Time flows swiftly, years pass like a shuttle. Over half a year was enough to earn Scáthach-Skadi's trust.
That Goddess of the Snowy Realm is an all-loving, merciful being. All people are her daughters, her sons. And he, his current position was probably something like Scáthach-Skadi's favorite son, right?
Li Mo mocked himself.
Carrying the Queen's blessing, he left the ice and snow castle.
He shouldered the task bestowed by the Queen.
"Go, my dear child. I grant you my protection. Go and capture the Heroic Spirit from Proper Human History."
So said Scáthach-Skadi.
At first, Li Mo wondered, was Napoleon really that unlucky? To be captured just after manifesting? In the original storyline, he was wandering outside until he met Fujimaru Ritsuka when the main story began.
But the words from Scáthach-Skadi changed Li Mo's thoughts.
"That Heroic Spirit harbors a deity within. Li Mo, your current strength is insufficient to be her enemy. I grant you my blessing, grant you power. I hope you can complete the task properly."
"Use this to prove yourself to me, child. Prove you have the power to carry out the plan. If you succeed, I will permit you to undertake that bold action of yours."
The voice of the Last God of Scandinavia still echoed in his ears.
Only then did Li Mo remember that the Heroic Spirit from Proper Human History descending upon the Scandinavian Lostbelt wasn't just Napoleon. There was also Illya!
—To be precise, Illya's body, the Servant descended as a fusion of three deities: Illyasviel.
A Servant of the Alterego class.
"Tsk, a Servant descended from degraded deities. Seems difficult to deal with."
As a specialist in certain areas, killing a Servant was actually quite simple for the current Li Mo. Activate the "Authority of the Beast," and he could deal super-effective damage to Servants. However, considering the need to conceal his identity as a "Beastling"... but even using other methods, killing a Servant wasn't impossible.
But, Scáthach-Skadi's order was to capture the target alive. That made things troublesome.
If I go alone to deal with Illyasviel, what about the Brynhildr situation? Was it left to Ophelia? Even with the help of those Valkyries, could they handle that First Valkyrie?
Information flashed through his mind.
Li Mo had refused the Valkyries' assistance. With Scáthach-Skadi's blessing, it would be relatively easy. Coupled with the "Fairy Transformation Spell," capturing Illyasviel would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?
The "Fairy Transformation Spell."
That was a spell developed by the Quasi-Magic God, Ollerus, from another world—the world of A Certain Magical Index. Its principle was based on the deeds of Christianity degrading gods from other myths into demons and fairies. Its function was to weaken a deity into an existence closer to a human.
—In that world, Ollerus developed this spell to fight Magic Gods. But unfortunately, Magic Gods are magicians who have entered the "Realm of God." No matter what, the Fairy Transformation Spell is just a magical spell. It had no effect on a complete Magic God.
But in this world, it was different.
The stories of Christianity still spread within the world of the Type-Moon universe. The ideological currents required for the "Fairy Transformation Spell" existed in this world, and with the 103,000 Grimoires as a theoretical foundation, over half a year was enough to develop this not-too-difficult "spell."
Moreover, Li Mo also had the "Stigmata."
Over half a year, the mystery accumulated by the "Stigmata" finally reached the point of transforming his body. Strength, physique, agility—all increased to twenty-two points. As for the three attributes related to the mind, there was no change.
—This kind of upgrade gave Li Mo a feeling that he had wasted his previous attribute points. But dwelling on that now was useless.
On the system panel, his Life Level was still 18. Back then, he even fought Raiden Shogun, who was a god, so why hadn't he leveled up yet? Oh, he lost? Never mind then.
Li Mo didn't place much importance on the various attributes on the system panel now, nor did he care about the so-called Life Level. That thing was more like an attribute point progress bar.
Therefore, the physical enhancement brought by the "Stigmata" wasn't important. What was important was that the "Stigmata" was something born from reaching a certain degree of similarity to the Son of God.
This meant Li Mo was very close to the Son of God.
In the field of mysticism, "very close" can almost be considered equal. Leveraging the identity of a "Saint" to develop the "Fairy Transformation Spell" could achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Originally, this was meant to be a surprise for Surtr. Now it seemed Illyasviel would experience it first?
Li Mo wasn't worried about finding the target. The entire Lostbelt was covered by Scáthach-Skadi's ice and snow; the entire Lostbelt was within her perception. Under such circumstances, how could there be anything Scáthach-Skadi could not perceive?
Following the Queen's guidance, Li Mo headed for the target location. It wasn't too far from the ice and snow castle. With Li Mo's speed, he could reach the destination quickly.
Arriving at the destination, he could see a small girl with a giant bear by her side. A Jötunn giant was no match for her at all, easily killed. Giants were strong, but before a divine Servant, they seemed so weak.
Li Mo could clearly see that it was indeed Illyasviel. Her appearance was like Illya's. Apart from her attire, there was no difference from the Illya in his memory.
When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
While Li Mo observed the target, the target also observed Li Mo.
"You are... who?"
"Miss Illya, correct?"
"Huh? You know me? But I don't know you."
The other party called her by her own name, not the name of the spirit core within her. Illyasviel, or rather Illya, expressed surprise.
"The Lesser Grail of the Einzbern family, a participant in the Fifth Holy Grail War. Daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel. How could I not know you?" Li Mo said with a smile.
Illyasviel lowered her guard. As a Servant, she possessed Illya's memories. To be precise, this body's primary personality was Illya.
"May I ask, can you answer me now: who are you?"
"My name is Li Mo. I am a mage. I participated in the Fifth Holy Grail War."
"Liar! You weren't in the Fifth Holy Grail War at all!" Illyasviel said, her guard rising again.
Li Mo spoke: "Is it possible it was the Fifth Holy Grail War of a parallel world?"
Illyasviel reacted, nodding. "That is indeed a possibility."
On the snowy ground, the distance between the two closed. Li Mo looked at the footprints left in the snow and said, "However, Illya. Your wariness is correct. Right now, I work for the sole god of this world."
"Fairy Transformation Spell," activate.