Chapter 240: Ex——calibur !!!
Up until now, Ryomen Sukuna's technique had only manifested as "Slashing," yet its power was so terrifying that others couldn't hope to reach its level even with their full effort.
With a technique so purely biased toward physical destruction, how could anyone imagine he possessed a second mode of "magical" attack?
After all, [Innate Techniques] generally lack any form of variability; these abilities are rooted in the body's information and are completely fixed from the moment of birth.
Take Nobara Kugisaki's [Straw Doll Technique], for example. While it can be used in different ways by changing the medium or converting cursed energy to achieve various effects, in the end, it's just "one hundred ways to use a hammer."
As for Megumi Fushiguro's [Ten Shadows Technique], there is even less possibility for fundamental change. No matter how much the technique is refined, there are only the ten original shikigami available. It's not as if Megumi could suddenly manufacture several new ones himself.
Yet, Ryomen Sukuna's technique had achieved a literal transformation from "Slashing" to "Fire."
Had it been any other scenario where Sukuna didn't explain his technique, Emiya might have mistaken him for someone like Kenjaku—someone who had obtained two or more techniques through special means.
[Shrine]... if understood truly according to Sukuna's description as a technique derived from "culinary arts," then how weak must its initial power values have been?
But if that wasn't the case, how could one explain Sukuna's ability to make one technique manifest in two completely different forms?
Emiya certainly felt the necessity to figure this out. While most sorcerers don't care about informational disparities, the acquisition of intelligence is exceptionally important in both the world of Magecraft and battles between Servants.
Furthermore, other sorcerers cannot fight specifically against an enemy after learning their abilities because their own techniques are fixed... but for Emiya, who possesses countless Noble Phantasms available for projection, this is a simple task.
Rationally speaking, Sukuna had no reason or need to deceive Emiya. Aside from his vile personality, arrogance was one of his unchangeable traits. Even if he chose to deceive someone, it was usually a setup to lead them toward a tragic end.
Exchanging someone else's tragedy for his own amusement was exactly the kind of thing Ryomen Sukuna would do. He would happily do things that harm others even if they brought him no benefit at all.
So, assuming Sukuna's explanation of [Shrine] was true...
Could it be that the process of the technique follows the order of "preparing the ingredients" through slashing, and then "searing" them with fire?!
Emiya was, of course, intimately familiar with all conditions and processes of cooking; one could not find a better chef in the entire jujutsu world. However, compared to the process of "cooking" enemies... as expected, the [Forging] technique brought by the Old Man (Muramasa) was better. Otherwise, he was afraid he might lose the courage to ever pick up a knife and fork again.
Therefore, Sukuna's initial slash wasn't redundant; it was a necessary condition for unleashing this following fire technique. As for the steps after that... could "eating" also be factored in?
"Forget it... first, I need to perfectly withstand this attack..."
In the gap while Sukuna explained his technique, Emiya analyzed his opponent while raising the Holy Sword high, beginning to pour a constant stream of magical energy from his body into it.
The glow of the Magic Circuits on his arms never dimmed, but that was only the surface. The actual reality was that Emiya's body at this moment was like a high-efficiency energy reactor. He was using [Reverse Cursed Technique] at extreme speed to convert cursed energy into vitality, then using [Magic Circuits] to convert vitality into magical energy, and finally pouring it all into the blade above.
This technique, which is usually difficult to realize during active combat, had basically been mastered by Emiya. The only drawback seemed to be that it was hard to split his focus to do this while engaged in high-frequency fighting.
But it didn't matter. Even if he could only perform this conversion during a charging phase, it was an unimaginable upgrade for Emiya. Many powerful Noble Phantasms require terrifying amounts of magical energy for a full release. In the past, Emiya could use them by directly projecting Noble Phantasms that already contained massive mana, but the burden on his [Magic Circuits] was immense.
Unlike now, where the only thing consumed in the conversion process was an excess of cursed energy—the one thing Emiya had in abundance.
Thus, Emiya chose a Noble Phantasm that perfectly fit the situation—
"In the legends of Medieval Europe, none are more famous than the story of King Arthur of Britain, who led the Knights of the Round Table. Britain achieved unprecedented unity, and the nation grew strong."
