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

"Wow—that's really scary. What nonsense are you talking about? Even the Supreme God isn't as powerful as you." Medea didn't believe such a treasure existed at all; she knew Jiang You was joking. "I think they probably need something from you. You can mass-produce soul crystals, right? They probably have their eye on that. Protecting you might be so that someone can come and capture you and use you as a tool for producing soul crystals."

"I heard it was like a seedbed, but why are there only dirty jokes?"

“I’m serious.” Medea’s expression was solemn. She was now Jiang You’s summoned creature, and if Jiang You were really caught, she wouldn’t fare well either. “I only just got my deck not long ago, and I don’t want to be eliminated so soon.”

"Don't worry, I won't get caught," Jiang You said, indicating that he would simply unplug the power cord and then report it to Old K. Many MMOs have prison settings, but none of them can truly restrict player movement; otherwise, they would have been heavily criticized. Developers are here to make money, not to torture players.

"But your phase shift can only return you to your original position, right? How long can you hide?" This is how Medea understood Jiang You's online and offline behavior. The value of the Soul Crystal was worth all magicians waiting for him for years.

"I can take as long as I want." Jiang You felt he had troubled Medea for quite a while, so he should give her some confidence and see if he could gain some favor. "Originally, I was going to take Ilya back to play as compensation, but I'll show you now."

Jiang You opened his game system and found the interface for switching scripts. He swiped the world line to the right.

FSN→FZ

Jiang You appeared in Fuyuki in 94, and used the Noble Phantasm to summon Medea again.

"The work isn't finished yet! You sent..." Medea hadn't finished complaining when she realized she wasn't in the familiar Fuyuki. Because of Jiang You's actions, Fuyuki was filled with traces of magic. But here, it was impeccably clean. As if it had just been washed.

"Welcome to Fuyuki ten years ago."

"Ten years ago...?" Medea had heard Bai Mao mention Jiang You before, but she hadn't expected him to be able to move freely between two worlds without relying on Heroic Spirit summoning. "Are you able to jump between timelines... or..."

“You can think of it as me being able to record the world line I’m in whenever I’m summoned. I can move around in the recorded world lines at any time,” Jiang You explained. “In other words, as long as I want, I can leave that world line forever, and they will never be able to catch me.”

"You're trying to say more than just that, aren't you?" Medea had found the crux of the matter. "Lancelot is someone you met in this timeline. And you still have his cards. Are you trying to tell me..."

"Yes, you want to go back to your hometown, right?" Jiang You had researched Medea's wishes to improve his favorability, so finding the right solution was too easy. "If I am summoned to the timeline you desire, I can bring you there as well."

As for whether it can really be realized, Jiang You said that he can only trust Konami.

A series of email notifications rang out. Jiang You glanced at them; he had acquired some Servants from the Argonauts, the most important being Medea Lily. A high-quality follower in the current meta.

Medea gave Jiang You a heartfelt gift. As a heroic spirit, she had plenty of time to wait.

"Medea, I swear my loyalty to you here! My master."

Chapter 131 Fuyuki: I'm used to Duel City and stuff.

The next day came quickly, and Jiang You woke up early for a rare occasion.

Facts proved that the promises were indeed effective. Medea, as if energized, single-handedly set up the entire venue overnight, even showing a rare sign of fatigue for a heroic spirit like her.

Jiang You said he had learned it and would do it again next time.

"The venue's current capacity is roughly 20 people; that's the limit of our space expansion. I imagine about one-fifth of Fuyuki City's population would be enough." Medea was extremely dedicated, expending so much magic that Atram's power dwindled. When Jiang You carried him, the considerable gap between him and the box caused it to sway and make a clanging sound, significantly affecting its feel.

Bai Mao immediately found a suitable box, but Jiang You thought it was too small and looked out of proportion, so he stuffed the gaps with cotton.

"I don't know whether to call you kind or malicious." Medea looked at Atram's pleading eyes and twitched her lips. Even when she plundered someone's magic, she would give them a quick death. On the contrary, Jiang You's method made her feel somewhat afraid.

