Chapter 189: Kenjaku: Why Can't I Be the Real Geto Suguru?
Emiya had already mentally prepared himself for the possibility of being transported to an unknown environment while he was exorcising one curse after another.
After all, none of the missing sorcerers had sent back any word. At best, the other side was a highly concealed special barrier; at worst, it would be a pocket dimension similar to a [Reality Marble].
But even with all his preparations, Emiya truly did not expect that the person he would see upon arriving in this space would be the individual standing before him—
"Geto Suguru... No, you aren't him. You're just a parasite who stole someone else's body, Kenjaku."
Emiya had never met the original [Geto Suguru]. He didn't know what kind of agony the man had endured during his transformation from ultimate good to ultimate evil, so he had no right to judge what kind of person he had been.
Similarly, from the perspective of many jujutsu sorcerers, they didn't seem to have the standing to condemn him either.
No matter how atrocious Geto Suguru's actions were, everything he did was so that sorcerers could be liberated from the endless cycle of conflict and sacrifice against cursed spirits.
Of course, for those who were inexplicably harmed by him, loathing and hating the man who caused their suffering was inevitable.
But regardless of how controversial that man was in life, now that he had been dead for over a decade, Kenjaku's act of snatching his body and running rampant under his identity was undoubtedly malicious in the extreme.
If Geto Suguru's evil was purely extreme thinking from a different perspective, then Kenjaku was a profanity that no one, from any perspective, could tolerate.
Is there anyone in this world who would be willing to have their body taken after death, used under their name and identity to do things completely contrary to their original will?
Unfortunately, even if Emiya wanted to help Gojo Satoru kick Kenjaku out of that body, it seemed he would first have to damage Geto Suguru's vessel to a certain extent.
That being said, before launching a rash attack, Emiya had to figure out one question first: where exactly was this place?
The other party had just mentioned [Magano]. What was that? Emiya had never heard such a term or name in the jujutsu world.
With this doubt, Emiya tried to shift his gaze away from the squinting "Geto Suguru" and surveyed the surrounding environment.
First and foremost, the light in this space didn't seem to come from a sun in the conventional sense. The sky was blanketed by thick, dense dark clouds that looked as if they might collapse at any moment. Behind these oppressive clouds, a blood-red light filtered through.
It was this eerie light spilling across the land that allowed Emiya to see his surroundings clearly and realize their strangeness.
The surroundings weren't the expected wilderness or a landscape overgrown with weeds and trees... it was a city. A city that looked as though it had just been scoured by war.
Normally, a place ruined to this extent would be hard to identify by landmarks, but as he observed his surroundings, Emiya keenly spotted a sign hanging almost to the point of falling off a nearby shop.
It was the cake shop he had entered while dealing with the second curse. The few remaining characters on the sign were identical to the original.
When in a dangerous environment, Emiya always consciously or unconsciously recorded surrounding information—this was experience learned from other "Emiya Shirous." So, even with such a minor detail, he would absolutely not remember it incorrectly.
But what did this mean?
Was this still part of the Shibuya District, or was it a special barrier modeled after Shibuya's environment?
From every angle, Emiya was in a state of total ignorance regarding this space, yet the "Geto Suguru" before him seemed to know it like the back of his hand. Otherwise, how could he have happened to block Emiya right at the point where he entered?
"Saying I've usurped this body?"
The reviled Kenjaku didn't seem angry or flustered. Instead, he slowly reached out and tapped the prominent surgical stitches on his forehead.
"I don't see it that way. I'm merely helping him realize the ideals he failed to achieve... namely, the elimination of all redundant and useless non-sorcerers who multiply like maggots.
My mind holds all his life's memories and emotions, and I have inherited and uphold his original ideals...
How can someone like that not be considered the original person?"
How much sincerity did Kenjaku truly have when describing this? Only he knew for sure.
"But what a pity. If the owner of this body were still alive, I think we wouldn't necessarily be enemies. I might have gained another ally."
"..."
Occupying someone else's body and then calling yourself a "friend" who upholds shared ideals?
Don't be ridiculous. If someone who knew or respected Geto Suguru heard this, they would likely be so disgusted they'd vomit on the spot. Even Emiya, who didn't know the history well, was starting to feel that way.
"I'm curious how you can say something so sickening with such a thick skin. Is it because you've lived so long that you've cast off your shame like a green-skinned turtle's shell?"
Facing an enemy who was disgusting in every aspect, Emiya felt there was no need to hold back. He chose to use the harsh sarcasm he had learned from other "Emiya Shirous" to mock him.
Even Kenjaku didn't quite understand how Emiya could utter such cold words with a straight face. After touching his jaw in a slightly dazed manner, he decisively chose to stop arguing about that topic.
"It seems our ideologies are completely incompatible... then let's change to a topic you're more interested in.
For example, what exactly is this [Magano], and what does it represent?"
Emiya had to admit he couldn't refuse this topic. It would take a massive amount of time for him to figure out the basic information of an unknown location on his own, especially since he had to save the numerous sorcerers trapped here.
Even knowing this was likely a play to stall for time, Emiya had to try and extract enough information. At the very least, he was confident he could judge whether there was deception in the other's words. As for how far he should talk with the opponent to stay within the safety line, Emiya would have to judge that for himself.
On the other side, Kenjaku, seeing that Emiya didn't rashly interrupt, understood that his topic had successfully stalled the possibility of combat for the moment. To prevent the situation from suddenly spiraling out of control, he didn't waste any more words—
"This [Magano] is actually the place where all [Curses] are stored, the location in the entire world closest to the [Other Side].
Of course, you can think of it as the 'flip side' of the world if you like, much like the negative energy of Cursed Energy versus the positive energy of [Reverse Cursed Technique].
It's just that while this world is filled with negative Cursed Energy, there is no such thing as positive energy in the human world over there..."
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