Chapter 170: Sword-Wrought Boundary VS. Unlimited Blade Works! Let's See Whose Weapons Are More Numerous!
The chaos in Orario spread further.
However, this ultimately didn't affect the Gods in Babel. The Gods were still watching the commotion at the execution grounds with the attitude of enjoying a drama, and they engaged in lively discussions about it.
"This is truly an exaggerated mess. I never thought a mortal would be foolish enough to challenge Astraea, the Goddess of Justice."
"Let alone a mortal; even we Gods have practically no means of resistance against Goddess Astraea's Authority, do we?"
"Hahaha, perhaps only Gods of the level of the former Zeus and Hera, and the Authority of the Old God, Ouranos, could contend with it."
"While the outcome is inevitable, it would be nice if the process were a bit more spectacular, hahahaha."
"..."
The Gods enjoyed the chaos at the execution grounds and offered their various opinions.
Most of the Gods were clearly only focused on the battle between Shirou and the Goddess of Justice, Astraea, completely ignoring the Familia war happening below. After all, no matter how the Familia fought, nothing would change if the divine battle above could not be decided.
The only other potentially influential fight was the duel between the War Goddess Kali and Ottar. However, due to the nature of the War God's Arena restricting levels, this battle was highly likely to be drawn out indefinitely and wouldn't be decided for a long time.
This was originally the plan of Loki and Freya.
As early as the Gods' Conference, the moment Loki proposed that the Freya Familia be responsible for guarding the execution grounds, the two Goddesses had already conceived the subsequent plan.
They then had Hermes contact the Rakia Kingdom, leaking the information that Orario would be holding an internal judgment that day and that most Familia would be drawn to the execution grounds. This prompted the idiot War God Ares of the Rakia Kingdom to seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Orario.
Using this as a pretext, most members of the Freya Familia could be relocated from the execution grounds, leaving only Ottar behind. Following that, Loki and Freya also contacted the team rescuing Kali and Ishtar, informing them in advance so that the moment Kali was saved, she would come straight to the execution grounds and use her Authority to trap the Lv. 7 Ottar inside the inescapable War God's Arena.
In this way, the most dangerous Freya Familia was completely rendered incapable of interfering with the judgment and execution, providing a greater possibility for the operation to save Ryuu.
However, by now, anyone could see that this judgment against Ryuu Lion was essentially not an action against Ryuu herself, but a setup to lure Shirou out and use Goddess Astraea's Authority to directly execute Shirou Emiya on the spot.
Faced with this reality, even Loki and Freya found it hard to relax. As deities who had descended from the Celestial Realm, they knew exactly how terrifying Astraea's Authority was. If her power were fully unleashed, it was not something any mortal, or even any God, could cope with.
"Aiya, aiya, let's not overthink it. Let's just leave everything to that guy."
Loki gave a wry smile, her eyes never leaving the fierce battle at the execution grounds. She was about to pull out her flask for a couple of swigs and fully enjoy this chaotic revelry when she suddenly realized her flask had disappeared from her bosom at some point. When she realized what happened, she saw her liquor had been poured into Freya's cup, and Freya herself was drinking it with utter composure.
"You scoundrel, did you just use your Authority to charm me?!"
"What are you talking about? I don't know."
"You scoundrel, scoundrel! That was a rare treasure I begged Soma for ages to get!" Loki looked at Freya furiously. "You're even stealing my liquor. Sooner or later, you'll be stealing my man, won't you!"
"What nonsense. Emiya was mine from the very beginning. I won't hand him over to anyone."
"Guh... you shameless hussy!"
Loki and Freya unwittingly fell into an argument. Although Freya could charm Loki, Loki could also use her Authority of Trickery to secretly snatch her flask back. For a time, they went back and forth, creating a commotion as lively as the one at the execution grounds.
However, the disturbance between the two Goddesses soon ceased.
Because they, and all the Gods in Babel, suddenly felt an astonishing wave of magical power sweeping through the execution grounds. The intense flames were even visible to the naked eye, revealing a dramatic vortex that was gradually consuming everything around it, engulfing all!
"Wh-What is that!"
The Gods watched the scene at the execution grounds dumbfounded. They didn't recall Astraea having an Authority that released fire, so they almost immediately concluded that it was the power unleashed by Shirou Emiya.
The vortex of magical power Shirou was releasing right now had reached an unbelievably exaggerated state. The Gods even felt that it was not the power of a mortal, but like a deity using an Authority, or even directly releasing Divine Power.
"Can a mortal really do that?"
"T-That's too much..."
"When did such a monster appear in Genkai?"
The expressions of the Gods instantly became anything but composed.
After all, the Gods in Babel had always considered themselves superior, a higher-level species far transcending mortals. Gods could develop feelings for mortals, but they could not be equal to them. This was because their status, abilities, and the very essence of their life were fundamentally different, with a vast, unbridgeable gap between them. These elements formed their sense of superiority, the symbol of their birthright as Gods!
