Sachiko could dodge the explosion just in time to not get entirely caught up in it due to her Possibility technique but she was still injured by the debris and impact of the explosion.
She started using reverse cursed technique to heal her injuries quickly and looked at the curse warily.
The curse looked at her and smiled eerily, "A year of not consuming any human flesh...don't you think it's finally time?"
"So you've been eating the flesh of your victims? no wonder the bodies were never found in one piece.." Sachiko muttered when she heard what the curse said. A part of her was also taken aback by the fact that curse was capable of human speech.
Wasn't that only high grades supposed to be capable of?
If she had any doubts on whether the curse was a special grade or not, now she was sure that this was a special grade.
Sachiko didn't let her guard down because she knew the only reason she was still breathing now was her ability to predict the curse's moves. This was the first time she felt like she could actually die if she made a wrong move and Sachiko found that she actually loved the thrill.
"I mean..if you think you can kill me easily, you can try. But I will also try to kill you." She said with a grin.
The curse was looking to kill at this point and it continued to send out waves of cursed energy to attack her. It appeared that because Sachiko had been able to dodge the fatal moves, it had been starting to adapt by throwing attacks that cover the larger area so that Sachiko could have a lower chance of completely dodging them.
'Damn, this curse is actually intelligent..' Sachiko thought to herself.
"Come on, you're just gonna throw raw cursed energy attacks? You should know I'm superior when it comes to the amount and output of cursed energy." Sachiko said to the curse. It was true since she had infinite cursed energy and had now learnt to adjust the output as she liked. There was just no way the curse would have more cursed energy than her so as long as she kept dodging the attacks and let it run out of cursed energy, she could win.
Right?
But soon after that, Sachiko's face became a bit pale as she felt a sharp pain in her lungs and blood rushed out of her mouth.
"Wh..what..?"
Sachiko was puzzled on what was happening. She was successfully dodging all the area attacks the curse had been throwing and she hadn't make a mistake in seeing the possibilities of the curse's attack patterns. But if she was doing everything right...why would she get injured suddenly?
In the midst of trying to figure out, Sachiko still ran her reverse cursed technique again to heal whatever damage had beeb dealt, only to find that it wasn't working.
She couldn't use her reverse cursed technique to heal the damage that had been dealt to her.
Before Sachiko could recover, the curse took advantage of the situation and got close to her.
Sachiko tried her best to get away even if it was difficult with the mysterious pain that was now spreading to her chest and the blood that was rushing up from the lungs into her mouth.
She felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder and saw that her left arm was missing.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw the curse chewed on her whole left arm.
The rapid blood loss due to the loss of an arm was now making her feel dizzy and the mysterious pain hadn't stopped either.
Yet, Sachiko still stood and looked at the curse in anger. "How dare you eat my arm?"
"I eat the flesh of my victims and you're now the victim." The curse said as he finished chewing on the arm and swallowing it.
"But you missed my vitals. Sure, I'm missing an arm but I can still take you down." Sachiko said. She couldn't possibly lose, could she?
She had more cursed energy and knew how to control her cursed energy better. She had the amazing curse technique which helped her see the possibilities and even manipulate them to boost the success rate of her attacks.
So..why...
The curse laughed, "I gain the ability of the victims I eat. And since I got to eat your arm, I can see why you think you can defeat me."
It wasn't possible...
She didn't see this...
"You never tried to look what my cursed technique was. Or were you incapable of such a feat? What a waste.."
"Shut up!!!" Sachiko shouted but then, she felt like she was dying faster with all of that anger and indignation.
She was supposed to be able to see possibilities and manipulate them. So why couldn't she defeat a single curse even when she used both her cursed techniques?
She even tried enhancing her brain with cursed energy with all the focus and control she could muster just to see if there was a possibility where she could win.
She needed to heal herself because the blood stuck in her throat was starting to block her airway and it was just so suffocating, and the continuous bleeding from the loss of her left arm was starting to get out of control.
Perhaps, because of the blood loss and shortness of breath, Sachiko felt like collapsing faster as the time went by. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on before lying on the ground, lifeless or completely eaten by the curse before she could die from the injuries.
