Chapter 121: [Decaying Corrosive Technique: Ultimate] — [Wing King]!
The [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings] are one of the Special Grade Cursed Objects stored in the [Cursed Warehouse] that the School lost a few days ago.
According to the records at the School, the essence of this Cursed Object was the result of experiments conducted by Kamo Noritoshi, the man known as the 'most evil Sorcerer in history.'
At the time, he unexpectedly discovered a woman capable of bearing children with a Curse Spirit. Subsequently, after a series of cruel procedures, he created the Death Paintings numbered one through nine, which are nine half-breeds of Curses and humans.
Choso, Eso, Kechizu, Konsou, Seisou, Taisou, Sansou, Kotsusou, Shousou...
The different stages of change in a human corpse after death gave the nine paintings their respective names.
Simply put, Choso is the first phenomenon after death—swelling, leading to what is now called 'Bloating.' Eso is when the flesh begins to rot and necrose. Kechizu is when the internal organs rupture and blood oozes from the body...
As the decay continues, the corpse gradually deviates from a human appearance until it completely turns into a pile of white bones.
The original Kusōzu (Nine Stages of a Corpse) was meant to teach people about the cycle of birth and death, cut off worldly desires, and attain enlightenment by watching the process of a body decaying, thereby extinguishing greed and illusion.
As for why Kamo Noritoshi created the [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings] 150 years ago, the School has no clue. All related information has been destroyed as a stain on the three great clans.
The nine half-breeds, due to the peculiarity of their bodies upon birth, established a Binding Vow to preserve their lives and became Special Grade Cursed Objects. Numbers one through three—Choso, Eso, and Kechizu—were the ones stolen by the Curses previously.
Now, the person claiming to be Eso is standing in front of Emiya. Does this mean he has successfully incarnated, like Sukuna?
The difference, however, is that not everyone can become a perfect vessel like Itadori Yuji.
Since Eso is already here, Choso and Kechizu must also have successfully incarnated. Considering the worst-case scenario, each of them could be at Special Grade level.
"Oh? So, little brother, you know about us brothers."
Hearing Emiya call out the name of the Death Paintings, Eso extended his tongue and lightly licked his thumb, advising, "Then you should know that we brothers are united in spirit, and an ordinary Sorcerer can't challenge us.
Just leave quickly now. Our mission is only the fingers."
Was he kind? There was no need to use such a strong word to describe him.
From Eso's perspective, he was merely a newborn who had just successfully incarnated, meaning he had only truly come into existence recently.
As a half-breed of a Curse and a human, he didn't need to possess the inherent malice of a Curse, nor could he be called genuinely kind. He was merely abiding by the agreement made with those who awakened him.
Killing is certainly something he can do, but no one demanded or asked him to do such a thing, so why bother?
"Precisely because I know that, I cannot possibly step aside.
If I quickly deal with you here, perhaps I can go see how my students are performing over there..."
Emiya, speaking up to this point, suddenly paused.
"The barrier... has disappeared?
Does that mean my students have already dealt with the Special Grade Curse Spirit inside? Very capable."
Emiya naturally had great confidence in his students.
Especially now that they were proficient with the weapons he had given them, Emiya surmised that each of them likely possessed an ability not much weaker than the Finger Curse Spirit at the Detention Center.
The amount of Cursed Energy cannot grow that quickly, but real combat is not judged by just that one metric.
Even Itadori Yuji, just wielding his door-slab sword, would be enough to give the Finger Curse Spirit trouble. What's more, Itadori had already mastered the technique of [Black Flash] during his team-up with Todo Aoi.
His talent was indeed terrifying, but Emiya, who had been caught up by his own student, had also been working very hard... all he lacked now was an opportunity.
"In that case, I can't waste any more time with you here either."
The opposite-standing Eso naturally noticed the barrier's destruction and the Cursed Energy overflowing from the finger at the same time. He faced Emiya and began hopping backward to retreat.
"..."
"What is that? That movement?"
Emiya naturally couldn't allow this guy to casually leave and cause trouble for his students, but that strange movement was genuinely hard to suppress a laugh over.
"My back is my sensitive spot. I warn you, if you look at my back, I will definitely kill—"
Bang!
Before Eso could finish speaking, a large hole suddenly burst open in the rock wall behind him. Following this, Itadori Yuji, wielding a greatsword, darted out, chasing a certain Curse Spirit, and simultaneously saw Eso's back.
