Yukino stood calmly, assessing the cursed spirits around her, while her mother and sister looked on in shock.

  "Grade 4 cursed spirits?" Yukino murmured. Thanks to her training with the Service Club members and the guidance of Ryuji and the Hasaba sisters, she could nnize cursed spirits and their cssifications. Grade 4 cursed spirits were the lowest rank under normal circumstances, an average adult could beat them with a sturdy stick. But there were simply too many of them here.

  "Yukino!" Haruno shouted as she saw the cursed spirits rush towards her sister, assuming Yukino was frozen in fear.

  But the moment, Yukino moved with precision and strength, her leg snapping out in a powerful kick that sent the cursed spirit flying. Enhanced by her cursed energy, her physical abilities were far beyond those of a regur person.

  "Yukino... what are you doing?" Haruno's voice trembled with both amazement and fusion. She hadn't expected her younger sister to handle herself so well against these monstrous apparitions.

  Ign the stunned looks from her sister and mother, Yukino called out, her voice sharp and clear. "I know you're here. Show yourself."

  In the surveilnce footage earlier, it was clear that someone was trolling these cursed spirits. If they'd e here tonight, it was likely their handler was nearby as well.

  After a few moments of silence, a slow, mog appuse echoed through the courtyard. An old man with a haggard fad shrewd eyes emerged from the shadows, hunched and unassumi his gaze was cold and calg.

  "Well, well," he sneered. "The sed daughter of the Yukinoshita family is a sorcerer. Quite the surprise."

  Yukino's eyes narrowed. "You're not here just to kill my father, are you? This is about taking dowire Yukinoshita family."

  The old man chuckled, making no attempt to deny it. "Clever girl. Saves me the trouble of expining. Yes, someone paid handsomely for your entire family's lives. And I simply couldn't refuse."

  "Who sent you?" Yukinoshita Fumino demanded, anger simmerih her posed exterior.

  The old man shrugged. "Apologies, madam. Professiohics." His smirk widened. "In this day and age, with so many cursed spirits around, sorcerers are too busy to pay attention to us curse users. erate however we like."

  Yukino realized what he was. He wasn't a true sorcerer, but a "curse user"—someone who used curses for personal gain, often to it crimes. And judging by his words, he thrived on the ret chaos.

  After surveying the se, his gaze settled on Yukino. She was the only sorcerer here, and the only real threat. "For a sorcerer, there's always a price," he muttered, almost to himself.

  The old man wasn't strong; his power barely reached Grade 3. But against ordinary people, that was more than enough.

  "Allow me to introduce myself," he said with mock politeness. "My teique allows me to trol weaker cursed spirits, though only a limited number of them at once." He gestured to the Grade 4 spirits surrounding him. "But thanks to the binding vow of expining my teique, their strength will increase."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the cursed spirits around him began to grer and more menag, swelling from Grade 4 to Grade 3.

  "Attack!" he anded, sending the spirits charging toward Yukino.

  "Yukino!" Fumino and Haruno both shouted, terrified. But Yukino stood her ground, calm and focused.

  She csped her hands together, summoning a chill in the air. Frost began to gather around her fiips.

  "Ice vergence: Frost."

  With a trolled exhale, she unleashed a frigid wind that swept over the cursed spirits, freezing eae ihey stood immobilized, turned into ice sculptures.

  The old man's smug expression vanished, repced by shock.

  "Run!" he stammered, attempting to flee. But Yukino wasn't about to let him escape. She knew if he got away, trag him down ter would be nearly impossible.

  Despite her exhaustion, she pushed through the fatigue, eling cursed energy into her hand to form an ice-covered fist. She struck him as he turned, her icy punding squarely on his back.

  The old man colpsed, his eyes wide as he slipped into unsciousness, his mind fshing back to long-buried memories—a phenomenon known as the "revolving ntern," a final vision before death.

  With a deep breath, Yukinhtehe ice around her dissolving. The frozen cursed spirits shattered into pieces, vanishing one by one.

  In the silehat followed, Fumino and Haruno stared, too stuo speak. They could hardly believe that Yukino, their quiet, restrained Yukino, had hahe entire ordeal alone.

  "Yukino... you..." Haruno stammered, her usual fidence shaken.

  Yukino managed a tired smile. "As you see, sister, I'm not the same as I used to be. I've ged, and from now on, I'll live life on my own terms."

  Fumino's initial rea was relief, if her daughter had such power, then the Yukinoshita family's future was secure. But as she listeo Yukino's words, her satisfa quickly turo shock.

  "Yukino, what are you talking about? Don't fet, it was this family that raised you!"

  Yukino's eyes hardened. "And I just saved all of you, didn't I?"

  "You…!" Fumino was momentarily speechless, thrown off by Yukino's sudden defiance.

  "I'm not abandoning the Yukinoshita family," Yukino tinued, her voice calm but resolute. "If the family needs me, I'll help. But if you expect me to sacrifice myself for your ambitions, or force Haruno to do the same, then you're wasting your time."

  "Yukino!" Fumino's voice held a mix of anger and disbelief. She wasn't used to being defied by either of her daughters.

  "I'm not a puppet, Mother. I have my own life to lead," Yukino said, turning her gaze toward Haruno, who looked at her with pride.

  Without waiting for her mother's response, Yukino turned and walked away from the house. She felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. In her mind, she thanked Ryuji. Without him, she might never have found the ce to break free.

  "Yukino! Yukino!" Fumino called after her, desperation creeping into her voice. But Yukino didn't look back.

  Behind her, Haruno watched with a smile. For the first time, she felt o worry about her younger sister. Yukino could handle herself just fine.

  "Is this amusing to you?" Fumino snapped, gring at her eldest daughter.

  Haru her maze with a calm smile. "It is, actually. Yukino's grown up, and she deserves to live her own life."

  Fumino bristled. Haruno had always beeiful daughter, the one she could rely on. But now, even she was slipping from her grasp.

  Haruned. "I'll still handle some responsibilities at the pany, but from now on, I'll be taking more time for myself. It's long overdue."

  Fumino's face twisted with frustration, but she said nothing as Haruno turo leave. Her daughters were slipping away, each of them determio carve out their own path.

  Once alone, Fumino sat down in silence, a bitter realizatioling over her. Somewhere along the way, she had lost her daughters. They no longer looked to her fuidance, and she had no oo bme but herself.