FATE: As Illya, I was summoned by Kotomine Kirei?!

Chapter 31: Stupid King, you may not be able to kill us all before your mana power runs out!

Miss Illyasviel stood obediently in the middle of the battlefield where the fog had been dispelled, with her hands behind her back, looking harmless. The scene was a bit awkward. She tried to capture someone else's Master, but was successfully captured by someone else's Servant in return. As an Assassin, her assassination success rate remained at a solid zero percent. She always seriously injured others but could not kill them.

She had slit the throat and pierced the back of Tohsaka Tokiomi, leaving a scar nearly ten centimeters long on Emiya Kiritsugu's back. Her cursed luck truly seemed outrageous.

She even wondered if her luck was graded E; otherwise, how could she always be so unlucky, coming so close yet failing to kill her targets?

"Hahaha, reconciliation? Naughty little kitty, are you joking right now?"

The handsome man holding the red and yellow spears couldn't help but chuckle, clearly amused by Miss Illyasviel's reaction. Not only had she interrupted his knight duel with the swordswoman, but her presence concealment rivaled that of an Assassin, evoking fear and wariness from all present.

Kenneth, his monarch, had remained confined to the Fuyuki City Hotel because of the threat posed by her and Assassin, guarding the magecraft workshop set up there. Otherwise, with his monarch's pride, Kenneth would have personally confronted the other Masters participating in this Holy Grail War.

"This is no joke, big brother who uses charm magecraft." Miss Illyasviel smiled faintly and shook her head. Escaping would be difficult unless a Command Spell was recalled. She was almost certain the man wielding two spears possessed skills like "Mind's Eye."

Otherwise, when she dived into the fog and prepared to escape, he wouldn't have been able to intercept her and break her difficult-to-lock state.

Although mentally prepared, she found that confronting the insight and intuition of knight classes still left her drenched in sweat.

"Sorry, little kitty, this is a curse on me, not some sort of enchantment magecraft, and I can't control it myself."

The red spear rested casually over his shoulder as the man with two spears shook his head helplessly.

"I don't know who that man is, but judging by Saber's recent actions—ending the duel and rushing to the rescue despite injuries to her wrist and waist—I suspect he is very important to her. I'm not interested in bullying the weak, but having my duel interrupted does irritate me. You'd better watch yourself. Even injured, Saber is still a lion."

He had no intention of taking advantage of the situation. Neither teaming up with Miss Illyasviel to defeat the swordswoman, nor aligning with the swordswoman to eliminate Miss Illyasviel aligned with his values. At most, he would assist during their duel or wait for a melee involving all three Heroic Servants.

The swordswoman clenched her invisible sword, gritting her teeth as she glared at Miss Illyasviel, ready to pounce.

"Where is your pride as a Heroic Spirit? You are despicable! A Servant of the Caster class degraded to an Assassin. What can I say to a rat like you?"

Had she been a step later, her Master would have become a cold corpse. The pain from her wounds was masked by sheer fury. She wasn't particularly attached to Emiya Kiritsugu, but nearly missing out on the omnipotent wish-granting Holy Grail enraged her.

Of course she understood that Caster and Assassin were weak in head-on combat, but understanding was one thing and disgust was another, just like people could understand that rats were a necessary part of the ecosystem, but who could say they wouldn't be angry when they saw a dirty rat jumping around on the most important thing in their home.

"Rat? Big sister, that gentleman's behavior isn't any better than mine, right?"

"I targeted the Master, sure, but I only used cold weapons. Meanwhile, a certain magi killer resorted to sniper rifles. If he hadn't started by shooting Lancer's Master, I wouldn't have found his hideout so quickly or captured his equally dishonorable accomplice."

"Are you being a bit hypocritical, big sister?" Miss Illyasviel blinked innocently.

"Let's be reasonable. If your Master wasn't secretly sniping other Masters, how could I find him so quickly in such a large area as the port terminal? I understand you're angry, but my behavior and your Master's are quite similar, right?"

"And you said I was Caster, but I didn't engage in a positional battle with you all. Instead, I left my lair and ran out to eliminate targets, taking the risk of being caught and defeated. Yet you're blaming me for not fighting the three Knights head-on."

'If my numerical attributes were as favorable as yours, why would I resort to assassination?'

"Magi fight magi, Servants fight Servants, and no amount of eloquence can change the fact that you're a rat!"

"Big sis, do you think the Holy Grail War is a game where trainers tame wild beasts and only the beasts battle to decide the champion while trainers watch passively?" Miss Illyasviel bent down slightly, tilting her head with a confused expression.

She truly disliked this swordswoman—perhaps because they belonged to opposing camps. The girl's self-righteous words grated on her nerves.

"If you want a fight, then fight. I'll admit it if I'm caught. But if you don't want to reconcile, just say so. Why make excuses and call me a dirty rat? Of course, I am a rat, but it's not your place to lecture me! Saber, the strongest of the three Knights, standing so high and mighty—can't even manage your own people, yet you blame others. Were your lessons in family and parenting just as unbearable during your life?"

Powerful black mana surged, and dozens of braided familiars descended quietly, revealing Ritter: Stork Knights flying across the sky. They filled the air with overwhelming mana, wrapping around and protecting their Master like a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix. She was stalling for time. But so what? What can mere numerical attributes do without mechanisms in place?

Her army of familiars had once been decimated by King Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms. Yet his carelessness had prevented him from catching her presence concealed in the fog, untargetable and hidden without mana signatures.

