[257] Duel with the Magus of the Age of Gods
White hair, golden eyes.
A somewhat youthful face carried a careless smile, and even the most ordinary robes seemed to exude an indescribable charm when worn by the boy.
"Ohh..." Instantly, the two older magical girls let out soft gasps—one covering her mouth, the other widening her eyes.
Magi without resistance to magical allure could easily be captivated by such a "beautiful youth," but for Rin and Luvia, whose wills were ironclad, it wasn't something as shallow as looks that drew them to this priest.
"What an... exquisite presence..."
"Damn it, even though he's the enemy..."
Grumbling with reluctant, almost gritted-teeth frustration, the two nonetheless couldn't help but stare intently as the boy approached, unwilling to look away for even a second.
Much like the shockwaves caused by the appearances of the Golden and Silver Princesses in the "Twin Towers of Illya" arc, the deeper a magus's involvement in the path of magecraft, the harder it became to resist the mystery that Sakatsuki exuded—
It was the lifeform of a higher-order species, the radiance of magecraft that could be called a miracle.
Dragonkind Modification. The Third Magic.
With both these elements at play, it was no surprise that if Sakatsuki were to recklessly unleash his presence, the mental impact on magi who pursued such mysteries would be overwhelming.
As he drew closer, Sakatsuki acted as though he hadn't noticed the magical girl team hiding nearby, calmly setting up his bounded field.
"Imaginary Numbers Magecraft?!" Rin and Luvia exclaimed in unison, while Illya and Miyu beside them found their reactions exaggerated.
"Of course, Sakatsuki can use magecraft. What's the big deal?"
"It's a very big deal," Luvia said, watching as Sakatsuki deftly traced magical runes, her tone grave. "The Holy Church would never acknowledge any heresy outside its doctrine, let alone magecraft. Not even the Eighth Sacrament Division, responsible for recovering holy relics, or the Burial Agency, filled with lunatics, would tolerate it."
"Even if some executors are taught magecraft under the respectable pretext of 'sacraments,' it's limited to practical spells like reinforcement and telepathy."
"Not to mention Imaginary Numbers Magecraft—it's an exceptionally rare discipline even within the Mage's Association. It's not something one can casually learn but requires profound mastery to wield."
"Yet, the Holy Church did recognize this priest as an overseer, even going so far as to say 'the Lord will tolerate his anomalies'... But who knew he'd be this abnormal? He might as well be a member of the Mage's Association!"
Rin sighed, rubbing her forehead, feeling this trip to Fuyuki was becoming more and more troublesome.
First, the Kaleidosticks chose two young girls as their masters. Then, some mysterious figure stole the recovered Rider-class card. And now, a member of the Church was trying to use this incident to undermine the Mage's Association's authority...
Was this the difficulty of becoming a candidate for Zelretch's apprentice?
While they whispered among themselves, the young man had already stabilized the passage and stepped through, vanishing without a trace.
"Ah... He's gone."
"What are you standing around for? Let's follow him!"
"Right, Ruby!"
"Roger! Confirming multiple spatial layers—central coordinates locked!"
With the reversal of the boundary corridor, the magical girl team also arrived in the mirror world.
The moment they entered, they were overwhelmed by the sight of the fierce battle and the towering flames.
***
"As expected of a world that started off as a comedy... Rin and Luvia seem to be running on low brainpower..."
Though he had sensed the four hiding in the bushes earlier, Sakatsuki didn't bother greeting them. After all, even if he ignored them, they'd still follow him eagerly, right?
Using Imaginary Numbers Magecraft, he easily opened a path to the mirror world where the Class Cards resided.
"Now then, let's see how I fare against Caster, the great Magus of the Age of Gods."
Looking up, he saw that just like how Gilles de Rais filled his mirror world with endless sea demons, the infamous witch Medea had also transformed her workshop into a vast territory.
Purple-red stars filled the sky, densely packed magical circles spinning like eyeballs—or perhaps an inverted army of countless soldiers gazing down at the lone black-robed priest.
The overwhelming pressure of magecraft, far beyond what modern magi could achieve, bore down on him like a tidal wave. With a cloak spread like wings, the witch began chanting at an inhuman speed.
[High-Speed Divine Words: A]
The ability to activate magecraft without incantations or connecting magical circuits. Allows the casting of high-tier spells in a single action. A skill that assists in magical incantation.
Normally, the larger the scale of a spell, the longer the incantation required. But with this skill, the chanting time is drastically reduced. Extremely effective when using direct-attack spells.
Though Medea rarely used direct-attack spells during the Holy Grail War, in her battle against Emiya, she unleashed a barrage of magical projectiles rivaling high-tier spells in an instant.
With just a single syllable, the magical plane—which would require a modern magus to exhaust themselves to activate—instantly lit up, countless infrared-like lines locking onto the priest's position.
"Even though most of my magecraft is basic, High-Speed Divine Words really is tempting." Despite the goosebumps on his skin and the overwhelming sense of danger, Sakatsuki remained utterly unperturbed, muttering to himself.
"Divine Words" were the superior incantations used in various mythological eras, impossible for human vocal cords to reproduce. The only way to obtain them was through cheats like a "Skill Extraction Device."
Unfortunately, the extraction device's energy gauge was still far from full, meaning Sakatsuki would have to pass on High-Speed Divine Words for now.
"Well, even if I could, I wouldn't extract this skill anyway."
His apparent dismissal of the skill seemed to enrage the great witch soaring in the sky. With a flick of her wrist, countless beams of magical energy rained down with pinpoint accuracy, all converging on Sakatsuki!
"That's the move!" The magical girl team, having just arrived, witnessed the scene. Luvia's voice was tense. "That attack can pierce even an A-rank magical barrier. Can that priest withstand it?"
"Imaginary Numbers Magecraft? No, even a gate to the imaginary plane would be overwhelmed by this level of energy!" Rin nervously rubbed her hands, already considering how to negotiate with the Church if the priest died.
But soon, that thought became a joke.
As the apocalyptic shockwave dissipated, everyone clearly saw the figure in the black robes, his left hand raised, and before it—a shimmering barrier composed of countless diamond-shaped spatial fragments!
"No way! That's displacement magecraft!"
Rin and Luvia shouted in unison. Precisely because they were top-tier magi themselves, they understood better than anyone just how unbelievable this level of displacement magecraft was.
The space closed, the spell ended, and as casually as turning off a light, Sakatsuki dismissed the barrier. Staring up at the witch as she began chanting again, he revealed a rare, almost manic grin.
If the battle against Gilles de Rais had been a test of martial skill, then this clash with Medea would be a pure contest of magecraft.
Reinforcement.
Projection.
Displacement.
Imaginary Numbers Magecraft.
Compound Magecraft: Tuning.
Without relying on projected Noble Phantasms, without using any martial techniques—could the combined magecraft of Shirou and Sakatsuki's two lifetimes stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a witch from the Age of Gods?
His right hand gripped a forged blade of steel, his left spread open an imaginary bounded field. A priest, yet more formidable than any magus, the boy looked up and snarled:
"Bring it on!"
***
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