-562- The revealed identity

"No..."

It couldn't be!

Hearing Rozen's words, Kakugyouki instinctively wanted to deny it.

If it were before, it might be acceptable. But now, Raven's Wing had successfully turned into an cloak on Rozen's body. How could Rozen still claim he wasn't Yakou? How could that be convincing?

However, Kakugyouki was no ordinary person. In the next second, he saw the abnormality of the "Raven's Wing" on Rozen.

This pitch-black coat seemed to obediently hang on Rozen, but with Kakugyouki's understanding of Raven's Wing, he could see the unnatural disorder in Raven's energy.

This kind of unnatural disorder showed that Raven's Wing was resisting the user's control.

"Is it being forcibly controlled?"

Kakugyouki's face sank, and his gaze towards Rozen changed.

Who could have expected this?

As a result, it wasn't Raven's Wing controlling Rozen's body, but Rozen controlling Raven's power.

Now, Rozen was like controlling a Familiar or Shikigami, firmly holding Raven's Wing in his grasp using his own magical power.

"That being said, Raven's Wing has been resisting all along. As long as I slack off a bit, this bird will immediately revolt. It's extremely difficult to control it, both as an curse tool and as a Shikigami. Wearing it makes it impossible to relax, always having to worry about a backlash."

Rozen shrugged.

After all, it wasn't like an absolute contract that doesn't allow betrayal, resistance, or even death. Rozen hadn't even carved a Shikigami contract into Raven's Wing. Currently, he was forcefully controlling Raven's Wing using his own power, so it couldn't be ensured that it wouldn't resist.

Just like a Servant, even after entering into a contract with the master, it still couldn't be guaranteed that they would never betray. That's why magical compulsion like command seal was created; its original purpose was to enforce the servant's obedience.

As far as Rozen knew, the only contract that could guarantee absolute obedience was an absolute contract where the controlled entity was transformed into pure records and engraved into the soul through the power of "Miracle."

Even Rozen's self-made Shikigami contract, although its control power was extremely strong and could perfectly manipulate Shikigami, if the Shikigami's power exceeded Rozen's capabilities by too much, there was still a possibility of disobedience.

Of course, Rozen's ability to control Familiars and Shikigami was unparalleled. He didn't know if there was anything that could exceed this control power by a considerable margin.

So, if Rozen forcibly carved a Shikigami contract into Raven's Wing right now, would that probably make Raven's Wing obey him without question and switch to a new master?

"Me and Yakou don't have any grudges. I'll give it back to you."

Saying this, Rozen suddenly pulled off the coat on him and tossed it in Kakugyouki's direction.

However, as soon as the coat left Rozen, it immediately regained its freedom, transforming back into the three-legged crow and flying back towards Kakugyouki, perching on his shoulder. In its eyes was a fear and dread that weren't present before.

Evidently, Raven's Wing was genuinely frightened by Rozen's actions.

In the past, Raven's Wing had never been forcibly controlled by anyone. Not even Yakou forced its obedience, allowing Raven's Wing to always be carefree.

Now, experiencing the absolute control brought by Rozen, one could imagine how Raven's Wing felt.

Presumably, even if someone advised Raven's Wing now, it wouldn't be possible for it to possess Rozen again.

And while losing this item of top-tier enchantment, Rozen didn't regret it at all.

Indeed, Raven's Wing's abilities were very useful—capable of flight, spontaneous magic and attack, automatic defense, and counterattack, plus enhancing jutsuryoku. If Rozen got it, not only could it compensate for the weakness in physical constitution leading to inadequate mobility and action, but there'd be no worry about being attacked or ambushed again, relying entirely on Raven's Wing's power for defense, retaliation, and even counterattacks.

So, for Rozen, Raven's Wing's power was quite tempting.

What's more, Raven's Wing was not just an curse tool; it was also a Shikigami.

Given Rozen's abilities, he could completely make Raven's Wing's power stronger and more irregular. At that time, there would be almost no concern about getting injured.

If Raven's Wing were an enemy's possession, Rozen would undoubtedly seize it without hesitation.

But now, since he had obtained all the jujutsu knowledge from Yakou's lifetime, and the other party was not his enemy, providing him with such significant benefits, Rozen wasn't so ruthless.

"So, can we consider this a perfectly concluded deal?"

Rozen flashed a relaxed smile at Kakugyouki.

In response, Kakugyouki could only stay silent.

After a while, Kakugyouki let out a sigh.

"It seems things have become much more complicated than I imagined."

Leaving Raven's Wing to stay on his shoulder, Kakugyouki turned to Rozen, glanced at him, and spoke in this manner.

"Although you're not Yakou, you possess talents not inferior to him. With all the knowledge he accumulated during his lifetime, you'll surely become an astonishing individual in the future. I hope we won't become enemies."

Leaving these words behind, Kakugyouki waved his empty sleeves, turned around, and slowly departed with Raven's Wing.

Rozen watched Kakugyouki's departure without saying a word.

"Enemies...?"

Murmuring like this, Rozen started speaking to himself.

"Regardless of whether we become enemies or not, I'm interested in just comparing our strengths."

Initially, Rozen didn't know how far his current strength had progressed, urgently needing someone to confirm it. Now, with such a large amount of jujutsu knowledge acquired, the amount of power he possessed had become even more elusive.

And Kakugyouki was a Orge king who had survived for over a thousand years, with his strength reaching the level of the top-tier shikigami. Among all the entities Rozen had encountered in this world, Kakugyouki was second only to Ashiya Douman and Miyachi Iwao.

Finding such an opponent was incredibly challenging.

"But I won't proactively provoke a conflict just because of this."

Watching Kakugyouki's figure disappear along the riverbank, Rozen also turned around. He continued organizing the vast jujutsu knowledge in his mind while departing.

The barrier spread out around gradually weakened in this state and eventually vanished completely.

Then, on the bridge's rooftop, observing the disappearance of the petite girl from this side, even the old man overlooking the scene in the night sky was nowhere to be seen.

However, on the rooftop of a building, there was a tall figure still standing here, witnessing everything.

It was a young man dressed like a gentleman, with a handsome appearance, wearing a monocle emitting an eerie aura.

"So, Tsuchimikado Akikan is not the reincarnation of Yakou."

The young man confirmed this way, displaying an elegant smile on his face but revealing an unusual gleam in his eyes.

"It seems I should go back and report to the princess first."

After saying this, the young man's figure also disappeared from there.