"Thank you, Illya!"
"You're welcome. We're allies now," Illya said, gently shaking her head. "And Sakura Matou truly is pitiful. Once this is over, I hope she can live peacefully with Shirou Emiya."
Illya sighed inwardly. The reason she was not acting now was also for the sake of her own body.
Although Illya possessed Magic Circuits far surpassing Sakura Matou's, Sakura Matou's "Imaginary Number" origin (magecraft trait) had a greater mana capacity. Coupled with the attraction that the evil thoughts in her heart held for All the World's Evil, as long as she was around, the Greater Holy Grail would choose her as the Lesser Grail first rather than Illya.
"Let's go, time to head back and sleep~"
At the edge of the forest, Zouken Matou's face immediately darkened as he watched Sakura Matou's heart settle down once more.
"Damn... Could that Einzbern homunculus know Sakura's identity too? To think she used Shirou Emiya to dissolve Sakura's negative emotions..."
His gaze flickered with uncertainty. Zouken Matou had no idea what else Illya knew, or how much she knew, and he became even more wary of her.
Mount Enzou, Ryuudou Temple. When Illya and the others arrived the following night, Medea had already been waiting for them for quite some time.
"Heracles, King Arthur, Mordred, and an unknown Archer... You really think highly of me..." Medea looked at the lavish lineup before her and truly did not know where to begin complaining.
Ever since Illya and Rin Tohsaka had joined forces the previous night, then publicly subdued Artoria, Medea had known this moment would come. It was not as if she had not considered fleeing, but she could not run.
Without a magecraft workshop, a magus was not even as strong as an Assassin. She had spent many days establishing her own magecraft workshop atop Mount Enzou, Fuyuki's greatest convergence point of spiritual veins. Setting aside the fact that she would never find a better spiritual vein, there simply was not enough time.
More importantly, Illya had dispatched Familiars to watch this place from afar since last night. Even during the day, they had been monitoring Souichirou Kuzuki's every move.
She did not want to change Masters again.
But it's not as though I have no chance of winning. As long as my Noble Phantasm can touch them... Medea thought inwardly.
Forcing a magus into close combat was truly suffocating.
"Which one of you is going first?"
Sasaki Kojiro swept his gaze around and issued his challenge.
"Big Sister Artoria, you go!"
Other than Red A, they were all renowned Heroic Spirits and could not bring themselves to gang up on someone. However, Illya knew full well how formidable Sasaki Kojiro was, so she did not send Mordred out. Instead, she directly chose Artoria, whose attributes had been greatly enhanced.
"Alright!"
Artoria summoned the Holy Sword and flashed to Sasaki Kojiro's opposite side. Sasaki Kojiro also gave up his high-ground advantage, taking the initiative to walk down the stone steps and onto a resting platform along the mountain path.
Illya knew why Sasaki Kojiro had done this, but she did not remind Artoria, because... there was no need.
All she had to do was believe in Artoria and quietly enjoy this top-tier swordsmanship duel... provided she could see it clearly.
The Terrifying Swordsmanship of the Gatekeeper Old Man
Clang—
As though they had Teleported, the two swords collided, scattering sparks.
In terms of strength, Artoria now completely surpassed Sasaki Kojiro, and her weapon gave her an even more outrageous advantage. However, Sasaki Kojiro's force-dispersing technique was far stronger than Cú Chulainn's had been yesterday. As the pinnacle of swordsmanship in the Type-Moon world, he merely turned his wrist, and his long blade left trails of afterimages as it effortlessly diverted the force of Artoria's strike aside.
Crack—
The invisible power of the wind instantly carved a deep scar into the ground, while Artoria and Sasaki Kojiro became completely entangled in battle.
Before you continue