Medea's barrier was already flooded with shadows.
"This is a bit troublesome now."
Medea frowned slightly and began to release her full power.
At that moment, even the surrounding air changed.
Medea possessed A-Rank Territory Creation, and the territory she constructed exceeded that of most mages, reaching the level of a temple.
No one would deny the power of anything connected to the gods.
Inside her temple, all of Medea's abilities would receive a significant boost, allowing her to contend even with multiple enemies of the same rank.
Except for close combat.
Soon, the crumbling barrier was reinforced by Medea.
"It really was the right decision not to make the wish in the temporary workshop."
The temporary workshop Medea referred to wasn't the storeroom at Tokyo Jujutsu High, but a magical workshop that could fully enhance a mage's abilities.
In fact, ever since the last incident, Medea had urgently relocated all her collected items and set up numerous autonomous barriers in the new workshop to prevent any unauthorized access.
Though even with her permission, no one would be allowed in.
"With the shadows continuously expanding and the Soul growing stronger, it seems Eichi has succeeded."
A smile appeared on Medea's face beneath her hood.
To her, the stronger her Master was, the better.
Medea was not the type of Heroic Spirit who enjoyed fighting on the front lines.
Rather than stepping onto the battlefield herself, she preferred to control everything from within her territory.
During the Fifth Holy Grail War, Medea had employed numerous strategies.
For example, summoning Sasaki Kojirou, capturing Saber, and more.
Whenever Kuzuki Souichirou chose to fight, she would retreat quietly, supporting her Master from the shadows.
Inside the barrier.
Eichi's body floated in an ocean of shadows.
Deep within his Soul, a gate to the Shadow World had been successfully opened.
The blurry pattern within Eichi's Soul had been restored.
White Divine Dog had once again returned to its position as a Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique.
At the moment, it was wagging its tail beside Eichi.
Eichi vigorously rubbed the Divine Dog's head, then sat cross-legged on the Spell Array of the Ten Shadows Technique.
In front of him, Mahoraga, which had previously stood still, also sat cross-legged the moment Eichi did.
Countless streams of information surged into Mahoraga's mind.
Mahoraga analyzed, filtered, and organized the information based on Eichi's instructions, then transmitted the processed data back into Eichi's consciousness.
Sitting in front of the gate, Eichi fully immersed himself in the power flowing from the Shadow World, analyzing the core of the Ten Shadows Technique deep within it.
Constant transformation.
That was Eichi's strongest impression of the Shadow World.
In the real world, things were fixed. A mountain was a mountain. A tree was a tree.
Everything had a definite form.
But the Shadow World was different. Here, everything changed.
Mountains could flow, rivers could solidify, and tangible life could become intangible at any moment.
At that moment, Eichi experienced something more exhilarating than any open-world game.
Shadows shifted freely before his eyes, sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes light, sometimes heavy... Eichi stretched out his hands, and Mahoraga mirrored the action, placing its large hands over his.
With Eichi's urging, the Spell Array of the Ten Shadows Technique beneath them continuously poured Cursed Energy into both of their hands.
One, two, three... ten.
With Mahoraga's assistance.
A structure resembling the Dharma Wheel atop Mahoraga's head appeared at the center of their four palms.
Ultimate Art: Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel.
The next moment, Eichi's Soul returned.
The shadows within the barrier began to recede like a falling tide.
At the same time, Eichi opened his eyes.
The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel appeared above his head.
Eichi looked at it with satisfaction.
Cool. Now he no longer had to fight Mahoraga for the Dharma Wheel.
Ding.
With a surge of Cursed Energy, the Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel began to spin and stopped at Nue's position.
Eichi's shadow moved up along his body and spread across his back.
A pair of lightning-infused wings unfurled from behind him.
They were Nue's wings.
"This color... change it to black."
The shadow seemed to understand his words and covered the brown wings. When the shadow faded, the wings on Eichi's back had turned black, resembling those of a fallen angel.
"That's more like it."
Eichi nodded in satisfaction.
"Let's get a weapon too."
The Ten Shadows Treasure Wheel above his head rotated again.
A black sphere appeared in Eichi's hand. It was the core of Piercing Ox.
Shadows enveloped the core, and a greatsword in the style of Piercing Ox formed in his grasp.
Eichi gave the sword a few swings.
"It feels more suited to being a spear."
Piercing Ox's greatest trait was linear acceleration, increasing in power the further it traveled.
But thrusting directly with a sword was rare.
Soon, a double-pointed spear appeared in Eichi's hand.
"Why does it look like that trident the cooking hag uses..."
Forget it. Not like I can break off one of the ox horns.
He nodded at Medea, then soared into the sky, breaking through the ceiling and flying into the training field.
Eichi enjoyed the sensation of flying freely through the sky.
It was far more exhilarating than riding on Qiongqi.
His eyes scanned the area, and soon he spotted the straw dummies that had been set up for close-combat training just a few days earlier.
Eichi raised the spear and hurled it forcefully at one of the dummies.
The next moment, the dummy was sliced cleanly in half by the Piercing Ox spear, which continued until it buried itself into the ground.
"Definitely faster than Piercing Ox running on its own."
Eichi looked at the result with satisfaction.
Just as he was daydreaming about his future self clad in armor forged from the Ten Shadows Technique, finally able to face opponents in close combat that he once avoided, a voice rang out unexpectedly.
"Hey, birdman up there. Yaga-sensei says you better fix the ceiling."
Bird... birdman? Satoru, you're calling my majestic look a birdman?
Eichi was about to fly down and argue with Satoru, but then remembered the second half of what Satoru said.
The ceiling?
Oh no. He had gotten too carried away just now.
Eichi flapped his wings and descended from the air.
The Piercing Ox spear also vanished.
"Eichi, that look is pretty cool."
"Of course. Did you think I was some pretty boy like you?"
"What, jealous of my fair skin? Want me to teach you how I maintain it?"
"Then teach me."
Eichi was curious what kind of skincare tricks Satoru might share.
"Just go out less often and use Limitless when you're bored."
"..."
Eichi suddenly remembered something.
Before arriving at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Satoru really didn't go out much.
Out of 365 days, he probably spent over 300 in the Gojo clan's estate. And even when he wasn't wearing traditional attire like kimonos or kariginu, he would still wrap himself up completely.
That level of coverage... even Shoko probably couldn't compete.
"Satoru."
"You realize how effective it is, right?"
"That's not what I was talking about."
"Then what is it?"
Satoru, who was plucking feathers from Eichi's wings, looked up curiously.
"Are you a sheltered young master?"
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)