Chapter 152 – Projection, Indra's Thunder Spear! The Shock Brought by the God-Slaying Spear!
The underground, which should have been pitch black, was instead lit up as bright as day by the radiance of divine power. Through some unknown means, Miach had completely unleashed his divine power. Even the most ordinary of his movements, when imbued with divinity, became like a raging storm, twisting, crushing, and tearing apart everything before him.
"Ha!"
As Miach casually raised his hand and then suddenly brought his palm down, Shirou felt his entire body being crushed from all directions. At the very instant he heard the sound of his bones shattering, his entire body was sent flying dozens of meters, smashing violently against the wall.
"Cough—cough—!"
From just a single blow, Shirou's consciousness nearly vanished on the spot. The power of divinity was simply beyond description. Even though Shirou now held the rank of a demigod, when facing a true god—the very force that distorted the laws of physics themselves—he had no means of resistance. His ribs were pierced through in an instant, and his entire body twisted to its limit.
But since he had already resolved himself to fight against a god, Shirou naturally hadn't come unprepared. Seeing Miach's next strike about to fall, he decisively raised his right hand—
"Trace On!" "Rho Aias!"
Layer upon layer of the petal-shaped shield manifested before Shirou, projected at the fastest possible speed, temporarily holding back the impact of divine power.
"Boom!"
Yet even so, before such exaggerated might, the petal shield was pierced in the blink of an eye, dissipating like smoke.
But Shirou's purpose in projecting Rho Aias had never been to completely block Miach's attack. Everything he did was simply to buy enough time—time for an even greater projection!
"Trace On!" "Excalibur!"
Shirou performed a projection that was unheard of. He projected the strongest holy sword—Excalibur—a weapon crafted by the gods themselves.
This should have been impossible.
Shirou had never possessed the ability to project divine armaments, lacking the rank required to recreate a sacred treasure. But the reason he couldn't project divine weapons before was because he had never truly understood their essence, never comprehended their construction.
Yet the moment he had successfully forged Excalibur himself at the Hephaestus Familia's forge, he had grasped its concept and structure. From that moment, projecting the holy sword was no longer an impossibility!
"Boom!"
As dazzling radiance took shape in Shirou's hands, the strongest holy sword appeared, blazing like a beacon, and in an instant carved a shocking arc through the air. The previously intangible, irresistible veil of divine power—under the brilliance of Excalibur—was split open with a fissure. Shirou had shattered the divine power Miach had released.
To see a mortal tear through divinity itself—Thanatos aside—even Miach himself showed a look of astonishment. Clearly, he had never expected Shirou to create such a weapon, something that far surpassed the gods' predictions.
At the same time as he cut apart Miach's divine power, Shirou also noticed a certain truth and spoke slowly:
"God Miach, you cannot wield your full divine power, can you? I don't know what method you used to bypass the restrictions of Genkai's laws, but as you are now, you can only use a portion of your divinity. Compared to true divine power, yours is incomplete. Otherwise, just my swing of a projected holy sword could never have broken through your power."
Shirou calmly voiced his judgment.
After all, he was not a true wielder of the holy sword. The power of his swing was far inferior to that of a true wielder—or even to someone like Ais, who had been recognized by a divine blade. And a projected Excalibur could never match the original in power.
Yet even so, in that state, Shirou had still managed to cleave apart Miach's divine power. The conclusion was clear.
There was only one explanation: Miach's own state was incomplete. He had not fully restored the strength of a god, and could not wield full divinity.
"To make such a simple yet accurate judgment… fighting you really allows no carelessness," Miach admitted with a bitter smile. "As you said, I have not truly restored my divine power. If I were to wield my full divinity, the
inevitable result would be being forced back to Tenkai. But I still have attachments in Genkai—I cannot accept that outcome so easily."
"Then how are you releasing divine power now?" Shirou asked suspiciously, eyes fixed on Miach.
Hermes had created an avatar from divine energy through artificial angels, similar to the creation of spirits, allowing him to wield divine power indirectly.
But Miach was different. He clearly wasn't using an avatar. His true body itself radiated divine energy, as though a god had descended into Genkai. Such a thing should have directly violated the laws of Genkai, forcing his immediate return to Tenkai.
