Chapter 104: Invasion, Special Grade?!
The so-called katar (knuckle-blade) was initially a push-dagger that originated during the Vijayanagara Empire period in Southern India, designed to protect the user's fingers.
Over time, it gradually evolved into a light, fast, powerful cold weapon dedicated to achieving effects like quickness, precision, ruthlessness, and surprise.
It's true that it doesn't look as domineering and handsome as swords, spears, or halberds, but the immense power that comes with it is also real.
Its greatest advantage is that it can be as flexible and surprising as a dagger, yet it can also incorporate various boxing and kicking techniques, and not necessarily fall short when clashing with mainstream cold weapons.
When first circulated, the katar was also referred to as a fist-sword, because the early katar were derivatives that featured a sword-like blade. It was later that the blade was replaced, leading to various spin-offs.
Precisely because of its numerous forms and its niche status, this weapon is often categorized as a dagger or a short sword—at least in the classification of Emiya's Projection Magecraft, the knuckle-blade held by Panda was categorized as a [Sword].
Furthermore, since it was a weapon specially crafted to accommodate his unique physical structure, Emiya did teach him a few things, unlike Yuji Itadori, who was purely self-taught.
"Get ready, I'm going to attack.
I can't hold back with this Cursed Tool."
Panda placed his hands in front of his chest in the most classic grappling stance, and Cursed Energy gradually spread from his palms to the tip of the knuckle-blade.
After giving Mechamaru a final warning, Panda stepped forward and struck at the opponent with a fierce momentum.
The motion was less like using a blade and more like throwing a punch.
"Just a random weapon; it's useless."
"Blade Source Release, Sword Mountain Shield!"
The Mechamaru standing here is merely a remotely controlled puppet, and precisely because of this, its body can be modified into a form more suitable for combat. It converted its arm into a specialized steel spike shield, which it met the incoming knuckle-blade with after injecting Cursed Energy.
Clang! Crackle!
What followed was not just the sound of steel colliding, but also the grating sound of steel being pierced and pulverized mixed in.
"What?!"
Mechamaru momentarily couldn't understand why his defense was so easily penetrated when Panda's attacks arrived one after another.
Theoretically, a normal person cannot quickly punch with full force, reset their stance, and deliver non-stop attacks. Increased power leads to reduced punching speed; conversely, faster punching speed results in reduced power.
However, with Panda's strength, even a reduced punching speed doesn't necessarily mean weak power, especially with the knuckle-blade perfectly compensating for the lack of destructive force. His punching speed is truly fast!
"Hoo-la-wah-la-hoo-la-la!!"
The knuckle-blade rained down on Mechamaru's shell, blow after blow. Its body was not only being pierced by the sharp blade but also constantly subjected to the impact force from the punches.
After landing dozens of continuous strikes, Panda suddenly hit Mechamaru with a Shoryuken (rising uppercut), sending it flying high into the air. He then chased after it, struck it several more times, and finally smashed it back down to the ground with a butt-slam.
Boom!
Mechamaru's landing left a large crater, and its mechanical joints were completely penetrated by the knuckle-blade, sparking with electricity and totally losing the ability to move.
"You failed for only one reason: you underestimated the puppet!"
Panda clapped his hands together, retracting the knuckle-blade, and slowly walked toward Mechamaru's remains.
"You and I are both born different. I thought we could understand each other.
But I won't envy humans."
"What?" While the puppet's physical functions were destroyed, Mechamaru's consciousness was still within it; this is the nature of Puppet Manipulation Sorcery.
"Because humans are disgusting!
They desperately try to achieve their goals; it's hard to tell if it's decisive or indecisive... But I rather like these traits I don't have, even though they're disgusting.
Mechamaru, you must be struggling too, right?
But those who struggle aren't necessarily right. Besides, I'm not your enemy. Why did you become a Jujutsu Sorcerer? Because there was nothing else you could do?
That doesn't matter... If you have a wish you want to realize, I can help you."
After a moment of silence, Mechamaru posed this question: "After seeing what I look like, would you still be willing to help me with my wish?"
