The Chaldea group walked down the road with Irisviel and Saber. Ritsuka and the others were fine, but Lord El-Melloi II wore a thunderous expression.
He'd wanted to boot that shit-stirring Caster off the board first, but the moment they closed in, they were slammed by a fierce barrage. They'd spooked Caster and let him slip away.
From start to finish, they never even found out who had been interfering.
Then Rider showed up afterward, and Lord El-Melloi II got scolded by the man on top of it…
He was full of grievances.
"Even if we didn't achieve our original objective, that was indeed Caster's base. In that case, I believe you are worthy of trust."
Saber turned back as she spoke.
Of course, "worthy of trust" only went as far as she personally allowed. Everything Chaldea had said was far too unbelievable.
"Don't be so tense, Saber."
Seeing Saber's face drawn tight, Irisviel soothed her gently.
"So what will you do next? If you don't mind, the Einzbern family can provide you a place to rest."
"No, thank you for the offer, but your husband likely wouldn't be at ease. Besides, we still have information we need to confirm."
Lord El-Melloi II came back to himself and politely declined.
There was about to be a king's banquet. He didn't know the temperament of this other King of Heroes; cautious by nature, he wasn't going to risk stepping into her sightline.
If it were the original King of Heroes, that banquet would have been the perfect place for an ambush…
"Then, Lord El-Melloi, what should we do now?"
After they'd separated from Saber and Irisviel for a while, and seeing Lord El-Melloi II walk on in silence, Ritsuka finally couldn't hold back and asked.
He seemed lost in thought, only snapping back at her voice.
"Right. First, we still need to visit Lancer's Master. We have to get Lord Kayneth—"
He didn't finish the sentence before the distant sky suddenly washed itself in gold, and Romani's voice burst into their comms.
"How is this possible?!"
"Doctor?"
"Divinity… this level of Divinity is insane. This is the kind of thing that should only exist in the Age of Gods! Even summoning a Heroic Spirit shouldn't be able to pull in something with this much Divinity—this is… this is absolutely a real god, with no rank-down whatsoever, a god who still has Authority!"
Hearing Romani and studying the strange light on the horizon, Lord El-Melloi II's brow furrowed hard.
"Don't you think that attack looks extremely familiar?"
"Huh?"
Ritsuka and the others froze, then their eyes widened.
"Wait… isn't that what hit us when we were chasing Caster?"
"At that time, there was no sign of Divinity at all. Which means the enemy not only can conceal Divinity, but was doing it on purpose… and yet now they're letting it erupt like this. What happened?"
Lord El-Melloi II spoke, still holding something back.
Because beneath that light…was the Matou estate—one of the three families of the Holy Grail.
...
A golden meteor shower rained ceaselessly from the heavens. The Matou family's magecraft barrier—maintained for centuries—couldn't resist at all. In the blink of an eye, the historic Matou manor became rubble.
"You—Rin Tohsaka? Impossible! No matter how much of a genius you are, you can't have this kind of power at this age! What are you? What are you?!"
Zouken Matou—the "old worm"—glared so hard his eyes threatened to split as he stared at the girl before him, no more than seven.
Tokiomi Tohsaka's eldest daughter. A girl named Rin Tohsaka—whose talent, by rights, should have been merely on par with Sakura, the girl adopted into the family.
That "merely" was actually unfair in normal circumstances. Both Sakura and Rin possessed magecraft potential that could rank among the very top of the world of Mystery—exceptional seedlings.
But the strength Rin Tohsaka was displaying now…
Even if you turned all of Sakura's talent into raw power, it probably still wouldn't reach this level. And Rin was only seven years old.
Still, Zouken calmed quickly.
In the world of Mystery, there was no such thing as "impossible." If someone told him a person could be born connected to the Root (Manaka: ???), he would be shocked and envious—but he wouldn't shout that it couldn't happen.
"An awakening of a past life? An Origin? A legacy from the Age of Gods? Or are you no longer the real Rin Tohsaka at all?"
Staring at the existence wearing Rin Tohsaka's shell, Zouken asked in a hoarse voice, intrigued—utterly unafraid.
He had sought immortality for five hundred years and researched countless methods of survival. He was confident that even if she were a goddess descended, it would be difficult to truly kill him.
"Disgusting worm."
The goddess Ishtar—using the body named Rin Tohsaka—knit her brows in distaste. Her eyes, stirred by violent emotion, shone with the brilliance of Venus. In her arms, she held a purple-haired girl nearly the same size as herself—yet with eyes utterly devoid of light.
Looking at such a little sister, Ishta—also Rin Tohsaka—felt a stab of pain, and her anger at Zouken deepened.
"Who gave you permission to look at me—and to dare question me?!"
Ignoring his words entirely, the goddess rose into the air with her sister in her arms. Wrapped in golden radiance, she looked down at Zouken with lofty contempt.
"A worm should crawl on the ground and cling to its wretched life like a worm—not dream of lifting its head to fly into my sky. Remember it well, insect."
"Hmph. Little girl. I don't know where your power comes from, but you don't yet understand the Matou's true strength—"
Even sensing her overwhelming power, Zouken spoke calmly.
"You don't want to end this in mutual destruction, do you? If you want your little sister, take her and go. Today's matter, I will not pursue further. Why not stop here?"
"Hah."
Ishta clicked her tongue, disgust heavy in the sound.
"A worm like you—on any ordinary day, I wouldn't even deign to look your way. But unfortunately…"
She stroked Sakura's hair with a tenderness that didn't match her voice. When Ishta looked back at Zouken, her eyes were ice.
"I may not be good at dealing with an older sister—but I dote on little sisters."
The moment her words fell, the light of Venus flared.
"So rejoice. This is an honor you have no right to receive… Bathe in Venus's radiance, and die with gratitude in your heart!"
"Such blust—what?!"
Zouken was about to spit back a retort when he suddenly realized something was wrong.
The light had no effect on the surroundings. When it touched his body, there was no visible harm.
And yet—an overwhelming sense of danger surged up inside him.
Danger from the soul itself.
But there was no time left to react.
In the next instant, the light swallowed the entire Matou estate, and Zouken Matou turned to dust amid limitless terror.
Every survival trick, every hidden contingency, was meaningless. This light was not something magecraft could explain. It was a realm that could contend with Law itself—the strongest method of the gods, the GM privilege called Authority.
Even in the modern age, where the Age of Gods had faded and such things were suppressed by layer upon layer of constraint, it was still more than enough to burn away a corrupted, fallen soul that had rotted beneath even an ordinary human.
A soul that had clung to life for five hundred years—scattered to ash.
---
T/N: yayyy sakura saved
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