Chapter 159: The Power of Fear
'What? How did that person know!?'
Emiya Shirou did not mask his voice. When he uttered Kenjaku's name, it wasn't just Gojo Satoru—who stood right beside him, having been sealed by the [Prison Realm] and then unsealed in an instant—who heard it.
Even Kenjaku himself, amidst the rustling sound of the massive swarm of cockroach cursed spirits scuttling about, heard Emiya Shirou calling him out by name.
How did Emiya Shirou know?
Kenjaku no longer had time to ponder this question. When the [Prison Realm], which had been activated at the cost of Hanami's sacrifice, actually failed to work... No, rather, when Gojo Satoru, who should have been successfully sealed, suddenly used some method unknown to him to break the seal, Kenjaku's thoughts shifted from how to defeat Gojo to how to survive their hands.
In a sense, Kenjaku's specific summoning of the cockroach cursed spirits wasn't just intended to use a wide-range attack to flush Emiya Shirou out. It was also to use these numerous spirits—exploiting the cockroach spirit's ability to breed countless smaller spirits—to obstruct the vision of the [Six Eyes].
'The reason he could break the [Prison Realm] must be because that sorcerer used some kind of technique or cursed tool that ignores cursed energy.
Items like the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] or the [Black Rope] possess such effects.
Even though both of those tools were destroyed under my secret arrangements—or rather, before I chose to use the [Prison Realm] to seal Gojo Satoru, I first sought out tools with the effect of nullifying the [Limitless].
Unfortunately, whether it was Fushiguro Toji or Miguel, holding those tools only qualified them to fight Gojo Satoru; it didn't allow them to actually defeat him. They were even personally destroyed by Gojo during their battles.'
In contrast to the forward surge and reckless expansion of the cockroach spirits, Kenjaku was currently retreating constantly. Simultaneously, he was summarizing everything that had just occurred in his mind.
Particularly when thinking of Gojo Satoru, he felt a sense of extreme trouble. Of course, after having his plans ruined one after another by Emiya Shirou, the man whose name he didn't yet know also began to enter his field of vision.
Especially at the moment the time stop of [Pseudo-The World] ended. [Rule Breaker], which Emiya Shirou hadn't had time to put away while he was busy retrieving Hanami's DISC to eliminate the immediate threat, was seen by Kenjaku, who had finally located him.
'But where there is one, there is two. Since this sorcerer possesses cursed tools that even amaze me, it's not surprising that a tool capable of nullifying cursed energy would be in his hands.
After all, the information on Gojo Satoru's technique is public for most people. Among the traditional sorcerer families in Japan, not everyone wants Gojo Satoru alive—especially the old fogies who can't stand him.'
Should it be said that no matter how many years pass, this country of Japan remains the same? Even after the so-called Meiji Restoration, the country remains a complete mess of feudalism. In the realm of sorcery, where bloodlines are valued most, it is the worst of the worst.
Kenjaku, who has played the game of bureaucracy for over a thousand years, was able to plant so many spies in the Japanese jujutsu world not just because his technique allowed him to take over the bodies of important figures, but because the bureaucracy of the jujutsu world actively cooperated with his infiltration.
Thus, Kenjaku wasn't surprised at all that Emiya Shirou had a cursed tool (Noble Phantasm) that could invalidate cursed energy. Rather, anyone determined to defeat Gojo Satoru would, more or less, seek out related cursed tools based on the information the old fogies of the jujutsu world deliberately leaked about the [Limitless].
"So the tool isn't the point, and even why that sorcerer prepared it in advance isn't the point. What matters is how he did it.
Teleportation? At the very moment I was about to successfully seal Gojo Satoru, he teleported to his side and used that tool to break the [Prison Realm]?"
The moment this thought surfaced, Kenjaku dismissed it himself. Because he hadn't seen the process of Emiya Shirou breaking the seal. It was almost like a blink of an eye. One moment Emiya Shirou was gone, the next he was beside Gojo, and the seal was instantly broken. This could not be explained by a teleportation technique.
"—Then is it something like [Unlimited Void], which forcibly shoves a massive amount of information into the brain of a creature within the range, making them stop thinking... Wait, stop? STOP!?
Hey, hey, hey... this couldn't be real, right?
Can there really be a technique in this world even more absurd than the [Six Eyes] and the [Limitless]!?"
Having encountered too many techniques over a thousand years and knowing a thing or two about various absurd effects, Kenjaku couldn't help but widen his eyes and look back toward the cockroach spirits he had released behind him. It was as if he wanted to see Emiya Shirou through the swarm to confirm if his guess was just a fantasy.
However, Kenjaku was destined never to receive that confirmation. Because at the very moment he chose to look back—the instant a hint of awe and fear toward his own guess budded in his heart—he could no longer escape.
[Pseudo-Atum]!!
Since Cursed Spirits are beings born from human fear, Emiya Shirou would naturally choose [Pseudo-Whitesnake], which can extract a spirit's technique and spirit DISC simply by touching it with a palm.
But against sorcerers, or those cursed spirits who have chosen "incarnation" (reincarnation into a vessel)... [Pseudo-Atum] was the optimal choice!
"Oh, this is quite an unexpected harvest," Emiya Shirou said with a smile, looking at the portion of Kenjaku's soul tightly gripped in the hand of [Pseudo-Atum].
Just like right now...
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