Chapter 87: Excalibur—Galatine!!!
"Trace On!"
Emiya gathered his Cursed Energy without reservation, reinforcing his eyes, and carefully observed the flight paths of the Cinder Bugs with his golden pupils.
Their speed was extremely fast, several Mach or more, but precisely because of this, the flexibility of their flight technique was completely abandoned.
Kanshou and Bakuya slashed across the air at breakneck speed, and one Cinder Bug after another was precisely cut in half by Emiya. But the instant the blades passed through, Emiya acutely detected a strange energy fluctuation from the feel of the weapons.
Zzzzz!!!
Even though their bodies were cut in two, these Cinder Bugs still emitted a screeching sound. The bizarre frequency was completely challenging the limits of the human body.
They were, by nature, destructive creatures created by Jogo's Cursed Technique. Naturally, they lacked the will to survive and the fear of death that normal creatures possess.
Then, in the very next second—
BOOM!!!
The Cinder Bugs' bodies rapidly swelled and burst open. The resulting flash and noise were no less than the previous blaze, making them seem like living, high-explosive ordnance.
Fortunately, the instant he noticed the anomaly, Emiya quickly pulled back and leaped backward. His body, protected by Cursed Energy, avoided major damage.
"A dual attack of sound and explosion? That looks truly lethal."
There's no doubt, then, that the opponent's Cursed Technique must be a concept related to fire.
Should he try to create distance? Or would close-quarters combat be more appropriate?
Although the brief contact just now suggested that the opponent's Cursed Technique could cause effects similar to a volcanic eruption, resulting in ultra-high damage from a distance, if he got close...
He couldn't rule out whether the opponent had a technique that could completely ignite the target upon contact, similar to Ryomen Sukuna's technique.
But conversely, given the arrogant personality this Cursed Spirit had displayed so far, it would absolutely not refuse a one-on-one, frontal attack.
Tsk, tsk...
"It's not over yet!"
While Emiya was still trying to figure out the optimal way to fight, Jogo had already sprinted in front of him, smashing a swirling mass of burning flame in its hand towards him.
Sizzle—!
Emiya quickly slashed toward its side, but Jogo received the blade with its arm without dodging.
Kanshou and Bakuya only left a wound of moderate depth on its arm.
When a Cursed Spirit's intensity reaches this terrifying level, the exorcism effect of Kanshou and Bakuya is no longer so pronounced against them.
"Hah... die!" Jogo bared its clean, black teeth in a grin. As it declared victory, it thrust the burning vortex in its hand toward Emiya's face.
—BOOM!!!
The huge noise was not from Jogo's attack, but from Emiya unhesitatingly detonating Kanshou and Bakuya, using the explosion to widen the distance between the two. Even though he acted so decisively, the clothes on his abdomen were still melted by the high temperature, leaving slight scorch marks on his skin.
Jogo was clearly quite dissatisfied that its winning blow had only caused this level of injury.
It immediately scowled and continued to run toward Emiya, but Emiya certainly wouldn't give it another chance to get close easily.
"Trace On!"
Constantly retreating backward through the forest, Emiya simultaneously Projected nearly a hundred Noble Phantasms into the air above his head, unleashing a thorough barrage of fire toward Jogo's direction.
As long as the reserves are sufficient beforehand, projecting and detonating any number of these common-tier swords will not cause a large expenditure of Emiya's Cursed Energy.
Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—!
Jogo's movement speed wasn't exactly fast, at least not compared to Ryomen Sukuna or even Satoru Gojo.
It did its best to dodge, but still, over ten blades struck accurately in front of it and exploded. While they didn't cause any excessively severe damage, they left it looking quite disheveled.
Consequently, Jogo, charging out from the bursts of fire and thick smoke, was furious.
To be made to look so ragged by an opponent it thought it could easily defeat, and on top of that, with its own specialty of explosion-type attacks—how was this different from a direct insult?
Furthermore, at that very moment, Jogo saw a scene that made it feel even more insulted and left it dumbfounded.
Emiya hadn't been fully focused on fighting it. Instead, he had used that insulting, overwhelming attack to obscure its vision while he, himself, had gone to rescue the sorcerer who had been lying on the ground, incapacitated.
What was the meaning of this?
Did Emiya believe that Jogo was a despicable scoundrel who would use the helpless as a hostage during battle? Or was he saying that...
Even while fighting it, Emiya had such leisure time that he could perform this superfluous action?
The more it thought this way, the angrier Jogo became.
Its body was heating up frantically, in a literal sense.
"You bastard, are you playing games with me!?"
Its terrifyingly wide single eye was bloodshot, and the volcano on its head erupted with ten-meter-high flames without reservation.
Emiya: 'Why did he suddenly get so upset?'
Although he didn't quite understand the logic of the Cursed Spirit in front of him, driving it into this desperate mental state aligned with Emiya's upcoming combat plan.
"You must have held out against this Cursed Spirit for a long time. Now, take a good rest first."
Quickly placing the still-unconscious Aoi Todo behind a relatively safe rock wall, Emiya returned to the battlefield.
Even if Todo hadn't posed a major threat or inflicted serious damage on Jogo, enduring at the hands of a Cursed Spirit of this caliber for at least several hours already made him very capable and hard-working. This was by no means a meaningless action.
