Illya: Mami-senpai, Wait for Me!

Undoubtedly, compared to the Sword of Promised Victory, the brilliance displayed by the originally backup, chosen sword, Clarent, in Mordred's hands was completely incomparable to the former.

That light was so dazzling, drawing one in.

Once, she too yearned for this light... No, or rather, even now, she still longed for this brilliance, longed for that incredibly great father—but, the more it was so, the more Mordred felt enraged looking at that light.

Father! You refuse to acknowledge me no matter what?!

In that case, let me bury your glory once more!

"Arthur!!!"

"Clarent Blood Arthur (My Glorious Father's Treachery)!"

A terrifying beam of crimson, ominous magical energy was unleashed towards Saber amidst a furious roar.

Saber, her expression cold, gripped the sword in her hands, returning the fury:

"Mordred!"

Ruining her Britain was one thing, but this was going too far! Even obstructing her on the path to realizing her dream of restoring her country—this rebellious traitor was truly hopeless!

"Excalibur!!!"

An even stronger torrent of magical energy erupted, colliding with the other in an instant.

But clearly, because it lacked a plus sign, the crimson torrent unleashed by Mordred's Clarent was completely suppressed, only managing to maintain its relatively neutral stance through sheer stubbornness and unwillingness.

But it wouldn't be long before Excalibur utterly crushed her.

"The victor is decided."

The Servants and Masters from other teams who were watching this battle couldn't help but have such thoughts.

If no third party intervened, at this rate, it would likely end with Mordred's defeat.

However—

The next moment, Mordred's power, which was at a disadvantage, suddenly surged dramatically, and not just a little, but a qualitative leap.

This sensation stunned even Mordred herself, but understanding what had happened, she instantly burst into maniacal laughter.

"Arthur!!!"

This change startled the other teams observing the battle.

Of course, this included [Illya] and little Illya.

"What happened?"

The latter looked bewildered.

Kiritsugu's Servant seemed about to win, but the situation reversed almost instantly.

"It's Command Spells."

[Illya], seeing what had happened at a glance, looked directly at Kairi Sisigou, who was currently entangled with Kiritsugu Emiya using necromancy, preventing the latter from intervening—clearly visible, there wasn't a single Command Spell mark left on the back of his hand.

She couldn't help but sigh:

"That's... quite decisive."

Undoubtedly, noticing his Servant at a disadvantage, Kairi Sisigou made an instant decision, without any hesitation, using all three Command Spells to strengthen Mordred.

Command Spells, as another crucial function of the Holy Grail system, were themselves crystals of massive magical energy. Through Command Spells, Masters could accomplish a series of things unimaginable under normal circumstances, even enabling Servants to surpass their peak moments.

The boost from three Command Spells was enough to bridge the gap between Clarent Blood Arthur and Excalibur, even allowing the former to crush the latter overwhelmingly.

Of course, in the eyes of other Masters who noticed this, their first thought was—

"Is this guy crazy?!"

Although Servants were similar to summoned entities, because most of them were famous heroes recorded in history, with often eccentric personalities, even the magical constraints of a subordinate relationship could hardly restrict them. A Servant's willingness to obey was more a matter of—giving face.

But if they were displeased, killing their own Master wasn't impossible.

Therefore, the existence of Command Spells was crucial.

With Command Spells, Masters could deter their Servants, better control the contract, and, for the Three Founding Families, the most important function of Command Spells was to command the final victor to commit suicide at the last moment. Only in this way could they deal with these historically renowned heroes and thus achieve their ambitions.

But...

That man named Kairi Sisigou... he actually used all three Command Spells at once?!

Not even saving one... Wasn't he afraid of his Servant rebelling and killing him in return?

Incomprehensible... completely incomprehensible...

Was it necessary to go this far on the first day of the Holy Grail War?

According to usual practice, the first day was mostly about minor skirmishes, focusing on gathering intelligence.

But he was playing like this?

Masters who valued Command Spells sneered and scoffed at this.

But the Servants' reactions were completely different.

"Ho, though a mere mongrel, he's quite decisive."

Gilgamesh watched this scene with great interest, a hint of approval in his eyes.

Magi treated Servants as familiars, subordinates, even using Command Spells to control and guard against them due to various purposes.

He certainly looked down on such mongrels—hmm, his own Master seemed to be one of them.

He was enjoying his battle with his old friend, and then that Master used a Command Spell to forcibly recall him... Heh.

And Sisigou...

Undoubtedly, he didn't treat Mordred as a familiar at all, but as a partner he wholeheartedly entrusted his life to.

From a Servant's perspective, no Servant would dislike such a reliable Master, right?

Although little Illya didn't have such thoughts, only feeling that it seemed very impressive, watching the development of this situation, she suddenly remembered that Kiritsugu was her father, and became a little panicked.

In her view, she and [Illya] were undoubtedly on Kiritsugu's side. Kiritsugu's Servant was about to be defeated. Wasn't this completely terrible news?!

"Yabai! Yabai! Kiritsugu's Servant is going to be defeated!"

"Isn't that good?"

"Huh... Whose side are you on?"

"The side of the one who gave birth to me~"

This answer made a question mark appear above little Illya's head.

The latter stuck out her tongue, then said calmly:

"Didn't we come here to save them? If they lose their Servant, wouldn't they have to leave the Holy Grail War?"

"Eh... That seems to make sense..." Illya paused, then nodded suddenly as realization dawned.

This... seemed quite good too.

After all, the reason she eagerly urged [Illya] to come here was for her mother and the others—to save Mom, so they had to win the Holy Grail War.

But if they could resolve all of this in a relatively peaceful way...

