"Maybe... our Bond isn't strong enough?" Jiang You suggested.
To be honest, Jiang You felt his connection with Illya was far stronger than his bond with Fairy Tristan. However, he had pulled off a major feat with Fairy Tristan, which resulted in her Servant Card being created.
"Not strong enough, huh?!" Illya grabbed Jiang You's cheeks and began kneading them vigorously. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just you wait!"
As he endured the torment, Jiang You pondered the situation. He concluded that the Blank Card was likely the reason. The Fuyuki of the Fifth Holy Grail War probably met the criteria for being extracted directly from history. If so, he should be able to obtain the Duel City - Fuyuki Deck, with Illya, the first Duel King, serving as its core.
Even the Fuyuki of the Fifth Holy Grail War hadn't faced a world-ending crisis, nor would it be erased by the Counter Force. Extracting the city felt somewhat illogical. Having identified the reason, Jiang You decided he would explain it to Illya later.
"Is that all the effects? Is that Jiang You's only ability?"
Seeing Illya stop, Prisma Illya asked curiously. In truth, everyone present was intensely curious about Jiang You's abilities. Medea had a general understanding, while White Lancer Artoria and Miyu simply didn't voice their questions due to their reserved personalities.
"Let me check," Illya replied, sensing the information recorded within her Spirit Origin. "It seems there's one more. I'll try it out."
With that, Illya suddenly vanished.
"...?"
The group stared in bewilderment. What kind of ability was this? Presence Concealment? Its level seemed remarkably high, allowing her to disappear without a trace right under their noses.
"This must be Jiang You's Worldline Jump ability," Ruby immediately surmised, sensing echoes of the Second Magic. "So this Illya has probably jumped to a different Worldline Timeline."
"...!"
Jiang You was actually the most surprised. He didn't have the ability to jump between parallel worlds; it was merely a script-switching function. Why could Illya do it too? "I'll go find her. I can't say when I'll be back, so you all should go back and rest for now."
"I can help too!"
Prisma Illya, seeing Jiang You suddenly become so anxious, assumed something major had happened—though, to be fair, this was a major issue for Jiang You as well.
"Idiot Illya, do you even know how many parallel Worldlines exist? This isn't something to joke about! Once you get lost, finding your way back to your original world is like searching for a needle in the sea. Jiang You has plenty of experience—don't get in the way!"
"It's not that dire. I can actually just pull Illya back directly, like summoning a servant," Jiang You explained quickly, noticing the grave expressions on everyone's faces.
Indeed, anything involving timelines was a serious matter, but to Jiang You, it was nothing.
"I just wanted to confirm a few things."
"Is that so?"
Prisma Illya let out a sigh of relief, then noticed something even more astonishing.
"You can summon living people this way too!?"
"Don't talk about us like we're dead..."
Jiang You found Prisma Illya's comments surprisingly cutting at times. Is this the power of a tsukkomi character? he wondered. "Anyway, don't worry. I'll go find Illya first. We can discuss this more tomorrow. Remember to prepare for battles against Caster and Saber... well, actually, Lancer. Let's meet at the usual spot tomorrow!"
With that, Jiang You withdrew from the Script, eager to see where Illya would appear.
"Can't we at least rest for a day?"
The daily battles had left Prisma Illya's back aching and sore. Even in her dreams, she found herself dodging Medusa's chain sword.
"He's such a jerk! If I ever get the chance, I'll make him so exhausted he can't even stand up straight."
"Illya, you're saying some pretty outrageous things, but that's not what we should be focusing on right now."
Ruby fluttered her wings, gesturing around.
"Jiang You forgot to send the Heroic Spirits back."
"Huh?"
"And because of Jiang You's Special Summon..."
Medea stepped forward and explained to Illya, "We can't enter Spiritronization here, which means we'll have to rely on you for shelter, Little Ilya of this world."
When Jiang You returned to the Mirror Lake, the Script Selection interface, he indeed found Illya looking around helplessly. Startled by his sudden appearance, she first jumped back, then clung tightly to his chest.
This world was far more peculiar than he had anticipated. Jiang You had initially thought it was merely a menu-like interface, a placeholder during the testing phase without a proper UI. Now, it seemed this place was a world akin to the scripts themselves. The vast emptiness and utter solitude understandably made Illya uneasy.
Before anything else, Jiang You needed to confirm Illya's authenticity. He crouched down, pinched her cheek, and touched her body. The texture felt real. It seemed Illya had genuinely come here, to this script selection page—no, it should now be called a world.
Her cheeks flushed crimson at the overly intimate gesture, Illya murmured, "There's no one else here, but please let me prepare myself first..."
"No, I didn't mean anything by it. At least not yet. Besides, Sapphire is still watching us."
Remembering Fairy Tristan's situation, Jiang You knew that crossing the line would lead to consequences.
"..."
Sapphire silently drifted away from Illya.
"You could totally ignore me, you know? I'm just a magic wand. What humans do... I have no clue! Hahaha!"
This was, of course, a lie. If it didn't understand, it wouldn't have intervened when its sister went berserk. It simply felt no need to spoil the romantic atmosphere between the two.
Illya's face burned as red as a ripe tomato. She had completely forgotten about the talking wand beside her, and now every embarrassing word had been overheard.
"Sorry for the slight delay. Didn't scare you too much, did I?"
Jiang You changed the subject, feeling a bit flustered himself. He wasn't sure what this encounter proved, but it could also be chalked up to his overactive imagination.
"No, because I knew you'd definitely come looking for me."
Illya rushed into Jiang You's arms. Though she had been a little scared, now that he was here, everything was alright.
"These doors must be portals to other worlds, right? I didn't dare touch them, afraid you wouldn't be able to find me."
"You little dummy," Jiang You chuckled. "Have you forgotten the first Holy Grail War we fought together? How did we move as a team back then?"
Illya suddenly remembered Jiang You could directly summon her. Having not used that ability in so long, she'd completely forgotten about it. Pouting, she said, "So it was my fault after all?"
"What are you, some kind of fragile heroine?" Jiang You teased, lifting her into his arms. "Come on, let's head back."
Just as Jiang You was about to return Illya to the Prisma Illya World to reassure everyone of her safety, his gaze suddenly shifted to a door that stood apart from the others, facing a different direction.
The door representing withdrawal from the game and return to reality.