Chapter 214: Domain, [Horizon of the Captivating Swell]
From Emiya's perspective, whether these cursed spirits shared an unimaginable bond or not had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Perhaps they truly had awakened wisdom and gradually grasped emotions nearly identical to those of humans—perhaps their affection for one another had even reached the point where they would lay down their lives for each other—but none of this was a reason for Emiya to let them go.
He could respect such emotions, but he would never change his resolve to kill them.
After all, they stood on diametrically opposed sides; the sole meaning of a cursed spirit's existence is to continuously kill the humans who "created" them. This was a concept decided fundamentally at their inception. Furthermore, these sentient cursed spirits clearly had no intention of going against their inherent nature.
Emiya was not an extreme humanist. If cursed spirits did not take pleasure or purpose in the slaughter of humans—or if a group truly emerged whose only goal was simply "to live"—Emiya wouldn't even mind providing them with help.
It was just like with Eso and Kechizu.
The reason Emiya chose to help them wasn't because of their status as human hybrids, nor because of the deep bond between the brothers; it was because of their status as victims and the fact that they had never harmed anyone. If they had already harmed someone back then, the ending would certainly not have been as pleasant as it was now.
Of course, those worthy of forgiveness do not easily commit such transgressions. When Eso first began fighting Kugisaki, didn't he also advise her that it was best to leave quickly? If it were someone like Jogo, he would likely wish to burn everyone he saw and everyone who saw him to death.
These cursed spirits had already made the extermination of all humans their ultimate goal; would they really mind hitting a few small milestones before reaching that target?
Emiya might barely believe that a spirit like Hanami rarely initiated the killing of humans, but spirits like Jogo and Mahito displayed their malice without reservation. The people they harmed would only grow in number, so Emiya would never show the slightest mercy when dealing with them.
Allowing these creatures to die swiftly and cleanly was already his greatest act of kindness.
"Oh! Leave it to us, Emiya-sensei!"
Compared to the previous situation with Jogo as the lone enemy, the current battlefield was much more exciting for Itadori Yuji.
To him, the previous situation was Emiya-sensei providing them with practical training. But if another enemy appeared to stall Emiya-sensei, the nature of the fight immediately shifted from a training session to fighting side-by-side!
This was the unique logic of Itadori Yuji. Quite a marvel, isn't it?
"Hey, Itadori?!"
Having excitedly made his combat declaration, Itadori Yuji immediately raised the shield-axe in his hand and charged forward. Before Fushiguro Megumi or Dagon could even react, he used an elbow strike to knock Jogo flying toward another area.
The battle layout became much simpler from there—Jogo, even at full strength, might not have been able to handle Fushiguro and Itadori together. Now, with three powerful reinforcements in Kugisaki, Eso, and Kechizu? If no accidents occurred, its fate was already sealed.
"...Jogo!"
Dagon, reacting moments later, tried to turn around to help its companion, but Emiya had already stepped in front of it.
"Did you forget what I just said? That is their battlefield. This one is ours, Cursed Spirit."
"Trace on."
The moment the words fell, the projected blade in Emiya's hand descended, hacking straight toward Dagon's neck. Desperate to help Jogo, Dagon could only retreat and dodge blindly, while Emiya pressed his advantage step by step. Within just a few exchanges, he successfully caught a flaw in his opponent's defense.
SLASH!
The blade didn't manage to sweep across the neck, but it settled for leaving a hideous, terrifying wound on Dagon's abdomen.
Strangely, what erupted from that wound was not just green blood. A blood-red maw filled with razor-sharp teeth suddenly lunged out, snapping toward Emiya's position.
CLANG!
Emiya timely held his other paired sword horizontally in front of him, letting the sea-serpent-like fish bite onto the blade. This strange anomaly, whatever it was, didn't let go after its teeth struck the hard surface of the sword; instead, it exerted a terrifying biting force, creating a screeching sound of metal on metal and showers of sparks.
