Chapter 32 : Strange move

"Well then, shall we begin the hunt?"

It's finally here... At least, it looks like I won the first bet.

He turned his attention to Illyasviel, who appeared as if melting out of the mist, and to Berserker, who was following her.

They must have been watching us from nearby, as Emiya and the others came rushing out from behind.

...Saber was fully armed and looked healthy. She seemed to have made a successful recovery. Then Saber spoke.

"Hachiman! Stand back!"

Nice assist, Saber. I don't think you did it on purpose though.

"No, it's fine. Medea, you step back too."

I stop Saber, who tries to step forward in my place, and instruct Medea to join Emiya and the others.

They all seemed a little hesitant, but they all followed my instructions. However, one of them gave me an unpleasant look. It was Illyasviel.

"...What are you planning?"

As the media watched with bated breath, he answered with as exaggerated gestures as possible.

"As you can see, I'll take on him first."

I'll deal with it.

Hearing those words, I saw Illyasviel's temple twitch. Just as I expected.

"Are you crazy? You think a mere human who isn't even a magician could stand to be a match for Berserker?"

"Well, normally that would be impossible. But fortunately, I have one secret plan. What do you think? If you're okay with it, I'd like to try it out."

"Are you stupid? There's no reason to go out of your way to make your enemy like you."

If there is no reason, just make one. This time, the other person will proactively make one.

"No, I'm not saying you should force it. If it doesn't work, we'll just keep fighting like normal."

"Wait."

As I quickly retreated, Illyasviel showed signs of thinking.

I thought so.

(Magicians' weakness number one. They are not wary of anyone other than magicians.)

This kind of tactic is difficult to balance, but as long as the opponent is me, this level shouldn't be a problem.

During the time I was imprisoned, I was never asked my name. Which meant that to Illyasviel, I was just a mob character without even a name.

Illyasviel's mind is also childish beyond her appearance. Her knowledge and abilities are far greater than her appearance would suggest, but her mentality is the opposite: childish.

Although she is not a stupid or crazy snake god, it is not difficult to deceive her. However, since her mind is quick, it would be extremely difficult to continue deceiving her.

"...Okay? Go ahead and try it."

Sora, here we are.

(Magician's second weakness: They are obsessed with the production.)

I don't know if it's a reaction to keeping it a secret, but when it comes to using magic, I worry a lot about how it looks. And I think it's unconscious.

For example, in Illyasviel's case, if she didn't want us to escape from the castle, she should have waited in one of the nearby passages.

He did it in the lobby, and he even waited until we put our hands on the door before setting it off, so we ended up letting him get away.

It's still true today.

If his goal was to just defeat us, he should have just attacked us without any preamble. If that had happened, I would have died without even being able to scream.

That was the first gamble, and as long as there was no surprise attack, we could say that we had almost succeeded in buying time.

To Illyasviel, I'm just a supporting character.

The current situation was one in which I, who should have been a mob character, was taking up a position in the center of the stage even though I wasn't supposed to be on screen. I was even telling Saber, one of the main characters, to step back. From a director's point of view, there couldn't be a more unpleasant situation.

It would be easy to forcefully drag me down, but doing so would ruin the show. So what should I do?

Just give the mob characters roles. Change the script slightly to fit them without affecting the main plot.

So what kind of role should they be given? It would be best to give them a role that is appropriate for a mob character, and that they can be removed at any time.

Such a role would be very limited, but in this case there is a perfect one: a pushover.

What is the most effective way to show off Berserker's strength using a pushover? It's best to keep it simple.

This time, Illyasviel is aiming to nullify the enemy's special attack and instantly kill them with her reversed sword.

In other words, just one move. Just one move, and my freedom would be guaranteed. And with just one move, I would be able to buy myself some time.

"Well, don't hesitate."

I slowly raised my left hand, as if to show off my Command Spell. Illyasviel saw this and gave a mocking smile.

