"Ara... Well now..."
The silver-haired girl, having separated from Miss Illya, lightly covered her lips, a subtle and curious light in her eyes as she gazed at the other girl.
At that moment, Miss Illya was in a daze. But then... the realization of what she had just done finally hit her, and her face instantly flushed, turning as red as a hot water bottle.
However, before she could stammer out an explanation, Manaka Sajyou's voice, sharp with rage, pierced the air.
"You home-wrecking cat! What did you do to my prince?!"
Unbelievable... Simply unbelievable!
Miss Manaka was already in a foul mood from her clash with Elysia.
She had discovered that she was likely no match for her opponent. To make matters worse, the Lancer she had acquired from that teacher, Kayneth, had been inexplicably eliminated...
...And if all that was the prelude, then Miss Illya's surprise attack on Mr. Jiang Qiao was the final straw that made Manaka Sajyou's expression twist in fury.
Aaargh! This home-wrecking cat, how dare she... How DARE she!
So furious she felt like she was coming apart at the seams, Miss Manaka's jealousy was about to explode.
"I..."
Miss Illya panicked, but then she subconsciously licked the corner of her lips, looking as if she was savoring the memory.
...That was a provocation! It had to be a provocation!
Seething with an anger that had nowhere to go, Miss Manaka gritted her teeth.
"You home-wrecking cat, I...!"
It's a well-known fact that when a person reaches the absolute peak of anger, she will... reach the absolute peak of anger!
"Morgan! We're leaving!"
Seeing the returning Morgan, Manaka Sajyou's face was terrifyingly grim as she spat out a threat.
"Home-wrecking cat, just you wait!"
The furious princess, the Root Incarnate, chose to... flee in disarray... Ahem, I mean, execute a strategic advance!
"Eh... She actually left?!"
Miss Illya, who had been on guard, watched Manaka Sajyou disappear with Lancelot and Morgan, looking completely stunned.
She had fully expected the other girl to come after her.
"Of course she did. The situation is incredibly disadvantageous for her right now, isn't it?" [Illya] said, his assessment sharp and clear.
Manaka Sajyou didn't leave because she wanted to; she left because she had to.
After all... the current situation was as bad as it could possibly get for her.
With Mr. Lancer's bizarre demise, Manaka herself was no match for Elysia.
Meanwhile, Lancelot was stuck in a stalemate with Illya.
And while Morgan was an outstanding fighter, she had already been branded a biased referee.
In terms of combat strength, they were at a complete and utter disadvantage.
Since that was the case, all of Miss Manaka's efforts had been for nothing, sending her right back to square one.
For the sake of final victory, and to reclaim her prince from the clutches of those two home-wrecking cats, big and small, a temporary retreat to plan for the long term was clearly the wisest choice.
"So, should we go after her?"
Hearing that the advantage was on their side, Miss Illya's heart leaped. She was tempted to finish that wicked woman off in one fell swoop.
"I wouldn't mind... but... let's leave it at that for now."
"Eh? Why?"
"Well..." [Illya]'s gaze fell upon Elysia's face.
The latter was smiling sweetly, her expression... warm and friendly.
Feeling the gaze on her, Miss Illya seemed to realize something. She instantly blushed, shrank back guiltily, and said, "You have a point, Master! Let's go back!"
But it was obvious that despite her best efforts to escape, she was swiftly caught by Elysia's nimble hands.
As Elysia kneaded Illya's cheeks like dough, she purred, "I'd like to hear your explanation, Illya~"
The sweet, girlish voice held a chill that could make one tremble.
Without a doubt, at this moment, Miss Elysia was... ninety percent... no, one hundred percent furious!
Sure, she could accept her certain bad boy's "super-friendly" relationships with other girls. After all, as the pink-haired elf from the Elysian Realm, she wasn't exactly innocent herself—in a way, she was the one who had passed on this habit to him. In that sense, she was just reaping what she sowed.
But...
Even so, Miss Illya's sneak attack had pushed Miss Elysia into a state of rage.
After all... while she was busy teaching a lesson to another tactless girl trying to snatch her man, she had been backstabbed by a JS ( elementary school girl) who she had considered harmless and completely non-threatening!
She could deal with Mobius, Eden, and the others... Elysia gritted her teeth, telling herself she had just been careless. But to lose to Miss Illya, a JS who hadn't even fully matured...
Miss Elysia felt her pride had been utterly shattered.
"Wuwu... I don't know..."
Her cheeks being kneaded like dough, Miss Illya tearfully tried to explain.
Illya, who saw herself as a pure and innocent JS, couldn't believe she would do something so bold under normal circumstances. But... she couldn't help it. In that moment, for some reason, she absolutely hadn't meant to do it.
"Of course you didn't. After all... that was your other side."
"Eh?"
