"Shinji and Julian...?"
Ritsuka murmured to herself in confusion.
Matou Shinji and Julian Einzbern—their relationship was not good. This was something the whole academy knew; these two somewhat famous guys actually didn't get along at all.
Yet here they were, standing together and chatting... She instinctively stepped in front of Miyu, using her body to block Julian's gaze, but that look filled with madness and malice made Ritsuka feel a suffocating pressure.
The greatest pressure didn't come from Julian, whose gaze was somewhat frightening, but from the blonde Little girl behind him.
It was extremely similar to when she first met Miyu—a sense of emptiness, a vastness like that of a god. An irresistible pressure weighed down on her, as if even her soul was being severely restricted, sealed within a tiny space.
The faint light in her palm was gradually becoming more obvious.
However, no one could see the crystal dice, and even Ritsuka herself, under this high pressure, didn't notice the reaction of the crystal dice.
"I really didn't expect that the thief would be you."
Julian left the group and slowly walked toward Ritsuka alone, his eyes in his gloomy expression making one's heart tremble.
Clenching her right hand, a dagger flew out from the crystal dice. As Ritsuka grasped it directly, circuit-board-like patterns quickly covered it.
A dagger shorter than a sword—this was a weapon that had been stained with human lives. It was standard equipment Ritsuka had kept since getting it from Kiritsugu as a child. Her intuition told her this thing couldn't threaten Julian, but she still instinctively took it out.
"Julian..."
That figure came closer and closer. Ritsuka gripped her weapon tightly. The aura on the girl named Erica had already vanished.
In the next moment, Julian looked up, his cold gaze meeting Ritsuka's. "With so many coincidences, it turns out the Divine Child has been by my side all along, I just failed to notice."
"I'm a thief? Then what are you, robbers?"
In her memory, that small individual whom even Kiritsugu couldn't defeat head-on, with massive power that nearly crushed the earth, and that twin-tailed girl with strange magecraft who tried to take Miyu away—the result seemed obvious now—
Both of them were related to Julian!
"To erase all the foreign objects devouring the town, the miracle that exists in this world—I have been searching for it all along."
"—And the thief who took it away!"
The sense of crisis in her heart instantly skyrocketed. The light in Ritsuka's right hand rose, and she flicked the dagger upward, throwing it directly at Julian like a hidden weapon.
Magical energy condensed into an electric flash, and a black short sword—one of the husband-and-wife swords, gan jiang and mo ye—was projected by her.
The dagger was aimed at Julian's chest, but Ritsuka deliberately shifted the angle slightly; if it hit, it would only cause an injury and not take Julian's life. But the moment the attack was launched, a ground-shaking force surged forth.
The red-haired Little girl arrived in front of Julian in an instant and reached out to catch the dagger easily.
A bloodthirsty, ferocious smile met Ritsuka's eyes. "What?"
With both swords out, in the next instant, they completely fell apart. The Little girl easily snapped that projected armament.
Even if it was projected, it was something called a Noble Phantasm, yet it was shattered!
"Don't you dare harm Lord Julian!!"
At a speed hard to match, the Little girl leaped and threw a punch at Ritsuka. Pushing Miyu back as she stepped back, Ritsuka blocked with her left hand, which was imbued with Reinforcement Magic.
Boom—!!
"Big sister!?"
The ground shattered, and the impact spread out, forming a fan-shaped, spider-web-like crack.
The houses along the street fell apart instantly. Ritsuka's slender body slammed into them, the incredible force acting on her body as she subsequently crashed through the entire convenience store, disappearing into the ruins.
Miyu sat on the ground, staring blankly in the direction where Ritsuka had disappeared, until a hand was placed on her head.
"Ugh—!!"
"New Moon Miyu, I have been searching for you, searching for the miracle remaining in this world. You are now my property."
The magical power released from his palm knocked Miyu unconscious, and Erica stepped forward to support the limp girl.
Then, a beautiful smile blossomed on Erica's face.
"With the big sister who could have saved everything five years ago here, we don't have to worry even if another accident happens this time."
Hearing this, Julian lowered his head. "This time it will definitely succeed. This vessel is sufficient."
Everything was over. Julian withdrew his hand and looked coldly at the ruins of the convenience store. If things went as expected, Ritsuka should have died inside—if she were an ordinary person... Suddenly, Julian's eyes widened in slight shock—
"Projection Magic, to be able to develop such magic to the level of projecting a Noble Phantasm."
