Chapter 114: Mutual Declarations of Victory
What!?
...However, [All the World's Evil] was in no hurry. Or rather, the Imaginary Number Magecraft attribute, shunned by most mainstream magi, was not disliked because it was weak, but because it was far too rare. So rare, in fact, that very few magus lineages passed down Imaginary Number Magecraft as their heritage.
And when the Imaginary Number attribute is truly unleashed, things that seem unimaginable in reality—existing independently of the world—will naturally manifest through [All the World's Evil] and its chosen vessel, Matou Sakura.
For instance, escaping into Imaginary Number Space for spatial transfer.
Once all the extended black-red bandage tentacles had been retracted, [All the World's Evil], controlling Sakura, looked at Emiya Shirou with a mocking gaze.
A trap specifically to lure it out? Perhaps.
Even if [All the World's Evil] wasn't particularly bright, it could sense it. Facing its surprise attack, Emiya Shirou's preparations were a bit too thorough.
But so what? The goal of [All the World's Evil] was not to defeat Emiya Shirou, but to escape from the interior of the Greater Grail. Having completed this first step, all that remained was to leave this place.
"Did you notice? ...No, it should be a deduction based on my previous battles.
Just as Illya, who resonates with the Winter Saint's Magic Circuits, can clearly know the events that once occurred on Fuyuki's soil, Angra Mainyu, also imprisoned within the Greater Grail, clearly possesses this special perspective.
You guessed that I might be unable to project multiple Stands simultaneously..."
Sensing that mocking gaze from [All the World's Evil], Emiya Shirou didn't say much, only thinking to himself.
A Stand User can usually only possess one Stand. Although this rule isn't absolute—for example, DIO, who occupied Jonathan's body, possessed his own Stand [The World] while also having access to Jonathan's Stand, and Emporio, who could simultaneously hold [Weather Report] and [Burning Down the House] via a DISC from [Whitesnake]...
Methods to bypass the "one Stand per user" setting do exist.
But a Stand, ultimately, is a phantom of power condensed from mental energy. Even DIO, while possessing both [The World] and Jonathan's Stand, couldn't avoid the two Stands interfering with each other. Or rather, the mental energy of one man like DIO was finite, making it difficult to sustain the consumption of two Stands. In the original work, the time stop of [The World] never broke through its limit until he absorbed Joseph's blood and surpassed the five-
second mark; it's hard to say that the disappearance of Jonathan's Stand wasn't a factor there.
And this was why Emiya Shirou previously preferred to project [Anubis]. Not only were [Anubis]'s stats high enough, but compared to other Stands that occupy a User's mental energy, [Anubis]—like [Cheap Trick]—is a special Stand that does not drain the User's mental energy; it is an independent entity rather than one centered on the User.
But unfortunately, to maintain the mana supply from the Greater Grail, [Pseudo-Atum] already occupied one "slot." Additionally, Shirou currently needed to maintain [Pseudo-Crazy Diamond] to ensure Matou Sakura's treatment.
After all, [All the World's Evil], which had manifested early through the loophole Shirou created with [Pseudo-Atum] rather than using Sakura as a direct medium, was not deeply bound to her. Naturally, it wouldn't heal her; instead, it would interfere with the healing, forcing Shirou to keep one Stand slot dedicated to [Pseudo-Crazy Diamond].
"Since I cannot stop the projection of [Atum] and [Crazy Diamond], the only Stand I can continue to project is [Anubis], which doesn't drain my mental energy. But the black mud Angra Mainyu spread around in advance was likely prepared for exactly this.
The curse of [All the World's Evil] affects not just Servants; even living humans will inevitably be infected and have their life force stripped away upon touching that mud."
Shirou, with his past-life memories, knew this. Kiritsugu Emiya's early death wasn't due to some disease, but because his life force was exhausted after being haunted by the curse of the black mud in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Yet, even facing such a desperate situation—facing this well-prepared trump card of [All the World's Evil]—Shirou smiled. There wasn't a trace of distress on his face, only a smile full of self-confidence.
"Angra Mainyu, do you know the ability of [Crazy Diamond]?
Even though you can't see it right now, you should be able to sense its presence."
In the perspective only a Stand User could see, [Pseudo-Atum] and [Pseudo-Crazy Diamond] stood flanking Shirou on his left and right. The former provided the mana to drive his Projection Magecraft, while the latter's fist seemed to be gripping something tightly, activating its Stand ability in resonance with Shirou's words!
Wh-What? What's happening?
[All the World's Evil], unable to see Stands, didn't understand what Shirou was talking about. But even without seeing, the confidence on Shirou's face undoubtedly signaled that he could stop [All the World's Evil]!?
'Is he projecting a Noble Phantasm, or throwing those strange swords again?'
"...No matter what you want to do, it's useless!
You can't possibly break through to me in this short amount of time!"
Having seen Shirou's combat style, [All the World's Evil] knew that besides liking to hold the stat-monster [Pseudo-Anubis] for melee, Shirou could also project multiple copies and fire them like arrows—a strange usage similar to Gilgamesh. Thus, it was prepared; besides the black mud laid out to block Shirou's advance, it had also arranged Imaginary Number Magecraft around itself.
Once Shirou tried to throw a Stand or a Noble Phantasm, they would only be cast into its Imaginary Number Space, unable to touch its body!
Sensing the Imaginary Number Space beginning to wrap and swallow it, [All the World's Evil] suppressed its trepidation and issued its declaration of victory:
"This battle is my win!"
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