"Well, this isn't something I can't tell you," Miach said with a faint smile. "The reason I can wield divine power is very simple. The prohibition on divine power in Genkai applies only to gods—it rejects and denies all outside entities. So, how can an outsider god wield divine power like spirits or Xenos? The answer is simple: modify my body so that the laws of Genkai no longer judge me as a god."
"Body modification…"
"As a god of medicine and potions, long ago I discovered certain special drugs that can temporarily alter an individual's form—turning a human into a monster, or causing different races to mutate. Normally, such transformations have little effect on gods, because our essence is utterly different from anything in Genkai. Even when stripped of divinity here, a god's essence is difficult to alter."
Miach explained piece by piece the truth of his divine power:
"However, my authority allows me to override that difference, forcibly modifying even a god's body. Although the process is extremely dangerous, I can personally ignore some of the risks. Even if it means reducing my body to resemble that of a mortal, it can be done.
But the price— is that the divine power I can wield is constrained, capped at the limits of what a mortal could ever reach."
…
"I see."
Though Miach's explanation was complex, the gist was simple: he had used his divine authority and special potions to forcibly lower his rank to that of a demigod. As a demigod, he could bypass the restriction that gods cannot use divinity in Genkai. But in exchange, the divine power he could wield was also limited.
Yet even with such limits—divinity was still divinity.
Even the former spirit race, when granted only a fraction of divine power, was able to greatly aid humanity. The Three Great Calamities, once infused with divinity, became outright world-ending existences.
Miach, as a true god, even with his rank lowered, still possessed mastery and control over divine power far beyond what any mortal could compare to. It was precisely because of this that his instantaneous outburst had been enough to suppress Shirou—and even Thanatos, the god of death—in an instant.
However, while this level of authority was an irresistible force against weak mortals, for Shirou, who had also ascended to the rank of a demigod and could even project divine weapons, it was not an insurmountable gulf!
"Boom!"
The holy sword in Shirou's hand suddenly came unsheathed. Tearing through the divine power Miach had released, he charged forward without hesitation.
Even though Miach's authority and rank as a god were exceedingly high, he nonetheless had a weakness—his lack of combat experience. Whether in Tenkai or Genkai, gods rarely engaged in battles against mortals. Except for a handful of gods with authorities tailored for combat, most deities never fought up close. They usually relied on divine power alone to solve problems.
This meant that as long as Shirou closed the distance and entered striking range, he could suppress his opponent through sheer combat experience.
It seemed Miach had anticipated this thought. Yet he made no move to stop Shirou from approaching—instead, he allowed it, choosing to meet Shirou's holy sword head-on.
"Ha!"
Faced with this bizarre action, Shirou felt doubt in his heart, but his body did not hesitate in the slightest. He swung the holy sword with all his strength, aiming to pierce his opponent directly.
But then, an unbelievable scene unfolded. Just as his blade was about to strike, Miach effortlessly dodged the slash. By all logic, that should have been impossible—Shirou's attack was at full force, leaving not even the smallest gap, a strike meant to absolutely connect. And yet Miach evaded it.
This meant that his opponent possessed speed greater than Shirou's own!
As though to confirm his realization, Miach suddenly appeared before Shirou with a plain, unrefined movement, and then lashed out with a kick.
"Bang!"
A simple kick, but backed by divine power, struck Shirou and sent him crashing into the air. Before he could regain his stance to swing the sword, Miach released another burst of divine pressure, smashing Shirou up into the laboratory's ceiling.
"Gah—!"
In such a short time, Shirou was dealt devastating injuries. He nearly lost his grip on the sword. But in the final moment, he forced himself to remain calm, his consciousness clearing again. With rapid movements, he twisted his body, barely evading Miach's follow-up strike.
After retreating and regaining distance, Shirou coolly reflected on what had just occurred—and quickly realized the reason he had been so easily overwhelmed.
"You just used your authority, didn't you?" Shirou glared at Miach. "In that instant, it wasn't that you were faster than me, nor that your power outstripped mine—you used your authority to interfere with my body, slowing me down. That's why I was suppressed."
"Correct."
Miach was already numb to Shirou's almost absurd situational awareness. So he made no further attempt to conceal it and replied calmly:
"Just as I once influenced your body with my authority to induce a high fever, my power can interfere with mortal bodies—temporarily granting them buffs, or forcing them into states of extreme weakness. And it doesn't even require them to ingest potions—merely being within a certain range of me is enough. In that moment just now, I already injected weakness-inducing factors into your body. From now on, your condition will only worsen, until you are no longer capable of fighting."
