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

"Even though Emiya Shirou-kun isn't a famous Servant, as a comrade of justice he won't fall so easily!"

"No, Rin, you!?" Archer couldn't say anything yet, after all, he was the one who was in the wrong first.

"I activate the effect of the Emerald Magic in the graveyard, negate this effect!" Kintoki's attack was blocked by the green emerald veil.

"He's really capable." Kintoki didn't feel disappointed when his attack missed. This was an opponent who could rival Minamoto no Yorimitsu, so it was only natural that he had some strength.

But Illya's offensive wasn't over yet; she tried again to force Rin Tohsaka to use her hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [Thunder God's Manifestation]! Increase [Minamoto no Yorimitsu's] ATK by 1000, and destroy all Servants on the field with less than 2000 ATK! Weak Oni and Servants are not worthy to fight against Minamoto no Yorimitsu!"

Thunder poured down from the sky, covering the entire field.

Among all the servants present, only [Tōsaka Tokiomi] had an attack power lower than 2000, so Tōsaka Tokiomi turned into charcoal in the thunderstorm.

[Minamoto no Yorimitsu] Attack power 3500 → 4500

Minamoto no Raikou's attack power once again refreshed the audience's perception of attack power. This is an attack power on par with Hercules who released the arrow that shot down a hundred heads.

"Aren't you going to use that card in your hand?" Illya could win by attacking directly, so she probably knew what the face-down card in the back row was. "In that case, let's enter the Battle Phase. [Minamoto no Yorimitsu] attacks [Emiya]!"

No matter how much he increases his attack power this time, Red A will not be a match for Minamoto no Raikou. An attack powerful enough to kill a god is pressing down on him.

"I activate the Trap Card [Sevenfold Rings of Blazing Sky], discarding a card from my hand until the battle ends. My servants will not be destroyed by battle, and I will receive 0 battle damage!"

A seven-petal-shaped shield blocked the raging thunder. Red A successfully blocked the attack.

"That's the case again... Then I activate the effect of [Cloak of Heaven] in the Graveyard, banish an Einzbern Servant, and Special Summon it in Defense Position."

【Heavenly Clothes】Attack Power 1200

"I end my turn." Ilya has four cards left on the field: three Servants and one face-down card. Minamoto no Yorimitsu has two cards of "Battle Destruction" in his graveyard, and the Heavenly Robe is immune to Battle Destruction. "So, Rin Tohsaka, how are you going to win?"

Chapter 138 Bonds in place, gods shattered. But what if there's a payment shortfall…

"The outcome isn't decided until the very last moment!" Rin Tohsaka placed her hand on top of the deck and took a deep breath.

"My turn, draw a card!"

"Hahahaha! This is the inevitable outcome of the duel!" Rin Tohsaka laughed loudly upon seeing the card in her hand, and the distortion of space once again emanated from that card. "As expected, Lady Luck is on my side! Shirou Emiya, let's go!"

"If you'd like, please call me Red A." Unfortunately, the objection was ignored.

"First, I activate the effect of [Jewel Sword]! I retrieve a [Jewel Bullet] from my deck into my hand. [Jewel Bullet]'s effect directly deals 500 points of life damage to Illya!"

Ilya LP1750→LP1250

"Are you ready, Illya!" Rin Tohsaka held the card high. "This is my decisive move! I activate the Field Spell Card [Unlimited Blade Works], equipping four Equip Spell Cards from my Deck to [Emiya]!"

[Emiya] Attack power 2500 → 4500

This attack power is on par with Minamoto no Raikou, and it is an extremely powerful attack that can decide the outcome in a single blow.

"There are three [Pseudo-Spiral Swords] in total, this is the first one!" Rin Tohsaka said something similar to Gilgamesh's statement, and even the effect was extremely similar.

The spiral sword shot towards Minamoto no Raikou, and an oni in the cemetery was eliminated.

Ilya LP1250→LP750

"Second one!" The same result, Ilya's LP was cut again.

[Emiya] Attack power 4500 → 3000

Ilya LP750→LP250

"The third one!" With the third one completely exhausted, Minamoto no Yorimitsu was sent to the grave.

"It's over! The Einzbern family's contestants! This victory belongs to our Tohsaka family!" Rin Tohsaka puffed out her not-so-large chest. First the Einzbern family, then the Matou family. She would prove the Tohsaka family's status in jewel magic among the three starter families.