"That's exactly the effect I wanted." The guy who used people as batteries has actually become a battery. How fair! But Atram will soon be free. The Holy Grail War after the duel will most likely not go on. We can just declare the champion the winner. "I've scheduled your duel for the second half of the tournament. You should take a break. Otherwise, don't blame me if you lose."

"I'm not that much of a sore loser." Medea rolled her eyes. She wondered who was acting like a complete shirker, a Caster who knew absolutely nothing about magic; she was the one doing all the work. "You have the nerve to say that? Didn't you say you wouldn't cheat and wanted a pure duel?"

"It's just that you've been moved to the second round. All three of them were genuinely drawn by lot, so there's no shady dealing involved." Jiang You stated that as the organizer, his power was limitless; he set the rules, so what wouldn't he dare to do? "However, you can also choose which opponent you want. We're all on the same side, so there's no need to be so particular. Anyway, duels are all about skill, so it's not really cheating."

"I've already recorded this, and I'll play it for that little girl later. She's been so cooperative in this game, and you're doing all this nonsense. It'll be quite interesting, won't it?" After Jiang You explained his abilities (and their manifestation) yesterday, Medea's relationship with him had improved, and now she could make such obvious jokes.

"Spare me!" Jiang You quickly begged for mercy. Ilya clearly wanted to defeat him head-on with his Noble Phantasm. If she found out, his favorability rating would probably plummet. Jiang You had a little quirk: he felt uncomfortable if he didn't max out the favorability rating of female characters.

"I'm going to recover my magic a bit and get ready. Actually, the soul crystals are quite tempting for me. If you need anything, just ask Jason. Don't be shy, just ask him for anything." Medea decided to rest for a while and left Jason to Jiang You.

"This woman can finally shut up for a bit." Although Medea was said to have set up the venue alone, Jason was actually in charge of the miscellaneous tasks, and he had been busy all night. "Let's make it clear first, if I win the championship, you'd better let me go!"

"You'll have to ask Medea about that. Even if we win, she'll still have the final say. If she agrees, then it's fine." Jiang You said that Medea's favorability had just been raised, and they couldn't let it drop like that.

"Wasn't it you who summoned her? Please, Caster, have mercy on me this once. I'll do anything to get away from him." It was hard to imagine a Heroic Spirit looking so haggard; Medea must have cut off Jason's mana supply, keeping him at a level just enough to maintain his Spirit Origin. He stepped forward and grasped Jiang You's forearm as he was about to leave. "I'll do anything!"

"This isn't FGO," Jiang You said, adding that Jason himself didn't have personal freedom and couldn't possibly bear the weight of those words.

As I've said before, Medea is definitely at fault in the mythology, but it's hard to say for the Moonworld. If anything, blame the fungus for not envisioning a real landing when it was written. The First Emperor and Jing Ke were also similarly victimized. As a patch, Jing Ke's eyesight is probably incurable.

However, Hercules wasn't included in Medea's favorability bonus, and I'm not sure if there will be any in future favorability bonuses. After the "Leaver" scenario, Illya's cards are usable again, and she can summon Hercules with one card. I really want a card like this, one that can be easily summoned and hidden in a toilet.

In a sense, Jason is even more tempting to Jiang You than Medea, so he must have Hercules in his deck.

Jiang You held his chin, thinking about how to increase Jason's favorability without lowering Medea's favorability.

"Once Medea gets tired of you, she'll probably let you go." Unable to think of anything else, Jiang You gave up on further thought. In any case, he had to finish the duel first.

Jiang You shook off Jason's hand and left as Jason made the same gesture as Erkang.

He also has to find Baimao to arrange the follow-up work, as the finals are about to begin.

The news of Mount Enzo being the venue for the duel finals was spread out by Baimao as soon as it was made. Today, the number of people asking for leave in Fuyuki increased sharply, seriously affecting economic growth.

Many people had even set up tents at the foot of the mountain, just to get a good spot first. Baimao, acting as both staff and guard, had also caught many spectators attempting to jump the fence. If they went any further, they would be attacked by the defensive magic set up by Medea.

