An Offer to Kill Gojo

The newly unlocked Spirit Dominion had obvious limits.

Against a cursed spirit with enough raw strength, it could fail.

Ren understood that the moment the art awakened.

He had only subdued the special-grade curse inside the jade because several conditions aligned perfectly.

If Ren faced a complete Yamata no Orochi right now, he might protect himself, but controlling it with Spirit Dominion would be a fantasy.

Cursed spirits drew power from human negativity.

In a sense, cursed spirits were undying. As long as their source existed, they would keep absorbing negative emotions and growing stronger.

Yamata no Orochi had existed in records since the earliest days of Japan.

If all three seals gathered, no one knew how terrifying it would become.

But it would probably match the old legends.

A great beast called Orochi. Wherever it passed, corpses filled the fields, dust blotted out the sky, mountains shattered, and rivers ran half dry.

Ren opened the panel in his mind.

[System]

Host: Ren Zenin

Current Arts: Divine Forge ? Hundred Refinements; Six Vaults Devourer; Spirit Dominion

Divine Forge ? Hundred Refinements Mastery: Complete (100%)

Six Vaults Devourer Mastery: Complete (100%)

Spirit Dominion Mastery: Beginner (5%)

Sovereign Wind Array: Locked

Hands of Dual Perfection: Locked

Heaven-Piercing Talismans: Locked

Grand Void Insight: Locked

Primordial Sourceflow: Locked

One special-grade cursed spirit had only increased Spirit Dominion by five percent.

Sure enough, the further the Eight Supreme Arts progressed, the harder mastery became.

Six Vaults Devourer would have taken an unknown amount of time to complete if the Orochi Society had not delivered itself as a cursed-energy windfall.

"Looks like I really do have to go to Tokyo."

Ren toyed with the jade in his hand.

The curse inside had been fully extracted, leaving it an ordinary jade pendant. Even so, it still glowed faintly green, beautiful enough to draw the eye.

Tokyo had been part of Ren's plan from the beginning.

In a small place like Sugisawa, even Grade 1 cursed spirits were rare.

Compared to Tokyo or Osaka, the population was too low.

Cursed spirits were born from human negativity. The larger the population, the stronger the cursed spirits that formed.

To grow stronger, Ren had long planned to head to Tokyo.

What he had said to Toji earlier had not been a casual joke.

Originally, he intended to laze around a while longer before leaving.

But with Spirit Dominion unlocked, he might as well go with the flow.

A dark figure flashed past the window.

Toji appeared across from Ren at once.

He dropped onto the sofa in his usual careless posture, beer still unfinished in his hand, a trace of foam at the corner of his mouth.

"Done already, boss?"

"You have some nerve asking that. With an employee like you, I should be docking your pay. You made the boss handle it personally."

Toji stared at him like he had just heard something offensive.

What kind of boss was this?

Three coins a month, and he still wanted to dock pay?

Toji could not resist rolling his eyes.

Ren ignored him and shifted his attention to the person at Toji's feet.

"We're an agency, not a criminal gang. Why did you bring someone back?"

He waved in disgust at the man squirming on the floor like a worm.

"Him?"

Toji took another drink.

"He was skulking around the door. Maybe those enemies of yours were drawn here by him."

"He's from the curse-user side. Name was..."

Toji frowned, trying to remember.

After a moment, he flashed his white teeth.

"Sorry. Remembering the names of insects is hard for me."

The words were arrogant.

But Toji had the right to say them.

Like curse users, bounty hunters were not exactly clean.

But Toji stood at the top of all bounty hunters, looking down on the rest like an emperor.

The Sorcerer Killer, Toji Fushiguro, had earned that pride.

"You're unbearable. How old are you, still acting that edgy?"

Ren gave him a look of disdain.

His finger twitched.

Cold light appeared.

It drifted forward, flashing once.

Every rope binding the man was cut.

The blue dagger returned quietly behind Ren.