"I activated the effect of [Origin Bullet] in the graveyard, negating this effect damage... Rin Tohsaka, you have this card too, right? Have you forgotten its effect?" Illya kindly reminded Rin Tohsaka, who was already popping champagne.

"...Of course I haven't forgotten!" Rin Tohsaka blushed slightly, quickly regaining her composure. She glanced at the field; Archer's direct attack wouldn't secure a victory now. She needed to unleash all her equipment cards to break through the defenses. "The result is the same. I'll unleash all the remaining equipment cards and destroy all the cards on your field!"

[Emiya] Attack power 3000 → 2000

All obstacles have been eliminated. "Final blow! [Emiya] launches a direct attack on Illya! Crane Wing Triple Strike!"

"At the same time, I activate the Trap Card [Support Shot]! Destroy [Emiya]!" Illya had already checked Rin Tohsaka's graveyard in her Heaven's Robe form, and there was no [Emiya Shirou] there.

"..." Because Archer was shot through the head by a stray bullet from who-knows-where, Rin Tohsaka lost her chance to act and her turn was forcibly ended by the rules. Now the field was completely empty for both sides, but the problem was that it was Illya's turn to act next.

"It's okay, I still have 2350 LP. It's not easy to end it all with one card." Rin Tohsaka comforted herself, though she didn't seem to care much about the seventh point.

"My turn, draw a card!" Ilya's card draw this time was unremarkable, without the powerful performance of [Unlimited Blade Works] or [Land of Shadows], it was just a very ordinary card draw.

But lack of imposing presence doesn't mean she can't deliver the decisive blow; Ilya played the card. "I Normal Summon [Ilya]!"

"!" Rin Tohsaka already knew her fate. It really didn't require a strong aura; it was perfectly normal for her to draw her own fate.

"I release myself to Special Summon [Minamoto no Yorimitsu] from my Deck!" The vanilla Minamoto no Yorimitsu descends from the lightning once more, but whether it has any effect is no longer important.

[Minamoto no Yorimitsu] Attack power 3000

"I knew Ilya, you're the best!" Minamoto no Yorimitsu exclaimed, as if she were a mother seeing her child achieve great success. The photographer, Hyakko, deliberately focused the lens on Yorimitsu's chest before being kicked away by another version of herself.

Jiang You twitched his eyes. He didn't know how this program was set up. Baimao seemed to be becoming more and more abstract. He hoped that when the time comes, Wang Ha would rush into Valhalla and chop Baimao into pieces.

"Minamoto no Raikou: attack Tōsaka Rin directly. It's our Einzbern family that should be victorious!"

"I will not allow anyone to stand in Illya's way!" Minamoto no Yorimitsu walked up to Rin Tohsaka, his Dojigiri sword crackling with lightning, and slashed at Rin's neck in the same way he had used on Shuten-dōji!

Rin Tohsaka LP2350→LP0!

"The victors are Illya and Minamoto no Yorimitsu! This is a victory belonging to the legendary era! Let me congratulate them!" Illya's portrait occupied the entire screen, proclaiming her victory.

The audience erupted in applause. This duel was the most intense they had ever witnessed, with both sides engaging in a fierce exchange of resources and a grappling match (one-on-one). In the end, Illya used a very slight advantage to counterattack and kill.

This is much more exciting than the one-sided duels in the preliminaries.

Before leaving, Ilya waved her little fist at the cameras of the Hundred Faces. "Caster, you wait, I'm coming to beat you up right now!"

"The clash between legends and the modern has concluded. Now comes the much-anticipated clash between mortals and myths! Can Shinji Matou, without a Servant deck, use the Matou family's insect magic to defeat the legendary Heroic Spirits from ancient Greece? Let's invite both sides to enter!"

Shinji Matou and Medea's floating blocks were spliced ​​together, and without any pause, the second duel was about to begin.

"In your condition... do you still want to continue the duel?" As a mage from the Age of Gods, Medea had an exceptionally keen sense of magic. She immediately noticed that something was wrong with Matou Shinji, but without checking him, she couldn't be sure what was going on. In short, Matou Shinji appeared to be on the verge of exploding and dying, but she didn't have much sentimental pity, and she wouldn't care if he actually died.

