Chapter 16

It was an emergency. There was no time. Warning signs were blared throughout the entirety of Chaldea. Ritsuka Fujimaru was at risk. Lev had survived and had summoned the worst possible enemy. A past Zenin clan leader. "Shit!" I quickly arrived at the command room ignoring debris I had just scattered about. 

"How far has Mahoraga adapted?" Romani and Da Vinci looked confused. "Mahoraga?" I nodded before explaining. 

"That right there is a past Zenin clan member with the Ten Shadows technique. I'm assuming that the servants got rid of Zenin before he could do anything correct?" 

Romani shook his head, "The Zenin is still alive actually, just in a suspended animation." I grit my teeth realising what this meant. "They've been dragged into a taming ritual for Mahoraga as an outsider. Which means that Mahoraga will essentially target everyone that was dragged into the taming ritual." 

Da Vinci nodded before I headed straight into a coffin. "No time, I'll explain during the process." 

Romani then shouted, "Most of the servants aren't doing anything to the shikigami anymore." 

The pull of the coffin intensified as I released Limitless. 

"That'll be Mahoraga's absolute adaptation to any and all phenomena. What about Lev?" Da Vinci announced the rayshift cleared as the I arrived in the air free falling down to the group. 

"The wheel above Mahoraga's head is known as the dharma chakra wheel and each spin allows it to adapt further until completion for an attack. 

Something wasn't right and the Six Eyes was warning me. "Fuck!" I quickly paged Fujimaru. 

"Oi Fujimaru! Did you get rid of the previous shikigami and how many?"

A confirmation was sent from Maid Alter as the rifle beams from her noble phantasm no longer had any effect. This was no longer a normal Mahoraga. This was a Mahoraga that had inherited the power of five shikigami. It made sense why Maid Alter couldn't finish it in one blow considering the aura of the Round Deer within. That potent reverse technique was more than enough to instantly regenerate the moment the damage was done. And due to previous shots and a poor judgement from Fujimaru due to lack of information, the adaptation had long begun. The other servants were of physical type. Okita's slashes had adapted Mahoraga to the concept of a slash attack. 

"Move away!" I yelled at the group to move as far away as possible before I aimed to take down the shikigami in one shot. 

"Cursed Technique Maximum Output: Blue!" 

In an instant I poured the maximum amount of cursed energy within the technique as I aimed to crush Mahoraga in an instant. However the results were disappointing as the effects of Mourn Tiger provided enough defence to cause the wheel to spin once but there was something else. Something else was off about this Mahoraga. Lev really knew how to hit the buttons. Mahoraga instantly regenerated his arm from the combined effects of its innate regeneration and the positive energy provided by the Round Deer. A near instant recovery. From past records within the clan archive, it should take four spins for Mahoraga to adapt to the neutral form of Limitless. 

In which case, it was better to use Red to blow it away in one shot. 

 "Cursed Technique Reversal: Red" 

The small red orb formed just as I kicked the joints of Mahoraga to kneel. The red orb was straight in front of its face only for it to just blow away the skin. Something wasn't right here. I had never used the reversal on Mahoraga yet the effects of the adaptation had already applied? The ground below sank from the shadows as my foot tripped just as the sword of extermination aimed and slit open my neck. 

The constant reverse technique I was running saved my life as I warped away. My Infinity should have still been active considering only one spin had been seen from the wheel. The Six Eyes constantly provided enough time and processing speed to start sifting through information at a rapid pace. 

Something was horribly wrong here. Then it hit me, since when was I under the assumption that this Mahoraga was fresh? Why did I assume that this Mahoraga had no prior encounter with a Limitless User? That was the mistake that I had made. A mistake that would be forgotten as many people saw no need for the information. Servants are summoned in their prime. Some servants like Li Shuwen had two prime stages. In which case, assuming that this Zenin head had fought another Gojo head and assuming that the Gojo head won. Then this Mahoraga would have partially adapted to or adapted to a majority of the standard Limitless techniques. Electricity surged throughout the plains as the ground shook and rumbled from the shikigami. 

In that case I would have to go for a maximum Hollow Purple. And the most annoying thing is the lack of development in a Maximum Technique. 

However the charge time was quite noticeable and I doubted that Mahoraga would give me enough time. Therefore, I'd have to fool it using the Unlimited Hollow Purple. Without a range it'd catch everyone in the area of 15km. I gave the command through Okita to call Romani for an emergency rayshift back. Mahoraga continued to charge and disable my Infinity. A few palm strikes and kicks were enough to stun it for a quick moment. 

Multiple Blue's formed as they tracked Mahoraga only all but one to dispel. I raised my hand as the sign of Mahoraga wanting to finish adaptation was shown. Mahoraga had an autonomous thought process that was enough to make decisions during battle. It must have sensed that this was time to finish adaptation. 

Instead I fired it at the Blue. Mahoraga which would have already had prior experience to being erased by Purple would desperately try stop it. Sadly the adaptation backfired as the instant movement brought forth by Blue was enough time for me to fire off another Red to push Mahoraga back. Just in time for the rest of the group to finish the emergency rayshift. 

"Nine Ropes, Polarised Light, Crow and Shomyo Chant, Gap between within and without." 

The two opposing expressions collided as Mahoraga attempted to escape the radius of the imaginary mass. Too late, within that instant I had pulled down a veil that traded everything for durability in containing Mahoraga and that included the active period of the veil lasting only five seconds in return for the huge durability. 

"Hollow Technique: Purple" 

The unrestrained and omnidirectional Purple dyed everything within the veil in a colour of purple as everything within the radius was erased leaving only dust. A huge crater formed in the desert as I had taken damage from the blast as well. But since it was my own cursed energy it was fine. The Zenin head soon glittered away as the ritual had been annulled and therefore his death was confirmed. 

"That was the most thrilling fight I've had in ages." 

I touched my neck remembering the near death experience. A little bit more and I would have died if the blade had severed my head. 

"Send me back."