Fate: Alternative (Highschool DxD/Fate): Chapter 41

Within the forest at the outskirts of Kuoh, hidden within a mirror world connected to reality, two girls and two teenagers looked at their surroundings, trying to find their adversary for the night, but did not see anything in the dense fog.

Luvia sighed with exasperation as she kept her guard up.

“No enemies, no Card, nothing at all.....what’s going on here?”

Illya, already in her magical girl uniform, stared around, trying to see through the dense fog for any sign of the enemy, even though she was still not sure about doing this after the last fight.

“Did we come to the wrong place?”

Rin shook her head at the girl’s question.

“That’s not possible. The mirror world is created by the Class Cards. Unlike other pocket dimensions made by Sacred Gears like Dimension Lost or even other realms such as Asgard, Olympus, and other such things, this dimension can only be accessed by the Kaleidosticks....and Emiya-kun’s dagger, so there is no such thing as making a mistake in something like this.”

“Oh...That makes sense, I guess?”

Most of the technical stuff and names went right over Illya’s head, but she grasped the essence of it.

Since this mirror world existed, the class card must also exist here.

Then, she voiced the other question that had been bugging her since coming here.

“Speaking of pocket dimensions, isn’t this mirror world way too small this time around?”

Rin nodded her head with approval at the observation.

“It means that we are on the right track. The Grandmaster said that as we collect more cards, the lower the distortion projected onto our world. This, in turn, means that the mirror world starts to shrink down with each card retrieved.”

Beads of sweat started to fall down Illya’s forehead as her mind conjured a rather unpleasant scenario.

“Eh? Then, won’t be in a real pinch if we were to fight the last class card in, like, a single room or something like that?”

Chills went down Luvia, Rin, and Miyu’s spines as they imagined that scenario.

They shuddered collectively at that horrifying image before Rin shook her head.

“Most likely not. Even if the mirror world shriks with each card retrieved, it won’t go down to such a small size....probably.”

“What do you mean ‘probably’? That is not reassuring at all!!”

The teenagers fell silent since they too did not have a concrete answer to Illya’s fears.

In fact, they were not even supposed to be here in the first place.

Originally, they were supposed to go after this card more than a week ago, but circumstances forced them to delay this hunt for as long as they did. In fact, they were even supposed to wait for another week before going at it, giving Illya the time to come to terms with everything and regain some semblance of her confidence.

But, they recently got news from the Clock Tower and the Underworld that forced them to expedite the hunt.

That very morning, they received the news that Riser Phenex would be arriving soon to meet his fiancée, Rias Gremory, about their marriage.

Since Rin had enforced that ancient clause about the land, one that the Shinto did not comment on despite the enquiries from the devils, which showed their tacit approval, she was informed of this arrival by the devils as a form of courtesy.

Normally, they would never have gone so far for a mere human, even if said human was a top-tier mage like Rin, but since her bloodline claims a connection with the Shinto Gods, they had no choice but to give her this level of courtesy.

Normally, this news would have nothing to do with Rin and Luvia and would not affect their plans.

However, there was one tiny detail that changed things drastically.

Aside from Riser Phenex, Serafall Leviathan was also coming to Kuoh for a diplomatic meeting with an unknown party.

The very same woman who was known for her ice and water magic that made her a maoh. The same woman whose magic genius and political acumen were no less than Ajuka Beelzebub, even if her magical talent was skewed towards a...certain direction, unlike Ajuka’s all-rounder talent.

That is what caused the girls to panic so badly.

If Serafall Leviathan sniffed out the existence of the Class Cards and, by extension, exposed their existence to the devils as a whole, there was no telling what kind of disaster that would bring to humans and the other races of the world.

Of course, the chances of her discovering the cards were next to none, yet the girls could not risk it, hence this haste.

Luvia got tired of just waiting around for the heroic spirit to show up and suggested her idea.

“Let’s walk around and search for our target. Since they are a heroic spirit, we should be able to sense their overwhelmingly dense mana even if they are in their spirit forms if we get close enough.”

The girls nodded and started walking deeper into the forest with their guards up, ready for any ambush that might be waiting for them.

As they kept moving around for what felt like hours, Illya finally sighed tiredly and muttered.

“We aren’t finding anything....”

“This really is rather monotonous, right?”

“Yeah.”

Ruby, the Kaleidostick, started moving around excitedly in Illya’s arms while it used its wings to gesture wildly.

“We should be more like magical girls and perform a lyrical search for them! We should be firing flashy barrages of mana blasts until the entire ground is scorched.”

“...That’s not searching, that’s destroying. Completely different things.”

“But they say ‘search and destroy’ in those movies?”

“Again, not the point. Although you are technically right.....”

“Then, now is the perfect time for our special attack! Lyrical Radical Genocide!!”

“What is that!? Oi! Are we suddenly turning from magical girls to magical terrorists?”

Miyu and Sapphire could only give flat stares at the comedic duo and sigh with exasperation while Rin and Luvia kept their guards up, having learned their lesson from the previous fight.

