Chapter 233: Gae Buidhe (The Yellow Rose of Mortality)
There was no way Jogo could ever mistake the Innate Technique of his companion.
[Idle Transfiguration]. This miraculous technique allows for the manipulation of material forms by tampering with the souls of living beings. As long as the user wills it, they can reshape another's soul into a stone based on their own desire, without needing the slightest consent from the subject.
However, in such cases, more than 99.99% of people would simply die instantly, unable to withstand the physical modification.
The lethal offensive power of this technique was beyond doubt. Once the opponent successfully applies [Idle Transfiguration] and alters the shape of your soul, the only possibility of returning to your original state is if the user is willing to reshape your soul again.
Of course, that only guarantees your soul remains in that bizarre form without collapsing; if the physical body has already disintegrated and died during the process of synchronizing with the soul... then you are truly dead.
As for the possibility of successfully defending against this technique, there were only two ways. One: you personally possess a soul-related technique that can clash with [Idle Transfiguration]... but in the history of the jujutsu world, there was no precedent for a technique that could alter the soul.
The other way is if you are naturally able to perceive the shape and existence of the soul, thereby using your own cursed energy to protect the perimeter of your soul to resist external intrusion. After all, the essence of [Idle Transfiguration] is driven by cursed energy; it can be stopped as long as one can sever it at that level.
The problem with this, however, is: on what basis could a group of humans living in a three-dimensional plane view and understand a soul that exists on another conceptual level?
The fact that the jujutsu world couldn't even prove the existence of something like a "soul" explained everything—they had no means of seeing it. Some sorcerers with strength or intuition powerful enough might react the moment they are attacked and rely on instinct to wrap cursed energy around their soul... but such accidental occurrences were clearly impossible to replicate.
For those without a technique as support, trying to perceive the soul is like trying to find a specific object of unknown shape in a vast, lightless darkness. Could such a thing truly succeed?
Yet, compared to the exaggerated destructive power of [Idle Transfiguration] against enemies, its enhancement of the user themselves was several times more extreme.
Because almost no one in this world can apply abilities to the realm of the soul, external attacks can only harm the user's material physical body, while the effect of [Idle Transfiguration] uses the soul to influence the material world.
As long as cursed energy remains sufficient, no matter what damage the material layer sustains, it can be directly restored by changing the shape of the soul. Even if the head is hacked off, as long as consciousness and cursed energy can still function, it is no problem at all.
For a cursed spirit like Mahito, because its body lacked a precise internal core like a human's, it could transform its limbs and torso into metal without issue, provided the core organs like the heart and brain weren't heavily damaged.
Unfortunately, it was almost hopeless for Kenjaku to achieve that level. Even if his true self had long ago discarded the title of "human," Suguru Geto's body remained undeniably human and could never withstand that level of modification.
That being said, the healing utility of [Idle Transfiguration] was still peerless.
It was exactly like the scene currently unfolding before everyone: without needing any protection, Kenjaku could rely on the soul-maintenance ability of [Idle Transfiguration] to preserve his human flesh within the lethal, high-temperature lava.
Such a high-profile display was effectively shouting a bloody fact at Jogo: Mahito had actually died at his hands, not at the hands of Emiya Shirou as he had originally told the cursed spirits.
Though they were bloodthirsty and cruel cursed spirits with malicious personalities, the bond between them was undeniable. If given the choice, they would likely sacrifice themselves to save their companions without hesitation—a quality most humans could never match.
That was why Jogo had been so enraged when it first met Emiya, acting as if it absolutely had to kill him.
But now, the facts were telling it that the one who truly killed Mahito was Kenjaku—the collaborator who had been working with them all along—and he had done it by enslaving Mahito into a technique for his own use.
And even after that, this damnable bastard had continued to deceive and exploit them, leading them one by one into death traps...
In other words, the true enemy who had essentially killed Jogo's "family" was his collaborator, Kenjaku. In fact, it was Jogo who had first brokered the cooperation between Mahito and Kenjaku.
The influx of information was so massive it nearly caused Jogo's mind to stop functioning entirely.
"You really only just realized? Mahito was swallowed into my stomach long ago."
Kenjaku didn't deny the accusation. Instead, he quite ostentatiously slid his finger from his throat down to his stomach, remarking: "Just as I said, cursed spirits really are remarkably stupid."
"Even with intelligence, as creatures born from 'excrement,' they have inherited all the flaws of humanity without fail, lacking the ability for rational thought."
And as creatures of excrement, their taste is exactly as described... sickening to death."
After [Maximum: Uzumaki] condenses and extracts the technique of a cursed spirit, it still requires ingestion to successfully incorporate it into the body. As a collection of various negative emotions, the "taste" of a cursed spirit could be imagined; any negative vocabulary would be an understatement.
If it weren't so troublesome, Kenjaku would have wanted to cut off his own tongue before swallowing the spirit, only to restore the organ afterward.
"You damn bastard, just how do you plan to...!!!"
After a moment of daze, the only thing echoing in Jogo's volcano-shaped head was pure, unadulterated rage. With the help of this fury, its cursed energy even saw a significant rebound, nearly reaching its peak state before it was injured.
But precisely because Jogo had been dazed for that moment, the first one to launch an attack wasn't Jogo, but... Dagon.
