Chapter 251: This is... Assassin??
Fuyuki City, a small seaside town located in the far reaches of Japan, earned its name from the belief that it endured exceptionally long winters. In reality, Fuyuki enjoys a relatively warm climate, rarely suffering from severe cold. Its environment is so pristine that one could practically strike a hot spring just by digging a few wells.
Though described as a "small seaside town," Fuyuki's actual prosperity far exceeds that of a typical city.
Flowing through the very heart of the city is the Mion River, which divides the entire region into two sections with starkly different architectural styles. To the east lies Shinto, a highly modernized new town equipped with every amenity; to the west is Miyama-cho, the old town consisting primarily of residential districts.
Connecting these two halves across the river is a modern bridge also named after the river: the Mion River Bridge, commonly referred to as the Fuyuki Ohashi.
Whether judged by environmental factors or modernization, Fuyuki is a highly livable city. If there were any negative publicity to speak of, it would only be the mysterious underground gas main explosion that occurred somewhere in the old district over a decade ago, or the unexplained forest fire on the rear mountain nearly a century prior.
While these were unpredictable, low-probability events—arguably falling under the category of natural disasters that almost every city has in its history—the authorities used them as an excuse to limit the influx of the population. Their reasoning: Fuyuki sits on a zone of frequent leyline activity, making it unadvisable for outsiders to take up permanent residence.
Faced with this clearly unusual explanation, many casual outsiders abandoned their plans to stay. Meanwhile, those who had lived there for decades simply scoffed at such alarmist rhetoric.
However, from a perspective of leylines, the ground beneath Fuyuki truly hides spiritual pulses that countless magi yearn for. As a prime spiritual land, Fuyuki saw many influential magi migrate there long ago. These magi and the spiritual grounds themselves were managed by the Tohsaka family, members of the Mage's Association from the Clock Tower.
The beginning of the [Holy Grail War] was built upon this very foundation.
Around the year 1800, the Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Makiri families chose this location to perform a massive thaumaturgical ritual in their quest to reach the [Root], the ultimate goal magi pursue their entire lives. They named it the [Holy Grail War].
The "Swirl of the Root" is considered the "Cause" of all things, the starting point of every phenomenon. Since having the "Cause" allows one to produce the "Effect," its existence represents "Ultimate Knowledge."
[The Root] is simply what magi call this Swirl. Even if the Root is ultimate, it is still finite; thus, the name is merely a convention for the sake of understanding.
The final objective of a magus is to reach this pinnacle of existence. They believe the [Root] stores the final "Knowledge" that can sublimate their abilities from Magecraft to "Magic" (True Magic), allowing them to truly master "Miracles" that no one else can rival or replicate.
Whether it is studying, researching, fighting, developing their family, continuing their bloodline, or even creating a grand ritual like the [Holy Grail War], pure magi do it all solely to reach this final result. Everything they possess in the process can be discarded.
If a certain magus were given a choice—to reach the Swirl of the Root by abandoning their children, wife, family, relatives, everything they own, and even their very humanity—that cold-blooded magus would choose that cruel option without a moment's hesitation.
Would achievements lose their meaning if there were no others to witness them?
A magus would never understand such a thought. The essence of Magecraft and Mystery is not to share the secret with anyone. To monopolize "Forbidden Knowledge" is exactly what most magi desire. The only reason prosperous magical families were bred was to serve this ultimate goal.
It is said the purpose of the [Holy Grail War] is to reach the [Root] and obtain the secrets of "Magic." In reality, the Einzbern family, one of the Three Founding Families, had already obtained the secrets of the [Third Magic] in the past. However, with the passage of time, this once-mighty Magic gradually faded into the river of history.
The current Einzbern family is a legacy of the [Third Magic], participating in the [Holy Grail War] specifically to reproduce those lost secrets.
It was precisely because of the Einzberns' involvement that this [Holy Grail War] could summon Heroic Spirits from the [Throne of Heroes] in the form of Servants, utilizing them to wage a war with the entire city as the battlefield.
The Grail forged by the Einzbern family as the "Cup of Heaven" was labeled the 726th Holy Grail by the Holy Church. Because it could accumulate massive magical energy and grant wishes to a certain extent, it was indistinguishable from the "True" Grail for a long time.
