Chapter 164: The Devil Rises a Foot, but the Way Rises a Yard
No, it wasn't so much that his eyes could "see" it.
Rather, Emiya Shirou could perceive it through the Stand ability of [Pseudo-Atum]. He felt how Kenjaku—faced with the script of Gold Experience Requiem—was trapped in a cycle of continuous death, stuck in a reality where he could never reach the "truth" of dying, failing and being killed over and over again.
Beside Emiya Shirou, [Pseudo-Atum] touched Kenjaku's soul once more. As time flowed on, this touch grew deeper and firmer.
It wasn't like the beginning, where Shirou had only barely managed to snag a fragment of the soul by surprising and terrifying Kenjaku with Time Stop—a Stand ability that even Jotaro Kujo and his allies felt a lingering fear of after seeing it for the first time. This time, amidst Kenjaku's total defeat and near-mental collapse, Shirou took complete hold of his soul.
"It's over," Emiya Shirou stated.
Having said that, he ignored Gojo Satoru, who looked utterly bewildered and didn't understand why Shirou had made such a sudden declaration. Shirou, having successfully extracted Kenjaku's soul, walked back toward the vehicle. The car had been well-protected by his [Pseudo-Magician's Red] and Gojo's [Limitless]. Since neither Jogo's initial flames nor the subsequent arrivals, Hanami and Kenjaku, had targeted the car, it remained perfectly intact.
Settling back into the car, Shirou said to Gojo, "Gojo, it's time to go. Of course, if you want to take Suguru Geto's body back now to have it handled by people you know, you can.
Don't worry about my ability being canceled by whatever treatment you give the body. In fact, to put it in terms you can understand, the 'Kenjaku' who occupied Suguru Geto's body has already 'attained Buddhahood' in the illusion I specially orchestrated for him—he couldn't take any more."
"Attaining Buddhahood" means becoming an enlightened one. In Japan, however, It usually refers to a soul bound to the earth finally being able to pass on peacefully to heaven.
Since Kenjaku's soul was currently held in the palm of the [Pseudo-Atum] Stand—which, true to its name, represents the sun god of Ancient Egyptian mythology—being taken by the sun god and "ascending" was close enough to the definition. Emiya Shirou wasn't lying.
But well...
That wasn't actually why Gojo Satoru was bewildered. If anything, after hearing Shirou's explanation, Gojo felt even more confused.
What exactly did Emiya Shirou do? Why would a mere illusion make Kenjaku "attain Buddhahood"? What on earth was Shirou broadcasting to him?
Gojo was truly, deeply curious.
'But looking at Emiya, he doesn't seem like he wants to tell me?
Is it because the method is too specific or special?' Gojo guessed inwardly.
'Forget it, as long as I know it's a good thing, that's enough.'
Unable to figure it out, Gojo quickly stopped dwelling on it. Perhaps the process of Emiya Shirou defeating Kenjaku wasn't as simple as he made it sound. It was even possible Shirou had used some unspeakable methods. But what did that matter to him?
Regardless of whether Kenjaku was a Cursed Spirit or not, the moment he chose to conspire with them, he was no longer human—he was a traitor to humanity. Not to mention the personal grudge of Kenjaku occupying Suguru Geto's corpse. Against an enemy like that, any method was fair game.
As for what would happen if Emiya Shirou ever became their enemy...
There was no need to worry about that. After all, he was the strongest.
So, Gojo called back Itadori Yuji and the others—whom Shirou had tossed away earlier so Gojo could release [Unlimited Void] without worrying about his students. Once they were back in the car, Gojo stuffed Suguru Geto's body into the trunk.
He climbed back into the driver's seat with high spirits and said, "A lot happened tonight, but I trust you've learned a lot, Yuji? This was a rare extracurricular experience. Even Megumi hasn't studied such deep content before, let alone seen and experienced the ultimate secret technique, Domain Expansion, with his own eyes.
So, if you ever encounter enemies like this in the future and I'm not by your side... run. Run as fast as you can."
At this point, Gojo Satoru looked at Itadori and the others with a serious expression. "Choosing to run doesn't guarantee you'll live, but choosing not to run means you definitely won't last long enough for reinforcements to arrive."
"..."
Although it felt like the battles between Emiya Shirou's group and Jogo's group had gone back and forth for a while, in truth, most of these fights were "instant kills." Essentially, shortly after Jogo and the others made their moves, they were instantly neutralized by Shirou or Gojo.
Thus, Itadori and the others hadn't even fully recovered from the pressure of the battle. They could only nod subconsciously in response to Gojo's new round of lecturing.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, far away...
The "Four Disasters" Cursed Spirits specifically sought out by Kenjaku consisted of Jogo (fear of the earth), Hanami (fear of the forest), Dagon (fear of the ocean), and Mahito (human fear of humans). The first two were already fully manifested, while the latter two were different: one was still a Cursed Womb, and the other—Mahito—had yet to fully understand his own technique.
That was why they hadn't gone along, staying instead within Dagon's domain to wait for the others' return.
A true gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall. As a mastermind who had survived for a thousand years, Kenjaku had planned for everything. If an accident occurred, Mahito could use the body tissues left in his care to find a curse user capable of Seance techniques to summon them back, then use Mahito's [Idle Transfiguration] to fully resurrect them.
Kenjaku had planned it all perfectly. But Mahito and Dagon, waiting in the domain, did not see the others return. Instead, they watched as the body tissues they held began to crumble one by one, turning into dust that scattered despite their desperate attempts to stop it.
"...!?"
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