Maki narrowed her eyes. She didn't need to guess who had fired that sneak shot. Although she was confident she could handle both of them, judging by the sense of danger and the sound of the bullet, Mai was still some distance away.
That girl avoids heavy training to keep from gaining muscle, so she can't get here quickly… In that case, I'll deal with the one in front of me first…
Given her opponent's stance, charging in blindly without analysis wouldn't be ideal. But in this situation, taking the initiative to probe was the best option.
Maki burst forward toward Kasumi Miwa, gripping her long weapon as she moved.
The blade swung down in a clean strike!
Within her Simple Domain, Kasumi Miwa reacted instantly. With both the Simple Domain and her Binding Vow reinforcing her, she blocked Maki's attack with a sharp clang.
Even so, Maki's strength was overwhelming, forcing Kasumi Miwa's body to tilt backward.
Seizing the opening, Maki followed up with a rapid three-hit combo. Kasumi Miwa planted her feet firmly to maintain her Simple Domain, swinging her sword again and again to fend off the assault.
But when her final strike was blocked, Maki suddenly let go of her long blade and, with her other hand, drew a dagger and thrust it toward Kasumi Miwa.
Losing the opposing force in that instant, Kasumi Miwa couldn't rein in her momentum and pitched forward, hastily pulling her sword back to defend.
By then, Maki had already turned close-quarters combat into pure instinct. She could control force, angle, and trajectory at will. She twisted her right hand into a reverse grip, used Kasumi Miwa's blade as a pivot, and spun in to stab.
Startled, Kasumi Miwa reflexively opened her eyes. In that moment, she lost both her Simple Domain and her Binding Vow, and Maki knocked her out with a single chop to the neck…
Maki glanced at the cut along her right sleeve. To keep it from interfering with her movement, she tore the entire sleeve off with a sharp rip.
"Not bad, just too naive… Feels like she's never really fought anyone before…"
After steadying her breathing, Maki quickly grabbed the long blade from the ground and blocked the pillar-like object coming from behind. In the next instant, a blinding white flash erupted alongside a piercing screech, sound and light intertwining into something far removed from a typical jujutsu sorcerer battle.
Even though Maki had already turned her head and shut her eyes, it was like staring at a lightbulb with your eyes closed. The effect of a real flashbang wasn't something you could avoid just by shutting your eyes.
As a sharp pain stabbed through her vision, Maki sensed danger again. Keeping her eyes closed, she relied on her memory of the fight and quickly moved behind a tree.
Mai had already arrived, raising another pistol.
This was a modified weapon, using a break-action mechanism similar to a hunting rifle and chambered for .30-06 Springfield rifle rounds. Although it required manual reloading and was slow to cycle, its destructive power was more than seven times that of the original.
The gunshot thundered. The bullet tore through a weak point in the tree and slammed into Maki's back. Her body was strong enough that the bullet didn't pass through, but that meant she absorbed all of its kinetic force…
Blood splattered, and a muffled groan came from the shadows. Mai's hands began to tremble uncontrollably, until the pistol slipped from her grasp and hit the ground.
"You really are something, my little sister…"
Mai watched as Maki stepped out from behind the tree, eyes still tightly shut, gripping the bullet she had just dug out…
Setting aside the pain of the gunshot, even after taking a flashbang at such close range, not even a reflex tear had formed in Maki's eyes.
"Ugh… no bones broken… I can still move…"
Seeing Maki still standing, Mai's face returned to its usual blank expression.
"My ignorant, stubborn older sister… humanity didn't make it this far because of Jujutsu Sorcerers. It's 'tools' that let people survive in this world.
More is beautiful. Bigger is better. Caliber is justice. Range is truth."
Maki rolled her shoulders and loosened her joints.
"Oh? So you've been using those things against some Curse Users and gained confidence from it? Firearms are heavily restricted here… I'm surprised you managed to pull that off."
The moment she finished speaking, Mai saw Maki suddenly snap her eyes open, a fierce grin spreading across her face as she rushed in with her blade.
