While Rin was in the process of recovering her body, Sakura kept a constant watch over Irisviel, who stood before them.
Neither she nor Sakura had ever met Irisviel, but given her iconic appearance, her identity was self-evident.
Now that the Holy Grail was undergoing an anomaly, and a homunculus from the Einzbern Family had appeared at the same time, no one would believe that the two were unrelated.
Irisviel was not looking at Rin; instead, she wove a bird-like familiar from white threads and manipulated it to fly backward, returning shortly after while carrying Illya.
Behind them, Little White followed closely, and they walked out together.
Previously, Little White's command spells had been given to Jean.
Since a battle was imminent, and no one was heartless enough to send a loli to the battlefield, she hadn't been given any tasks and was told to stay home.
They heard Irisviel say gently to Little White, "I'm counting on you, the other Illya."
Then, Little White took out a card, and the star on her wand began to rotate.
Soon, her entire appearance changed, and she was dressed in purple robes with a hood.
"M-Medea?"
Rin, who had just finished recovering, saw Little White's appearance and was so surprised that her jaw dropped.
Then, Little White, who had transformed into a Caster, pulled out a strange dagger and, under the astonished gazes of Rin and Sakura, stabbed it into Illya's chest.
At the same time, Irisviel used white threads to wrap around the command spells on Illya's hand.
As the magic activated, these command spells were transferred to her own body.
"So this is what it feels like to be Lia's master; it's actually quite nice. Now, come to my side, Lia!"
After one of the command spells glowed and vanished, golden particles condensed in front of Illyasviel von Einzbern, and Saber appeared before everyone.
Seeing this, Sakura immediately communicated with Cú Chulainn through her command spells and consumed one of them to summon him over.
Rin also wanted to confirm the situation with Jean, but she discovered that she could not communicate with Jean through the command spells at that moment.
Although she didn't know the progress of the battle over there, Lia had already arrived.
Even if the battle wasn't over, it was too dangerous for Jean to be left alone with Gilgamesh, so she tried using the command spells to summon Jean.
Then, almost simultaneously, white particles and blue particles condensed, and Jean and Cú Chulainn appeared in the courtyard of Ryūdō Temple.
Looking at Jean, who was covered in the signs of battle, Rin asked cautiously, "How did it go?"
"No problem, Gilgamesh has been taken care of. Rin, your item really did a great job."
Giving Rin a thumbs up, Jean said happily.
"That's good. As long as you're safe, that's what matters. The necklace you gave me also helped me a lot."
Hearing that she had been useful, Rin's heart was filled with joy.
"Thank you, Your Excellency. Because I was entangled by that strange Servant, I had no way to help you."
At this moment, Lia thanked Jean seriously.
Even though it was her own assassination strategy that resulted in Jean having to duel Gilgamesh alone, Lia felt very guilty, and at the same time, her estimation of Jean's danger level increased significantly.
On the side, following Illyasviel von Einzbern's signal, Little White took the dagger—the Noble Phantasm Rule Breaker—and stabbed it towards Kirei Kotomine's arm, once again using the same method to seize the remaining dozen or so command spells.
"What is the meaning of this? Miss Illyasviel von Einzbern?"
"Oh my, it's truly delightful to be called 'Miss' by a child like you."
Illyasviel von Einzbern did not directly answer Jean's question.
"I'm sorry, Big Sister Jean, but this is really important."
Little White wore an expression of being caught doing something wrong, which was quite amusing.
Just then, Little White picked up the dagger and stabbed it into her own chest again.
Jean hurriedly tried to pull out her command spells to stop her, but it was one step too late.
At the same time, Illyasviel von Einzbern produced three command spells and replenished them on Illya's hand, establishing a master-Servant relationship between Illya and Little White.
This maneuver left Jean stunned.
Illyasviel von Einzbern became Lia's master, and Illya became Little White's master—what was this?
Were they trying to pair them up?
What happened next shocked Jean even more: black mud began to flow from Illya's abdomen through the connection of the command spells into Little White's body.
At the same time, Illyasviel von Einzbern was constantly decomposing the command spells she had seized, like adding fuel to a fire, increasing the amount of black mud.
In the blink of an eye, the black mud had swallowed both lolis.
The Ruby on Little White was panicking and screaming, but it too was soon swallowed by the black mud.
"So, what exactly is going on here?"
Jean drew her sword and directly questioned Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Illyasviel von Einzbern did not look at Jean, but instead continued to watch the place where the two Illyas had been swallowed with a worried expression: "This is the original function of the Holy Grail. It opens a hole during the process of returning the souls of deceased Servants to the Hall of Heroes, then expands and fixes it to create a path to the Root."
"I'm asking for your objective!!!"
Illyasviel von Einzbern looked back at Jean and said, "Including the souls intercepted from the previous war, as well as King Gilgamesh's, the total is just enough to activate the Holy Grail's function. If this shortcut succeeds, the Third Magic can be completed; if it fails, the Holy Grail will disappear completely. Either way, the fate of the Einzbern Family will come to an end."
Although she said that success would complete the Third Magic, in Jean's Synesthesia vision, the other party held absolutely no hope for success.
"Then what will happen to the person acting as the Lesser Grail?"
Jean continued to ask.
"The Lesser Grail acting as the vessel will be destroyed, if there is only one."
"So you're having the two Illyas share the burden?"
"This way, both of them will be freed from the destiny known as the Holy Grail. Especially that child, the other Illya; her body preserves the complete function of a wish-granting machine. Although it has undergone a series of seals, one day it will eventually cause her body to completely cease its human functions and die."
Jean recalled the plot of Prisma Illya; indeed, the Holy Grail was sealed within Illya in a relatively complete state, which was why Chloe was born.
Now, Jean had only one final question:
"Finally, let me ask you: have you explained all of this fully to Illya, who is a Magical Girl? Did she choose to help you knowing the truth?"
Illyasviel von Einzbern nodded, "That goes without saying."
"Fine. Then I will forgive you for the time being, but I'm sorry, I will also stop all of this at the same time, because I also need the Third Magic, and I cannot let it just disappear like this."
Lia, who had been prepared, drew her sword and blocked Jean's path; a battle was about to break out.
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