Chapter 342: Illya: Bazett, Checkmate!
After being "artistically" (read: physically) worked over by his shy(?) childhood friend, Shinji felt sore all over—there wasn't a single spot on his body that didn't ache.
Fortunately, Rin still knew where to draw the line. She hadn't gone all out, and though he looked a bit pathetic now, at least she hadn't left any real injuries behind.
Still, Shinji couldn't help suspecting that the only reason Rin held back was because she was afraid that if he actually died, there'd be no one left to pay her salary.
As for the idea that killing her creditor might erase the debt… such a thought had never even crossed Rin's mind.
Not because she lacked the guts—far from it—but because Rin was absolutely certain that if she killed Shinji, her new creditor would instantly become Sakura.
And although Rin and Sakura got along far better than Rin and Shinji ever could, when it came to who she'd rather owe money to, Shinji was still the lesser evil.
After all, when it came to not acting human, Miss Sakura Matou had long since stopped pretending to be one.
So despite all her bluster and temper, Rin hadn't actually made Shinji suffer that much.
In comparison, the one truly facing life and death was the girl on the screen—Chloe.
"I have to defeat her…"
Knowing that Bazett was after the card within her, Chloe forced herself to stand despite the pain coursing through her body.
"If I don't kill her, I'll be the one who dies…"
From the moment she was born, Chloe had lived under the shadow of extinction—a constant awareness that she was never meant to exist.
That was why she kept challenging Illya over and over: to prove that she had the right to live.
But no matter how many times she declared herself the original, Chloe could never escape the truth—she only existed because of the card. If the card was taken, she would simply vanish.
She understood perfectly what she needed to do—defeat the woman before her—but understanding and being able to do it were two completely different things.
As Bazett stepped closer, her expression unreadable, despair crept across Chloe's face.
There was no path forward, no solution in sight.
"Even so…"
Lying down and waiting for death wasn't Chloe's style.
Even a cornered dog bites, and a desperate rabbit fights back.
She might not be able to win, but she would still fight.
Just then, Illya, who had been motionless on the ground until now, wobbled to her feet and gave Chloe a quick signal—cover her.
"Illya?"
Chloe frowned. In a moment like this, Illya was still giving orders?
Especially to her, who was clearly the stronger one?
Illya didn't respond, only meeting Chloe's eyes with quiet determination. She dared not speak—if Bazett caught wind of her plan, everything would be over.
This was their one and only chance.
"Tch."
Chloe clicked her tongue, visibly irritated, but helpless.
"You really are impossible, you know that?"
She didn't believe Illya's plan would work—but having some plan was better than nothing. Because honestly, she herself was out of options.
"Fine, protecting you is my job, isn't it?"
With a flick of her wrists, Chloe summoned her twin blades—Kanshou and Bakuya.
At the same time, Illya raised her staff and released a series of shimmering magic barriers, trying to restrict Bazett's movement.
"A pincer attack?"
Bazett easily sidestepped Illya's magic and noted Chloe charging from the other side.
"Still struggling till the very end, huh?"
"We just have to stop her from moving!"
Illya aimed her staff, firing off another burst of light with all the speed she could muster.
"Then I'll just take care of those troublesome eyes first—"
Knowing Illya's magic relied on her line of sight, Bazett raised both fists and slammed them into the ground.
"Seal it off!"
BOOM! BOOM!
The already-ruined courtyard exploded once more into chaos. Bazett's fists acted like detonations, kicking up clouds of dust and rock that swallowed all three of them—herself, Chloe, and Illya.
"I can't see…!"
The wind and sand stung Illya's eyes shut.
Ruby fluttered protectively in front of her, blocking some of the flying debris, while cheerfully complaining:
"Geez, she's even more of a Berserker than the actual Berserker!"
Chloe didn't bother responding to Ruby's nonsense. She just clenched her blades tighter—and charged straight into the storm.
This sandstorm—Bazett's defense—was, in a way, also their ally.
Chloe knew that for a martial magus as powerful as Bazett, her hearing had to be exceptional.
If Chloe launched a straightforward attack, Bazett would catch it immediately.
But because her opponent's hearing was so sharp… that gave Chloe an opening.
"Five incoming projectiles?"
Sure enough—deep in the heart of the storm, eyes closed, Bazett could still hear everything.
Four flying blades. One magic shot.
"The horizontal one's a mana bullet… the four above—"
She sensed the four blades locking onto her from every direction.
Just as Bazett raised her arms to parry, Chloe suddenly vanished from her field of awareness—
A teleportation spell!
It wasn't a borrowed ability from the Archer Card—this was Chloe's own magic, her one original technique.
In perfect sync with that, came her next move—a flurry of blades, precise and unrelenting, a combination of triple throws and slashes forged from her twin swords, Kanshou and Bakuya.
A strike impossible to dodge or block—
"Triple-Linked Crane Wings!"
"Tch!"
Bazett realized she couldn't evade. Without hesitation, she ignored defense altogether and drove her fist straight at Chloe's real body!