Recalling the fierce battle between that father and son just now, little Illya, as a still-developing elementary school student, couldn't help but shiver.

...She absolutely didn't want to fight those monsters... Even if she had to fight, she at least wanted to finish watching Mami-senpai first!

"Well, that being said, unfortunately, with Kiritsugu's personality, even if he loses his Servant, he probably won't give up on the Holy Grail War."

Pursing her lips, the girl shrugged.

A Servant's defeat wasn't the end of the war. As long as a Master still had Command Spells, they could completely contract with other Masterless Servants. And Kiritsugu Emiya was undoubtedly the type who, even without a Servant, would find a way to seize another Servant and continue participating in the Holy Grail War.

Besides...

Glancing at the smoke-filled, devastated area.

"And it's King Arthur, after all. Even after suffering an attack of this level, it's hard for her to be eliminated."

"As for that child..."

"Acting so recklessly, it's easy for others to exploit her openings." As she spoke, Illya followed [Illya]'s gaze and looked towards Mordred—amidst the clang of metal, a handsome man wielding two spears, one long and one short, wrapped in cloth and their true forms concealed, suddenly appeared.

From Celtic mythology, the most outstanding and popular knight of the Fianna—Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.

Undoubtedly, as a Servant, he was indeed a true knight. His only expectation for this Holy Grail War was to fight alongside his Master and cross blades with those heroes recorded in history.

He was naturally reluctant to engage in such a near-ambush act.

Even if he had to fight, it should be when the enemy was fully prepared, not taking advantage of their vulnerability, let alone ambushing them like this...

Unfortunately, Lancer's Master could hardly be called outstanding—although his magical knowledge was exceptional and his character was actually quite good, he ultimately clashed with Lancer.

Driven reluctantly, Lancer launched an attack on Mordred.

—No matter what, eliminating one Servant first was the most appropriate course of action.

Holding this thought, Kayneth actually wanted to eliminate King Arthur together with Mordred, but unfortunately, she ran away very quickly.

In that case, he could only take out the heavily injured Mordred.

After all, even if her Master might have run out of Command Spells, Clarent Blood Arthur itself was still a force to be reckoned with in the eyes of most participants in this war.

She was only weaker than exceptional beings like Arthur.

"That big brother looks... so handsome!" Illya stared blankly at Lancer's face, a bit lovestruck.

"Ooh, it seems Illya has fallen in love~"

Ruby chuckled creepily, but the next moment, [Illya] furrowed her brow and grabbed Ruby.

"Bang—"

Both Ruby and little Illya now had a large bump on their heads.

The latter had tears in her eyes.

And [Illya] said angrily:

"Idiot, don't stare at that face. That person has a built-in charm magecraft."

Undoubtedly, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's naturally occurring Love Spot was extremely effective on women.

Especially for little Illya, who was already a 'delusional' type of introverted elementary school student, one glance and she was smitten.

So easily that it was a headache.

She wasn't like Irisviel at all in this aspect.

"Charm magecraft...?!"

Once it was pointed out, that inexplicable attraction quickly diminished. However, looking at that face so close, identical to her own, although it was like looking in a mirror, for some reason, little Illya felt her heart pounding.

"Bang—"

"Really now, what are you thinking about, you're charmed again?"

"Uh... sob sob sob..." Little Illya held her head, looking wronged.

"Alright, let's go back."

"That's enough for tonight."

"Eh... Aren't we going to keep watching?"

"Those two won't be able to determine a victor anytime soon." [Illya] stood up and pursed her lips—Lancer, summoned as a Lancer, was exceedingly mediocre, relying entirely on close combat. If he could outmaneuver his opponent, it was fine, but if not, he could only rely on brute force.

But unfortunately, although Mordred's stats weren't as high as Saber's, in terms of skill, she was stronger than her 'old man.'

Of course, this wasn't strange. After all, King Arthur was a knight king who existed as the ruler of Britain. Her fame generally came from this deed. In terms of martial prowess, there were many Knights of the Round Table stronger than her. Mordred, having been instilled with this goal since childhood, with extensive training and cultivation, could defeat Lancer more easily than Saber could—and most importantly, unlike Saber, Mordred would absolutely never do something like 'remove her magical armor to increase her output.'

As long as she didn't remove her armor, Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality, was meaningless, and Gae Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, alone wasn't enough.

Besides—

"A troublesome fellow is approaching. There's no need to stay here."

Sensing the rumbling thunder in the distance, [Illya]'s tone was indifferent.

Iskandar—there was no need to interact with this troublesome pair for now.

"Are we going back like this?" Illya was a bit surprised.

"What else?"

"Do you want to go over there and have a go at them?"

Little Illya shook her head vigorously.

"The results of the first day are already rich enough. There's no need for us to add to it."

Three Command Spells, a clash between two A++ rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasms, ending with King Arthur's defeat—heavily injured and fleeing in disarray. For the first night of the Holy Grail War, this was already quite disastrous, even making one wonder if it was the final battle.

[Illya]—Jiang Qiao—brought Illya here to watch mainly to let this foolish, weakling Servant get accustomed up close. Otherwise, for intelligence gathering and such, staying in the magical workshop and using familiars made no difference.

There were still quite a few troublesome fellows hiding in the dark. The girl sighed. Her Servant wasn't very reliable; she still had to pay more attention herself.

"Let's go."

"Okay!" Little Illya nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice.

Going home! The battlefield was too dangerous. Compared to watching this action-packed drama up close, she clearly missed her beloved Madoka Magica, which had been interrupted at the climax.

—Mami-senpai, wait for me!!!