Fortunately, this was a noisy banquet, and Luo Hao did not hear Kurumi's quiet muttering. Otherwise, those two would probably have clashed again.
Although no one heard Kurumi's words, Luo Hao's completely unrestrained voice was heard by many.
Countless horrified gazes turned toward Luo Hao. No one had expected that such a heavenly beauty would say something so... drenched in blood.
Kill half the people?
Just who was this person Sakura Matou had brought with her?
As for who she was, Sakura and the others who knew Luo Hao's identity naturally said nothing, while Luo Hao naturally could not be bothered with them.
In any case, the three incompatible groups ended this welcoming banquet amid a strange atmosphere.
After the banquet ended, in Kischur Zelretch's room.
Tear-streaked and flushed, that was Lineas's current state.
She looked as though Sakura had given her quite a thorough "bullying."
"Wake up."
A loud shout infused with magical power exploded beside Lineas's ear like thunder.
From the moment Sakura had whispered that first sentence into her ear, Lineas had unknowingly been affected by Sakura's Daoist Arts. Now, after the banquet, Kischur Zelretch finally woke her.
"I... Brother, I..."
"You were subjected to some kind of Eastern suggestion-type magecraft by Sakura Matou."
"Damn it, that woman actually..."
"Convinced now, Lineas?"
"I... Brother, did you..."
"Yes. I noticed during the banquet that you had fallen under Sakura Matou's magecraft..."
Her face alternated between green and white as anger, embarrassment, and guilt took turns appearing on Lineas's face. In the end, all of it became apology.
"I'm sorry, Brother. I made El-Melloi lose face."
"Hmph, lose face... Could you possibly be more humiliated than I am right now...?"
He raised a hand and patted his legs, which still could not make any movements. The Holy Grail War had worn away all of Kischur Zelretch's arrogance. Though he seemed no different from before, the pride he once possessed had long been left behind in Fuyuki City.
"Lineas, it may be difficult for me to improve any further in the future. You are the future of El-Melloi... Remember everything from today. Go and learn from Sakura Matou..."
The Grand Duel... A Cheater Versus the Pinnacle of Modern Magecraft
London in March 1993 was the season when spring arrived.
Yet on this day, London's weather was especially cold and gloomy.
A manor on the outskirts of London, nearly at the Oxford border, stood in stark contrast to the day's chill. It seemed to have become the hottest place in all of London.
Well-dressed, pretentious nobles; capitalists in immaculate suits reeking of money; teachers, soldiers, people in bizarre clothing... the manor's courtyard was packed with them, as though a grand event was about to take place here.
Standing amid the crowd with his fists clenched, Waver, who had also arrived at the manor early in the morning, looked exceptionally nervous.
There was no helping it. Standing beside these people from all walks of life around the world, who were actually Magi, Waver had yet to find his courage and had never attended such a gathering. Though he had become Kischur Zelretch's disciple, at heart he was still that inconspicuous nobody from the Clock Tower.
Just as Waver nervously kept scanning the crowd, hoping to find one or two acquaintances so he would not seem so tense.
The crowd within the manor suddenly began to boil over.
"Look... the Bartholomello family has arrived... That must be Lady Lorelei, the pinnacle of modern Magi."
"More are coming... Trismegistus, Lord of the Department of General Fundamentals; Lord Solonius of the Department of Individual Fundamentals; Lord Gaius Leon of the Department of Zoology; Dr. Heartless, head of the Department of Modern Magecraft..."
The duel had become a grand event. Lords arrived one after another, and famous Magi came to visit... In less than an hour, nearly half the upper echelons of the magecraft world had appeared at this manor.
It was hard to say whether this was due to Bartholomello Lorelei's charm, or whether the Matou Family of Fuyuki City was simply too tempting a piece of "meat."
As the sun gradually rose overhead and the chill in the air began to fade.
At last, the other protagonist of this duel appeared.
Accompanied by Marisbury, Kischur Zelretch, and Lineas, Sakura entered through the manor gates with Luo Hao and Kurumi.
Then, beneath the surprised, puzzled, and mocking gazes of countless Magi in the manor, Sakura slowly walked onto the only remaining open space in the courtyard.
This was the dueling ground reserved for them.
"Hahahaha... Does the Matou Family have no one left? Even if you're surrendering, at least make it look convincing. Sending a little girl only a few years old to her death—what are you trying to do?"
Piercing laughter began spreading wildly through the crowd.
To the Magi watching this duel, it seemed that the entire affair had already become a joke.
Sakura turned and winked at Luo Hao, stopping her from erupting. Ignoring the frenzied, grating laughter around her, Sakura directly took out a white glove she had prepared beforehand and threw it toward Lorelei.
"Although I don't know why a duel requires throwing a glove, when in Rome... Sakura Matou, head of the Matou Family, hereby challenges you to a duel."
Anger flashed in Lorelei's eyes. Although Lorelei herself was only eight years old, like the Magi around her who were laughing, she believed the Matou Family had given up on the duel and sent a little girl to die.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Magical power transformed into a gale that instantly swept across the entire manor.
All the grating laughter fell silent in that instant.
Lorelei stepped out from the quieted crowd, onto the reserved dueling ground, and walked straight to the white glove Sakura had thrown.
She did not pick up the glove and throw it back according to tradition.
Stopping beside the white glove, Lorelei looked at Sakura's calm face and loudly demanded an answer.
"Where is Zouken Matou?"
