Chapter 12: Even Geniuses Get Hungry
I realized it not long before we were due to leave the country.
"Daisuke, your technique is the Ten Shadows Technique, the same one as Fushiguro’s, right?"
"You figured that out? I only use shadows, though."
"When I went into your shadow last time, something fluffy, soft, and warm hugged me! I didn’t know what it was then, but only recently did I realize it looked exactly like the Divine Dogs that Fushiguro summons!"
"What?"
Thanks to Minami’s comment, I learned that the Divine Dogs were sleeping inside my shadow.
My technique was fundamentally the Ten Shadows Technique; it was merely bound by a restriction that made it impossible to summon shikigami.
If the Divine Dogs existed, perhaps I could make use of them in a way that avoided that restriction as much as possible.
-
"Ten Shadows Garment: Divine Dogs."
Ten Shadows Garment was the result of my desperate struggle to somehow put the Divine Dogs to use.
At first, I thought it would be easy. In the original story, characters had used only portions of a shikigami’s abilities—for example, covering their hands with just the Divine Dogs’ claws to attack, or firing Piercing Blood by using Max Elephant’s ability.
But that prediction was wrong. Apparently, even trying to draw forth only a part of a shikigami was considered a summoning, because every attempt failed.
After that, the thing I tried as a last resort was reversing my cursed technique through Reverse Cursed Technique.
The fact that I had acquired Reverse Cursed Technique as a basic skill meant my cursed energy manipulation had been forcibly raised above a certain level.
Before recovering my memories of my previous life, I had been near the bottom of the Kukuru Unit even with hand-to-hand combat reinforced by plain cursed energy. The fact that I had instantly risen to Grade 2 level proved it.
The part of the technique’s circuit that I poured Reverse Cursed Technique into in order to reverse its effect was the "summoning" aspect.
It was an extremely risky method, since I was tampering with summoning—the very foundation of shikigami techniques—but it succeeded.
I do not summon the shikigami sleeping in my shadow. Instead, I invoke its soul within myself, gaining its abilities.
I called it Ten Shadows Garment because I clad myself in the shikigami’s power.
Once I entered the Ten Shadows Garment state, my body transformed under the Divine Dogs’ influence: wolf ears sprouted from my head, and both arms changed into the Divine Dogs’ claws.
"For such vicious cursed energy, you look pretty cute."
"Ugh, gross. Are you gay?"
"I have a friend who is, but I’m not."
Anyway,
My appearance was not the only thing that had changed.
One of the Divine Dogs’ specialties was their enhanced sense of smell, which they used for tracking.
It was exactly the ability we needed right now.
"I can smell him. Follow me. We’ll catch up to him in no time."
"Reassuring."
-
Following the scent and lingering traces led us to a large distribution warehouse.
It appeared to have been unused and abandoned for a long time, with no particular sign of human presence.
"This is actually better. We’re not in Japan, so it would be difficult to put up a barrier."
"Hah, we should have brought Minami."
With Minami’s barrier techniques, she could have easily put up something like a curtain even outside Japan. Unfortunately, we had left her at the lodging, so it looked like we had no choice but to charge in as we were.
I gathered cursed energy in both hands, transformed into the Divine Dogs’ claws, then rammed through the door and smashed it apart as I entered.
Craaaash!
"Who the hell is it!? What bastard smashes through someone’s door without even the slightest manners!? This warehouse still has thirty-five years left on its mortgage!!!"
"Thirty-five years?"
"Ignore him. It’s just the ravings of a madman."
The curse user we finally came face-to-face with looked astonishingly like Nohara Hiroshi.
A grayish-brown suit, short curly hair, a rectangular face, and even dark stubble.
It was a perfect Nohara Hiroshi cosplay! Was that the kind of commitment it took to make a living as a curse user!?
"More importantly, this is a horrible place."
"...Yes."
This abandoned warehouse had long since been transformed into a den where the curse user stored human flesh.
The meat hanging there so openly was all human. It was a reality I never wanted to face.
"Let’s go, Miguel."
"Okay, Zenin Boy. I’ll match your movements, so go wild!"
"Oh, whoaah!?"
Miguel and I spread out and approached him.
The plan was to box him in from both sides and beat the hell out of him out of rhythm with each other, but—
"Kawaguchi!!!"
Craaaash!
"Miguel!?"
Something charged toward Miguel.
A bizarre doll made entirely of meat, hamburgers, and spaghetti appeared.
There did not seem to be another curse user here, so it appeared to be a shikigami created through an application of his technique.
"Don’t worry about this side, Zenin Boy! I’ll take it down and join you soon!"
"Okay!"
Miguel was strong, so there was no need to worry about him.
Right now, I had to focus on Furutani Ryota himself.
I concentrated cursed energy in my claws and swung at him.
"Something like this—Aaargh!!!"
Slaaash!
"You think some lousy bread can block me!?"
He defended with bread pulled from who knew where, but slightly hard bread had no chance of blocking my attack while I wore the Divine Dogs’ garment.
After shredding the bread, I immediately thrust in my left hand, aiming for his heart.
"Do you have any idea how many farmers suffer to make this bread!?"
"What?"
"Technique release!"
Fwoooosh—
The fragments of bread that had been shattered and scattered vanished in an instant, turning into a mass of pure cursed energy.
Oh, shit, this is—
Boooom!
The cursed energy exploded.
I hurriedly hid within my shadow and minimized the damage, but between that food-made shikigami and the bread bomb, there were far too many differences from the prior intelligence.
I did not know much about the shikigami, but the bread bomb seemed to work by reverting physically real bread back into cursed energy. The difference in density at that moment naturally expanded the cursed energy’s volume, creating a shockwave.
He could probably do the same thing with food other than bread, too.
"Where are you, you evil sorcerer!?"
I had hidden in a hurry earlier, but fortunately, it seemed he had not noticed that I had gone into the shadow.
It was only natural, perhaps, since the technique I was using did not look much like the Ten Shadows Technique on the surface either.
It was time to counterattack. I sprang out of the shadow and ambushed him from behind.
Slash!
"Aaargh!!!"
A clean hit.
My arm pierced straight through his heart.
"The... Nohara family... fiiire..."
I pulled my arm out of him, then kicked his staggering body away. He crumpled to the floor.
His breath had stopped completely. My victory.
"Aside from when I attacked Sukuna intending to kill him, is this my first time killing someone? It doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth."
Now that the sorcerer had fallen, the shikigami Miguel was fighting should have disappeared as well.
The moment I turned toward Miguel, thinking that, I sensed that something was wrong.
Why was the shikigami Miguel was fighting still moving?
I checked the fallen curse user.
The suspiciously Nohara Hiroshi-like face was melting away, revealing bright red meat beneath the skin.
"A double...? No, was even this one of Furutani Ryota’s shikigami?"
"No, you idiot~"
The voice came from above me.
When I looked up, I had no choice but to stare in shock.
One of the butchered human bodies hanging from the ceiling was being covered in flesh in real time.
Before long, Nohara Hiroshi’s face was complete.
"I’m the sales manager at Futaba Company, the head of the Nohara family with a fox-like wife and rabbit-like children. I’m Nohara Hiroshi."
The premise had been completely wrong.
He was not a curse user.
That was unmistakably a cursed spirit.
"Domain Expansion—[Banquet Orange Ring]."
A golden domain spread out.
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