"Do you think I care about appearances? I'm a panda."
Panda chuckled at the question, then turned his head and walked toward the other ongoing battles: "Kokichi, let me visit you next time."
Among the Tokyo High students, Panda has always been the one responsible for comforting everyone, and he's never truly gotten angry.
After all, in every sense, he can be considered Yaga's 'child'; how could a child raised by such a father turn out poorly?
.
.
.
Meanwhile, on another battlefield, the disparity between Zen'in Maki and Miwa Kasumi was even greater.
The moment the two engaged, Miwa Kasumi, armed only with an ordinary katana, was pushed back step by step by the dual-wielding Zen'in Maki. Her only trump card, the Simple Domain, was easily nullified by the Nodachi.
I'm telling you, people who fight with these enormous long swords are just cheating!
The gap between the two was not just in skill but also in weaponry.
Clank—!
Accompanying yet another heavy cleave from Zen'in Maki's raised Nodachi, the blade that had accompanied Miwa Kasumi for half her life was broken, just like that.
"Ah... huh?"
Seeing this, Miwa Kasumi instantly lost all fighting spirit. Her eyes shifted pitifully between the hilt in her hand and the broken blade on the ground, her face full of tears she couldn't shed.
As an ordinary student at Jujutsu High, she wasn't qualified to own powerful Cursed Tools.
As someone who struggles near the poverty line in real life, she couldn't afford the exorbitant cost of Cursed Tools either.
This katana was already the finest ordinary blade she bought years ago with a huge investment, and only through her years of continuous use did it barely acquire the properties of a Cursed Tool.
But now...
Her only weapon, her only Cursed Tool, was broken, just like that!
How is this different from a working person who spent over a decade buying a house only for Ultraman to smash it with a single palm?
Without the aid of a Cursed Tool, she might not even be able to defeat a Grade 3 Curse, let alone complete any assignments.
It's over; her life is over!!!
"It's just a broken knife, is it worth being so upset?"
Zen'in Maki rested the Nodachi on her shoulder again. She couldn't fully understand why Miwa Kasumi was having such an intense emotional reaction.
Actually, earlier on, though she had quite a few Cursed Tools 'borrowed' from the Zen'in family with Satoru Gojo's help, she was still quite concerned about each one.
The thing is, if you lose one, you lose one; it's not easy to acquire a good, handy Cursed Tool.
But now, with Emiya as powerful support...
All that can be said is that people's joys and sorrows are not interconnected.
"You don't understand, you just don't understand, wuwu (crying sound)..."
The hardship of having to raise two kids without being married or divorced—who can understand that?
"Ugh, this is annoying, annoying! It's better if I just let you sleep a little longer here!"
Zen'in Maki quickly flashed behind Miwa Kasumi, raised her hand like a blade, and struck the back of Miwa's head without hesitation.
"Don't worry, I've practiced this move for a long time; there won't be any after-effects like a concussion."
The effect of lightly hitting the back of the neck to cause unconsciousness is purely a delusion created by movies, but hitting the head to make someone fall asleep is real.
However, a hit to the crown of the head definitely won't work, but the back of the head can achieve this without damaging the exterior or the skull, though it can easily give someone a concussion.
With the battles on these two sides being so effortless, the remaining areas were pretty much the same.
Kugisaki Nobara chased after Nishinomiya Momo, who refused to come down from the sky. Zen'in Mai, who planned to provide long-range support, was quickly cornered by the relieved Panda and Zen'in Maki.
Fushiguro Megumi and Kamo Noritoshi gradually entered a building during their fight and temporarily went off-screen.
As a result, the Tokyo High side even had Inumaki Toge to spare to clear the Curses in the arena. Judging the winner of the match didn't even require close observation; any normal person could tell at a glance.
Kyoto High's Principal Gakuganji Yoshinobu, sitting in the monitoring room, was almost green in the face.
Not only because the Kyoto High students were being crushed by Tokyo High, but more importantly, because of something else—the plan to eliminate Yuji Itadori during the Exchange Event had failed. He had long anticipated that his students wouldn't be so united, so the plan to eliminate Yuji Itadori didn't rely on them at all, but on the Curse designated as the boss of the group battle.
