Chapter 247: Then, as You Wish—
The original "Projection Magecraft" of the world of magecraft works on an exceptionally simple mechanism: it is magecraft that uses magical energy to materialize a mirror image or imitation of an object that exists or once existed in reality.
Because it is formed from magical energy, it cannot maintain materialization for long. Furthermore, if a flaw arises in the caster's mental image, it vanishes like mist; thus, it is regarded as an extremely inefficient practice. It must be emphasized that the object of this "Projection Magecraft" is not the original source material, but rather a mirror image or imitation as described in magecraft—meaning it is based purely on the caster's imagination. This process can even lack any substantial connection to the original object.
As long as the product of the caster's imagination does not differ abnormally in appearance from the original, Projection Magecraft can be established, allowing the caster to project the item through the materialization of magical energy. However, because of this, the projected products lose all practicality due to being "hollow shells." Their actual hardness is likely no better than fragile glass, and a common impact can easily destroy them.
Based on this pure imagination, the more detailed one's understanding of the object, the better the projection effect... the ultimate level is likely having a thorough understanding of everything from the raw materials to the assembly of every component, which allows the power of Projection Magecraft to be utilized to its peak.
Even so, the practicality of the projected object will still be a step below the real thing. Moreover, ordinary Projection Magecraft can only project various items from daily life; it is divorced from technological equipment. Since the essence of science runs counter to the mystery of magecraft—representing two entirely different directions in human development—how could one use magecraft to project the products of science?
Thus, after discarding firearms and weapons—the only things that might have practical utility—the only items left for magi to project are cold weapons like blades, spears, swords, and halberds. But why would most magi bother projecting such things? Furthermore, an item projected at the cost of a massive amount of magical energy isn't necessarily more useful than a real cold weapon, making it a completely redundant effort.
In the end, magi specialized in research look down on such superficial magecraft, while pragmatically inclined "spellcasters" find such nearly useless magecraft entirely unserviceable. This results in a magecraft that looks decent on paper but has virtually no one willing to seek it out.
However, looking now at Emiya's [Projection Magecraft], one can see just how powerful this specific version is. Yet, corresponding to this power is a projection process infinitely more complex than ordinary Projection Magecraft. Emiya not only needs to know all the raw materials used to manufacture the Noble Phantasm, but he must also replicate the entire
manufacturing process and even the history the Noble Phantasm has endured for it to be projected perfectly in the end.
For this reason, projecting a Noble Phantasm under normal conditions takes a full ten minutes or so; the phrase "slow and steady wins the race" perfectly describes this process. Emiya can, of course, reduce the time required by discarding parts of the projection's precision—such as its history or manufacturing process—but the magical energy consumed increases rather than decreases, and the power drops significantly. Unless the situation is urgent, there is truly no point in doing so.
It is not impossible to produce a sufficiently refined Noble Phantasm via spontaneous projection, but it requires being in a better state and having ample magical energy... and this is exactly what Emiya is preparing to do now.
The greatest difficulty in attempting to project the "Sword of Rupture" lies first in how to imagine and simulate the scene of a [Divine Construct] being forged. No matter how miraculous a man-made object is, it possesses a copyable nature that can be imagined. But how can a human imagine and replicate the process of a [Divine Construct] birthed by the planet itself?
Supposing the origin of the Sword of Rupture truly was a miraculous creation born when the chaotic universe first began to settle into peace, humans—let alone actually replicating it—cannot even achieve the feat of imagining such a thing in their heads.
Even though Emiya obtained the possibility of forging a [Divine Construct] with human strength from the old man "Senji Muramasa," a possibility is ultimately just a possibility; moreover, different [Divine Constructs] cannot be generalized at all.
Therefore, the optimal solution to this problem should be like the last time he projected the Knight King's Excalibur (The Sword of Promised Victory): using the "Sword of Rupture" as he understands it to substitute for the original in the real world.
The reason the Excalibur projected last time possessed such formidable majesty was primarily because many versions of Shirou Emiya across various worlds had interacted with that Knight King, and some even had the experience of successfully projecting the Holy Sword with her support.
Since the essence of [Projection Magecraft] is imagination, Emiya was able to project a creation that could rival the original in instantaneous output by leaning on the support of those memories and his understanding of [Divine Constructs]. In other words, that Holy Sword Excalibur did not come from his hands alone; it was a product condensed from the memories and understandings of many "Shirou Emiyas."
As the saying goes, "There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes." A thing constructed purely from memory is inevitably one-sided—just as a human's gaze can only see one side of an object at a time, the other side must always be filled in by imagination within
the memory. Fortunately, when countless memories depicting different aspects converge, the depicted object becomes three-dimensional. The Holy Sword projected by Emiya achieved such near-completeness for this very reason.
