Chapter 201: A Path to a Peaceful World?
To be honest, the current gap in combat power between Hanami and Emiya was significant, but it hadn't reached the point where Hanami's all-out strike could be easily dismantled by Emiya under normal circumstances.
Had the opponent not provided two of the "sure-kill" conditions for Maria the Ripper themselves, Emiya would have at least needed to use a barrier-type Noble Phantasm to defend against the attack, and then expend considerable effort to finish the spirit off.
The process wouldn't have been grueling, but the consumption of his Noble Phantasm stockpile would have been substantial.
In fact, if Emiya hadn't mastered the [Reverse Cursed Technique], which allowed him to convert Cursed Energy into Magical Energy, the drain on his mana would have been even more severe. Both his Cursed Energy and physical stamina could withstand a war of attrition, but his mana reserves could not.
Even though he was an exceptional first-generation magus—so outstanding that many famous magus families would have been eager to recruit him as a son-in-law just to pass on his genes to their descendants.
Even if Emiya demanded over a dozen beautiful daughters from these families to accompany him, they likely would have accepted.
To orthodox magi, emotions were irrelevant. Optimizing bloodlines and strengthening the family were goals secondary only to the ultimate pursuit of the "Root."
However, this excellence was limited to him as a first-generation magus. For family magi who had optimized their bloodlines for dozens of generations, a body with many [Magic Circuits] was the standard for being truly "superior."
Only such magi could bring out the ideal combat potential of Servants during a [Holy Grail War].
Emiya's original mana capacity was barely enough to maintain a Servant's existence; to accumulate enough mana for combat, he would usually have to rely on other methods of "mana replenishment."
Ultimately, Hanami's tragic defeat really could be attributed to luck.
Though it is an abstract attribute, according to Emiya's knowledge of the [Holy Grail War], Servants truly possess a [Luck] stat.
Those with Luck as low as Rank E might find even "sure-hit" Noble Phantasms failing, leading to defeat in battles they should have won.
Luck is a part of strength—that saying is no joke.
"........Luck?
You're saying... it's just that my luck wasn't good enough...?"
Cursed Spirits do not possess organs like internal organs, so the effect of Maria the Ripper did not target specific viscera. Instead, it carved out and hollowed the area where Hanami's vitals were concentrated.
Thanks to the extraordinary vitality of a Cursed Spirit, Hanami did not lose her life immediately despite having most of her central tissue removed. She knelt on the ground in a state of exhaustion, her strange green blood dripping onto the grey-white earth.
Interestingly, as the green blood hit the ground, several tender green sprouts actually managed to push through the soil of [Magano]—a place where life was supposed to be impossible. it was a perfect illustration of how life itself is a force capable of creating miracles.
Unfortunately, this world does not believe in "miracles"; it only knows the boundless "malice" of humanity.
Otherwise, Hanami might have truly become an Elemental species like those from the Age of Gods in the Moonlit World, rather than a Cursed Spirit destined for tragedy from the day of its birth.
As an entity made of "curses," it is difficult to damage a Cursed Spirit's essence with ordinary attacks. Unfortunately, the attack method of Maria the Ripper is itself a curse—though the form differs, both are aggregations of ill will.
"Speaking of luck, the very species of Cursed Spirits—destined for tragedy from birth—is the one with the worst luck of all.
No matter how hard they struggle, they cannot change their essence of being born from malice. The vast majority of individuals can only live mindlessly within a cycle of ill will.
Even if a small portion luckily awakens and wants to change the situation, they eventually have to succumb to the fact that their kind can never truly be saved.
Or perhaps under the shadow of humanity... all other life, even the planet itself, has lost the possibility of determining its own fate. They are forced toward extinction alongside humanity's self-destruction in some future day..."
Perhaps it was because her life was nearing its end that Hanami maintained such an extremely pessimistic view. Or perhaps these were her most fundamental thoughts, for her very existence was a contradiction.
Her elemental-like characteristics made her rational side lean toward calmness and compassion, but her nature as a Cursed Spirit forced her to be influenced by negative emotions, making her irritable, aggressive, and dark in her actions.
Was she pitiable? Not exactly—after all, she had already committed many atrocities. If anyone was pitiable, it was the grudges of "Jack the Ripper"—the children who weren't even allowed to be born.
"In your words, there is only one point I agree with: the birth of Cursed Spirits is a mistake.
So if possible, what I want to achieve is not for humans to completely defeat Cursed Spirits, but for such creatures to fundamentally cease to be born.
In other words... to eliminate the malice of humanity as much as possible."
If world peace could truly be achieved, then Cursed Spirits would likely no longer appear. Even in such a peaceful society, humans would inevitably generate negative emotions, but those wouldn't be "curses"—they would just be a form of self-expression.
Does such a world really exist? Even humans themselves struggle to imagine it. In human fiction, "Utopias" are almost always conspiracies designed for some darker purpose, rather than a genuine evolution of the world into something beautiful.
Regardless, that shouldn't be a reason for Emiya to abandon his ideal. He did abandon the ideal of being a "Hero of Justice," but as an ordinary person, it didn't stop him from working toward that direction. It was just that as an ordinary person, he would become more sentimental in the process.
"That would surely be a world where humans and the planet can coexist in peace, right?"
Who would have thought that in her final moments, Hanami would ask such a question?
"At least, that is the world I hope for."
During the conversation, Emiya stepped up to Hanami and raised his blade high.
Slash—!
Emiya wasn't so petty as to deny his opponent a dignified death, even though Cursed Spirits leave no corpses behind after they perish.
As for the patch of green Hanami left behind in her wake? Who knows how long it will last in the depths of [Magano].
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