Among Ilya's remaining cards, Jiang You was certain she held one Origin Bullet and one Endless Martial Prowess. However, Endless Martial Prowess required an Oni monster from Mount Ōe in the Graveyard to activate. Therefore, the two face-down cards in her back row were most likely an Origin Bullet and a spell/trap card capable of sending a Mount Ōe servant to the Graveyard. Since Endless Martial Prowess could be activated directly when Minamoto no Raikou was destroyed, it should logically still be in her hand.
The primary concern was defending against the Origin Bullet's effect. If Jiang You's trump card, Fanatic, were targeted, he wouldn't be able to protect her by discarding material cards.
Illya was being overly cautious. Jiang You's six-card hand didn't even contain Kiara Sesshouin. Given their bond, drawing a card that didn't exist was virtually impossible.
"First, I activate the Spell Card, Name of Hassan! Once per turn, this card allows me to search my Deck for a Hassan Sabbah card. I choose Hassan of Serenity!"
"Next, I Normal Summon Hundred Faces!"
Hundred Faces always appeared directly in Jiang You's hand, and never as two copies at the start of a duel. Jiang You mused that if this pattern persisted in the full game, the absence of dead draws might lead to another era of bloody chaos.
"Hundred Faces' effect activates! Special Summon all copies of this card from my Deck in Attack Position!"
Hundred Faces: Attack Power 800
Hundred-Faced (Host): Attack Power 800
Morning Glory: Attack Power 0
"Now for Hundred-Faced (Host)'s effect! When this card is Special Summoned, declare a card type. I declare: Spell Card!"
All previous attempts had failed. Jiang You refused to give up, convinced that one of these declarations had to succeed eventually!
The top card of his deck was revealed, and this time, Jiang You had finally hit the jackpot.
The Ritual Spell Card: [ To Sound the Funeral Bell ]
This card had a strict activation condition: banish Hassan cards from the field, hand, and graveyard totaling 12 stars. But if it successfully Ritual Summoned the legendary Old Man of the Mountain, it would be worth it.
There was, however, a major problem—Jiang You didn't have any King Hassan cards. This card was as good as useless.
"How did this card even end up in my deck?" Jiang You wondered. He always included one copy of every type of card, but he never added unplayable cards.
"Never mind. The condition is two or more Level 2 Assassin monsters. I'll overlay one [ Hundred Faces ] and one [ Hundred Faces (Host) ] to Xyz Summon [ Fanatic ]!"
The dangerous girl next door materialized from the shadows.
[ Fanatic ]: Attack Power 1000 → 2000.
"Why didn't I overlay all four at once?"
Illya smiled at Jiang You's Fanatic on the field, as if offering a better proposal.
"This way, you'll not only gain an extra 1000 Attack Power, but you'll also get to activate its effect twice! With your current strategy, you can only take out one of my servants."
"Let's not play these games between us," Jiang You replied. "If the effect goes through, three Delusional Heartbeats would wipe out all your servants. But would you really let me activate it? I'm not some senile old fool with worms in his brain. Playing with your cards revealed isn't any fun."
If he could, Jiang You would have preferred to overlay only one servant.
"Alright, I'll make my move. Fanatic's effect: detach one material to target Ilya (Dress of Heaven)."
"Activate Delusional Heartbeat!"
A twisted hand of shadow materialized from behind Fanatic, reaching out to grab Illya.
"Of course not!" Illya countered, flipping over her set card in the back row.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Origin Bullet! Negate Fanatic's effect and destroy her!"
The bullet struck Fanatic's outstretched hand, piercing through her palm and tearing through her body, sending her to the Graveyard.
"So, how do you plan to break through my defenses now?" Illya asked, a smug smile on her face.
Illya...
"Then all I have to do is avoid targeting effects, right? I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [ Stealth Change ], returning one card from my field to my hand and then Special Summoning a servant from my hand whose star rating differs by no more than one from the returned card! I return [ Morning Glory ] to my hand and Special Summon [ Serenity ] from my hand!"
[ Serenity ]: Attack Power 1500.
"Entering the Battle Phase!"
Jiang You would have preferred to deal with the face-down card in Illya's back row first, but her disruption effect would cost him too many resources. Instead, he decided to test her defenses with an attack.
"[ Serenity ] attacks [ Ilya (Dress of Heaven)! ]"
"Initiate attack!"
Illya knew that even if her servant survived a battle with [ Serenity ], it would still be destroyed by her non-targeting effect.
"Not so fast! I activate the Trap Card [ Severed Arm of the One-Way Bridge ]! I send an [ Ibaraki-Doji ] from my Deck to the Graveyard and halve the Attack Power of one servant on your field!"
This was the legend of Watanabe no Tsuna severing Ibaraki-Doji's arm on the bridge, manifesting as a shrinking effect with the added precision of sending the target directly to the Graveyard, synergizing with Minamoto no Raikou's ability.
Serenity: Attack Power 1500 → 750.
