Technically, the Holy Grail War had only been going on for two days, but what could one even say about its battlefield, Fuyuki City?
"After last night's battle, nearly half of Fuyuki's buildings have sustained damage to varying degrees. And that's not even mentioning that one reckless fool who made no effort to hide his actions. The number of eyewitnesses is so high now that simple hypnosis and suggestion magecraft won't be enough to handle it!"
Inside the Fuyuki Church, he continued his tirade. "And that Rider! That massive pyramid of his isn't concealed in the slightest. You can see the damn thing glittering all the way from the next city over! What is this?!"
"None of these Masters have any respect for the principle that the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secret!"
"I've already received inquiries from the other magus families in the Far East."
Sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Aoi Tohsaka, Tokiomi Tohsaka's foul mood was plain to see.
Fuyuki City was the Tohsaka family's domain. It was their most important ley line... if it was destroyed, he'd probably be sleeping on the streets!
And because the commotion was so huge, the other magus families in the region had already issued a joint warning. If this continued, the Tohsaka family would be deemed unfit to manage Fuyuki and collectively pushed out of the Far East.
And the ley line...
The mere thought of the ley line made Tokiomi grind his teeth.
The Fuyuki ley line was the Tohsaka family's most valuable asset. The Holy Grail War itself was only possible because of the spiritual power it had accumulated, and the Tohsakas had been its guardians for generations.
Even in this all-or-nothing Holy Grail War, he hadn't dared to draw on the ley line's mana; he was personally shouldering all of Gilgamesh's mana costs.
And what was the result?
After checking the state of the ley line, Tokiomi realized the other Masters were nothing but common thieves!
That Rider was brazenly draining it with his pyramid, and someone else was secretly siphoning its mana as well. Didn't they understand that the Fuyuki ley line was a vital energy source for maintaining the connection to the Root?
Most of its accumulated mana had already been committed to sustaining the Holy Grail War and fueling the Greater Grail, but the remainder couldn't be touched recklessly.
God only knew what would happen if the ley line's mana was completely depleted. The connection to the Root might just close, rendering the entire Holy Grail War meaningless!
Tokiomi Tohsaka's goal was to reach the Root by completing the Grail, not to win some stupid cup!
"Tonight, I will have Archer eliminate those reckless fools!"
Unable to tolerate their sabotage of the Holy Grail War any longer, the man who always took the blame decided to go on the offensive. "The first target is Rider!"
Although Tokiomi secretly wanted to deal with Saber and that damned stray dog first—the latter had not only injured him but also crippled him, robbing him of the magecraft he was so proud of—that mutt was as slippery as an eel, only showing himself when there was a bone to be found.
Besides, Rider's pyramid was constantly draining mana. It was intolerable.
If it weren't daytime, he would have already marched over there and torn that damn pyramid down.
"Are you confident you can win?"
"Hmph. Archer has already formed an alliance with Lancer. Perhaps that Rider can stand against the King of Heroes, but he certainly can't handle both of them at once!"
Tokiomi was supremely confident.
While he was furious at Gilgamesh for recklessly showing his entire hand on the eve of the war, he had to admit that the battle between Goldie and Enkidu on the first night had also filled him with a great deal of confidence.
In terms of sheer power, one-on-one might be a toss-up. But with both of them together, they could not lose to anyone in this Holy Grail War!
By the window, a butterfly woven from strands of hair witnessed this scene before fluttering away.
---||---
In the Einzbern villa, [Illya] rested her chin on his hand, glancing nonchalantly at the setting sun outside the window. Today had been surprisingly quiet.
But that wasn't strange. After all... none of the other participants had the luxury of strolling around.
Kiritsugu must be so disappointed, having staked out the city all day for nothing.
"What about you? Aren't you going to make contact with the Church?"
[Illya] lay on the sofa, glancing at Jeanne, who had been hovering by the crystal ball all this time.
"I thought a fair and just Ruler like you would want to make a grand entrance."
"...I'd like to, but with that François fellow around, I need to remain as hidden as possible," Jeanne said with a hint of resignation.
She knew François would undoubtedly target her. Given his personality, he wouldn't hesitate to incite the other teams to gang up on her, the Ruler who had suddenly appeared to crash the party.
Though she didn't fear death, it was better to be patient for a little while to better perform her duties.
"And for that, I have you to thank. Otherwise, I'm sure I would have been easily discovered by everyone."
Jeanne was genuinely grateful.
Almost nowhere in Fuyuki was safe; she would have been watched by a dozen different people. François, in particular, would probably harass her twenty-four hours a day.
Only this Einzbern villa remained hidden, unseen by the world.
"It's nothing. The house is huge, and Mom enjoys chatting with you."
"Kiritsugu is unreliable, so I'll have to trouble you to help her pass the time."
"Otherwise, she'd probably be clinging to me all day."
"I heard that~"
"Illya, are you saying you've grown tired of your dear mother~?"
Mr. Jiang Qiao—[Illya]—maintained a stoic silence. It was the best course of action.
Her usual tactic of acting cute would only make her cling even tighter!
"Master..."
With dark circles under her eyes and an aura of terrifying resentment, Miss Illya's childish, mournful voice echoed beside him.
She had just spent the entire day binge-watching Magical Girl Raising Project, and this was the result.
"Ara, it seems you had a wonderful time~"
"I don't look happy at all!" Miss Illya fumed.
She slapped the disc onto the table in a huff.
"This isn't 'magical girl' at all!"
