In the recent battle, even when he was at a disadvantage due to the two-on-one attack, Eichi did not stop trying to summon Shikigami and Heroic Spirits.
Finally, Eichi came to a conclusion.
The Barrier set up by Abe no Seimei most likely placed restrictions on quantity and acts of summoning.
After the Barrier was deployed, no new Shikigami could be summoned into its range, except for those already present within it.
This was also why Mahoraga, Ibaraki Doji, and Kyokotsu did not disappear.
It was also why Abe no Seimei, the most famous Shikigami user in history, had not summoned any Shikigami.
Upon discovering this, Eichi immediately made a decision.
Since he could not summon Heroic Spirits into the Barrier, he would summon them into his own body.
Just as Ogama, despite having Cursed Energy, could not be detected by any barrier or other means after being swallowed by Toji, who had no Cursed Energy at all.
A human body, covered in Cursed Energy and bound by a pact, could also be considered a "Barrier."
"Lend me your strength, Artoria."
Golden light bloomed within Eichi's body, and immense power surged from the inside out.
After being knocked back and landing, Eichi immediately transformed from a battle mage in dark shadow armor into a swordsman in blue and white armor.
At the same time, Abe no Seimei, who had given up chasing due to an uneasy feeling, brandished Raikiri and unleashed several bolts of lightning into the smoke and dust.
The lightning released by Raikiri was first weakened by anti-magic and then dispersed by the Wind Barrier, not harming Eichi in the slightest.
At the same time, the wind from the Wind Barrier also blew away the smoke and dust around Eichi.
"That stance..."
Seeing Eichi's drastic change in appearance and aura, Abe no Seimei frowned.
"Did you spirit-possess your Shikigami onto yourself?"
Abe no Seimei recognized Eichi's armor.
Although it was slightly different from the armor Artoria wore in the photos, being a bit more masculine, the overall style was still the same.
Before attacking Tokyo Jujutsu High, Kenjaku had already handed over all the information he possessed regarding Eichi to Abe no Seimei.
This was also why Abe no Seimei had not hesitated to sacrifice a Shikigami before the battle to set up a Barrier first.
Regardless of whether the strength of Eichi's Heroic Spirits was truly formidable, or whether Kenjaku had exaggerated it.
As long as Eichi himself was eliminated, those Shikigami would eventually disappear.
Just like him.
When Abe no Seimei was alive, his Shikigami roamed freely. After his death, although many dissipated, he managed to preserve some powerful and important Shikigami, passing them on to others to continue his rebirth plan.
But even so, many of his Shikigami were either killed or sealed.
This was enough to show how important a Shikigami user's existence was to their Shikigami.
However, the scene before him surprised him, despite all his preparations.
"Rather than spirit possession, it's more like Heroic Spirit Possession."
Ever since his last major loss to Tomie, where that bad woman tricked him and stole his heart, Eichi realized his own shortcomings.
He liked Shikigami very much, unlike Suguru, who, despite having a pile of Cursed Spirits, always wanted to grab a weapon and attack the opponent directly.
He believed that the focus of a Shikigami user should be on their Shikigami, so although he practiced Cursed Techniques and underwent special training to enhance his physical fitness, he did not consider it too important.
Only after that major loss did he suddenly awaken.
No matter how strong or numerous his Shikigami were, if his own existence had significant weaknesses, things could still go wrong.
Since then, Eichi had been constantly thinking about how to make himself invulnerable.
What should he do when encountering poison users? What should he do when encountering charm users... Then Eichi realized that there were simply too many dangers.
If he were to train a different countermeasure for each one, not to mention whether he could remember them all, there would not be enough time.
Were there really so many ways for a person to die?
After much deliberation, Eichi felt that instead of practicing ten thousand methods and forgetting them all, it was better to practice one method that could handle ten thousand situations.
After searching through his almost forgotten memories of his previous life and a large amount of data, Eichi chose Heroic Spirit Possession.
By summoning a Heroic Spirit onto himself, he would gain the Heroic Spirit's power to compensate for his own deficiencies.
If the old him had needed to prepare early and bring Heroic Spirits like Medea in order to defeat Satoru, then he would likely lose in a surprise encounter.
Now, Eichi, who could use Heroic Spirit Possession, had filled his last weakness and officially possessed the conditions to defeat Satoru at any time.
Mahoraga: Finally, I don't have to worry about this kid during a fight. Battle, exhilarating!
Boom.
"Cough cough, my deepest apologies, Lord Seimei. I will now slay the enemy."
Ibaraki Doji, who had used every method but failed to defeat Mahoraga and had instead had all his power adapted to by it, was already covered in wounds.
"Kyokotsu, I'll leave that side to you."
"Yes, Lord Seimei."
Kyokotsu immediately summoned a giant skull that bit toward the running Mahoraga.
"Then let me witness your Heroic Spirit Possession."
Abe no Seimei raised his long blade, shimmering with lightning, and brought it down toward Eichi.
Dozens of lightning bolts enveloped Eichi.
"Certainly. How about your life as the admission fee?"
Eichi gripped the invisible sword with both hands, and the Wind Barrier suddenly erupted, deflecting the lightning's trajectory.
Whoosh, clang!
Abe no Seimei rushed forward while Eichi was dispersing the lightning, and his long blade slashed down fiercely.
Eichi raised his sword to block, then slanted the blade to deflect Abe no Seimei's Raikiri aside, and his invisible sword slashed toward Abe no Seimei's waist.
Clang.
Puff.
Abe no Seimei retracted his blade to block Eichi's attack, but because he failed to judge the length of the invisible sword, a small wound appeared on his waist.
The wound was quickly healed by Reverse Cursed Technique, but after this injury, Abe no Seimei's combat became increasingly uncomfortable.
Even if he had some idea of the invisible sword's length in his mind.
In a truly high-speed and intense battle, it was difficult to constantly grasp the correct length of the invisible sword.
Not to mention that when Eichi wielded the Holy Sword, the Wind Barrier not only concealed the blade but also distorted the air to some extent, creating a visual illusion.
This made it even harder for Abe no Seimei to judge Eichi's attack range.
Thud.
Another wound appeared on Abe no Seimei's body.
On the other side, after Eichi used Heroic Spirit Possession, Artoria seemed to sense something and looked in the direction of the Barrier.
After only a momentary pause, Artoria continued toward the Kiko.
She trusted Eichi...
In the depths of the Kiko, where no one had noticed, a peculiar flower bud suddenly bloomed in the perpetually dark underground.
The black-red flower grew larger and larger, finally blossoming into a giant flower over two meters tall.
Hanami's figure emerged from the flower.
Hanami picked up the compass-like cursed tool that Kenjaku had made for her and walked deeper into the dark underground.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)