Chapter 21: A Certain Promise

They traveled by car.

It was a black, high-end luxury car kept at her mansion.

There were several, so they were allowed to use one of them.

Soui Shuryakuma was driving.

Shiga Inui sat in the passenger seat.

Naturally, being a student, Shiga Inui didn’t have a driver’s license.

And, just as naturally, Soui Shuryakuma was also a minor and didn’t have a driver’s license.

But even if they committed a violation or got caught in a speed trap, Shiga Inui and the others would not be charged with any crime.

Sorcerers exist outside the law.

The laws made to protect people were meaningless to them.

“Shiga.”

Soui Shuryakuma spoke to Shiga Inui as he drove.

Shiga Inui, who had been about to doze off until they reached the territory controlled by the puppets, answered him in a foul mood.

“What is it?”

While turning the steering wheel, Soui Shuryakuma told Shiga Inui something important.

“I’m going to tell you about my mother.”

Being told he was about to hear about Soui Shuryakuma’s mother, Shiga Inui found it so ridiculous that his drowsiness was blown away as he shot back at him.

“Why the hell would you do that?!”

To Shiga Inui’s retort, Soui Shuryakuma stated a simple reason.

“Because my mother is on a completely different level from other sorcerers.”

This was in no way a statement of familial favoritism.

Soui Shuryakuma said it with such a serious expression that Shiga Inui decided to listen without assuming it was a joke.

Even so, his feeling of skepticism was strong.

“Huh. And? So what?”

What should he be careful of if he were to encounter Soui Shuryakuma’s mother?

“If you happen to engage my mother, a fight will be unavoidable. Should that happen, if you know my mother’s sorcery, it should make fighting her somewhat easier.”

It was information sharing.

He intended to tell Shiga Inui everything he knew.

Even if he were to meet his own flesh and blood, she was being manipulated as a puppet.

If it came to that, he would have to fight without emotion.

There was a possibility that his own family would die, but it couldn’t be helped.

Understanding his resolve, Shiga Inui pressed him to continue.

“Ah, so that’s what this is about… And?”

What Soui Shuryakuma said was extremely simple.

“The Kain Flow is rare, but that’s a separate issue… The frightening thing is her Will-o’-Wisp Art.”

He would teach Shiga Inui his mother’s characteristics and abilities.

Just knowing this would likely make formulating a battle strategy significantly easier.

“My mother’s art manipulates a pale white flame and commands multiple demon-shaped fires… To be honest, there probably isn’t a sorcerer as strong as my mom in this vicinity… I won’t go so far as to say she’s on par with the Dragon God of the Hiryuuin-ke, but if my mom became a Jingou-Rank, it’s fair to say she’d have that level of power.”

At Soui Shuryakuma’s explanation, Shiga Inui fell into thought for a while.

He was trying to find a way to overcome his mother’s abilities.

That wasn’t it.

“…Explain what you said just now in more detail.”

Shiga Inui asked Soui Shuryakuma to explain once more.

He would explain it as many times as needed.

Because he had a wish, no matter what, for Shiga Inui to win.

Therefore, Soui Shuryakuma tried to explain the most crucial part, his mother’s abilities.

“R-Right… The basic technique of the Will-o’-Wisp Art is…”

But Shiga Inui cut off his explanation.

“Not that… The Flow.”

It seemed that wasn’t what he wanted to hear about.

Soui Shuryakuma wondered why he wanted to hear about that when the abilities should have been the important part.

“Her Flow characteristic? Well, it’s certainly powerful, but her sorcery is more frightening.”

“Just tell me.”

Soui Shuryakuma couldn’t quite follow.

Still, Shiga Inui must have some idea.

As he was told, Soui Shuryakuma once again taught Shiga Inui about her characteristic.

“…Kain. Its characteristics are ‘Conflagration’ and ‘Eruption,’ and it’s a Flow that ranks at the very top among those belonging to the pyre-heat class.”

This much information was likely not enough.

Soui Shuryakuma delved deeper, teaching Shiga Inui more.

“Once it ignites, it burns the target to cinders as if it were kindling. Furthermore, the Eruption characteristic dramatically increases its emission performance… The Will-o’-Wisp Art, built upon Kain, is powerful.”

Receiving that explanation, Shiga Inui seemed to be thinking about something.

And then, as if his state of mind had changed, the corners of Shiga Inui’s mouth pulled up into a wide grin.

“Alright, I’ve decided.”

What on earth had he decided?

Soui Shuryakuma couldn’t help but be curious.

“Decided… what?”

When he asked, Shiga Inui slid his sunglasses down and looked at Soui Shuryakuma’s face.

“When we win this fight… just once is fine.”

He began with that preface.

The words that followed were beyond anything Soui Shuryakuma could have imagined.

“Let me screw your mom.”

No, just imagining it was probably disgusting.

Shiga Inui telling him to let him screw his own mother.

Picturing him and his mother in a sexual act, Soui Shuryakuma groaned.

“Tch… Do you have any idea what you’re—”

He stopped himself mid-sentence.

Come to think of it, Shiga Inui had nothing to gain from this battle.

And yet, here he was, heading with him to destroy them.

“No, I understand you have nothing to gain from this.”

Soui Shuryakuma thinks that Shiga Inui should also have something to gain.

But he couldn’t possibly say it was alright to sleep with his own mother.

“Just… she’s likely heartbroken from being defiled by the Tsuchikurenai-ke. If she shows any aversion at all, please, make it a different wish.”

That was the very least he could ask for as a condition.

At Soui Shuryakuma’s words, Shiga Inui crossed his arms and gave a careless nod.

“Yeah, yeah, got it, got it. Leave it to me.”

