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

Chapter 32: Oh God! Irisviel, you woman, why are you so talkative!

A drop of cold sweat oozed out of her forehead under the black robe. Miss Illyasviel felt a lot of pressure now because no matter how you looked at it, she was the weakest among all the Servants present.

The others didn't dare to move, as they remained vigilant against the other two Servants and possible enemies lurking in the shadows. From their perspective, Assassin had remained concealed throughout. If the swordswoman initiated a battle, the exhausted Emiya Kiritsugu and the low-combat Iri behind them would likely become targets for the Assassin-class Servants.

The man with two spears was in the best condition of all the Servants present. Uninjured, his combat strength far surpassed Miss Illyasviel's. If he entered the fray recklessly, he might be targeted by the other two Servants, as weaker forces uniting to challenge the stronger is a recurring tactic.

If Miss Illyasviel didn't act, she stood no chance of defeating anyone. She had only two effective strategies: assassination and sneak attacks or leveraging the information gap created by the haze and her own mechanisms to counterattack. She could never proactively harbor a killing intent; she could only respond when others sought to kill her.

Surrounded by enemies and without an advantage, she had to wait for someone else to break the deadlock before seizing an opportunity.

"You want to pry into matters right at our first meeting. Do you think I'll divulge my personal information so easily? The magecraft of the Einzbern family is ultimately just string magecraft and alchemy. Any magi with real skill from the Age of Gods could master it quickly. It's quite presumptuous of you to claim it as an Einzbern exclusive."

Irisviel's arrival presented an opportunity for Miss Illyasviel to exploit.

However, when she noticed all eyes on her, she tugged at the black rag hood covering her head and remarked, "Stop staring at me. Do you realize how embarrassing this is? It's like everyone's suddenly trying to open my box."

"For instance, Lancer's Master, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald, is a talented magi capable of easily learning others' magecraft. It's no big deal. Or do you plan to use this to cozy up to me, big sister? The Einzbern family isn't that approachable..."

"You're the little girl who got lost on Fuyuki City Commercial Street this afternoon, aren't you?"

Before Miss Illyasviel could finish speaking, Iri fixed her with an unwavering gaze, never once shifting her focus.

Considering the presence of the man wielding two spears, Iri refrained from calling out any names directly.

Yet the blonde girl realized the familiar voice and posture of the black-robed figure in front of her matched the little girl they had encountered earlier on the commercial street. However, Miss Illyasviel's earlier anger and dominant aura had thrown off recognition at first.

"So what if I am? So what if I'm not? Big sis, could you stop interrogating me like a parent scolding their child? It's really annoying."

Miss Illyasviel stroked the familiar perched on her arm, her tone tinged with dissatisfaction.

This nosy woman was behaving like her mother, bombarding her with questions. So what if she used Einzbern familiars? Was she eating someone else's food?

Even if Illyasviel truly hailed to be the legendary Einzbern ancestors, being interrogated like this during the Holy Grail War was outrageous. Why not just demand she reveal the true name of her Noble Phantasms while at it?

"If you have time to lecture others, maybe spend it with your eight-year-old daughter instead."

"If you've chosen to participate in the Holy Grail War, prepare yourself. No one here will coddle you like your family, you naive fool."

Emiya Kiritsugu and this meddlesome woman had to be dealt with swiftly!

Despite the concealment granted by "Presence Concealment" and the enhancement from chaotic evil-type skills, exposure loomed as a constant threat.

Illyasviel knew that every revelation about her identity or powers increased the risk of others exploiting that knowledge. The fewer secrets she kept, the less effective her tactics would become.

"You are I..."

"Yes, I am Ishtar."

In an instant, dozens of Ritter: Stork Knights soared and scattered in all directions, splitting and multiplying under advanced magecraft until more than two hundred filled the sky.

Taking advantage of the commotion and Irisviel's stunned gaze, Miss Illyasviel stopped holding back and launched an attack.

If they insisted on prying into her true identity and undermining her strategies, she would eliminate them first.

Miss Illyasviel's initial stalemate was merely a prelude to preparing her skills. The strength of her Ritter: Stork Knights correlated directly to the mana imbued in them. Although the amount of mana each one could hold was limited, their overwhelming numbers compensated for this restriction. Her seemingly composed gestures of stroking her familiars' fur and letting them perch on her shoulders were strategic acts—discreetly buffing them to counterattack unexpectedly upon any incoming assault. Even King Gilgamesh had fallen for this tactic once, leading to his initial waves of treasures failing to eliminate her.