Just as Jogo was preparing to unleash its technique again with full force, Dagon had already reached Kenjaku's back, swinging its fist with equal fury toward the culprit who had killed its family.
"Go to hell, you bastard!!!"
Rage similarly replenished its cursed energy to a degree, but no matter what, Dagon's true strength could only be fully realized in the ocean or within its own Domain.
And Kenjaku's deliberate words were specifically intended to bait this very moment.
Bang!
Dagon's fist, imbued with massive cursed energy, broke through the barrier surrounding Kenjaku after a slight delay. But that split-second difference allowed Kenjaku to dodge the attack and swiftly press his palm against the defenseless Dagon.
"Cursed Technique Reversal..."
Boom!
Dagon's body was instantly pinned to the ground by sudden heavy pressure. In the next instant, Kenjaku activated a more critical technique.
"[Maximum: Uzumaki]."
With Emiya watching from the side, Kenjaku knew he had to race against time to seize the techniques and increase his chips for victory.
A purple vortex illuminated Kenjaku's smiling face, causing Dagon's body to twist within it, looking as though it would be sucked into the vortex of reincarnation in the next second. Seeing this, Jogo was naturally even less able to endure it than Emiya.
"Look over here, you damn bastard!!!"
Strangely enough, a sense of powerlessness at being unable to protect anyone was welling up in Jogo's heart. It immediately tried to command the surging lava to pounce on Kenjaku, though it knew deep down that this alone wouldn't stop him.
However, Kenjaku had clearly underestimated Emiya's resolve to kill and suppress him, as well as Emiya's current combat strength.
"Trace on!"
Kenjaku's thoughts were quite optimistic. With the existence of [Idle Transfiguration], no attack could pose a fatal threat to him. So even knowing he would take a powerful hit, he wasn't panicked; as long as he could absorb the techniques of these two Special Grade spirits, it would be worth it.
But the moment a yellow blade stained with a hint of crimson pierced through his heart from behind, all the smiles on Kenjaku's face vanished.
Before he could fully react, the blade began to slice upward through his body. Seeing that his head was about to be split in two, he violently yanked his body aside, forcing the path of the blade to shift from his skull to his shoulder.
Without needing further pressure from Emiya, Kenjaku scrambled dozens of meters away, leaving behind a glowing sphere—the remains of Dagon—which rolled into the lava on the ground.
At Kenjaku's horrific wound, blood was gushing out uncontrollably. It only began to improve once a massive centipede crawled out from behind him, completely covering the lacerations on his chest and back.
"What... what is this?! You had a Cursed Tool like this? What is that??!!!"
At this moment, Kenjaku no longer cared about Dagon, who had been turned into a condensed core ready for absorption. He stared fixedly at the yellow spear in Emiya's hand, which was stained with blood.
That was right—the [Idle Transfiguration] he thought was foolproof had completely failed against this attack. Even when he tried to use [Reverse Cursed Technique] to heal the wound, it was a total failure.
He had tested it in secret; the effects of [Idle Transfiguration] and [Reverse Cursed Technique] were unaffected by anything else. That left only one possibility... the weapon in Emiya's hand carried a "curse" that prevented wounds from healing.
This curse was so powerful that even [Idle Transfiguration], which influences the soul, could not reverse it.
"Gae Buidhe, the cursed spear that causes unhealable wounds. Its power lies in shaving away the limit of the victim's life, rendering healing arts futile. The wounded remain forever in a state of injury.
In other words, even if you are just grazed by this dangerous blade, you cannot stop the bleeding. You can only greet death amidst prolonged torture.
In Celtic mythology, this is the weapon of the chief warrior of the Knights of Fianna, the 'Fairy King's' gift to Diarmuid Ua Duibhne—[Love Spot]. Though I doubt a guy like you pays attention to such things."
Emiya didn't rush to follow up. Instead, he tossed the long spear dozens of meters away to Fushiguro Megumi, letting the student catch the terrifying blade.
"The reason I waited until now to use it, of course, is because Gae Buidhe has a fatal flaw... its performance as a weapon isn't excellent. It probably couldn't even pierce your barrier. It requires an occasion where you've abandoned your defense to be used.
You, who think you're so clever—did you never consider that I might possess such a Noble Phantasm?"
Emiya bypassed the opening to instead focus on mocking Kenjaku.
To Emiya, Gae Buidhe wasn't a weapon with high cost-effectiveness. First, its form wasn't a sword, which multiplied the magical energy and difficulty required for projection. Second, its nature: the "curse" attached to the blade wasn't permanent; it would be dispelled if the Noble Phantasm itself was destroyed.
For Diarmuid himself, this didn't matter. Unless he died, the probability of a Noble Phantasm of this rank being destroyed was slim. But Emiya's projected Noble Phantasms had a time limit. Especially for non-sword types, the duration was often just enough to barely release the True Name.
Expending a large amount of energy to pursue such a thing usually wasn't worth it.
But after the last battle with Kenjaku, Emiya had spent the effort to project this weapon specifically to counter [Idle Transfiguration].
No one escapes being countered by [Projection Magecraft]. That was no joke.
Similarly, no one can pick a fight with Emiya and get away without being beaten into a retreat...
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