For various reasons, the Holy Grail was never successfully completed or was destroyed. The [Holy Grail War] of Fuyuki took place several times. Each war would exhaust the magical energy of Fuyuki's leylines, requiring 60 years to accumulate enough power to summon the Greater Grail again.
As long as he lives in Fuyuki, no matter which world's "Emiya Shirou" he is, he can almost never escape the fate of coming into contact with the [Holy Grail War]. It's just that different [Holy Grail Wars] proceed in different ways.
Perhaps the most unique one belonged to that world that invented the miraculous game known as "Yu-Gi-Oh!"...
[Under the leadership of the Kaiba Corporation, duelists from all over the world gathered in Fuyuki City in the Far East to participate in a special dueling festival. After a series of slaughters and eliminations, the final seven strongest duelists and the Card Spirits they awakened during the process would face off in a final witnessed by the whole world. The ultimate victor would earn the right to make a wish upon the Holy Grail...]
Emiya himself didn't know if such a bizarre "Grail" truly possessed the power to grant any wish, because that world's "Emiya Shirou" didn't win that duel. Instead, after finally defeating President Kaiba who had entered the fray, he suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of a duelist named "Yugi."
Though the memories brought by each "Emiya Shirou" were only fragments, the combination of so many similar memories and images was enough for Emiya to have a thorough understanding of Fuyuki City and everything regarding the [Holy Grail War].
After the Third [Holy Grail War], the so-called "Grail" no longer had the ability to grant wishes normally.
This was because, during the Third War, the Einzberns illegally summoned an eighth-class Servant: Avenger. The Servant's true identity was a common youth from a Zoroastrian village who had been burdened with the title [All the World's Evils] (Angra Mainyu).
Being a completely ordinary human, he had almost no specialized combat power even as a Servant. Consequently, this "weakest Servant" perished quietly on the very first night of his intervention in the war. According to the ritual's settings, he was converted into magical energy and re-absorbed into the "Grail."
Originally, whether good or evil, Servants absorbed into the Grail would return to the purest magical energy to serve as the power source for wish-granting. However, it just so happened that Avenger's [All the World's Evils] was far more than a single [Holy Grail War] ritual could digest.
Ultimately, this massive human malice backflowed into the "Ritual" beneath Fuyuki and even into the "Grail" itself, completely altering the nature of the [Holy Grail War], which was originally intended to seek the [Root].
Speaking from the perspective of the Jujutsu world, this [All the World's Evils] could be considered a collective entity of all "Curses"—in other words, the repository of all human malice.
No matter who makes a wish to the "Grail" now, it will use that malice to grant it in the most wicked way possible. For instance, if the winner's wish were for World Peace...
The "Grail" would unhesitatingly help you kill everyone in the world, as that is the simplest and fastest way to maintain peace. Without humans, there are no wars; thus, the world is perfectly peaceful.
This line of thinking happened to coincide perfectly with that of the Cursed Spirit, Hanami.
Thus, in the memories of most "Emiya Shirou" versions, the "Grail" was eventually destroyed by them or others. After all, besides someone who truly wanted to destroy the world, who would use a "Grail" that only brings malice to grant their wish?
It was for this reason that Emiya was able to recognize his location instantly, because Fuyuki's most iconic landmark was currently right before his eyes—
A bridge with an entirely bright-red structure, a wide but clear and steady river, and the brightly lit city on the opposite bank... Clearly, Emiya was currently standing beneath the Fuyuki Ohashi, on the side closer to the old town.
"So... why exactly did I suddenly appear in a place like this?"
Emiya was certain that everything he experienced in the Jujutsu world was not an illusion, nor had he somehow experienced a strange and magical dream...
Because right at this moment, the scantily clad Itadori Yuji was lying unconscious not far from him. The various black markings on his body had completely faded, indicating he had reclaimed control from Ryomen Sukuna.
As it turns out, Emiya's "Noble Phantasm Therapy" was quite effective. Just a light tap on Sukuna's head with Ea (Enuma Elish) was enough to easily treat Itadori's symptom of losing bodily control.
But while the issue with Sukuna and Itadori was resolved, a much larger problem seemed to have appeared—
"If this is Fuyuki, it certainly looks like it on the outside... but there's something clearly abnormal about the situation here..."
The brightly lit opposite bank looked fine, but that was exactly the problem.