At the same time, whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the figure of that King of Heroes always appeared in the memories of many "Shirou Emiyas." Although in most cases the role the King of Heroes played was not that of a companion like the Knight King, but an unquestionable enemy.
But isn't there a saying? Sometimes the person who understands you best is not yourself, but your enemy... Through those countless battles, "Shirou Emiya's" understanding of the King of Heroes continued to stack, finally allowing this unique accumulation to be realized within Emiya.
Taking only the one-sided Heroic Spirit identity of "Archer" into account, Emiya could already be considered the existence in this world who understands the King of Heroes best. For a true Heroic Spirit, the "Servant" form is merely a microcosm of one aspect of them and cannot represent the entity as a whole.
For example, the King of Heroes in the Archer class likely represents Gilgamesh at his most arrogant and dismissive peak. During that period, he was entirely divorced from the title of "Wise King," and his actions were extremely egoistic. Even though he possessed all the memories of Gilgamesh's life as a young King of Heroes, it did not significantly affect his actual personality... for he represented the arrogant side of the King of Heroes. From this perspective, a purely child-version King of Heroes could also be summoned as a Servant; as a child, he would also possess all the memories but would only act from a child's perspective and manner.
However, there was still one difference for Emiya regarding the King of Heroes compared to the Knight King: he had no overlap with the Knight King's life, yet he had also stood as an enemy to the "King of Heroes."
The [Holy Grail War] in Emiya's original world was quite special. Each Master participating in the battle did not summon their Servant as a summoner, but rather "installed" a partial concept of a Heroic Spirit onto themselves, allowing them to possess a portion of the Heroic Spirit's power.
In truth, the participants of that [Holy Grail War] were no longer the humans they believed themselves to be; they were puppets created by the Ainsworths to complete the ritual of "Saving the World." They believed they were participating in the [Holy Grail War] as living beings until the moment Emiya personally helped liberate them, and some finally realized the cruel fact that they were already dead.
Among these participants, the Archer [Class Card] used by Emiya was actually just a redundant blank card. It had no actual directional link to any Heroic Spirit and was a "useless item" with no function. Yet, Emiya stubbornly used this [Class Card] to become an extra
participant in that bizarre [Holy Grail War], and the only Heroic Spirit who responded to him was Heroic Spirit EMIYA himself.
Since Emiya's own Archer card was a redundancy, there was naturally an Archer originally intended to participate in that [Holy Grail War]. By a massive coincidence, the [Class Card] used by Angelica of the Ainsworth family was the King of Heroes of the Archer class.
Emiya's final battle in that [Holy Grail War] was against the user of this King of Heroes card. Aside from having different memories, this user not only possessed an arrogant personality like the King of Heroes but also had the right to use the [Gate of Babylon], allowing her to freely unleash the countless Noble Phantasms stored within.
Enuma Elish (The Star of Creation that Divided Heaven and Earth)... this was the strongest Noble Phantasm belonging to the King of Heroes that the opponent unleashed during Emiya's battle with Angelica.
Strictly speaking, Emiya should have lost that battle completely at that time. After all, the Sword of Rupture released at full power didn't just destroy his attack that had gathered his entire strength; it also destroyed [Unlimited Blade Works] along with it, causing him, in a heavily injured state, to lose all combat capability.
But Emiya only lost the battle, not the entire game. Because the younger sister he wanted to protect—the person the Ainsworths were desperately trying to control—responded as a "Child of God" to the wish Emiya himself made, allowing her to go to a world where she could make friends and find happiness. Therefore, the final victor of that [Holy Grail War] was absolutely not Angelica or the Ainsworth family, but Emiya himself.
Normally, after that, Emiya likely wouldn't have escaped capture and imprisonment by the Ainsworth family, but as fate would have it, that didn't happen; instead, he arrived in this world of jujutsu through a stroke of luck.
Even now, it seems Emiya should thank that Angelica in some respects. After all, if not for her, how could the current Emiya possess the experience and memory of fighting the Sword of Rupture, thereby providing the foundation to project this [Divine Construct]?
If the object of the projection is shifted from the true original source to the "Sword of Rupture" depicted in the collective memories of "Shirou Emiya," its feasibility can be maximized...
"Judging the concept of creation, hypothesizing the basic structure..."
Amidst Emiya's whispered incantation, the [Magic Circuits] on his arms began to operate at full power, swirling with pale blue electric arcs and light. Within Emiya's slightly open palm, an indistinguishable blur began to emerge.
