CHAPTER 4: ZEN'IN CLAN

The sky was dim with ash-colored clouds, and the wind carried the scent of smoke and old blood.

Maki Zenin stood at the gates of the Zenin estate.

Her grip on the hilt of her cursed blade was calm—unshaking. Her eyes, however, were sharpened with a quiet fire, her scars still fresh from Shibuya, her burns etched across her skin like a warrior's truth. She had not come to speak. She had not come for family. She had come to finish what had been left unfinished.

With each step through the gravel path, the sounds of the estate came alive.

She crossed the threshold—instantly, alarmed voices stirred from inside.

"She's here!"

"The cursed failure has returned!"

The estate's walls began to pulse. Cursed energy bled from hidden corners, and the highest-ranking members of the Zenin Clan appeared from the shadows. Grey robes, emotionless eyes, incantations flowing from lips long used to authority.

"Maki Zenin," one of the elders spoke with venom, "you should have died. You were never meant to return."

Maki looked at him as though she were staring at a broken vase. "I should've died? Yeah, maybe. But I didn't. And now I'm here. To burn this place into nothing."

Without another word, they unleashed it.

A wave of cursed spirits, all Grade 1 or higher, summoned like a swarm. The ground cracked from the force of their arrival. Their grotesque bodies lunged forward toward her with shrieking hatred.

But Maki didn't flinch.

She unsheathed her sword.

One step—silent.

A cursed toad demon lunged—split clean in half.

Two steps—a serpent-armed spirit coiled toward her—its head flew free before it even hissed.

Three steps—the blade curved like lightning. Another spirit fell.

Within seconds, four curses were gone. Vaporized by pure, unrelenting physical technique. She didn't use cursed energy. She didn't need to.

This was Maki at full potential. After the destruction of Mai. After her rebirth from pain.

And the Zenin clan was about to witness their greatest failure become their greatest nightmare.

But they weren't done yet.

From behind the curtains of the main hall emerged a figure in a silver ceremonial robe. Zenin Naoya.

Or rather—what was left of him.

His body shimmered with a cursed enhancement. Twisted back to life in a grotesque blend of technique and hatred.

"So," he hissed, his voice no longer human, "you really came back to die."

Maki gritted her teeth.

"I didn't come back to die," she replied, taking her stance.

"I came to erase you."

They clashed. Sparks. Metal. The air split from their first impact. The Zenin grounds trembled.

Maki vs Naoya had begun.

And this was only the beginning.