But all Illya saw was Genji's cold and ruthless gaze. In that instant, she realized that Genji really wanted to kill her. In a flash, Illya, who had still retained some playful thoughts, began to struggle desperately, trying to escape from Genji's side.

However, it was all useless. At such close range, trying to escape the suppression of the 'Kingdom' was simply wishful thinking. In the end, Ilya's eyes lost their light, her beautiful face remained frozen in that moment, and her petite body slumped weakly onto the table. Only then did Genji put away the 'Kingdom', then walked behind Ilya and struck her in the back with a palm full of ripples.

In that instant, Ilya's body convulsed as if electrocuted. With a long gasp, the girl clutched her throat, coughing violently, tears streaming down her face. She frantically touched her cheek, then instinctively looked at the only living creature beside her and asked in surprise:

Am I dead?

"Almost there. How about that? My first aid skills weren't bad, were they?"

Genji leisurely sat back down opposite Illya, continuing to flip through the notebook and speaking slowly. Seeing the boy's demeanor, Illya was instantly furious. She ran over to Genji, pounding his back with her small fists, and shouted as if her fur had stood on end:

"Seriously, seriously, I'm a girl! Even if you want to prove me wrong, you can't use such a crude method! It's scary! It'll really scare someone to death!"

"But it works very well, doesn't it?"

Gensou turned around, looking at Illya with a half-smile, and said:

"So? Do you still think 'death' is something insignificant?"

"...It's a tiny bit scary."

Ilya was still arguing with Genji, but seeing that Genji wasn't going to continue along her lines, she bumped into him, squeezed herself into the chair, sat down close to him, and whispered on the table:

"Don't be like this. I know I was wrong before, but you can't blame me entirely. Nobody taught me that killing is wrong..."

"It seems you still have a lot to learn. Your family members are also bad; they didn't even teach you such basic morals."

Genshou gently pinched Ilya's nose and said helplessly in a soft voice, "Now that things have come to this, Ilya has come to understand. In that distorted upbringing, Ilya is both a natural angel and a natural devil. If she gets angry or her self-esteem is hurt, she might kill with a smile. But thankfully, it's not too late to change anything."

Meanwhile, Ilya was unexpectedly pleased with Genji's slightly affectionate gesture, but she had a different opinion about his words. She turned to Genji and said seriously:

"Everyone except Mom is a bad guy, Kiritsugu too!"

"Kiritsugu?"

Genji asked curiously, and Ilya immediately changed to a displeased expression and said:

"It's nothing, just my dad, a really, really annoying guy."

"If you could, could you tell me why you dislike Kiritsugu so much?"

To be honest, when he heard that this involved other people's family affairs, Yuanxiang subconsciously wanted to avoid the topic. But then he thought about the terrible family education in the Einzbern family, and he couldn't help but ask. After all, if possible, he would like to see other families living together happily.

With Genji starting this, Illya hesitated for a moment before venting the resentment she had accumulated over the years. Three years ago, when Kiritsugu Emiya left with Illya's mother, he promised Illya that he would definitely come back.

Therefore, Illya obediently waited at home for her parents to return, only to receive news of her mother's death and her father's betrayal of the family, abandoning her to adopt another child. From then on, Illya never received any news about her parents again. Over time, the child's longing for her father turned into hatred. If this disaster had not struck, Illya would probably still be actively receiving training from the Einzbern family, waiting for the day she could leave and seek revenge on Kiritsugu Emiya.

"However, it's pointless now."

Ilya leaned over the table, pressed her hand down on the page of the book that Gensou was reading, and pointed to the line of text on it, saying:

"Look here, the place where that heavenly fire fell is Fuyuki City, where Kiritsugu is located. It's in..."

"Um... do you think there's a possibility...?"

