Even though Illya had received permission to unleash her Noble Phantasm, the current situation wasn't ideal for using it-so she continued clashing head-on with Mirokuji Yūya.
What really frustrated her was that she, a high-powered, long-range energy-blasting Servant, rarely got the green light to unleash her Noble Phantasm. After all, every time she did, there was a serious risk of leveling half the battlefield.
Now, she finally had permission-and just because the enemy was being annoyingly slippery, she still couldn't let it loose. It made her itch all over with frustration. She was desperate to fire that beam and wipe the field clean.
"You jerk!" Illya snapped at Mirokuji Yūya through gritted teeth. "Can't you just stand still and take one blast like a good villain?!"
"My instincts tell me that if I actually took a hit from your beam, I'd die for real," Mirokuji replied flatly. "And this great me isn't stupid enough to let that happen."
As he finished speaking, the spirit behind him surged forward once more, swinging its naginata to deflect Illya's incoming magical bullets, then launched itself high into the sky in hot pursuit.
"Tch! That spirit may not be draining mana, but it's still super annoying!" Illya hissed, dodging the attack with a sharp mid-air twist. "Ruby, let's deal with this now!"
Ruby responded with an exaggerated sigh. "As if I could help. I'm just a regular, cheerful Mystic Code, you know?"
If only her Master had allowed her to enter Ascension Stage 3-then she wouldn't even need her Noble Phantasm. A standard mana cannon would be enough to send that punk flying.
Illya sulked at the thought.
Meanwhile, Ritsuka, who was hearing Illya's grumbling through the Command Seal, had no words left.
This silly girl remembers her ascension stages but forgets she even has basic skills? Is she a magical tyrant from the studio next door or a color-coded rodent from some standard card game anime?
Even Robin Hood twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"Looks like Illya still hasn't gotten used to being a proper Heroic Spirit... But man, I wish I had those flashy beam attacks. When my skills are down, all I can do is set up basic traps."
The poor green ranger couldn't help but envy her a little.
Miss Fujimaru sighed and raised her hand, preparing to use a Command Seal-not to activate an ability, but simply to remind Illya: You have skills. Use them.
"Illya, weren't you recently recommended by Mordred to try League of Legends?"
Ritsuka's voice rang in Illya's ears.
"Huh?" Illya blinked, startled. "Master, why are you bringing that up now?"
Ritsuka's tone grew sharp and scolding, like a stern coach:
"When you play League, do you just rely on basic attacks and your ultimate?!"
The words struck Illya like lightning-suddenly, everything clicked.
"Ah, right! I do have skills!"
Her eyes lit up in realization. "Sorry, Master... I got too into the fight!"
She stuck out her tongue cutely.
Ritsuka rolled her eyes. "As long as you're happy..."
Robin Hood struggled to hold in his laughter. Not because it would break his concealment-No Face May King was solid-but because if he did laugh out loud, he'd risk Mom writing him up in her little black notebook when they got back.
Meanwhile, Mirokuji Yūya stared at Illya's sudden burst of clarity with a dumbfounded expression.
Is this little brat... actually dumb?
---
"All right then-I'm going in!"
Illya declared with newfound resolve, activating her skill.
Skill Activated: [Shining Towards the Future A]
-Grants Invincibility status.
-Increases Mana Recovery Rate.
Mirokuji Yūya noticed the strange glow now surrounding Illya and immediately sensed something ominous.
Illya smiled sweetly at him, then turned to Ruby. "Ready, Ruby? Begin transformation."
"You got it, Illya!" Ruby cheered gleefully.
Suddenly, a massive surge of magical energy burst from Illya's body. The pressure was suffocating-it made everyone in the area feel like they couldn't breathe.
"This... This mana... is terrifying," Meteora muttered from the sidelines, where she'd been quietly spectating for a long time.
"The quality of her magic is so intense, I can see it with my eyes..."
Kirameki Mamika whispered, stunned-then, as if a switch had flipped, she turned and sprinted away in a panic.
Even Mirokuji Yūya, who didn't understand magic at all, knew this was bad. Very bad.
That kind of pressure only meant one thing: a super move was coming.
Worse, there was no time to escape.
He had only two choices-take it head-on or interrupt her casting.
"Damn it!" he cursed, then launched his spirit toward Illya as she began her transformation. The naginata arced once more, this time hitting her directly.
Or at least... it should have.
But when the blade landed-
Nothing happened.
Illya didn't flinch.
Not even her clothes were torn.
"What...? Did I miss? Or was that some kind of visual effect?"
Mirokuji's face twisted in confusion. He'd never heard of an invincibility state-clearly, this guy had never played an RPG.
---
Ruby, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke:
"Target scan complete: muscle fibers, nerve tissue, blood vessels, lymphatic systems...
Magical circuit simulation complete."
Mirokuji Yūya's sense of dread skyrocketed.
But before he could react-Illya dove from the sky.
Pointing Ruby directly at him, she began her Noble Phantasm chant:
> "This is my full power!"
In an instant, five energy circuits surrounding her lit up-streams of magic bursting like rivers in flood.
A radiant pillar of destruction surged forth from the wand-one capable of reducing stardust to ash.
---
[Quintett Feuer (Quintet Fire)!]
A beam of overwhelming energy gathered at the wand's tip-like a death sentence carved in light-then erupted with cataclysmic force straight at Mirokuji Yūya.
The beam engulfed everything.
He was already immobilized by the mana pressure. He could only watch helplessly as the destructive light consumed him.
BOOM!!!
The massive beam collided with the ground, shaking the heavens with a thunderous roar. The sheer force of the explosion obliterated everything in its path.
Ritsuka had to summon Mash Kyrielight just to shield herself from the unknown AOE damage.
---
When the light faded, what remained was a crater-an enormous hole in the earth that looked like it had been hit by a dozen warheads.
But...
Mirokuji Yūya was nowhere to be seen.
Ritsuka, who had seen it all, noticed something important:
Just before the blast hit, Meteora had swiftly teleported in, cast a powerful barrier in front of Mirokuji, and warped both him and Selesia away in time.
Through the Command Seal, Illya learned of this and didn't seem too bothered.
After all, she hadn't gone in with a kill intent.
If she had, no defense spell-not even Meteora's-could've withstood a fully powered Quintett Feuer. The entire area would've been annihilated.
---
"You did great, Illya. Come back now-I'll treat you to some parfait."
"Yay?! Really?! Long live Master!"
Ruby: "Just don't eat so much that you end up in the infirmary with Nightingale again."
Illya: "Ruby, can you not kill the vibe for once?!"
Robin Hood: "Wait, how can a Heroic Spirit even get a stomachache? What's the physiology behind that?"
Ritsuka: "I've stopped trying to understand."
The three of them strolled off, laughing and chatting, their silhouettes glowing with harmony.
Truly heartwarming.
(Mash, summoned as backup cannon-fodder: Wait, me again?! Seriously?!)