Serenity rushed forward and embraced Illya, only to be blasted apart by Illya's magic. Her blood splattered across Illya, sending her to the Graveyard.
Although Jiang You had successfully dealt with the troublesome Dress of Heaven Mode Illya, he had also sustained significant damage.
Jiang You: LP 4000 → 1750.
"You sacrificed so much Life Points just to break through me. Was it really worth it?" Illya asked, visibly pleased with the outcome. She knew Jiang You would eventually overcome the situation, but depleting so much of his health was an unexpected bonus.
"Isn't that because you're so strong, Illya? I relied on you to defeat Beast before. I'm lucky to have you as my Master," Jiang You replied. He had originally intended to say that as long as he had Life Points remaining, it didn't matter, but he swallowed the words before they escaped.
"Even if you flatter me like that, I won't hold back," Illya retorted.
Despite her words, the slight upturn at the corners of Illya's mouth betrayed her true feelings. This caused Minamoto no Raikou to look deeply worried, convinced that her child was far too easily swayed.
For over a decade, Illya had dedicated herself to modifying her body and practicing spells in preparation for the Holy Grail War. She had never encountered anyone who indulged her wishes like this, so it was only natural that she was so easily influenced.
"Next, during Main Phase 2, I activate the Continuous Spell Card 'Tomes of the Hundred.' By releasing one 'Hundred Faces' on the field, I draw a card!"
Now that Illya had exhausted her back row, Jiang You no longer needed to be cautious. He confidently replenished his hand, drawing until he had four cards.
"Finally, I set three cards in my back row and end my turn."
Jiang You also set 'To Sound the Funeral Bell.' With no cards in his deck requiring a cost to activate, he figured it might serve as a deceptive trap to bait out a destruction effect.
"So, you're not going to destroy Minamoto no Raikou directly?"
Illya clutched her lone hand card, visibly disappointed.
"Of course not. I wouldn't dare."
Jiang You found the "unaffected by other card effects" ability too troublesome for his current situation. Until he had sufficient countermeasures, he felt safer keeping the plain Minamoto no Raikou on the field.
"Then it's my turn! Draw!"
Illya replenished her hand, bringing it up to two cards.
"First, I activate the effect of [ Castle of Snow ]! I add an [ Illya ] to my hand and then activate [ Illya's ] effect to Special Summon her to the field!"
The standard form of Illya stepped into the Battle Zone.
[ Illya ]: Attack Power 1500
"Next, I use the Graveyard effect of [ Dress of Heaven ]! Once per turn, I banish an [ Illya ] from the Graveyard and Special Summon [ Dress of Heaven ] to the field!"
[ Dress of Heaven ]: Attack Power 1500
"2 + 4 = 6. I..."
Illya had once again met the summoning conditions for [ Ilya (Dress of Heaven) ]. The troublesome servant, immune to destruction by battle and capable of negating destruction effects, was about to return to the field.
Jiang You couldn't let Illya successfully summon her Ilya (Dress of Heaven) form again. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, [ Pale Dance of Death ]! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one [ Hassan Sabbah ] from my Graveyard or hand and destroy one Servant Card on the field! I choose to Special Summon [ Hundred-Faced (Host) ] from my Graveyard in Defense Position and destroy your [ Dress of Heaven ]!"
The spotlight locked onto the empty Battle Zone as Hundred-Faced (Host), clad in an evening gown, materialized amidst a swirl of Ayaka flowers and gold dust.
Hundred-Faced (Host)
Defense: 800
"Activating [ Hundred-Faced (Host) ]'s effect! I declare: Spell Card!"
Jiang You stuck with Spell Card. As the most prevalent card type, it was a safe bet.
This time, he finally got a hit. The card type was correct, making it usable. He revealed: [ Archivist of Hidden Knowledge ].
As Hundred-Faced (Host) appeared, an ethereal shadow from Serenity assailed the Dress of Heaven, successfully returning it to the Graveyard.
"Since that's the case, I activate my own effect! I Special Summon a second [ Minamoto no Raikou ] from my Deck in Attack Position!"
Illya freed herself, summoned a second Minamoto no Raikou, and boosted her field's attack power to a terrifying 6000.
Minamoto no Raikou: Attack Power 3000 x 2
"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card [ Manifestation of the Thunder God ]! This increases Minamoto no Raikou's attack power by 1000 and destroys all servants on the field with less than 2000 attack power!" Illya had freed herself precisely to avoid this card's effect.
Minamoto no Raikou: Attack Power 3000 → 4000
"Rather than let you destroy them, I'll just... no, I'll release them myself. I activate the Continuous Spell Card [ Tomes of the Hundred ]. This effect can be activated during the opponent's turn as well. I'll release [ Hundred-Faced (Host) ]...
...and draw a card!"
The remaining Hundred Faces was instantly annihilated by Minamoto no Raikou's thunder.
"With that settled, I enter the Battle Phase!"
Jiang You now faced a staggering 7000 attack power on the field.