Spell Return: The Wheel of Time

Chapter 315 Love Victory Over Love

Miwa Kasumi never thought that she could become the main force in a battle against a high-level cursed spirit, even though the opponent was a special-grade cursed spirit with very difficult spells!

A sorcerer must have one quality, and that is self-awareness. Although there are examples of the weak defeating the strong in sorcery battles, that degree of variability actually lies in this kind of self-cognition.

Kasumi Miwa's understanding of herself is quite clear, because she does not have the technique with the greatest variables. As for whether she can become a qualified sorcerer without a technique, the answer is of course yes.

Atsuya Kusakabe of Tokyo Juju High School is a good example. Even among the first-level sorcerers, he is a leader, and his situation is the same as that of Kasumi Miwa: he has no spells and has practiced the New Yin-ryu Kendo.

There are actually not so many restrictions in exorcising curses. As long as you can ensure that you have the ability to destroy cursed spirits on a regular basis, it doesn't matter whether you use techniques or not. In other words, guns and cannons cannot harm cursed spirits. Otherwise, the profession of sorcerer would not exist at all.

As for the special case of Shen Er, he is actually also considered a sorcerer. His strength is beyond that of ordinary people, and he can even rely on his terrifying five senses to determine the existence and whereabouts of cursed spirits. He can tear them apart with a weapon that can hurt cursed spirits. How can he not be considered a sorcerer?
It's just that the Zenin family's old-fashioned thinking makes them unwilling to admit it. Heritage and tradition certainly have their advantages, but for people, especially groups like families, since abiding by tradition and preserving heritage can maintain the power and glory of their surnames over time, why should they make reforms that will lead to unknown situations?
It’s not like there aren’t any sorcery families that have been lost or declined in history. On the contrary, they are simply too numerous to count. Among them, there are even big families like Zenin and Gojo. But in the end, aren’t they the ones who survived to this day and stood at the top?
Then let's maintain the tradition, and whoever dares to try to challenge this order, whether it is intentional or its existence itself has the potential to destroy the order, those who support it will spontaneously eliminate all these unstable factors.

As for the case of not having a spell, fortunately, it is not an unstable factor. After all, only cursed power is enough to hurt the cursed spirit, and for many sorcerers, the spells they have are not much different from having no spells in combat.

Like Mingming's [Black Bird Manipulation], a few crows harassing ordinary people with weapons is enough, not to mention facing the average "superman" curse spirit and magician? For example, Mayi's [Construction Technique], if the strength and control reach the level of Wan, it is naturally an extremely powerful technique.

But if it is just at this level, what can be produced are nothing more than weapons that can kill cursed spirits. There are not even special-grade cursed tools that have unique abilities comparable to spells.

But it doesn't matter whether you have a spell or not, or even whether you are a spellcaster or not. No one can reach the top by relying solely on talent. Miwa Kasumi, who also has no spells and can only rely on her own efforts and universal techniques like the New Yin-Ryu, has a very clear understanding of herself.

Miwa Kasumi was very sure that she did not have this talent.

Her family was a very ordinary one. For several generations before her, they were all farmers who made a living from the soil. She became a sorcerer only because she could see curses.

Speaking of talent... I do have a little bit to be honest, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to enter Kyoto Curse High School. But talent is like many things, it depends on the object of comparison.

Compared with those assistant supervisors who don't even have the qualifications to become sorcerers, Sanlun Xiashi has this talent, and even her speed in practicing the new Yinliu is actually very good.

But if she were to compare herself to her classmates, let alone her idol, she would still be at the bottom of the list. With Toudou Aoi's terrifying fighting ability and Kamo Kenki's background as a noble family...

As for Kasumi Miwa... she has no spells, her cursed power is not outstanding enough, and she does not have the beast-like wisdom and ability of Toudou in combat. If nothing unexpected happens, her future will probably be to become an ordinary third-level sorcerer, or maybe a second-level sorcerer if she is lucky.

Then, in the repeated curse exorcism missions, she might die in the process, or be seriously injured and have to retreat to the second line. Of course, the most likely possibility is that one day she will earn enough money and give up this career.

