Chapter 125: It's Not Time for You to Be Happy Yet!
Is the force in the tons, tens of tons, or even higher?
Emiya doesn't know. He has never tested the strength augmentation that Heracles' axe-sword provided him in such a rigid way.
He just knows very clearly that the demigod's strength ranks among the highest of all heroic spirits, and there are not many heroes who can consistently overpower him on a fundamental level.
Yet, in the contest of strength with Fushiguro Toji, even though Emiya was the one holding the advantageous position, he was vaguely beginning to feel that he could not keep the opponent suppressed.
"What's wrong, Sorcerer? You should be capable of more."
Just by looking at his expression, one could tell Emiya's countenance was extremely grim, while Fushiguro Toji's face remained solely focused on excitement and pleasure.
"Let me teach you how to use this clumsy weapon!"
Bang!
With Fushiguro Toji's sudden burst of strength, the axe-sword that had been pressing him down was violently flung upwards.
And to ensure he wasn't put at a disadvantage, Emiya naturally had to try to regain the initiative.
Speaking of which, his [Tracing] is somewhat similar to the [Seance Technique]. The latter steals the power and ability of the deceased, while Emiya's Tracing can replicate the skills and strength of the weapon's original owner.
Although it definitely couldn't compare to Fushiguro Toji's dexterity in utilizing his own power, Heracles' skill set was absolutely no joke.
Bang!
As Emiya swung the axe-sword down again at extreme speed, it was immediately blocked by Fushiguro Toji's greatsword. The two massive weapons thus began an extremely exaggerated exchange in mid-air—
Bang—Bang—Bang—Bang—Boom!
The flashes of fire illuminated the night canyon, and even the earth trembled incessantly. Even Itadori Yuji, who was heading to an unknown location, could likely feel the tremors faintly.
The epicenter of their clash was like the eye of a storm. The light and shockwaves constantly bursting from it not only ensured the total demise of the surrounding trees and vegetation, but the ground itself looked thoroughly ploughed.
This clash continued for over ten seconds until Emiya, sensing the situation was amiss, quickly used the recoil force to distance himself from the recent combat zone.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
Kneeling on the ground, Emiya was struggling to regulate his bellows-like breathing and his fiercely pounding heart.
He possessed Heracles' strength and skill, that was true, but his body and stamina were still his own, incomparable to a monster like Fushiguro Toji.
Looking at Fushiguro Toji not far away, he seemed to have expended no energy in the previous exchange, still swinging and spinning the greatsword as if it were a toy.
"Hey, hey, your performance just now was decent, but your endurance is completely lacking, huh?
If this is all you have, you won't be able to satisfy me.
If you really can't keep up, I'll just have to kill you."
For a person who has died and come back to life, is there anything in this world that can restrain him?
Since he had few regrets when he died, his rare resurrection should naturally be about doing whatever he pleased.
If Emiya's fighting condition could not satisfy him, he would not hesitate to kill the opponent—after all, he was just a Sorcerer.
"Huff... that sounds really scary.
You still remember your name is Fushiguro Toji, right?"
Emiya, who had barely recovered his composure, used the axe-sword to support himself as he stood up, suddenly throwing this question at the opponent.
"Ah, of course, that's a given. What a pointless conversation.
Did that old hag also call out the Zen'in surname when she used the [Seance Technique]? I really didn't kill her for nothing."
Fushiguro Toji's brief revival has at least accomplished one good thing.
Upon hearing this answer, Emiya continued, "Then... do you remember the name Fushiguro Megumi?"
"Fushiguro Megumi?"
Fushiguro Toji tried lightly tapping his fist against the side of his head, attempting to retrieve this seemingly familiar name from his mind.
Having never been treated or educated properly by the Zen'in family, he wasn't foolish. He knew the Fushiguro surname was identical to his own, meaning the person must be related.
But after a moment of thought, the retrieval of the memory failed.
"That name... who is he? Is he important? Why ask such an irrelevant question during a fight?"
He couldn't help it; if he couldn't remember, what was he supposed to do?
"I see. That puts my mind at ease."
Not only did he sell and abandon his own son from a young age, but he can't even recall his name?
Since when was the bond of blood kinship so fragile?
But this was fine. At least it allowed Emiya to go all out in the subsequent battle. Otherwise, directly attempting to kill his student's father would have been too strange, even if the man had already died once.
"Nine Lives—"
Emiya raised the axe-sword high with one hand, and Fushiguro Toji, seeing this sight, suddenly changed his casual posture.
Every sense in his body was screaming that the next strike was immensely powerful, possibly fatal.
"Yes, this is how it should be!!!"
"Blade Works!!! Shooting the Hundred Heads)"
The high-speed dash and nine swings of the axe-sword were completed in an instant. In that split second, Fushiguro Toji's smile still lingered at the corner of his mouth.
His sharp five senses constantly warned him of imminent life-or-death danger, yet he showed no fear, swinging his greatsword to meet the attack.
The arrogance of the [Heavenly Restriction Tyrant] forbade him from backing down in a contest of strength and skill, just as it did ten years ago when he fought the awakened Gojo Satoru.
He could have dodged the opponent's technique, but he insisted on meeting it head-on!
Fushiguro Toji had never heard of or seen the technique called Shooting the Hundred Heads before, yet he forced himself to attempt to counter-mimic and block the nine high-speed consecutive strikes using only observation and intuition.
Bang—Bang—Bang—Crack—!
However, this was ultimately too much of a strain.
Even if his strength was actually similar to the power stolen from Heracles, and his combat skill was the pinnacle of a mortal, attempting to instantly copy the technique of a demigod hero was a pipe dream.
The axe-sword Emiya projected only replicated the 'anti-personnel' portion of the Shooting the Hundred Heads school of technique.
During the first three heavy strikes, Fushiguro Toji could still keep up with the speed of the axe-sword's swing. By the fourth strike, there were clear signs of being suppressed, and by the fifth clash, the greatsword in his hand began to noticeably bend.
Emiya's forged weapons are far superior to general Cursed Tools, but they are still different from a 'pure' Noble Phantasm like the axe-sword.
After the sixth high-speed clash, Fushiguro Toji was not only showing obvious delays in his movements, but the greatsword in his hand was practically scrap metal.
Yet, he still chose not to retreat, having no room to evade under the divine skill.
—Boom!!!
The sounds of the final three slashes converged into a single blast, hitting Fushiguro Toji and completely pulverizing the remnants of the sword in his hand.
After this pure storm of power, the sleeve of Emiya's left arm was completely shredded by the recoil, but Fushiguro Toji's condition was far more tragic.
He sacrificed the tough parts of his body to mitigate the pressure of the heavy blows, resulting in his left arm having no trace of flesh all the way up to his chest. His left leg, below the knee, also showed a hideous bend and missing parts.
Under modern medical conditions, this would be a fatal wound for a human, yet Fushiguro Toji was still laughing.
"Hahahaha cough, cough... that was fantastic, Sorcerer!"
Thump! Thump!
He used his remaining right hand to roughly slap the bleeding wounds, stopping the flow of blood.
If the Fushiguro Toji in front of him were still alive, this attempt to prolong his life wouldn't keep him alive for long. But Emiya didn't understand the mechanism of the [Seance Technique]. He only knew that a person who had already died would not be easily killed again.
Therefore, he had to ensure the opponent was completely incapacitated!
"It's not time for you to be happy yet, Fushiguro Toji!
Trace On!"
After the Noble Phantasm release, Emiya quickly raised his right hand and began pouring Cursed Energy into the red spear, perfectly linking the new True Name release with the previous attack—
"Gáe Bolg!!! Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death"
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