"Wait, Shinji-kun is this strong?"
Jiang You couldn't believe his eyes. While it was true that Matou Shinji was a near all-rounder in magecraft, normally his deck wouldn't be significantly stronger than an average person's. Even if he kept hunting down neutral tickets, it would still be difficult to protect his stars from the plundering of other magi.
"Not sure, let's take another look."
Jiang You thought maybe he was opening the stream the wrong way and restarted the TV.
[This is your host, Hundred-Faces, bringing you live coverage from the dueling arena! As we can see, the current first-place contestant, Matou Shinji, is once again being ambushed by another contestant. This time, the opponent is the magician ranked ninth—Mr. Zenjou.]
"Zenjou?"
Jiang You looked at the magician. He seemed familiar from the timeline ten years ago, but there were some subtle differences: in this timeline, the Zenjou family's magical lineage had been completely severed. Although Zenjou was now a civilian with no connection to magecraft, magical elements still flowed in his blood. His reason for entering the tournament was to revive his family's magecraft.
[Although Mr. Zenjou does not practice magecraft, he still possesses many powerful cards passed down through his family's knowledge and history, making him a strong contender. Mr. Lancelot, your thoughts?]
[Ahrrrrrr—]
[Alright, Lancelot means: Mr. Zenjou has good battle awareness and strong willpower, but he's too weak overall and hasn't done sufficient intel gathering on his opponent. Unless he gets incredibly lucky, it'll be hard for him to win.]
[Ahrr?]
"Wait a second, how is Hundred-Faces even understanding what Lancelot is saying?"
Jiang You pointed out that Lancelot, in his berserk state, had almost no intelligence left—he could only understand basic instructions. How could Hundred-Faces interpret that?
"Returning to Master: I can't understand him."
The main body of Hundred-Faces was always following Jiang You, acting as the relay point for all the other Hundred-Faces and relaying information to him.
"I'm just making it all up. But this kind of nonsense is more entertaining for the viewers, and our ratings are climbing again. Though personally, I think if we put Medea on camera, the effect would be even better—foreign beauties tend to attract more attention."
"...You're totally wasted on assassination work."
Jiang You thought that Hundred-Faces, as a Heroic Spirit, must have dumped all her stat points into non-combat skills. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so useless in a fight.
"One more thing: remember that Lancelot's Noble Phantasm, For Someone's Glory, allows him to disguise himself as others."
"You mean...?"
Hundred-Faces immediately understood Jiang You's implication. "As long as we keep Lancelot from speaking, we can fake it. One of me is also good at mimicking voices. I'll notify the others right away!"
Meanwhile, the duel on the broadcast continued.
"Matou Shinji, I've heard of you."
Though the Zenjou family was no longer considered a mage family, they hadn't completely severed ties with the others. Their young lady, Zenjou Aoi, had married Tohsaka Tokiomi because of these connections, so Zenjou still had some hearsay about the Fuyuki magical world.
[The Last Zenjou Magus]2★ ATK 1200 → ATK 1400
Zenjou summoned his great-grandfather—the last magus of the Zenjou line.
"You also failed to inherit the Matou family's Crest due to blocked circuits, right? That's why you had to adopt a girl from the Tohsaka family to pass it on. You and I are the same—we both crave this power. So, I won't hold back!"
Mentioning his failed Crest inheritance made Shinji furious. In every other aspect of life, he was a genius—everything had gone smoothly. That's exactly why he couldn't stand Matou Sakura—he believed he should have been the true heir of the Matou family!
"No, I'm nothing like you!"
Shinji revealed a crazed grin. Something seemed to be squirming beneath his skin. "I'm not some half-baked magus. In this magecraft battle, I'll make everyone kneel before me. The Soul Crystals will be mine!"
Zenjou just assumed Shinji had let his win rate go to his head. Still, he had to admit Shinji was incredibly gifted at dueling.
"Next, I activate the Field Spell Card: Zenjou Estate! While this card is active, all [Zenjou] followers gain +200 ATK and DEF, and as long as a [Zenjou] follower is on the field, I can perform one extra Normal Summon per turn!"
"Now I summon myself: Zenjou Successor! Let my path to revival begin!"
[Zenjou Successor]2★ ATK 800 → ATK 1000
"Lastly, I set two cards face-down and end my turn!"
"What a pathetic board!"
Shinji had faced much stronger opponents. He wasn't impressed.
"Let me show you the magecraft of the Matou family. My turn—draw!"
"First, I activate the Field Spell Card: Worm Magecraft Workshop!"
From the dark basement, a tide of eerie insect sounds rose.
"Worm Magecraft Workshop's effect: once per turn, I can Special Summon a [Spine Worm] or [Engraving Worm] from the deck in Attack Position! Naturally, I'll summon—Engraving Worm!"
A grotesque-looking insect crawled out from the shadows.
[Engraving Worm]ATK 500
"So this is your Matou family worm magecraft?"
Zenjou covered his mouth in disgust. He hadn't expected Shinji to summon something so revolting.
Hundred-Faces had even organized a popularity poll for the contestants. Initially, Shinji ranked high due to his excellent win rate and decent looks. But because of his deck, he never managed to overtake that certain golden guy.
"Strength is the reason one becomes king."
Shinji shrugged. He had been exposed to these creatures since he was young—he was used to them.
"As long as the card is strong, who cares how it looks! A powerful card's appearance doesn't matter!"
"Next, I activate Record Keeper! I Special Summon a [Matou Shinji] from my deck in Attack Position!"
[Matou Shinji] (Master)1★ ATK 200
Shinji summoned a version of himself onto the battlefield. "My own effect! Even though all my fans already know, I'll still explain. When this card is summoned, once per turn, I can activate a Trap Card the same turn it was set. Of course, there's a downside: while this card is on the field, all my other followers lose 500 ATK. And when it leaves the field—it's banished directly."
[Engraving Worm] ATK 500 → 0
"Such a troublesome drawback. It makes me look like a deadweight, huh? Anyway—I activate the face-down card I just set: False Attendant's Writings!"