Chapter 54: Let the Blade Pierce Every Inch of Flesh
A barrier that rewrites reality using the Magus's "Internal Worldview", the closest form of magecraft to true Magic—this is the Reality Marble.
Once a Reality Marble is activated, the surrounding space changes into a completely different landscape.
It replaces the self with the world while keeping the boundary unchanged. At this time, the scale of the self and the world are swapped: the world is completely enclosed in a small container, forming a World Egg.
This was originally an ability that only Elementals and Demons could master, yet magi have transformed the impossible into the possible.
However, excluding the naturally occurring Elementals, the foreign lands created by others are subject to annihilation by "Gaia" Thus, maintaining a Reality Marble requires immense energy and cost, leading it to generally last only for a few minutes.
Unlimited Blade Works is the Reality Marble held by the Heroic Spirit EMIYA.
Essentially, Projection Magecraft is also a derivative of this Reality Marble. Copied and reforged weapons can be stored within the barrier, and when necessary, they can be summoned and retrieved by chanting the incantation.
Because Emiya is the same person as Heroic Spirit EMIYA but from a different parallel world, Emiya also possesses this Reality Marble. However, because their experiences differ, the landscape representing their inner world also varies.
Heroic Spirit EMIYA's inner world is a world full of weapons, flames, and giant gears, like an ironworks; Emiya's own inner world is a snowfield under a dark night ravaged by heavy snow, where there are neither stars nor paths, only countless swords embedded in the ground, which he sees as tombstones.
As for Unlimited Lost Works, it belongs to EMIYA Alter's technique.
As if his fighting style was streamlined into pure killing methods, his original Reality Marble was also specialized into an extremely minuscule form, capable of being injected into the enemy's body with the help of the Kanshou and Bakuya Gun.
This method of generating a Reality Marble inside the enemy's body is almost unheard of, let alone among Jujutsu Sorcerers, but even in the world of magecraft.
A Reality Marble formed within the opponent's body like this not only greatly extends the time it takes to be annihilated, but also allows the original dozen-plus line incantation to be simplified into a slightly more conventional fighting technique.
Just like the incantation Emiya just chanted.
However, what Emiya valued most was its effect in nullifying Cursed Techniques to a certain extent.
Since a high-level barrier technique like a Domain Expansion can nullify Cursed Techniques, there is no reason why a Reality Marble, which is also a barrier technique, couldn't do the same; theoretically, its efficacy should even be stronger.
Accompanied by a crisp, clear sound, a dark-red bullet pierced Mahito's chest without hindrance, reaching deep into his torso.
"What... what is this!!"
Mahito finally broke free from the restraint of the Black Key on his neck, but he forgot to escape. He frantically clawed at his chest, attempting to pull out the bullet that had been shot into his body.
Even though he still couldn't understand what kind of attack this was, nor was he aware of the existence of a Reality Marble, he knew that if a Domain truly unfolded inside his body, his body would probably burst apart in an instant.
Could his Idle Transfiguration maintain his body's shape in this state?
He didn't know...
It was precisely because he didn't know that he became increasingly terrified.
The thing that humans fear the most is never what is visible to the naked eye, but the unknown.
It's like facing a deep, dark night; you never know what will emerge from it in the next moment, or what awaits you.
Survival or death, or something even worse than that?
"...Get out, get out!"
His chest had been clawed raw and bloody by himself, and his Cursed Technique was temporarily suppressed by his fear and the remaining Black Keys, rendering it inoperable.
But the end had arrived.
Pierce—!
Just as abruptly, a sharp sword suddenly pierced through his chest, simultaneously skewering the right hand he was clutching to his chest.
However, this sword did not come from outside; it miraculously burst out from inside his chest.
"Ah... ah?!"
Tear!
Giving Mahito no chance to react at all, another long sword stabbed him from behind, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth...
The inside of the Unlimited Blade Works is stocked with countless swords—the vast majority of "swords" that Emiya... no, that the collective "Emiya Shirou" had personally witnessed existing in the world.
When this Reality Marble bursts open inside Mahito in an extremely minuscule manner, the final manifestation should be... a shower of blades!
Just from the naked eye, at least a hundred swords of various shapes pierced Mahito's body from all directions, embedding themselves in the nearby wall and floor, giving this guy no room to even twitch.
Because it was not just the surface; every joint, every bone, and every muscle in his body had already been pierced or cut by countless "swords."
And even in the deepest parts of his body, countless "swords" were rapidly regenerating. They would not stop until the enemy had completely lost their breath.
Unlimited Lost Works.
Having inflicted so much pain on others, it was only natural for this guy to experience the feeling of ten thousand swords piercing his body.
Even if this guy could barely maintain his soul and prevent his body from collapsing, the blades would incessantly be formed inside him.
While preventing Idle Transfiguration from activating, the pain that delves deep into the soul would also continuously stack up. Perhaps this could also be considered a means of physically eliminating this guy.
"..."
Even though his figure was far from its original appearance, and it was unknown if his vocal organs were intact, Mahito still let out a sound.
If his body couldn't transform, the physical body would sooner or later be completely replaced by the Reality Marble. Could his soul truly reconstitute a body out of thin air at that point?
However... those were very familiar words, right?
Indeed, whether Grade 1 or Special Grade, and whether or not they possess intelligence, Cursed Spirits are all the same.
Even if he couldn't be completely eliminated for now, this guy would no longer have the ability to move.
Realizing this, Emiya had just turned around, intending to help Nanami Kento, who was still fighting the modified humans, when a bottomless pit, extremely wide in range, suddenly formed out of nowhere beneath his feet.
"Go, Great Catfish."
This was a fourth voice, belonging to none of the three people present in the area.
Rumble!
Accompanying this voice was a sound like an impending earthquake.
The entire underground tunnel immediately began to collapse. Emiya instantly projected a blade into the wall to steady himself. He then ignored the abyss beneath his feet and leaped violently toward Nanami Kento using the wall. Upon getting close enough, Emiya flung the long sword in his other hand toward Nanami Kento, allowing him to use the sharp blade to anchor himself against the wall as well.
But just as they stabilized their figures, the sudden vibration abruptly ceased.
The abyss beneath their feet was also gone, but it wasn't merely a hallucination, as many tunnels in various directions had indeed collapsed due to the tremor.
"Wait... No!"
Emiya suddenly realized something and turned his head, only to find that the path he had taken to arrive was already submerged by rubble, and Mahito had completely vanished.
"He escaped... No, was he rescued?"
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