Before that happened, she needed to heal herself.
It was the only thought that was in her mind and she was on a mission to figure out how the heck she was going to do it.
Meanwhile, the curse never gave her any break as it tried to get closer to her and continuously trying to kill her.
To make the matters worse, Sachiko started to realize that the curse was now predicting her moves like she did earlier.
The proof of the curse gaining acess to her cursed technique made her sick.
There was no way she could lose to it.
She wouldn't lose to it.
She kept telling to herself as she continued to use her Possibility to find a way to defeat it.
She knew needed to be in her top condition in order to make it happen.
But her reverse cursed technique was not working.
She was trying to rely on her Possibility to find a way and shouldn't she be able to do so considering she should also be able to manipulate probabilities?
"Come on..think..what I can possibly do at this point?"
It seemed that the curse heard her muttering, it started laughing, "Nothing. Soon, you will end up the same fate as the victims. Then, I will get your cursed technique and become the strongest curse."
"..Don't you think it's pathetic that you can't be strongest without gaining access to my cursed technique? You're funny." Sachiko said. Her dying was one thing but she couldn't stand how the curse was acting.
She couldn't lose at all.
She figured out that the reason she couldn't use reverse cursed technique to heal the injuries was the curse had a specific poison to prevent the use of reverse cursed technique or at least ones without enough proficiency using it.
But she was supposed to be able to manipulate the probabilities.
So, Sachiko started using reverse cursed technique again while also using Possibility to manipulate the healing success rate and cursed energy control to help with the use of both cursed techniques.
It was finally starting to work and her injuries started to heal. Her arm was still missing and her lungs and chest still hurt but the pain wasn't as bad anymore and the bleeding actually stopped.
However, the battle was far from over.
The curse got more swift as it adapted to her cursed technique and Sachiko found that she was still getting injured from the poison continuously.
"It will not be enough." The curse said and soon, Sachiko was thrown across the whole building.
Even with the reinforcement of cursed energy, Sachiko could feel a few broken bones.
She needed something else.
The big picture she had been missing, perhaps.
The way she was using her cursed technique might be the reason why she wasn't winning yet.
But what was she supposed to do when she couldn't find a possibility where she defeated this thing?
Create one?
like it was possible.
Sachiko was about to huff in annoyance then it clicked.
Her cursed technique had always revolved around Possibilities, probabilities and manipulating them to maximize or minimize the chances of something. In other words, one could say that she was creating new possibilities out of the existing ones or manipulating them to the desired degree. If she could manipulate those possibilities, shouldn't she be able to create one?
But altering reality is just so..out of reach, right?
"But it didn't have to be the whole reality.." Sachiko realized.
She didn't need to change the whole reality to make her reverse cursed technique work. She just needed to find the right way to apply her cursed technique to.
And since she could manipulate the possibilities to an extent, why couldn't she create a place where she could make everything possible?
That could be her innate domain and she could be the god in there.
The realization changed something deep in her soul and she felt like she finally understood what Possibility was about.
"If I can't manipulate the possibilities to bring out the one I can win to reality, I will create my own reality in my own world." Sachiko said as she faced the curse again. She crossed her right fingers to make a hand sign and muttered,
"Domain Expansion : Myriad Possibilities."
With her enlightenment, Sachiko poured everything she had into creating her own innate domain.
Soon, she and the curse stood in the dark space with the ocean as the floor and countless small bubbles floating in the far distance.
This time, Sachiko looked at the curse with a chilling smile.
"Possibilities are endless and it might be far-fetched to bring out each one into reality but in here, I will be the one to decide which is reality. So, everything I say or wish in here will be enhanced into 100% possiblity rate."
"Now, die."
The curse exploded into millions of pieces with no chance of revival.
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AN:
Finally, one chapter this week !
I actually had to write this chapter twice because I accidentally clicked delete and couldn't get the backup.
So, some things were just not the same writing a second time.
I'm really worried but I hope this version still delivers the vibes I was going for.
I mean this was supposed to be one of the major power ups for Sachiko, hence, the title - Enlightenment.
Please write your thoughts on this chapter and leave a review if possible!