Chapter 108: [Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi]!!!
Nocking the bow, aiming and charging, and finally releasing the blade, transformed into a crimson flying arrow—all actions were performed seamlessly. The sword-arrow instantly reached the flame that had not yet begun to dissipate in the high sky, adding another wave of combustion accelerant to it.
Boom!
The scale of this explosion was not too large, because Emiya had mastered a few techniques for correcting the attributes of Noble Phantasm projection, and for this Pseudo-Spiral Sword, he increased the effects of penetration and power concentration, sacrificing extensive damage range.
And the most important point of the [Forge] Cursed Technique is that it can easily attach the 'Curse' characteristic to the Noble Phantasm Emiya projects, completely converting the damage into a special attack against Curses.
"Trace on!"
Emiya, still falling from the high altitude, projected another blade, accurately stabbing it into a tall tree trunk on the ground, using the recoil force to slowly descend to the ground.
Looking up at the sky, Hanami's body fell faster than Emiya due to the force of the explosion, its entire body heavily embedded into the ground.
Its entire right arm, along with a portion of its chest cavity, was completely vaporized during the explosion, and the wound was still emitting scorched gases under the influence of high temperatures.
'its body is actually this tough?'
No, it feels more like it used some special Cursed Technique to block the power; the Cursed Energy reaction has clearly dropped significantly.
However, the Curse's body structure is different from that of humans. Even with such severe injuries, Hanami quickly stood up from the crater, and its flesh was regenerating at a slow pace.
"What is this feeling..."
Hanami's voice echoed in Emiya's mind again, mixed with bizarre emotional fluctuations, yet Emiya could precisely recognize its meaning.
"This is the first time I have been injured in my life... Even so!
I still feel it, the joy of battle that will never fade!
Thank you, Sorcerer!!!"
Strictly speaking, Hanami, as a Curse born from the concept of 'the forest', does not entirely stem from this one negative emotion, but is a product of layers of human fear and guilt towards sacred objects.
Whether reverence and love for the forest were mixed in is unknown.
In the world of Magecraft, [Elementals] exist. They are purely products conceived by the planet and nature, only active during the Age of Gods when Mana was abundant.
Although it must be admitted that the dissipation of Mana and the Age of Gods is also inextricably linked to the continuous development of humanity.
Hanami and the [Mountain God] Emiya once encountered might possess some Elemental attributes, showing a peaceful disposition in normal times, but this is only an outward appearance.
A Curse is ultimately just a condensation of the negative emotions excreted by humans. This fundamental basis of their birth dictates that a true 'Saint' cannot be born within them.
These Special Grade Curses have indeed developed more rationality than ordinary Curses, but the negative instinct remains—their instinct is not even for survival, like normal creatures, but purely for slaughter.
Just as eating, sleeping, and seeking survival, even at the cost of crime, are human instincts, deceiving, concealing, and killing... are also the instincts of Curses.
Even if this Curse, which claims to care for humanity, were to encounter 'good people' who love and voluntarily protect nature, it would likely still attack them.
Because that is simply what a Curse is.
"What's wrong with this Curse... A masochist?"
Emiya was completely unable to understand the opponent's posture, which was clearly severely injured yet abnormally joyful.
For him, there is no emotional feedback in combat; all he needs is a reason to fight.
Just then, Hanami, gradually becoming intoxicated by the process of battle, launched a fiercer attack.
No longer were thick tree roots several meters wide growing from the ground and attacking, but several slender yet swift branches.
"So fast?!"
The moment the battle began, Emiya, knowing the opponent was not simple, had already applied Reinforcement to his eyes, barely catching the trajectory of the incoming attacks.
Bang! Bang!—!
While rapidly evading and swinging the blade in his hand to slice the sharp branches, Emiya immediately judged the enemy's Cursed Technique in his mind.
'The summoned plant roots are just a manifestation of Cursed Energy, and the more the quantity and mass are reduced, the more the speed and power increase?'
Then, the most effective fighting style is still close-quarters combat, isn't it?
After all, attacks that don't reach a certain magnitude are difficult to inflict effective damage on this Curse, and only close-quarters combat makes it easier to capture the weak points on the opponent's body.
Emiya threw the long sword in his hand towards the enemy.
Hanami, whose injuries hadn't fully recovered, chose to raise its only remaining left arm and summon a thick layer of vegetation in front of itself.
Evidently, after being ambushed by Emiya's Broken Phantasm once, it was wary of Emiya's specific abilities and no longer dared to make excessive contact with the blades.
"Trace on!"
Taking advantage of the opponent losing its sight in its defensive state, Emiya projected Kanshou and Bakuya again, simultaneously injecting Magical Energy and the Cursed Technique into the blades while running toward the enemy.
"Trigger Off."
Kanshou and Bakuya's bodies extended with the injection of Magical Energy, then flashed with a pulsating dark glow from the injection of excessive Cursed Energy.
Dispelling the burning vegetation after the explosion, Hanami also saw Emiya approaching it.
"I won't let you succeed!"
It immediately slammed its barely recovered hands onto the ground, and slender yet sharp, resilient thorns suddenly began to proliferate and spread, instantly filling every corner within a few meters of its perimeter.
Even more strangely, the thorns were covered with many red seeds that possessed mouths. They continuously gnashed their sharp teeth, anticipating Emiya's arrival.
A human body absolutely cannot withstand the thorns created by that Cursed Technique, and the capabilities of those bizarre seeds are hard to predict.
However, Emiya's Cursed Technique is not just limited to forging Cursed Tools.
Cursed Energy also has attributes, and as the [Innate Cursed Technique] continuously refines and develops, the attribute of each Sorcerer's Cursed Energy will gradually be reflected within it.
Continuously attempting to forge blades and learning [Reverse Cursed Technique] is inherently a process of improving Cursed Energy manipulation and Cursed Technique precision.
Possessing a Cursed Technique like [Forge], Emiya's Cursed Energy attribute naturally leans towards [Fire], and its expression in combat is also such.
Accompanying Emiya's high leap, the Cursed Energy covering the surface of the married swords gradually transformed into the form of flames.
And due to the inherent nature of Cursed Energy tending toward negative energy and 'curses', its manifestation is, in fact, bizarre: fiercely burning pitch-black flames.
Emiya, quite naturally, bestowed an appropriate appellation upon his Cursed Technique; its name is—
"[Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi]!!!"
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