"My turn! Draw!"
Shinji examined his drawn card, a knowing smile spreading across his face.
"Victory is already within my grasp!"
"I summoned the Engraving Worm precisely to provide cover for the Wing Blade Insect. How many more attacks can your measly 1800 Life Points withstand?" Shinji pointed at the buzzing insect on Illya's field. "Don't forget, the Wing Blade Insect can attack the master directly."
"Two."
Even Illya could manage such simple arithmetic.
"But you need to summon one more to get through my defenses, and I still have Kumokiri to block your attacks. That means you'll need three. Or are you saying victory is two turns away?"
"You got it!"
Shinji Matou slammed a card onto the field with a flourish.
"Of course it's this turn! I Normal Summon Wing Blade Insect!"
A second Engraving Worm appeared on the field.
Wing Blade Insect: Attack Power 1000
"You're planning to..."
"Exactly! The effect of Insect Magecraft Workshop allows me to Special Summon another Wing Blade Insect from my deck!"
Summoning another Engraving Worm would have achieved the same result—forcing Illya to use another attack block. However, Shinji opted for the more dramatic spectacle of three Wing Blade Insects.
Wing Blade Insects: Attack Power 1000 x 3
"Now, it's the Battle Phase! First attack with the first insect!"
"I won't let you get away with that! Kumokiri's effect! By paying 500 Life Points and banishing a Shuten Dōji from my graveyard, I destroy your Wing Blade Insect!"
Illya decisively activated her weapon's effect, further depleting her Life Points.
Illya's Life Points: 1800 → 1300
"Hahaha! You must be so frustrated, knowing your struggles are futile!"
Shinji Matou reveled in Illya's humiliated expression. Even under Minamoto no Raikou's murderous glare, he couldn't resist rubbing salt in the wound.
"This is exactly the look I wanted to see—the bitter expression of you arrogant Magus prodigies, defeated by me!"
"Second strike! Someone's about to lose~"
The Wing Blade Insect swooped toward Illya. If it hit, her Life Points would plummet to a mere 300, leaving her as fragile as a flickering candle in the wind.
"What?! How could this be happening?!"
Illya's frustrated expression quickly transformed into a playful grin, and she stuck out her tongue.
"Didn't I tell you? All's fair in war! How could you fall for the same trick twice? I activated the Trap Card Confused Master to redirect the Wing Blade Insect's attack to Minamoto no Raikou!"
"What?!"
Shinji Matou stared at Minamoto no Raikou's 3500 Attack Power. With the Wing Blade Insect's measly 1000 Attack Power, a collision would spell his certain defeat.
"I won't give you the chance! I have another face-down card—False Attendant's Writings! By paying 1500 Life Points, I'll seize control of Minamoto no Raikou!"
Shinji Matou's Life Points plummeted from 2200 to 700.
Shinji's own life hung by a thread, but he could endure the pain for victory and his future. "If you change the number of monsters on your field, the attack will rewind! And your Trap Card will become unusable because its activation condition will no longer be met!"
"Then I simply won't change the number of monsters, will I?"
Illya had kept another card face-down for a long time, waiting for this very moment.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Origin Bullet! It negates and destroys your False Attendant's Writings!"
The red book, attempting to seize control of Minamoto no Raikou, was pierced by the Origin Bullet, its effect nullified.
"Then let's finish this, Shinji-kun."
Illya smiled and waved goodbye to Shinji.
"No, no... don't! Wing Blade Insect, stop! Don't attack! You can't!"
Shinji Matou repeatedly issued commands to the Wing Blade Insect, but to no avail. The insect charged straight into the path of Minamoto no Raikou's blade. With a swing, a torrent of purple lightning erupted, engulfing both the insect and Shinji.
Shinji Matou: LP 700 → LP 0!
The devastating 2,500 points of direct damage sent Shinji flying. He tumbled across the ground like a ragdoll, rolling several times before coming to a stop.
"The victor is Illya, the Einzbern Magus, Master of Minamoto no Raikou, and the legal loli white-haired, red-eyed beauty!"
Confetti rained down from the sky as the final match of the tournament came to a close.
"What the hell was that last part?!" Illya roared, glaring at Hundred Faces.
Hundred Faces shrugged. "Jiang You added it. He thought the title wasn't long enough." Of course, he wouldn't admit that now. "In the end, legend triumphed. But let's also give Shinji Matou a round of applause. It's unimaginable how difficult it was for an ordinary human to reach this stage."
The audience erupted in thunderous applause, wholeheartedly agreeing with Hundred Faces' assessment. They believed that if Shinji Matou had possessed a stronger servant, victory might have been within his grasp.
Amidst the roaring cheers and confetti, Shinji Matou sat motionless, his gaze fixed on the ground.
"It was so close... If I had summoned the Engraving Worms instead... No, even they wouldn't have been enough. If I were the Master... No, no, no! I still have a chance..."
Shinji's initial hushed murmurs gradually grew louder, but the deafening cheers of the crowd completely drowned out his voice, leaving his words unheard.
Suddenly, Shinji coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
Jiang You's eyelid twitched. As far as he knew, his Noble Phantasms, when used outside a Shadow Game, inflicted conceptual weakness upon defeat. Even fatal injuries shouldn't leave physical wounds. Shinji's bloody collapse clearly had nothing to do with him.
"Serenity," Jiang You said to the woman who had been relentlessly challenging him to duels, "I need to ask you for a favor."
"...Command me as you wish. This is the sole purpose of my existence..."
Serenity lowered her head, her voice brimming with delight as if she had been eagerly awaiting her Master's command.
"I'm fine, hehehe. It's just a relapse of an old ailment."
Shinji Matou's condition drew everyone's attention. Hundred Faces, responsible for medical care, immediately rushed to his side, but Shinji waved him off with a smile.
"I just need to rest a bit. Don't spoil everyone else's fun."
"Has Shinji-kun always been this considerate?" one of the veteran fans whispered to their companion. They knew Shinji Matou as an arrogant braggart who thrived on victory; this remark seemed out of character.
"Maybe he's different during competitions than in daily life? You get pretty hot-tempered when you play games too, don't you?"
Their loyalty stemmed from Shinji's ability to defeat Heroic Spirits using an ordinary Magus deck, not his personality (the glory-seeking fans had already abandoned him).
"You might be right..."