(Magician's third weakness: trusting magic too much)

It depends on the situation, but it's not uncommon for magic to start with "my own."

In any case, points one, two, and all the others all boil down to this: a magician's weakness - not a weakness of magic, but a weakness of the person who uses it.

Magic is powerful. It is undoubtedly the most powerful power a living human can wield. This is why magicians tend to be overconfident in their magic, and in their ability to wield it.

Even with the boost of the Command Spells, Caster would not be able to harm Berserker. That's what Illyasviel would think. Her perception is probably correct. Illyasviel's arrogance is quite justified.

There probably isn't a Servant who can defeat Berserker on their own. Medea's powers wouldn't even be enough to inflict damage on Berserker. Illyasviel understands that very well.

That is why my victory here is unshakable.

"I command with my final command spell."

I spoke with a sense of grandeur, in keeping with Illyasviel's desired direction.

Anyone who has played a map-clearing strategy simulation like Super Robot Wars will know that the condition for victory does not necessarily have to be to defeat the enemy.

For example, it could be to reach a certain point or to survive a certain amount of time.

"caster"

For us right now, the condition for victory was to buy time. More specifically, to allow Emiya and the others to prepare to defeat Berserker.

And that doesn't include my own safety.

"Take Emiya and the others and run away."

The expressions on Emiya's face were filled with shock, then disappeared at the same time. At that moment, he thought he saw Medea try to shout something.

"Oh, it's gone, it's gone. Is this the spatial teleportation thing we just talked about? It might seem plain in a light novel, but it really has an impact when you see it in person."

I exclaim excitedly, trying not to think about what the media might have said.

"…………What are you planning?"

The chilling voice came from Illyasviel. She had killed all expression and was simply staring in the direction of me with blank eyes. Oh, how frightening.

I shrugged my shoulders and answered in a very light tone.

"As you can see, my role is to buy time, so I let them escape."

"Oh, is that so? But why were you the only one who stayed behind? If we had stayed together instead of going out on our own, you could have escaped together."

"That would have made you wary, right? If that had happened, wouldn't you have tried to crush him before he could use the Command Spell?"

"...Now that you mention it, that's true."

Even with the boost of the Command Spells, escaping with multiple people is no easy task. If you have to retrieve a single person who has separated from the group, the success rate drops even further.

Against a Berserker, that would literally be fatal. It would be far too reckless, and more than anything, pointless. That's why Illyasviel had ruled out the possibility of escaping this time. That's why she was able to attack him.

Let's suppose we all gathered together.

He had already shown that he could use the Command Spells to escape once before. Naturally, Illyasviel was on guard. If he showed any signs of using the Command Spells, she would have immediately instigated Berserker.

Illyasviel has already used two Command Spells. Saber will be able to hold back Berserker. So she shouldn't have been killed by that.

But if that were to happen, we would have to leave Saber behind and run away. That would be pointless.

Also, if all they had to do was buy time, Emiya would be the better choice since he had two command spells remaining and was immortal. However, Emiya, along with Saber, is the key to this operation. They can't use him.

Even though Tohsaka has the Command Spell, she doesn't have a Servant. Also, considering the difference in aptitude, it would be a shame to waste Tohsaka here.

In the end, using me as a decoy was the surest option. If there was a problem...

"So? What do we do from here? I don't think there's any chance you'll survive."

That's true.

To be honest, Archer is just stimulating my inner middle schooler self. To be honest, I did this just for fun. So I'm sure I'll regret it soon. Or rather, I already have.

But honestly, out of the options I could choose, this was the one that seemed to give me the highest chance of survival.

Medea had said that Illyasviel would be satisfied once she had Emiya, and that was probably true.

However, from what he had overheard in the conversations at the castle, it seemed that Illyasviel was participating in the Holy Grail War at the request of the Einzbern family. If that was the case, it would not stop at obtaining Emiya.

