Why fight the Holy Grail War? Let's play cards!

Matou Shinji laughed even louder. "Now, all the conditions for the Holy Grail to appear are met. I really have to thank you!"

147

Chapter 147: Shinji becomes Shinbei again.

"Cu Chulainn!"

Bazette saw his Servant fall to the ground and rushed forward to check on him. He saw that Cu Chulainn's spirit was fading, and before he could even say a word, several strange little insects that devoured magic energy also fell to the ground after he disappeared.

Soon, the insects that lost the magic power supply from their host also lost their vitality because they had no means of survival.

"This is...bug magic!"

Although Bazette didn't know much about the local Three Great Families, Matou Shinji had been playing cards for so long that she couldn't be unaware of the Matou family's magic. She immediately looked in Matou Shinji's direction with murderous intent. These things must have been planted by Matou Shinji during his victory over Cu Chulainn.

"Hahaha, young people are really impatient, but it's also a problem that my magic is too recognizable."

Shinji Matou looked up at the soul crystal in the sky, covered his chest, and his heart began to ache.

"So, even the temporary expansion of this body's magic circuits can't support the Holy Grail's form?"

"Whatever, it's just a temporary body, so let's just give it up! As long as we can open that hole, everything will be fine."

Shinji Matou laughed and tore open his chest, and a small insect jumped out of his body.

As the bug left, Shinji Matou's body began to swell and his flesh and blood began to grow. After his consciousness regained control, the incomprehensible pain made him cry.

"What's going on, Grandpa, Sakura, help me!"

He instinctively called for help from a magus he knew, but the only one who could help him was Zouken Matou, the culprit. Matou Shinji's body was unable to supply the Holy Grail with what it needed, and his flesh and blood could only continue to expand to meet the Holy Grail's needs. Soon, it stretched over dozens of meters, forming a towering mass of flesh.

Fortunately, Shinji Matou's area was an independent range, and this expansion did not affect other spectators. However, this overly distorted and weird scene made the spectators scream and want to escape.

Then a black hole formed above the "tower", and malicious black mud poured out of the hole, about to spread to the audience seats.

"Although Jiang You did mention this situation and has prepared countermeasures, it still makes me feel sick when I see it."

Medea controlled Matou Shinji's floating block, moving it away from the crowd. However, the black mud, a manifestation of malevolence, also had a corrosive effect on the space, and some areas actually began to burn. Medea could only do her best to maintain the existence of this space, otherwise, if the space disappeared, everyone here, including the servants, would fall into the black mud.

Medea sensed an ominous aura from the black mud, and she didn't dare to bet on what would happen if her servant fell in.

"Is that really the case? I was thinking I sensed something strange coming from Matou Shinji's body, and I thought it was him. Could it be that fictional demon from the Third Holy Grail War?"

Zouken Matou now finally confirmed the situation of the Holy Grail, and his idea that his main target was the Soul Crystal was correct.

"Since there's a problem with the Holy Grail, I'll take this!"

"This is... the Holy Grail. It's just as Caster said."

Toosaka Rin sensed the powerful malice within the hole. "But even with Lancer, only one Servant has been eliminated. How could the Holy Grail have enough magic to manifest?"

"I think it's probably the effect of the Dark Game."

Matou Sakura witnessed Jiang You transforming Matou Zouken into a Soul Crystal. The only Servant she saw Jiang You kill with the Dark Game was Gilgamesh. Medusa was present during that battle, but no Soul Crystal was produced. The Servant's soul must have been affected by the Noble Phantasm.

The extremely chaotic scene gave Zouken Matou an opportunity. He used the power of magic to rush towards the soul crystal.

He was well aware of the magical power of the Third Law Crystal. As one of the three families who had built the Holy Grail, his understanding of it was second only to that of the Einzberns. Unlike the Einzberns, who sought to reproduce the Third Law, he simply sought to gain immortality from it. Given a few years, he could fulfill his long-cherished wish.

"The Soul Crystal is mine!"

Matou Zouken discovered that the organizers didn't seem to pay much attention to this thing. After entering the duel arena, almost no defensive magic was deployed, which gave it an opportunity to take advantage.

It was planning to use magic to escape with the soul crystal, but the soul crystal disappeared the next second.

With no place to stand, it fell to the ground.

"how is this possible?"

Matou Zouken didn't find any trace of magic, as if the soul crystal had disappeared out of thin air.

"Nothing is impossible. My things will always be mine until I give them away."

