Azure seawater, white sandy beaches, and several tennis nets—this was the venue for Chaldea's first collective activity.
Under the watch of hundreds of onlookers, the contestants for the first round of the elimination tournament walked onto the court amidst whistles and cheers.
Since Rin had chosen 'no rules' when setting the regulations, the court was currently a scene where all sorts of weird and powerful figures were showing off their unique abilities.
"Take my Crane Wing Triple Strike!"
Chloe leaped high into the air, and the twin swords suddenly materialized in her hands as she swung them towards the struck volleyball.
Kiritsugu, who had been forced into the competition by Illya, pulled Irisviel away from the twin swords flying toward them with a twitching eye. He looked grimly at Illya and Chloe, who were celebrating their point on the opposite side.
Kiritsugu shook his head and turned around with concern to help Irisviel up from the ground.
"Are you okay, Iri?"
But something unexpected happened. When Kiritsugu turned around, he found that Irisviel was nowhere to be seen on the ground. Simultaneously, Kiritsugu suddenly sensed a surge of magical energy behind him. Hurriedly turning back, he saw an excited Irisviel wrapping magic-infused hair around the volleyball. As she raised her hand, the hair was shaped into the form of a bird under the influence of magical energy, carrying the volleyball as it nimbly flew over the net toward Team Illya's side.
Seeing this scene, Kiritsugu couldn't help but be speechless. He shook his head helplessly, and then his expression turned serious as he looked intently at the opposing court.
"Chloe!"
Seeing the volleyball flying over the net carried by Einzbern magecraft, Illya quickly called out to Chloe. Then, with a near-telepathic connection with Chloe, Illya closed her eyes and murmured.
"Mage circuit conversion start... muscle tissue, nerve tissue, vascular tissue, lymphatic tissue... conversion complete!"
Right at that moment, Chloe, using her superb sword skills to cut the hair, used the side of her blade to send the volleyball right above Illya's head.
When Illya opened her eyes, they seemed to be burning with flames. Her slender legs gave a light leap, and propelled by the massive magical energy surrounding her, Illya flew into the sky with one hand supporting the volleyball, reaching a height of dozens of meters.
"Kiritsugu, Mama! Take this!"
"Bang!"
Like a meteor, like a missile, the volleyball, reinforced by magical energy, flew from Illya's hand like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for Kiritsugu's half of the court.
"This is bad!"
A drop of cold sweat unconsciously trickled down Kiritsugu's face. His pupils contracted as he instantly activated Time Alter. Just as he was about to turn back to protect Irisviel, a burst of excited laughter came from behind her.
"Illya's mama is very happy!"
Accompanied by the laughter, Irisviel, who had already entered her Servant state wearing the Dress of Heaven, actually launched a self-sacrificing strike straight at the volleyball.
Surrounded by pure white magical energy, Irisviel was like a nimble swift. At the moment the volleyball was about to hit the ground, she slammed it back into Illya's half.
The ordinary Magus serving as the referee wiped the rain of blood that had just splashed onto his face. Looking at the crater on Illya's side that appeared like a meteorite impact after Irisviel's interception, he stood frozen like a wooden chicken, unconsciously signaling a one-to-one score.
Kiritsugu, with his face covered in Irisviel's blood, turned his head stiffly to look at Irisviel, who had been broken into two sections and was rapidly regenerating on the ground. He felt like he was in a dream.
'This isn't Iri! This is definitely not Iri!'
However, although the match between Illya and Kiritsugu seemed tragic, it was actually nothing compared to many other competing groups on the beach. Of course, the most intense battle currently on the beach belonged to the Tohsaka Sisters Team VS the True Ancestor Sisters Team.
True Moon sat lazily on the high referee's chair, watching the volleyball fly back and forth at several times the speed of sound. He casually turned his head to look at the crowd of onlookers hiding far away and remarked offhandedly.
"Are you planning to play until dark?"
Rin gave a light leap and used an Iron Mountain Lean to slam the volleyball back into Arcueid's court. Rubbing her neck, she said seriously.
"Of course not. Now that the warm-up is over, we're going to get serious. Right, Sakura?"
Sakura looked at Rin's back with admiration and nodded seriously in response.
"Sister, I will do my best!"
Standing in the distant crowd with Gudako, Fujino rolled her eyes in annoyance. Regarding Rin putting her and Gudako on a team, Fujino complained.
"Best my ass! You probably can't even see the ball!"
In fact, let alone Sakura, even if the Magus Aoko, who was currently competing on another court, were to look, she wouldn't be able to see a volleyball flying at such high speeds. This kind of high-speed combat mode was unfamiliar territory for most who followed the path of a Magus, except for a few freaks.
Although the naked eye couldn't track the traces of the volleyball, that didn't mean Sakura could only stand by and cheer like a spectator.
At this moment, Sakura had already spread her magical energy across the entire court. The traces of the volleyball's movement were easily captured by Sakura in this manner.
"Sakura!"
With Rin's light call, Sakura's eyes turned determined as she moved ahead of the volleyball's trajectory calculated in her mind. Instantly, her origin awakened. She laughed wildly as she surged her magical energy, firing hundreds of Magic Bullets along the calculated path to slow the volleyball down. Then, a giant phantom appeared behind Sakura, swinging a fist as big as a car and laughing as it slammed hard into the volleyball, hitting it back to Arcueid and Altrouge's side.
"Get out of the way!"
Altrouge shoved aside Arcueid, who was preparing to receive the ball, and single-handedly propped the volleyball high. At the same time, she glared at the huffing Arcueid beside her.
"Hmph, all you know is how to play! Father is already getting impatient. Let me do it!"
As she spoke, a blood-red tide of magical energy ignited around Altrouge. She instantly transformed from her young girl form back to her mature form. Then, Altrouge leaped high and used all her strength to slam down hard on the volleyball.
"Don't be so naive if you think you can defeat me with just this level of effort!"
Rin activated her full dragon factor. A massive, terrifying magical energy erupted around her as she entered a state of Mana Burst. She likewise leaped into the air and struck the volleyball back toward Altrouge with a fierce counter-hit.
Afterward, Rin and Altrouge remained suspended in the air, using the volleyball as a medium to continuously trade strikes.
From the moment Rin first touched the ball, a continuous series of massive booms erupted with every strike from Rin and Altrouge. This caused the ordinary people in the surrounding crowd who lacked sufficient strength to clutch their heads and scream in pain, while blood began to trickle from their ears.
Fujino and Gudako glanced at each other and quickly deployed a barrier to protect the onlookers. Although in this world, even broken limbs could be easily restored through the unique nature of the Spiritron World as long as Rin used her permissions, this was Chaldea's first event—and very likely its last—so protection was still necessary.
Arcueid, who had thought she could have a fun time playing, pouted unhappily and looked at Altrouge and Rin fighting fiercely in the sky, frustratedly kicking the sand.
True Moon, looking lazy, suddenly gave a wicked smile and pointed a slender hand at Arcueid. A surge of violent magic shot from True Moon's finger into Arcueid's body.
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