"Don't worry," Illya said, shaking her head with a smile. "Honestly, the so-called base is just a refugee camp. I'm sure a great hero of the Nordic people won't try anything against us right now, right?"
Sigurd was about to respond when Brynhildr cut in, "Master, don't worry. No matter what happens, Sigurd and I will..."
As Brynhildr talked about him, Sigurd wisely kept his mouth shut. He had a strong feeling that if he refused and tried to leave now - no, to be specific, if he left Illya's sight - Brynhildr, who was burning with love, would definitely chase after him, declaring her "love" while tearing him apart. To avoid reliving his legendary death, he stayed quiet, figuring it was the smart thing to do.
Moreover, this situation worked in his favor. He didn't really give a damn about his relationship with Hel anyway, only agreeing because she promised to let him see Brynhildr again when summoning him, granting his long-held wish. Now that Brynhildr was right there in front of him, what was there to be conflicted about?
At this point, his contract with Hel had turned into a shackle. He never planned on dying for Hel in the first place, only wanting to see this woman again and make things right.
Shirou brought Illya to meet the villagers and shared their destination with them. Who would've thought that when Vali laid eyes on Illya, he'd shout "Spring Goddess"! Only then did it dawn on him and the others that Illya was the very same Spring Goddess who had previously saved Vali's village.
Running into Illya was a pleasant surprise. Shirou was set on moving the villagers to Illya's base, but A-46 posed a problem. She was Hel's spy, and Hel wanted Chaldea gone, so they couldn't risk letting her know where their base was. But simply killing A-46 wasn't the best option either, not with Skadi still being held captive by Hel. Shirou didn't want to completely turn against Hel until he could get Skadi out of the prison.
After giving it some thought, he had a few soldiers take A-46, who was tied up in a crucified position by Sigurd, on a different route while the rest of them followed Illya to the base. Once Chloe was sure of Shirou's intentions, she let her guard down completely. She had been betrayed by Shirou before, and she tearfully poured her heart out to Illya about the pain and heartache she felt when it happened. She also shared how she had to use all her wits to survive the mess and eventually break free from Shirou's grasp.
Of course, none of that had actually happened, but it was enough for Illya to understand the situation. "So, you're saying Shirou-niisan scared Chloe before? Wow, niisan, you're really something else," Illya spoke up, defending Chloe. Her delicate, adorable accusing tone was enough to make his body melt from cuteness. But as soon as he remembered that this was a nearly 30-year-old woman, those warm feelings vanished into thin air.
Illya's expression turned dead serious. "I feel like you're thinking something really rude."
Shirou: "..."
How could she be so perceptive about this? Did she invest all her physical development points into a woman's sixth sense over the past thirteen years? Inwardly speechless at her age-detecting sixth sense, which could be called [Intuition EX], Shirou kept a straight face and said, "You're reading too much into it."
Illya's expression slowly softened. After giving it some thought, she realized he wasn't the type to make sarcastic comments about others' flaws. As they walked, Shirou also learned some interesting details about this connection point from Illya.
They had arrived here three months ago. Not long after entering this connection point, they received an invitation from Skadi to visit Asgard. There, they discovered that Skadi had the Black Grail in her possession. Illya and Chloe had initially planned to simply defeat Skadi and take the Black Grail to resolve the connection point. Unfortunately, Skadi was way too powerful at that time and almost instantly wiped them out.
It wasn't surprising, considering that even Hel couldn't match Skadi at her prime, let alone Illya and Chloe. In fact, despite having most of her divinity drained after sustaining this world for over two millennia, Skadi still had the strength to easily overpower Hel. The only reason she was defeated was because of Hildr and the others' betrayal, who sneakily cut off her power source from behind.
However, Skadi, who had easily defeated Chaldea at that time, didn't eliminate them despite their ill intentions towards her. Instead, she gave Chaldea a chance to get the Black Grail by helping her defend the gate and guard against the Fire Giants for half a year. She promised to hand over the Black Grail to Chaldea after the six months were up.
"Why would she agree to that?" Shirou asked, finding it strange.
"I'm not sure, but that's what Skadi promised, so we followed her instructions. It's not like we could defeat her anyway, so she had no reason to trick us."
"Wouldn't it have been safer to return to Chaldea and call for backup?" He pointed out.
She shifted uncomfortably. "We considered that, but the moment we entered this world, our connection with Chaldea was severed."
Shirou was puzzled. Cut off again? Was Chaldea's equipment really that unreliable? It had happened before in the Romania when Mash and Gray lost contact with Chaldea, and now it was happening again in Scandinavia. Was it due to faulty equipment, or was there an Outer God like Cthulhu messing around with this place?
At that moment, Chloe's expression turned solemn. "Illya, it's just as doctor predicted. After Hel overthrew Skadi, the Fire Giants from Muspelheim have invaded."
"Yes, I've already seen it using Merlin's class card," Illya nodded, her expression grave. "But I didn't expect them to move so quickly."
Shirou's curiosity was piqued. "Have you already clashed with those armored Giants?"
Chloe pouted, clearly displeased. "Isn't it obvious? We're defending the Gate of Muspelheim, so of course we've fought them. It feels like you still think of us as the kids we used to be, oniichan."
"That's not it, Chloe," Illya said, shaking her head. "Shirou-niisan must have already fought both the armored and regular giants, so he noticed that the Fire Giants have been hiding their true strength all along. He thought we've been fighting the ordinary giants, which is why he asked that way."
Shirou looked at Illya in surprise. Despite her childlike appearance, she spoke with clarity and logic, her words carrying a subtle intellectual air that seemed at odds with her petite, immature looks.
"We were fighting the weak Fire Giants before, but then Muspelheim decided to test what we could do. We had a quick run-in with some armored giants, and we nearly bit the dust."
Chloe added, "Who knew those Fire Giants could be so sneaky? They even faked surrender and set traps for us. If the doctor hadn't warned us, we probably would've been goners."
"Doctor?" Shirou raised an eyebrow. "You mean Romani?"
"Romani? If you know him, it sounds like you had quite a bit of contact with Mash in Romania," Illya said with a smile. Then she shook her head. "But the doctor we're talking about isn't him. She's a fairy."
"The doctor you mentioned is a fairy?" He asked strangely.
"That's right. To be honest, we had no idea she was a fairy before. She'd been working at Chaldea for so long, pretending to be human, but it turned out her true identity was a fairy. It was really unexpected," Illya said.
"Yup. We just thought she had amazing medical skills before, but it was actually because she's a fairy. But that's exactly why she can help so many people. She's truly a kind fairy lady, and I like her the most. Oh, and by the way, she also contributed a lot to the workshop that was set up in the snowy peaks to ambush you guys. Of course, I did most of the work. Hehe," Chloe said with a laugh.
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