Matou Zouken was suddenly struck hard, and Jiang You kicked him against the wall. Players needed to be able to store items in their backpacks at all times. The formation protecting the Soul Crystal was only there to prevent it from being stolen while Jiang You was away, and to prove that the organizers had the real thing.

"You... why are you here?"

The Matou Zouken in this world line does not know Jiang You, but he understands that a servant who can take out soul crystals for fun is definitely not an ordinary person.

"Aren't you still dueling?"

"Because I guessed what was going on here—I knew there must be someone among you who wouldn't play cards honestly!"

Even in the Yu-Gi-Oh game, there are people who circumvent the cards to cause trouble, let alone Type-Moon World.

"Look again at who is the duelist on the field?"

Because the emergency had indeed occurred, Jingmi no longer needed to disguise herself. Across from her, Illya also tore off his disguise, revealing his black armor. He was none other than Lancelot. All the Heroic Spirits, under the guidance of the Hundred Faces, began to help evacuate the crowd.

"I'm not wrong, Illya."

Jiang You stretched out his hand to the side, and Illya also walked out from the direction where Jiang You stretched out his hand. She looked at Jiang You, was a little conflicted, but still held Jiang You's hand.

Jiang You took advantage of the situation and directly picked her up, holding her thigh with one hand and letting her lean on his arms.

This was the same method as Hercules, and with Jiang You's current strength, it was easy to do. However, he didn't have the same physique as Hercules, so Illya could only hug his neck to maintain balance.

"Hahaha, you actually cheated with the champion. Looks like they already made the decision, right? You, the organizer, are a hypocrite too."

Matou Zouken laughed, "Since you've discovered me, just kill me. Your Noble Phantasm is useless to me in this state. Just a light kick..."

Jiang You naturally knew that the old bug had other means of escape, so he started his own dark game, "Bugs are difficult to kill, so - let's play a dark game!"

148

Chapter 148 Actually, I can also call you mom.

The moment Jiang You pushed open the door, a samurai sword was held to his neck.

"No, you should know that attacks are ineffective against me."

But Jiang You still took action, saying that he was harmless.

"I'm here to see Illya."

"You've been here for so long, and you only came to see me now. I thought you had forgotten me."

Illya signaled Minamoto no Raikou to keep moving and not stop.

Jiang You actually arranged for Bai Mao to find Illya, but was rejected by Illya on the spot.

"I won't come to see you now. Since you didn't keep your promise, we are enemies now! I will beat you at your own game!"

This is what Illya said at the time. She conveyed the message that she wanted to defeat Jiang You with the Dark Game, and then asked Jiang You to abide by the agreement with her in the future and not lie to her.

"Didn't I not come here because of your request?"

Jiang You said that he followed Illya's request very seriously and did not get close before the final!

"you!"

Illya suddenly got angry and kicked Jiang You on the calf.

Although it didn't hurt much, Jiang You was quite knowledgeable in this area. He immediately bit his lip and made an expression that showed he was in extreme pain but was trying hard to hold it in. This was the way he used to comfort his relatives and children.

Minamoto no Raikou looked at Jiang You speechlessly. She knew that Illya's kick couldn't possibly cause the Servant to feel much pain. Jiang You was obviously pretending. He knew how to coax girls, but not completely.

Although Illya's previous words meant to refuse her from going to meet Jiang You, she did not stop Jiang You from coming in person. If Jiang You could understand, Illya would not have this attitude now.

Of course, as a Servant with extremely high exclusivity, Minamoto no Raikou would not help Jiang You explain. The more Illya rejected Jiang You, the happier she was. You have to know that during the time she was with Illya, she could always hear Illya talking about Jiang You, even though she was the Servant officially summoned by Illya.

"Tell me, what is it?"

After venting her anger, Illya decided to listen to Jiang You's reasons. She was actually looking forward to what Jiang You would say after rushing to find her like that. Minamoto no Raikou reluctantly withdrew his weapon.

"There's something wrong with Matou Shinji."

Jiang You explained his purpose. He had been observing Matou Shinji's behavior after his defeat. "It seems like he's been waiting for our duel to begin. That's not his character. If it were Shinji, he would have run home and cried in shame by now. You know, once the duel begins, there's no way to escape easily. I want you to play a scene with me."

"Is this what you came to see me for?"

Although Illya was happy that Jiang You wanted something from her, she was very dissatisfied with the reason. She always felt that Jiang You came to her because of another man: "Then why don't you just kill him? A mere Matou Shinji, that old bug from their family, Matou Zouken, has already..."