Therefore, the Gods were absolutely unable to accept feeling something similar coming from a mortal, and even less able to accept feeling fear towards the power of a mortal.
All at once, the Gods in Babel, who had merely been watching for entertainment, now began to side with Goddess Astraea, even praying that Goddess Astraea could completely annihilate this mortal who possessed special power and dared to challenge a deity.
.
.
.
Everything around was already engulfed by the vortex of fire.
Shirou had only chanted the first line of the spell, and the power of the Reality Marble had already erupted uncontrollably, spreading in all directions.
"This... what is this..."
Astraea clearly did not understand the ability Shirou was releasing. She looked at the surrounding flames and could feel that the flames were not the essence of the power, but rather a form through which a certain power was spreading. And just the escaping part was already affecting reality, turning reality into a virtual reflection. It was simply unimaginable what this power would look like once fully formed.
Of course, no matter what kind of power it was, Astraea had now realized one thing: she absolutely could not allow Shirou to fully unleash this power!
"Clang!"
As the sky-high swords turned into a rain of blades, Astraea rushed towards Shirou at an extreme speed. Just like before, she held a longsword but displayed astonishing speed no less than a top-tier swordsman, appearing before Shirou in a flash.
Faced with Goddess Astraea's ultimate swordsmanship, which was impossible to block head-on, Shirou naturally did not confront her directly. Instead, he retreated while deploying a Projection.
"Trace On!
Rho Aias!"
Suddenly, the purple-red petal shield unfolded layer after layer. The rain of swords descending from the sky was completely blocked by the round shield.
While Goddess Astraea certainly possessed extraordinary swordsmanship, her sheer destructive power was relatively average, making it impossible for her to breach the protection of the shield in a short amount of time.
Shirou, therefore, wasted no time and continued his chant!
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"
As the chant quickly reached its conclusion, the scorching flames completely engulfed everything, dragging Shirou and Astraea's figures into that familiar domain: the Reality Marble named 'Unlimited Blade Works'.
Yellow sand filled the air, and dark clouds loomed. Countless swords stood like gravestones in every corner of the hill of swords, seeming to stretch out to an infinite horizon.
This was a wilderness of swords filled with infinite blades.
"..."
Seeing the surrounding environment change, Astraea subconsciously looked around and realized she had been dragged into a temporarily created small world by Shirou's power.
Gods also had similar Authorities, such as the War God Kali's War God's Arena. But this was undoubtedly a power only a God could use.
Mortal magic could never reach the level of creating a small world.
However, this notion had clearly been shattered. The moment Shirou's Reality Marble unfolded and Unlimited Blade Works enveloped everything, Astraea profoundly realized that
she absolutely could not use the logic of an ordinary person to understand the extraordinary existence that was Shirou Emiya.
He was not an ordinary mortal at all.
However, Astraea quickly assessed the state of the Reality Marble and discovered a fact highly advantageous to her.
"The form of this world... is a hill of swords filled with blades?" Astraea calmly spoke, observing the environment. "Although it's unexpected magic, have you forgotten my Authority? To me, the environment you've created is practically made for me. As long as I activate the Sword-Wrought Boundary, I can control every sword here. Your action is like letting a beast into the jungle, or a fish into the ocean; you've simply created an environment where I can arbitrarily utilize swords."
As Astraea spoke, she instantly affected a large number of swords on the hill. Blade after blade flew into the air under the influence of Astraea's Authority, hovering in the sky.
Shirou had clearly anticipated this reality long ago.
He knew Astraea's Authority was the manipulation of swords, yet he still chose to use the power of Unlimited Blade Works, precisely because he was confident this could defeat his opponent!
"You are right, Astraea," Shirou slowly began. "However, Goddess Astraea, you probably don't know much about mathematics."
"Mathematics?"
"In mathematics, infinity is a complex concept. It cannot be dissected by any algorithm; concepts like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are all invalid against it."
"What are you trying to say, Shirou Emiya?"
"This is Unlimited Blade Works, a place with an infinite number of swords. This means that even if you can control all the swords, you can't control infinity. As long as your Authority doesn't truly cover everything, I can create a quantity of weapons that you cannot reach. If you can control one hundred swords, I will create one thousand. If you can control one thousand, I will create ten thousand. If your limit is one hundred million, I will surpass that number!"
Shirou stared at Astraea with a cold gaze. "Goddess of Justice, what do you think the limit of swords you can control is? Are you prepared to face the challenge of infinity?!"
As he spoke, Shirou was already creating an astonishing number of swords, just as he said he would. Suddenly, a flood-like quantity of swords emerged from all directions, turning into blades that assaulted the Goddess.
Astraea naturally didn't ignore the power Shirou was using. She decisively used her own Authority, influencing the swords in Unlimited Blade Works to the maximum extent.
Thus, an extremely astonishing confrontation unfolded.
Shirou continuously expanded the power of Unlimited Blade Works, relentlessly increasing the number of swords in the domain, creating an unprecedented quantity of blades.