"Chronologically speaking, your story and King Arthur's might have actually happened at the same time. But compared to that King, the ghost-god named Ryomen Sukuna doesn't even make the cut."
"And in legend, King Arthur held an unquestionable Sword of Victory that could always guide him forward—"
Emiya's words made no secret of his disparagement of one side and praise for the other, but Sukuna did not become angry. At this moment, his gaze was completely locked onto the golden blade in Emiya's hand.
"Are you saying... that with just this weapon, you can defeat me?"
"With something that sounds this interesting, of course I have to try it, right?"
Confidence brought Sukuna not only folly but also an obsession to see Emiya fall before his overwhelming power. Between their words, the flame arrow in Sukuna's hand rapidly grew larger and deeper; the unbelievable heat had even turned the entire crater back into a molten hell.
This scene of two sides constantly building momentum was quite unique in the jujutsu world.
"Yes."
Facing Sukuna's question, Emiya lowered his head slightly with a low hum in response, then looked back at him and shouted:
"The sword is the sorrowful yet noble dream held by all soldiers who have vanished on the battlefield, past and future, in their final moments. That will is worth boasting of; that faith must be carried out. The King of Constant Victory loudly calls out the True Name of the miracle in his hand—it is—"
By the time he reached this point, the radiance on the blade in Emiya's hand had been condensed to the limit.
Even for a high-spec Noble Phantasm, its method of use and release is quite simple: constantly convert magical energy into light and then refine and compress it until it reaches a level that can destroy everything.
The only drawback is the terrifying amount of mana it requires. Based on the capacity of Emiya's own Magic Circuits, he would need an amplification of over a hundredfold to fully release it.
Fortunately, having gathered momentum for a full ten-plus seconds, Emiya was able to do exactly that.
The biggest mistake Ryomen Sukuna ever made was deciding to clash directly with Emiya in terms of raw power output.
Emiya knew that Sukuna's attack would likely be far beyond any level he had seen before, but at the moment he swung the blade, he didn't hesitate for a second. This was Emiya's trust in the Holy Sword.
Then, in the next instant, the light sword and the fire arrow in Sukuna's hand were unleashed together—
"Ex——calibur (Sword of Promised Victory)!!!"
BOOM!!!!!
What is it like to admire the rising sun in an open area? Never mind light of that magnitude—even a simple flashlight is enough to blind someone who has adapted to the dark. If some lucky person happened to look in this direction at this moment, they would likely see a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
In most people's minds, "light" is considered a byproduct of fire. Whether it's candlelight or an electric lamp, the essence is using heat to create brightness. Even the most prominent sun is just a massive, burning ball of fire capable of releasing the light and heat that illuminates the solar system.
The fire attack released by Ryomen Sukuna was indeed incredible; a flame bow only a few meters long contained terrifying power far exceeding Jogo's massive meteor. It was even possible for it to burn the latter to ashes in reverse.
It was clear that the energy within this attack was more condensed, resulting in a core temperature of over tens of thousands of degrees... but none of that had much meaning.
At the very first moment the fire met the light, the light—which felt almost physical—faintly shattered the shape of the arrow, and then completely swallowed it in the next second.
An attack with such high temperatures naturally gave off a dazzling light. But under the coverage of a more brilliant radiance, that impure light had no room to exist.
Initially, the light cannon released by the blade was only aimed at Sukuna's position. But once it truly made contact, the linear beam somehow transformed into a brilliant golden pillar of light that shot straight into the clouds.
After completely filling the dozens-of-meters-deep crater, the pillar of light began to spread rapidly to the surroundings, vaporizing every bit of matter it touched. It wasn't until several seconds later that it finally lost momentum, gradually fading as the light thinned.
But by this point, the already frightening crater had its diameter extended several times over, as if a prominent scar had been gouged out of the center of the city.
"Are you kidding me? This... is this really something a human can do?"
Eso, who had witnessed this clash of light cannons from a short distance, was unable to close his mouth. He couldn't imagine—and didn't dare to imagine—what kind of creature could
survive an attack of this level. There were few things in the world hard enough to resist such heat, let alone a body of flesh and blood.
One could only guess how much steel and concrete were in the earth and buildings that had been vaporized, yet they had vanished without a sound.
