"Excalibur!"
"Radiant Spear of Finality — Anchor Break!"
"Gáe Bolg!"
"Rider's Reins of the Hero!"
"Heaven's Wrath: Holy Fire of Annihilation!"
As Daniel continuously swapped the weapon in his hand, the legendary hero Heracles—possessor of the Noble Phantasm Twelve Labors—let out a roar of rage with each revival, only to return to battle again. After exhausting all twelve of his lives, he gave a final, unwilling cry before his body disintegrated into a Class Card.
Thankfully, the memories of an Heroic Spirit's death aren't passed on to the main body in the Throne of Heroes—otherwise Heracles might've filed a complaint with Alaya for unfair play.
"Twelve Labors… twelve lives… for me, this is a powerful Class Card."
Looking at the Berserker Card in his hand, Daniel couldn't help but imagine the battle scenarios if he used it. He would inherit the Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm—and with his strength and twelve lives, even facing some gods would be more than possible.
"Next, I can finally prepare my magical girl anime."
With Heracles defeated, all seven Class Cards were now collected. Since Rin and Luvia hadn't noticed the existence of the eighth card yet, the incident was considered resolved.
Taking advantage of the moment, Daniel used Luvia's connections to acquire a publishing house and an animation studio in Fuyuki City—idle assets that he could put to good use.
He also intended to have Miyu help with the production to help her adapt to life here. In her original world, Miyu and her brother had Kiritsugu's inheritance, but that wasn't the case here. While Luvia didn't mind taking care of Miyu, Miyu herself would never accept charity without a reason.
"Didn't we finish everything already? Why do I still have to study magecraft?"
In the study of Luvia's mansion, Illya was nodding off in front of her magic textbooks. Even normal schoolwork made her sleepy—let alone the dry, technical magecraft theories. The complex magic circles practically made her dizzy.
"It's over, yes—but that doesn't mean new trouble won't appear."
Daniel wasn't particularly concerned with Illya's laziness. Truthfully, his focus was on teaching Miyu. Unlike Illya, who had zero motivation, Miyu was progressing rapidly. And since she was a Holy Grail vessel, she practically had infinite mana, easily casting spells that gave poor Waver perpetual stomachaches.
"Illya..." Miyu looked at her friend with concern.
"Don't worry about her. She'll perk up soon."
"I thought you wanted Miyu to live like a normal girl. Why are you teaching her magecraft?"
"Being a normal person doesn't mean she can't learn magecraft. I'm not grooming her to chase the Root—I just want her to be able to protect herself."
Having power and lacking it are two entirely different things. Daniel pursued strength for precisely this reason. Without power, ordinary people are simply swept away by the tide of fate—sometimes destroyed by a single wave.
"I understand."
"This isn't even a magical girl!"
After Daniel brought that magical girl with the spinning head into the television world, Illya came charging into Luvia's mansion the very next day to lodge a formal protest.
Beside her was Miyu. The two had become very close lately. To help Miyu embrace the magical girl persona and eventually learn to fly, Illya had dragged her into watching dozens of magical girl shows.
Unfortunately, no matter how many she watched, Miyu still couldn't fly.
"Bro, you're really something. How am I supposed to trick people now with that show out in the world?"
Even Ruby had objections to Daniel's magical girl creation.
"I actually think it makes sense," Miyu said quietly.
"Miyu! No!" Illya gripped her friend's shoulders and shook her frantically. "This isn't what a magical girl should be!"
"What are you worried about? It's not like you're Kyubey. But hey—maybe you could go test this concept on others. Could be fun."
"That's actually a brilliant idea! I'll try it out!"
Ruby immediately perked up and zoomed out the window to carry out her experiments.
"Sis, wait!" Sapphire quickly flew after her.
Despite Illya's passionate objections, Daniel had no plans to change anything. Kidding aside, that spinning-head magical girl was a classic.
While many online had slammed the show, just as many praised it for its unique take on the genre. After countless identical magical girl stories, something different was a breath of fresh air. Many were eager to see how it ended.
Daniel would tweak that ending, of course—giving those two a perfect conclusion. After all, once you become a god, anything is possible.
"You really are something…" Rin and Luvia looked at Daniel with mixed expressions. Naturally, they'd watched that show too, especially since it was his work.
"You know, our Master actually called us. He said he's curious about what happens next."
What made them speechless was that their mentor—the Second Magician—had contacted them just to talk about the show. It was hard to believe.
"Seems like he's a man of taste."
Daniel didn't know much about the Second Magician's personality, but judging by Ruby and Sapphire, the man probably enjoyed harmless pranks and trickery. It's just that his strength and status kept people from knowing what he was really like.
While it was common wisdom at the Clock Tower that the Second Magician ruined his apprentices, that was just a matter of perspective. If judged solely by magecraft, maybe his students didn't achieve much. But from another angle, his teachings leaned toward valuing humanity.
In one world, this Second Magician had even protected Shirou Emiya from being sealed away by the Clock Tower.
"Let him enjoy the ride. Things are about to get even more interesting."
"Finally done. Time to move on to standard production."