"Of course we'll duel!" Shinji Matou's gaze was resolute; this was a golden opportunity for him to prove himself. Besides, as long as he could access magic, it didn't matter what form he took. In his view, a duel was just another form of summoning magic, only without relying on magic circuits. "You're just an old relic. If you're afraid of me, you can simply admit defeat."

"An old relic? How dare you say I'm afraid of you?" No matter the era, a woman who's been mocked for her age won't let it go. "You can't even be a magician, kid? Today I'll make you cry! I'll show you the difference between the age of gods and the modern world!"

Chapter 139 Medea: Jason didn't use this deck like this, did he?

Seeing that Shinji Matou had successfully provoked Medea, Hyakuma threw out a gold coin. "It seems both sides are highly motivated to fight. Then let the duel begin!"

The gold coin spun and fell to the ground, and Medea took the first step!

The duel space unfolds.

Medea LP4000

Shinji Matou LP4000

"In that case, I'll begin!" Medea drew five cards from her deck and fell silent instantly. Besides herself, the only other Servant she had was her former best friend, Atalanta.

After much deliberation, Medea began to act. As a member of the Argonauts, she also had cards that allowed her to forcibly summon other members: "First, I usually summon myself."

Medea - Attack Power 1800

"Then I activate the spell card 'The Journey to the Golden Fleece' to add either 'Jason' or 'Medea' from my deck to my hand. If there are other 'Argonaut' followers on the field, I can place one 'Argonaut' follower from my deck at the top of the deck."

"Jason's effect allows special summoning when there's a corresponding card on the field!"

Jason: Defense 1500

Medea's attack power increased from 1800 to 2300.

"Is he going to summon Hercules?" Shinji Matou knew Jason's ace card.

"Medea's effect: Because the previous Spell Card gained a Mana Counter, I remove this Mana Counter and retrieve a Trap Card from the Deck and add it to my hand."

"Then I covered two cards in the backfield to end my turn."

"Is this all the magicians from the Age of Gods are like?" This was the most perfunctory development Matou Shinji had ever seen. All the other magicians' developments were clearly more exciting than Medea's. "Why don't you summon Hercules? Is it because you don't want to?"

"Shut up!" Medea kicked Jason beside her, convinced that her terrible hand must be Jason's fault.

"My turn, draw a card!" Matou Shinji didn't know Medea's effect, but judging from the fact that activating magic cards would grant magic counters, the more magic cards Medea used, the greater her advantage would be.

If possible, I should resolve this as soon as possible or bring her over. "I activate the Field Spell Card [Insect Magic Workshop], Special Summon one [Crest Insect] from my Deck!"

[Marked Insect] Attack Power 500

"I knew you'd come up with something disgusting!" Medea flipped over her face-down card; she had already planned her countermeasure. "I activate [All Symbols Will Break the Rules]! I'll seize control of your [Crest Worm]!"

Medea said that as long as it works, she would use even this kind of thing on you.

At the same time, Medea's magic indicator reached two points.

"A card effect similar to the Crest Worm?" Shinji Matou looked at his Tamashi being taken to Medea's field, somewhat displeased. Only he could dominate others, but others couldn't! "But it doesn't matter! I'll activate the effect of [Machiri Zolgen], sending myself to the Graveyard and adding a Ritual Spell Card [Five Hundred Years of Obsession] to my hand!"

"[Five Hundred Years of Obsession] effect! Send two cards from your deck to the Graveyard and Ritual Summon [Matou Zouken]!"

【Matou Zouken】Attack Power 1800

The dense swarm of insects formed a skinny old man who was laughing resentfully.

"Then, the spell card [Awakened Will]! Special Summon one Master Servant from my Deck! The Servant Special Summoned by this card is automatically destroyed at the end of the turn! I'm summoning [Machiri Zolgen]!" At the same time, Medea's Spell Counter reached 4.

【Machiri Zolgen】Attack Power 1800

"I've been summoned again? And I'm seeing myself three hundred years in the future again. How unpleasant." Machiri looked at Zouken Matou with disgust. He would never admit that this was his own.

"Hehehehe..." Zouken Matou in this timeline had no idea what Machiri was thinking, and just laughed.

"The effect of [Machiri Zolgen] is that if a Special Summon is successful, you gain control of one 2-star or lower Servant on your opponent's field. What I want is naturally my Tamashi—[Crest Worm]!"

The crested bugs returned to Shinji Matou's field again.