Miach's words were undeniably true.
In an instant, Shirou once again fell into that dreadful state of clouded consciousness. The severe dizziness he had once suffered returned, dragging his body down, weighing his limbs heavily, and blurring his thoughts.
If this continued, he would soon become unbearably weak—just like before. But this time, his opponent was not the relatively weak Hermes Familia—it was a being nearly equivalent to a true god. Even the slightest debilitation could completely overturn the battle.
And yet, Shirou was not without a plan. The moment he closed the distance to Miach, he had already predicted that his opponent might use such an authority. Still, he had charged in recklessly.
Firstly, because without closing in, defeating Miach would be nearly impossible.
Secondly, because Shirou had already conceived of a way to counter Miach's authority.
"Flames—burn!"
Suddenly, Shirou shut his eyes tightly. And then, flames of unknown origin erupted from his body, igniting his entire form out of nowhere.
This astonishing sight drew gasps from the gods present. But neither Miach nor Thanatos could understand what Shirou was doing.
Thanatos, however, soon remembered something. He recalled the moment Shirou had once used the Karma's Fire to burn away the soul fragment implanted within the Sword Princess, Ais.
Now, Shirou had once again called forth the Karma Fire—but this time, he was directly setting his entire body ablaze. If Thanatos guessed correctly, Shirou was attempting to use the Karma's Fire to burn away Miach's authority itself!
But… was such a thing even possible?
Thanatos found it difficult to believe. After all, back then, Shirou had only been able to burn his soul fragment because the fragment contained only a small portion of divine authority. How could mere Karma's Fire possibly burn away the true authority of a god?
Yet Thanatos was overlooking one crucial fact— The Karma's Fire Shirou wielded back then was not the same flame as now.
After his battle against the artificial angel, Shirou had once again absorbed vast amounts of divine power. His very rank had evolved to that of a demigod. As a result, the Karma's Fire he wielded—born of condensed divine energy—had also evolved, its level and might escalating dramatically.
Now, it had reached a domain not inferior to true divine authority.
If Shirou were to ascend fully to godhood, the Karma's Fire would very likely transform into a true divine authority of its own. Even though he had yet to reach that level, the flame had already risen high enough to contend with a god's authority.
Thus, burning away Miach's power in the short term was by no means impossible.
"Boom!"
As the blazing Karma's Fire engulfed his body, all the weakness and emptiness within Shirou was instantly purged.
This shocking scene left both Miach and Thanatos stunned, their expressions frozen, their perception of the mortal Emiya Shirou shaken even further.
Shirou, however, decisively seized the opportunity.
Taking advantage of the moment before Miach could react, he suddenly closed the distance, and flung from his body the golden chains.
"Bind him, Chains of Heaven. Enkidu!"
The golden chains tore through space, wrapping around Miach at incredible speed.
These chains, capable of binding divine power, had countless times helped Shirou suppress divine existences.
Now, naturally, he once again entrusted himself to the power of the Chains of Heaven, attempting to restrain Miach's divine power, and then crush him in one breath.
"So this is the weapon that can bind divine power?"
Miach seemed to have some knowledge of the Chains of Heaven.
This was natural. By now, Shirou had used the Chains of Heaven far too many times. Most of the gods already knew of this special tool he possessed.
And to gods, such a tool capable of restraining divine power was naturally the most alarming.
"Since it is a chain that binds a single target, all that is needed is to make it choose the wrong object, and it will completely lose effect."
As Miach spoke, he tossed out a strange doll.
The doll's body was filled with massive divine power. Although it was merely a lifeless object without intellect, it seemed to possess the property of being able to store a vast amount of divine power.
Because of this, the Chains of Heaven were instinctively attracted to the divine-power-filled doll. Instead of targeting Miach, they surged toward the doll, ultimately binding the wrong object.
"So a method to counter it has indeed already been developed..."
Regarding the Chains of Heaven being thwarted, Shirou did not feel much surprise.
Anything that is studied will eventually have its weakness found.