That magical girl show had been rushed with Daniel's powers. Under normal circumstances, nothing could be made that quickly. But with the powers of the Ruler of Reason, it was another story.
Thanks to its popularity, Ruby was now facing rejections left and right. Many mistook her for a variant of Kyubey, leaving her deeply hurt.
"She really showed up, huh… I nearly forgot about her."
When Kuro—Chloe—split from Illya, Daniel remembered he'd been so focused on the Class Cards that he'd forgotten her.
Kuro had emerged when Rin and Luvia tried to repair the spiritual leylines damaged by the cards. An accident during the process caused Kuro's manifestation. She'd immediately attacked Illya and then kissed Miyu. Though she claimed it was for mana replenishment, the implications were… questionable.
Illya's face had turned beet red as she blasted her clone with magical beams—all of which Kuro easily dodged.
"Sixfold Light Prison."
Just as Kuro was about to flee after teasing Illya and Miyu, Daniel trapped her. Since she was here, there was no way he was letting her go.
"Rin really has a demonic side… using this kind of trick on Kuro."
Later, they brought Kuro to Luvia's mansion and learned more about her. To keep her from causing more trouble, Rin used a blood pact restraint.
It was a cruel spell: one-sided pain-sharing. If Illya felt pain, Kuro would feel it too. But if something happened to Kuro, Illya would feel nothing.
Of course, this only worked because Kuro was technically part of Illya. Otherwise, things would've been much trickier.
After completing the pact, Kuro was released. Keeping her locked up wasn't realistic.
"Let's see what she does."
Given her previous antics, Rin and Luvia had Ruby and Sapphire monitor her. What they saw shocked everyone:
Kuro was impersonating Illya to get close to Shirou. The biggest problem? Shirou didn't notice. Though their skin tones were completely different, he just assumed Illya had gotten a tan.
"Hahaha!"
Everyone, including Daniel, burst out laughing. Ruby laughed the loudest.
When Illya came home and saw the scene, she hid to avoid Shirou realizing there were two of her. She then beat herself up (literally) to teach Kuro a lesson. Illya was clearly not afraid to get physical.
Even Miyu couldn't help smiling.
"Rin-sis, I can't take it anymore."
Three days later, Illya stormed into Luvia's mansion to vent. Kuro's presence had thrown her school life into chaos. She'd even gained the title "Kiss Demon."
Daniel could only marvel at today's elementary schoolers.
Eventually, Luvia stepped in and registered Kuro as Illya's distant cousin at school. Strangely, no one questioned why they looked exactly alike.
"Bro, how about becoming a magical girl? You'd be perfect for it."
One day, Ruby came floating in and suggested this nonsense.
"Get lost."
That was Daniel's only response. Sure, Ruby was a powerful Mystic Code, capable of matching most Servants—but he had zero interest in becoming a magical girl. He wasn't some crazy chainsaw guy.
"Don't be like that. Look, check this out—it's really fun." Ruby pulled out a manga where the magical girl was actually a guy.
"Sixfold Light Prison."
Daniel immediately trapped her again and tossed her outside.
"Well, that's settled… shame we lost Shirou's Archer Card."
Kuro was born from a fusion of an Archer Class Card and the Holy Grail, much like how Black Jeanne was born from Gilles de Rais's wish in a singularity. Her existence was one of a kind—if the card was lost, she would vanish.
Daniel was definitely curious about EMIYA's abilities and wanted to recite "trace on" at least once—but Kuro was more important.
It must be said, the Kiritsugu and Irisviel of this world were drastically different from others. Thanks to them, the conflict between Illya and Kuro was peacefully resolved.
"This is the eighth Class Card. It just appeared out of nowhere. Based on what you said, this must be the enemy's next move targeting Miyu."
Using the leyline monitoring system in Fuyuki, Rin and Luvia quickly located the eighth card—deep within the Great Hollow.
"Don't tell Illya or Miyu. I'll handle this."
"We weren't planning to. But be careful."
"Relax. I'm very fond of staying alive."
"Now that's what I call a warm welcome…"
As Daniel stepped into the Hollow, he was instantly bombarded by dozens of Noble Phantasms of every type.
"Let's go, Gilgamesh. Let's heat things up a bit."
After blocking the first barrage, Daniel stared at the dark figure composed purely of mana—surrounded by golden portals spewing weapons—and waved his left hand, summoning a storm of Truth Keys overhead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Noble Phantasms clashed with searing beams of light. The surrounding cliffs began to collapse under the pressure. For now, it was a stalemate.
"Radiant Spear of Finality — Anchor Break!"
Seizing a moment's hesitation from Gilgamesh, Daniel manifested Add. The golden spear cut through the air, destroying an entire section of the Hollow's cliff. Through the opening, stars twinkled in the sky above.
"Sevenfold Ring of Heaven's Wrath… Gate of Babylon really is something else."
Though Daniel's spear broke the summoned treasures, Gilgamesh still managed to block the blow. Daniel grew even more curious about the Gate of Babylon.
"So you're going for Ea now? Without rationality, there's no hesitation. Then let's see if you can pierce Avalon's defense."
This Class Card Gilgamesh fought without any of the original's pride or dignity. He only cared about winning.
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