"It's finally over."
His exhausted body could not hide Eichi's inner joy.
Before the battle, Eichi had repeatedly practiced with his Spirit Origin Shadow.
Finally, Eichi obtained a piece of data: it would take 6-7 seconds from his summoning of the Spirit Origin Shadow until it finished unleashing its Noble Phantasm.
This meant that for those 6 to 7 seconds, he had to ensure that Mahoraga would not interfere with him and the Spirit Origin Shadow unleashing its Noble Phantasm.
This gave Eichi a massive headache.
Even the strongest Qiongqi couldn't hold Mahoraga back for 7 seconds under its fierce assault; 3 seconds was uncertain.
After all, for those 7 seconds, Qiongqi couldn't retreat a single step to cover Eichi and Artoria.
After repeated simulations and practice, Eichi prepared this subjugation plan.
A group assault, and one where they fought to the death to win.
If one Shikigami or Shadow Servant could desperately hold it back for 1 second, Eichi would extend that time to 2 or 3 seconds through the cooperation between Shikigami; everything was to buy enough time.
For the first 3 seconds, Eichi originally planned to break Mahoraga's balance with a sneak attack, and then the Giant Elephant and two Shadow Servants would give their all to prevent Mahoraga from regaining its balance, thus buying enough time.
This did cause Mahoraga some trouble, but only a little, far from Eichi's expectations.
Next, Eichi managed to buy those 7 seconds within 7 seconds, at the cost of himself and Caster sustaining two minor injuries, three Shikigami being severely injured, and two Shadow Servants being killed in action.
Although it was somewhat tragic, at least the two goals set before the battle were achieved.
First, to prevent Mahoraga from interfering with the summoning of the Spirit Origin Shadow and the unleashing of the Noble Phantasm.
Second, to ensure Mahoraga was within Artoria's maximum range when the Noble Phantasm was unleashed.
Artoria would find the angle of the Noble Phantasm's attack herself; the key was not to exceed the range.
To be honest, if Caster hadn't successfully obstructed Mahoraga in the last half-second, Eichi would have had to go in himself.
He would have to entangle it for the last half-second with a self-sacrificing attack, then have the Shadow Servant Archer carry him away from Mahoraga.
However, this also risked losing the Archer piece, because if someone had to hold Mahoraga until the very last moment of the Noble Phantasm's release, then Eichi's remaining option would be Archer, but Eichi could not guarantee that the System's piece would not be destroyed by Artoria's Noble Phantasm.
If Eichi, after staking everything, still failed to subjugate it this time, then he would only be able to wait a dozen years later to invest in the polar bears and then visit their weapon experiments.
Fortunately, Eichi succeeded.
Dragging his weary body, Eichi rode on Qiongqi's back and left the mountains.
Although the battle just now was not long, it placed a huge burden on Eichi's body.
It was like someone who usually doesn't exercise or work out going to the gym for the first time and overtraining.
Such an approach would overwhelm the body, causing anything from general soreness to muscle strains.
Eichi was in such a state now.
Although Eichi had a strong physique, he had been operating his Cursed Energy at an overload to subjugate Mahoraga.
Landing in a remote area, Eichi canceled Qiongqi's summoning, allowing it to rest, and then released a large number of Rabbit Escape for vigilance.
After resting for a period, Eichi's condition recovered significantly.
His physical injuries healed under the effect of Reverse Cursed Technique.
The mental fatigue caused by over-activating his Cursed Energy also eased.
Once his condition improved, Eichi did not rush home but eagerly summoned Mahoraga.
He was like a child who had finally received a long-desired toy.
Eichi circled Mahoraga, touching here and looking there, having a great time.
"Next is the most important ability test."
Eichi raised his hand, and a tiny bolt of lightning flew from his hand, striking Mahoraga.
This was Nue's lightning.
The owner of the Ten Shadows Technique can use the abilities of their Shikigami; in the original work, Sukuna, when fighting Gojo Satoru, used Max Elephant's water manipulation ability, referencing Blood Manipulation, to unleash the Ten Shadows Technique version of Piercing Blood.
Although he didn't know why Megumi Fushiguro didn't use it, was it because he didn't have enough Cursed Energy?
After all, Megumi Fushiguro did give the impression of being low on mana.
Suddenly, a thought popped into Eichi's mind.
Could it be that the Blind-Eyed Cat only thought of this usage later?
Eichi, who was deep in thought, frowned because the solution Mahoraga provided was too simple, so simple that Eichi was a bit speechless.
Strengthen defense with Cursed Energy.
"Mahoraga, why do you defend against lightning like that?"
The next moment, Mahoraga gave an answer that made Eichi not know whether to laugh or cry.
The attack was too weak, no threat, simple defensive measures were sufficient.
Eichi shook his head helplessly; Mahoraga was his Shikigami, his companion, and Eichi didn't want to harm it if unnecessary.
This was also why the attack Eichi just released was so weak.
He only wanted to know how Mahoraga adapted to and broke Nue's lightning, not to harm Mahoraga.
"What if the lightning attack just now was strengthened a hundredfold?"
Mahoraga fell into thought.
Soon, a new solution appeared in Eichi's mind.
Modify the surface of the body with Cursed Energy to form a special insulating fat layer on the body surface, while filling the body with Cursed Energy, allowing the blocked lightning to scatter in all directions.
"That feels so familiar."
