"The hatred of the dead is far more terrifying than the living."
Toji Fushiguro actually laughed out loud at that.
He had killed countless Sorcerers in his lifetime. He had slaughtered half the population of the Zenin clan—the very family that birthed him—leaving their lineage in shambles.
Did any of those dead guys ever come back as ghosts to haunt him?
Nope.
Even the living bastards of the Zenin clan didn't dare seek revenge. They operated on the principle of "if you can't beat him, hide from him," staying as far away from the God of Death as possible.
Yet, this brat was still running his mouth.
"You know nothing."
"This stone is like a flower to a butterfly; it is only attracted to sinful souls."
"That woman... she looked prim and proper on the outside, but her mental landscape was 'rich'!"
"Jealousy! Rage! Disgust! Ambition! Yes, and she was wrapped in a deep sense of sin."
The white-haired brat recalled his first encounter with the woman. He hadn't met such an interesting human in years.
"The Killing Stone gave her the power to get everything she wanted! It gave her a new life!"
"She didn't have to suppress herself anymore! She didn't have to numb herself by killing Cursed Spirits day and night! She could unleash her desires!"
"No one can resist the power of the Killing Stone."
"You two... just try it for a second, and you'll know how beautiful it feels to be surrounded by power..."
"ARGHHH!!!"
The brat's sales pitch was cut short by a scream far more miserable than any injury he had suffered so far.
Even with two Special Grade Cursed Tools skewering him, he convulsed violently, thrashing in agonizing pain.
A massive amount of black liquid spilled from his now-empty right eye socket. The large Killing Stone that had filled it was gone.
Drip, drip.
Kenmei's left fingertips were stained with black ichor. The blood-red stone he had just plucked out was still warm, dripping gore onto the ground.
Just a moment ago, Kenmei had driven all five fingers straight into the brat's eye socket.
Badmouthing Mei was one thing. But trying to bewitch Kenmei? Telling him to "try" the Killing Stone because it grants wishes?
If this ghostly junk was as powerful as you claimed, would you really be pinned to the ground by me and the old man, unable to move?
The brat's seduction attempt sounded like a clown waving a one-dollar bill in front of a billionaire. It was laughable.
If the peerless Super-Class Cursed Spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae, stood in front of Kenmei and made that promise personally, maybe it would have some persuasive power. But this guy? Please.
---
When Kenmei tried to strip the Killing Stone from the brat, he encountered resistance—dense, nerve-like strands anchoring it in place.
It felt like using a spoon to scoop rock-hard frozen ice cream. Just like Mei's condition, the Killing Stone acted as a core, with tiny roots spreading deep underground, permeating the entire body.
When Kenmei yanked it out, several ten-centimeter-long strands—looking like optic nerves—were still attached to the surface. But the moment they touched the air, they turned to dust and blew away.
The density and intensity of the Cursed Energy in this brat's Killing Stone couldn't compare to Mei's.
However, the kid's reaction was far milder than Kenmei expected. He thought ripping out the core would make the brat wither like a tree without nutrients instantly. He didn't expect him to just look like he'd been castrated without anesthesia.
Before he could dwell on it, Kenmei felt a sharp, needle-like stinging sensation where his skin touched the stone.
This was the domineering, corrosive nature of the Killing Stone.
The Sorcerer Association had run experiments on stones with a concentration far lower than the one in Kenmei's hand. If a normal human touched it, their flesh would be consumed instantly, leaving only dry bones. If an average Sorcerer touched it, the stone would shoot spikes through their vascular system into their organs. If the host's Cursed Energy wasn't up to par, they'd be sucked dry.
"You think this thing can grant my wish?"
Kenmei held the egg-sized stone up to the sun. Inside, a fox-shaped Cursed Spirit roared silently at him. Symbols resembling digital code flowed within it, shifting shapes, proving this was no ordinary rock.
But to Kenmei, the Killing Stone was no different from a decoration.
He had worked hard to drain Mei's stone to a critical limit; he wasn't about to use this one to recharge it.
That left only one use.
"Give it back!"
The brat on the ground suddenly snapped out of his pain. Realizing what the bastard was about to do, he looked ready to explode. Having only one eye didn't stop him from glaring daggers at Kenmei.
"Stay down!"
Toji lifted his foot and stomped hard on the kid's head. The immense force drove the brat's face straight into the dirt, muting him into whines.
Kenmei gripped the crimson stone tight.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
As he applied pressure, the sound of fracturing crystal rang out.
The moment the first crack appeared on the surface, a wave of blood-red Cursed Energy, filled with madness, drifted out.
[System: Absorbable Cursed Energy detected. Absorb?]
Before the energy could form into a fox spirit to attack, Kenmei's palm became a black hole.
Whoosh.
He storm-inhaled the energy.
[Points +200]
[Points +150]
The numbers jumped rapidly, like a gas pump counter on overdrive.
Kenmei's gluttonous absorption left the other two—man and monster—dumbfounded.
"Impossible... how can the power of a God be devoured?!"
The white-haired brat couldn't believe his eye. But as his connection to the Killing Stone faded, panic finally set in.
His body began to mutate. distinct blue veins bulged under the skin of his face and exposed limbs. They multiplied until his entire body looked like a map of complex wiring.
The art style shifted rapidly towards "mummy." Without the nourishment of the Killing Stone, the root system inside him began to rot and wither.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Kenmei and Toji began to vibrate.
From the cracked earth, several twisted, wooden roots burst forth, stabbing toward them.
What was disturbing was that these wooden roots were adorned with bleached human skulls. As the wood twisted weirdly, the skulls knocked together, creating a bizarre, rhythmic clatter.
Kenmei felt like he had seen this wood somewhere before.
Riiiiiip.
The sound of tearing flesh rang out.
It was the white-haired brat on the ground.
His head had literally "split up" from his body.
The head detached and fled, leaving behind a headless, withered corpse that looked like dry firewood.
---