"I told you before, didn't I? To sever ties with the Holy Grail War, I sealed away your former self—the part of you that serves as the Lesser Grail."
"And now, that other side of you has been unsealed," [Illya] explained.
An image of a tan-skinned girl flashed through his mind.
Chloe von Einzbern.
Just like this body's original self, that girl made no attempt to hide her thoughts or actions.
She did things simply because she wanted to.
And the lewdness hidden deep within Miss Illya would be much more prominent in Chloe.
"Alright, let's go back~ Mom is waiting for us at home~"
The battles in the latter half of the night weren't as chaotic as the first, but they still saw the departure of Mr. Lancer and the proud, invincible King of Heroes.
Combined with Enkidu from the first half of the night... in a single night, two top-tier Servants and one first-rate Servant had been eliminated.
However.
Although Mr. Goldie was gone, his Master had luckily survived the aftershock of the Sword of Rupture.
"...Teacher... Teacher!"
When Tokiomi's blurry consciousness heard the familiar voice of his student, Kirei Kotomine, he saw Kirei and his wife looking at him by his bedside with concern.
"It's you two..."
"Wait! What happened? Where's Gilgamesh?" Tokiomi remembered something and struggled to sit up, coughing as he asked.
Kirei Kotomine did his best to break the news gently, whispering:
"About that... I'm sorry, Teacher... while you were unconscious... Archer was eliminated."
Archer... eliminated...
Waking up to such a devastating thunderclap, Tokiomi's composure, already as fragile as gold leaf, shattered completely. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but the next moment... his eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
Clearly, the shock was too great.
However, in his hazy state, he thought he heard...
"Teacher! Teacher!"
"Aoi?"
"Alright, don't worry about this deadbeat... honestly, if I hadn't come looking for you tonight, you'd have been buried under the rubble with him..."
"Don't say that... he is, after all..."
"You... aren't you happy too..."
Mr. Scapegoat had no idea what was happening. He was in no state to think, only dimly processing these incomprehensible messages.
He thought he heard a woman's cheerful tone, and then it felt as if it were raining...
That night, Mr. Tokiomi slept very soundly.
The next day, thanks to healing magic, Mr. Tokiomi was out of critical danger.
However, the damage had been so severe that he couldn't even speak.
Fortunately, Aoi and Kirei stayed by his side, comforting him.
Even after the terrible events of the previous night, their loyalty deeply moved Mr. Tokiomi.
Truly, my virtuous wife and my faithful student.
"Tokiomi, since Archer has been eliminated, why don't you withdraw from this Holy Grail War?" Aoi suggested. For some reason, her complexion was unusually rosy today, and she seemed to be in a very good mood.
Tokiomi fell silent, hesitating.
Logically, her proposal was entirely reasonable. He no longer had any pieces left to win this Holy Grail War.
But...
A Servant's elimination never meant a Master's defeat.
After all, even without a Servant, as long as his Command Spells remained, he could form a contract with another masterless Servant and re-enter the war.
And he still had one last Command Spell!
Besides, weren't there other Servants without Masters now?
If so, then he could still fight! As long as he won the Holy Grail War, he could regain everything he had lost.
At this thought, Mr. Tokiomi's fighting spirit was reignited.
After the dark night passed, a peaceful day dawned.
Undoubtedly, to cover up the commotion of the previous night, the officials managing Fuyuki City had to offer their sincerest apologies. They had been holding press conferences with unusual frequency these past few days.
It was clear that the Mages' Association and the Holy Church were trying their absolute best.
Having learned their lesson from the night before, the Masters engaged in much more interaction during the day.
"Manaka Sajyou!"
Kiritsugu Emiya glared at the blonde girl waiting for him in the courtyard. He was certainly familiar with this figure who had been so active the past few nights.
Honestly, he had been tempted to try and assassinate her last night.
After all, Manaka Sajyou was far too dangerous.
But unfortunately, she had been prepared. If she had wanted to, she could have easily slaughtered the Magus Killer.
However—
She hadn't.
She had simply said something to the man.
Watching the departing Kiritsugu, a slight curve formed on Manaka Sajyou's lips.
Her preferred method was to win others over through various means and make them her own.
To use any and all power she could...
If just Lancer wasn't enough, then she just needed to add more pieces to the board.
And she herself needed to... Manaka's good mood instantly soured.
It was all that home-wrecking cat's fault!
After she dealt with those two home-wrecking cats, she would make sure to cover every trace they left on her prince with her own!
Thinking of Elysia and Illya made her mood plummet, but then, thinking of her prince, Miss Manaka couldn't help but slip into a Mary Sue-esque romantic daydream.
She was already imagining her happy life with her prince after the Holy Grail War~ Hehe...
But amidst her happiness, Manaka Sajyou suddenly felt something was strange.
"...Morgan?"