But the icy pressure radiating from the blade instantly caught Toji's attention.

"Grade 1?"

Toji's eyes sharpened.

"No. Special grade."

"Special grade?"

The freed Watcher blurted the words out.

The next instant, he no longer dared make a sound.

Cold sweat soaked him. His hands and feet went cold, and his teeth chattered.

The blue dagger had appeared at his throat like a ghost.

Its point rested lightly against his artery.

If it moved even a fraction forward, the vessel would open and blood would pour out.

"Sir! I mean no harm. I came to cooperate with you in good faith. Sir!"

Watcher forced down his terror and shouted quickly under the shadow of death.

He feared that one second too late would cost him his life.

He had the faint feeling that if he truly formed any malicious thought toward the young man in front of him, the knife would pierce his throat without hesitation.

Ren's pale eyes were cold as a snow-covered mountain.

No human warmth existed in them.

Under those eyes, Watcher felt as if he had been stripped bare, body to soul. Everything about him was seen through.

"Cooperate?"

Ren repeated the word with interest.

"State your purpose. Don't waste words. My little knife has a mind of its own. If you say one useless sentence, it might decide to enter your neck."

Ren smiled.

To Watcher, it looked like a demon from hell.

He could not understand how such a handsome young man, almost like the boy next door, could carry such terrifying pressure.

Ren treated Watcher this way not only because he had been lurking outside the villa.

There was another reason.

Ren sensed malice on him.

Pure, baseless malice.

Most people could not sense such an intangible emotion.

But under Six Vaults Devourer's nourishment, Ren's body had moved far beyond ordinary human limits. His muscle strength, senses, and instinct had all reached levels others could not understand.

Simply put, any emotion directed at Ren could be detected almost instantly.

If anyone formed harmful intent toward him, his body would react for battle on instinct.

That was a surprise Ren had gained after Six Vaults Devourer reached the advanced stage.

Six Vaults Devourer made him react a step faster and sharpened his senses to an inhuman edge.

It allowed him to predict danger and cut off potential threats before they fully formed.

So the moment Ren saw Watcher, murderous intent awakened in him.

By Ren's usual temperament, he should have pierced Watcher's throat directly and ignored any explanation.

But from this man, Ren sensed that he was not the source of the malice.

He was a carrier.

In other words, he had a subordinate's connection to whatever being truly held that hostility toward Ren, and some of that malice had stained him.

That interested Ren enough to let him live for the moment.

"Yes, Mr. Ren. My codename is Watcher. I come from the Human Mutual Aid Association. I came to seek an alliance."

Feeling the knife's cold murderous intent at his throat, Watcher did not dare hesitate.

The words came out in a rush.

"Since you were born in the Zenin clan, sir, you must know about the feud between the Zenin and Gojo clans."

"The next head of the Gojo clan, Satoru Gojo, is extremely powerful. With Limitless and the Six Eyes, there may be no ceiling to what he becomes."

"We know that with your strength, sir, you will not fear Satoru Gojo in the future. But if we cooperate, we can erase Gojo before he fully matures."

"I came to discuss this matter with you. Our chairman welcomes you at any time."

"We're prepared to offer our full support. If you require it, every member of our association will stand behind you."

Watcher spoke rapidly, afraid that one moment of discomfort from Ren would cost him his life.

Ren, lying back on the sofa, gave Toji a strange look.

Toji looked back with the same expression.

Their eyes met.

Ren's mouth twitched.

"Are you telling me a curse-user organization is called the Human Mutual Aid Association?"

Toji scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Maybe?"

"Never mind that."

Toji's mouth curved upward.

"This guy just said he wants us to kill Gojo for the Zenin clan, right?"

"Sounds like it."

Toji burst into thunderous laughter.

Ren leaned back on the sofa, the corner of his mouth lifting into a faintly mocking smile.

Kneeling on the floor, Watcher could not understand why both men were laughing.

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