However, when Irisviel was about to call her by her true name, Illyasviel grew visibly tense. Taking any action would likely result in her death. Yet doing nothing would also spell doom, especially after "information erasure" stripped away her strategic advantage. The enemy clearly had no intent to reminisce about the past—only to eliminate her by any means, both overt and covert.

"This rate of division... Her mana capacity can't be far from mine!"

The Ritter: Stork Knights soared and charged. The swordswoman marveled at the endlessly multiplying familiars, seemingly produced at no cost. Her invisible sword arced as she stepped forward, slicing through the five fastest familiars. Despite this, the fearless constructs appeared limitless. Even when the mana-fueled hurricane emanating from her invisible sword eradicated all nearby foes, more familiars rapidly filled the gap.

Tension surged. The swordswoman pressed forward despite growing fatigue from her previous battle with the man wielding twin spears and the effort spent rescuing Emiya Kiritsugu.

Though her attribute values were exceptional, Emiya Kiritsugu's magecraft level barely equated to that of a standard magi. Sustaining a high-caliber Heroic Spirit like her was a significant drain on mana reserves.

"The familiars keep dividing and multiplying. Is this some sort of Noble Phantasm?" The man with twin spears adopted a grim expression. He thrust his crimson spear, decimating the familiars obstructing his path. It was evident that Miss Illyasviel didn't entirely trust him, despite his assurance that he wouldn't exploit their plight.

To ordinary humans, these familiars were terrifying demons. Yet to Heroic Spirits, they were merely minor nuisances. His exceptional A+ Agility attribute enabled him to shatter the sound barrier with a single spear thrust, obliterating nearly ten familiars before they could close in.

Despite the slaughter, tension lingered. One familiar fell, then another—ten, twenty, thirty—until the sixtieth had perished. Yet his progress spanned only a few meters.

"How is this possible?"

Miss Illyasviel's seemingly inexhaustible forces continued to multiply.

"What happened to her mana reserves?"

"There are two forms of summoning," he mused, "sacrificial summoning and creating familiars through mana consumption. She clearly used the latter. How can her Master sustain such intense mana consumption without faltering? Could it be Command Spells forcing this breakthrough? But why not simply recall her Servant instead?"

His spear tore through yet another wave. The familiar knights, now numbering in the hundreds, were sufficient to overwhelm some Servants with lesser attributes.

Illyasviel displayed no visible signs of fatigue despite orchestrating this vast army. She wasn't just a summoner—she was a one-woman army. Even if her soldiers were individually weak, their relentless fearlessness and ceaseless numbers compensated for their limitations.

A sudden surge of mana burst forth from the invisible sword, obliterating both ground and familiar knights. Yet more familiars split and filled the void.

Overhead, a dozen Ritter: Stork Knights, reinforced by Illyasviel, maintained relentless division. Like barracks in perpetual mobilization, they relentlessly deployed soldiers to the front. No matter how many the swordswoman dispatched, reinforcements surged forward!

"Damn it! Small-scale attacks are useless against this many enemies. How much mana does she have?!"

The swordswoman grimaced, wary of the knights circling freely. She slashed at the familiars encroaching on Irisviel and Emiya Kiritsugu, holding both defensive and offensive lines. Despite her tireless efforts, she couldn't launch a meaningful counterattack, locked in place by relentless waves.

The ragged figure in a black robe, seemingly bereft of mana, maintained a bizarre and efficient familiar-summoning mechanism. It was enough to contain two Servants of the three knight class, including the formidable swordswoman herself.

"How is your mana output this unreasonable? And are you even truly..."

Clang!

Instinct kicked in as the swordswoman's invisible blade clashed with a silent assassin's weapon aimed at Irisviel. Sparks flew from the collision!

"Yes, yes! I am Ikaros, Ixion, Iasion, Iskander, and Ison. Happy now?! Why shout it out? Some things and names are best left unspoken!"

Despite her fatigue, the swordswoman's counterstrike repelled the assassin. Even though Miss Illyasviel had layers of buffs, her counterattacks seemed feeble.

Yet her inability to execute large-scale attacks gave Illyasviel an undeniable advantage.

The revelation that the swordswoman knew her real identity only incensed Illyasviel further. Her already-red eyes burned brighter with determination.

'I don't want to die. Jack the Ripper's attributes are subpar. Her best survival mechanism relies on information erasure and The Mist.'

Exposing her true identity jeopardized half her skill set. Illyasviel dismissed familial ties—be it with Irisviel or Emiya Kiritsugu.

'I don't need relatives or relationships!' she seethed internally. 'Feelings are burdens. They'll only abandon me.'

The sole focus was to live—live joyfully and splendidly.

"Illyasviel, do you realize what you're doing?!"

"Of course I do! But I hate you. Don't call my name—you have no right. You deserve to die!"