Chapter 28: Grade 1 Cursed Spirit? Unexpectedly Weak
Sorcerers typically use three main fighting methods. They use their Cursed Techniques for long-range strikes against Curses, utilize specialized Cursed Tools for close-quarters combat, or simply use their Cursed Energy-coated fists for direct attacks.
This is because only objects imbued with Cursed Energy can harm a Cursed Spirit. If firearms could be consistently modified into practical Cursed Energy weapons, many Sorcerers would undoubtedly choose that truth.
However, for Emiya, who had only recently become a Sorcerer, his twin blades were clearly more intuitive.
The Cursed Spirit slashed forward.
Emiya, gripping his twin blades, slid forward to meet the Cursed Spirit.
Kanshou and Bakuya slashed simultaneously: one aimed for the Cursed Spirit's body, and the other parried the enemy's blade. In a situation where speed created an advantage, the dual-wielding style was much more effective than normal weapons.
But at that moment, the unexpected happened.
Whoosh—
That tearing sound occurred again. The Kanshou sword was easily severed by the cold light, and the blade in the Cursed Spirit's hand shot straight towards Emiya's chest.
"What?!"
Although Emiya, who had deliberately conserved his strength, retreated in time to dodge, the eerie cold light still carved a long slit in the fabric over his chest.
Instinctively looking at the dissipating Kanshou sword, whose structure had been destroyed, Emiya was still trying to process what happened.
Bizarre... No matter how sharp the weapon in this Cursed Spirit's hand was, how could it so easily cut a Noble Phantasm like Kanshou? Even an A-Rank Noble Phantasm couldn't easily achieve that.
The Cursed Spirit, devoid of much reason, didn't give Emiya any time to think.
Intending to cut its enemy as usual, it charged forward at an incredibly fast speed. The narrow space of the hallway didn't give Emiya room to maneuver and evade, so he unhesitatingly flung his remaining twin blade. The flying sword, spinning rapidly, sliced toward the Cursed Spirit.
Even as a single blade stripped of its special properties, it could still easily cut steel.
Whoosh—
Bang—!
But the familiar cold light slashed down again, and the flying blade was also cut in half, leaving only high-velocity fragments embedded in the walls on both sides.
'How can this be happening? Did Jujutsu High misjudge the strength of the Cursed Spirit?'
Emiya was constantly thinking while rapidly retreating to avoid a direct confrontation with the Cursed Spirit.
'No, now I have Cursed Energy and can sense that while this Cursed Spirit is stronger than the one born from the Cursed Object yesterday, the difference is limited.'
What caused the pressure felt when facing the two to be completely different? The Cursed Spirit from last night, while difficult to harm without Cursed Energy, could barely threaten Emiya during the fight. Yet, this Cursed Spirit could easily sever Noble Phantasms with its limb-mounted weapons. It's simply...
'Wait a minute?'
[Many powerful Grade 1 Cursed Spirits also have Innate Techniques, you know.]
Emiya suddenly remembered Gojo's words.
Could the blade that could cut through most objects be this Cursed Spirit's Innate Technique? Emiya's notion of a technique was still solidified in the idea of spell-casting abilities; he hadn't considered that it could manifest as a sharp blade.
Therefore, that cold light wasn't actually the blade reflecting light, but simply the manifestation after the technique was activated?
The activation of a technique must have conditions and a cool-down. Now that he realized this truth, close combat only required paying attention to that to easily suppress it.
However, Emiya decided to solve the problem in a simpler way.
Emiya intentionally closed the distance, baiting the Cursed Spirit to activate its technique to destroy the ceiling above the passage, burying itself.
Taking advantage of the brief moment the Cursed Spirit was trapped, Emiya quickly rounded the corner and headed for the end of the passage. The Cursed Spirit, as expected, chased after him around the corner, where Emiya had been waiting for dozens of meters.
"Trace on."
He projected a long bow and a spiraling sword-arrow into his hands, taking aim at the Cursed Spirit not far away. The narrow passage had just restricted Emiya's mobility, and it would now restrict the Cursed Spirit in the same way. Using a bow and arrow in close quarters is easily noticed and dodged, so he simply needed to ensure the enemy had no room to maneuver.
"Caladbolg II: Fake Spiral Sword!"
The sword-arrow arrived in less than a tenth of a second, violently penetrating the Cursed Spirit's spherical body before exploding.
BOOM—!
Caladbolg was originally the magical sword held by the Irish hero, Fergus mac Róich, in Celtic mythology. However, after being modified by Heroic Spirit Emiya, it was projected as an arrow.
Its power was undeniable. After this massive explosion, most of the dozens-of-meters-tall building was leveled, leaving only a few remnants supported by steel bars.
"Cough, cough..." Emiya gently fanned away the dust in front of him as he emerged from the smoke, searching for the Cursed Spirit that had been blasted away. "It really isn't suitable for use in an enclosed environment like this, but..."
Emiya's eyes successfully caught the monster buried in the rubble. Most of its spherical body was gone.
"Is this a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit?"
It seemed surprisingly weak, completely incomparable to his past battles with Servants.
The reason Emiya was briefly in a bind last night was largely due to the absence of Cursed Energy. He had just tried mixing his own Cursed Energy into the Spiral Sword, but the first attempt clearly wasn't perfect.
Despite the massive explosion, it failed to completely destroy the Cursed Spirit. If the attack had been purely condensed Cursed Energy, the Cursed Spirit would likely be reduced to nothing.
Emiya walked forward, just about to end its sinful life, when he suddenly heard human speech from the Cursed Spirit's mouth.
"M-mom, s-s-save... s-s-save me..."
Emiya's sword-wielding arm abruptly froze. Then, he plunged it down with even greater speed.
SPLAT—!
The disgusting body finally stopped squirming. Emiya, holding the blade, stood still, oblivious to the blood splattering his clothes and the side of his face. He simply stood there quietly, lost in thought.
Unfortunately, the tree desires stillness, but the wind keeps blowing.
Not far from where Emiya stood, a pair of eyes quietly opened from beneath the rubble, fixed intensely on Emiya's figure.
He had been lying in ambush here since before and had witnessed Emiya's performance in subduing the Cursed Spirit. He was astonished by the terrifying, missile-like explosive power
of the arrow and couldn't understand why a Sorcerer would use a bow and arrow as a weapon in this day and age.
But! Since he was a special Sorcerer who used a bow and arrow for long-range combat, it must mean his close-quarters fighting skills weren't superior, because close-combat, where Cursed Energy could be freely unleashed, was always stronger and more effective than long-range.
And as luck would have it, he was precisely the kind of Curse User who was invincible in close combat, someone who could easily take down even a regular Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Therefore, he was confident of victory!
The figure hidden in the darkness abruptly lunged toward Emiya!
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