Even if he couldn't tell if it was late at night, the brightly lit scene proved the city was still in operation. Despite this, Emiya couldn't hear a single sound from across the water. There wasn't even a single vehicle or person crossing the bridge. This was obviously not normal.
Unless something even weirder was happening, it suggested there were simply no living people in the city he was looking at.
"Is what I'm seeing just an illusion, or have I arrived in some special Reality Marble or alternate dimension for some reason...?"
Emiya considered the latter a strong possibility. After all, even he didn't know exactly how destructive Ea was to space itself. At that time, they were inside an [Innate Domain] within a
special-state Shibuya; it wasn't impossible that they drifted from their original coordinates when they finally left the domain.
For example, take the [Magano] which he wasn't familiar with—perhaps there was a place like this there?
But why would this space take the form of Fuyuki? Did it correct its form based on the memories of the arrival, or...
"Ow, ow, ow... why does it feel like my body is falling apart? Like I was stuffed into a washing machine and spun a few hundred times?"
While Emiya was busy analyzing the situation and strategizing, Itadori Yuji, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly woke up. He scratched his head in confusion at his current state.
His intuition was quite accurate; he had been spun and cut countless times within a storm before ending up in this state. The attack of Ea really did bear some resemblance to a tumble dryer.
"Also... Emiya-sensei?!
Why are you here? If I remember correctly, I should be... Sukuna... Wait, did Emiya-sensei save me again...?"
Having had his first experience back at the juvenile detention center, Itadori quickly pieced together how things had been resolved. As for Sukuna absorbing nearly fifteen fingers at the end?
Itadori naturally had absolute, almost blind confidence in his teacher. Wasn't it only natural that Emiya-sensei could defeat that Sukuna guy?
"Now is clearly not the time for that... Here, get dressed first."
Emiya reached out his hand and instantly Projected a Jujutsu High school uniform, tossing it into Itadori's arms. [Projection Magecraft] was certainly handy at times like this. Even for detailed items like clothing, the "Real" duration was only a few days, but it was enough until Itadori could find normal clothes.
"Ah? I get it, Emiya-sensei!"
Despite having a thousand questions, Itadori immediately displayed his finest trait—never talking back to his teacher. Within a mere ten seconds, he had finished changing.
Only then did he try to ask again, "So, Emiya-sensei... where exactly are we?"
"This city looks so unfamiliar, I've never seen it... Have we already left Shibuya?"
He asked without hesitation because he felt his teacher would definitely have the answer. To Itadori's complete surprise, Emiya simply shook his head and replied:
"No, I don't know where we are either. But one thing is for sure: we are definitely very far from Shibuya."
Emiya had begun to piece things together. Perhaps the current situation was exactly what that guy Kenjaku had worked so hard to achieve. Whether Sukuna could defeat him didn't matter, as long as he was removed from Shibuya and prevented from interfering with the plan.
The mysteries of "Space" are understood by almost no one; even simple application is nearly impossible. in the entire world of Magecraft, the only one who could freely master space itself was that ancient Magician who manipulated the [Second Magic].
If Kenjaku wasn't lying and had truly made a breakthrough in barrier techniques, it was possible he could interfere even with Emiya's [Reality Marble], thereby disrupting the spatial exit point back to the mundane world.
"Eh? Does that mean we can't get back anytime soon?!
Man, without me there, I wonder if Kugisaki and Fushiguro will be okay... Ah, of course, you are the most important one, Emiya-sensei!"
Despite his words, Itadori's mindset remained optimistic. In his view, since Emiya-sensei was standing right beside him, how bad could things really get?
In his heart, Emiya-sensei had already become an invincible figure—trustworthy and impossible to defeat.
By the way, while Gojo-sensei was also invincible in his heart, the level of trustworthiness was... To put it bluntly, he would actually have to worry about whether Gojo would just abandon him in some deserted corner to survive on his own.
"Never mind over there; things aren't exactly relaxing on our end either.
Since a moment ago, there's been a fellow hiding in those bushes... If we want to figure out where we are, it's simplest to just ask a 'local,' isn't it?"
As Emiya's gaze turned toward a nearby thicket, a pitch-black figure slowly revealed itself, raising a hand with sharpened tips to point toward the two of them.
"Wait, this appearance...
Assassin ???"
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