Chapter 144 - Is This Thing Really Meant for the Sorcerers Themselves?
"Emiya-sensei... is it my turn now?"
When he was first called over, Fushiguro Megumi still felt a bit constrained. After all, his upperclassman, Maki, had returned silent and withdrawn, not giving much of a response when questioned, as if she were contemplating the future direction of her life.
To turn someone into that state in just ten-odd minutes is truly terrifying, isn't it? If you can't empathize, try to imagine that a companion you often joke around with suddenly falls into abnormal silence after being called away by the homeroom teacher, and no longer responds to you. And then they come back and say the homeroom teacher is calling for you... The sense of pressure and crisis immediately goes through the roof, doesn't it?
"There's no need to be so nervous. We're just going to briefly discuss the direction you should strive for next."
Emiya first slightly calmed Fushiguro Megumi's emotions before explaining:
"I am not that familiar with your Ten Shadows Technique, nor do I know the exact abilities of each Shadow Shikigami... but these things aren't the most important. It's enough to know they each have a purpose.
An all-rounder Cursed Technique is certainly an advantage most of the time, but there are also times when it's a drawback, namely making it difficult for you to determine which direction you should strive for.
Your Shadow Shikigami can naturally play different roles in different scenarios, as their abilities inherently differ, but what about you?
A person's energy is limited. Striving in one direction will cause you to overlook another. You cannot be as versatile as your Shikigami.
Have you considered what kind of sorcerer you want to become in the future?"
Emiya explained every aspect clearly. Fushiguro Megumi may not have considered this before, but now is the time he should.
Because most Cursed Techniques require at least the use of the hands to form seals, sorcerers with Cursed Techniques find it difficult to specialize entirely in close combat; types perfectly adapted like Nanami Kento are the minority.
Fushiguro Megumi could, of course, choose to forgo close combat and instead focus all his energy on supporting and enhancing his Shadow Shikigami. This way, the existence of his technique means he still retains his original versatility, and it would definitely be easier to lead the battle than before, even allowing him to step back and observe all situations on the battlefield, becoming a true commander-like presence.
Continuing to develop both himself and his technique simultaneously, as he is doing now, is also possible, but the difficulty would be considerably higher than the first option, and it wouldn't be as easy to achieve noticeable results.
"...What kind of sorcerer?"
Fushiguro Megumi's reason for becoming a sorcerer has always been his sister.
He wants to save more good people like her, allowing them to receive the ending where virtue is rewarded. As for how he should continue on the path of a sorcerer? He really hadn't seriously considered that; even imagining how he should become stronger was something Emiya had only recently taught him. He has always trained quite hard, but it was limited to rigid exercises that pushed his potential.
"My suggestion is to temporarily put aside your personal improvement to specialize in enhancing your Cursed Technique and the tactical deployment of your Shikigami.
Conversely, if you want to continue improving your own strength, the Cursed Technique will have to be temporarily set aside."
Allowing the Ten Shadows Technique to become a purely auxiliary function rather than the primary means of combat is certainly a possible approach. Since Fushiguro Megumi has many choices, Emiya naturally has to support the other party in this regard.
"Temporarily giving up one side to improve the other... But Emiya-sensei, I want to try to improve both sides. Only by doing that will I become the theoretically strongest state, right?"
Fushiguro Megumi knows very well that the Ten Shadows Technique, as one of the Zen'in family's inherited techniques, is certainly enough to support him in becoming a first-rate sorcerer. But that alone is not enough, it cannot achieve his own dream, nor can it reach the level that Satoru Gojo expects.
Only by trying to break through in other aspects can he break the shackles of the tenth Shikigami and truly surpass the former generations of the Zen'in family. As his greatest advantage, he has an excellent teacher like Emiya to guide him, an opportunity those predecessors did not have.
"In that case? Fine, fine... of course, that's possible."
If his student wants to become even better, does Emiya, as his teacher, have any reason to refuse?
