes were torn, and his entire body was covered in wounds. Yorozu, on the other hand, did not have so much as a speck of dust on her.

“Even after confiscating my Domain Expansion, nothing about this battle has changed,” Yorozu said. “Come on. Show me what else you can do.”

Higuruma might have possessed the advantage inside his own domain, but he had spent most of his life working as an attorney, not fighting.

Yorozu was a sorcerer who had survived countless battles in her era. Her combat instincts alone were enough to overwhelm him completely.

“Cough!”

Yorozu appeared directly in front of him.

With one hand, she knocked the gavel from his grasp. Her other hand closed around his throat, slowly lifting him from the ground.

“You had better try harder. Otherwise, you really might die here.”

A longsword formed from liquid metal in Yorozu’s free hand. She pressed the cold back of the blade against Higuruma’s neck.

Struggling to breathe, Higuruma forced several words from his throat.

“The court… is now in session! Retrial!”

The surroundings changed immediately.

Higuruma and Yorozu once again stood opposite each other inside the courtroom of Deadly Sentencing.

“Heh. Are we really going through another one of your tedious trials?”

Yorozu leaned against the wooden railing with both hands, her impatience clear on her face. She had never been fond of formalities or complicated procedures.

“Tsumiki Fushiguro stands accused of killing a jujutsu sorcerer in Tokyo on November 12, 2018.”

Yorozu looked calmly at Higuruma.

“That’s right. I killed them. Continue.”

What are you talking about?! I didn’t do that! You did!

Tsumiki’s furious voice echoed inside Yorozu’s mind.

Yorozu ignored her completely.

Judgeman suddenly thundered its verdict.

“Guilty! Confiscation! Death penalty!”

“Boring. It confiscated my Domain Expansion again,” Yorozu said dismissively. “So you really can’t choose what your ability takes from me.”

After having her Domain Expansion confiscated twice, Yorozu had gained a general understanding of Higuruma’s ability.

If he could freely determine what Confiscation removed, he would undoubtedly have stripped away her cursed energy instead.

Without cursed energy, Yorozu would have no means of resisting, especially when the body she inhabited still belonged to Tsumiki Fushiguro.

“As for the death penalty…” A smile appeared on Yorozu’s face. “I’m looking forward to seeing how you intend to carry it out.”

Deadly Sentencing disappeared.

In its place, Higuruma held a long, cross-shaped blade resembling a crucifix.

The Executioner’s Sword.

The heaviest punishment Judgeman could deliver was the death penalty accompanied by Confiscation.

Anyone struck by the Executioner’s Sword would die without exception.

That sword… I can’t allow it to touch me.

Yorozu narrowed her eyes.

Whoosh!

The blade swept through several strands of her hair. Yorozu twisted her body at an almost unnatural angle and narrowly avoided Higuruma’s attack.

Bang!

She caught the wrist holding the sword and drove her foot into his abdomen.

“Hmph!”

Higuruma swung the Executioner’s Sword upward, released it with his right hand, and caught it with his left.

“Far too inexperienced.”

Black liquid metal surged over Yorozu’s shoulder, forming a shield.

The Executioner’s Sword struck the metal with a deafening clang, scattering sparks across the floor.

At the same time, the liquid metal beneath Higuruma’s feet rose into several sharp spikes.

“A cursed technique that controls liquid metal…”

“Ugh!”

Yorozu turned and kicked Higuruma away.

As he flew backward, the black liquid metal gathered beside her and began to vibrate.

Bzzzz—

“Perfect Sphere.”

Higuruma stared at the object forming before Yorozu.

“What is that? A sphere?”

“A flawless sphere with an infinitely small point of contact. Anything it touches is crushed beneath immeasurable pressure.”

Yorozu gave him a cruel smile.

“Let’s see whether you can withstand it.”

In the next instant, Perfect Sphere appeared directly in front of Higuruma.

“I have no choice… I’ll have to risk it.”

Perfect Sphere shot forward, tearing through everything in its path.

Squelch!

“Guh…!”

The instant Higuruma’s hands came into contact with it, both were completely destroyed.

No!

Without warning, Yorozu’s control over the body wavered.

Tsumiki had forcibly seized back part of it.

“You—!”

Yorozu clenched her teeth, but Tsumiki’s interference had already altered Perfect Sphere’s trajectory.

The sphere veered aside, skimming past the rest of Higuruma’s body before flying in another direction.

“Damn it… I nearly died.”

Having lost both hands, Higuruma could only slump against the rubble. His vision gradually began to darken.

What have you done?! Are you really going to kill another person?! Tsumiki shouted inside Yorozu’s mind.

“Spare me the lecture. I have my own plans, and I’ll decide what I do.”

Murder is wrong! Taking someone else’s life whenever you please is unforgivable!

“Heh… Someone like you wouldn’t have survived in my era. Long before I ever laid a hand on you, another sorcerer would have devoured you.”

Yorozu looked at Higuruma, who sat against the ruined wall as though waiting for death.

She did not move forward to finish him off.

Instead, she continued arguing with Tsumiki for a while. Once the argument became too irritating, Yorozu turned around and left.

Before departing, she used Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the damage the body had suffered during the battle.

“Cough… Healing?”

As Higuruma hovered on the brink of death, his ruined hands began to regenerate.

Reverse Cursed Technique.

——————

The Zenin Clan Estate.

“Heh. This place really hasn’t changed at all.”

Toji Fushiguro stood before the entrance to the Zenin estate.

Then he kicked the gate open.

“Who are you?!”

“You dare trespass on the Zenin estate? Someone, seize him!”

“Come on, then,” Toji said. “It’s been a while since I killed a sorcerer. I’m getting rusty, so you’ll do for a warm-up.”

Toji raised Hajime Kashimo’s iron staff.

His figure blurred as he tore through the crowd.

Blood, shattered bone, and pieces of flesh sprayed across the courtyard.

“Weak! Every last one of you is too weak!” Toji shouted. “Bring Naobito Zenin out here!”

A sorcerer hiding in the corner trembled uncontrollably before swallowing hard.

“L-Lord Naobito… The clan head died ten days ago.”

“What?”

Toji stopped and looked toward him.

“Naobito Zenin is dead? Who killed him?”

“N-No one killed him.”

Toji stared at the sorcerer for a moment.

“That’s almost funny. He didn’t die on a battlefield. He actually lived long enough to die of old age…”