"Huff~ huff huff..."
Heavy breathing echoed in her ears. Sakura casually threw out several gems, and ferocious flames and lightning struck that frenzied Assassin.
As an Assassin, not adopting a one-hit-kill combat style but instead trying to crush the enemy head-on—the doll named Matou Shinji was clearly not right in the head. As a result, even though Sakura seemed to be struggling under the threat of a servant, she still managed to suppress the enemy using only magecraft.
At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.
At her fingertips was an exquisite butterfly. An illusionary boundary enveloped the area, its effect being to disperse ordinary people and block out sound, thus preventing anyone from accidentally intruding.
In many ways, Sakura's heart was kind to a fault.
"...It's over."
She forcefully crushed a golden gem, and a brilliant light spear instantly shot out. It carried the hopping Matou Shinji nearly a hundred meters away, then exploded with a roar, directly blowing away half the street.
Sakura, who had decent practical combat experience, seized this fleeting opportunity and tightly gripped the Archer card in her hand.
"I won't let anyone hurt Senpai!"
Radiance blossomed in Sakura's hand, and an astonishing amount of magical energy surged from the class card.
In the flash of light bright enough to blind one's eyes, Matou Shinji struggled to keep his eyes wide open, his skeletal face seemingly filled with bewilderment.
"King of Heroes Gilgamesh—if I use this card, I can definitely defeat you..."
Sakura froze.
Gilgamesh was truly one of the strongest. Even if not the strongest on the level of Heroic Spirits, he was definitely among the strongest tier of servants.
An Assassin who could be suppressed by mere magecraft would absolutely be crushed by using Gilgamesh.
If it really was the Gilgamesh card... The card lost its radiance, floated quietly in Sakura's hand, and then fell silently.
Nothing happened. Just like the doll Matou Shinji, the 'Include' failed directly—it failed without even a struggle.
"Puh-hahahaha—!!" Matou Shinji leaned back and laughed extremely exaggeratedly. "What's wrong? Sakura... Did the Include fail? After enduring for so long... I, who suppressed the urge to kill my sister, have finally seen it!!"
"Eh? How could...?"
Sakura fell into unprecedented agitation. A distorted skull mask appeared before her eyes, and Shinji swung a dagger-like weapon, piercing through her shoulder.
Immediately after, Shinji kicked Sakura away, and the 'Gilgamesh' card fell to the ground.
"Sakura, you are too naive. Lord Julian already anticipated that you would betray us. How could he possibly give you the strongest Gilgamesh card?"
Raising his foot, Shinji stepped hard on Sakura's shoulder. Blood spilled out. Looking at Sakura's pained expression, Shinji covered his face with one hand in 'ecstasy' and laughed loudly, "Puh-hahahahaha... That's a dud card! A true, worthless dud card that isn't connected to any Heroic Spirit!"
"Hehehehe... Old man, what was the point of giving the position of family head to this waste?! How could someone who thinks about'Senpai' all day long possibly revitalize the family?!"
Grinding his foot down viciously, Shinji laughed maliciously, then raised the blade in his hand and aimed it at Sakura's eye.
A cold gaze swept over Sakura's entire body.
"Sakura, tell me, where did that old man put the Magic Crest? I'll help you cut it off. Don't worry, it won't hurt much..."
"Because... I'm going to finish you off with my own hands right away, so of course it won't hurt, puh-hahahahaha—!!"
The laughter stopped abruptly. Matou Shinji seemed to have jammed; he stood there blankly, even withdrawing the foot that was stepping on Sakura's shoulder.
"Wait, what am I doing... Oh, I remember, I need to take back the Magic Crest that belongs to me."
Shaking his head forcefully, the Assassin held his knife horizontally, seemingly looking for the location of the Magic Crest.
Sakura gritted her teeth. Hundreds of butterflies suddenly emerged from beneath her, blanketing Matou Shinji beside her.
Startled by the suddenly emerging butterflies, Shinji's stance became unstable, and he almost fell.
Rolling to her feet, Sakura unleashed the ultimate move she had been holding back for a long time. She pushed her explosive-type magecraft to the limit, and countless butterflies surged out from behind her.
The continuous sea of butterflies completely enveloped Matou Shinji into a sphere at least two meters in diameter.
Amidst the rumbling sounds, the ground sank, and the surrounding walls all collapsed. The intense crimson blast also sent Sakura, who was not far away, flying.
———
Having dealt with the first enemy to come to her door, Ritsuka rushed toward the street where she had previously sensed a burst of magical energy.
With Rank A Agility, she sped through the streets and leapt onto a side wall. Her figure was like a ghost in the snowy night, moving so fast that ordinary people could not even see a glimpse of her shadow.
Ritsuka tapped her feet lightly and jumped onto the roof of a residence.
Looking into the distance at the nearly destroyed street, the asphalt ground was covered in scorched marks as if underground gas pipes had all exploded. The entire street had almost lost its original appearance.
"An Assassin?"
There was only one distorted figure on the street, its presence flickering. It clearly had some kind of concealment ability, yet for some reason, it remained in the middle of the street.
However, that had nothing to do with her.
Looking at that frenzied appearance, she would believe it even if someone said that guy was a Berserker. How could a normal Assassin look so strange? Could it be her hallucination?
The girl she had expected was not there. The street looked like a battlefield; perhaps the Assassin had repelled its opponent.
Ritsuka breathed a slight sigh of relief, her slender fingers grasping a large golden bow.
The secret treasure Alcides used to shoot the Hydra—the bow of the hydra—was drawn to full by Ritsuka, her eyes like those of a falcon.
With a synchronization value of 100%, Ritsuka also understood how excellent the long-range attack capabilities of this being, who was originally an Archer, were. With a visual range of 20 kilometers combined with astonishing strength, she could fire supersonic arrows comparable to Noble Phantasms and hit a target twenty kilometers away without loss.
And with such an ability, when the distance was a mere few hundred meters... "Second one."
The arrow failed to fire. The Assassin in Ritsuka's sight vanished instantly, and her pupils constricted tightly.
Scenes similar to shattering appeared in the surrounding space. Unknowingly, she had actually stepped into a not-so-large Great Magecraft Boundary, and her own perception had been significantly affected.
Clearly, the hallucination produced by the side effect of the spell on her body had inadvertently assisted this magical boundary.
Just as Ritsuka was wondering who had released a spell of this level, a dark purple shadow rushed into the courtyard, and a sharp blade pierced toward her chest.
Clang—!
The large golden bow parried the incoming blade. Ritsuka's gaze narrowed as her fingertips caught a throwing dagger that the enemy opposite her had just hurled as a hidden weapon.
This thing couldn't possibly break through the defense of the Twelve Labors.
Ritsuka gripped the shaft of the longbow with one hand, using it as a melee weapon. In an explosive dash, she slammed her opponent away with great force.
The wall shattered with a roar, and countless bricks and stones flew through the air. The slender figure flew nearly a hundred meters and landed on a distant slope.
Drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, Ritsuka followed at a slow pace. The bow of the hydra aimed at the Assassin. Standing at the edge of the slope, her pupils constricted slightly... "Sakura?"
Holding a card in her hand, Matou Sakura lay on the ground with a trace of blood spreading from the corner of her mouth. She wore a helpless smile.
Then she closed her eyes.