Though her state was countered by the spear-wielding man's mind-eye skills and the swordswoman's intuition, neither of them could overwhelm her through sheer firepower.

Sometimes the world is oddly fair. Her stats may not allow her to touch most Servants, but her mechanisms ensured that only a few could touch her.

"Your Master is assassinating others, including mine, but I remain civil. Yet you call me a rat—should I wait until your Master eliminates mine to deserve your attention? The duel of magi even involves sniper rifles, and you still talk to me about fairness, big sister?"

"So what if I'm a rat? I admit it! Just one of the three Knights? It's not like I haven't faced them before!"

"Big sister labels me before attacking... Do I seem that easy to bully?"

'Don't be so arrogant. If I push forward, my army of familiars will charge at you!'

'You may not even finish us off before your mana runs dry!'

In her heart, Miss Illyasviel spoke boldly despite knowing her limits. Outwardly fearless, she was keenly aware of her disadvantage against the swordswoman. But everyone knows—never lose momentum before a fight. Even if defeat looms, that truth must remain concealed.

She preferred losing the battle over conceding the confrontation. A predator's chase is relentless against fleeing prey.

As Miss Illyasviel uttered her domineering words, the battlefield fell silent.

Her ominous aura and familiar army confirmed her determination, inspiring awe despite her defiance.

"What a remarkable little kitten," muttered the man with two spears, intrigued by her unyielding spirit despite overwhelming odds. If he were alive, he might have befriended her as a fellow hero.

Despite Caster's weak stats, her sheer courage in confronting superior foes was undeniable.

The swordswoman's Master indeed hid and used long-range assassinations—a harsh reality evident in the monarch contract. Not immediately countering such tactics would risk an irreversible loss.

Guns may not rely on mana, but even the most skilled can't guarantee against an ambush.

"Hmph... Master's methods are rarely honorable..."

Her voice faltered as anger subsided. Emiya Kiritsugu's strategy wasn't faultless, hiding behind Iri and Saber to conceal his identity while targeting other Masters. Caster's caution was warranted, not despicable.

The injury from the man's yellow spear was restrictive, limiting her ability to unleash her Noble Phantasm. A direct confrontation with summoning specialists like Caster now posed immense difficulty.

"My anti-mana skill nullifies magic circles and contracts, immune to attacks below A-level—but summoned familiars bypass those protections entirely. Dealing with these numbers swiftly is improbable."

The swordswoman realized Caster's familiar craft bore a resemblance to the magecraft she encountered at the Einzbern castle in Fuyuki.

Her anger subsiding, she remained vigilant, shielding Emiya Kiritsugu despite his critical injuries.

Their standoff continued in silence—neither side advancing, yet ready to respond.

'If the enemy doesn't move, neither will I... But who moved?!'

However, just as Miss Illyasviel was sweating profusely, the sound of hurried footsteps came into her ears.

'Who moved? Who moved? Who moved? As long as they didn't hit me, I wouldn't move.'

'If you don't move, I won't move, and no one should move. Whoever moves is a big turtle.'

"Kiritsugu, what's on your back?!" A beautiful and gentle silver-haired girl entered the scene.

It was Lady Irisviel who finally managed to follow the trail left by the swordswoman and arrived at the scene.

She hurried to Emiya Kiritsugu, whose hair had turned a lot whiter due to overusing time magecraft. His inherent time control allowed him to avoid Miss Illyasviel's first round of attacks, but the side effects and the hideous scar left on his back by the sharp blade made him almost faint on the spot when the swordswoman came to the rescue.

"Iri......"

"I will treat you right away. Kiritsugu, please don't talk yet. You have lost too much blood."

Irisviel anxiously activated her healing magecraft, and soon the wound on Emiya Kiritsugu's back healed. The wound was deep, but fortunately, no internal organs were damaged.

"You first, you first look, look over there...."

"?"

Kiritsugu Emiya raised his hand and pointed not far away. Irisviel was stunned at first, then looked blankly in the direction of his finger, only to see the figure of an assassin girl surrounded by familiars in the center of the battlefield, standing motionless in confrontation with the other two servants.

"Ritter: Stork Knights? And there are so many of them? How is this possible?"

Irisviel could hardly believe it as she muttered to herself in disbelief. Of course, she recognized that these were magecraft familiars owned by the Einzbern family, but she was surprised by how they appeared here.

And even for her, it would be difficult to weave and control such a number of familiars at once.

"Who are you, the familiar of the Einzbern family? How do you know the magecraft of the Einzbern family?"

After treating Kiritsugu Emiya, Irisviel stood up and looked at the assassin girl. Even though they were dozens of meters apart, she could still feel a sense of familiarity from her, an indescribable sense of vague familiarity.

After she spoke, the swordswoman was also stunned and suddenly remembered that she had indeed seen the magecraft familiars used by the other party, though the form was different at that time. The only similarity between the two was the principle used in magecraft weaving.

As for the man with two spears, he remained silent. He recalled speculating before his monarch that Caster had nothing to do with the Einzbern family and was just shrouding himself in mystery. But now, considering that Caster wielded a curse of Information Erasure, it seemed he wasn't merely bluffing.

"Big sister, magecraft isn't something that anyone has exclusive rights to, right?"

Miss Illyasviel saw everyone looking at her and sneered nonchalantly.

What's going on with these people? Could she really be famous among the ancestors of the Einzbern family?

"Who can't learn the magecraft of the Homunculus family? Big sister, are you trying to interrogate me?"

"This is during the Holy Grail War. If you ask me, I'll answer you. Big sister, do you think you're my mother?"

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