"Then let's see how much you've improved over the past ten years."
This old worm is over three hundred years old, Jiang You thought. It's a miracle he hasn't gone completely senile yet.
"I don't aspire to improvement," Zouken retorted. "Maintaining the status quo is sufficient." His only desire was immortality, not even eternal youth.
"Unlike you impetuous youths, I'll let you have the first move."
"How magnanimous of you," Jiang You said, tearing through Zouken Matou's facade with brutal frankness. "But we both know that's a lie."
"So you're trying to use Engraving Worms to take control of my monsters, huh? Fine by me, since you're such a terrible player anyway."
Of course, the Old Man Worm was still a step above Atrum. Hearing those familiar words, Atrum shed tears of blood.
"My turn!" Jiang You declared, drawing five cards along with Zouken Matou. But since Zouken had no hand traps, the number of cards he held didn't matter.
"Illya, it's up to you!" Jiang You had previously told Illya to play this round, so he handed her his cards.
"Okay..." Illya took the cards. She recognized Hassan's image on them, but...
"What's with that 'okay'?! I can't even see the card effects!"
This was different from how NPCs couldn't see card effects in the main game. Here, even if someone drew another person's card, they couldn't see its effect. Moreover, without the owner's permission, the cards couldn't be physically stolen or destroyed. It was the kind of rule Weevil would have hated most.
This was Jiang You's plan all along: "I overlooked something. Card effects are only visible to the Master and their Servant. So, Illya, let's form a contract right here and become Magical Girls together."
"Can you stop spouting nonsense?" Illya retorted.
Naturally, Illya couldn't understand what Jiang You meant, and judging by his expression, he had no intention of making a move himself.
"Always resorting to petty tricks. Seriously, I can't just let you lose here..."
"I entrust my body to you, and my destiny to you..."
The incantation was complete, and the contract was successfully established.
Minamoto no Raikou could only watch helplessly as Jiang You usurped her position as Illya's Servant.
"Just like always—still no cards of your own, huh?" Jiang You remarked.
Illya repeatedly checked her hand. Even the Spell Cards weren't originally Jiang You's.
"Anyway, I'll start by activating the Spell Card 'Name of Hassan' from my hand! Once per turn, this card lets me search my Deck for a Hassan Sabbah monster. I'll add 'Hundred Faces'!"
"Next, I'll summon Hundred Faces! Its effect allows me to summon as many copies of itself from the Deck as possible!"
Although Illya was using Jiang You's Deck for the first time, she had a rough understanding of Hundred-Faced Hassan's card effects, having seen them in action before.
Hundred Faces
Attack Power: 800 x 3
Morning Glory
Attack Power: 0
"Wait... why is this here? There's a fifth servant—Hundred-Faced (Host)!"
A woman in an evening gown and makeup, the Hundred-Faced (Host), stepped into the spotlight.
Hundred-Faced (Host)
Attack Power: 800
"I know Heroic Spirits adapt their spiritual foundations based on legends, but is it really this arbitrary?"
Jiang You couldn't believe his casual antics had somehow spawned a new legend for Hundred Faces. It was absurdly logical, but the developers must have been out of their minds.
"So that's why you did that..."
Illya seemed to grasp Jiang You's true intentions: expanding the versatility of his servant's spiritual foundation and Noble Phantasms.
"You've probably misunderstood... but having an extra card is always a good thing. Let's see... when this card is Special Summoned, you declare a card type. Then, you flip over the top card of your Deck. If it matches the declared type, you add it to your hand; otherwise, you send it to the Graveyard."
It's a bit like a game show host explaining the rules: get it right, and you win a prize; get it wrong, and there's a penalty. But in Yu-Gi-Oh!, sending cards to the Graveyard without cost is often a strategic advantage.
Right now, Hundred Faces is essentially a one-card-for-five-card powerhouse. In a standard Yu-Gi-Oh! environment, it would either have absurdly restrictive limitations or be outright banned. Fortunately, this isn't orthodox Yu-Gi-Oh!
Illya glanced at the description below: "An Assassin Xyz Servant that uses this card as an Xyz Material gains the following effect: When your or your opponent's servant declares an attack, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card to activate this effect. Flip a coin. If heads, negate that servant's attack. If tails, the attack proceeds normally."
This perfectly aligns with the audience's image of Hundred Faces flipping coins.
Of course, there was another effect that Jiang You and Illya hadn't mentioned: "If this card is Ritual Summoned, Special Summon it to your opponent's field in Attack Position. When Special Summoned by this effect, this card's effects are negated, and it is banished when it leaves the field."
"Jiang You," Illya called out his real name. Now that the servants no longer needed to conceal their identities, there was no point in hiding their names.
"What type of card does Hassan's deck have the most of?" Illya asked.
"Spell Cards, probably?" Jiang You replied.
Jiang You recalled that while his deck still contained some cards from Kiritsugu Emiya, Spell Cards made up the vast majority. In fact, most servants' decks were predominantly Spell Cards, as their legends and deeds couldn't possibly be summarized on a single card.
"Exactly, Spell Cards."
"Then I declare: Spell Card!"
The top card of the deck was flipped over: Kiritsugu Emiya. Well, that was certainly fitting.
"The Mage Killer... This is the third person's deck he's appeared in. What on earth is going on?"
Even Zouken Matou couldn't resist muttering sarcastically, "If I could, I'd slip one of those into my own deck."
"Kiritsugu Emiya: When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, add one Origin Bullet from your Deck to your hand."
Illya glanced at Jiang You with a curious expression, now certain that he possessed special privileges as the Master of a Noble Phantasm.
"Regardless, that's one more material. The condition is two or more Level 2 Assassins. I overlay four Hundred Faces! Come forth, Fanatic!"
Illya decisively summoned what was currently the trump card of her Hassan deck.
Fanatic: Attack Power 1000 → 3000.
The girl-next-door Fanatic materialized from the shadows once more. Having been summoned countless times, she no longer bothered with the veil she usually wore to conceal her identity—it was pointless anyway.
"This power... Hundred-Faced Leader, you've grown stronger again."
She then turned to see the Hundred-Faced Host, impeccably dressed in an elegant evening gown and flawlessly made up.
"You infiltrated to assassinate your target, right?"
While assassins often disguise themselves to approach their targets, Hundred Faces' current appearance was far too conspicuous. Fanatic couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
Hundred Faces simply stared back at her, offering no explanation.
I can't exactly admit that I'm rather enjoying this situation, Fanatic thought.