The original Grade 2 Curse had been swapped by him for one close to Grade 1, and it was one specially modified.
It wouldn't just obediently wait at the designated location; it would also obey the command of the item in Kamo Noritoshi 's hand. As long as he dripped Yuji Itadori's blood into it, that Curse would target him relentlessly until one of them was dead.
But who could have known that the Tokyo High students were all equipped with custom-made Cursed Tools, and even Grade 1 Sorcerer Todo Aoi couldn't make Yuji Itadori's blood splatter out!
What in the world are those bizarre-looking Cursed Tools, one after another?
Could it be that they were truly all forged by Emiya Shirou, that half-baked Jujutsu Sorcerer?
If this kind of thing spreads throughout the Jujutsu world, the consequences would also be unimaginable...
Whoosh!
Just then, a talisman pasted on the wall burst into red flames.
This was the method Jujutsu High used to tally the group battle scores. The Curses released into the area were all affixed with talismans, and when a Curse was eliminated, the corresponding talisman in the monitoring room would also vanish.
The talismans were pre-recorded with Cursed Energy. Thus, when a Curse was exorcised by Tokyo High, red flames would appear; when exorcised by Kyoto High, blue flames would appear.
Because Zen'in Maki, whose body has no Cursed Energy, was present, the flames were also red when a Curse was exorcised by unregistered Cursed Energy.
A large portion of the dozens of talismans on the wall had now burned away, almost all in red flames.
"Oh dear, the situation seems to be completely one-sided."
Would Satoru Gojo give up an opportunity to mock?
The answer, of course, is no.
"Old man, it seems your skill in teaching students isn't very great. How about we just have everyone transfer to Tokyo High? Emiya-kun alone can teach them well."
While mocking the opponent, Gojo Satoru also conveniently praised Emiya.
However, Emiya was indeed the one mainly responsible for teaching them combat recently, and those Cursed Tools were the key to this easy victory.
Originally, in terms of raw power, Tokyo High was one notch below Kyoto High.
"It's just an internal conflict between Sorcerers; there's absolutely no need to be proud.
And this victory has nothing to do with you, Gojo-sensei, right?"
Emiya has always been quite sharp when teasing acquaintances.
"Ah... how can you say that? I taught Yuji for half a month, after all, even though he didn't use any of that stuff."
Gojo Satoru didn't know that this guy could be so naturally gifted with a greatsword, especially since he himself never uses Cursed Tools.
"Yes, yes, Gojo-sensei's teaching skills are the best~"
After delivering that sarcastic compliment to Gojo Satoru, Emiya quickly stood up from his seat and pointed to Miwa Kasumi, whose sleeping face was magnified by a crow's close-up.
"But sleeping in a place like that is not safe at all, is it? I'd better hurry up and bring her back."
There are still quite a few Curses wandering the arena; who knows if she'd be unlucky enough to run into one?
"Oh, are you starting to worry about other people's students already?"
"Shut up!"
Emiya, having stood up, was about to walk towards the door when a new change suddenly occurred—
Whoosh!!!
Almost simultaneously, all the remaining talismans on the wall were consumed by red flames, and the screens linked to the crows successively lost signal.
"That's strange, the crows can't see anything."
Clearly, Mei Mei, who was manipulating the crows, couldn't perceive what had happened either.
"Wait..."
Emiya was also momentarily stunned by the sight, but he quickly realized something.
Gojo Satoru had only recently mentioned that Jujutsu High's barrier was also managed by Master Tengen, and that there were already spies within the school who might have revealed the barrier's location and information.
And when a Curse is exorcised by an unregistered Cursed Energy, the talisman's flame is also red.
Whether there is a problem with Master Tengen is currently unknown, but a group that can know the location of Jujutsu High's barrier, dare to invade so brazenly, and solve all the Curses and crows in an instant...
"This is bad! A Special Grade Curse has invaded!"
Throwing down this alarm, Emiya, without time for further explanation, was the first to rush out the door, leaving the rest of the people in the room staring at each other.
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