"Hey, it's Merlin, right?! Get your ass out here!"
Undoubtedly, this kind of illusion, which was so convincing it could be mistaken for reality—or rather, used illusion to construct reality—was most characteristic of a certain good-for-nothing incubus. The hot-tempered Mordred immediately swung her royal sword, slaying a sea demon as she tried to find the true culprit behind this illusion.
But the next moment, a sense of danger assailed her. From within the mist, a pink arrow shot out. However, the quick-reacting Saber grabbed Mordred's shoulder and flung her backward, dodging the arrow.
"What a shame, it's not that good-for-nothing incubus~" a teasing girlish voice could be heard, though its owner remained unseen.
François Prelati.
In terms of age, she was undoubtedly an old monster, having died many times in history only to resurrect in her current form. She took pleasure in driving others to despair and depravity and was a magus highly skilled in illusions. The source of this profound mastery of illusion came from numerous lake spirits... As for Merlin, he could be considered Prelati's master's master.
Since they hailed from the same lineage, Prelati's illusions were undoubtedly very similar to Merlin's.
"My, my~ Everyone is fighting so passionately, it's making me a little excited."
Although she lay low on the first night—of course, such small-scale antics didn't escape [Illya]'s notice—by the second night, she could no longer hold back.
She certainly wouldn't participate in the Banquet of Kings. After all, Prelati wasn't the type to be open and honorable. On the contrary, she held a strong dislike for such bright and shiny things. But... the rebel knight and King Arthur, the betraying knight and the Fairy Queen Morgan... hehe, how could she miss such an interesting British soap opera?
Of course, according to Prelati's own plan, she would definitely be more covert and strike by surprise. After all, her style, and Assassin Kama herself, were not Servants suited for frontal combat.
But unfortunately, her dear friend Gilles de Rais was a bit too impatient. Seeing King Arthur getting beaten up, he couldn't help but rush out... even though she had tried very hard to explain to him that it wasn't Jeanne d'Arc.
Well, it didn't really matter. After all, Prelati was more or less used to her plans being derailed by unexpected factors.
Just like Rin's tendency to screw up, this wicked goddess of old seemed to have a similar trait. Her well-laid plans always got messed up, but she herself was used to it, even taking pleasure in it, seeing it as entertainment.
Whether it was the despair and misfortune of others or her own, in this regard, Miss Prelati was indeed quite impartial.
"Tch, so it's not that guy... But since you know him, you must be his acquaintance!"
Mordred spat.
Birds of a feather flock together. Although this saying was a bit extreme, that good-for-nothing incubus's acquaintances were more or less like Merlin—none of them were proper people!
"Whatever, even if it was that good-for-nothing incubus, I'd beat him up first anyway!"
In this regard, Saber and Mordred seemed to be in perfect sync, nodding in deep agreement.
"It seems they don't have a very good impression of that person named Merlin..." Irisviel was somewhat puzzled.
"It's strange. According to the legend of King Arthur, that Merlin was the mentor who accompanied King Arthur's growth and also the prophet who guided the Knights of the Round Table."
"Hmm... he sounds pretty amazing. Why would they dislike him so much?" Not knowing the details, Miss Illya heard Irisviel's description and couldn't help but form a similar impression. She lazily held a cup of hot tea while Irisviel stroked her hair, looking utterly blissful. "...Mom always does this whenever she comes back."
"Merlin, huh..."
"Unrecyclable waste? Non-combustible trash? A scumbag who refreshes people's negative impressions of that good-for-nothing incubus at every critical moment?... Most Servants who know Merlin seem to evaluate him this way."
"Isn't that quite terrible? I can't imagine it at all."
"Well, if you want to see him, isn't Avalon's scabbard with Kiritsugu? You can use that to let that good-for-nothing incubus out. Though even if you don't, that good-for-nothing incubus is definitely holed up in that tower peeping at this Holy Grail War."