As she spoke, she quickly realized that Zouken Matou was probably not someone who would die so easily: "Then it's almost certain that Zouken Matou did it, most likely for the soul crystal. It's also an easy solution for you, right?"

"But he's already come this far, and I have to figure out what he wants to do. If I push him back now, I'm worried he'll do something desperate."

The reason was that the plot had already been triggered, so it was impossible not to take a look. Jiang You continued his twisted reasoning, "I'm a little worried that it will be the same situation as the Fourth Holy Grail War. If he detonates the bomb now, we will be in a very passive position afterwards."

Illya was clearly persuaded. Even if she didn't care about the lives of ordinary people, she didn't want to see Beast in that state. But she wasn't willing to lose face so easily.

So Jiang You struck while the iron was hot and pulled out a piece of meat with a Command Seal imprinted on it. This was the result of his slimming down of Atram. "This is the Command Seal that commands me. Although it's a little late, I have come to fulfill the promise, my Master."

"No! I'm Illya's Servant!"

Before Illya could respond, Minamoto no Raikou shouted.

Her possessiveness was burning, Jiang You actually wanted to take Illya away from her.

Illya's hand was halfway extended, and she was a little hesitant considering Minamoto no Raikou's feelings and her previous words.

Jiang You hadn't actually thought of a plan for this situation. Minamoto no Raikou was, in a sense, quite easy to deal with: "If you'd like, I can call you mother, just like Illya does."

"Call me mom?"

Minamoto no Raikou's expression froze, and the following developments were beyond Jiang You's expectations.

Minamoto no Raikou did not show any joy, but instead burst into bizarre anger, and Doujikiri Yasunaga struck Jiang You on the head with thunder.

Jiang You subconsciously made a move to fight with his bare hands, but unfortunately his fighting skills were almost non-existent. The samurai sword passed through the gap between his hands and hit him directly on the head.

Because of the influence of the treasure, Jiang You was not split in half.

"Minamoto no Yorimitsu...w-why?"

Taking advantage of the one-minute window for the duel request, Jiang You asked Minamoto no Raikou a question. Minamoto no Raikou was clearly a very easy guy to deal with in the setting, and a simple call of "mother" could solve many problems.

"How dare you! How dare you attack Illya! She's so young!"

Minamoto no Raikou increased his strength and released his magic power at full power. The raging lightning completely enveloped Jiang You, but unfortunately it had no effect in front of Jiang You's treasure. All attacks in this minute were ineffective.

Calling yourself mom = wanting to marry Illya.

This thought process successfully activated Minamoto no Raikou's EX-level frenzy.

"Actually, I'm almost an adult."

Illya retorted. Of course she knew that Jiang You didn't mean that. She understood that whatever was dug out of Jiang You's brains might be his Noble Phantasm cards.

To be specific, her mother, Irisviel, gave birth to her when she was about one year old. Age wasn't a problem for her, but the existence of Emiya Kiritsugu made her have no expectations of the word "husband". And how could a Master marry a Servant?

Jiang You understood Minamoto no Raikou's idea and quickly took remedies.

"I just wanted to yell at you, Raikou Mom!"

Then Jiang You was knocked to the ground.

Minamoto no Raikou was furious.

This isn't Jiang You's fault for being so stale. As the protagonist of FGO, Minamoto no Raikou shares the same Master-Servant bond as Illya. Even in the 2.55 Heian-kyo, Minamoto no Raikou never lets the Master call the protagonist "Mom." Her motherly love, from beginning to end, was reserved for the children she shared a bond with.

149

Chapter 149: Minamoto no Raikou is awesome, I mean she is awesome.

"I didn't realize you were such a shameless guy before."

Illya didn't even bother to look at Jiang You. Jiang You confidently did not choose to duel and was knocked to the ground by Minamoto no Raikou.

"Isn't this to become your Servant?"

We have to thank Illya for stopping Minamoto no Raikou, otherwise Minamoto no Raikou would have been chasing him madly and would have been almost releasing his Noble Phantasm.

"I thought Minamoto no Yorimitsu would be happy like this."

Jiang You didn't actually feel much pain. Minamoto no Raikou's attack wasn't even as terrifying as the 2000 LP loss he'd suffered in the duel. After all, this was a card game, so it wasn't likely to allow players to exit the game in this manner.

"So where do you get all this messed up knowledge?"

Illya helped Jiang You treat his injuries. After the last experience, she made a special effort to improve her healing magic, and she was at least 30% better than in the fourth war.

"Don't think that Lai Guang is so casual just because she keeps asking me to call her mom, okay?"