Chapter 49: Idle Transfiguration
Emiya suddenly turned his head to the side, and saw the figure gradually revealing its true appearance from the shadows.
Behind that exaggerated and somewhat frivolous voice was a young man with extraordinarily pale skin and suture lines stitched across various parts of his body.
He was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with a mesh pattern on the top and black long trousers on the bottom... just like his expression and voice, he was extremely flamboyant.
In particular, this kind of slick, delinquent look was extremely similar to a certain guy.
"...A Curse User?"
Emiya barely managed to suppress the anger in his heart and refrained from immediately attacking, trying to inquire about the other party's identity.
He was clearly riddled with ominous Cursed Energy yet had a human appearance, which was very strange.
"No, wrong guess,"
The man covered in suture lines continued to walk forward, opening his hands and flashing a smile that was exaggerated to the extreme.
"I am—a Cursed Spirit!"
It wasn't out of mischief, nor was it out of some sort of arrogance. It was that he genuinely felt that being a Cursed Spirit was something that made him very happy.
After all, the entire world was full of humans he could kill or spare at will, and he wasn't bound by any rules. Wasn't that worth being happy about?
"A Cursed Spirit?!"
Emiya was deeply surprised.
He had acquired a lot of knowledge from the Jujutsu world up until now and clearly understood that even a Special Grade Cursed Spirit was just many times stronger than a Grade 1 Cursed Spirit; it wasn't particularly reflected in intelligence.
But it's one thing to have a Cursed Spirit that can communicate normally; why is its form almost indistinguishable from a normal human?
"Really, you look so surprised. How should I explain this to you..."
Instead of choosing to engage in combat directly with Emiya, this Cursed Spirit even cupped his chin and started pondering hard, as if he were trying to teach him these things.
"Got it!
Cursed Spirits are an aggregate of Cursed Energy flowing out of humans. Even if they aren't the genuinely existing, shared recognition of a terrifying image, they can easily manifest as powerful curses.
For example, famous Yokai or urban legends, like Ms. Hanako in the bathroom or the Nine-Tailed Fox, there are many, many of them.
Jujutsu Sorcerers register these as Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirits and guard against them. Powerful, unidentified curses are often first classified as Imaginary Vengeful Spirits...
But this line of thinking is still too narrow. The things people are constantly afraid of aren't just these imaginary stories."
In ancient times, many ignorant common people constantly feared ghosts and gods, but things are different in modern times.
Except for certain special moments, most people have little reverence for ghosts or gods, and even if they are afraid of urban legends, it's only in specific places. But some things are what humanity has been afraid of since its very beginning—
"...Natural disasters?"
Emiya, having thought of this possibility, subconsciously spoke out.
"Bingo~ That's right.
People have always feared the earth, the forests, the oceans... The Cursed Energy flowing into them is too vast, so they gained intelligence even before fully forming, and have been lurking until today.
They are all my proud companions."
Just in the few sentences exchanged since they met, the other party carelessly revealed a lot of information, and this information was exactly what surprised Emiya.
Humans are indeed afraid of the Earth, which could cause natural disasters at any moment, and the still unfathomable ocean.
But according to the other party, these fears have actually already formed into Cursed Spirits, but their intelligence far surpasses conventional curses, which is why they have been hiding until now?
It was easy to imagine how important such intelligence was.
"So, do you know what kind of fear I was born from?"
Without waiting for Emiya to respond, this guy answered himself.
"It's humans.
I'm a Cursed Spirit born from the hatred and fear that humans have for humans. And I understand those human emotions better than anyone.
So... you can just call me Mahito, Emiya-kun."
Boom!
The instant his words fell, he stomped the floor and came up behind Emiya at extremely high speed, extending his palm as if to touch his shoulder.
Screeech—!
Unfortunately, Emiya's speed was still faster.
Kanshou and Bakuya unhesitatingly sliced past the arm the other party extended, cutting the guy's palm and a portion of his forearm in half.
And after the single strike, Emiya immediately leaped away, because his intuition told him he absolutely could not be touched by this guy.
This frivolous demeanor, and the fact that the conversation and sudden attack were all just to touch him—such a scenario was clearly not accidental.
However, no blood or anything similar flowed from the broken wound on the other party.
"Oh, even though I protected it with Cursed Energy, it still got cut?
Is this a weapon with a bonus against Cursed Spirits?"
Like a puppet, the Cursed Spirit's palm was now only connected by a few strands of thread, yet it examined its wound as if feeling no pain at all, even pulling the threads and shaking them a few times.
This action even started to make Emiya doubt whether the guy in front of him was the main body at all.
Things like puppets—even those indistinguishable from a real person—exist in the world of magecraft.
But the next second, the other party threw a new question at Emiya.
"Tell me, do you think the soul came first, or the body?
Isn't there that question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? So, in your opinion, does the soul reside within the body, or is the body wrapped around the soul?"
Emiya was stunned.
Was he asking which was more important, the soul or the body?
According to the process of life's birth, most people would naturally think the body was conceived first, and then the soul was born. But if considered from the perspective of Heroic Spirits, it's clearly the soul that precedes the body.
"The soul, I suppose."
Emiya wasn't focused on seriously contemplating the other party's question. The main reason he was willing to talk, besides gathering information, was to wait for Nanami Kento's support.
That was what they had agreed upon.
"Ohh, we really have something in common."
Even though they were enemies from every angle, Mahito showed a delighted smile.
He raised his arm, and as he spoke, the wound on it began to heal at an extremely fast rate.
"The soul is always before the flesh. The shape of the body is influenced by the shape of the soul. This isn't healing; it's just maintaining the firm shape of my own soul.
You must understand now, right?
My Cursed Technique is to touch the soul and change its shape...—Idle Transfiguration."
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