"But I don't recommend meeting that incubus. He really doesn't leave a good impression... In terms of being useless, he's far worse than Miss Illya, a hopeless case."
"I get it already, you don't have to use me as a comparison!" Miss Illya was on the verge of tears.
"Well, it's not entirely fair to say that. Miss Illya is still much better than that good-for-nothing incubus."
"I have a feeling that just being compared with him is already a loss."
Irisviel suddenly noticed something and became vigilant.
"Illya..."
"I think an enemy is approaching."
As the vessel of the Lesser Grail, Irisviel's perception and enemy detection range were quite excellent.
"Well, don't worry about it, it's just sea demons."
[Illya] was unconcerned, glancing at the magic mirror. She split the screen, and with the whole of Fuyuki at the center, a large number of red dots gradually appeared.
"Honestly, no restraint at all. Can this even be called a covert magical ritual anymore?"
Undoubtedly, the source of these sea demons was the Prelati's Spellbook in Mr. Fish-eyes' hands.
As a special product connecting to the Outer Gods, that Noble Phantasm, like Ruby, possessed infinite magical energy. Even if the user knew nothing, they could summon unspeakable monsters belonging to the Outer Gods just by chanting spells.
However, the human-skin book was ultimately just borrowed from someone else. The Marshal didn't have the ability to unleash the book's true power, only able to shallowly use its power to summon familiars.
And the original owner of the human-skin book was Prelati.
She had lent this Noble Phantasm to Mr. Fish-eyes in history and permanently lost it. Only by reclaiming it from the Marshal could she regain ownership.
For this reason, even without becoming a Master, Prelati would come to retrieve the Noble Phantasm upon finding traces of Mr. Fish-eyes—though normally, that old worm (Zouken) would do some good deeds and keep Prelati out.
And with Prelati now a participant in the Holy Grail War and successfully contacting the Marshal, it was no surprise that Prelati's Spellbook, with her assistance, unleashed its true power.
In the Marshal's hands, it was an A+ rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm that could be used without any restrictions.
Enough to make even top-tier Servants like Iskandar, who had no specific counter, scratch their heads.
And in Prelati's hands, it was an EX-rank Anti-Principle Noble Phantasm.
Its range was enough to cover the entire Fuyuki City.
An unlimited supply of sea demons, even Ozymandias and Gilgamesh would probably get a headache seeing it.
"If we leave it alone, the entire city will probably be destroyed."
[Illya]'s judgment instantly made Illya feel a sense of urgency. That can't happen! We have to act! Master!
As a magical girl of love and justice, how could she tolerate a terrible guy like Mr. Fish-eyes destroying the entire city and do nothing?
"Oooh, Illya is getting fired up... Hehe, tentacle monsters and magical girls, undoubtedly a very compatible pair of opponents, a perfect match!"
"Where exactly is the compatibility?!... Honestly, if it wasn't for the city being destroyed, I wouldn't want to fight such an opponent at all, okay?!" Faced with the old driver Ruby's innuendo, Miss Illya blushed and waved her little fists, stomping her foot.
As a rather... cultured... elementary schooler with a very active imagination, who had even inadvertently stumbled upon certain content, Miss Illya could only be described as instantly understanding Ruby's implication. She couldn't stop her mind from running scenarios of her subsequent defeat CGs, causing her to tremble and want to beat a hasty retreat!
"Well, this is something we can't just ignore. Though, the others have started to move as well," [Illya] said, watching the changing scene in the magic mirror.
He could see golden Chains of Heaven spreading through the streets and alleys of Fuyuki City, piercing through every sea demon with lightning speed. This was accompanied by a barrage of Noble Phantasms and jewel magic bullets falling from the sky. "Ah... The sea demons seem to be getting wiped out at a rather rapid pace."
It was somewhat surprising.
As expected, Enkidu was involved, but strangely enough, even Gilgamesh and that screw-up goddess had joined in.