Magic (from the perspective of ordinary people) has always been a legendary existence in the minds of ordinary people. Now that they can observe the wonders of magic up close and see the living legendary figures, how can they not be excited? Everyone wants to observe this wonderful adventure that they will rarely encounter in their lifetime.

This led to the emergence of spontaneously formed cheering groups, which began to attack each other before the duel even began.

"Minamoto no Raikou will definitely defeat Hercules!"

"Second hair! Hercules is invincible!"

"We must support the local heroes. Minamoto no Raikou will win!"

"Am I the only one who thinks it's cool that Matou Shinji defeated a Heroic Spirit with his mortal body? The best Crimson Insect in the world!"

Well, humans have always been abstract.

Under the gaze of the crowd, a helicopter approached rapidly from the direction of the television station. From the wide-open hatch, a man in a Victorian-style suit leaped from a hundred meters above, landing precisely on the gate of Ryudo Temple. The strong wind whipped the hem of his coat back and forth.

"Welcome everyone to Duel City—Fuyuki!" Jiang You opened his arms wide and announced loudly to everyone, "The first Duel City Finals officially begin at this moment!—Come on! Duelists, come and claim your honor and rewards!"

Chapter 132 Pre-Battle Trash Talk

The much-anticipated finals of the entire Fuyuki finally kicked off. The venue for 200,000 people prepared by Medea was now overcrowded. Medea had no choice but to work overtime and expand the venue again.

Bai Mao, the host, also changed into a pure white dress and appeared on stage as the host. After a few brief opening remarks, it was time for the trash talk segment before the contestants started.

"We have four contestants coming up!"

Hyakume prepared an introduction for each contestant: "First up is contestant Illya, ranked fourth. Her Servant is a Berserker, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who vanquished many strange beings such as Shuten-dōji of Mount Ōe, the Great Spider of Kyoto, and the Gyūoni of Senso-ji Temple, and is hailed as the strongest mysterious assassin of the Heian period! As a Servant summoned in her homeland, she should have a huge advantage. Unfortunately, duels are absolutely fair and just; here, only legends and strength clash!"

The little girl with white hair and red eyes entered the venue with a voluptuous oriental beauty. This visually striking combination immediately caught the audience's attention.

"Illya, on behalf of the Einzbern family, greets everyone. I'm here to compete because, as the continuation of the Third Law, the Einzbern family will never give the Soul Crystal to anyone else."

Ilya lifted her skirt and curtsied, her gaze shifting to a certain spot, her expression slightly resentful: "Besides, I'm not only here for the reward, but also to tell someone: those who break their promises are the worst! Ilya will teach you a lesson!"

While the audience didn't know what the third method was, it didn't stop them from imagining a grand drama about the continuation of the family line. Furthermore, the little girl's expression of disgust prompted some subdued cheers from the audience, who then received Minamoto no Raikou's murderous gaze.

Incidentally, because Medea's model shop also had the Master's model, Minamoto no Raikou even went to cause trouble to prevent others from buying Illya's model. Jason, unable to duel due to Medea's restrictions, not only received a beating but also received numerous complaints from collectors. He narrowly avoided having his head ripped off.

"Kill everyone who wants to harm Illya, or even those who look at Illya with strange eyes!" Purple lightning surged around Minamoto no Yorimitsu, but some people seemed even more excited.

Although Minamoto no Raikou appeared to be a normal Servant, her EX frenzy revealed that she was only superficially normal. If the audience continued to go crazy, she might actually attack. Baimao quickly sent her away and brought up the next group of contestants.

"Then, there's the third-placed contestant, Rin Tohsaka. She's also the former Master of Jason, the Servant who was originally ranked second. We don't know what happened between them, but as a strong competitor, she quickly found her next partner—the red Archer!"

"I'm sorry, for some reason, this Archer doesn't want to reveal his real name, but I can reveal a little bit about it. Archer is from this era and is still a high school student. If you want to become a Heroic Spirit, you can refer to his situation. Just imagine, after death, you can still be active in various eras and fight alongside legendary heroes. Isn't it exciting?"