"Dead."
"Dead?"
"Yes, dead. He died more than a month ago."
A mocking smile appeared on Sakura's lips. Then she drew the Magic Wand from her sleeve and began idly playing with it in her hand as she told Lorelei the truth that almost no one believed.
"More than a month ago... Are you kidding me?"
"Kidding? I'm not joking, Big Sister. My grandfather, Zouken Matou, resented being driven out of the Matou Family after I took the position of family head from him. He tried to take revenge on me, and I killed him more than a month ago."
"Then who was the Zouken Matou who fought me that day?!"
"Him? He was merely one of my ordinary subordinates..."
At that moment, Lorelei nearly exploded with rage.
If she was going to lie, she could at least make it believable. An ordinary subordinate had already humiliated her beyond anything she had ever experienced—then what did that make her, the pinnacle of modern Magi?
Could the entire Matou Family be monsters?
Because of Sakura, Lorelei no longer wished to continue this "meaningless" duel. But after Sakura's words, which Lorelei saw as nothing but mockery.
The furious Lorelei still picked up the glove from the ground and threw it toward Sakura.
"Matou Family... unforgivable!"
"Don't worry, Big Sister. I'll spare your life..."
The white glove hit the ground.
The duel officially began.
The instant the white glove landed before Sakura, the extremely crude Magic Wand in her hand moved. In the eyes of many Magi, it was not even worthy of being called a Mystic Code.
"Disarm."
Red magical power gathered into a lightning-like beam and shot forth like an arrow released from a bow.
That strike alone drew gasps from the surrounding spectators.
The magecraft itself was not particularly exquisite, nor did Sakura display any especially noteworthy skill.
But... such crude magecraft had produced that level of magical reaction and such visual impact.
There was no doubt that they had underestimated this young girl!
Lorelei paid Sakura's attack no attention at all. Indeed, the level Sakura displayed with that strike could barely be considered first-rate in the magecraft world, but against something of that level, Lorelei could not even be bothered to dodge.
She flicked the riding crop in her hand upward. An invisible magical wind instantly formed, rose from the ground, and utterly unreasonably blew Sakura's magecraft straight into the sky.
"As expected of the pinnacle of modern Magi... Incredible!"
Hearing the crowd's various praises, Lorelei, who had intended to attack immediately and finish Sakura off, suddenly paused.
Thinking that she should exchange a few more rounds with Sakura and show these "trash" the power of the Bartholomello family, Lorelei stopped casting.
Instead, she extended her other hand and crooked a finger at Sakura.
"Continue... little girl of the Matou Family."
Sakura merely smiled at Lorelei's provocation.
"As you wish, Big Sister... Avada Kedavra!"
PS: There are still only two updates today... Sorry. Another chapter will be posted a little after 6 PM.
Magecraft Exchange, A Cheater Versus the Pinnacle of Modern Magecraft (2)
"As you wish, Big Sister... Avada Kedavra!"
Malice arose in her heart, and killing intent followed.
The Yellow Court Scripture instantly began circulating within her body as malice surged wildly forth.
As the most vicious of the three Unforgivable Curses from Harry Potter, Avada Kedavra was fundamentally a curse with a certain degree of instant-death capability. Even in the Type-Moon world, it counted as high-level magecraft.
Accompanied by cries of alarm from the spectators, a sickly green light lashed directly toward Lorelei along the direction Sakura's Magic Wand pointed, like a whip made of lightning.
Lorelei's expression changed when she faced this strike.
The riding crop in her hand began swinging continuously as wave after wave of magical wind blew fiercely against the sickly green lightning.
But unlike before, this move was no longer very effective against the magecraft known as Avada Kedavra.
Though it caused Avada Kedavra to veer partly off course, Sakura quickly corrected that deviation with the Magic Wand in her hand.
In the end... Lorelei had no choice but to start moving, while launching a counterattack against Sakura in a move akin to relieving pressure by attacking the source.
Sharp wind blades slashed toward Sakura one after another.
Like Lorelei, Sakura also began moving on her "little short legs."
"This little thing has some skill. She actually made Lorelei take her seriously..."
Humiliation. This was humiliation.
This was humiliation for Bartholomello. She had actually been forced to move her feet against a little girl like this.
Lorelei had already become irritable because of the matter concerning "Zouken Matou," and Sakura's taunting before the duel only added fuel to the fire. Under that double assault, Lorelei, whose pride ran deep in her bones, had become completely fixated.
She completely ignored the strength Sakura had displayed.
All she could think was that she was losing face, disgracing Bartholomello. The frequency of attacks from her hand became faster and faster.
Sakura moved with exquisite footwork beneath her feet.
After studying martial arts under Luo Hao for over half a month, Sakura had already made modest progress in the martial path. Facing Lorelei's frantic attacks, which had lost all rhythm and structure, Sakura naturally would not be struck easily.
Even though she was only six years old and still had a pair of "little short legs."
The more she failed to hit Sakura, the more agitated Lorelei became.
Seeing that even her wind blades, swung into a rainstorm, could not hit Sakura as she danced among them like a butterfly flitting through flowers.
Lorelei had to face the threat of Sakura's Avada Kedavra while also imagining that the nearby spectators were looking at her strangely.
No longer content with basic magecraft like wind blades, she clenched her little fist instead.
"Split, split, split! Split open for me..."
With every cry of "split," a ball of wind shot out from Lorelei's fist.
Before you continue