Chapter 120: [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings]
"Strictly speaking, however, this cannot be completely counted as them being too impulsive."
At this point, Nitta Akari even defended Itadori and the others a bit.
"Although we still don't know what the exact condition for contracting the Curse is, the rule for the Curse's killing is related to a door that [cannot be closed normally]. The victims were all killed a few weeks after noticing this phenomenon.
And such rule-based Curses are generally divided into two types: physical and sudden-onset.
The former is a Curse that condenses into a physical Curse Spirit and pursues the victims afflicted by the rule. The latter directly manifests the Curse within the victim's body, making it impossible to guard against.
Since electronic devices cannot capture the form of Curses, we have been unable to determine which form the Curse takes so far."
This is the drawback of the Jujutsu world being unable to advance with technological development. All problems must be solved by Sorcerers or assistant managers conducting on-site investigations.
Advancement in this area doesn't necessarily have to allow ordinary people to clearly perceive the existence of Curses. It would be a great victory just to develop an instrument that can detect Curses within a certain range.
"A phenomenon that only those afflicted by the Curse can see appears before the Curse fully manifests. This would normally be a good thing for preventing the Curse, but Miss Tsumiki has been in a coma, so it's hard to determine how far the Curse has progressed now.
It's also difficult to arrange Sorcerers for close protection in advance, as the Jujutsu world cannot spare that kind of manpower. Moreover, based on the current situation, the Curse can absolutely no longer be classified as Grade 2."
It takes at least two weeks for the Curse to appear after manifesting. How can a Grade 1 Sorcerer guard someone for such a long time?
Furthermore, because the person in question is in a coma, they can't even tell if the Curse has already started to manifest.
Waiting in order to re-deploy sufficiently powerful Sorcerers to exorcise the Curse's source is possible, but this process would take at least a few days, and the investigation into the Curse might take even longer.
From Fushiguro Megumi's perspective, acting on his distress, it is not strange at all that he would choose to try and face the Curse Spirit alone.
"In the end, the reason for being so impulsive is still for the safety of others?
Honestly, knowing he might not be able to solve the problem, couldn't he have called me, his sensei, in advance?"
Emiya is never afraid of people he knows asking him for help with a problem; he is only afraid when they refuse to tell him anything and intend to bear all the danger themselves.
Some people might find this personality admirable, but not everyone is an egoist.
From Emiya's perspective, helping friends is a matter of course. Similarly, true friends will, in turn, offer help when he is in need.
He believes this kind of relationship is the best; too much sense of boundaries is uncomfortable.
Besides... as their sensei, isn't it perfectly normal for him to solve problems for his students?
It was not until the sky had completely darkened that Emiya, led by Nitta Akari, arrived at the rumored birthplace of the Curse: [The Eighty-Eight Bridge].
"It looks like... it's not hiding a Curse?"
Emiya stood on one side of the bridge and tried to look down, but he couldn't perceive any information related to a Curse Spirit.
Forget Curses and Curse Spirits; not even slightly obvious residual Cursed Energy could be seen.
"This is the trouble with a Curse of this nature. If the rule isn't triggered, even an experienced Sorcerer finds it difficult to directly locate the Curse's source.
However, based on the current investigation, the rumored bungee jumping trigger method can be ruled out. Therefore, the real rule is likely not related to the bridge itself, but to the bottom of the bridge."
"...The bottom of the bridge?"
Following Nitta Akari's suggestion, Emiya focused his gaze mainly on the gorge beneath the bridge.
Judging from the special terrain below, this bridge should have originally been constructed as a river-crossing bridge. However, perhaps due to seasonal changes or the construction of a dam somewhere, all that remained was a large, dried-up riverbed.
Various vegetation grew haphazardly below, leading one to subconsciously believe the area was deep and desolate.
"Itadori-kun and the others' attempts during the day all ended in complete failure, so one of the conditions is highly likely to be the time—at night.
As for the location, it must be the bottom of the bridge. Otherwise, countless people cross this bridge every day. And, if nothing is wrong, there might still be a river at the bottom of the gorge.
The act of crossing a river or boundary line to reach the other side carries great significance in the context of Jujutsu... The previous victims did not encounter the Curse's source immediately because the Curse hadn't fully manifested at that time, but now that the condition is met, the Curse Spirit will manifest directly."
In any case, Nitta Akari's fundamental skills were very solid, and she quickly analyzed the complete trigger conditions for Emiya.
"The reason I haven't seen Itadori and the others is that they have already entered the Curse Spirit's barrier, then?"
A Domain infused with a Cursed Technique cannot last long, but a Curse's [Innate Domain] when it is first born is different.
As long as the Curse itself is not killed, or has not left the range of the Domain for too long, the [Innate Domain] constructed by the Curse will persist.
"I will handle what happens next. For safety's sake, it would be better for Nitta-san to stay further away."
Emiya instructed Nitta Akari.
"Uh, what about the [Curtain]...?"
"Draw it up from the outside after you've moved further away."
To prevent any unexpected incidents, a [Curtain] to separate the outside world was indeed essential.
After completing his final instruction, Emiya flipped over the guardrail and leaped down from a height of dozens of meters, successfully reaching the bottom of the gorge a few seconds later.
"Next, I just need to cross that river?"
Emiya's sharp eyes immediately caught sight of a stream nearby that had been reduced to just a few trickles of water. He immediately started walking toward it.
But just as Emiya's foot was about to touch the opposite bank, something unexpected suddenly happened—
"Who?!"
Emiya, noticing the abnormal Cursed Energy generating behind him, dodged to the side without thinking, while the two attacks originally aimed at him shot straight onto the opposite bank of the river.
The dark-red liquid, resembling blood, made a sizzling sound upon contact with the ground, clearly indicating it possessed high corrosiveness.
"What's this? So quick. Are you a Sorcerer?"
A tall, burly man slowly walked out of the shaded thicket. But how should one describe his attire? It was a bit... scantily clad?
Mhm, it was the kind of degree that would make even Todo Aoi look modest.
"The mission assigned to us brothers didn't include getting rid of a Sorcerer. Can't believe we bumped into one! What bad luck.
Hey! Little brother over there, do you want to try running away? I really don't want to fight a Sorcerer I don't know for no reason."
After fully exposing his figure in the moonlight, the unknown figure didn't choose to continue attacking but asked Emiya a question from not far away.
However, this suddenly appearing figure was clearly not a Sorcerer. Thus, whether he was a Curse User or a Curse Spirit, he was not someone Emiya should seek a truce with.
"But what is this foul smell... the smell of a corpse?"
Emiya, who had traveled with Kiritsugu to many disaster sites, was quite familiar with this smell—the smell of human death.
Emiya first analyzed the smell that had suddenly reached him where he stood, then tried to ask the other party, "First tell me what your mission is, then I can consider whether to step aside."
"What? You're not here to retrieve the finger?"
The naked man looked troubled and scratched the back of his head.
"The finger? Sorry, if you're talking about Sukuna's finger, I'm afraid this area is now restricted."
Emiya could roughly determine that this person was part of the same group of Curses that invaded the school not long ago. Precisely for this reason, he couldn't let the opponent successfully search for any finger, nor could he let him leave.
To run into Emiya so coincidentally, this guy probably really didn't check his horoscope before leaving home.
"So, I can't proceed without taking care of you?
Alright, alright. Although this is an outside-the-mission fight, I'll let you know that the one who killed you is me—Eso."
The guy posed dramatically, completely unaware that his words had once again provided Emiya with crucial information.
"Eso... [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings]?"
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