Eichi stroked his chin.
"I remember now, isn't that an electric eel?"
Eichi slapped his forehead.
As a child, he was curious why electric eels could electrocute other fish but not themselves; later, when he asked someone, the answer he got was very similar to this.
"What if it's a thousand times stronger?"
Mahoraga provided the answer.
Modify itself to adapt to lightning to a certain extent, while diverting most of the lightning into the ground.
"A lightning rod?"
Soon, another solution appeared in Eichi's mind.
"A Faraday cage?"
A Faraday cage is a metal enclosure that prevents electromagnetic fields from entering from the outside or escaping from the inside.
The reason Eichi knew this was because a relative in his previous life was driving outside and was struck by lightning.
However, Eichi's relative was completely fine.
After returning to the village, he told everyone about it, believing he was blessed by heaven.
Later, a research team came to the village, and a doctor in the team told him it was a Faraday cage.
The lightning was blocked by the car's external metal shell; as long as he didn't open the window or touch anything, he would be fine.
Thus, this unsolved mystery in the village was resolved.
"Show me, let me try it."
A somewhat curious Eichi asked Mahoraga to experiment according to the method it provided.
Soon, Mahoraga's figure changed slightly.
It seemed to have gotten a little fatter.
Eichi reached out and touched it.
When he touched it earlier, Mahoraga's body felt like solid muscle, but now the texture had changed quite a bit.
Mahoraga's skin was even smoother.
Eichi raised his hand, charged up, and unleashed lightning.
This time, it wasn't a casual flick like an electric arc, but a highly destructive lightning bolt unleashed after serious charging.
Blinding lightning struck Mahoraga, yet Mahoraga's body showed no change.
The lightning that struck Mahoraga also began to spread around Mahoraga.
Mahoraga was not harmed.
"Interesting."
"If the enemy is the Giant Elephant, how would you adapt to and defeat it?"
Eichi continued to ask.
Because it had just fought the Giant Elephant, Mahoraga's mind had recorded the Giant Elephant's data, so this time Eichi didn't need to summon the Giant Elephant to fight Mahoraga.
After a while, Mahoraga's body changed again.
Mahoraga became more angular, and its muscles were like rocks all over its body.
Its hands also became sharper.
"I see, there's not just one solution, and they can be stacked."
Mahoraga gave its answer through actual action.
Strengthen its physical body to suppress the Giant Elephant in close combat.
This was the fastest way to adapt to the situation and break free from the Giant Elephant's entanglement.
Enhance its perception ability to calmly deal with the Giant Elephant's snake tail attack.
This was the simplest and most direct way to adapt to the Giant Elephant's attacks by changing itself.
Without the restraint of the snake tail, the Giant Elephant would appear too clumsy and could only be toyed with to death by Mahoraga.
Eichi recalled Mahoraga's attack just now, which severed the elephant's trunk and snake tail with one slash; so that was the result of enhanced perception.
Capture and break the attack trajectory of the snake tail, then cut it off.
Soon, Eichi discovered something interesting again.
That was Mahoraga's answer regarding "defeating" the Giant Elephant.
The first method was to change the way Cursed Technique was output, allowing its Cursed Energy to adhere to the Giant Elephant's wounds to suppress its regeneration.
The second method was to strengthen the penetration power of the Blade of Exorcism with lightning.
By striking vital points, the Giant Elephant would be annihilated before it could use Reverse Cursed Technique.
Yes, Mahoraga used Nue's lightning.
At the same time, Eichi also found that after Mahoraga took the Giant Elephant as an imaginary enemy, the changes made to its body to cope with lightning were canceled.
"Mahoraga can use my abilities."
However, recalling that Mahoraga also used Sukuna's slashes in the manga, it was no longer surprising.
By now, Eichi had a sufficient understanding of Mahoraga's abilities.
The strongest Shikigami that can gain resistance to enemies and effective methods to strike them by analyzing their attacks.
When Mahoraga was first summoned, it was like a hero without equipment.
Afterward, Mahoraga would change itself to adapt to the attacks it received.
This feeling was like playing a game and choosing a tank character with unique mechanics; if the opponent had high physical damage, it would build armor, and if they had high magical damage, it would build magic resistance.
Once the opponent's attacks were difficult to be effective, Mahoraga would find ways to cause effective damage to the enemy based on the opponent's situation.
It could tank, deal damage, and was a natural counter to Cursed Spirits; given enough time, it could counter almost anything.
Eichi found that although Mahoraga's adaptability had an upper limit, this upper limit could be increased.
Under Eichi's command, Mahoraga began to actively analyze and master the Giant Elephant's water manipulation Technique.
Eichi's smile grew wider.
After Mahoraga adapted to the abilities of the Ten Shadows Technique, it provided even more methods for adapting to and defeating the Giant Elephant as an enemy.
This feeling was like those heroes in games that can grow by stacking layers; Mahoraga could continuously record, analyze, and input the attacks it received into its database.
The more Techniques and countermeasures stored in the database, the faster it would adapt when encountering new enemies in the future, and the more methods it would have to defeat them.
"It's a Divine Rank Developmental (nurturing-type) Shikigami."
Eichi looked at Mahoraga with satisfaction.
Such a Shikigami, with a high starting point, capable of continued growth and becoming stronger, and also allowing its master to experience the joy of nurturing, was truly perfect.