(Heartfelt thanks to Yume no Shouyou, Chen Jiale666355, Lei Xiang, Wei Zhi De Yue Ding, and Snow Bubble Radish for their tips!)
After Illya's explanation, the truth behind why there were still three locations of magical distortion left in Fuyuki City came to light.
There should originally have been only two magical distortions left. The reason there were still three was that Rin Tohsaka and the others had run into trouble while retrieving cards last night...
It was not that someone had suddenly appeared as Rin Tohsaka and the others' opponent, like Wu Yan, Hinagiku, Mikoto, and the others had, causing them to miss the time to enter the Mirror World. Rather, Rin Tohsaka and the others had simply failed to defeat the materialized Heroic Spirit last night.
The reason was simple...
That Heroic Spirit had cheated!
This was not a joke. It had genuinely cheated!
The enemy Rin Tohsaka's group encountered last night was 'r (Caster).'
Among all Heroic Spirits, the only ones qualified to become 'r (Caster)' were those whose mastery of magecraft had reached the highest level.
Because of this trait, Heroic Spirits qualified to become 'r (Caster)' generally had relatively low combat ability. Furthermore, since most Heroic Spirits possessed a skill called Magic Resistance, which granted a certain degree of immunity to magical damage, 'r (Caster)' was considered the weakest Class.
However, that was only when compared to Heroic Spirits of the other Classes.
Although 'r (Caster)' itself had comparatively low combat ability, its mastery of magecraft was terrifyingly profound. Some even far surpassed modern magi, to the point where not even Magicians could compare!
The 'r (Caster)' Illya's group encountered last night was precisely that kind of opponent!
Yet that was not the true reason Illya's group had returned in defeat.
The true reason was