That was why they were the first to notice when something was wrong.

They suddenly felt something move in the forest right behind them, travelling at speeds beyond their capacity to keep up.

“Get ready! They are here-“

Everything fell silent when a flash of light moved past the teenagers and sliced past Illya’s neck.

If it were not for the magical barrier that Ruby kept up at all times around Illya’s skin, the girl would have died then and there. Because even with the barrier, the power behind that throw had still managed to nick her skin and leave behind a shallow cut on her neck.

Miyu reacted instantly, enraged by the attempt on her friend’s life.

“Shoot!!”

A colossal mana blast levelled the forest in front of them, the direction from which the dagger had come from, as smoke and ash bellowed into the air from the heat of the explosion.

And yet, there was no sign of their attacker.

Fear gripped Miyu’s heart as an eerie pressure enveloped the girls.

“Nothing is there...?”

“Enemy location unknown! Form a defensive circle!”

Rin took command of the battlefield and roared out, taking out her jewels and charging up her mathematical magic, while Luvia took out her own jewels, and runic circles started to float around the Edelfelt heir.

Miyu and Illya, on the other hand, gripped their Kaleidosticks hard as trepidation filled their hearts. Especially for Illya, who had come dangerously close to death and was now feeling a suffocating sense of fear.

Along with something else swelling up from within her very core.

Suddenly, Illya spotted some movement right in front of her, beyond the treeline.

With fear and adrenaline coursing through her body, she raised the stick with gritted teeth and charged up a mana blast.

“Hiding in the dark and attacking...from....the dark...?”

Suddenly, the word started to blur and tilt on its axis in her vision.

Or rather, it was she who was swaying like a leaf in the wind.

‘Huh?’

Sweating heavily, Illya felt a wave of weakness engulf her as Ruby slipped from her powerless fingers.

Another dagger was thrown from the shadows, once again aimed at her, taking advantage of her weakness.

Thankfully, Rin spotted the ambush and pulled Illya towards her, saving the girl from the attack.

“Illya! Get it together-huh? What’s happening?”

Rin spotted the anomaly right away. The dilated pupils, the sweat, the sudden weakness, and the discoloration around the scratch on her neck.

“Poison..? Watch out for the daggers! They are poisoned!! Ruby! Do your thing!”

“On it!”

Illya heard none of that as her gaze was focused solely on the dagger at her feet. A similar one to the one from before, which nearly ended her life.

She felt her heart thump hard in her chest as her mind tried to come to terms with the situation.

‘...A...Knife?’

‘I....I...nearly died....?’

‘Yes. You nearly did. Because you are weak.’

‘I...I never wanted this.’

‘Oh, but you did. You wanted to be a magical girl, right? This is what it means to be one.’

‘I don’t want to die.’

‘Then, let me take the reins.’

The voice felt familiar to her. As if she had heard it her whole life. Yet, there was an edge to it that she did not recognize, and anger. A lot of anger.

And yet, strangely enough, beyond that edge, she also felt...pity? Why would this voice feel pity for her?

Suddenly, the shadows in the woods twisted, and from within them stepped out the target.

Or rather, targets.

Dozens upon dozens of them, black as night and with a skull mask on their faces.

The Assassin Class Card’s manifestation.

The ancient Hashshashin of the Nizari Isma’il.

“So many....?”

“Enemy confirmed. A total of fifty targets.”

Miyu, and even Sapphire, could not supress the fear in their tone as they beheld the large number of shades now surrounding them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Cheaters! No fair!”

“They have us completely surrounded.”

Rin and Luvia’s complaints fell on deaf ears as fear consumed the four, even though Rin and Luvia looked ready to fight rather than flee. Just like Miyu, who looked ready for a last stand.

‘So...many...’

‘I...can’t dodge them.’

‘Yes. You can’t.’

‘At this rate...I..we will all die.’

‘Yes. You will.’

‘Rin-san...Luvia-san...and Miyu?’

‘Yes. They will all die, along with you.’

Rin activated her magic circle, creating a blast of pure magical energy catalyzed by her jewels. The blast cleared out a few of the shades, giving the girls an opening to exploit.

“Now!”

Rin grabbed Illya while Luvia grabbed Miyu.

At once, the two teenagers activated their reinforcement magic circles and shot forward like bullets out of a barrel.

Then, Illya saw it.

Daggers, hundreds of them, surrounding them from all sides. Hiding in the darkness of the night, in the shadows of the forest.

Rin and Luvia did not spot them because of the angle, with only Illya and Miyu being able to see the incoming threat due to being carried by the older girls.

Illya knew, in her heart, that there was no time to shout out a warning. The daggers were too fast. Rin and Luvia will not be able to react. And given that they don’t have the barriers provided by the Kaleidosticks...

They will die.

‘Yes. They will die. The question is, what are you going to do about it?’

‘Eh?’

‘Will you let them die? Do you want them to die?’

‘No.’

Suddenly, Illya felt a strange feeling, as if something within her was grinning.

‘Then, repeat what I say.’

‘..Okay.’

Then, she knew only darkness.