But fate is so fickle sometimes. Even in her dreams, Miwa Kasumi never thought that she would be able to take part in a battle against a special-grade cursed spirit. And then, she who was supposed to be a supporting role turned out to be the main force at this moment!

Kasumi Miwa does not have any technique, so all her cursed energy only needs to be used to strengthen her body. Emotions such as fear that can be converted into cursed energy for use in battle disappear, which is actually a good thing for her.

Originally, Miwa Kasumi was not so good at fighting because of her personality, just like an ordinary person would be afraid and hesitate when seeing a sword coming towards her. But now she has lost these emotions, but her rationality is still there and she has not become a machine that does not know the benefits and disadvantages.

After discarding most of her emotions, Kasumi Miwa exerted her 100%, no, it should be 200% of her strength. There was no weakness, no fear, no hesitation... there was only the perfect fighting rhythm controlled by reason.

And the "love" for her under the influence of the Snow Woman's ritual... When Miwa Kasumi fully implemented the secret of the New Yin-Ryu, that is, the concept of the living sword, the influence of this emotion on her was greatly weakened.

Anyway, to be frank, she didn't have the ability to kill the Snow Girl, so she just needed to hold her back for a while, which happened to coincide with the "Living Sword".

The strength of everyone has declined to varying degrees, only Sanlun Xia's combat ability has increased. She uses her strengths to attack the opponent's weaknesses. This is the key to her being able to temporarily compete with the Snow Girl.

"Sanlun, well done."

Dongtang's rationality made him praise Miwa Kasumi out loud. The latter, who had activated the simple field, was like a fish in water at this time, and fought back and forth with the Snow Girl who actually did not have many means of attack except for the spells.

If it is a one-on-one battle, there is a high probability that Sanluan Xia will be defeated after a period of time, but now the others have only been weakened a lot, not completely without the ability to fight.

Since he cannot kill the Snow Girl against his inner love for her, he might as well try another method and reduce the severity of the situation. He could change the purpose of killing the Snow Girl to hindering her and helping Kasumi Miwa. Although this self-deceiving method cannot eliminate the influence of the Snow Girl's ritual, it is better than nothing. At least it will not cause Toudou and the others to become mentally confused and collapse immediately.

"Toudou, I have to get closer to the curse spirit to analyze her spell, otherwise everyone will collapse first at this rate!"

Without the interference of emotions, Yuta Otsutsuki's only remaining state of maximum rationality made him make the most accurate subjective judgment. He would either be distorted and collapsed, or become a puppet who loved the Snow Girl wholeheartedly. According to Yukkotsu's current speed of analysis, this was the outcome that everyone could see.

But Toudou did not immediately respond to Otsutsuki's decision. If he did so, it would mean that he would not be able to avoid mental distortion in that situation, which would be equivalent to maximizing the risk of facing the Snow Woman's Ceremony on his own shoulders. However, this seemed to be one of the few options with the greatest hope. The rational Toudou agreed to Otsutsuki's decision after only a brief thought.

Without any emotional interference, the new plan unfolded very quickly. Otsutsuki clapped his hands and launched the Unjust Game to replace Kasumi Miwa who was in danger due to the attack of the Snow Girl.

With Otsutsuki's intervention, the rhythm of the battle suddenly changed significantly. Toudou put all his energy and the little remaining cursed power into using techniques to help Otsutsuki and Kasumi Miwa avoid serious injuries or fatal attacks.

The addition of Otsutsuki relieved a lot of the pressure on Kasumi Miwa. When her mind was in a state of contradiction and distortion, Otsutsuki's progress in analyzing the Snow Woman's ritual was also increasing rapidly.

"Li Xiang..."

A moment of hesitation caused Otsutsuki's chest to be scratched and even nearly pierced. It was the cooperation between Miwa Kasumi and Toudou that allowed him to avoid this fate.

The influence of emotions has reached a point where the mind is distorted. At this moment, deep in Otsutsuki's heart, he has unconsciously confused Rika with the snow woman in front of him. Speaking of "love", in addition to the love for his parents and sister, there is no doubt that the most special and only one for Otsutsuki is Rika Kimoto.