"However, in that case, I will have to specially create weapons that are more compatible with your Cursed Technique. That's not a problem... And your Domain seems to be a type that is very suitable for close combat..."
According to Emiya's later inquiries, Fushiguro Megumi's Chimera Shadow Garden seems to combine the binding of shadows with concealment and speed, allowing him and his
Shikigami to move freely within the domain while controlling the enemy. The combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, but it also depends on the actual power of the user.
"Also, about your Shadow Shikigami: their characteristic is that once destroyed, they cannot be resummoned, and their power is inherited by the other Shikigami, right?"
It sounds like one must cherish their Shikigami, yet they also become stronger through successive deaths... The balance between good and bad is indeed difficult to grasp.
"That's right. After the power of the two Divine Dogs merged, their destructive power even exceeded the Grade 1 limit."
As he spoke, Fushiguro Megumi directly summoned the new Divine Dog so Emiya could observe it better.
"Based on my research, it seems that only the superposition between Shikigami of the same attribute can achieve the optimal state. For example, the attributes of the two Divine Dogs can perfectly superimpose to become stronger, but if you combine the Nue and the Great Serpent, the effect might be mediocre..."
Such a large giant snake, would it really be able to fly even if you attach wings to it?
"So, you can't just release Shikigami arbitrarily?" Emiya roughly understood.
Only Shikigami with better compatibility can combine for an unexpectedly successful result; otherwise, it would be a complete waste. This means the idea of fusing all Shikigami together can be directly discarded.
"So, what about the Shikigami you haven't been able to subjugate yet? What is it like?"
"The tenth Shadow Shikigami is called Eight-Handed Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga."
Facing Emiya's question, Fushiguro Megumi answered honestly: "It is the strongest Shikigami among the users of the Ten Shadows Technique throughout history, but the Zen'in family has never had a record of successfully subjugating it.
According to the records, not only is its inherent strength far beyond the first nine Shikigami, but it also possesses extremely strong recovery and adaptability... Even an attack that obliterates half its body can be quickly healed, and it nearly adapts to that attack.
Because of this, even when there were very strong Shadow Technique users in the past, none of them managed to completely subjugate it.
Another important point is that although the subjugation ritual can pull bystanders into it, only the Shadow Technique user completing the ritual alone can truly wield the Shikigami... That is why I have used it as a last resort before, and there have been Zen'in clan heads who used it to achieve mutual destruction with an enemy."
This certainly sounds like an exceptionally powerful Shikigami, with combat power even far exceeding a general Special Grade Cursed Spirit, and it could manage fighting multiple enemies purely based on its characteristics.
It's just... why does it sound so strange?
The ability to adapt to attacks that harm it is one thing, but the fact that the subjugation ritual must be performed alone means the Shadow Technique user themselves doesn't even have many chances to attempt it.
Furthermore, the tenth Shikigami's ability is inherently stronger than the preceding ones. Even if the Shadow Technique user's ability is strong, it's impossible to exceed the limitations of the previous Shikigami, so how could they defeat it using those Shikigami?
Is this urging the Shadow Technique user to focus on enhancing their personal strength? But unless one possesses an ability like Fushiguro Toji 's, who can directly solo such an enemy based on their personal hard power? Don't forget, the Ten Shadows Technique is the Shadow Technique user's only Cursed Technique; they can only rely on this.
It even sounds like an impossible task, unless Emiya could create several strong counter-Cursed Tools for Fushiguro Megumi to use, but this is a condition that only he, a special outsider, could fulfill.
How could the Shadow Technique user himself achieve this?
The most likely scenario Emiya could think of is an existence like Geto 'Suguru,' who possesses multiple Cursed Techniques simultaneously, but wouldn't that require someone else to steal the Shadow Technique user's technique?
Is there some special mechanism that the Zen'in family hasn't discovered for hundreds of years?
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