Chapter 773

Shirou had a bad feeling. He picked up the Ruby and chased after them with Miyu.

Illya was no longer in the hallway; she was running towards the school gate.

Shirou Miyu quickly followed.

"Is Illya planning to leave early?"

"Possibly. She may have reached her limit and wanted to escape as soon as possible."

"What about Illya's schoolbag? Should we go back to get it...?"

Just as Shirou Miyu were talking about these things, something seemed to appear above Illya...

"Illya, upstairs!"

"Eh... Ouch!?"

Illya stopped and looked up when she heard Shirou's shout.

Then, the instant she recognized "that," she jumped to the side and dodged it.

What shot down from above Illya was a black, spiraling arrow.

"!"

Shirou's eyes widened.

Miyu exclaimed in surprise, "That, that's... from yesterday!?"

The two quickened their pace and caught up.

Then, they witnessed it.

There stood the Black Illya who had appeared yesterday.

Holding a black bow, she cornered Illya like a hunter chasing its prey.

"Hmm... even this won't work?"

"She spoke!? This child spoke! She's not Corrupted Heroic Spirit!"

Just as Ruby said, Black Illya spoke clearly.

Although surprised by this, Shirou was secretly delighted.

In other words, she's not someone who can't be communicated with... even though she seemed to have wanted to kill Illya just now.

"Miss Illya, try communicating with her!" Ruby suggested excitedly.

"Um, that... I'm an ally, not an enemy."

Illya pulled a lollipop from her pocket and, along with her wand, awkwardly performed a skit.

Shirou seemed to understand why Ruby was interested in his sister.

The mysterious girl looked at the lollipop Illya offered her, her expression growing even more displeased.

This was a perfectly reasonable reaction; no matter how you looked at it, Illya seemed to be fooling herself.

"Ugh, ouch!?"

The mysterious girl shot an arrow at Illya, but the latter twisted her body and barely dodged it.

"What... what are you doing?"

Black Illya said speechlessly, "You dodged it again... As expected, your luck and Instinct levels are ridiculously high."

I was trying to eliminate you as discreetly as possible, and I narrowly escaped everything this morning.

"In the morning? So, that truck and the flowerpot were both..."

"Uh, now's not the time for leisurely skits, Illya!"

Shirou sensed the murderous aura emanating from the mysterious girl.

"I might as well just kill you."

As she spoke, the mysterious girl opened her arms—a pair of swords, one black and one white, appeared in her hands.

"!!"

Seeing this, Shirou tossed the Ruby to Illya.

"Thank you, thank you, brother!"

Illya took the Ruby and immediately transformed, and Miyu transformed at the same time.

Shirou Projection the "Blades of Chaos." Although Black Illya possessed rationality, she intended to kill Illya, and he could not stand idly by.

"... elder brother."

"In short, let's go to a sparsely populated place!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Understood!"

Illya flew through the air, Miyu ran through the air on magical pedals, and Shirou moved across the rooftops.

Then, Black Illya, just like Shirou, jumped rapidly across the buildings.

"Wow! It hopped and skipped right up to us!?"

"As expected, that guy has the abilities of Heroic Spirit... or rather, he has Archer's abilities."

The group lured Black Illya to the woods on the outskirts of the city.

If it's opened here, there's no need to worry about it being seen by ordinary citizens or causing harm.

"Okay, this way we won't cause any trouble for the surrounding area."

Illya looked somewhat angry.

She wasn't some pushover who wouldn't care if her life was threatened; she was going to teach that guy a lesson!

Miyu looked at Shirou: "Should we engage?"

"Well, that's about right."

Shirou gave a vague answer.

Even now, he still feels resistant to the idea of fighting Black Illya.

That being said, we can't just stand by and watch Illya get attacked.

"I can't just let you kill me! So I'm going to make you suffer a bit, don't hold it against me!"

Illya hovered in mid-air and launched the first counterattack.

"They're about to fire! Fire!"

The girl unleashed a magic cannon with her wand.

The Magic Bullet flew straight toward Black Illya.

You can't avoid that in the air, but...

"Snort."

The mysterious girl deflected the Magic Bullet aimed at her with just one hand.

"... Huh?"

"This is..."

Everyone was confused.

Shirou, of course, also noticed that the Magic Bullet Illya fired were much smaller and less powerful than before.

Even Ruby couldn't stand it anymore.

"Wait, Miss Illya. You've gone too far! Please inject more magic!"

Illya was a little angry and raised her wand to aim again.

"You, you bastard! Full power!"

Despite being called "all-out," Illya's Magic Cannon shot this time was still quite weak.

Black Illya swung her blade and deflected the magic cannon back.

"W-Why ahhhhh!?"

"Miss Illya's damage output has decreased drastically! She's become extremely weak!"

The limp, drooping Ruby spoke.

What happened...?

Miyu was completely taken aback.

Black Illya, seeing this, laughed happily.

"Is that so? You've gotten weaker, Illya... Well, that's to be expected, since I'm right here."

"What... what are you talking about...?"

Illya showed a wavering expression.

Black Illya did not let this opening slip through her fingers.

"Just what I wanted! I'll kill you in one fell swoop!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Black Illya rapidly approached Illya.

Holding the limp wand, Illya was helpless and could only stand frozen in place.

"----!"

Shirou's patience had reached its limit, and he fired an arrow in the path of Black Illya's advance.

However, he deliberately aimed at her, trying to avoid hitting her body.

"Ugh...!"

"Fire now!"

Miyu fired a magic cannon at Black Illya, whose progress had been halted by Shirou's arrow.

The timing was perfect.

But--

"Haha, you can't hit me~?"

Black Illya spun around, deflecting Miyu's magic cannon with a sword dance-like motion.

Miyu bit her lip in frustration, channeling her magic into her next attack.

"How about this? Rapid Fire!"

"Me too! If artillery fire doesn't work... slash!"

Miyu unleashed Magic Bullet like a machine gun, while at the same time, Illya transformed her released magic into thin blades, amplifying the power of her attack.

However, Black Illya taunted them while dodging all their attacks.

"Wood big wood big wood big wood big!"

After battling numerous powerful enemies, Illya Miyu's coordinated attacks should have become quite synchronized and perfect, yet they were unable to pose a threat to Black Illya.

--It can't be explained by mere dexterity.

At this moment, Shirou noticed that while Black Illya was dodging, she was also observing the movements of the two girls.

I see...

Shirou seemed to understand; Black Illya must possess quite good eyesight.

Those eyes were not honed through countless hellish trials, but rather an innate, natural ability to foresee danger—a "Eye of the Mind.

As mentioned earlier, Black Illya Instinct Illya.

In that case--

Even with the sharpest eyes, you're completely helpless against a hidden attack that you can't detect.