Chapter 404: The Determination of Matou Sakura
Drip, drop, pitter-patter—the rain stopped and started, stopped and started again; the dark clouds in the sky showed no signs of dissipating for a long time. Water accumulated everywhere on the ground outside; the dirt paths in the neighborhood park became potholed and uneven. Underneath the large trees, a long, train-like army of ants was in the midst of an emergency relocation.
Winged flying ants clung to the brightly lit windows of residential homes, trying every possible way to burrow inside. In the pond on the other side, water spiders glided across the surface, while on the lush lotus leaves, dragonflies hung low with their wings tucked, skimming across the water.
Under the endless drizzle, a gust of wind blew by, carrying a cold, damp chill.
Housewives complained about the inconvenience of getting around; the rainy season was unrelenting, and without the sun, the laundry wouldn't dry, leaving behind a strange odor.
Fortunately, in such weather, elementary school students did not have to attend school, as after a week of classes, they had just arrived at the Saturday and Sunday break.
The purple-haired girl was staying in the home that belonged solely to her in this life, except now, this home had one new member: a pet named Fou—large-tailed, fluffy, and full of healing vibes when touched.
Sakura was wearing a pure white Western-style dress, with a red ribbon tied in her hair on the left side, appearing as clear and beautiful as a begonia flower. At this moment, the girl was sitting on the sofa in her living room watching TV, gently stroking the small animal lying on her lap.
It had been three days since she brought it home, and the small animal seemed to have become accustomed to life here. After bringing Fou home, Sakura tried feeding it various kinds of food and eventually discovered that Fou had a remarkably powerful appetite. It was indiscriminate, eating meat, biscuits, vegetables, and nuts alike; as long as it was delicious, it could crush it with its surprisingly hard teeth and swallow it into its belly.
Just then, on the news playing on the living room TV, the anchor reported the latest news with a solemn face.
"Recently, multiple traffic accidents have occurred on the mountain road nearby. When cars braked hard, they crashed into guardrails, resulting in rear-end collisions. Four vehicles were left on the road. Bloodstains were found in the cars, but no people were present. It is understood that the vehicle owners were mostly families returning to their hometowns together for holidays; the victims have lost contact and their whereabouts remain unknown. Among them are seven adults and three children. Here are the photos of the missing persons; if you have any information, please call the police department promptly to provide tips."
"Next is the next news item: the days of heavy rain have led to a humid climate. According to the epidemic prevention station, there has been a massive breeding of insect species. Please be prepared, prevent insect damage, do not leave windows open unnecessarily, clear out trash in a timely manner, and keep the kitchen tidy."
People who had lived in a peaceful era for a long time had not yet realized the true danger hidden within the news reports, which only released a few selected photos, making it impossible to investigate what had actually happened. However, the girl seemed to perceive something.
Sakura looked at the gloomy sky outside the window and said melancholily: "I just feel like something is abnormal. Is it because of the recent weather? It seems like something bad is happening in this town; it's really strange. It's almost like it was back then..."
"Fou?" Fou raised its head to look at the girl, flicked its tail, and touched the girl's arm, as if comforting her.
"Don't worry, I'm okay," Sakura said, gently stroking Fou's head.
"But this world has definitely had something happen, and... what is this function...?" Sakura took out the smartphone from her pocket and tapped the screen.
Although she wasn't particularly skilled with electronic products, Sakura was indeed much better than her sister; after all, she was a child who could achieve anything if she worked hard enough.
Scritch, scratch... Squeak, squeak, squeak...
Outside, a series of uncoordinated insect chirps suddenly rang out. It was a rainy day, not the season for active insects in summer, yet the chirping outside was exceptionally vibrant.
Sakura's expression changed. She stood up and looked outside, only to see a flying insect suddenly clinging to the window. Its eyes glinted with a red light, as if it were greeting the girl.
The girl realized something. She hid her phone, clenched her small hands into fists, and walked forward in silence to push open the living room window facing the outside.
Following the flying insect, a clump of crawling insects pushed and shoved their way in from outside the window.