…How is that possible?
At that distance from the flash, an ordinary person would need at least two days to recover, maybe even go blind…
Even Curse Users who reinforce their eyes with Cursed Energy take over ten minutes to recover. That was something she'd confirmed during past missions…
Caught off guard, Mai ignored the modified gun on the ground that needed reloading. She drew her regular handgun and fired repeatedly at Maki.
Maki didn't even try to dodge.
Her black blade struck the incoming bullets with precise, consecutive hits. In a split second, she closed the distance, turning it into a real-life demonstration of "within seven steps, is the blade faster or the gun?"
But instead of firing her last round, Mai reinforced her body with Cursed Energy and used the gun's grip to lock against Maki's blade.
"Close combat with me?"
Maki smiled, pulling her blade back in a hooked motion and striking toward Mai's neck to knock her out. But she had slightly underestimated her.
Mai protected her neck with Cursed Energy just in time, avoiding unconsciousness, but the force still slammed her to the ground. It felt like her entire neck had been knocked out of alignment, her head ringing loudly…
Mai lay there, coughing hard for a while before finally catching her breath.
"I don't understand that 'full critical mass' thing… but there's something else I've thought through carefully…"
"What?"
Mai's voice was so faint that even Maki, with her Heavenly Restriction, couldn't hear it clearly.
"My Construction Technique uses my own Cursed Energy as a base to create matter from nothing… Since what's created doesn't disappear after the technique ends, it consumes an enormous amount of Cursed Energy. The cost depends on the mass…"
"Technique Disclosure…"
Maki's expression shifted, somewhere between a wry smile and something softer.
"You actually look like a proper Jujutsu Sorcerer now…"
Then her eyes narrowed suddenly, sensing something off in the surroundings…
"I don't need your approval!!"
Mai suddenly shouted, grabbing a bullet from the wreckage of her pistol and clenching it tightly.
Pouring excessive Cursed Energy into an object causes it to collapse. Preventing that collapse is a basic skill every Jujutsu Sorcerer has to learn.
But it could also be used in reverse.
As the bullet broke apart, it sparked. Combined with the lightest, simplest substance she had just constructed, hydrogen—
A violent burst of fire exploded outward, expanding in an instant before quickly fading into the air…
Just before the blast, Maki lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Mai. The two of them, scorched and covered in soot, rolled more than a dozen times before slamming into a nearby tree.
"Are you insane? With that level of Cursed Energy consumption, you thought you'd survive that explosion?"
Mai kept her head lowered, saying nothing…
…
After a while, Maki let out a sigh. She stood up, then crouched back down in front of Mai.
"Were you wondering how I could still move just now?"
From beginning to end, she had treated this fight as nothing more than a real "sisterly exchange."
"Even if someone reinforces their eyes with Cursed Energy, they're still just ordinary eyes at their core. Mine, on the other hand, work precisely because they're 'ordinary'… and they're tougher because of the 'restriction.'
Put simply, something that's always there isn't the same as something temporarily boosted…"
Mai didn't react. She just murmured to herself:
"Why did you leave…"
"Huh?"
"You've always just decided everything on your own, convinced you're right, and then expected me to follow along. You never once asked what I wanted.
Wasn't it fine staying in that courtyard? Why did you leave home? Why did you become a Jujutsu Sorcerer? Have you ever thought that what matters to you… might not be something good to me at all?
Just because you're my older sister?
A sister like you… I hate you!"
At first, Mai spoke relatively calmly, but her voice gradually rose, turning into a full, emotional outburst.
After listening to her hoarse, strained words, Maki looked at her quietly.
"Sorry. I didn't think that far. I just wanted to do it, so I did. That's all…"
Mai shut her eyes tightly.
This muscle-brained idiot of a sister… she has no idea what I actually want. If she didn't want to stay, why didn't she take me with her…
But Maki's next words made Mai's eyes snap open as she stared at her in disbelief.
"You've gotten pretty strong… You don't need me watching over you anymore. Want to take missions together from now on?"
…
"…Mm."