Steel met flesh. Sword met fist.
And in that single instant, victory and defeat were decided.
"Oof… that looked painful."
Watching the scene play out on-screen, Waver winced in sympathy.
If that punch had landed on him, his bones would've probably been reduced to dust.
Sure, it was "just TV," but from what he knew about Shinji—and his time working on the Fate/Zero set—the guy took his action scenes seriously.
Anything too dangerous, Yan Qing would handle through transformation scenes.
But falling, getting punched, or posing at the end of a fight? Those, Shinji insisted the actors do themselves.
Thankfully, Waver hadn't needed to film much action in Fate/Zero.
The only pain he suffered there came courtesy of his own Servant—getting carsick during wild chases, having his forehead flicked for talking too much, and taking the occasional punishing "friendly" smack on the back.
"Man, thank goodness I didn't have to act in The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II myself. If they'd made me film that with Shinji again— ugh."
Then it hit him—the déjà vu.
All those scenes of humiliation and suffering… they were exactly what his teacher, Lord El-Melloi I, used to put him through at the Clock Tower.
"Wait a second— that bastard Shinji was hinting at something, wasn't he?!"
Kayneth, sitting beside him, sighed deeply.
"Waver, must you be so stubborn? I've told you before— that boy Shinji wasn't trying to mock anyone."
"No. He definitely was!"
Waver bit down on his cigar, glaring at the screen with conviction.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
On-screen, Chloe's blade had indeed drawn blood from Bazett.
Or rather—Bazett had allowed it.
She had taken the hit head-on, deliberately, trading a shallow wound for the perfect counter.
Her fist slammed into Chloe's stomach with a brutal, bone-cracking thud.
The projected swords shattered into fragments.
Blood sprayed from Bazett's arm—but none of her injuries were deep. Nothing fatal.
Chloe, on the other hand, was folded over like a shrimp, all the air knocked from her lungs.
Her last thread of strength slipped away.
"You really are… a monster…"
With that hoarse whisper and the force of Bazett's blow, Chloe was sent flying.
But even as she tumbled through the dust, a faint, triumphant smile curled on her lips.
Her mission was complete.
"The rest… is up to you."
Behind Bazett, a gleaming magic bullet streaked through the storm —
"Illya!"
As Bazett kicked the magic bullet away with a sharp snap of her leg, she finally realized—Illya had been hiding directly beneath it, charging forward at the exact same speed.
The sheer noise and pressure of the magic blast had drawn Bazett's full attention, perfectly masking Illya's approach.
By the time Bazett noticed, Illya was already right in front of her—and Bazett's stance was locked, her balance thrown off from deflecting the projectile.
"Ruby! I'm counting on you!"
Seizing the fleeting chance, Illya didn't hesitate.
She swung her ruby-red staff straight at Bazett's pocket—the one holding the cards.
"Limited Deployment!"
Ruby flared with brilliant light, the telltale sign that a card was being activated.
Since all the Class Cards were inside that pocket, Bazett had no way of knowing which one Illya had chosen to use.
But for someone as confident in her own strength as Bazett, that didn't matter in the slightest.
Who cares what kind of trick it is? I'll just hit it till it stops moving!
Bazett, ever the lover of straightforward solutions, didn't bother holding back—she swung her fist down at Illya's head with bone-shattering force.
But the impact she expected—the satisfying crunch of Illya collapsing—never came.
Instead, the girl in front of her began to inflate.
Her body swelled up like a balloon, puffing out comically.
"What—?!"
POP!
The sound of bursting rubber filled the air.
The "bloated Illya" lying on the ground vanished—and in her place, there was Ruby, the ever-loudmouthed magical wand.
"Ow ow ow ow! That really hurt! I swear, I'm suing for assault!"
Bazett ignored the staff's hysterical complaints.
Her eyes were fixed on the Assassin card that had been ejected from Ruby's body.
"A decoy—! I've been tricked!"
Even as she said it, it was too late.
The real Illya—now released from her disguise—was already behind her.
She reached out with trembling fingers toward Bazett's exposed neck.
"If I can just… touch it—!"
But the moment she dispelled her transformation, all the pain from her earlier injuries came rushing back.
It didn't knock her down completely, but it made her legs give way—leaving her just short of reaching her target.
"Just one more step… it's only one step away… if I can just touch her…!"
Hope and despair clashed violently inside her chest.
It was right there. Right there!
"Anyone… please—HELP ME—!!"
BANG!
A spell bullet shot up from underground, bursting through the dirt and struck Bazett square in the head.
The force sent her staggering backward, body snapping with the impact.
Yet somehow, through sheer will and monstrous endurance, she forced herself to remain standing.
But for Illya, that single instant was enough.
Her hand finally reached through the impossible gap and brushed against Bazett's neck.
"I… did it…"
Illya's lips curved into a trembling smile.
A surge of red light exploded from her hand—the spell activated.
Checkmate.
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