Red A's expression was very subtle; he had made this expression countless times during this appearance. In short, because of Jiang You, Bai Zhao was now extremely unrestrained. Considering that her Noble Phantasm could generate different personalities, it was normal for her to have several neurotic clones: "The Counter Force really deserves a medal for her. How can it pull people back like that? If someone really does this, I hope she won't be hunted down like crazy after finding out the truth."

"I'm here to achieve victory!" Although Rin Tohsaka felt a little ashamed to say this in public, she couldn't back down as a noblewoman. Besides, the Einzbern family had already done it, so the Tohsaka family couldn't fall behind. "We must also avenge Medea for taking my Servant. No matter what, she is my Servant! What belongs to the Tohsaka family, I will take back!"

"Looks like it's a grudge match. Next up is Medea, who's ranked second." Bai Mao successfully stalled until Medea completed the widening of the venue, and now the entire stadium can finally accommodate all the spectators.

"As an ancient Greek magician, Miss Medea's strength should not be underestimated. This is also the only dual-Servant combination in this game. I don't need to elaborate on the legend of Medea and Jason, as I'm sure everyone already knows it. Now that these two legendary figures meet again, what will they accomplish together? It is sure to open our eyes!"

Medea entered the venue with Jason, who looked like he had lost all hope in life.

Jason stretched out his hand towards Rin Tohsaka: "Master, save me!"

Jason's embarrassing performance made Tohsaka Rin cover her face. Could he have a little awareness of being a Greek hero? Even Red A was more of a hero than him.

"You need to understand, I am your Master now!" Medea activated the magic crest on Jason's collar, and the violent electric shock caused Jason to crackle with electricity, before he fell to the ground, charred black.

There were murmurs in the audience; Jason's performance was clearly not voluntary. But Medea didn't care much about what others thought.

"The difference between magic from the Age of Gods and modern magic is not even in the same dimension." Medea looked down at each contestant present. "Let me show you the difference between us. I'm determined to get the prizes."

"By the way, this venue was also arranged by Miss Medea. This alien space technology is truly astonishing. The other contestants must be feeling immense pressure, right? Don't worry, a duel isn't just a simple numerical competition. Even a mortal can potentially kill a god!"

Next up is the last contestant. The space dimmed, and a spotlight, seemingly appearing from nowhere, focused on one spot: "As the grand finale, let me welcome the only non-seeded contestant without a Heroic Spirit! The incredibly strong contestant who defeated Cú Chulainn with a mortal body! Even Scáthach's power couldn't stop him from winning! Let's shout his name!"

"Matou Shinji!"

"Shinji-kun!"

"Let those old antiques see the strength of mortals!"

"Matou Shinji! We will win!"

Facts have proved that as long as you are strong enough, champion fans don’t care whether you are a sweet and soft girl or whether your deck is insidious. Shinji Matou appeared in the spotlight with absolute popularity advantage.

The blue seaweed-haired girl looked at the crowded auditorium with an expression of extraordinary enjoyment.

"I came here for only one purpose," Matou Shinji raised his hand and pointed to the sky. "To prove that I am the best in this magic ceremony! I am also the most talented magician among all magicians. I will definitely win the championship!"

Chapter 133 Illya: Rin Tohsaka, are you going to try and take me from her too?

"All the contestants have extremely strong confidence in themselves!" Bai Zhao lifted the huge projection screen behind him, which displayed the names of each Master and their Servant. "Now it's time for the draw. We will arrange the duel order according to the numbers drawn. Numbers 1 and 2 will be in one group, and numbers 3 and 4 will be in another group. The winners will then compete in the final battle!"

"The selection is completely random, absolutely fair and just!" Bai Mao said insincerely without changing her expression, but with her skin color, no one could tell even if she had changed her color.

"During this period, everyone can use their mobile phones to send a text message number to Fuyuki TV to vote for the contestant they support. If you can predict the winner, you will have the opportunity to win a pair of models of the winning team provided by Miss Medea's model shop!——"