Facing a three-way assault, the amount of hostile intent pouring off the three men was enough to make Kiniro's vision buzz, 'They really want me dead! I can practically feel their blades cutting into me; it looks like at least one of them is taking my advice and going for my head.'
Surrounded by such murderous wrath, Kiniro couldn't help but grin, 'What a blessing I've been given.'
Turning his euphoria into action, Kiniro released a shockwave of cursed energy that expanded out into a dome. The blast sent the assassins reeling, but they managed to keep their footing. Though the real consequence came in the form of Sin, as the blast of cursed energy served as a carrier for Kiniro's technique.
'Perfect,' Kiniro thought as he sensed the three instances of Sin take effect, 'This fight is over now.'
With a sharp smack, Kiniro's knives flew back into his palms as he spun around and launched himself at the assassin to his right.
The man reacted instantly, raising his sword into a defensive stance reading to engage Kiniro in a one-on-one duel. That, however, was not what Kiniro had in store. Seeing the steadfast confidence in the man's eyes, Kiniro took great pleasure in activating his technique.
"Lucifer"
The steady certainty in the man's eyes ignited into a fatal arrogance as his cursed energy output flared beyond its normal limits. At the same time, the assassin raised his sword overhead and brought it down in a cleaving strike. Currently, in his eyes, there was no possibility that his sword would not split Kiniro in twain, such was the sin of pride.
Of course, in reality, Kiniro had no problem avoiding the overly telegraphed strike, even if it was artificially empowered. Side-stepping the blade, Kiniro felt the wind against his face, but his eyes never strayed from his target.
With a flourish, Kiniro flipped his dagger around into a reverse grip before he plunged the knife into the assassin's neck, through one side and out the other.
"Arggh!"
A strangled cough escaped the assassin's lips as the delusion faded from his eyes, replaced by an otherworldly dread as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Without an ounce of mercy, Kiniro twisted his knife, tearing open the wound before ripping out his dagger, sending an arc of blood splattering against the ground.
The man dropped his blade as his hands shot up to hold his torn neck, trying to stem the flow of blood, but it was obvious by the amount seeping through his fingers that there was nothing that could change his fate.
'Three down,' Kiniro mused as he turned around to face the two remaining assassins, "You guys wanna call it quits?"
Instead of replying, the two men settled into defensive stances, making Kiniro frown, "Really, just like that, all your fighting spirit is gone? Ugh!"
Kiniro reached up and scratched his head with a disappointed sigh, "And here I thought you guys were some elite death-sworn kill squad? Why would you even take those binding vows if you guys are this shit!"
The two men flinched, and seeing their reactions, Kiniro scoffed, "Yeah, I know about the binding vows, don't think some d-listers like you can hide shit from me!"
Feeling himself growing more and more annoyed, Kiniro took in a deep, calming breath and devoured the cursed energy from the two assassins he had killed, 'Hmmm, it's not as fresh…doesn't have that raw curse you with my final breath resentment…I should find a way to preserve cursed energy so I can devour it later.'
Closing his mouth, Kiniro exhaled loudly before turning his attention back to the assassins, who hadn't moved despite Kiniro dropping his guard for multiple seconds, "Alright, here's what's going to happen…I'm going to attack you. If you show me something interesting, I'll end you guys quickly. Keep boring me, and I'll have to entertain myself, which is not in your collective interest. Deal?"
Instead of responding with words, the two assassins reacted by sheathing their swords. But in an instant, Kiniro could tell they weren't forfeiting as their cursed energy began to circulate and their stances shifted.
"Very nice," Kiniro complimented as he analyzed the flow of cursed energy around the two assassins. One had erected what Kiniro assumed was a simple domain, along with a binding vow that seemed to enhance his cursed energy output.
'My guess would be that he can't move from that spot once the domain is erected. Trading mobility for enhanced cursed energy manipulation and output,' Kiniro summarized with a glance before moving his gaze over to the other assassin, 'No domain, but his cursed energy is focused around his sword; not just that, but it's moving like a jet stream. Maybe he's gonna launch an air slash at me? No, he doesn't have the cursed energy output for that…though with all that power stored up, that sword is going to come flying out.'