"Hmm, is that so? But there was magic, and there were girls."
"I refuse to acknowledge this sort of thing as 'magical girl'! No way! Absolutely not!"
"Well, that's fine too. Miracles and magic aren't always free, you know."
Hearing [Illya]'s cryptic words, Illya was a bit confused. But as she looked at Ruby by her side, she fell into thought.
Honestly, she couldn't quite figure it out, but... if miracles and magic always came at a price, then... what price would Ruby demand from her?
Having become somewhat traumatized by the words "magical girl," Miss Illya couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
Unfortunately, her elementary-school brain couldn't seem to find an answer no matter how hard she thought.
Illya shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
No matter what, she still wanted to do what she believed in. She wanted to bring about an ending where everyone could smile, even if it meant paying a so-called price.
"Sigh..."
Lying on the sofa, [Illya] let out a breath and smiled with a hint of helplessness.
She casually pulled out the disc for Yuki Yuna is a Hero and handed it to Illya.
"For the you right now, you might like this one more... and it's more fitting for you."
"Don't worry, it's not like the other two."
Though a bit confused, Illya nodded. The sun set, and night fell.
The curtain was rising on the third night.
Though the air was still calm, it was thick with a palpable, murderous intent.
A powerful surge of mana caught the attention of every Master and made [Illya], who had been nonchalantly eating chips, curl her lip.
A crimson beam of light pierced the night sky.
A terrifying shockwave swept across all of Fuyuki City.
"So, they've come."
Within the Ramesseum Tentyris, Ozymandias sat upon his throne. Resting his cheek on his hand, he felt the surge of mana and slowly opened his dark golden eyes, glancing at the crimson light in the sky.
"King of Heroes."
The great temple complex trembled under the direct force of the dark red beam, and the entirety of Fuyuki quaked as if from an earthquake.
In the dark sky, Gilgamesh stood aboard Vimana. The pillar-like sword in his hand, covered in glowing red cuneiform, slowly stopped spinning as he looked down at the unscathed pyramid.
"Hmph. While I expected as much, and that was merely an appetizer, your Noble Phantasm is certainly sturdy, O King of the Sun."
"That's because it's a Purge-class Noble Phantasm, much like my own—something that could survive the end of the world. That pyramid is just such a thing."
"If it were Ea..."
"Well, this makes things more interesting."
"Alright, now it's your turn, Enkidu. Hmph, dealing with a pile of rocks like this is what you do best, isn't it?"
It was nearly impossible to defeat Ozymandias inside his pyramid. He was empowered by the blessings of multiple temples and a host of gods.
Combined with the Phantasmal Beast, the Sphinx of Abu el-Hol, even the most skilled close-combat Servant would struggle to fight him in there.
The only way to defeat Ozymandias was to tear his entire tomb down!
Enkidu smiled and, in the next moment, leaped from Vimana.
As he fell toward the earth, a massive silhouette burst forth from the pyramid.
"Get out of my way, you beast!"
A volley of Noble Phantasms shot out from golden ripples, aimed at the creature.
Meanwhile, Enkidu landed on the ground, his feet touching the soil.
"Oh, so they're trying to cut off the pyramid's mana supply."
Resting her chin on his hand, [Illya] saw through their plan instantly.
Without the immense mana supply from the ley line, the pyramid could no longer maintain its EX-rank Anti-Purge defense.
"But this means Enkidu can't move either."
"The Sphinxes can hold him off, but..." [Illya] glanced at the crackling lightning at the pyramid's peak. "What are you going to do about that giant ball of electricity, Goldie?"
The next moment, a brilliant light flashed.
The sight made Morgan, Mordred, and the Saber with the ahoge all turn serious.
"That light..."
"It's a Holy Sword," Artoria said with certainty.
Though there were slight differences, it was undoubtedly the light of a Holy Sword.
"Gram, the Sword in the Tree."
The demonic sun sword wielded by Sigurd in Norse mythology. It was also the prototype for the Sword of Promised Victory held by the "Duvet King."
[Illya] calmly held her teacup.
"Come to think of it, the first fake Gram was an Imperial Privilege... this way, he can attack while ignoring the purge-class defense."
"And next..."
Two enormous blades shot out from the ripples, swinging toward the pyramid.
"Those swords are huge!" Illya cried out in amazement from the side.
[Illya] glanced over.
"Hmm... it looks like Goldie and that big brother are putting on quite a show, hehe... I have a feeling getting hit by those two swords would be very bad."
"That's Igalima, the Verdant Horizon that Splits a Thousand Mountains. It contains the concepts of the horizon and the skyline. Anything struck by it head-on will be split in two."
"Though its track record against people is rather pathetic, it's perfect for demolishing a building like this."
[Illya] pursed his lips.
Divine Constructs almost always came with some sort of conceptual ability, which was basically cheating.
But in the end, that kind of thing was just a shallow application of rules. The moment it faced a truly powerful opponent, it would showcase this world's classic trope: "sounds amazing, has a terrible combat record."
"It seems Rider is about to lose," Jeanne concluded.
"Eh? Really?"
"Yes. He's pretty much out of cards," she said confidently, answering Illya's question.
As a Ruler, she could see all his stats. Without the ley line, the pyramid was turning into a brittle cracker, not to mention Goldie had a whole toolbox for demolition.
"If there were no other factors, you'd be right."
"But that Servant's Master... is another Master's sister."
"Besides..."
"That useless goddess seems to have been waiting for this chance, too~"