"Emiya Ritsuka, just who are you?"
The black and white twin swords sliced through the ruins. Like wings unfolding, the two demon-breaking blades were held in Ritsuka's hands, though her left arm hung limp at her side.
A surge of power filled the broken arm, attempting to repair it.
Immortality until transferred to Prometheus: something obtained from her mentor Chiron while capturing the Erymanthian Boar during his lifetime. That was the 'Immortality' held by the great sage of ancient Greece, Chiron.
The power of immortality rapidly repaired the damage to Ritsuka's body. She wiped the blood from her cheek forcefully.
"Just... an ordinary, kind-hearted passerby."
"I have a question."
Ritsuka, whose arm had already finished self-repairing, raised the deployed gan jiang and mo ye, pointing them straight at Julian, who had his hands in his pockets.
Ritsuka's expression turned fierce.
"Julian, was it you... who triggered that darkness five years ago?"
"—It was me."
Admitting it directly, Julian nodded nonchalantly. The disaster that had claimed countless lives seemed like a trivial matter to him.
Kiritsugu's death was related to the appearance of that darkness. Something inside Kiritsugu's body had been activated because of it.
After witnessing that darkness, Kiritsugu often vomited black blood clots... It was the man in front of her who killed Emiya Kiritsugu!
Ritsuka's expression gradually turned crazed. "Julian!!"
A crimson aura rose from Ritsuka, then began to turn black. Her figure vanished from the spot like an arrow released from a bow.
The two blades swung down from above. Ritsuka's attack on Julian finally carried killing intent. Her angry expression looked as if it could spit fire, and the sudden outburst startled Julian.
They crossed paths, but gan jiang and mo ye hit nothing but air. Julian used the strange magic she remembered; the space where the attack landed was completely displaced.
The eerie phenomenon swallowed Ritsuka whole. The next moment, she appeared in mid-air, at least dozens of meters above the ground.
Several streaks of light and shadow rapidly approached from a distance. Feeling the danger closing in, Ritsuka's expression shifted slightly. "What...!?"
Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds—over a dozen weapons were knocked down by gan jiang and mo ye, but gan jiang and mo ye themselves shattered due to the quality issues of the Projection, turning into countless motes of magical light falling to the ground. Then, Ritsuka fell freely onto the ruins of the convenience store.
A red-haired girl stepped into the ruins, launching an attack the moment Ritsuka landed. A massive axe-sword swung down head-on.
The axe-sword was incredibly familiar, but Ritsuka had no time to think. She poured a large amount of magical power from her body into her palm and immediately projected a shield to meet the weapon of unknown material head-on.
"Waaah—!!"
The shield was smashed to pieces by the terrifying force. The impact exploded in her hands, and Ritsuka was sent flying back.
With both arms broken, Ritsuka's back crashed through a wall and collapsed another house, leaving her lying in the ruins.
At this moment, Ritsuka understood. That girl, who didn't even reach her chest, possessed a power similar to hers—the power of Heracles.
But the gap was immense. Currently, she had no ability to contend with the opponent.
"Ugh—! Dammit..."
Spitting blood, her immortality repaired her body. Ritsuka struggled to use her broken arms to push away the debris on top of her. She was currently buried deep within the ruins.
The crystal dice lit up once more. This time it was the Great Bow of the Hydra. As an extraordinary Noble Phantasm, if she could just take it out and open some distance, she would still have a chance.
But this time, she failed to take it out.
A cold, sharp light flashed in mid-air. Silver chains bound her tightly, locking her into the ruins. Then, a golden great spear descended from the sky, piercing straight through Ritsuka's chest and pinning her to the ground as she struggled to rise.
Countless divine weapons hovered in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, they crossed a hundred meters, pinning down Ritsuka's limbs and body completely.
Arms, legs, waist, chest... Ritsuka's eyes glazed over as her breath gradually faded away.
PS: Let me explain here. This book is light yuri. There's a high probability that even sexual topics won't be involved much (estimated). Whether it's single or harem depends on the situation; I haven't decided yet.
What I'm hoping for is a single female lead, Matou Sakura from the World Under the Snow, while having some ambiguity with other girls, or maybe some girls having a one-sided crush on Ritsuka.
It's a cross-over battle genre. I can't write a single fanfic for long, and I feel that cross-overs aren't that difficult except for the first few volumes.
Worlds I expect to visit (no absolute guarantee): Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon??, etc.