After the crawling insects landed on the ground, they gathered together, continuously stacking themselves, seemingly about to form a human shape.
The appearance of this uninvited guest was all too familiar to her; even now, if she were to have a nightmare in the middle of the night, this figure would absolutely be inside it.
Sakura saw the unexpected visitor, lowered her eyebrows, and whispered: "Grandfather..."
"Fou!" In the girl's arms, Fou poked its head out, baring its sharp teeth, tightening its tail, and adopting a defensive stance.
"Sakura, are you showing that look again? Could it be that because of your body, your mind has also reverted back to when you were a child? No, your bones aren't those of an ordinary person. Unlike those pieces of trash like Shinji, as a mage, you indeed possess excellent qualities. The implantation of the Crest Worms, the modification of your attributes—you endured it all."
"Indeed, you were an obedient, good child. Even when you cried out from the pain, you didn't run away. Although I often saw you looking toward the mountains, you never once secretly ran to the Tohsaka household there. But, you aren't just a person of this caliber, are you?"
"Grandfather, no! That time was..." Sakura lowered her head and said softly and weakly.
"What exactly are you thinking, putting on this passive, victim-like appearance now? Because of your inaction, I had no choice but to give up on the Holy Grail War like that. I really don't know who it was that killed me back then," Matou Zouken asked.
"Grandfather... I never once thought about rebelling against you, it's just that you wanted to hurt Senpai, so... Grandfather! Since you appeared here, does that mean Senpai! Could Emiya-senpai also have come here?!" Sakura thought of the god, her eyes brightened, and she looked at the gloomy old man and asked.
"Hehehe, only now, as you are, do you look a bit like a successor of the Matou family. Indeed, I was negligent at the time, and I can't blame you for my loss. Moreover, your performance truly exceeded my expectations—you, a little girl who didn't even have the courage to participate in a battle."
"I only cultivated you as a Lesser Grail and didn't teach you many combat techniques, yet you ultimately reversed my modifications, broke free of my control, and turned the Holy Grail into your own thing. However, that also proved my judgment."
Matou Zouken laughed with a gloomy face and said: "But it's a pity, Emiya Shirou won't come. Indeed... in a sense, he achieved a miracle not inferior to reaching the Root. The formation of this world is also his credit. I didn't expect that young brat who dreamed of becoming an 'Ally of Justice' would actually become a concept, a truly immortal god. It's truly enviable."
"Senpai... he's really still alive?" Hearing Zouken's words, Sakura held her chest and said joyfully.
"Sakura! Stop daydreaming. But because of that, the god standing high above has already forgotten this world. He won't come here, so you'd better not harbor pointless expectations."
"Wait a moment! Grandfather! What exactly is going on!?" Sakura shouted.
"I am going to start a new Holy Grail War in this city. You shall participate in your current state. Since I am here, the Lesser Grail is no longer needed. You will stay here and fight for the Holy Grail; provide it with magic power. Hehehehe... Make good use of your abilities and don't die easily. I am still looking forward to your performance."
Rustle, rustle. Matou Zouken left these words, his entire body turned into insects, and he left, flying out from the window.
"Senpai... where exactly are you? What on earth has happened?" Sakura asked.
In her past life... She was sent by her parents to the Matou family, becoming an adopted daughter in this household.
Her nominal adoptive father, although kind to her, had an indifferent sense of distance. Although he was the head of the family in name, in reality, he was just an assistant handling miscellaneous affairs for her grandfather. Other than that, he just squandered the finances accumulated by the family, living a life of debauchery and indulgence, and later died due to excessive alcoholism.
Although her brother in the Matou family was essentially the type of small-time hoodlum character who committed minor evils but couldn't commit great ones, in the beginning, although he was a bit awkward, he was considered quite kind to her.
However, ever since knowing he had no talent for magecraft, he became hysterical. Although he did terrible things to her, she had long since become numb to things far more painful than that. She simply felt he was pitiful; after all, she had taken away everything he aspired to.
