"Lord!! Lord!! Give me a chance!!"
The skull no longer had any of its previous sinister arrogance. Held in Ryder's hand like a toy, it could only emit feeble pleas for mercy.
It could feel that the jujutsu displayed by this boy, who was not yet eighteen, was the natural predator of people like itself!
"Oh? So you're not dead yet."
Ryder glanced at the skull with a faint smile, then suddenly increased the pressure in his grip.
Crack!
A fine fracture instantly appeared on the pristine white skull. Weak cursed energy leaked from the crack, but in the blink of an eye, it was devoured by Ryder.
"AHHHH! Why does it hurt so much?! I abandoned my sense of pain!!"
The skull screamed in agony, the ghost fire in its eyes trembling violently.
It couldn't understand. The soul residing in this vessel had supposedly discarded all physical sensation. Yet now, a deep, terrifying pain instantly filled the depths of its soul.
Driving it nearly insane.
The crack in the bone felt like a brand seared directly onto the root of its soul.
It was a despair a hundred times more torturous than physical pain.
"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't control my strength properly. But..."
"You don't mind, do you?"
Ryder looked at the skull with an apologetic smile. His eyebrows raised slightly, corners of his mouth pursed up—like a shy boy next door feeling guilty about a small mistake.
But the skull understood this boy perfectly.
Right now, there was not a shred of apology. Only deep, mocking amusement!
The ghost fire in the skull's empty sockets flickered with difficulty.
Forcing down the agony engraved into its very existence, it spoke with a fawning tone.
"It doesn't matter, Lord. Of course I don't mind~"
Only the strong talked about dignity. The weak only begged for survival.
The skull thought of the countless "lowlives" who had knelt and begged for mercy at its hands. It had slaughtered them wantonly just to extract cursed energy, trampling on their dignity and souls.
And now.
Before this terrifying man.
It was just like those "lowlives" it despised.
Like a stray dog wagging its tail for scraps.
"Heh."
Ryder chuckled lightly, turned around, and sat back on the sofa, placing the skull on the coffee table.
His silver eyes held a hint of playfulness.
He spoke softly.
"Since the construction site, I felt some trash following me. I just didn't expect you to follow me all the way home."
"Speak. What is your purpose?"
Ryder clasped his hands together, resting his chin on them, staring intently at the skull.
Translucent blue energy floated around his body, slowly absorbing the thing's cursed energy.
After Gluttonous Devourer reached 10% progress, he could absorb cursed energy through his aura alone, without needing to open his mouth like before. Though certain moves still required specific actions.
"We have no ill intent toward you, Lord. We only wish to ask for your help in repairing a cursed tool. With your ability, Lord, it should be as easy as lifting a hand."
The skull didn't dare delay. It didn't fear the death of this cursed vessel, but that soul-searing pain was too unbearable. It never wanted to taste it a second time.
"Repairing a cursed tool? Interesting. Repairing cursed tools is a thankless task. No matter how you fix a destroyed tool, the curse inside will never be complete again, and its power drops significantly."
Ryder rubbed his chin, settling into a comfortable position on the sofa.
The resources and effort required to repair a cursed tool were enough to forge a new one from scratch. Generally, once a tool was broken, no one bothered fixing it.
Unless...
Unless that tool was...
"It's a Special Grade cursed tool!! A Special Grade tool passed down for a thousand years!" The skull sensed the impatience hidden in Ryder's tone and spoke as fast as it could.
The ghost fire flickered like a frightened bird.
"A bit interesting. Do you know the rules?"
Ryder suddenly sat up straight, spreading his hands flat. His gaze lost its laziness, replaced by the bright, violent look of an awakened lion.
The skull realized with horror that the cursed energy of this vessel was being devoured rapidly. The dark blue energy was being swallowed in great gulps by some invisible monster.
"We know the rules! You name your price! Whatever you say goes!!"
The skull humbled itself as much as possible while secretly cursing in its heart.
"Damn bastard!! Wait until you get to the base! I have a hundred ways to kill you!! Damn bastard!! Main body, you're a bastard too!!"
"Heheh. Interesting. The soul in this cursed vessel is only a small fragment, yet it has its own consciousness. Truly a novel jujutsu."
The moment Ryder said this.
The skull felt a chill run down the spine of its main body, far away in Osaka.
"Impossible!! How does he know!! No one should be able to see through my technique!!"
"Three Grade 1 cursed spirits." Ryder ignored whatever the skull was thinking. After casually exposing the opponent's secret, he held up three fingers.
"Done!" The skull agreed without hesitation. Three Grade 1 curses weren't difficult for their organization. Besides, once he was in their territory, would he really have the chance to act wild?
So it agreed directly.
"Don't rush. One more thing. How can you come for a visit empty-handed? I'll accept this gift of yours!"
"Gift? What gift?"
Seeing the wicked smile curl on Ryder's lips, an ominous feeling rose in the skull's heart.