Chapter 289: Mordred: My Heart Needs an Adjustment!
The anticipation for today's episode of Magical Illya was sky-high.
Last time, Illya and Miyu completed their special training and launched a rematch against Caster. Using a secret technique she had just learned—jumping instead of flying—Miyu managed to turn the tide. With teamwork and explosive timing, they finally defeated Caster.
Well… almost.
Refusing to admit defeat, Caster began charging a massive magical cannon for one last desperate strike.
At that critical moment, Miyu surged toward her enemy with Illya's help, using the blast from a magical bullet as propulsion. With a red spear in hand, she pierced straight through Caster's body, moments before the magic cannon could be fired.
"Yo, is this Lancer post-genderbend high on something?"
Aoko quipped, crunching on potato chips. "Ever since she got that tiny loli skin, she's been racking up kill streaks nonstop."
"I-I mean, technically… that's not really a genderbend,"
Shibamatsu muttered, weakly trying to defend the point, but his tone lacked any real conviction.
The whole "Miyu is a genderbent Cu Chulainn" theory was a hot debate topic in the Magical Illya fandom right now.
To be fair, it wasn't entirely baseless.
Unlike Illya's trademark pink outfit that didn't overlap with any existing Servants, Miyu's look—blue ribbons and all—wasn't too far off from that famous hound. While her clothes weren't as tight as Cu Chulainn's, there was just enough similarity to raise eyebrows.
And then there was her fighting style.
Illya, being the newbie, relied on a wide array of flashy, over-the-top magical attacks straight out of a magical girl handbook.
Miyu, by contrast, was cold, efficient, and all business—prioritizing lethality over style.
And when it comes to pure efficiency, few Noble Phantasms could beat Gáe Bolg.
Low mana cost.
Guaranteed heart-piercing.
Barring any freaks of nature, it's basically one-shot-one-kill.
Of course, that was assuming you didn't inherit a lifetime supply of E-rank Luck like Cu Chulainn.
That guy couldn't land a kill with Gáe Bolg even if his target had a glowing "stab here" sign.
But what did his misfortune have to do with Miyu?
She had C-rank Luck, which, while not quite protagonist-tier, was more than enough to look down on the countless E-rank losers out there.
Blue outfit.
Red spear.
Constant stabbing.
You can't blame fans for saying, "Isn't this just a reincarnated Cu Chulainn in little girl form!?"
And so the meme—"Miyu is Cu Chulainn Reincarnated"—spread like wildfire through the Fate community.
"How dare they say that about our sweet Akiha!"
Luvia, clearly offended, hugged the little loli like a mother bear and lovingly rubbed her face into the child's head.
"..."
Illya glanced sideways at the overly affectionate "sisters", then turned her gaze to the person beside her—Rin.
"What?"
Rin flipped her hair, catching Illya's stare.
"Don't tell me you're feeling lonely and want a hug from your dear Rin-onee-chan too?"
Illya turned away with a cold expression.
"I'll pass. Your 'assets' all migrated to your butt. Hugging you would just hurt from the bones poking me."
"Excuse me!?"
Rin lunged at her in fury, determined to show this snowy-haired brat who the real big sister was around here.
Meanwhile, Luvia's one-sided spoiling of Miyu continued.
"That mutt doesn't deserve to be Akiha's reincarnation! If anything, Akiha should've been reborn as a proper princess at minimum!"
"Oi, that's kinda harsh, don't you think?" Came a disgruntled voice from none other than that mutt himself—Cu Chulainn.
"Shut it, you loser hound!"
Luvia huffed, tossing her hair in disdain.
"Tch. Fine, whatever."
Cu muttered and slouched into silence.
Cu Chulainn didn't really care about that woman's attitude. Let her run her mouth—In just a bit, she was about to get her comeuppance on TV anyway. All he had to do was wait for the right moment—
[Stand by.]
Cu Chulainn gave a meaningful glance to the trio of Round Table idiots lounging on the couch.
[Roger that!]
The three knights all gave a thumbs-up in silent acknowledgment.
[...What are these guys planning?]
Archer's brow twitched. He could already sense chaos brewing.
And sure enough, the moment Rin and Luvia let their guards down and got ambushed by Black Saber on screen—crashing helplessly to the ground—the knights sprang into action.
"HAHAHAHA!!"
Cu Chulainn let out a triumphant laugh, clearly savoring some long-awaited revenge. He jabbed a finger toward the screen, his grin wide and mocking.
"So these are the so-called elite magi? Can't even dodge a sneak attack! Bahahahaha!"
Compared to Cu's petty gloating, the Round Table trio were far more flamboyant in their display.
They rushed up to the television, arms outstretched, faces glowing with pride as they dramatically introduced their king to the room.
"Rejoice!!"
