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Kiniro's world was awashed in purple light as he stared at the arc of cursed energy carving through the air. The razor-sharp projection was nearly ten feet across diagonally, and one of its ends sliced through the ground like a hot knife, leaving behind a deep furrow.
'And this is still just a taste of what he can do.' Kiniro thought excitedly as more and more of his vision was taken up by the projectile, 'You spoil me, Yuta; I can't wait until you come into bloom.'
With a pleased smile, Kiniro dropped his knives, letting them withdraw into his sleeves and instead held up his hands to block Yuta's cursed energy.
'What is he doing?!' Maki's eyes bulged as she watched Kiniro completely drop his guard in favor of his bare hands, 'He's not even using reinforcement!'
Toge, Panda, and Yuta had similar reactions as they watched the arc of pure destruction descend upon. Yuta in particular felt his stomach drop as he watched the purple glow of his cursed energy swallow Kiniro's body, 'N-no…w-what is he doing! I didn't mean to take it this far!'
In that instant, Yuta would have given anything to take back his actions, 'I shouldn't have used so much energy…why did I let him talk me into this nonsense!'
Yuta's imagination filled his mind with dreadful images of what would unfold, a tragedy, another unintended victim. 'I'm sorry, Kiniro. I didn't mean-'
Before Yuta could complete his thought, an aura suddenly rose into the air, dwarfing the destructive feeling one felt by staring at Yuta's projectile. In an instant, the atmosphere shifted as fear gave way to confusion as those present sought an answer. Fortunately for them, Kiniro replied within the span of a heartbeat.
Kiniro's hands moved almost languidly as he faced his palms up before interlinking all of his fingers except his thumbs, which curved up and touched to form a circle. The aura around Kiniro shifted as his lips moved, and his soul imbued his words with power and intent.
"As your vessel, I offer this feast. I invoke your power, Lord of Flies, Prince of Gluttony: Beelzebub."
The aura around Kiniro's body flared to life and morphed, taking shape behind his head as a large, grotesque fly with maggot-like skin speckled with oozing pustules and a pair of diseased wings protruding from its back that looked far too small to lift the demon's massive form. For a moment, time seemed to stall as the world bore witness to the Prince's incarnation, but then Beelzebub flexed its dominion, generating an irresistible pull as its endless hunger manifested.
In an instant, Yuta's cursed energy was overwhelmed as it turned into vapor that streamed towards the projection above Kiniro's head and disappeared into the circular maw of the pestilent fly. Once the cursed energy vanished, so did the projection, leaving behind a stillness in the air that was almost as unsettling as when it had been dominated by the incarnation's presence.
"Hmm, looks like I lost."
Everyone looked over as Kiniro muttered and scratched the back of his head, "We only agreeded to use basic reinforcement, and I ended up using my technique in the heat of the moment."
"O-okay," Yuta stuttered as he stared at Kiniro with wide eyes, 'He's only been two more weeks than I have. Yet he's that much stronger? And what was that thing he summoned? It felt a lot like Rika, but not completely. He said that was his technique?'
A slew of questions stormed through Yuta's mind as he tried to comprehend what he had just witnessed. Toge and Panda shared a look of disbelief, as it was their first time ever seeing Kiniro use cursed energy in a fight, let alone his technique. Any sorcerer at a glance would be able to tell that Kiniro's ability to manipulate cursed energy had reached a level of near perfection that bordered on absolute.
Maki, however, had a wholly different reaction to seeing the extent of Kiniro's capabilities as she came to a startling realization, 'If we were to fight for…there's no chance I would win.'
Reflexively, Maki's hands curled into fists as she stared at the easygoing look on Kiniro's face, 'In less than a month, he's managed to surpass me…no, it's not just that; we never were on the same level to begin with, were we?'
The more Maki thought about it, the more she realized the distance that separated them, 'Why is he given so much strength so effortlessly. It doesn't make sense. Is the world just that unfair?'
Maki knew the answer to her own question; she had known it from the moment she had been born, and ever since then she had spent every moment trying to prove that it didn't matter. Maki had believed that with enough time and effort she could reach a point where her strength would become undeniable even in the eyes of the higher-ups.
But seeing Kiniro's display had shaken Maki's belief to its core, 'I never dreamed of standing amongst the strongest, but now even my peers are monsters in sheep's clothing. That attack Yuta unleashed- could I have avoided it? What about a couple of months from now, when he learns how to control his cursed energy? Could I even last a minute against him?'
Panda's ears twitched as he heard a dangerous creak and looked over at Maki, who was staring at Kiniro with a dark look in her eyes, her hands clenched into tight fists. " You okay, Maki?"
Hearing her name being called, Maki blinked and realized she had been staring off into space. With a forceful exhale, she pushed all her disruptive thoughts to the back of her mind, "Yeah…I'm going for a run."
Before anyone could respond, Maki turned around and took off at a jog, which, with her physique, looked like a full-out sprint, leaving Toge and Panda to glance at each other, "Nori?"
"I don't know, she just looks really upset."
While Panda and Toge glanced at Maki's disappearing figure with concern, Kiniro glanced over with a small smile, having felt the chaotic fluctuation of Maki's emotions, 'Good, about time she realized.'
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"Don't you think that this is a bit too much?"
"I honestly didn't expect you to give me this much pushback on it."
"I'm not pushing back; I personally think it's hilarious. But as my mentor, shouldn't you be trying to set an example as a role model?"
"We both know that an pointless endeavor, and besides, it's not like I have much of a choice. With Hakari and Kirara seemingly MIA, I have no other choice but to send first-years who don't even normally participate. Out of the entire class, only you and Yuta can compete with those in the year above you, but sending you both would be overkill."
"Well then I guess I should be glad you picked me to go then."
"You know, you say that, but I don't really hear the enthusiasm."
"I could have taken on another mission; I'm this close to getting enough cursed energy to complete my next piece."
"That would have been your fourth one now?"
"Third technically; I only count Lust as one cursed tool."
"Not sure how that works when it's two separate knives, but alright."
"You're jealous that I can make such awesome cursed tools."
"Awesome is an understatement; you do realize that you now probably own the largest collection of special grade cursed tools."
"Last I checked, Maki has two as well."
"Only because you gave her one."
"And you gave her the other, so I guess we're both to blame."
"This is a pointless conversation."
"Yeah, but I got bored."
"It's only a two-hour train ride; shouldn't you be there already?"
"Now arriving Kyoto Station."
"Don't tell me those eyes of yours can see into the future as well?" Kiniro asked with a grin as he felt the bullet train start to slow down.
"Just deductive reasoning; now hang up and focus. You're representing the school, so don't do anything scandalous."
Kiniro laughed, "If that was a real concern of yours, you would have sent Yuta instead of me."
"For the record, I never said that I actually advised you to do the exact opposite," Sautro replied, stressing the technicality like he was on the witness stand.
"Whatever you gotta tell yourself to sleep at night," Kiniro muttered as he stood up from his seat and grabbed his bag from the overhead rack, "You just sit back and relax while I go win this whole thing and bring home the gold."
"You know there aren't any trophies right-"
Kiniro hung up on the call with a grin before shouldering his bag, 'I hope the second years at Kyoto put up at least a bit of a fight.'