From the day she moved into the Matou house, she began to accept her grandfather's modifications, converting her attributes, having Crest Worms implanted to transform her into the Lesser Grail; at first, there was painful howling.
After three days, she gradually got used to it. Although her body was in the same pain, her heart went numb, and her emotions were completely closed off. At that time, her eyes were hollow, without a shred of luster, obeying orders like a doll.
So when Uncle Kariya died because of Grandfather's sanction, she felt nothing at the time. When she heard that her father and mother had died, she felt nothing either...
There were too many painful things every day; she no longer knew which one to cry for... so she just numbly accepted them.
The only salvation she gained in life was more than a year before the start of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
At that time, because that person had injured his hand while working part-time and had to wear a bandage on his left hand to recover, unable to move freely, she, then a third-year middle school student, would go over to help after school.
On one hand, it was to obey Grandfather's order to monitor the heir of the Emiya household. But the key was that she was secretly interested in Senpai.
Although at first, the other party refused, she persisted in coming to Senpai's door every day to ring the doorbell.
Gradually, she was accepted by that gentle person, who began to teach her how to do housework—whether it was cooking, drying laundry, or folding clothes. At first, she didn't do it well, but through practice again and again, that gentle person was by her side, demonstrating and teaching her repeatedly. After that, she gradually became proficient.
Then, not just after school, but every morning, she would come to Senpai's house to help make breakfast. After they ate, they would go to school together. To her, all of this was the happiest time.
Yes, it wasn't that she helped Senpai; rather, it was that she gained the opportunity to leave that house, receiving a place to relax from Senpai. In the year and a half at Senpai's house, the girl felt that she was truly alive.
But she also understood that this was just a beautiful dream, and sooner or later, she would wake up. Although she loved Senpai the most, after becoming intimate, she was also very afraid of Senpai knowing her true self.
So... she just waited, watched over Senpai, saw him make his own choices... and then offered her own blessings. Although she was sad in her heart, as long as Senpai could find happiness, that was enough.
Compared to herself—gloomy, inferior, and inconspicuous—the upright Saber-san and her sister, who was as dazzling as the sun, were more suited for Senpai.
That was what she thought at the time. Even if she was silently paying the price, after the Holy Grail War, she had taken care of her grandfather, who refused to give up his evil desires. But even though she gave up, Senpai did not find happiness.
A long time passed without contact, and only later did she hear from her sister the news that Senpai had died in a nuclear power plant on the Middle Eastern battlefield.
She could only choose to stay in Fuyuki, guarding the Emiya residence for Senpai, until she died...
But now, fate gave her another chance. She was reborn, back to when she was five years old, the age before the misfortune began.
By night, the sky had turned completely dark.
Under the black night curtain, on the mountain outside the town, a red bloody light that ordinary people could not see rose up. Using the magic power of the insects that fed on human flesh and the vengeful spirits formed after being slaughtered as a medium, a new spiritual realm was formed at the center of the village occupied by insects.
Summoning the passage to the Great Holy Grail of Black Mud hidden in the inner world, in this world that originally had no magecraft, a new Holy Grail War began.
"Hmph, hahahahaha!!! Kill each other, massacre each other! I will use this world as the cost to achieve true immortality!" Standing beneath the bloody pillar of light, the old man shouted, laughing hysterically.
In a town a hundred kilometers away, in a house, the purple-haired girl, Sakura, felt a sudden stinging pain in her hand. A red mark emerged on her body. The girl's purple pupils revealed a determined look.
Although the girl's personality was gentle and kind, never head-to-head with others, she had a stubborn temperament in her bones; once she got angry, no one could pull her back. If she didn't have a firm and enduring heart, she would not have been able to persevere through such experiences in the past.
This time! She would not give up like that again.
"Find Grandfather, and then make him tell me where Senpai is! If there is anyone who gets in my way, then I will defeat them all!" Having made up her mind, the girl changed into her outdoor coat.
"Fou~!" The small animal chirped and jumped onto the girl's shoulder.
Sakura walked out the door, took out her phone, and pressed the button for summoning.
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