Chapter 174: Reality Marble + Counter Force = ?
The moment this possibility popped into Emiya Shirou's mind, even he was shocked by his own conjecture. He couldn't help but ponder and question himself inwardly, feeling somewhat uncertain:
'Is this... correct?
Even if a Domain Expansion is, as I suspect, a Reality Marble, and Cursed Spirits are the will born within that Reality Marble...
They are actually more like [Alaya] than [Gaia].
After all, Cursed Spirits are the gathering of human negative emotions, and the Counter Force born from the collective unconsciousness of humanity is Alaya.'
Of course, whether one called a Cursed Spirit "Gaia" or "Alaya" didn't really change much. It was just a difference in nomenclature. The fact that Emiya Shirou was even entertaining such meaningless semantic nonsense in his head showed just how much this theory had startled him.
Because whether it's Gaia or Alaya—they are both Counter Forces!
With his memories of his past life, Emiya Shirou had truly never seen a person in the Type-Moon world whose Reality Marble could birth a Counter Force. Rather, a Reality Marble is essentially a world in itself. If it even birthed its own Counter Force, then what would be the difference between a Reality Marble and the actual reality?
One must remember that a Reality Marble can replace the real world. The only reason a Reality Marble fails to win the "ownership" of the world over reality is that the human (or non-human) holding the Reality Marble loses to the Counter Force in that confrontation.
For instance, True Ancestors, supported by the Counter Force, can maintain their Marble Phantasm indefinitely.
'So, are Cursed Spirits actually 'True Ancestor' bodies that the Counter Force pinched together for itself?
That would explain why some Cursed Spirits are incredibly strong while others are weak.
But if even those Grade 4 Curses—which can be beaten down with a wooden stick as long as a human can see them—are considered a Counter Force, then the Counter Force would be far too cheap.
Of course, it's also possible my guess is wrong. Or rather, just not quite accurate...'
Thinking this, Shirou looked at Fushiguro Toji. Through the soul-vision of [Pseudo-Atum], he could see something on Toji's person that was currently overlaying the body of the young curse user.
Shirou was very familiar with this change. It was the erosion of reality by a Reality Marble.
However, unlike the Reality Marbles in Shirou's memory that changed the whole world, Toji's erosion was manifested only on his own body. It only eroded the young curse user who had originally summoned him.
This was the reason Fushiguro Toji still existed even now. It wasn't just that his [Heavenly Restriction] prevented him from producing Cursed Energy (thus preventing consumption), it was also that when the Seance Reality Marble—which required Cursed Energy—was eroded by the [Heavenly Restriction] Reality Marble, his current body became a "Heavenly Restricted" form that required no Cursed Energy.
Since the Seance technique required maintenance of Cursed Energy... wouldn't making the Seance technique "disappear" solve the problem?
...That truly was brutally simple.
"No wonder in the Jujutsu Kaisen of my past memories, Fushiguro Toji said his body was special.
—Even if the curse user who used the Seance only summoned Toji's physical information and not his soul information, he could conversely erode that young curse user's soul.
Translating that sentence: it turns out it was just erosion between one Reality Marble and another," Shirou grumbled to himself.
But complaints aside, he kept recalling the plot of Jujutsu Kaisen. Using the original story to verify his theory, Shirou finally confirmed that Domain Expansions and Reality Marbles were indeed remarkably similar, leading him to a sudden realization of a new possibility.
"Since a Domain Expansion or a Cursed Technique is just a variant of a Reality Marble, then as long as I, who also possess a Reality Marble, inject Cursed Energy into it..."
The spear tore through the atmosphere, roaring and howling. The tachi swept through the clouds, screaming with speed.
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Much like in the Dragon Ball manga, when describing a battle where both sides are so fast that character drawings are omitted in favor of lines to describe extreme velocity, the same was happening here.
Toji didn't pay any mind to Emiya Shirou. After all, Shirou hadn't specialized in Cursed Energy before this. For Fushiguro Toji, who was exceptionally sensitive to the perception of Cursed Energy, Shirou looked like little more than a weakling.
By comparison, Okkotsu Yuta—who ranked only below Sukuna and possessed the second-highest Cursed Energy reserves in all of Jujutsu Kaisen—was the sorcerer worth Toji's attention.
Thus, while Shirou was still lost in thought and confirming his hypothesis, Toji—having snatched the spear from Zen'in Maki and determined she too was a weakling—began excitedly rushing toward Okkotsu Yuta, initiating a Dragon Ball-style battle.
[Heavenly Restriction] gave Fushiguro Toji a superhuman constitution far beyond normal people or even Special Grade sorcerers. And Okkotsu Yuta, under the accumulation of massive Cursed Energy, could similarly reinforce his physical stats to a level where he nearly killed a Special Grade like Suguru Geto.
Their battle was so absurd that Zen'in Maki, watching from the sidelines, couldn't see their figures at all. She could only judge roughly where Toji and Yuta had just been by the sounds catching her ears and the cracks forming on the ground.
But what was the use of that? This level of judgment wasn't enough for Maki and the others to provide support. In fact, since they couldn't even see the figures clearly, they didn't dare to intervene randomly. They could only hope that Yuta, who could hold his own against Toji with pure martial arts, would find the right moment to summon the Shikigami Rika for a righteous two-on-one fight to secure the victory.
"So fast, so strong! Is this the enemy Gojo-sensei once defeated?
But... I can still handle it!"
Yuta completely abandoned defense. Unlike the "equal match" Zen'in Maki and the others imagined, Yuta, who was personally involved in the fight against Toji, knew very well that he actually had no room to counterattack. The rhythm of their battle was entirely in Toji's grasp.
However... he also had a certain-kill move!
Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
Announcement
I'm happy to announce that there are 2 new Fanfiction!
Hachiman wants to escape the Romantic Minefield in COTE
Why are Yukino and Yui in this school too?!
To ensure a comfortable future, Hikigaya Hachiman chose to attend a highly advanced high school with a 99% college entrance and employment rate.
However, upon entering, Hachiman immediately noticed something was amiss.
Karuizawa : "If... you hadn't been there back then, I probably wouldn't have made it..."
Kushida Kikyo: "Hachiman-kun, if you dare tell anyone about what happened in middle school, I'll make sure you can't stay here!"
Yui: "Hachiman... if the lights are off, can't you just pretend I'm Ichinose-kun?"
Yukino: "Hachiman-kun, it seems you need to explain how many people you've messed with since transferring schools!"
Shirou's multiverse selves
"I've actually been reborn ten years in the past, during the Fourth Holy Grail War."
Realizing this, countless ideas flooded Shirou's mind. Just as he was about to put them into action, Shirou suddenly found himself in a space filled with white mist, where he encountered two other versions of himself.
But these versions have different powers and their world are familliar, and with only a touch we can share memories and powers.
Massive Multi-Crossovers and multi protagonist(the protagonist are the various Shirou in their world)
One Piece, FGO, Food Wars, Slime Tensei, Fairy Tail and more