Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Heroic Spirit Emiya fired three arrows at the eyes and forehead of the Taotie.
"Roar!"
The Taotie's giant maw opened almost as wide as its entire face, directly swallowing all three arrows.
"So that's how it is. That giant maw is both an attack that devours everything and your strongest defense, isn't it?"
Heroic Spirit Emiya realized he had lost his connection to the arrows he had just fired, making it impossible to use Broken Phantasm on them.
The Taotie bit down on the spot where Heroic Spirit Emiya had just been standing.
Heroic Spirit Emiya jumped up in time, successfully dodging the attack, and the Taotie only consumed a large amount of earth and rocks.
"You won't be able to eat this, will you?"
Heroic Spirit Emiya, still in mid-air, fired arrows at the Taotie again.
This time, the arrows directly hit the Taotie's eyes.
The Taotie only had time to close its eyes.
Unfortunately, eyelids usually only defend against wind and sand blowing into the eyes and are useless against powerful attacks.
"Broken Phantasm."
"Roar."
The Taotie let out a painful roar.
A large amount of Cursed Energy converged in the Taotie's mouth, and the now blind Taotie began to launch indiscriminate attacks at its surroundings.
The first target of this indiscriminate attack was the location where Heroic Spirit Emiya had been, according to the Taotie's memory.
"Trace on."
Unable to fly, Heroic Spirit Emiya achieved aerial movement by projecting weapons to step on.
The Taotie's attack missed completely.
Heroic Spirit Emiya began to move through the forest, dodging the Taotie's attacks while continuously firing arrows at it.
"Are normal arrows not strong enough? Indeed, I'll need a Noble Phantasm to eliminate it."
Heroic Spirit Emiya nocked a pure white arrow onto his bow.
This time it was an attack with demon-slaying properties.
As Shirou Emiya had thought, the demon-slaying arrow caused a great deal of damage to the Taotie.
Just as Heroic Spirit Emiya was about to continue attacking with demon-slaying arrows, the Taotie made a new move.
With its eye injuries healed, the Taotie no longer attacked Heroic Spirit Emiya.
Instead, it charged up and slammed directly into the ground.
Boom.
The earth cracked, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
Rumble.
With half its mouth underground, the Taotie swallowed countless earth, rocks, and trees.
Like a bulldozer, the Taotie began to charge wildly towards Heroic Spirit Emiya.
"Trying to obstruct my vision with dust, huh? How troublesome."
A few more arrows were fired, and the next moment, Heroic Spirit Emiya lost his connection to them.
Due to the pervasive dust, Heroic Spirit Emiya could roughly determine the Taotie's position, but he couldn't make the arrows precisely avoid its giant maw as before.
Heroic Spirit Emiya nocked another arrow onto his bow and fired.
The arrow, after leaving the string, stirred up a gale, blowing away large patches of dust.
The next moment, the Taotie swallowed the arrow, then created another large amount of dust.
"Is it stalling for time, or..."
The Taotie constantly kicking up dust was indeed troublesome, but the dust only obscured Heroic Spirit Emiya's vision and could not harm him.
After all, Heroic Spirit Emiya was not a stationary archer; he could avoid being enveloped by dust simply by keeping moving.
And for the Taotie to attack Heroic Spirit Emiya, it would have to leave the large cloud of dust that provided its protection.
If it used a Cursed Energy cannon attack, Heroic Spirit Emiya would surely notice, and the cannon fire would also disperse the dust.
The next moment, the pervasive dust was swallowed by the Taotie and then spewed out in Heroic Spirit Emiya's direction.
"Cough, cough, I see, so this is your method."
The Taotie's sudden action forced Heroic Spirit Emiya to raise his hands to shield his eyes, and being suddenly enveloped by a large amount of dust caused Heroic Spirit Emiya to accidentally inhale some of it.
"It seems I'll have to fight in close combat. Unfortunately for you, I'm also somewhat skilled in close combat."
In the world of Type-Moon, archers might not have the best archery skills, but their close-combat abilities are definitely not bad.
So, Heroic Spirit Emiya naturally wasn't afraid to engage the Taotie in close-quarters combat.
His longbow dispersed, and the black and white Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in Heroic Spirit Emiya's hands.
Heroic Spirit Emiya closed his eyes and began to sense and predict the Taotie's movements.
Heroic Spirit Emiya was a Heroic Spirit possessing Mind's Eye (True), meaning even in a desperate situation, there was a 1% chance of turning the tide.
Not to mention, the current situation was far from desperate.
It's worth noting that Heroic Spirit Emiya's Mind's Eye was not innate; he was not one of those great heroes favored by the heavens.
Heroic Spirit Emiya's Mind's Eye was derived from his own information and knowledge, a danger avoidance ability gained by predicting the opponent's actions.
This was a Mind's Eye supported by overwhelming combat experience, a Mortal weapon obtained by Heroic Spirit Emiya through countless battlefields.
'The Taotie's previous position, the time from when it spewed dust until now, and the distance the Taotie could have moved during this time, the most likely position for it to attack is...'
'Behind me.'
Heroic Spirit Emiya turned and threw his twin swords behind him.
A giant figure appeared behind Heroic Spirit Emiya.
"Crane Wings, Incomplete."
Kanshou and Bakuya cut a perfect arc through the air.
The blades left two long wounds on the Taotie's body.
Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya again, Heroic Spirit Emiya coordinated with the twin swords flying back from behind to launch an attack.
"Mind Skill, Mount Tai Arrives."
The first Bakuya flew back, hitting the Taotie.
Heroic Spirit Emiya also swung the second Kanshou, slashing at the Taotie's body.
"Mind Skill, Yellow River Crossing."
As the first Kanshou flew back, Heroic Spirit Emiya wielded the second Bakuya in his hand.
All four attacks landed on the Taotie's body.
The Taotie let out an enraged roar, opening its huge mouth, wanting to devour the small insect that had somehow gotten to its side.
"Only Name, Heavenly Separation."
Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya for the third time, Heroic Spirit Emiya once again launched a swift slash at the Taotie.
"Two Heroes, Shared Fate."
Before the Taotie's attack could arrive, Heroic Spirit Emiya swung the Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands, slashing out simultaneously to the left and right.
This strike inflicted a wound on the Taotie so deep it almost cut it in half.
"Broken Phantasm."
Boom boom boom boom.
The four Kanshou and Bakuya still embedded in the Taotie's body exploded violently.
Its body, almost severed in two, was blown to pieces under the Broken Phantasm.
"Still one breath left. Do you want it?"
Heroic Spirit Emiya turned to look behind him.
There stood Suguru Geto, who had just arrived.
Having spent so much time together, Heroic Spirit Emiya naturally knew about Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation ability.
Therefore, upon spotting the approaching Suguru Geto, Heroic Spirit Emiya only used Broken Phantasm to detonate four Kanshou and Bakuya, not leaving the two in his hands on the Taotie to explode with the others.
The result was that the Taotie still had one breath left.
The vitality of Cursed Spirits is quite tenacious.
Jogo, even with only his head remaining, didn't die and could still be used as a football, and his body recovered quickly afterward.
"Yes, thank you."
Suguru Geto didn't stand on ceremony, directly using Cursed Spirit Manipulation to turn the Taotie into a Cursed Spirit Orb and absorb it.
Heroic Spirit Emiya, meanwhile, quickly found a new vantage point and began observing the battle where Eichi was.
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