At that moment, accompanied by a burst of hearty laughter, Chloe von Einzbern walked into the palace hall wearing a fake mustache and brandishing a plastic toy sword.
"Hahaha! Illya, I have defeated your guards and reached the royal palace. Now, be a good girl and surrender to your big sister!"
Hearing Chloe's words, Illya hopped down from the throne in a huff, walked over to Chloe, and gave her shin a hard kick.
"I'm the big sister! Also, you're the Demon King right now! You have to call me Empress Illya!"
Chloe shrugged at Illya, then tore off the fake mustache and, acting like a grown-up, walked to Illya's side, stood on her tiptoes, and rubbed Illya's head.
"Fine, fine, Empress Illya-sama!"
Hearing Chloe's perfunctory tone, Illya angrily slapped Chloe's hand away and, accompanied by Sella, picked up her long skirt and headed toward the palace backyard.
Chloe, who had already noticed Kiritsugu Emiya and the others arriving on the sixth floor, scratched the back of her head. Watching Illya disappear from the hall, she materialized the twin swords and turned to walk out of the palace.
"I will be the one to protect Illya!"
Meanwhile, Kiritsugu Emiya and his group, having reached the sixth floor, were standing on a hill overlooking the palace complex that surrounded the elevator in the distance.
"It seems this floor has a Sovereign."
After Kiritsugu spoke, he took a handgun from his coat and began to inspect it seriously.
Gudako looked at the fairy-tale-like palace complex in the distance with some gloom and asked Kiritsugu, who was arming himself.
"Kiritsugu, do we really have to fight?"
Kiritsugu didn't answer Gudako's question. Instead, he stared warily at the foot of the hill and pointed toward it.
Gudako followed Kiritsugu's finger and saw a small Servant with pink hair, dressed sexily, standing at the base of the hill. She was aiming a bow at her and Kiritsugu's position, and then, the Servant fired a sword.
Facing the Caladbolg fired by Chloe from below, Kiritsugu Emiya didn't panic at all; he simply called out softly to Irisviel.
"Iri!"
Irisviel then manifested, her hands clasped in a prayer-like gesture as she stood before Kiritsugu. A gust of wind blew past, and the Caladbolg was actually blown slightly off course by the breeze, grazing the hem of Irisviel's dress as it flew into the sky.
This was Irisviel's innate skill, 'Child of Nature.' As a Servant who was an ascended homunculus, Irisviel was equivalent to the infants born into the world. When activating this ability, she receives the world's blessing, granting her Luck equivalent to EX rank for a short period.
Frustrated by the failed strike, Chloe materialized three more Caladbolgs. She drew her bow and fired them in rapid succession, sending all three spiraling toward Kiritsugu Emiya.
Seeing the Caladbolgs flying toward Kiritsugu, Irisviel spread her arms wide with a tense expression, shielding him.
"Kiritsugu, run!"
Hearing Irisviel's words, Kiritsugu didn't hesitate. He grabbed the stunned Gudako and ducked behind a thick tree.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three explosions rang out. The tattered remains of Irisviel, torn apart by the Broken Phantasm, flew to the feet of Gudako and Kiritsugu.
"Ah—!"
Seeing Irisviel, whom she had spent the last two days with, in such a tragic state, Gudako couldn't help but scream. Then, she raised her hand in anger and called out.
"Martha!"
Kiritsugu glanced at Irisviel's remains on the ground without a flicker of emotion in his eyes. He then raised his handgun and fired continuously at Chloe, who was charging up the hill.
"Iri! Recover quickly!"
The appearing Martha gave the cold-blooded Kiritsugu Emiya a look of disgust. Although as a fellow Servant she knew Irisviel wasn't dead yet, Kiritsugu's behavior made Martha, who already disliked him, despise him even more.
Chloe, having rushed up the slope, looked at Martha standing before her and asked in a joking tone.
"Well, well, could you hand over that man and woman behind you?"
Martha glanced at Kiritsugu, whom Chloe was pointing at, and the broken Irisviel on the ground, then shook her head.
"Well! Looks like I'll have to take you down first!"
Saying this, Chloe raised the twin swords in her hands and, with several agile steps, reached Martha, raining down several flashes of blade light.
Seeing her twin swords blocked by Martha's gauntlets, Chloe did a backflip to distance herself and said playfully.
"It seems you're quite strong, big sister! Then try blocking this next move!"
Instantly, Chloe threw the twin swords in her hands, and another pair appeared. Simultaneously, several different sword-type Noble Phantasms appeared in the air around her, raining down toward Martha and Gudako.
Martha clicked her tongue in annoyance. Feeling underestimated by the brat in front of her, she let out a shout and threw a punch at the twin swords flying toward Kiritsugu and Irisviel. At the same time, she kicked a stone, which hit Gudako's knee, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.
The air compressed by Martha's fist first blew away the twin swords heading for Irisviel and Kiritsugu, while the falling Gudako happened to dodge the volley of sword-type Noble Phantasms.
After completing all this in an instant, Martha performed several agile dodges, not only evading the Noble Phantasms Chloe fired at her but also using her footwork to close the distance and appear right in front of Chloe.
Chloe turned pale with fright and tried to dodge Martha's fist, but Martha wasn't about to let her escape her attack range so easily again.
Martha continuously used her exquisite boxing techniques to guide Chloe's steps. Before long, Chloe was forced into a position where she couldn't dodge, and Martha punched her in the head, leaving a large bump as she fell unconscious.
Having finished the job, Martha dragged Chloe over and dropped her in front of Gudako with a look of displeasure.
"Little girl, hmph!"
Chloe opened her eyes dizzily and immediately felt a sense of constriction. Upon opening her eyes, she realized she was tied to a thick tree.
At this time, Kiritsugu, supporting a mostly-recovered Irisviel, stood before Chloe and asked.
"Who is the Sovereign of this floor! And who are you?"
As Kiritsugu asked, he looked at the familiar face before him, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.
"I won't tell you! Let me go right now!"
Kiritsugu glanced at the Irisviel he was supporting and then said, word by word.
"Is it Illya!"
Chloe's struggling paused. She then turned her head away and stared at the dirt on the ground, refusing to speak further.
Standing to the side, Gudako listened to Kiritsugu's nonsensical interrogation, looking like a confused monk as she stared at Kiritsugu and Irisviel, waiting for an explanation.
But the explanation Gudako expected didn't come. Kiritsugu's face was dark as he kept his head down, leaving no one knowing what he was thinking, while Irisviel's face was also filled with a look of conflict.
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