"What a twisted form," Eichi said as he looked at Kenjaku's Domain, Womb Profusion, and the giant tree within it made of countless distorted faces.
"Is that so? But I believe it carries the possibility of Cursed Energy," Kenjaku said, extending a hand and lightly brushing his fingers across each twisted face.
"That really is a textbook villain line." Eichi walked over to the throne, sat down directly, then rested one hand on the armrest and propped up his face.
"Really? Just a few seconds ago, you were the one who fit the villain role better," Kenjaku replied with a smile.
"That ominous appearance, wrapped in pitch-black shadows, how could it not look more villainous than me?"
Both Domains changed at the same time.
In Kenjaku's Domain, twisted figures appeared one after another at his side.
Beside Eichi, a white-haired figure clad in red appeared instantly.
The moment Emiya appeared, he raised his black longbow and shot an arrow at the twisted tree within Kenjaku's Domain.
The crimson arrow cut through the air and instantly reached the giant twisted tree.
Kenjaku moved.
Under his command, several Cursed Spirits closest to the arrow immediately moved to block the tree.
The arrow finally stopped after piercing through several Cursed Spirits.
However, Emiya had already nocked a second arrow.
A pitch-black arrow covered in sharp barbs was fired.
Since he was already on guard, Kenjaku naturally would not let Eichi succeed.
Kenjaku pressed both hands downward, and a sudden surge of gravity forced the dark arrow toward the ground.
However, just as the pitch-black arrow was about to hit the ground, its direction suddenly changed.
It drew a beautiful U-shaped arc in the air and shot toward the twisted giant tree once more.
"Akahara Hound?" Kenjaku immediately recognized it.
"If that's the case, then I'll neutralize you." Kenjaku increased the surrounding gravity.
Then, a huge, pot-bellied Cursed Spirit suddenly dropped from the sky.
After entering the range of Kenjaku's gravity, it accelerated all at once.
It directly pinned Akahara Hound beneath its body.
"Broken Phantasm." Seeing his attack blocked, Emiya's expression did not change. He simply nocked a third arrow.
Then he coldly uttered those four words.
Violent magical energy fluctuations burst out from beneath the Cursed Spirit.
Kenjaku immediately realized what it was.
"Broken Phantasm? Did you think I wouldn't prepare for that trick?"
Whether during the Star Plasma Vessel incident or on the Sendai battlefield, Emiya had already shown the world without reservation his unique skill of firing missiles from a longbow.
Kenjaku naturally knew about this unconventional use of Broken Phantasm.
Kenjaku reversed his hands. His palms, which had been pressing downward, now forcefully pushed outward toward Eichi's Domain.
In the next second, the Cursed Spirit that had been tightly pinning Akahara Hound inside its body rapidly fell toward Eichi's Domain.
Boom.
Broken Phantasm exploded in the middle of the two Domains.
The violent wind whipped through Eichi's and Kenjaku's hair.
"You changed the direction of gravity?" Eichi looked at Kenjaku in surprise.
"Exactly. Now it's my turn." Kenjaku revealed a sinister smile, then expanded the Technique's effect even further.
In an instant, a large number of Cursed Spirits rushed into Eichi's Domain at extreme speed.
"Hassan of the Hundred Faces." A muscular Hassan, clearly highly skilled in gymnastics, suddenly appeared in the Domain.
After him, a tall and slender woman with long purple hair tied in a high ponytail, dressed entirely in black and wearing a skull mask, also appeared beneath the throne.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces was one of the successive Old Men of the Mountain, and the nineteenth leader of the Hassan-i-Sabbah assassins.
Although called the Hundred Faces, he was actually one person with multiple personality disorder.
His Noble Phantasm was the B+ ranked Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm, Delusional Illusion.
Because multiple Souls had existed within a single body during his life, he could disperse his own Soul through his Noble Phantasm, reaching a state where, although he was one person, he manifested as multiple Heroic Spirits.
Because each personality was different, the forms created by the Noble Phantasm also differed in height, weight, build, and gender, spanning all ages.
At the boundary between the two Domains, Hassan of the Hundred Faces clashed with the incoming Cursed Spirits.
"Medusa." As the word fell, the third Heroic Spirit appeared.
"Bellerophon!" The tall, blindfolded elder sister activated her Noble Phantasm the moment she appeared.
Beneath the reins, a pure white Pegasus emerged from a magic circle.
Medusa rode the Pegasus high into the sky, then after a brief charge and acceleration, dove into Kenjaku's Domain.
"This is really troublesome," Kenjaku murmured, his brows slightly furrowed.
Then he began manually controlling the attacks within the Domain.
After realizing she could not break through Kenjaku's interception, Medusa changed tactics.
She charged again.
However, this time her target was Kenjaku himself.
Kenjaku immediately launched an attack.
The redirected gravity pressed down on Medusa.
The Pegasus's charge was greatly weakened.
However, at some point, Medusa's blindfold had disappeared.
When Kenjaku noticed this, he was greatly alarmed and immediately averted his gaze.
But he was still affected to some extent.
Kenjaku felt his movements stiffen for a moment.
Even the flow of his Cursed Energy became sluggish.
At the same time, Medusa, riding the pure white Pegasus, had already charged right in front of Kenjaku.
'If that's the case!' Kenjaku gritted his teeth, and his right hand, wrapped in Blood Manipulation, reached directly toward the Pegasus.
At the same time, Kenjaku placed a Binding Vow.
He transferred the Cursed Energy originally used to protect his right arm to his entire body, sacrificing the defense of his right arm in exchange for increased defensive power across the rest of his body.
Bang.
Naturally, Kenjaku's right hand was blown apart by the Pegasus's impact.
"Blood Manipulation: Crimson Bind!" The blood scattered through the air suddenly swirled and converged.
In the end, it transformed into several ropes, successfully binding Medusa and the Pegasus.
However, although the Pegasus had been bound, the force of its previous charge had not dissipated.
So Medusa, riding the bound Pegasus, slammed into Kenjaku like a car crash.
Kenjaku also used his Technique and Cursed Energy to defend with all his might, while continuously attacking Medusa.
"Hoo, hoo." Kenjaku stood up and used his left hand to pull out the short sword, which resembled a chained stake, embedded in his body.
Looking at Medusa, who was disappearing on the ground, Kenjaku let out a sigh.
"Just one, and I'm already in such a sorry state?" Kenjaku healed his shattered right hand with Reverse Cursed Technique while looking up toward Eichi.
An incoming arrow was blocked by a crab-shaped Cursed Spirit.
And in front of that crab-shaped Cursed Spirit, a blue figure holding a crimson spear had already stepped into his Domain.
"You actually dealt with a temporary Heroic Spirit that quickly?" Eichi looked at the disheveled Kenjaku in surprise.
Beside him, the temporary Heroic Spirit Medea had already been summoned.
Temporary Heroic Spirits were not official Servants summoned with chess pieces, after all.
But their strength was not something to look down on.
"Someone just called me crazy, I think." Eichi looked at Kenjaku, speechless.
First, he used redirected gravity to reduce Medusa's attack, then he directly sacrificed one arm and used a life-for-a-limb method to take down Medusa, a temporary Heroic Spirit.
And he had also been stabbed by Medusa, nearly having his brain pierced.
Medusa's attack had been aimed at his head, but Kenjaku dodged quickly, so it struck his shoulder.
Did a person like that really have the right to call someone else crazy?
(To be continued.)
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◇ 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.)