Chapter 92: Nanomuscles
A wet, bubbling sound suddenly echoed through the air.
With a sharp whoosh, an enormous pair of wings unfolded from behind the suspender-clad man—wings woven entirely from blood.
"Rot Technique: Supreme Art — Wing King!"
With a furious roar, the man beat his crimson wings and shot into the sky.
The composed elegance he had displayed earlier was gone. In its place was a face twisted by grief and rage.
"I am Eso, second among the Death Painting Wombs!"
His voice cracked with fury.
"The one you just killed… was my younger brother, Kechizu!"
"I'll use these wings to sting every last one of you to death!"
"You filthy humans will accompany my brother into the grave!"
The moment he finished speaking, countless blood-red arrows erupted from the tips of his wings.
They filled the heavens.
A scarlet storm descended.
Maki spun Playful Cloud, sweeping aside a volley of blood arrows.
The impact transmitted through the staff told her everything she needed to know.
The attack looked terrifying—
but its actual power was mediocre.
The corner of her mouth curled in disdain.
She was about to charge forward and finish off both cursed brothers—
when a single word flashed through her mind.
Brothers.
Instantly, she recalled the earlier scene.
The blue-black curse's blood had splashed onto a rock wall.
Smoke had risen.
Stone had dissolved.
Blood-related techniques.
Poisonous blood.
"Tsumiki!"
Her expression changed dramatically.
She shouted at the top of her lungs:
"Get away from it! The blood is highly poisonous—!"
But she was too late.
The rain of blood arrows had already swept across the battlefield.
A moment later, Tsumiki Fushiguro stood amidst the gravel-strewn riverbank—
her body completely stained with blood.
"Tsumiki!"
"Interesting."
Hovering high above, Eso tilted his head and looked down at Maki.
"You're quite agile, woman."
"But that's fine."
His lips twisted into a cruel smile.
"That girl should be important to you, shouldn't she?"
"Perhaps not as important as my beloved brother was to me."
"But I'll let you live."
"So you can watch."
"Watch someone precious to you die slowly before your eyes."
"Watch her flesh rot away piece by piece."
"Rot Technique: Decay!"
His hands flashed through a series of seals as he activated his technique once more.
Tsumiki Fushiguro's body trembled slightly.
"There, you see?" Eso twisted his face into a vicious grin as he watched her sway. "That's only the beginning."
"Once struck by my Rot Technique, your body starts decomposing from the point of infection. It's like being devoured by thousands upon thousands of ants, your flesh gradually eaten away until nothing remains but a puddle of blood."
"The whole process takes at least ten minutes."
"So we've barely started."
"Oh dear."
He turned toward Maki, delight mingling with the hatred on his distorted face.
"I accidentally revealed my technique's secrets."
"That might strengthen its effect and shorten the decomposition time."
"Such a shame."
"I was hoping to drag it out a little longer."
"So you could enjoy watching your precious friend melt into a puddle of gore right before your eyes."
"Tsumiki—!"
Maki stared at the blood-soaked figure standing motionless amidst the crimson splatters.
For the first time in a long while, genuine despair crept into her voice.
Meanwhile, Eso lowered his gaze toward the enormous crater below.
Toward the mangled remains of his younger brother, now little more than a heap of ruined flesh.
"Kechizu…"
"Can you see it?"
"Your big brother has avenged you."
"The people who killed you are about to die in the most agonizing way imaginable."
"They'll perish by the blood that connects us brothers."
"In that sense…"
"You'll have taken your own revenge with your own hands!"
BOOM!
Before the final words could leave his mouth, a violent shockwave slammed into him.
An overwhelming force crashed directly into his chest.
Eso's eyes widened.
He looked down in disbelief.
A massive hole had been blasted straight through his torso.
Then he slowly lifted his head—
and stared at the figure floating before him.
"W-Why…?"
"I am sorry for killing your brother."
The girl who had moments ago been overflowing with manic excitement now wore an expression of sincere sorrow.
"But what your blood struck wasn't my body."
"It hit the nanobiomorphic skin covering it."
Tsumiki casually wiped the blood from her face.
The skin beneath was flawless.
Smooth.
Unblemished.
There was not the slightest trace of corrosion.
"It's a specialized material with exceptional resistance to cutting, piercing, and chemical degradation."
"And beneath that skin…"
She continued calmly,
"Between the artificial dermal layer and my actual body lies a network of nanomuscles."
"Their tensile strength is one hundred times greater than steel."
"And their output is roughly two hundred times greater than ordinary human muscle tissue."
Eso's body tumbled helplessly from the sky.
As consciousness faded, his final thought returned to the moment he had dragged the girl out of the barrier—
to the impossible burst of strength that had erupted from what should have been a frail body.
"Tsumiki…?"
Standing below, Maki rubbed her eyes.
The scene felt unreal.
Transparent wings, thin and delicate as cicada wings, fluttered behind Tsumiki as she slowly descended.
Bathed in moonlight, her silhouette seemed strangely imposing.
Tall.
Graceful.
Powerful.
The strength hidden beneath her school uniform stretched the fabric taut across her frame.
One hundred times stronger than steel.
Two hundred times stronger than human muscle.
The words echoed endlessly in Maki's mind.
For a fleeting moment, she felt that the legendary physical prowess granted by Heavenly Restriction was almost laughable in comparison.
So this is how powerful Mai's technique could have become…?
Snapping herself out of it, she hurried forward.
"You okay?"
Despite everything she had heard, she still felt compelled to ask.
"I'm fine."
Tsumiki smiled gently.
"I told you already, Maki-senpai."
"My nanobiomorphic skin is highly corrosion-resistant."
She casually rolled up a sleeve and wiped away the blood.
Beneath it was a wrist as pale and flawless as freshly fallen snow.
Then suddenly—
"W-Wait, Maki-senpai!"
The smile vanished from Tsumiki's face, replaced by genuine shock.
"What is it?"
"I think…"
She hesitated.
"The things we just killed…"
"…weren't curses."
"What?"
"I remember Ren-senpai and Megumi telling me that cursed spirits can't leave behind bodies for long."
"Once exorcised, they dissipate almost immediately."
"But look."
She pointed behind Maki.
Maki turned.
At the bottom of the crater carved out by Playful Cloud, the blue-black "curse" still lay there exactly as before.
A mangled heap resembling a smashed watermelon.
It hadn't disappeared at all.
Frowning, Maki approached and crouched beside the corpse.
She examined it carefully.
Then suddenly she remembered something.
Her eyes widened.
In one swift motion, she removed her glasses.
The body remained perfectly visible.
Clear.
Solid.
Real.
"N-No way…"
A terrible possibility surfaced in her mind.
Her hands began to tremble.
Behind her, Tsumiki smiled softly.
Step by step, she approached from behind.
Her pale, delicate palm rose toward Maki's back.
From within her sleeve, a pitch-black cannon barrel silently emerged.