By now, flying around in Fuyuki was no longer anything surprising.
"Well then, here's the problem—given Caster's Noble Phantasm, the number of participants in the duel doesn't really give us an advantage, does it?"
Jason was the first to raise a question. Jiang You had several Servants summoned by unconventional means. Excluding Illyasviel, who had explicitly stated she wouldn't cooperate, without Jason's presence, they'd actually have fewer Servants.
"Actually, Lancer once fought the black Berserker that he summoned, and the Noble Phantasm wasn't triggered."
Bazett reminded Jason of this known intel.
"Now that you mention it, I remember—when Heracles attacked him, another Servant intercepted the blow in his stead."
Jason smacked his palm with a fist as the memory clicked. "So, if the unconventionally summoned Servants can bypass his Noble Phantasm, then doesn't that mean—"
"That's right, Jason, you are the key to defeating Caster."
Rin Tohsaka finished the sentence for him. Since Jason's True Name had already been revealed due to the duel rules, Rin no longer bothered to keep it secret.
"I used my Master's authority to look up Caster's stats—he doesn't have any hidden Noble Phantasms. Except for his NP and Luck, everything else is a standard C-rank. As long as we can bypass his NP, most Servants could easily crush him."
"And as for the Servants summoned by Caster, aside from the Assassin Miss Bazett mentioned, I can confirm that one of them is a Caster—Medea."
At that name, all the Masters and Servants turned to Jason. The story between him and Medea was practically a household tale.
"Don't look at me, I'm doing everything I can to stay far away from her."
Jason firmly declared his intentions to flee. "So Medea's your problem, not mine!"
Cu Chulainn sighed deeply. "Just thinking about having to protect this guy later makes my skin crawl."
"Feel that," Red Archer nodded, feeling like Jason was dragging down the reputation of Heroic Spirits from the Age of Gods.
"Hey! I'm a core combatant, alright? Show me some respect!"
Jason was practically jumping in frustration. "Fine, I get it from the Son of Light, but even you, Mr. Super Mercenary?!"
Matou Sakura and the completely inexperienced Emiya Shirou stood quietly, listening and observing. Only when Rin turned to glance at him did Shirou respond with a gentle smile. Medusa wasn't the talkative type either—she simply stood silently beside Sakura.
Thus, the first night in Duel City passed uneventfully, with only two duels taking place.
To prove the authenticity of the Soul Crystals, Jiang You spent the night securing temporary rights to use the Ryuudou Temple through a mix of coercion and bribery. He then had Medea work overtime to set up the field, placing the Soul Crystal prominently on display.
However, regardless of how peaceful the night seemed, the broadcast of the duels caused an uproar across Fuyuki. Whether it was the cards that could perfectly "project" their contents or the wealthy elites being treated as prey—everything drew intense attention. A certain faction tried to suppress the incident, but with Hundred-Faces Hassan's god-tier infiltration and spycraft, the TV station was completely under control, and most external aid requests were intercepted. As long as they could hold for three days, enough time for the event to conclude, lockdown was fully achievable.
People are always curious about the novel and the wondrous—soon, Fuyuki had descended into a state of frenzy. The ticket lines at the amusement park were jam-packed with spectators, and even ordinary citizens were eager to try qualifying for duels.
Under such intense scrutiny, any attempt to cover up the human trafficking was now totally futile.
No matter where the "wild monsters" fled, they were usually found within ten minutes.
"How many magi have tried to directly steal the Soul Crystal now?"
Looking at the pile of corpses in the guest room, Jiang You realized he had underestimated the Soul Crystal's allure. Even after seeing the real thing, many magi still tried to bypass the rules and snatch it by force.
But they had underestimated Caster's territory setup and Assassin's ambush capabilities. Every single one of them had been eliminated, with causes of death that were frankly bizarre and diverse.
"This is the eleventh one. Don't they ever use their brains? Anyone in possession of an item of that level clearly isn't someone third-rate magi can deal with."
Medea rolled her eyes, thinking modern magi were way too full of themselves and completely lacking in judgment.
"And stop dragging me off to be a commentator! You think I'm some kind of workhorse?! What about what you promised me?"
Medea still wanted her own deck—or at least to seize control of Jason from Rin. But Jiang You wasn't planning to let Jason leave the stage before the event ended. There were too few named participants, and he needed to redirect Medea's focus.
"Relax. Didn't I already get you an entire model shop? Right in the city center. Three floors above ground, basement included—plenty of space to convert into a workshop."
Jiang You had done his homework on Medea's hobbies—targeted flattery always worked best to improve favorability.
Sure enough, Medea's irritation melted away, and he even scored a trap card from her—[Rule Breaker], capable of negating effects or stopping Minotaurs.
"Really?"
Medea lowered her hood slightly, trying not to show her pleased expression.
"Not bad. So where is it exactly? I want to inspect it myself."
"It's that storefront on the north side of downtown—not too remote, not too noisy. I've already hired a renovation crew; they're ready to start anytime. Or you can do it yourself. Here, the key."
Jiang You saw she could barely hold back her excitement and tossed the key over directly.
"Ahem, a magical workshop is indeed something I need. I've got some magical tools to make, so I'll be off."
With the key in hand, Medea flew straight toward her new base. In Fuyuki's current state of chaos, someone flying through the skies wasn't even noteworthy anymore.
"So Konami's full suite of management systems is in effect too, huh."
Looking at the panel that suddenly popped up, Jiang You was increasingly convinced that this game was a massive patchwork monstrosity. But with Atrum's funding, there was no shortage of money in the mundane world. And with no card purchase system, there was really no need for any of this.
"Guess I'll check out the current battle rankings."
He turned on the TV—Fuyuki Channel was now the highest-rated program in Japan. Outside of Fuyuki locals, most people saw it as a special event performance, with mind-blowing special effects.
Jiang You glanced at the current ranking of duelists based on their star count—
1st: Matou Shinji.