Illyasviel has absolute confidence in Berserker. Therefore, it is highly likely that after completing her personal goal, she will come to retrieve the Holy Grail "while she's at it." In other words, unless she defeats Berserker, she will definitely be killed at some point.

It's impossible to defeat Berserker alone. The only way to survive is to cooperate with Saber. However...

(The sad part is that the highest probability is less than 1%.)

I haven't calculated it, but that's probably about right.

If everyone had fought together, it might have been as Medea said, that someone's hidden power would have been awakened and they could have turned the tables. In reality, Emiya really does have a hidden power lying dormant within him.

But that's just a miracle, and I don't believe in miracles.

In terms of winning rate, my choice would be like going one-on-one with Metal King with 1 HP.

Even if you attack, you won't hit it. Even if you hit it, you won't be able to defeat it. If a Begilam comes flying, it's over. It's hopeless.

But it's still not completely zero. If you get a critical hit, you can defeat it. Although it's incredibly low, there is still a chance of survival.

On the other hand, fighting with everyone is like relying on a bug to defeat an event enemy that is set to be impossible to defeat in the first place. It sounds good to say you're betting on a miracle, but you can't call that a possibility.

Well, in any case, it's too late to change the route now. So I have no choice but to cling to this slim possibility.

For now, I have about four survival patterns.

First, Illyasviel prioritizes pursuing Emiya and the others and ignores me.

Second, he is spared due to Illyasviel's whim.

There wasn't much difference between number one and number two.

I said, showing my left hand to Illyasviel.

"As you can see, I'm no longer a Master."

"Yeah. That's it?"

"I'd appreciate it if you could overlook it."

"...You really think that kind of talk would go through?"

Illyasviel replied with icy eyes. That's right.

"... If you want, I can lick your shoes."

Hearing those words, Illyasviel bowed her head and her shoulders shook. Her expression was hidden by her hair, so we couldn't see it. But it was really scary.

"...Huh, heh, heh... This is the first time in my life that I've been made fun of like this."

Wow, you're so angry. I was serious. If that's enough to save me, then I'll do it. Seriously.

Those two possibilities were quickly eliminated. Well, I wasn't really expecting it to happen.

"I guess it's no good after all... I have no choice. Well then, this will be my last resort."

With a sigh, he swung his right arm, grabbed the knife that had popped out of his sleeve, and lightly pulled back his left foot.

My posture was almost the same as normal, but it was clear Illyasviel was in a fighting stance and asked me without looking up.

"What are you planning?"

I wonder how many times this guy has said this. I don't know if he's aware of it, but it feels like he says it every time we meet.

However, I felt that this time the tone was slightly different from previous ones.

"As you can see. It looks like we can't escape, so we have no choice but to fight."

"Fight? With Berserker? What would you do with something like that?"

"Even if it doesn't work on Berserker, it might work on Master, right?"

"That's right. Even a simple knife without any magic on it could stab me."

"Right? If I can dodge Berserker and get close to you, maybe we can do something."

"There's no need to dodge. I won't let Berserker lay a hand on me."

Saying this, Illyasviel finally raised her head. Seeing that terrifying smile, the fear that was supposed to have paralyzed her reared up.

"Stand back, Berserker. I will personally crush this man."

Those words made me inwardly clench my fist.

It worked. All my provocations were worth it. With this, the bare minimum requirements for the third possibility were met.

Possibility number three for me to survive: I fight and win.

A certain powerless person who defeated the fourth-ranked one said this.

It's not that bullets don't work on people with special abilities. They just use their abilities to cheat and avoid being hit by bullets.

This saying would still apply if we replaced the person with a special ability with a magician.

There was no chance against Berserker, but against Illyasviel the chances were at least non-zero.

By the way, possibility number four is "A miracle will happen and I will be saved," so there's no point in thinking about it.

"Be proud. You're the only person other than Kiritsugu who has made me this angry."

Illyasviel's eyes were glowing crimson with insanity - and it was probably no illusion - as she spoke.

"Come on, you worm. I'll show you your place."