In fact, within the memories Emiya obtained, not a single "Shirou Emiya" had ever successfully projected the Sword of Rupture. They had all attempted it, but all had failed without question. Even if it was just projecting a reflection from memory, the Sword of Rupture
was an undeniable [Divine Construct]. Or rather... "Shirou Emiya" firmly believed in his own memories that it was a [Divine Construct] impossible for him to replicate.
Projection is always just projection, not creation. What projection produces is nothing more than the caster's imagination; when a flaw appears in that imagination, even if it has the same performance as the real thing, it will vanish. Similarly, as long as Emiya continued to believe in his heart that the Sword of Rupture was a [Divine Construct] difficult for him to project, he would truly be hindered by that point.
But the real problem lay right here—"The Sword of Rupture is a [Divine Construct]" is an established fact. If Emiya denied this concept in his memory, the authenticity of the projection could not be maintained; but if he accepted this concept, then "[Divine Constructs] are difficult for humans to create" became another established fact.
Therefore, besides using his vast memories to construct the image of the Sword of Rupture in his mind, Emiya had to achieve one other thing: he had to believe unswervingly that he could definitely project this [Divine Construct]. It couldn't be a "give it a try" attitude where failure didn't matter; it had to be a confident conviction that he would definitely succeed. When one denies the very thing they are projecting, [Projection Magecraft] becomes a laughable empty talk.
If not for the memories and techniques brought by "Senji Muramasa" and the endless practice during this period, Emiya might have actually allowed himself to deny himself... but such a thing would never happen now.
"Duplicating the composition material, imitating the fabrication technique.
Sympathizing with the experience of growth, reproducing the accumulated years..."
As the incantation continued, the originally indistinguishable blur gradually revealed its true form, bit by bit, from the inside out... no, the interior and exterior began their vacuum construction simultaneously, gradually merging together. At almost no moment had Emiya's consciousness been more focused than now, nor had it been clearer.
The name of the Sword of Rupture (EA) comes from the god Ea in Mesopotamian mythology—most gods are considered supreme beings who appeared after the primordial Earth stabilized and life was born. But the god Ea is considered the deification of the planet's power that caused the surface, covered in a sea of lava and gases, to rotate, fracture, and stabilize while the Earth was still in its primordial state.
Even if Emiya wanted to use his condensed memories to replace the process by which this Noble Phantasm was forged and appeared, he first had to understand the basic concept of its operation.
Though called a sword, the body of the "Sword of Rupture" is composed of three parts that appear similar but are essentially distinct. From top to bottom, the three parts represent the Heaven, the Earth, and the Underworld. When the Sword of Rupture is activated, the three
parts representing the different components of the world begin to rotate in different directions, thereby displaying the "form" the world should have.
The three primordial things that constitute the world begin to turn, and the wind pressure generated can affect the space-time layer, tearing the world apart via pseudo-spatial fracture, returning everything to its origin and re-opening heaven and earth.
Once the mechanism of this Noble Phantasm's operation is understood, the subsequent projection process gradually becomes smoother.
Under Emiya's continuous infusion of magical energy and precise manipulation, the various parts—now as solid as reality—began to assemble. The majesty generated during this process was staggering; even though the Noble Phantasm was not yet fully formed, a tangible storm was already expanding and flickering around Emiya, seemingly simulating the appearance of the world's creation, with space itself being torn and reshaped.
By this point, even if Ryomen Sukuna had the heart to stop it, it was far too late...
"Finally, surpassing and completing all steps—"
As Emiya closed his hand again, a "Sword of Rupture" with a magnificent golden-yellow hilt and a black cylindrical blade covered in various crimson patterns was successfully gripped in the center of his palm.
The process seemed long, but from an objective temporal perspective, only a few short seconds had passed. To be honest, even Emiya himself hadn't expected the process to go so smoothly.
"Truly marvelous... Is this the strongest Noble Phantasm you described?
Bring it on! I can't wait even another fraction of a second!"
Ryomen Sukuna could not understand its existence or birth, but that didn't stop him from wanting to test exactly what this blade-less sword relied on to be called the "Strongest."
The realm of the "Strongest" has no end; the most terrifying thing is when you can no longer see any more directions or scenery ahead. Currently, Sukuna instead looked forward to Emiya bringing out something miraculous to let him understand a realm unheard of. Only then could he see a new direction and take another step forward in the realm of the "Strongest"!
Hearing this, Emiya did not hesitate. He simply followed the movements of the King of Heroes in his memory and raised the Sword of Rupture high.
"Then, as you wish—with this sword that opens the world—"
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