"Ah, Emiya-sensei?"
"Ah, Onii-chan?"
Both guys seemed a little slow-witted, completely unaware of the disaster they had just caused.
Eso's body even began to twist from extreme anger.
"You, you, you..."
"You saw it, didn't you!!!"
The final voice was not coming from Eso's human-like head at all, but from his back.
The meaning of 'Eso' is a corpse that has begun to rot and necrose. His front side was still that of a normal human, but his back had already decayed, purely a pile of festering flesh.
And these heaps of rotting flesh had eerily formed a face.
"Who is that? I'm sorry!"
"I'm sorry, Onii-chan, I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to!"
The two guys were quick to apologize, but unfortunately, the enraged Eso was in no mood to accept it.
"I'll kill you all!!!"
Turning around in anger, he immediately prepared to attack, but seemed to have completely forgotten that Emiya was still behind him.
Emiya took a step forward and kicked Eso's festering back, then couldn't help but frown himself.
"So the source of the corpse smell is here? That's really foul."
The most important reason why humans find the smell of a corpse so unbearable and repulsive is not the sense of smell, but the fear of a fellow human corpse that is already imprinted in human genes.
Just as insects release different pheromones in different scenarios, the corpse odor of a human body serves a similar function.
Smelling the corpse odor of a fellow human indicates an immediate life-threatening danger nearby, requiring immediate escape... this is an instinct inscribed in human genes.
"You, you are unforgivable...!"
"[Decaying Corrosive Technique: Ultimate] — [Wing King]!!"
As Eso's body began to twist by itself, countless streams of blood began to spray from the eyes of the face on his back. They converged behind him to form a pair of twisted, crimson wings.
"I'll sting you to death!!"
Eso's first target was Emiya, who was closest to him.
One should know, without needing a reminder, that those foul-smelling blood streams were absolutely not to be touched. Their danger lay in their unexpected corrosiveness.
They could instantly corrode a large hole in the ground, let alone the fact that this blood catalyst, if not obvious, must be a specialized attack against flesh and blood.
Despite being made of blood, symbolizing more than practical use, the wings still caused a burst in Eso's speed.
He kicked toward Emiya, but this was just a feint to divert attention, because the wings on his back were faster and more flexible.
The blood coagulated into the shape of spikes and quickly thrust toward Emiya's body.
"Trace On!"
Emiya projected Kanshou and Bakuya, easily blocking the incoming blood attacks. On the other side, Itadori Yuji, who was also attacked, was even more relaxed than him.
The guy simply placed his door-slab-like greatsword in front of him, and the attacks coming only from the front were all blocked.
The blood had a corrosive effect, but neither the blades in Emiya's hand nor the greatsword in Itadori's were at a level where this corrosive effect could easily destroy them.
"Tch... so troublesome?!"
The surprisingly appeared Eso immediately curled his body up. Countless lines and spikes made of blood began to surge wildly from his back, forming an impenetrable grid that continuously thrust outwards.
Emiya and Itadori both started retreating under the coverage of this attack, quickly separating by a large distance.
But it didn't matter. If the opponent's means of attack were only these, Emiya had far too many ways to deal with the opponent. Even Itadori alone might not be defeated.
Thinking of this, Emiya immediately threw the blade in his hand.
Boom!
The Broken Phantasm temporarily blocked the blood attacks, and Emiya took advantage of this gap to approach Itadori again.
"I'll help you block that younger brother. Are you confident you can defeat the older brother over there?"
Whether in terms of strength or intelligence, the younger brother was clearly less capable than the older brother. But combined, they might have some special moves.
Eso might be slightly stronger than the obvious Itadori, but only marginally, so Emiya wanted to try training his student a bit.
"I'm totally fine, Emiya-sensei!"
Compared to his original self, who only used his fists, the current sword-wielding Itadori had gained a sense of confidence in addition to his courage.
This is also a crucial part of combat.
"Then I'll deal with the younger brother first, and then come to watch you to prevent accidents... No, it seems the accident is already here."
"What is it, Emiya-sensei?" Itadori Yuji looked doubtfully at Emiya, whose expression had suddenly become more solemn.
"The number of enemies has increased again. This time, there are two."
Emiya turned his head to look deeper into the gorge.
"Are they Curse Users?"
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