With a grin on his face, Kiniro clapped once, "Thank you for that; you two just saved yourselves a lot of pain and agony."
"Satan"
Two infernal portals opened in the earth, one for each assassin as their Sin was absolved and satan's wrath was delivered. As the demonic spears shot towards their targets, the assassins activated their prepared countermeasures.
Kiniro watched as the binding simple domain triggered, with the man automatically attacking the spear with a slashing motion as he unsheathed his sword. The other assassin reacted a bit slower; however, his strike was executed far faster, moving at a speed Kiniro could not track.
'They were probably watching my fight with the cursed spirit and saw me use this same technique. They knew I would try to use my finishing move and attempted to counter it,' Kiniro surmised as a grin spread across his face, 'Foolish.'
Kiniro watched as the assassins' blades met Satan's wrath and simply passed through the obsidian spears. Their expressions of shock only lasted for a split second before they were replaced with ones of pure agony as the spears pierced through their bodies and, more importantly, their souls.
"A good try," Kiniro muttered as he walked over to the men who were screaming out in agony, rolling on the ground as the flames of hell scorched their souls while dancing across their clothing, "But absolvement is not something that can be so easily dismissed."
Looming over the men, Kiniro spared them a final glance before his daggers shot out, like twin vipers, and a second later, the agonizing cries came to an end, and two more plumes of smoke funneled down Kiniro's throat.
Just as he finished his meal, Kiniro watched as the barrier above him began to dissolve, melting away and letting the sun shine through once more.
Looking off into the east, Kiniro felt the final member of the kill squad flee at what most likely was his top speed while concealing his cursed energy. 'I should probably kill him before he can report back on my abilities.'
But after he had the thought, Kiniro grinned, 'Though if they try again, they might send someone who is more qualified to handle me…which would be far more interesting.'
Kiniro's daggers retracted back into his sleeves as his hands disappeared into his pockets, and he walked away from the cooling bodies, 'At least this day trip wasn't a complete bust.'
---
Saturo grinned to himself as he stared at the trio of decadent and very expensive pastries on the table in front of him, 'Finally.'
Saturo reached for one of the pastries but just as he did a tendril of cursed energy suddenly shot out and grabbed ahold of the creme puff and violently pulled it off the plate.
"Eh!?"
Saturo spun around to find Kiniro standing in the doorway as he tossed the stolen cream puff into his mouth without a once of shame, "Hey sensei, thanks for the treat."
Saturo frowned as he stared at Kiniro, or more specifically the complete lack of cursed energy surrounding him, "How long have you been standing there?"
"Only a couple of seconds," Kiniro replied as he brushed off his hands, "I couldn't resist getting a taste for myself."
Saturo smirked, "What, you didn't get enough to eat while in the city?"
"Yeah, turns out you need money to buy things, so a bit of oversight on my part" Kiniro muttered as he walked over, "Though don't worry, I was able to find a nice cursed spirit to eat, and a group of assassins was nice enough to try and attack me so I had plenty of cursed energy to devour."
"What was that last part?" Saturo's voice lost all hint of humor as he stood up and stared at the hole in Kiniro's shirt, "Is that from a sword?"
"Yep," Kiniro grinned and turned around, showing Saturo the matching hole on the back, "The first one ran me through, though it was the last thing he did."
"The first one, how many were there?"
"Six, but I only managed to kill five of them; the last one was outside the barrier and got away," Kiniro replied before holding up his hands, feeling the trepidation and anger pouring off of Saturo, "But don't worry, it's alright, I got to learn some cool things after all, here, let me show you!"
Before Saturo could reply, Kiniro held up his hands to form a sign with both of his thumbs and pointer fingers pressed together, creating two overlapping circles while the rest of his fingers' tips touched, forming a steeple.
"Innate Domain Projection: Gaze of the Seven Princes"