If there was a mirror at this moment, Otsutsuki would be able to see the tears that had flowed down his cheeks at some point. His love for the Snow Woman at this moment was completely confused with his love for Rika and could not be distinguished.

Every time you attack or are attacked, it is like tearing your own heart apart. You are on the road to killing the one you love with your own hands. The end will only be a different form of collapse.

In the blink of an eye, in this not-so-long battle, the companions in this battle have already suffered "loss of men".

The first to collapse was Kamo Kenshin. He could not face the pain of trying to kill the person he loved and carrying it out. In addition, his cursed power and blood reserves were completely depleted, and he no longer had much strength to intervene in the battle.

Then came Nishimiya Momo, Mayi, Panda... Even Hyō Kinji was not far from this situation, and Maki's situation was not much better. She did not need any cursed power, all she had to face was 'just' the torment of her own soul.

Every attack on the Snow Woman seemed to torture Maki's heart. The figure seemed to have turned into Mayi. Her mind knew the difference between the Snow Woman and Mayi, but her mind also told her: There is no difference. This kind of "love" will have the same effect if it is switched between these two objects.

If Maki is completely determined to kill the Snow Woman at this moment, it means that she can also kill Mayi under such circumstances. No matter what kind of torment she will suffer at that time or whether her world will collapse, at least now it is equivalent to a "performance" that has been rehearsed in advance.

If Otsutsuki holds the key to turning defeat into victory, Kasumi Miwa is the special person who has been affected more positively than negatively, and the others are the indispensable foundation for possible victory.

Then Maki might be the one who, if she could face the pain of killing her loved one with her own hands, would be able to abandon the shackles of being a human being, embrace her true power, and embrace the curse given to her by God.

"No, if this is the price to pay for so-called power, then what is the point of gaining power in this way?"

But if she doesn't face it head on, it will be difficult for Maki to continue to fight in her current condition. Should she count on that kid to turn the tide? If she fails, the ending will still be "death"...

Not to mention Maki's inner struggle, Yuta Otsutsuka is facing his own heart like never before.

This might just be a trial where even death could be avoided, but Otsutsuki has already understood the real purpose of this specially arranged trial. This is the curse called incantation. Once they enter this world, they or their relatives and lovers may have to face a situation like the one they are facing now.

At this moment, his teacher is controlling everything with magic, and can reverse death and rewind time at any time. What they have to face is just simulated mental torture. In fact, the people they love will not really die in their hands.

This experience, which is no different from the real thing, is undoubtedly a precious experience that allows them to see their own hearts clearly. Even if it carries the risk of causing a mental breakdown, it is better than if all this really happens one day, right?

Otsutsuki even felt that Shen Genichi didn't expect many of them to break through their own limits. Even whether the snow woman could be exorcised might not be important. What was important was the process...

"Rika, please forgive me for not facing my love for you until now. Death cannot separate us. If one day all this becomes a reality, please believe me, my love for you has never changed..."

Snapped--

The positions were exchanged, and Otsutsuki, holding the ordinary cursed sword in his hand which was almost at its limit, stabbed it into the back of the Snow Girl without any hesitation. Such an injury certainly could not kill the cursed spirit, but it was only a signal and a choice.

The Snow Girl's not-so-outstanding wisdom was a little confusing at the moment. She didn't understand why... the being in front of her had eyes full of love for her, but he could abnormally keep launching unhesitating and truly fatal attacks on her.

Should she change her attack method and ignite fear in these people's hearts? But soon, the Snow Girl's fighting instinct told her that she must not do this. It's not like she hasn't fought with sorcerers before. Her spells let her know that these beings can use those emotions as their own power just like she did.

You can’t do this…

Seeing the face of the so-called human being stained with her "blood", the Snow Girl decided to concentrate all her strength to kill this strange guy. However, before she took action, the Snow Girl saw a burst of burning flames that should not have appeared on the face that she thought could not be clearly distinguished from other humans!
Technique and Imitation
(End of this chapter)