The former was understandable; with Enkidu's personality, he definitely wouldn't stand by and do nothing. But the latter two...
"Hmph, Ishtar, your movements are as slow as ever!"
"You idiot! That's just because I wasn't serious! Besides, aren't you slow too?! What are you getting so cocky about?!"
Case solved. It was a race...
"Hahahahaha—Feel the pharaoh's omnipotence!"
A terrifying bolt of lightning struck, causing an entire area to tremble.
The source was the tip of the massive pyramid... It was the long-range strike weapon equipped on the Ramesseum Tentyris: the Dendera Light-ball, an EX-rank Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm... Of course, this was clearly just its lowest output.
At full power, the Dendera Light-ball had enough destructive force to instantly level the entire city of Tokyo.
But even so, this terrifying bombardment of magical energy instantly turned its wielder into the Fuyuki Demolition Crew.
"...I have a feeling Fuyuki City might be destroyed before the sea demons get them," [Illya] said with a hint of helplessness.
...The destruction caused by the sea demons didn't seem as great as what these Servants were causing...
The Church and the Mage's Association must be having a massive headache over this—and indeed they were. At this moment, Tokiomi Tohsaka in the Tohsaka residence and the Church's Father Kotomine had already fainted after seeing this pandemonium.
They had only one thought in their minds—It's over. We're just waiting for the enforcers to knock on our doors one by one.
After this Holy Grail War, the Mage's Association would probably reach a rare consensus with the Holy Church: to jointly wipe out the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail.
—Look what you've all done!
What happened to a covert magical ritual?!
"Master... what do we do?!" Illya was somewhat stunned, trembling as she tried to seek a countermeasure from Mr. Jiang Qiao.
"Of course, we prepare to deal with the main culprit."
"Wait a minute, I'm not telling you to go beat up that Prelati!"
"I've suddenly found a more suitable candidate to end this farce."
"Eh?"
Following [Illya]'s gaze, Illya saw in the magic mirror, seemingly on the edge of the city, a "Golden Jeanne Mushroom" who, after a long and arduous journey, had finally been airlifted in.
To be honest, Jeanne d'Arc was in a terrible mood at this moment.
As a saint of the Catholic Church and the saint of France, she was supposed to manifest as a Ruler. But unfortunately, her manifestation method wasn't a normal Servant summoning but rather possession. A girl named Laeticia, studying at a church academy in France, had become her vessel.
Unable to spiritualize and being far away in France, Jeanne could only make her way to Fuyuki City, the core of this Holy Grail War, through various means. And this journey was even longer and more difficult than the one in that rigged-referee war.
If Romania was at least in Europe, Fuyuki City was a whole Asia away from France. For Miss Jeanne, a village girl from a bygone era, it was extremely difficult even with the knowledge granted by the Holy Grail.
She was even almost swindled out of her plane ticket money.
In the end, she had to seek help from the Holy Church to fly to the Far East.
She had originally planned to fly directly to Fuyuki, which would normally take about a day. But then... the battles that erupted in the Far East directly affected the flights. Jeanne nearly suffered a disastrous fate, stumbling and staggering before landing in the city next to Fuyuki. It wasn't until the latter half of the second night that she finally arrived at the edge of Fuyuki City on foot. And then...
She saw this scene, which could only be described as a hellscape.
If her mental fortitude wasn't strong enough, Jeanne would have fainted.
I have to preside over this kind of Holy Grail War?
"Honestly, does anyone really treat the Holy Grail War as a covert magical ritual?!" Jeanne frowned, somewhat annoyed. She put down her suitcase, and with a raise of her hand, her battle flag appeared, and her whole body was clad in armor.
This was simply unbearable to watch!
The furious Golden Jeanne was already planning to intervene in this chaotic Holy Grail War by force. But looking at the fog that covered the entire city of Fuyuki, she felt she smelled a familiar scent.
This nostalgic feeling...
For some reason, Miss Jeanne's hands started to itch.