Why would this exceptionally powerful Cursed Spirit appear in such a remote area and intentionally set up such a massive Barrier covering most of the mountain range—did they expect people to believe it merely wanted to live a quiet life here, undisturbed by human society?
Even a three-year-old child wouldn't believe such a blatantly flawed lie.
Aoi Todo's ability to delay the fight until Emiya's arrival could already be considered a successful disruption of the opponent's intended plan.
"Are you considered one of the strongest among the Cursed Spirits?" Emiya didn't rush to attack, but instead questioned Jogo, who was preparing to unleash its full power.
"One of the strongest? What kind of joke are you telling! As a Cursed Spirit, I am naturally the 'Strongest'!!"
Jogo not only possessed this confidence but also naturally believed it to be reality.
Mahito, the powerful Cursed Spirit who was its comrade, had been killed by the guy right here. Hanami was clearly countered by it, as the embodiment of the Earth, and Dagon was still just a child.
It was, without a doubt, the strongest and the leader!
It must lead the Cursed Spirits to eliminate these clueless humans, whose emotions are full of hypocrisy, and usher in a new world belonging only to Cursed Spirits!
"I see.
In that case, you are a powerful enemy that warrants me using my strongest armament."
Facing the Cursed Spirit, which was so angry it wanted to burn him to ashes instantly, Emiya stood calmly in place and said these words to the opponent.
"...Huh?"
Surprisingly, Jogo, who was about to launch its attack, actually stopped dead in its tracks.
It was still hesitating about the truth of Emiya's words when it was suddenly provoked by the next sentence—
"I hope that you, who seem so fiery, will not be incinerated by the sun."
BOOM!!!!!!!
This time, it wasn't just the volcano on its head; even the plugs that served as its ears were blown away by the powerful airflow, and scorching flames erupted simultaneously from both sides.
"I will be incinerated by fire? Stop spouting such death-inviting nonsense!
Good! Let me see just how powerful your so-called armament is!"
In fact, besides its arrogance and extremely ferocious personality in battle, Jogo had another strange trait: it was a collector.
It enjoyed collecting all sorts of bizarre Cursed Objects. Therefore, aside from its fury, it was also quite curious about the weapon Emiya mentioned.
On the other side, Emiya, having achieved his preliminary goal, wasn't about to engage in a heart-to-heart with a Cursed Spirit.
He unhesitatingly stretched out his palm, then recited the incantation in response—
"I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unknown to Death.
Nor known to Life..."
This was not his own dedicated incantation, but the chant belonging to the Heroic Spirit EMIYA.
The length of this chant, which was several sections longer than when he used Rho Aias, probably gave a hint as to the nature of the Noble Phantasm Emiya was about to use.
As the chant continued, golden light particles began to gather gradually in Emiya's hand, finally forming a long sword that was almost entirely silver-white.
Even in the dead of night, it looked incredibly dazzling.
"This, this is...?"
Jogo had never seen such a weapon. It had no trace of a curse on it, completely unlike a Cursed Tool... yet it clearly possessed a peculiar great power.
It had a very special feeling, as if this blade truly was the sun, just as Emiya had said...
Curiosity, curiosity, curiosity, and then excitement.
This strange feeling almost completely filled Jogo's body, making it feel energized from head to toe.
It would kill this human who deserved to die in a straight fight, and then reclaim the collection item that should rightfully be its!
"This is the sun that shines brighter than you, Cursed Spirit. Witness it fully.
The Holy Sword of the Stars that dispels the night and strips away all falsehoods in the face of its glory!"
As Cursed Energy was continuously infused, the sword's core gradually emitted a blinding light.
If one had to use a word to describe it, it really could only be the 'Sun'.
This is the shining sword held by the Knight of the Round Table Gawain in the legends of King Arthur, a Holy Sword with a pseudo-sun sealed within its hilt.
Also gifted by the Lady of the Lake, it is essentially the sister sword of the Holy Sword Excalibur.
If King Arthur's Holy Sword Excalibur gathered the light of the planet, then Gawain's Holy Sword Galatine manifested the scorching rays of the sun.
As long as the sword is drawn and Cursed Energy is continuously poured into it, the pseudo-sun inside will activate, extending the blade to any visible range.
It is an unmatched Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.
For any Noble Phantasm above rank A, Emiya has to expend great effort to project it, let alone this Holy Sword, whose prototype is the Holy Sword of the Stars born from the planet's interior.
Although the memory of Heroic Spirit Emiya included the knowledge to project this Noble Phantasm, that was only with the help of the original wielder, Gawain. Emiya himself was fundamentally incapable of completely reproducing it.
It was only after reacquiring the skill of Senji Muramasa that Emiya attempted to project this deteriorated, yet still potent, single-use Noble Phantasms by skipping some of the incomprehensible steps.
It will be completely destroyed once its full power is unleashed, but this has no impact on Emiya, who uses Projection Magecraft.
The dazzling light gradually reached its peak intensity, and the distant Jogo's expression grew even more satisfied and excited.
It clasped its hands and retreated to its side, allowing the Cursed Energy across its entire body to gather there, preparing to unleash an utterly terrifying attack to counter Emiya.
If someone who had experienced the power of this Holy Sword were present, they could probably tell Jogo that this was the absolute worst way to respond.
"Excalibur—Galatine!!!"
! ! ! ! ! ! !
A golden-yellow beam of light, like the sun itself, leveled the forest and pierced through the mountains.
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