Astraea, on the other hand, unleashed her Authority as much as possible, wresting control of all the swords Shirou created and using those very blades from Unlimited Blade Works to attack the man before her.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
In the clash between the two torrents of swords, the first to show weakness was undoubtedly Goddess Astraea.
As Shirou had said, the number of swords in Unlimited Blade Works was infinite. This meant that as long as Shirou's magical power was sufficient and he did not interrupt the existence of the Reality Marble, the number of swords in the boundary would grow endlessly and infinitely.
In contrast, Goddess Astraea merely possessed the Authority to manipulate swords. The number of swords this Authority could control was entirely dependent on her own mental strength and the degree of her Authority's utilization. Even as a God, her mind could not be powerful enough to manipulate an infinite number of swords; she was bound to reach a limit at some point, causing the speed of her sword manipulation to fall behind the speed of Shirou's sword creation.
And that would undoubtedly be Shirou's opportunity for victory.
"Can you still keep up with me, Astraea?!" The moment Shirou saw Astraea show fatigue, he further unleashed the swords in the Reality Marble. "I am nowhere near my limit yet!"
As he finished speaking, Shirou directly spread his hands.
"Boom!"
With the Unlimited Blade Works itself letting out an astonishing roar, like the sound of a furiously spinning motor, a quantity of swords even greater than before—and multiplied several times—emerged from all directions, sweeping out and turning into a vortex of destruction, charging towards the white-clad Goddess before him.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
The rain of swords descended completely. Astraea's figure was almost instantaneously swallowed by the infinite blades, enveloped in a vortex of dust.
However, just as Shirou had said before, a God was ultimately an existence that transcended ordinary mortals; they could not be so easily annihilated. Even though Shirou's swords had completely broken through Astraea's Authority and reached her, the Goddess's body did not
suffer significant damage, only a tear ripped across her shoulder, with crimson blood dripping to the ground.
"Lady Astraea... is injured..."
Witnessing this result, Alise was undoubtedly the most astonished. As the only being capable of entering Unlimited Blade Works and witnessing this duel, she never imagined Shirou could create such an astonishing domain of swords, nor that he could defeat his opponent in the battle with Astraea using sheer numerical superiority and even injure the Goddess before him.
To a mortal, this could already be called a miracle.
"Infinite swords... I finally understand your power, Shirou Emiya..." Astraea gently touched her wound, her gaze fixed on Shirou.
"After learning about Goddess Astraea's Authority from Thanatos, I already anticipated this battle with you," Shirou quietly replied. "Since your Authority is the manipulation of swords, I only need to create a number of weapons that exceeds the number you can control to completely suppress you. Because even a God's Authority is bound to have a limit when facing this Reality Marble that can create infinite swords. Therefore, it's not your Authority that counters my magic, but my magic that counters your Authority, Astraea!"
"May I know the name of this magic of yours?"
"Unlimited Blade Works—that is its name."
"..."
Hearing this term that vividly described the domain of the Reality Marble, Astraea briefly became lost in thought, but quickly recovered. She quietly spoke, "I understand. If this is your magic, my Authority may indeed be useless. No matter how I manipulate the swords, I cannot keep up with your speed of creation."
"That's right."
"If that's the case, then let's have a competition."
"A competition?"
"I'm afraid Thanatos, and even the Gods, have a shallow understanding of my Authority, but in fact, I've always given hints," Astraea spoke words Shirou couldn't quite grasp. "My Authority is not simply the manipulation of swords. That is not the true form of my Authority, otherwise the birth of the Sword of Judgment couldn't be explained, could it?"
"That... is true."
Shirou had been suspicious before. If Goddess Astraea's Authority was merely the creation of swords, then what was the giant sword that hung over the sky? The manipulation of swords
and the Sword of Judgment—Astraea couldn't possibly possess two fundamentally different Authorities.
Now, Astraea quietly spoke, answering Shirou's confusion: "Whether it's the manipulation of swords or the Sword of Judgment, they are both part of my Authority. My true Authority is only one: the concept of the sword itself."
"The concept of the sword itself?"
"Yes. From manipulating swords to creating swords, and even copying swords—any ability involving the control of the sword you can think of, I can do."
Astraea slowly spoke and picked up a sword from the ground, raising it slowly.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a storm of Divine Power surged out of thin air within Unlimited Blade Works. An unprecedented and astonishing amount of Divine Power swept from Goddess Astraea, consuming everything around it like a vortex, and transforming into a domain of swords almost opposing Unlimited Blade Works.
In this domain, one gigantic longsword after another rose from the ground. Although the number of swords was far less than in Unlimited Blade Works, every sword was composed of Divine Power. Their very existence was the manifestation of a God's power.
"Crack!"
Under the excessively astonishing impact of Divine Power, Unlimited Blade Works itself seemed to crack, being directly torn by the more dramatic Sword-Wrought Boundary, on the verge of shattering!
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