Gawain beamed like the sun itself. "This is our King—brighter than the heavens above!"
Tristan followed up in a poetic drawl: "Even in simple black garments, Her Majesty commands the stage like no other!"
Lancelot chimed in, not to be outdone: "A true King needs no embellishment! Even with an eyepatch, she outshines the likes of me!"
'...What the hell is this ritual? And how do they have so many ways of bootlicking?'
Archer twitched, his face frozen in disbelief as mental black lines gathered over his head.
"Hmm..."
While the three fools continued their rainbow barrage of flattery, a voice cut through their sycophantic haze.
It was Mordred. And her expression... was serious.
"It's good. I admit it looks good... but there's something that still needs fixing."
"WHAT!?"
The three knights reacted like they'd been struck by lightning. Their eyes shot open in outrage as they turned on Mordred.
"Our King is already perfect!"
"Are you blind, Mordred!?"
"You damn test-tube brat, is your brain even functioning properly!?"
Mordred, unfazed by their righteous fury, coughed into her fist and spoke with calm clarity.
"No... there really is something that needs to be corrected—"
She clutched her chest dramatically.
"—My heart!"
And with that, she collapsed to the floor, hand over her heart, a glint of something suspiciously shiny leaking from the corner of her mouth.
"Ahhh... Father's black leather... the SM aesthetic... haaah... haaah... I can't take it... Master, get me a heart pill, stat...!"
"...That's fair."
"Yeah, same here."
"Mordred, you can talk like a human being?"
The trio all solemnly nodded in agreement, united in their shared, inexplicable admiration.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
In contrast to the "peaceful" chaos of the Type-Moon Entertainment HQ, Tokyo's Magus's Club was far more... grounded.
No gemstone explosions. No knightly bootlicking. No lolis making questionable remarks.
Just raw shock.
The whole room froze when the third card revealed itself—Saber.
Gasps all around.
Everyone was stunned.
No one had expected this. Saber—the face of Type-Moon, its most iconic character—was showing up this early?
Third card in? Really?
Surely, a character of this caliber should be the final card, the grand finale!
Even Alice palmed her forehead in dismay, sighing at her friend earlier prediction.
"Aoko... your jinxing ability is truly divine."
"What jinx? It's called foresight!"
Aoko snapped back, brandishing her DX Rider Sword with pride.
"Having Saber show up early is great! According to the Laws of Fate: if Saber appears on screen, a good fight is guaranteed!"
Alice only shook her head.
"That's rich, coming from someone hyping up a cardbot that only knows how to sneak attack. She's probably the least dignified Saber in the entire Fate franchise."
After all, this Saber had ambushed two magi instead of fighting fair.
Where was the honor in that?
In Alice's eyes, this was not the kind of opponent who would deliver a thrilling duel.
And then... came the classic Fate trope:
[Alice gets slapped in the face by reality.]
Because of card restrictions, Illya and Miyu couldn't use the same class card twice in a row. So they came up with a plan:
Miyu would distract Saber from the front, while Illya circled around to rescue Rin and Luvia from behind.
It's not a perfect plan, but not a bad one either.
Unfortunately, Miyu was still too young, and the fatal flaw in her strategy was assuming she could hold Saber's attention.
But this was Saber.
Not just any opponent—this was the strongest base-class enemy card in the game. Even without activating her Noble Phantasm, her raw stats alone were terrifying.
"Rapid fire!"
Miyu unleashed a flurry of glowing bullets toward Saber, trying to provoke her.
What followed was terrifying.
A storm of black energy erupted from the ground.
Before her projectiles could even touch Saber, they were blasted away by the sheer force of materialized magical energy.
"—!"
Saber raised her head.
Even though she wore an eyepatch, the moment her gaze met Miyu's, the little girl reflexively stepped back.
She couldn't win.
Just like a mouse feeling the eyes of a predator, Miyu instinctively understood her role.
She was prey.
She had no chance against this enemy.
Not alone.
"Still... I have to buy time... Rapid fire!!"
Once again, she launched a barrage of magic bullets—and once again, they were deflected with ease.
But this time, Saber didn't just stand there.
Raising her magical black sword with both hands, she aimed it at the airborne Miyu.
SWOOSH!
A slash of black sword energy tore through the sky, homing in on Miyu like death incarnate.
She tried to block it with her staff, but—
"Ugh—my barrier was broken!"
Miyu's shield cracked open under the blow. A chill ran through her spine.
"Miyu!!"
Illya cried out, voice full of panic.
Her answer was immediate.
A second black sword beam flew straight at her—
"Ahh!!"
The impact sent Illya flying, crashing to the ground with a cry. Blood splattered as a gash opened on her shoulder, dripping onto the floor—
plip plip plip...
And in front of her stood Saber, clad in black armor, exuding a pressure like a god of war.
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