" Before we begin Mute, let me ask you a single question. What defines someone's character their thoughts or actions? "
Mute stared at Yuki with a blank face before casually shrugging his shoulders, he clearly did not feel like answering her question. Yuki just scoffed, before she snapped her fingers warping the mass around Mute's body causing an overwhelming amount of pressure on his body. Yuki's domain expansion is fairly simple, like her innate technique, she warps the amount of mass increasing it by an insane amount.
However, unlike her regular technique, she can transfer her mass to any object inside her domain expansion instead of just her body and cursed tool. This brings up the question, how did she increase Mute's mass while outside the domain expansion? To answer this question, we must reflect on her Shikigami's actions during the fight... The shikigami hardly did anything right?
It was swung around by Rika a few times and just carried Yuta's sword to him. But these actions were the only ones that were made clear, every time Mute's body was propelled down by a sudden increase in his mass, the shikigami was either near or on Mute's body.
The shikigami was shrunk before being teleported onto Mute's body by Yuta. Of course, Mute noticed the shikigami. However, he instantly noted that getting rid of the shikigami would take far too much effort and would leave him vulnerable to attacks from Yuta or Yuki.
So, Mute decided to just withstand the increased mass or he'll just use domain amplification and cancel out the technique.
Mute took a deep breath while his mass was increased dramatically, the air started to swirl around Mute's body. Mute stared at the air swirling through the gaps in his fingers before his eyes widened and he realized what Yuki's plan was. Yuki was going to increase Mute's mass until he essentially turned into a black hole and collapsed in on himself. However, unfortunately for Yuki, the air around Mute's body started to glitch rapidly before her cursed technique abruptly stagnated stopping all action.
Yuki's eyes dilated in disbelief, as Mute glared at her with the sound of a clock ticking resonating through his head, Mute was counting the number of seconds before his eyes widened and he smirked while speaking.
" Ah, a minute passed that quickly. For some reason, that felt faster than usual. But oh well, Domain Expansion: An Act Of Vitality "
Before Yuta and Yuki could react, a barrier was instantly formed, slicing between Yuta and Yuki separating them, leaving Yuki to her lonesome. As soon as Yuki entered into Mute's domain expansion she oddly felt all of her cursed energy release from her body before she crashed onto an oozy black floor.
Mute's domain expansion, the main property is of course the vow of lasting one minute without using a domain, however, what happens when he lands this domain is unknown. Yuki glanced around at Mute's domain. It was pitch black with only the single sound of dripping water rippling through the dark space.
Yuki gritted her teeth, until a sudden powerful kick slammed into her jaw, cracking her white teeth before her head slammed face-first into the oozy floor. The benefit of surviving the one minute is the reward of gaining complete control of the opponent's cursed energy. Another kick slammed into Yuki's torso making her slide across the oozy floor, until she grinded to a complete stop.
Yuki pushed off the oozy floor grimacing in pain revealing her cracked teeth, until she glanced to the left watching Mute who was walking towards her with his fists balled, right before he was about to swing at the helpless Yuki. Yuki unexpectedly shouted.
" B-Before you kill me, at least tell me your purpose in all of this. "
" Purpose? "
Said a confused Mute glaring down at Yuki as she sank deeper and deeper into the oozy black floor. Mute pondered before scoffing and slamming a powerful kick directly into Yuki's nose launching her back. Yuki lay on her back grabbing her face in agony as Mute glared down at her while throwing kicks into Yuki's abdomen causing loud bangs to ripple out.
" Purpose is something that's never truly crossed my mind. Nor has a will or something bland like that. I live off my ideals and morals alone, which is to kill something that bothers me and nurture something that intrigues me. Sure, this way of thinking makes me bland or not interesting. But I don't really care what others think."
BANG
" In the beginning everything I did was for survival, following all of my sister's orders blindly, for my own survival. Allying myself with Geto, for survival. Everything, I did was because I was scared of dying once again. Dying isn't a fun experience you know. It's cold and dark. "
Yuki stared at the venting Mute confused until another powerful stomp slammed into her stomach making her cough out a pool of blood. Mute glared down at the bloody Yuki before speaking again.
" Sure, I ran into some interesting characters that tried to shape my moral complex, some more than others. But the one person who shaped my morals the most was you, Yuki. During our first fight, I learned something when I was at death's doorstep once again."
" When I was dying, I wasn't worried about myself but instead about others, even though it pains me to admit this. I grew quite attached to Geto's group, worried about their safety more than my own. And to answer your question from earlier, I believe someone's thoughts shape their ideals rather than one's actions. "
" Before actions come thoughts, you might argue that some of your actions come instinctually but even those instincts come from your past ancestors' thoughts. This premise ran through my head while I was dying. If my mind was covered in false thoughts like me worrying about weaklings, how could I ever overcome the forces trying to kill me? "
" On Christmas Eve last year, I decided to only focus on myself. I guess you can call me a nihilistic person but it doesn't matter what you regard me as. I allied myself with Kenjaku for the thrill of it. I'm not bound by petty human morals. I'll do what I please until eventually someone I can't overcome kills me."
Said Mute before he crouched down, staring directly into Yuki's eyes mere inches away from her bloody face until he let out a loud sigh and spoke.
" Sorry, for talking your head off in your last moments, but don't feel too bad about you losing. Your strategies were surprisingly good, some of them even caught me off guard. "
Yuki listened to this comment before she grinned revealing a bloody smile until she gingerly reached out and was about to tap Mute's chest with her index finger until Mute's right hand flickered tightly grabbing onto Yuki's extended wrist. Mute held her wrist until she let out a weak laugh and spoke.
" You spoke so much about how you only care about strength, and yet you reacted so heavily to me reaching out towards your chest. I'm sure you can tell, I'm out of cursed energy, and yet you reacted. B-But this does prove one thing, your ideals are flawed. Even if you don't want to admit it, that human moral of wanting to survive is still present in your soul. So, maybe even if it's unlikely, maybe this small moral will change your life for the better. "
Said Yuki in a final gasp of air until her eyes turned hazy and she collapsed onto the ground, dead. Mute stared at her corpse before reaching down and tapping on Yuki's thigh invading her body with cursed energy while speaking.
" I doubt it, I think the outcome of my destiny is already in fruition. It's only a matter of time before I die once more. "
As soon as Mute finished his sentence, the top half of Yuki's body exploded causing blood to spew out into the air drenching Mute in Yuki's blood. Mute slowly stood up as the barrier covering his body, slowly faded away revealing Yuta out of breath, barely standing while he leaned on his katana that was pierced into the ground, his five-minute time limit was fully up.
Mute smirked after seeing the gassed Yuta before he pointed his palm forward ready to kill him until suddenly an ear-deafening voice shouted out...
~~~
The next chapter will come out in a month or two. Until then be safe and take care.