Genji hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to begin, Ilya looked over and continued the conversation:

"Is it possible that Kiritsugu wanted to come to me all along, but was stopped by the Einzbern family and they didn't tell me? I've thought about that before, but it's pointless now, since he's dead anyway. If you think it's not right for me to think this way, then for the sake of you saving Illya, I'll reluctantly pretend that Kiritsugu came to find me."

Seeing Illya's obvious disappointment, Genji sighed inwardly and ultimately did not continue the conversation. He focused his attention on the records in front of him, noting the reason why Illya's parents had gone out three years ago—the 'Holy Grail War'.

When the spiritual energy in the ley lines of Fuyuki City accumulates to an astonishing amount, the Holy Grail, which has the power to grant any wish instantly, will appear in Fuyuki City.

Then, seven magicians, each leading their summoned heroic spirits, will engage in a battle for ownership of the Holy Grail, with the victor ultimately gaining ownership of the Holy Grail.

Will any wish be granted?

Gensho looked at the notes on the record with a strange expression. Well, generally speaking, these so-called all-powerful wish-granting machines are not good things. And if an innocent citizen is harmed while fighting in a city, wouldn't that be going too far?

"In fact, the Holy Grail War is a huge ritual system planned by the Einzbern family, the Tohsaka family, and the Machiri family in order to reach the 'Root'."

At this moment, Ilya suddenly spoke up. She herself was one of the next members of the Einzbern family to participate in the Holy Grail War, so she knew quite a bit of the inside story. The so-called 'Root' is simply the cause of everything, the existence from which all phenomena arise, the truth of the world. It is the ultimate goal that all magicians dream of. In a sense, if one reaches the 'Root,' it is not much different from fulfilling all wishes.

After explaining, Ilya, seeing Genji's somewhat confused expression, couldn't help but rub her forehead and say:

"Big brother, I have already explained it very simply and clearly."

"I'm sorry, but you used a lot of technical terms in your statement."

Genjiro, mimicking Illya, rubbed his forehead and said:

"After all that you've said, I only understood the final summary. However, since it involves the root cause and the heavenly fire, it seems that it's indeed necessary to take a look at Fuyuki City."

"Eh?"

Ilya paused for a moment, poked Genji's cheek, flipped back two pages of the record, pointed to it, and said:

"Didn't you see? Fuyuki City is very dangerous. No magician who goes there ever comes out alive. Big brother, even if you want to die, you don't have to be in such a hurry."

“I’m not a magician, and the fading of your ‘mystery’ won’t affect me much.”

Gengo removed Illya's hand from his face, then found the location of Fuyuki City on the map hanging on the wall. He then skillfully smashed the glass of a nearby cabinet and took out the compass he had seen before. Of course, before officially setting off, Gengo pulled the bewildered Illya to the 'door' and led her to his office.

The drastically changed environment immediately shocked the girl. At the beginning of their conversation, she noticed Genji's incompatibility. Despite possessing great power, he knew nothing about the magic system. But now, she realized that Genji was from another world. In a sense, if he wanted to, he could never have died on her side.

"You stay here obediently."

Genji gently instructed Illya:

"You must keep my identity a secret, or someone will try to harm you. Apart from that, everyone here is quite easy to get along with. If anyone asks, just say you are my distant cousin. Of course, I know you possess some magical powers, but you are not allowed to use them casually, and you are even more forbidden from hurting anyone. Let me make it clear, this city is my backyard. If I want, there is almost nothing that can be hidden from me. Do you understand?"

Listening to Genji's rambling, Ilya didn't respond. Instead, she looked at the wide-open 'door' behind Genji and, gazing at the apocalyptic scene, said softly:

"Are you going back over there? It's perfectly safe as long as you stay here, isn't it?"

"Of course I'm going back. Although the situation in your world is quite dire, it's not completely dead yet, is it?"

Gensou changed his coat and, while arranging the memory chips in order, said in a casual tone:

"Furthermore, what if there are others like you who haven't died yet but are trapped in some corner waiting for those monsters to retreat? If Fuyuki City is really the key point of this incident, if I open up that area, there might be quite a few people there."