Emiya was knocked back several meters by this sudden impact before he could twist his other palm and swing his blade, snapping the monster protruding from Dagon's belly in half. Even after its body was crudely severed, the bizarre creature continued to struggle powerfully on
the ground for a long time before finally ceasing its writhing, unable to adapt to the environment.
It was hard to imagine how terrifying such a creature would be if it were lurking in the vast, boundless ocean.
"Is your ability actually this unexpected? I thought your power would be something like a pure flood.
But in that case, it must be hard for you to exert your true combat power on land, right? How do you plan to fight me like this?"
Humans always treat fire and water as opposites, but in terms of true manifestation, the concepts of fire and the ocean are not comparable. For a simple example, Jogo, who controls lava, can easily use scorching flames to attack. Dagon, using pure water, could at most produce high-pressure water jets; in terms of damage capability, there was no contest.
Indeed, in the actual ocean, Dagon's strength and advantage might easily surpass Jogo's, but such environmental conditions are hard to achieve.
And even in the ocean, Dagon's primary means of attack wouldn't be the water itself; its upper limit is different from fire, where damage can be increased simply by raising the temperature. Once water reaches a certain point, it's nearly impossible to upgrade its lethality further.
From this perspective, if simple seawater couldn't be the direction for the technique's refinement, then creating various ferocious marine lifeforms was an excellent alternative. Weren't Jogo's Ember Insects also creatures created through a technique for the sole purpose of killing? Even Hanami's vines and plants are a form of life.
It seemed only these cursed spirits possessed the kind of technique that could create special life; no matter how human techniques were developed, they could never reach this direction or realm.
However, just as Emiya said, no matter how ferocious these spirit-created marine creatures were, they couldn't lord it over anyone on land.
"It is more than enough to deal with you, Human!"
Still concerned for Jogo, Dagon reached down and tore away the lower half of the sea serpent. Ignoring the bleeding wound on its abdomen, it swung a massive fist and charged at Emiya.
"Don't stand in my way!"
BOOM!
As a Special Grade whose total cursed energy even surpassed Jogo's, Dagon's physical strength was also superior. One punch sent Emiya's frame buckling downward, and the cracks in the ground beneath his feet spread out for over ten meters.
But mere strength was not enough. As a Dagon that had just molted from its Cursed Womb form, both its mastery of its technique and its combat skills were far too crude.
"That's why I told you... you can't fight me like this."
After parrying Dagon's attack with his paired swords, Emiya stepped aside to throw off his straining opponent. As it lunged forward again, he turned his blade, easily slipping past the opponent's point of force and expanding his own advantage—
SHINK!
The sharp blade sliced deep into Dagon's elbow. The only pity was that the sharpness of Kanshou and Bakuya wasn't quite enough to sever the arm directly. Emiya was in no hurry to kill this fellow, as he still needed to use them to figure out exactly what Kenjaku's plan was.
"Damn human..."
Dagon clutched the wound on its arm and glanced at Jogo, who was also being completely suppressed by Itadori and the others. It immediately pressed its other palm to the ground.
"On this planet, the ocean is everywhere!!!"
CRASH!
In an instant, the ground split open. Countless water pipes hidden beneath the road burst apart, and the massive surge of water created a wave as tall as a tsunami in a single moment. Emiya instinctively prepared for the impact, only to see Dagon charge at him again with swinging fists, as if simply using the wave to bolster its own courage.
"What...?"
The more suspicious the situation appeared, the more bizarre the hidden intent behind it likely was. To deal with this, Emiya chose to eliminate his opponent's ability to resist as much as possible.
In just a few more exchanges, Emiya's blade stabbed straight into Dagon's other arm, rendering both of its hands immobile for the moment.
Normally, whether a sorcerer or a cursed spirit, one cannot use a technique after losing the use of their hands, because hand seals are often a mandatory step. If Fushiguro Megumi couldn't use his hands, he wouldn't even be able to summon his shikigami, let alone fight.
But to Emiya's complete surprise, even as both arms were pinned by the stabbing blades, a massive amount of cursed energy surged from Dagon's body—
"[Domain Expansion]—[Horizon of the Captivating Swell]!!!"
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