His words held no credibility, making Soui Shuryakuma feel a slight unease.

“…Do you really understand?… Oh, whatever.”

And with that, he cut the conversation short.

Shiga Inui, at least, was looking forward to it.

He was confident that with this, he could obtain even greater strength.

After being rocked by the car for several tens of minutes.

Soui Shuryakuma and Shiga Inui had arrived at a point just before the enemy organization’s territory.

But pulling the car over near the sidewalk, Soui Shuryakuma cut the engine.

“We’re almost in the Tsuchikurenai-ke’s territory.”

He didn’t understand why he would stop the car in a place like this.

Had he lost his nerve right before entering the territory?

“Hey, what’re you stopping for?”

Shiga Inui said.

He unbuckled his seatbelt.

He put his hand on the door.

In that state, he spoke to Shiga Inui.

“Sorry… but from here on, we move separately.”

Shiga Inui felt a sense of opposition to those words.

He couldn’t understand at all why he was trying to act alone when the enemy’s territory was right there.

“Why’s that?”

Shiga Inui voiced his question.

Soui Shuryakuma immediately explained.

“A Dengou-Rank sorcery is already in use within the Tsuchikurenai-ke’s territory.”

Come to think of it, Shiga Inui didn’t really know the effects of the barrier cast over the enemy organization’s territory.

So he decided to listen to what Soui Shuryakuma had to say.

“Once you enter the domain, an absolute command is enforced.”

It was apparently a barrier that could control the puppeted humans over a wide area.

It seemed that for Soui Shuryakuma, the barrier’s effect would take hold of his body the moment he entered the grounds, due to the enemy organization’s leader.

“Those who are puppets must obey two rules: ① Fighting is forbidden, and ② Obey the commands of the Tsuchikurenai-ke’s sorcerers.”

These conditions could absolutely not be broken.

However.

There was a loophole to this effect.

The fact that no penalty was assigned for breaking the commands.

The commands are absolutely enforced, but.

How to deal with the malfunction that occurs when a command is violated.

…that part hadn’t been configured.

So, depending on the sorcerer, it was possible to escape the effects of this barrier.

The reason no one had done so until now was simply that they couldn’t use their abilities in such a way, or perhaps they were dominated as slaves and had lost the will to resist.

In the first place, if one were to resist, the other enslaved sorcerers would be endangered, and more than anything, they would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers; considering that, it would be difficult to make a move.

“Tough luck for you, huh.”

In a way, Shiga Inui offered words of sympathy to Soui Shuryakuma.

“Yeah… That’s why, from here on, I’ll seize control of my body with my sorcery.”

Soui Shuryakuma’s sorcery was the Demon Mask Art.

When he generated his Flow, a demon mask, sized to be worn by a person, was formed.

By equipping this mask, he could enhance his physical body on the condition that he temporarily lose consciousness.

The demerit of moving independently of his own will brought about a positive effect for escaping the puppet’s control.

“You’ll lose control of your body? Are you going to be okay?”

At Shiga Inui’s words, Soui Shuryakuma understood.

“It’s not a problem. My body’s control will be treated as an automatic action. If I add a command beforehand, it can act accordingly.”

After activating the Demon Mask Art.

He would make the mask carry out a pre-instructed action.

After infiltrating the Tsuchikurenai-ke territory, control of his body would be dominated by them.

So, before he is dominated, he will overwrite his actions with his sorcery.

Soui Shuryakuma knows about the effects of the puppet sorcery.

His body is in a state as if a receiver for commands has been stuck into him.

Therefore, the idea was to use the Demon Mask Art on top of that and overwrite it.

Hearing his explanation, Shiga Inui thought.

“It’s a little late to be asking, but if you were going to escape the puppet’s control…”

You should have done it from the start.

At the very least, you wouldn’t have been at the beck and call of the Tsuchikurenai-ke, right?

Without hearing Shiga Inui’s words to the end, Soui Shuryakuma gave a bitter laugh.

“I couldn’t. I didn’t have the guts. That’s all there is to it. To put it another way, Shiga Inui, because you stood up, I was able to find the resolve to fight like this.”

He invokes his art.

His Flow is likely of the Do’in type.

The Demon Mask Art is constructed from particles of the Do’in.

Seeing it in his hand, he thought, at last, it’s beginning.

“Well, either way…”

Shiga Inui starts walking.

Soui Shuryakuma followed behind him.

“Don’t you die. I’m not nice enough to protect some guy.”

At Shiga Inui’s words, Soui Shuryakuma’s eyes went wide as if to say he was looking at something unbelievable.

“Heh… To think I’d hear such words of concern from you… You’re surprisingly kind, aren’t you?”

He had thought he was a much more cold-hearted man.

But it seems he possessed enough of a heart to worry about others.

Being told that, Shiga Inui snorted.

“Whatever.”

And so, the two of them infiltrated the Tsuchikurenai-ke’s grounds.

“I will head for the Tsuchikurenai-ke at all costs. And I will set myself to attack the members of the Tsuchikurenai-ke at random, and to counterattack any who attack me.”

Declaring that to the demon mask, Soui Shuryakuma equipped it.

(Demon Mask Art, ‘Unmask,’ Activate!)

Soui Shuryakuma stops his feet inside the Tsuchikurenai-ke territory.

The sensation of his body being controlled by the demon mask.

His freedom is stolen, as if his hands and feet are not his own.

“Tch… Shiga… Inui!”

He said Shiga Inui’s name, his fingertips convulsing.

“What is it?”

When he responded to Soui Shuryakuma’s voice with eyes as if looking at something amusing.

“I’m going… on ahead!”

Soui Shuryakuma, now controlled by the demon mask, broke into a sprint without a single glance back.