"But...but..."

Ilya wanted to say something, but Genji reached out and gently patted her head, saying:

"I want to believe that someone is still alive. Okay, little guy, you've been through so much, let's find a place to rest."

Gensou walked towards the door, but paused as he placed his hand on the doorframe. He then turned back somewhat sheepishly to Ilya and whispered:

"Well, you could also consider the identity I just mentioned. You see, even if I solve the problem, the Einzbern family isn't a good place. If we can't find your parents, we might as well stay here. Although it's a bit dangerous here, the people are quite honest and kind. That's all, I'm leaving."

Does this person know what he's saying?

Ilya was stunned for a moment. She blinked and realized that Gensou really wanted to adopt her as a little sister. No, this guy, could it be that he actually considered her a brother just because she called him "big brother" a few times? Seriously, how many years older than me does he look? Can he even take care of himself? Really, who knows who will be taking care of whom in the end!

Ilya kicked a shard of mirror on the ground, paused for a moment, then kicked it again. Finally, still worried, she stomped on it, then hurriedly pushed open the door and returned to the old site of the Einzbern family home. But the boy was no longer there. A slightly hot wind swirled black ash that clung to the girl's purple coat. Ilya shouted a few times, then pouted and sat down on the ground.

Three minutes...no, five minutes. Give him five minutes. If he doesn't show up, he can forget about it...

"Why are you back again?"

"Wow!"

"Wow!"

The sudden sound from behind startled Ilya, who screamed. Genji also jumped in surprise, patting his chest and saying irritably:

"No, what's wrong? Why are you so easily startled?"

"You...you left, didn't you?!"

Ilya, her face slightly flushed, clenched her little fists and called out to Genji:

"Did you suddenly appear to see me terrified?"

"In all honesty, if this compass were working properly, I wouldn't have come back here."

Gengo shook the compass in his hand, both amused and exasperated. He didn't know if it was because of the natural disaster or because the thing was broken, but no matter where he went, the needle kept pointing to the old site of the Einzbern family. There was nothing nearby to use to determine the direction, so Gengo had no choice but to turn back and get one from his own house to try.

"Of course it's unusable, it's not a real compass."

Ilya took the compass-like object from Gensou's hand, tossed it aside, and said softly:

"This is used to measure the magic power of the earth's veins. If it could point out the direction, then there would be a real problem."

"...You should have said so earlier."

"You didn't ask."

"......"

"......"

After a brief moment of staring at each other, Yuanxiang sighed wearily and hurriedly said:

"It's my fault. I didn't ask Miss Ilya about the situation beforehand. Alright, tell me the way. We've already wasted a lot of time."

"Ah."

Ilya nodded, pointed out the direction of Fuyuki City to Genji, and then opened her arms to him.

"Stop fooling around, this is very dangerous, behave yourself..."

Do you know what Command Seals are?

"?"

Do you know what a Servant is?

"......"

Do you know where the main ley line of Fuyuki City is located?

"......"

Seeing that Genji knew nothing about the matter, Illya stretched out her arms again and said:

"Then what are you waiting for? Didn't you say time was tight?"

"Remember, you must obey. If I tell you to run, even if I die, don't look back."

After a brief hesitation, Genji picked up Illya, but also gave her this instruction. Illya instinctively wanted to retort, but seeing Genji's expression before he put on his mask, she swallowed the words and obediently whispered:

"With me here, things won't get to that point..."

The wind howled, and the emerald green knight traced an arc across the dark red sky, heading straight for the so-called Fuyuki City. With the blessing of 'Xtreme', the journey did not take much time. However, along the way, Genji and Illya became more aware of how terrible the planet's current state was. Some towering mountains were suddenly collapsing due to the wind and waves they generated during their flight, and once wide plains had collapsed, revealing bottomless black holes from which only the scorching, deathly winds could be heard.

"Oh my god..."

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