Part 72: Refusal and escape

""
I hear her gasp.
Her red eyes open for an instant like rigor mortis.

"…I see. You're going to betray me too, huh?"

Music: Footsteps of Destruction

Ilya backs away.
The girl looks down at me, not getting upset.



Ilya's voice is filled with murderous intent.
I feel an ominous tone to it.

"Wait here. I'll be done right away."

"Hold on…! What are you going to do, Ilya…!?"


"I'm going to go kill Saber and Rin. You'll regret your action a bit if I kill them, right?"

"Wha? Don't say such a stupid thing…! Saber and Tohsaka have nothing to do with this! I'm saying I can't be with you for my own reasons alone…!"



It's like Nasu is starting to take cues from Fatal Attraction.

She starts to go.
She's serious.
She's going to go kill Saber and Tohsaka.
…And Ilya will probably manage that easily.

"Don't do it, Ilya…! They have nothing to do with this…! I'm the one you captured, so just kill me if you hate me…! There's no reason to kill them…!"

"There is a reason. I can't let other Masters live. That's the Holy Grail War, right?"
"Idiot, don't say you're going to kill people that easily…! It doesn't suit you. You're still a child, so you can't do such things…!"





Ilya says so with a cheerful face.



He should have, but he's a pussy.

"Wha?"
At that moment.
To my surprise, I clearly understand what she's taking about.
…Ilya said she was in that building last night.
So…
Wasn't the Master fleeing in front of her the perfect prey?

"Ilyayou…"


"I'm sorry. I did it because you didn't. I don't like snatching things, though."
She doesn't sound guilty at all.
For Ilya, it must have been nothing at all.



No, I should have known the last time I met her.
This girl has no sense of good and evil.
If the girl laughing innocently is Ilya, the girl laughing mercilessly is also Ilya.
…It's not like a devil and an angel are in her at the same time.
It's just that Ilya is a devil called an angel

That makes no sense.


"Then, I'm off.
It'll be your turn when I come back, so try your best to escape."


"But a bird is a bird because it can't escape from the cage.
I don't think you'll be able to escape from this cage."

…Ilya leaves the room.
What she says is true.
As she doesn't understand threats or haggling, everything she says is true.
So I can't stay here forever.
I have to escape and meet up with Saber before Ilya attacks her.

"Kuhdamn…!"
I shake my body and try to loosen the ropes.
She really must think I can't escape as there's no one in the room.
I can get out of these ropes by myself if there's no one keeping watch, but

"Damn, my body… is still"
Not working well enough.
Even though I can move, my limbs are heavy as steel and just moving them will run me out of breath.

"… Ilya… she must have anticipated this. That's why she said I won't be able to get away…"
…Certainly, I can't move.
Even if I can get the rope off, I won't be able to escape if my body won't move to my satisfaction.

"…It's not because I'm tired… Oh yeah, I can't move because I saw Ilya's eyes…"

It must be what they call the Mystic Eyes.
They say a superior magus is able to intervene magically with a target just by looking into their eyes.
A common form of Mystic Eyes is "binding", so this must be something like that.

As eyes perceive visual information, their disadvantage is that they are weak against suggestion.
Therefore, a magus usually casts some protection over their eyes to shut out others' magical energy.

"…Who knows what Tohsaka would say if she found out I was bound by suggestion without even casting a spell…"

…Well, they're just Mystic Eyes that are acquired with the use of magic.
But I hear that monsters born with such eyes don't even need to look at the eyes of their target.
These people exhibit their ability just by "looking", but I hear such powers are rare.

So.
Fortunately, it doesn't seem like Ilya's Mystic Eyes are the special kind. This is just an intervention, sending her magical energy into my body.
Then there is a way to dispel myself.
I can't move my body because Ilya's magical energy is invading my nerves.
So, if I remove that magical energy, I will be able to move again.

"It's simple. If mud has collected, all I have to do is wash it out with water."



"…Sorry. It's a violent method, but it's all I can do."
I apologize to my body as some consolation.

All I have to do now is my daily routine.
The ritual where I drive in a nerve into my back.
…No, it's not that anymore.
There's no need to make a new one now.
I can just push a switch inside of me.
I don't have to make a Magic Circuit inside me as I just have to switch my nerves into a Magic Circuit.

"Trace, on."
I cast a spell to suggest myself.
Spells do not do anything to the world.
It is only something that one casts on oneself as one intervening with the world.
Words are the best way to make your body transform.

Then Nasu must be some kind of elder god by now.

An order that only works on the self to create a divine mystery, a very simple magic called spell.



"Composition, analyzed."
…I don't even need to push the switch.
I can just let the magical energy circulate and let my hands go.
…Well.
I say push the switch, but I still haven't figured out where this switch thing is.

The heat goes wild.
Calmly controlling my speeding heartbeat, I let my hands go from the spinning cord.

"Guh…!"
Blood spills out my mouth.
Some vein must have been cut or something must have ripped inside me.
I channeled enough magical energy to wash out the mud inside of me, so it's fortunate if I only ended up coughing up blood. And to add, I don't feel any pain.

"…Maybe I don't feel pain because of that self healing thing…"
It's an abnormality I don't understand, but I'm just happy to have it at times like this.
It's my greatest and only strength for any wounds to heal if they're not fatal.

…What I should be careful of is relying on it.
Because the cause is unknown. If I get myself injured relying on the healing, the healing might go away the next time.
So, I shouldn't rely on such a vague miracle.

"All right, the rope next."
I loosen the rope.
My wrists are bruised, but my hands weren't tied tightly.
…I don't think it was Ilya that tied me up, but it wasn't tied too tightly.
First of all, Ilya wouldn't be able to carry me here.
Is there someone other than Ilya who isn't too strong?



…It's good that I can move freely now, but it seems the movement was too violent.

I don't have any wounds, but magical energy is still raging inside of me.
Just moving causes my body to be pummeled from the inside.
…It must be the pain.
Dizziness and nausea assail me, and my limbs are senseless.
I won't be able to get back home before Ilya like this

"I'm being too faint-hearted. This is no time to think like that."
I slap my cheeks and start walking.

"…?"
As I start to lean on the wall and head to the door…
I hear a sound on the other side of the wall.
…Footsteps.
A few of them too. These people, approaching while talking, stop in front of the door.