The grid flickered faintly in the air.
Sixty meters in every direction.
Invisible to normal sorcerers.
'Not me though'
Kuroda moved.
'He began building up speed again, it looks like he is going to get maximum velocity and then start teleporting again.'
'What do I do? I don't have any methods of attack at range, and his teleportation means I can only wait for him to start getting close'
After he built up his max speed, it started again the rapid teleportation, this time his binding vow made it completely impossible for me to try and react to his teleportations.
Immediately I felt an impact from the front, I was sent flying through some trees, and smashed through a boulder.
Before the debris finished settling …
Kuroda teleported to my flank and slammed into me again.
Left.
Above.
Behind.
He teleported around me, repeatedly while slamming into my body.
'This hurts a lot, I'm actually gonna get some bruises at this rate'
But nothing broke.
Just bruising.
Tolerable, nothing that would affect my ability to fight yet.
Kuroda noticed.
"…You're durable."
I wiped a bit of dirt from my face.
"You hit hard," he replied evenly. "But I have a lot of cursed energy, those attacks aren't gonna get through my defenses, not unless you get twice as strong"
'This is good, at this rate I can just take his hits and wait for the Kamo clan reinforcements to arrive'
Kuroda teleported again and rammed into me from behind but this time I didn't focus on his ramming, I focused on something different.
'The spark, and the node. I can see it now, the process of a node activating. Kuroda teleports to an area by making the node in that area active. Which means that I will know where he is teleporting'
Kuroda teleported once more, and I immediately confirmed my theory, he teleports exactly where I think he is. The node that activates is a sign, I can read his movement, even if he is much faster than me, if I know where he is going then I can hit him.
Not even bothering to try and track his movements, I focused more cursed energy on my eyes so I could more properly see which of the nodes would activate.
The instant I sensed a flair of cursed energy from Kuroda.
The instant I felt a node become active.
I committed.
I pivoted towards my right and drove my fist forward with everything I had.
In sync with my movements, Kuroda appeared a few centimeters in front of my fist. His body moved directly in path with my fist.
I could feel the shock from his cursed energy but none of that mattered, right now the only thing that mattered is this feeling.
'Ah this feeling I'm understanding what Tomogui spoke about all that time ago. It truly is exhilarating'
Black Flash
My fist drove through Kuroda, although he managed to dodge it slightly, My fist still drove through a fourth of his body.
Silence.
Then Kuroda reappeared thirty meters back.
His form was unstable; he was using cursed energy to heal himself, but the damage was significant.
One entire quadrant of his Rubik-like body is gone.
"Heh no point waiting for the clan, you're dying right now" A grin was painting my face as I bolted at him. The bliss from a black flash still present.
'I'm gonna kill him right now, I can't give him time to heal'
Kuroda POV:
I teleported away, my body struggling to even teleport properly, my cursed technique's activation has slowed down.
'T-This damn brat is going to beat me'
"How—" I hissed, reforming portions of myself with visible strain. "How are you reacting, you were completely at my mercy just a few seconds ago. This is impossible"
That kid didn't answer though, no snark remark he just wants to kill me.
H-he is going to exorcise me, I am going to lose.
Lose.
Lose.
Again to this fucking kid
Even with this body.
Even with my new abilities.
I can't crush him?
'Last time he survived in my domain but it still caused him trouble if only I could use i–' Suddenly I had an epiphany 'Wait, why haven't I used my domain … it's because I don't have hands to make hand signs anymore'
'But when that brat copied my technique to rotate me, even without my rubik's like body he managed to use my technique. The method behind that was … heh I got way to obsessed with learning about my new body, I didn't bother going back to what made me special in the first place'
I began rotating my rubik's like faces rapidly, this time I wasn't activating my technique while rotating my body, I was actually solving the rubik's cube.
After spinning my rubik's cube to be in the cross pattern I decided this would be it.
If I couldn't use my hands to activate my domain, I would use a binding vow to make this cross pattern configuration my handsign substitute.
That brat is still chasing me, but it doesn't matter he was to late
"Domain Expansion Rubix Space Dominion"
DOMAIN RULES – RUBIX SPACE DOMINION
The battlefield is a two-dimensional projection of a Rubik's Cube.
2. No physical contact between the domain user, and target is allowed.
3. The target must navigate the floor to "solve" the cube by aligning all colors to solve
the rubix cube correctly.
4. Each movement of the tiles counts as a move.
5. Every move that isn't the most optimal move towards solving the puzzle will enact a punishment.
6. Must make a move every 30 seconds, or a forced punishment will be put on you.
7. Punishment: loss of cursed energy equal to one–twentieth of current reserves.
8. Five consecutive incorrect moves result in immediate halving of total cursed energy.
9. Failure to act within the allotted time window is treated as an incorrect move.
10. The Domain remains active until the puzzle is solved or the target has 5 consecutive incorrect moves.
"Are you serious? How did you even manage a domain expansion, you don't have hands for the handsigns, unless… so that's why you started rotating your cube without activating your technique. You made a binding vow to change the activation requirement of your domain, this cross pattern must be the new 'handsign' for your technique?" The kid asked, he's sharp, he saw through that in an instant. It's a shame that he is gonna die here.
"You're wasting your time, you know, your domain can't affect me, all it's doing is wasting time," The kid remarked. I didn't know about the Kamo clan reinforcements that were coming. I wouldn't care even if I did; the current me could wipe them all, as long as I destroy this brat.
"The domain can keep me safe for a while, at least till I am done healing you sociopathic bastard."
But that isn't even half of the things that I plan on doing with my domain. Using binding vows to mess with my domain wasn't something I could do as a human. I lacked the talent to mess with the barrier for my domain.
Now though? On my first attempt, I managed to change the condition to open my domain. I wonder how far I can push this domain.
This kid, even if he is annoying, he at least suffices as a test subject. I have something big planned to test, just wait you damn kid.
Getting one lucky hit doesn't mean anything.
Against me you are still clearly inferior, and I will prove that right now.