This was also why Shirou had always acted under the identity of the "Sword Demon," rarely exposing his true abilities. For once his true self became too prominent, it would be easy to be targeted, leading to his weaknesses being discovered.
In short, Shirou did not mind the failure of the Chains of Heaven. He merely continued with his original strategy—taking advantage of the karmic fire burning away Miach's Authority, he rushed at extreme speed right in front of his opponent, unleashing a flurry of lightning-fast slashes.
Even if Miach possessed true divine power, he could not possibly have the battle-honed skills Shirou had cultivated through countless life-or-death fights.
Close combat was not a field in which Miach could win.
However—
Boom!
A tremendously exaggerated collision sounded out.
Shirou had clearly not even touched Miach, yet his body was struck by an overwhelming force. His entire body was sent flying at supersonic speed, slamming violently into the wall of the laboratory.
This time, Shirou could no longer hold onto the Sword of Promised Victory. The holy sword fell to the ground.
"What happened?!"
Thanatos' eyes widened.
Even as the God of Death, he had not expected the reason why Shirou, who had held the advantage, would suddenly fall into such a disadvantage.
But he quickly understood everything.
Because in his eyes, Miach's body had already begun to burn with the radiance of true divine power.
This was completely different from before, when Miach had relied on special methods, temporarily erupting with only faint divine power in a demi-god-like state. Now, he was no longer bound by anything—he had unleashed true divine power!
At the same time, this also meant that Miach had violated the law that gods could not use divine power in Genkai. His body had already begun to be affected by the laws of Genkai, and was being forced toward expulsion.
In that instant, the heavenly ladder descended from the sky to receive him.
Miach was about to return to Tenkai!
But before he returned to Tenkai, in this brief time, this battle would be decided completely!
"It's unfortunate, but it seems this is as far as I go." Miach looked at Shirou with a helpless expression. "To force a god into such a desperate situation—you can already take pride in this, Emiya Shirou. However, as the price, I will take everything from you, as punishment for assaulting a god!"
As he spoke, Miach raised his palm.
The force now gathering in his hand was no longer a mere whirlpool of divine power.
If the divine power Miach had released earlier was like a stream, then the divine power he now wielded was nothing less than an ocean.
The immense divine power caused even the space itself to begin to shatter, the terrifying pressure threatening to bring destruction to the entire world.
Divine power, divine might—everything related to godhood manifested in this moment.
Bound by the laws of Genkai, power that should not have been able to affect the world now appeared before all eyes.
Shirou bore the brunt of it, swallowed by the mad whirlpool of divine power.
His consciousness was erased, his flesh shattered, and all the components of his existence as a human were mercilessly disassembled before that absolute might.
Only in this moment did he finally realize how true the words were—that gods stand above all creation.
No wonder the gods had no feelings or attachments for mortals, committing all manner of wanton acts in Genkai.
Because with such a vast disparity, gods could never see mortals as beings similar to themselves.
At most, they might treat them with the attitude one held toward pets.
Or, even worse, simply as ants.
This was the inevitability caused by an overwhelming disparity in power.
But Shirou, of course, would never accept a result of destruction.
He had already resolved that, before uncovering the truth and achieving justice, he would absolutely not die.
Mortal or god, it mattered not.
If a gap exists, then he will cross it!
If he cannot resist, then he will stake everything!
Even if it costs the burning of his entire being, he will make the gods understand—the limit of mortal willpower is a madness beyond even what the gods can imagine!
"Trace On!"
"Vajra of Indra! (Spear of God-Slaying)"
In his frenzy, Shirou began an unprecedented projection.
If projecting the Sword of Promised Victory had already been an exaggerated act, then the Noble Phantasm he was about to project now could truly be said to be enough to tear his body apart.
This was the weapon held by the Heroic Spirit Karna.
This was the weapon that, in myth, was one of the only true anti-god Noble Phantasms.
Its existence was absolutely no less than Gilgamesh's Ea.
And when confronting gods, the Spear of God-Slaying's might even surpassed Ea.
Without a doubt, this was a projection Shirou should never have been able to perform—one not permitted to be performed.
But now, by staking his entire being, relying on the amplification brought by his demigod body, he forcibly completed this impossible projection.
As the price, his body might shatter at any moment.
But that no longer mattered.
For now, only one thought was enough.
How to drag down the arrogant god before his eyes from the throne of divinity!
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