Chapter 24: This is a War of Old Yinbis
Illya stood frozen in place, not daring to move. She was certain that if she made any rash move, the heroic spirit behind her would not hesitate to sever her neck.
"Berserker, stop."
At Illya's command, Heracles halted and stood by. It had to be said that Illya had a good handle on controlling Berserker, after all, her entire body was made of magic circuits, or rather, she had been modified to the point of being no longer human, her body merely serving as a vessel for those magic circuits.
"You have five minutes."
Unless absolutely necessary, Su Xiao would not kill Illya. The reason was simple: this girl was the vessel for the Lesser Grail. If Illya was killed and there was no other vessel to store the Grail's prototype, the Lesser Grail would transform into the Heaven's Hole. At that point, forget about finding Kirei Kotomine; all the heroic spirits would manifest and engage in chaotic battle near the Heaven's Hole.
Muddy waters make it easy to fish. As someone lurking in the shadows, Su Xiao did not want the situation to become chaotic. That would favor the Blood Gate, allowing them to complete their team's main mission.
Although now was not the time to kill Illya, if she refused to cooperate, Su Xiao would consider incapacitating her and then using Endless Darkness. Even a witch queen like Moy Nora couldn't withstand Endless Darkness, let alone a brat like Illya.
"You—"
Before Illya could finish, Su Xiao shoved a marble-sized "candy" into her mouth. This candy was beige, a biological bomb specially made by Su Xiao for invading an enemy's body. Its structure was interesting: it contained no gunpowder, was made entirely of biological materials, making it harder to detect, and it would be quickly absorbed by the body.
In principle, it was a stable form of chitin-mix. After entering the stomach, it would be absorbed by the body in a short time, transforming into a substance resembling lactic acid. Pure chitin-mix plus lactic acid was harmless and even promoted calcium absorption. However, if chitin-mix plus lactic acid plus water molecules were combined with the resonance phenomenon of mental energy, it would trigger a cellular rejection reaction, ultimately resulting in a bang and flying flesh and blood.
It was proven that every alchemy master proficient in alchemy was a monster. They would develop weapons that seemed harmless but were actually terrifying.
After forcing Illya to swallow the "candy," Su Xiao sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash and released the cute girl. Illya was stunned, but she quickly sensed something wrong inside her. A cool sensation spread through her stomach, as if something was being rapidly absorbed into her bloodstream.
"What strange thing did you feed me?"
Illya spoke as she quickly ran behind Heracles. She stuck her slender fingers into her mouth and tried to induce vomiting several times, only managing to get her hands covered in saliva.
"Just a candy. A candy that can blow you into pieces at any moment."
Before coming, Su Xiao hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. Controlling the Lesser Grail undoubtedly gave him a significant advantage. In the end, a heroic spirit without rationality, no matter how strong its overall capabilities, was just a beast. If Heracles had rationality, he could have used his 11 revivals to fight Su Xiao to the death.
"Berserker, kill him!"
Although Illya seemed gentle, when pushed to the edge, she was as stubborn as a mule.
"Miss, we don't need to—"
The maid Sella beside Illya urgently interjected.
"Sella, step back. I'm not afraid of death. Waa—"
Before Illya could finish, she felt a bone-deep, excruciating pain, which snapped her out of her anger and back to reason.
"Berserker, wait."
Heracles, who was about to charge, immediately stopped. If not for his powerful physique, he would have definitely thrown his back out.
Illya's face was full of struggle. Although she wasn't afraid of death, she was afraid of pain. In the end, she was not a warrior.
After a moment of inner conflict, Illya whispered something to Sella. The nun-dressed Sella let out a long sigh and immediately ran into the castle.
Soon, Sella emerged carrying an old-fashioned telegraph machine and handed it to Su Xiao.
"You should be satisfied now."
A gentle breeze blew, and Sella's silver hair fluttered. It had to be said, the homunculi created by the Einzbern family were all quite beautiful and absolutely loyal to the family. No wonder the Einzberns were so obsessed with homunculus technology.
"Farewell to you both."
Sella's tone was still polite, but her expression was not pleasant.
"Farewell?"
Su Xiao took the old telegraph machine. Now that he had control of the Lesser Grail, why would he be in a hurry to leave the Einzbern castle? This place was essentially a magical defense fortress.
"This is my home!"
Illya sensed something was wrong and spoke urgently. Things had progressed to this point, and she could no longer maintain the dignity of a castle lord. Or rather, with a blade at her neck and being forced to swallow something strange, she had no dignity left.
Su Xiao certainly wouldn't leave. A joint report from the Tohsaka and Einzbern families would make even the lofty Clock Tower take notice.
Su Xiao walked into the castle as if no one else was there. Seeing this, Illya nearly fainted from anger. The homunculus maids were also dumbfounded, unsure how to handle the situation. Their young lady's life was in the hands of this man, and they were desperate.
"Really, I told you not to start a war. Now you've even lost your home."
Tohsaka Rin's slightly helpless voice came. Hearing her voice, Illya turned her head.
"Rin, you're so despicable."
"Sigh—"
Looking at Illya's expression of being deceived, Rin felt helpless.
"If it weren't for me, the consequences would be much worse. By the way, let me tell you a secret."
Rin's voice grew softer. After hearing her words, Illya's face was full of disbelief, as if to say, "Are you questioning my intelligence?"
"If you don't believe me, I can't help it. The command spells on my hand are just for show."
Rin walked into the castle. Seeing this, Illya dismissed the homunculus servants.
"This is not good."
Illya pressed her hand to her chest. The strange sensation inside her had completely disappeared, which was even more terrifying.
The combination of Illya and Heracles seemed powerful, but it wasn't. If Illya had even a tenth of her father's ruthlessness and unscrupulousness, she wouldn't be in this situation.
Whether it was Tohsaka Rin, Illya, or Emiya Shirou, none of them were suitable to be masters. No matter how excellent their qualifications, some things couldn't be compensated for by talent alone.
The previous generation of masters—Emiya Kiritsugu, Tohsaka Tokiomi, Kayneth, Kirei Kotomine—were the true kings of the Holy Grail War. When competing with these guys, Su Xiao wouldn't just barge in; that would be suicide.
Su Xiao's opponents this time were Stan, Kirei Kotomine, and a master who had yet to show himself.
In the castle's living room, Su Xiao was examining the old telegraph machine in front of him. Obviously, he didn't know how to use it.
"Rin, send a message to the Clock Tower. Tell them what Kirei Kotomine has done."
"No problem."
Rin opened the telegraph machine. It seemed it didn't need electricity.
"Tell them the truth?"
"..."
Su Xiao glanced at Rin. After doing all this, how could he possibly tell the Clock Tower the "truth"?
"Exaggerate as much as you can. Throw as much mud as possible. Teacher-killing, father-killing, interfering with the Holy Grail as the supervisor, colluding with the heroic spirits of the previous Holy Grail War to interfere with this one, secretly capturing children and using their life force to provide mana for the previous heroic spirits, human experimentation, attempting to open the Heaven's Hole."
The more Su Xiao spoke, the more shocked Rin's expression became.
"Throwing so much mud... isn't that a bit too much? Isn't it a bit exaggerated?"
"Who told you this is mud-slinging? These are things Kirei Kotomine has actually done. I'm telling you to exaggerate on top of these facts."
Rin was still too naive. She didn't understand the world of old yinbis.
"All of it... is true?!"
Rin suddenly felt that there was no need to exaggerate anymore.