The gap in strength could be that exaggerated... Eso knew that even if there were hundreds or thousands of himself standing there, he likely wouldn't escape the fate of being completely erased from this world.
The thing to be most grateful for now was that Megumi Fushiguro and the others had realized at the very start of the battle that their strength was nowhere near enough to intervene, and that forcing their way in would only bring Emiya more trouble. If they hadn't been far enough from the center of the explosion, they might have turned into invisible dust along with those high-rises and the earth.
When the view returned to the center of the battle, the previously uneven ground had been smoothed over by the power of the light cannon. There was even the sound of trickling water, as if a water main had been accidentally severed somewhere, but Emiya had no time to worry about such things.
He only glanced at the Holy Sword in his hand, which had completely lost its glow, and then immediately focused all his energy on searching for the enemy's position.
"As expected, it can't be used again. But... is it over?"
What Emiya hadn't explained to Sukuna just now was that the true form of Excalibur was not man-made; it was a Divine Construct forged by the planet, standing at the pinnacle of Holy Swords.
Emiya did not yet have the ability to perfectly replicate the original body of this Holy Sword. The reason he could project Galatine last time was mostly by drawing on the experience of "other Shirou Emiyas"... though in reality, the situation this time was basically the same.
For some reason, "Shirou Emiya" was always associated with the Heroic Spirit King Arthur. In the several memories of the [Holy Grail War] Emiya had seen, the Servant summoned by "Shirou Emiya" was always this King Arthur.
It was thanks to these experiences of close contact with that Servant—and even directly projecting Excalibur—that Emiya was able to successfully replicate it.
It's worth mentioning that even if [Projection Magecraft] itself cannot project the power of a Divine Construct, "Shirou Emiya" was able to successfully project the blade given the support of the original owner, though the price would be infinitely more tragic.
Therefore, the Excalibur Emiya used now couldn't be counted as a perfect copy of the true Holy Sword; it was a "composite" summarized from his many memories.
Fortunately, with the support of massive magical energy, even this replica condensed from memory could explode with power rivaling the original in an instant—which was why Emiya was able to completely overwhelm Ryomen Sukuna at this moment.
Even if King Arthur as a Servant released the Holy Sword herself, the resulting power wouldn't necessarily be higher than what Emiya had just released. After all, the mana a Servant can wield is ultimately decided by their Master, whereas the current Emiya could limitlessly pour mana into the Noble Phantasm until the weapon itself couldn't bear it.
However, after experiencing so many memories, Emiya himself felt a bit of curiosity toward King Arthur. Unfortunately, in his original world, the [Holy Grail War] had been modified into a very strange form, and a true King Arthur would never manifest.
"So, why is there no trace of that guy? It can't be that he dodged it..."
Cough, cough...
Just as Emiya, who hadn't found Sukuna's body immediately, whispered to himself, several deep coughs suddenly came from a distant direction.
In the next second, a shadow almost entirely covered in char rose slowly from the ground, its blood-red eyes staring deathly at Emiya's position.
Those charred marks weren't stains; the flesh itself had been scorched into this state of complete necrosis. They say a tree will end its life in agony after losing its bark, and humans are the same. This kind of injury is even more fatal than simply losing an organ.
Furthermore, what had been burned off Ryomen Sukuna wasn't just surface skin; even his bones were likely close to being cooked through. Yet even with such a heavy injury, he stood up tenaciously, and the char all over his body was constantly falling off.
"...A...!"
After vomiting a clump of crimson-black matter, Sukuna used his newly regrown hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"That was truly a close one. If I hadn't timely protected my vital organs with all my cursed energy, I might have..."
Before he could even finish speaking, Emiya had already begun his next move—
Unaware of beginning, Nor aware of the end...
"Trace on!"
Knowing the opponent was in a state of recovery from a heavy injury, why would Emiya be foolish enough to wait for him?
So, in the instant Sukuna started to speak, Emiya—having discarded the one-shot Holy Sword and swapped back to Hrunting—crouched and sprinted toward him.
At this moment, Sukuna's face had only recovered about halfway, yet it was enough to show an unmistakable rage. Reflected in his pupils was only Emiya, and the blade in Emiya's hand glowing with black light.
"[Black Flash]!"
BOOM!!!!!!
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